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New Years in Chiang Mai

Now I can imagine that if we were in downtown Chiang Mai last night that this would have been the view, and that does look like the back of my heard. Anyway the view last night was something that I had never seen before. All around the city people were launching these paper lanterns, it was not from just one location, everywhere you looked in the night sky were the lanterns interspersed with fireworks of all variety. We had 11 of them that we set off in the Armstrong's neighborhood earlier in the evening, and so when it hit midnight we were free to to just enjoy the amazing sight.

This has been a great trip and even though I decided to not take the jaunt into Myanmar. And as I look back I'm glad that I didn't go to Myanmar for at least one reason had i gone I would have missed this great light show last night.

Angry Whopper

So on my way home I stopped in at Burger King and was lured to this new menu item, the Angry Whopper. It comes in mild, spicy, and extra hot. I got the spicy version, it had 3 jalapeno marks by it. And it really was spicy, with a sauce that seemed to be basically just tabasco sauce, very good. There was also a sign for a Crazy Whopper which according to the picture had at least an inch of jalapeno peppers on it.

Boggy Creek

The teachers took and airboat ride at Boggy Creek yesterday and it was really fun. This was the second one that I have taken, but this one was a private tour with just the three of us on board. We saw this alligator and a couple of its babies, a raccoon, many birds and a bald eagle.

rainbow cloud

And today it is in the Japanese Yomiuri.

Healthy Chicken

Kentucy Fried Chicken in Japan is going healthy. Putting on the menu oven grilled chicken. Now why can't America follow suit and give us some healthier options rather than the heart attack waiting to happen, double down sandwich.

No wonder so many people in the states are overweight. I'm going to have to be really careful this summer, because it is so easy to fall for these so unhealthy food options.

Sumo Appology?

"Following an announcement saying, 'We express our apology to our ancestors and the ring,' some 200 wrestlers, stablemasters and Japan Sumo Association (JSA) officials simultaneously performed deep bows toward the ring as some 1,000 fans looked on."



How typically Japanese. After deciding not to cancel the Nagoya Sumo tournament after the baseball gambling scandle, this is how the Sumo Association desides to show its remorse. Bowing to the ring and their ancestors. Not sure where this comes from but I know it is an attitude that prevails most sports in Japan. When our tennis team is finished practicing the girls always turn to the court and say thank you. I've sen girls bow to the court before the step on it to play a game. But appologizing to the sumo ring, I don't get it.

School Cleaning

If you are at all familiar with the Japanese school system, you will know that the above illustration is a daily sight at every school in Japan. The students do all the cleaning, at least for the most part. It works for them, but I have always thought that the inside of most schools are not kept up. I guess you might say that it goes to show.

Well recently at my school there has been a big push from the recruitment commitee to really make sure that the school is clean before they have special school explanation meetings to parents or cram school teachers. Something that seems like it is happening everyweek recently. This means that after the kids have left school they are wanting us to stick around and make sure the school is clean. So the teachers go out in the areas that have already supposedly been cleaned my the students, and clean again.

Now the other day the head of that comittee anounced that most parents now find that the schoos are pretty well clean. This cleanliness is a reflection supposedly on how well you are disciplining your students. So you must be doing a good job if your school is clean. But now that it is a norm they are wanting us to make sure that the school is pristine. So we have well behaved students because are school is clean. But the problem it is the teachers that are making it really clean. Isn't this really saying that we aren't doing our job because even though we work with the students and teach them to clean, we still have to do it all over to make the school presentable. In a sense aren't we really lying to the parents?

I really think that they just need to hire a janitorial staff to do the work, this way the students could have more study time, and there wouldn't be extra work piled on to the already busy teachers schedules.

Rakuten to make English official in-house language by end of 2012 › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

This was in the news yesterday and I thought it was very interesting. Just think if more companies started to do this in Japan peoples English might actually improve.

Rakuten to make English official in-house language by end of 2012 › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Rakuten, which operates the largest Internet mall in Japan, intends to conduct all executive meetings in English and eventually have all internal documents written in the language, it said, adding that the menus in its staff canteen are already available in English.

Check out this great MSN Video: Top 10 Bizarre Phobias

Check out this great MSN Video: Top 10 Bizarre Phobias

Although this least mentions the fear of dance and the fear of flutes as the same thing, it is interesting. My favorite, Consecotalephobia, the fear of chopsticks. Yikes could't live in Japan with that.

how a Japanese man should dress

I was surprised when this guy got on the train, it is very rare when you will see a man dressed in full Kimono and he wasn't with anyone. It looked to be made of linen very dapper to say the least he was very put together. I think I could pull the look off it would be nice to wear at weddings, but don't get invited to lots of those.

scarry

This is the current add campaign for Winston cigarettes in Japan. I'm still looking for the poster with 3 of these guys lined up holding the same pose. I'm trying to figure out who their target audience is.

do it again

Latest in the Tokyo Metro poster series. Reminding people to be polite, reminding a fellow passenger that they have forgotten their umbrella.

I think I have 2 ideas for the series.

One would be along this line, waking the sleeping passenger that is still fast asleep as everyone gets off at the last station. I know that I have seen some people that have not gotten off and ended up riding back, who knows how many times.

The second would be entitled, "Do it in Bed" and it would show someone falling asleep on the shoulder of the perfect stranger sitting next to them, in this case the guy with no pupils.

In Perspective: Visualizing the BP Oil Disaster

Not much news here about the big oil spill in the gulf, but this is what it would look like over Tokyo.

Go here to see what it would look like over your city.

creative uses

Today the iPad was released here in Japan today, and you know with creative uses like this I think it could catch on quick.

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Corn chocolate?

Now I think I have seen everything. I know that Japanese love corn on everything, but this takes the cake. Now I know there is not actually corn inside, but I think it must be something to do with the look or the crunch of the product. Go figure.

Festivals and Involvement

The festival in Japan has always been of intrest to me. People come out in droves to see and participate in these events. I thought it would be a good picture chance so I headed out to fight the crowds, they say over a million people attend this every year. This one started in 1872. And of course the people that are most involved in festivals like this one are men. And I am always amazed that men will come out in droves for these. In doing a little research I found an article by Sarah Elizabeth Freeborn where she said, "They (matsuri or festival) allow community members, both past and present, a time of celebration and fun, and an opportunity to share experiences with one another, maintaining and strengthening bonds of friendship." I have had a friend tell me sort of the same thing that these festivals are really more about the bonding of community more than any religous meaning.
I also ran across something from Michael K. Roemer, in talking about the Gion Festival in Kyoto he states, "participants in this month of rites and festivities gain a sense of belonging and emotional support based on their roles in this historically and culturally significant shrine-related festival. Specifically, highly involved male participants form intimate and exclusive relationships and develop enduring networks that offer feelings of unity and spiritual guidance. With a combination of well-accepted "Western" theories and methods, and an understanding of distinct cultural differences." I guess you could say that these festivals are the ultimate male bonding experience for Japanese men.

Which leads me back to the Japanese church, what our the cultural events that will draw people in make them feel involved and give them a sense of beloning, foster deep relationships, and give them a feeling of unity and spiritual guidance? It is a very open ended question, but one that has plagued me for a long time.

Nature in heart of Tokyo

Had a drum preformance at Meijijingu kaikan yesterday and on the way back spotted this nice little river flowing through the shrine grounds. Should have pulled out my real camera to get a better shot, but hey.

funniest way to ride train

So I get on the train and am patiently waiting for the train to leave and this young guy gets on and tries to go through to the next car. He grabs the bar to open the sliding door between cars but doesn't realize that he is pulling on the hand rail. The old lady sitting in front of him motions to show him the handle is on the other side. He stops and angrily tries again at the same hand rail. He angrily gives up then walks over to the door right beside me and gets in this position on the floor in front of the door. The old ladies next to me and the guy standing on the other side of the car giggle and shake their heads, I say, "I think he is drunk." Another strange sighting on the train.

Sky Tree

View of Sky Tree from Asakusa, the red bull car in the foreground is just an unexpected surprise.