夜遅く買い物 Late Night Shopping

Last night in preparation for 4th of July I went out to DonkiHote, basically the walmart of Japan to find some fireworks. And guess what.... you can actually buy bottle rockets and other things that go BOOOM!!! ... at a freakin department store!!

First, check out this picture. The funny thing is it implies that you should probably drink some beer before handling these bottle rockets.

Most of this stuff is illegal in California, im surprised that you can actually get them here. Id required? not for foreigners.

I don't know about you but there are sexy female fireworks if your into that sort of thing.. ^_^

I really wish i could take these home!

This has nothing to do with fireworks, but its one of the wacky things ive come across here.. Notice anything going on in the lower half?

Honshuu Trip ..."Jari goes to Todaiji"

Those of you who saw the video in the last post must have noticed a friend of mine stuck inside a pole? yes? Anyhow, at Todaiji Temple in Nara, crawling through the large pillar apparently gives you a year of good luck. Most of the people we saw crawling through it were kids... but we decided... "why not!?" and gave it a go. Most of us made it through.. and as for my friend in the pole.. most of us were too busy laughing and being jerks while watching a random Japanese guy pull him while two elderly women from behind pushed on his butt to help pop him out... Good times... Im sorry Jari.. please don't kill me. T_T

本州旅行

And now.... the long awaited video for the Honshuu trip some of us took during spring break. A little late I know, but better late than never. ^_^

Struggling not to be a bum...

Here I will write some of my thoughts, fresh and unadulterated from the not so early morning. My first is that there is great evidence that I am aging. Why? I can't seem to function very well without a good 8 hours of sleep anymore and staying up all night just doesn't work for me. T_T

My second is that I realize I have a lot of things i need to do in a short period of time. Ive been forgetting again how lucky I am to be in Japan, even if its only for a few months. I want to make the most out of my time left... In fact I want to make alot of things. New Video for the semester, new pictures, memories, foods....but I don't have time. Maybe I don't have the mental stamina to finish all the assignments for my eight classes early.

I will finish off two textbooks this weekend. Being here I do have to admit that my reading comprehension has gotten a little better. Still as illiterate as a 12 year old maybe... I can read some kanjis but sure as hell don't remember how to write them. Aside from finishing these books so early and prewriting all of the compositions, I still have to write two book reports in Japanese. So i guess my objective in finishing early is so I have enough time to enjoy my time here...otherwise ill be doing nothing but study... no thanks.

My last thought for now.... Getting in shape is difficult in this country. From the moment I first came here, everything I ate, no matter what quantity was different. The food here, is great, its healthy compared to food back home,, but it sure doesn't supply you with the same amount of energy. My one regret in Japan so far is that ive pretty much shrunk. Everyone I meet says "oh, you got thinner!".. "are you dieting?" Noooooo!!! Im trying to gain weight, not get skinnier than I already am.

Within the next few weeks there will be alot of partying... after 8 theres not much to do in Oita except... drink.

ホタル！！(hotaru)aka Firefly!!

Its that time of year in Japan... If you can find the right place, most likely a river or some sort of stream of water, you can see fireflies!! The words I have cant describe the beauty of seeing these amazing bugs. Unfortunately i didn't have to means to take any decent pictures. The only time I really remember anything about fireflies is from stories I would read when I was a kid. The first thought I had was to collect some of these things in a jar... But many years later, here I am. When I finally came to see the beauty of hundreds of fireflies with my own eyes, I remembered something... with each tiny light flickering on and off in mid air I began to feel like I was in some sort of dream.. As if only Totoro was real and we were all in some Miyazaki film. I realized that my year here in Japan is almost up... these bugs are slow, clumsy, and easy to catch, but the light they give out though for a brief moment of their short lifespan can inspire dreams into existence for children and grown ups. The firefly's light is fleeting and so is my time here. Our very existence is fleeting so we have to remember to make to most of it.

I wish I had the means to take pictures of these amazing creatures... but instead I stole one online...

Navarro Family Vacation

Yay!! ビデオができた。久しぶりにしなかったから時間がかかった。写真をよくウプロードする代わりにビデオにする方がいいと思った。だから作った、じゃ、たのしんでください。I haven't made a video in a while so it took some time.. Its nothing fancy, but instead of posting a ton of pictures on to this site I thought "why not just put it into a video?" so I did. Enjoy!

時間が足りなくなる "Pressed for time"

It seems lately that ive found less and less time for myself. Since this semester started ive put most of my focus on Japanese study. I've found myself constantly around other people. Just yesterday my sister and my dad returned to America after a nice 10 day visit. As exhausting as it was, it was an enjoyable experience. I took alot of pride in being able to show my family around Oita, Beppu, Kyoto and Osaka with only my broken Japanese to keep us from getting lost and spending the night on the street.

Now that im recovering from the so called "golden 'week'" which wasn't actually an entire week, Im busy making up for classes I missed and attempting to double up studying for tests I need to make up. However, I find myself now wanting to really study all that much. Ive been getting a little bit better at speaking and understanding the language but as far as book study, I can't bring myself too it. Ive been around people so long doing nothing but socializing and study that I forgot to make time for myself. I realized I don't even have so much time to make the wacky videos I used to or upload pictures from my adventures.. This week ill be pressed for time trying to get back on top of my studies even though I don't have a part time job or anything. I certainly hope Japan hasn't spoiled me too much, because I know i shouldn't be this busy. Haha, Ive been seriously thinking of ways I can get better use of my time, but first I need to learn to take some time for myself and recharge my mind. Later on I hope I can start making interesting posts and cool videos once again! Meanwhile, as I try to do what I 'should' ill probably distract myself by picking up the guitar like i used to, or spend the whole day cleaning my room or biking somewhere only to become hungry, eat... bike back, eat some more.. then buy groceries to make more food and eat some more.

Also, it seems like I have 5 new Japanese tutors, all Economics majors who im expected to teach English conversation to. But after all, ill probably just use my broken Japanese with them as much as I can. ^_^ It will probably be a week before I can start picking things back up with this blog, giving my friends personal updates, and being able to mess around with video editing again.

The Navarro family.. reunited in Japan!

PS: hopefully i can post more pictures soon. Given that I forgot to take my camera's charger out of my sisters bag before she left... I may need to get a new camera (-_-)