James Andrews

I am writing this because I am illiterate. You probably think I’m insane, since no illiterate person would know how to write an article. I am however not insane. I may be literate when it comes to reading and writing english, but when it comes to the language of Japan where I am currently living I am not very literate at all. The Japanese language is comprised of 3 character sets. Kana makes up 2 of them (hiragana and katakana) and Kanji the chinese language set makes up a majority of the language. See kana most used in 2 different ways. “katakana” is mostly used for foreign words with a few exceptions. “hiragana” is used for changing the tense on a word, and for linking words together via particles.

There are thousands of kanji characters and to be able to read most news papers you need to know the first basic 1000 of them. I myself maybe know 6-10 of them. As you can guess this makes for a very difficult time. Trying to read signs, relying on my wife to tell me what something in the grocery store is. Not being self sufficient is a very difficult feeling.

Back in the US when I would read signs I wouldn’t think anything of it. This is that, that is this etc… Being unable to read signs now I understand what it must be like for the millions of illiterate people around the world. Who don’t know how to read or write. Even worse those who live in developed countries where this skill is a necessity to get by on a day to day basis. I can only hope that society has something better to offer them, can give them a chance to learn a skill many of us take for granted on a daily basis.

As for me, I’ll just have to study hard and hope that I can get up to the level where I can read a newspaper. Until then I’ll continue to bang my head against the wall. :-p

I know a handful of symbols beyond basic hiragana, and my katakana

This post has taken a while to come to a head. I try not to get into political conversations because when I do I get emotional. 20 years ago it was easy enough to stay away from but with the spawning of the internet age and social media it has been harder and harder not to be able to just get away from it.

Before the internet age it was easy. Didn’t want to hear the rhetoric from the liberals or the conservatives you had to do 2 things. Turn off the TV and not buy a news paper. You may have to endure a little at work or school, but put on a set of headphones or walk away from the conversation and it was over.

Now however with the internet and social media it’s becoming harder to get away from. You read a forum somewhere, and someone is bashing George W Bush, go to Facebook and you have some puts up a profile picture that says to “Spay and Neuter Liberals”. Twitter people will retweet everything anything that is politically charged. Meanwhile while all you want to do is keep in touch with friends, family, and colleagues you are inundated with bullshit. Childish elementary school playground bullshit.

Sure the US Constitution gives you the right to say what you want. The fourth Amendment freedom of speech, but it is my opinion that people are taking that freedom for granted. Spewing whatever comes to mind, anything that may or may not offend their political rivals. To be honest it really demeans the meaning behind that freedom. We were given the freedom of speech to keep the political machine from becoming too powerful, not as a weapon to demean people who don’t share the same beliefs as you, yet that is what is being done, and it’s being done in such a way that makes the person wielding that freedom to be as immature as the playground bully.

Tonight my wife asked me about pilates in the US, and some other thing called gyrotonics. She wanted to try them in the US. The reasoning being she felt that pilates and gyrotonic in Japan were not the same as in the US. She had seen this with ballet in Japan.

I went onto google and searched for gyrotonic and pilates in Boston to find out what the rates were. I went to at least 6 different websites that all had links for ‘rates’. Guess what? No rates! Just a message saying to call the studio for more information.

I don’t understand this? You have a website, the purpose is to get information out to the general public. You give them a teaser link that gets their hopes up about finding rates, and you dash their dreams by giving them a boat load of crap, and forcing them to call you and listen to your sales pitch? WTF? Really? Can we get past this bullshit finally? I am so sick of just wanting to know how much a class or something is. Why on earth can’t they list the price? It’s obnoxious and ignorant. This is the internet age. List your RATES!!!

I’ve been a fan of Ghibli films for a long time. I have most of the ones released on DVD in my collection, and have enjoyed watching them over and over. The artwork is always incredible, the stories are always interesting, and this usually keeps me coming back for more.

“Karigurashi no Arrietti” is the story of a family of tiny people who live under a house somewhere in Japan, and a young boy who is staying in the house to recuperate from an illness he has just recovered from. The family survives by foraging around the house. Using secret passageways in the house, and taking what they can. A cube of sugar here, a tissue or two there. Arrietti the daughter of the family goes out with her father, their primary forager for the first time. He shows her around the house, and where to get stuff.

Their “borrowing” though hasn’t gone un-noticed. The boy see’s Arrietti in the garden when he first arrives at the house. The old woman who serves as the Maid at the house has thought to have seen them as well.

Visually the movie is stunning. The watercolor like backgrounds are beautiful to look at. The attention to the little details like the droplet of water that rolls down the leaf when Arrietti pushes the leaf aside is what sets Ghibli apart.
The sounds are made custom for the movie as I saw on a Japanese television show, which showed them being made, are awesome, and that is where it leaves off.

The thing that I have liked about Ghibli movies in the past is the sense of adventure. I felt in Ponyo that sense of adventure was missing, and the movie just kind of went nowhere. I get the same feeling with “Karigurashi no Arrietti”. There’s a lot of character build up, but the story just kind of dullens out. Where’s the epic chase? It’s non-existant.

If you watch Ghibli movies for the art, it’s great for the theater, but I think you’re better off renting the DVD if you want to see this movie.

I arrived at Narita Airport last night around 6pm. Quickly made my way through immigration and customs without a hassle. Was very happy that the line at immigration was 10 people long. My wife arrived 10 minutes late, which gave me time to buy a soda, and some oreo cookie bites at the store in the airport (at reasonable prices go figure, go Japan!).

It’s now 6:30am. Now starts a week or two of waking up ridonkulously early. Happens on most trips that I don’t sleep very well in the plane. I’ve had my buttered toast breakfast. Greated the dog, who was confused that someone was awake at 6am. I found a key waiting for me on the coffee table. I assume it’s the key to the house. Attached to it is a barcode card, it looks like it’s for a grocery store. Very nice of my wife to lay it out for me to have.

My wife is still in bed after a late night up. She has a wedding party to attend too and then a full day of classes at her ballet studio. I will drive her to the train station and then possibly return to my home in Japan and maybe do things with her father, or go off exploring.

I need to be able to go places without relying solely on public transportation. On the list of things to do is find a user bicycle shop, and hopefully find a bicycle for $30-$40 US. That way I don’t have to rely on the buses all the time.