we don't need no education...

well, finals week is effectively over. now i just have to get everthing ready for tomorrow morning. yeah, i know. tomorrow. time to get moving.

i hope to have some clever, witty entry before i leave, but we'll just have to see how well i get through my errands today.

Game Face

In preparation for the trip, i decided there was a need for a new facial haircut that would be fitting for a trip to asia. and to represent all of america. besides, i couldn't let the playoff beard go to waste.

That's all for now - it's finals week, and i have a paper to finish, but i couldn't let all of you down.

ride the lightning... (the plan, part 2)

possibly the most exciting part of going to japan is riding on high speed bullet trains (shinkansen). i mean, seriously, look how cool that thing is. it could probably make it into space. if it wasn't stuck to rails on the ground, that is. also, how can something that travels great distances in a short amount of time, which is also named after a lethal projectile, not be cool. i challenge you to come up with a reason.

i'll save you the effort of trying to come up with something. there is no reason a high speed bullet train would be uncool.

i'm not sure that the rail pass will allow us on a bullet train, but i'll try my damndest to hook it up.

oh yeah, also, the culture, people, food, castles and temples - those should be pretty cool too. especially if they include high speed travel.

if only the nozomi could arrive before it left. i guess the 747 still wins.

the general plan includes travels to nagoya, osaka, kyoto, kurishiki (to stay with kosuke's family), hiroshima, and, of course, tokyo.

awesome

the plan...

it seems reasonable that you might be wondering, "so when is this grand adventure going to take place?"

i'm so glad you asked. the trip is not nearly as far off as it may seem from my vague, carefree, and seemingly random (obscure?) posts. i leave next thursday. yeah, 8 days.

コースケだけに、あなたのためにそれを日本語にします。私たちのままで8日間！

i'm not sure the scribbles above mean anything. i'm sure kosuke will let me know (it's not my fault, it's google translator. unless it's right, then it was me).

oh yeah, the plan.

depart:
thursday, may 1st (11:18am - 8:00pm, may 2nd)
northwest airlines
indy to detroit, NW1016
detroit to tokyo (narita), NW25
tokyo to nagoya, NW77

return:
monday, may 12th (3:00pm - 4:30pm)
northwest airlines
tokyo to detroit, NW26
detroit to indy, NW1505

you'll notice that the total travel time going (including time changes) is about 32 hours. coming back it is 90 minutes. the flight from tokyo to detroit lands 75 minutes before it leaves tokyo. if only doc brown were here to see it.

Culture Clash

To say that the trip may be something of a shock is probably an understatement. The culture, language, and food is different. I don't know the lay of the land, and there's a good chance a map won't help. And that's just the layover in Detroit.

Preparing for the trip, i tried to make the comparison to traveling to europe. it only fits to a point. yes, the people speak a different language, the food may be different, and the chances are good of ending up lost or in jail.

The big difference is being able to tell which way is north on a map. or being able to recognize the name of the city. In japan, this is a direction, and this page describes a japanese city. if that's not intimidating, I'm not sure what is (at least assuming you're a native english speaking American - laugh all you want japanese). at least in europe you can follow the 'nord' signs back to munchen. or whatever.

your helpful hint for the day: when you find yourself in japan, stay away from ヤクザ.

Sayanora

Why Japan? The long answer

Meet Kosuke Kojima (koze-key ko-jim-ah). He is a grad student here at Indiana University, also in the Kinesiology Department.

Kosuke is Japanese, and he has a sharpie mustache in this picture. He did that himself. Without any sort of provocation. Really. He's a big fan of Captain Morgan. Not necessarily the rum, just the captain himself.

Kosuke is from the city of Kurashiki (curr-otch-key). It can be found in the southern area of 'main' japan. south of osaka, and about midway between hiroshima and kobe. If necessary, refer back to the japanese map linked in the 'japanese geography lesson' posting.

Kosuke invited pretty much all of the grad students to visit Japan with him. See the sights, hang out with japanese, eat raw or undercooked seafood, and just whatever the japanese do. everyone thought this sounded like a great idea. several wanted to go. when it came down to it, only Chris Brammer and I actually threw down for a ticket.

This is Chris. his mustache is real. and quite a bit more impressive now. Colleen is in the picture with him (she's the one without a mustache). she does not come into the story. at least for now.

so there it is. we're going to japan, riding high-speed trains (hopefully - we will at least ride moderately high-speed trains), and camping out with Kosuke's friends and family in various places throughout japan.

i expect it to be some combination of Mr. Baseball and Lost in Translation. If i get to meet tom selleck, bill murray, or scarlett johansson (or any combination thereof), i'll call the trip a success. I'm hoping to limit the similarities to Tora! Tora! Tora! Here's to hoping!

in case anyone is wondering, yes, i am pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to add pictures, and get them were i wanted them in olnly my fourth blog posting. the benefits of a graduate education!

"Japan?! sounds cool! but... why?"

good question - i thought you might be wondering (for those of you wondering about your wondering - i planned on covering this, and also got asked about it, so i'm not sure this has anything to do with giving the people what they want).

the short answer: kosuke kojima

stayed tuned for the long answer

japanese geography lesson

first off, let's take a look at japan. as you can see on the map, japan is made up of a bunch of islands, but we're only concerned about the main parts. included in this region (these regions?) is tokyo, osaka, hiroshima, kobe, nagasaki, mt. fuji, and a bunch of other places you probably are less familiar with.

the map calls these parts honshu, shikoku, and kyushu. these are what i'm going to call the main islands. that may not be correct, but i'm not really concerned about that.

i hope this is a helpful reference for later posts. sometimes it nice to have some idea where i'm referring to.

for those of you requiring the remedial lesson on where japan is in relation to the rest of the world, check it out here. they have the white flag with the red circle.

thanks to Randy Johnson and www.ontrack-japan.com for their maps. i don't know either of these folks, but i do like their maps.

welcome

alright folks, here's the story: with a trip to japan rapidly approaching, i decided to set up a blog to chronicle the trip. i figured that the novelty of the trip would provoke interest in others, and this would be an easy means of sharing stories, pitfalls, pictures, and whatever else may come of the journey.

but first, a few ground rules:

1. i may not use caps. ever. maybe i will. depends on the day. i don't want to hear about it though. any other grammatical issues are open to criticism.

2. i have no idea what internet connectivity will be once in japan, so i may end up posting a may 5th blog (happy cinco de mayo) on may 15th. you'll just have to deal with this. i plan on having some sort of journal with me, so i can write on any given day and transcribe later.

3. i have no specific plans for this after the trip. maybe i'll keep adding with the random crap that happens in everyday life. maybe the blog will just go dark. i guess we'll see.

4. three ground rules isn't very many, so i'll add #4 to make the list more inmpressive. oh, and i reserve the right change the rules anytime i want, with or without notice. membership has its priveleges.

5. comments are allowed and encouraged, however this is not without peril. i take no responsibility for anyone's comments - they're not mine, so if you don't like them, take it up with the commentator.

6. comments (cont) : i do believe in free speech, and in that spirit i will generally allow anyone to say whatever stupid thing they want - but i will also leave it up so everyone can see what your stupid comment is. only highly inflammatory, accusatory, malicious, or otherwise offensive comments will be removed. i reserve the right to determine what that means.

7. interesting in something in particular? want an answer to a question in the format of the blog? well, you are welcome to request it (in an email, comment, phone call, whatever). maybe i'll follow up on, maybe i won't. maybe i plan on covering the topic at a later date, and you'll just have to wait. as they say (they? who is 'they') "ask and maybe you shall recieve... at some point."