Post Racial

Before getting up to make dinner I put on some background noise for me and Erbear. Rather than get into the long "What do you wanna watch?" that always accompanies our trip to Ninjavideo, I blindly scrolled down the sidepane and clicked... Dancing with the Stars.

It was kind of a happy accident. Not because either of us like the show but it's something equally upbeat and lame that we wouldn't watch otherwise and so we got to kind of slip into a hackneyed, twilight version of ourselves for about 20 minutes.

Erbear was calling out the B-listers to me in the kitchen and I was surprised at how out of touch I'd gotten. I knew Macy Gray and Donnie Osmond (who strikes me as a sad, smiley man) but that was it. Erbear knew a few more but she could also see them.

Then, as the curry was boiling, a woman started singing.

I was cooking and half listening then thought 'she sounds black'. Then I thought 'err, is that racist?' and then all my reasons for thinking it didn't sound racist sounded racist. So I just asked if the woman was black and Erbear said 'No, she's not'.

I could feel the little jury in my head staring. One of them mouthed "Guilty". "Alright," I thought. "I'm a bad human, but you all thought the same thing."

Self-served

Is the banner a little pretentious? Like, look-at-me-I-notice-Indian-children?

The Internet is Awesome

So I used to just paste pictures into the text and now that seems stupid. I don't want to exclaim the greatness of the internet too much because it may make us all slaves, but... my Google account is amazing. Not only does it have a reader letting me scrounge up blogs I never thought could exist but it has a nifty utility for uploading and sharing pictures without all the hassle of e-mailing or one-by-one attaching. Here are some of the pictures from the India trip.

Also, Googling 'Google' doesn't implode the universe. And, it has surprisingly more hits than either 'Obama' or 'porn'/'sex'. Go figure.

Amazing Doodle

I just updated to Google Reader and found this video today among the new overwhelming inbox. MUST WATCH!

*No, that is not someone's skin.

OHIYO

These girls say 'Kon bon wa'. That's 'good afternoon' in Japanese. Here are some other basic phrases to know if travelling:

- Hello ohiyo gazaimas

- Excuse me sumi masen

- Do you speak English?

A go ga hanishtay maska

- Can I have this/(water) ?

kore/(mizu) ga itadake maska

- Where is the (toilet) ?

(Toray) wa doko deska

- Hidari (left) Migi (right)

- Please koodasigh

- Thank you arigato gazaimas

That is a pretty round summary of what I know after living here for a year and a half. And while that may be very embarrassing to admit, it is equally illustrative of how little Japanese you need to get around. Signs are in English, menus have pictures, people are orderly and helpful and things are punctual which makes for a safe visit. That last sentence felt weird. How is 'safe' an adjective? Oh, and be prepared to get noticed. Not-Japanese tend to stick out in Osaka.

The Thaw

Today is the first warm day we've had in Osaka for awhile now. It reminds me of what's coming in Spring and what Japan can be, mainly not the frozen berg that drives you inside to sit beside a super-weak panel heater. Oh, and Lost is finally airing it's final season which is exciting. Except that the mysteries gave you something to think about while waiting on anything to happen so minus 1 for the loss of a good distraction.

I'm Still Here

I was studying this morning when someone knocked on the door. I normally keep quite until people go away but my Theory of Meaning teacher was making a ruckus on the speakers and so I got up. The guy outside looked innocent and when I opened the door and to see what he wanted, he handed me an orange towel wrapped in plastic. Then he left. I have no idea what just happened. Japan has its own thing going on.