Sorry this is the best way I have figured out pictures.I'll keep working on it.You're gonna have to copy and paste this link it's not working right for some reason
http://templefacebook.com/album.php?aid=2138774&1=5c982&id=8209356
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Prime Minister resigned...but hey so did Karl Rove
When to Asakusa today by myself and that was pretty cool.I also used the squat toilet for the first time today after looking at them for a while.It was a short day at school and I felt like it I peed on my pants well I was already on my way out the door.There are some cool toilets here.My favorite has a seat warmer, a bidet,a sort of light enema, and a flushing sound that you can have perpetually on to cover the sound of doing your business.I am not gonna lie this seems most useful if your business is throwing up since one you're in the stall it's sort of established that you've got some sort of bodily function to perform.Or you are like me and the bathroom was the only really private place in your house cause as your mother said "You didn't buy any doors so don't close any doors" then it is a place of comfort.
Anyway I found my Shabu Shabu pictures and at Asakusa ran into the woman who helped us out at Shabu Shabu cause we couldn't read the menu and we exchanged info.Asakusa is pretty cool.I like the idea that all the shops peddling things are part of a tradition of peddling to pilgrims.Unlike last time I did waft myself with the breathe of the gods cause my roommate is a little sick and I needed some help.Generally i don't fool with other people's god but getting sick with your momma on the other side of the ocean and a continent is no joke.
The strangest thing that happened is that while I was trying to size up a picture of the market strip some Japanese woman asked me if she could take a picture with me.It was a little bizarre and it was definitely cause I was black and then she gave me a present as is customary and she looked so pleased that it was kind of whatever.But still really quite strange.I mean people stare at me all the time here, it was fine for a while but now it's just kind of annoying.So i have adopted a very Philly attitude and I stare them down.Today I stared down a five year old...I'm not proud,especially because he won.
Anyway I found my Shabu Shabu pictures and at Asakusa ran into the woman who helped us out at Shabu Shabu cause we couldn't read the menu and we exchanged info.Asakusa is pretty cool.I like the idea that all the shops peddling things are part of a tradition of peddling to pilgrims.Unlike last time I did waft myself with the breathe of the gods cause my roommate is a little sick and I needed some help.Generally i don't fool with other people's god but getting sick with your momma on the other side of the ocean and a continent is no joke.
The strangest thing that happened is that while I was trying to size up a picture of the market strip some Japanese woman asked me if she could take a picture with me.It was a little bizarre and it was definitely cause I was black and then she gave me a present as is customary and she looked so pleased that it was kind of whatever.But still really quite strange.I mean people stare at me all the time here, it was fine for a while but now it's just kind of annoying.So i have adopted a very Philly attitude and I stare them down.Today I stared down a five year old...I'm not proud,especially because he won.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Off To Learn The History of the Hunters
So the dreaded IH class starts in about two minutes and that Japanese cultures class just makes me wanna jump.Whatever I just got White Teeth from the library and am gonna read that in class.I know it's bad but so is a nervous breakdown.I had a really interesting conversation with mel(another woman on the program) about Native American genocide and her tribes struggle to be federally recognized.It was kind of cool to get to connect and hang out with her...she lives next door to me.
I used to write blogs that people found really interesting but they were also very raw and vulnerable and I don't really publicly do that anymore.Some people might consider that a sign of maturity...I think it's probably a survival skill and if you don't develop survival skills the odds of reaching maturity are slim.I will say that I miss Brian quite a bit and while it's not awful( I actually think it's kind of cool)I still appreciate the feeling. Not in one of those absence makes the heart grow fonder ways cause there are some people who when I am away from them everyday is like a holiday but it's just kind of sweet.Okay well i am off to be lied to...thank god for Aunt Renee and mom or I wouldn't even know that they was lying.
I also am ware that some of you don't know me or that we have never met.If you are a Kelly or Kasyjanski(I can't remember how to spell it...sorry)please direct all comments,questions,or complaints, to Brian Kelly.Also if you are a Penn alumni who is not directly affiliated with me.
I used to write blogs that people found really interesting but they were also very raw and vulnerable and I don't really publicly do that anymore.Some people might consider that a sign of maturity...I think it's probably a survival skill and if you don't develop survival skills the odds of reaching maturity are slim.I will say that I miss Brian quite a bit and while it's not awful( I actually think it's kind of cool)I still appreciate the feeling. Not in one of those absence makes the heart grow fonder ways cause there are some people who when I am away from them everyday is like a holiday but it's just kind of sweet.Okay well i am off to be lied to...thank god for Aunt Renee and mom or I wouldn't even know that they was lying.
I also am ware that some of you don't know me or that we have never met.If you are a Kelly or Kasyjanski(I can't remember how to spell it...sorry)please direct all comments,questions,or complaints, to Brian Kelly.Also if you are a Penn alumni who is not directly affiliated with me.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence
What a day.I didn't get enough sleep last night in part cause I stayed up watching season one of the Boondocks..well worth it.Tuesday/Thursdays suck cause my classes are so damn boring. My one teacher Sensei Sumi teaches the Japanese Culture class but he has very little positive to say and says very little that isn't in the text .The other teacher is my IH(intellectual heritage)teacher and she is knew and so nervous about teaching the most hated class at Temple that she barely teaches. She is not at all confident and just says crazy stuff.Like today she gave us a paper on how to write an essay because we probably had not written such a long essay before.Now ...on the first day we established that the whole class were Juniors and Seniors...she's lost it.Then we were reading the Declaration of Independence and she managed to make that boring...I like the Declaration of Independence.I tried to bring up how in the first draft Thomas Jefferson wrote about abolishing slavery and how it violated basic human rights and the ensuing controversy.That it was interesting based on how many times that happened in US history with different things and part of that decision was that the signers were of the property owning class.She gon tell me that she saw that but much like with John Locke(who almost mentioned abolishing slavery)she thought that it was too much information and so she left it out.I want to know how much longer people think they can teach US history without talking about racialized chattel slavery.I mean really how many slave quarters do you have to find at cites of freedom...and of course as the only black person in the room I had to be the one to say it.
She could have even have totally different political views from me(but of course she is in the burgeoning women's studies department) but at least bring the fire.I like a good fight and this class just makes me wanna throw in the towel.
Oh also i got a new camera.I had taken pictures when we went out to Shabu Shabu on Saturday night but somehow those pictures got erased.I'll get others from Nick.We got there and of course couldn't read the menu which was all in Japanese...so they got the waitress that spoke English but she didn't understand us so she got another woman who was eating dinner with her European husband and various friends o translate for us.We got put in the back room which we decided was the Gaijin room but then after hanging ut and having free range for a while we decided it was the VIP room.
Shabu Shabu involves choosing two broths which are served in a divided pot and then ordering various vegetables and/or meat and cooking them.It was all really good ...except this one solid white sheet that when we put it in came out like glue and swallowing it felt like swallowing glue.But everything else was so good and you just sit around and eat and drink for a couple of hours.I really will try and get Nick's pictures .
She could have even have totally different political views from me(but of course she is in the burgeoning women's studies department) but at least bring the fire.I like a good fight and this class just makes me wanna throw in the towel.
Oh also i got a new camera.I had taken pictures when we went out to Shabu Shabu on Saturday night but somehow those pictures got erased.I'll get others from Nick.We got there and of course couldn't read the menu which was all in Japanese...so they got the waitress that spoke English but she didn't understand us so she got another woman who was eating dinner with her European husband and various friends o translate for us.We got put in the back room which we decided was the Gaijin room but then after hanging ut and having free range for a while we decided it was the VIP room.
Shabu Shabu involves choosing two broths which are served in a divided pot and then ordering various vegetables and/or meat and cooking them.It was all really good ...except this one solid white sheet that when we put it in came out like glue and swallowing it felt like swallowing glue.But everything else was so good and you just sit around and eat and drink for a couple of hours.I really will try and get Nick's pictures .
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Had a pretty chill day am not feeling particularly motivated to go out to clubs or bars. My dorm is actually pretty chill and on the whole people just kind of do stuff together but don't go crazy.I am the second oldest person in this dorm and it is a little bit weird since I am used to being the youngest one in the crowd.
Today the phone woke me up to go to Akihabara which is the assault of bright lights and discount electronics.It wasn't so bright during the day but I could see it being sensory overload at night. I was looking at cameras cause I really want a new one and there were some pretty good delas but there is another place to check out.
The best part of my day was the Sega store which other people were not nearly as excited about but I loved.Joyce and I played this Taiko game that was awesome.I could just go to the arcade and play for hours.I wish my brother was here cause he would have played with me or my little cousin.
We went to Asakusa and it was alittle much with a group of six.The stretch leading up to the Temple is so damn crowded that i have decided to go back on weekdays.I took obligatory pictures but don't want to tak anymore until i least read the wikipedia articles on Shinto and Buddhism.It is a Buddhist temple but it has Shinto shrines on the ground which is really common.Western ideas about not mixing religions don't apply here of course.
This is the stuff that I find to be really interesting.Like in my class about China in the discussion session this Friday we talked about Japan because he said it is essential to understanding Chinese history and that point in time.He is some sort of big deal expert on China.I find him to be both abrasive and pleasant.But anyway so he was saying that at the end of World Two that the Emperor had to renounce his divinity.But what's interesting is that prior to this people were willing to accept that the Emperor was both divine and a fuck up...my puny western mind couldn't understand this...but the teacher was really useful and said that it wasn't like papal infallibility .But ya know Jesus couldn't be Jesus and do something wrong.So while I get it it's still so interesting to me.
Well headed to dinner with the guys..we have an unofficial dinner club.Joe and I are the most constant members but we've got a core.
Here is the link to the pics
Today the phone woke me up to go to Akihabara which is the assault of bright lights and discount electronics.It wasn't so bright during the day but I could see it being sensory overload at night. I was looking at cameras cause I really want a new one and there were some pretty good delas but there is another place to check out.
The best part of my day was the Sega store which other people were not nearly as excited about but I loved.Joyce and I played this Taiko game that was awesome.I could just go to the arcade and play for hours.I wish my brother was here cause he would have played with me or my little cousin.
We went to Asakusa and it was alittle much with a group of six.The stretch leading up to the Temple is so damn crowded that i have decided to go back on weekdays.I took obligatory pictures but don't want to tak anymore until i least read the wikipedia articles on Shinto and Buddhism.It is a Buddhist temple but it has Shinto shrines on the ground which is really common.Western ideas about not mixing religions don't apply here of course.
This is the stuff that I find to be really interesting.Like in my class about China in the discussion session this Friday we talked about Japan because he said it is essential to understanding Chinese history and that point in time.He is some sort of big deal expert on China.I find him to be both abrasive and pleasant.But anyway so he was saying that at the end of World Two that the Emperor had to renounce his divinity.But what's interesting is that prior to this people were willing to accept that the Emperor was both divine and a fuck up...my puny western mind couldn't understand this...but the teacher was really useful and said that it wasn't like papal infallibility .But ya know Jesus couldn't be Jesus and do something wrong.So while I get it it's still so interesting to me.
Well headed to dinner with the guys..we have an unofficial dinner club.Joe and I are the most constant members but we've got a core.
Here is the link to the pics
Thursday, September 6, 2007
About pictures
so because i have not yet figured out a better way to share pictures with captions I am gonna include the link to the pictures. The captions got deleted several times.Take this as a sign that I really like YOU cause I know what each picture is.
http://temple.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2137275&l=526f4&id=8209356
I don't know if using the link allows you to comment about the photos as well.
http://temple.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2137275&l=526f4&id=8209356
I don't know if using the link allows you to comment about the photos as well.
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