Hey y'all! I just put links to the blogs of other people on my team out here. Check the links on the right side over there. ---->
Yeah... just try clickin' one of 'em! --------->
They have more pictures and interesting alternative views on stuff. Perty cool!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Japanese Animals
I know it sounds weird, but I swear that Japanese animals sound different! Right now, I'm listening to a cat meowling outside my window and it's making a distinct "nyaooo! nrouuuu!" sound. Earlier today at Gakusyuin University there was also a crow (they're absolutely everywhere, there!) that was insulting us by calling "Aho! Aho!" (which basically means fool or idiot in Japanese).
Weird stuff happens here!
Weird stuff happens here!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Connected to the Internet
Hey, ya! I finally found a solution to my internet problem. It seems that the wireless box that they were using from the room in the second floor had a second jack in it and the team leader, Greg, just so happened to bring a 20 foot (-ish) Ethernet cord with him so we strung it down from the second floor to our first floor apartment!
So, this means that I'll have pictures up as soon as possible.
K' then, bye!
So, this means that I'll have pictures up as soon as possible.
K' then, bye!
Quick Post
Hey y'all! I've been a bit slow on making posts here because of the apparent lack of interest in reading my blog. If anybody really is, please send me an email (RussellChamp@gmail.com) or leave a comment here. It would do TONS to encourage me.
Anyway, today (Wednesday) my group of five went to Gaksuyin (Gahk-shwin) University again. It was really cool.
After lunch, my team and I decided to walk through the club room building (there they call clubs "circles") to see if we could find any interesting clubs with people we could talk to. Kris (one guy on my team), and I stopped at this one room where we saw some guys playing video games and decided, "well, I guess this is as good as any!" We introduced ourselves with a "Sumimasen? (excuse me?) Do you speak English?" "Yes, yes. A little," they replied. "Wellll.... we're just visiting friends here in Japan and visiting some of the campuses here. What club is this?" "Ooooh... this is the calligraphy club." "Really? Well, that's interesting. Can we play with you?" "Sure! Come sit down! Team battle! Team battle!" So Kris and I took on the guys for a several rounds of Super Smash Brothers with teams then some singles matches. Wow... they spanked us good! Japan has good players. The one guys was like "Japan numba' one playa'!"
Anyway, it was really cool. We promised to come back next week and play them again! We got the contact info for 2 of them so that's cool and told them about the Christian "circle" that we were in.
OK, well I really got to go now!! Team meeting! Bye now!
Anyway, today (Wednesday) my group of five went to Gaksuyin (Gahk-shwin) University again. It was really cool.
After lunch, my team and I decided to walk through the club room building (there they call clubs "circles") to see if we could find any interesting clubs with people we could talk to. Kris (one guy on my team), and I stopped at this one room where we saw some guys playing video games and decided, "well, I guess this is as good as any!" We introduced ourselves with a "Sumimasen? (excuse me?) Do you speak English?" "Yes, yes. A little," they replied. "Wellll.... we're just visiting friends here in Japan and visiting some of the campuses here. What club is this?" "Ooooh... this is the calligraphy club." "Really? Well, that's interesting. Can we play with you?" "Sure! Come sit down! Team battle! Team battle!" So Kris and I took on the guys for a several rounds of Super Smash Brothers with teams then some singles matches. Wow... they spanked us good! Japan has good players. The one guys was like "Japan numba' one playa'!"
Anyway, it was really cool. We promised to come back next week and play them again! We got the contact info for 2 of them so that's cool and told them about the Christian "circle" that we were in.
OK, well I really got to go now!! Team meeting! Bye now!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
My Current Internet Situation
Well, I've hit a bit of a snag here. For some reason or another, it seems that the room I'm staying in is the only one that dosen't have an internet jack in the wall and all the other ones do. This is only a problem because the wireless on my laptop isn't working. (For those of you interested, it's because the wireless signal the team leader is broadcasting from his room is encoded with WPA and the wireless card I have can only decrypt WEP. Jah, it's old!) Anyway, because I haven't had internet access from my computer, I can't upload all the pictures I've been wanting to. Currently I'm using a friend's laptop to write these posts but I'm sure he wouldn't want me to mess around with puting stuff on it and such.
So... to make a long story short, I won't be able to upload photos until I find a viable solution to this problem. Any suggestions are welcome.
I guess that's it for today... oh, shoot! I just remembered that I left my laundry in the washer. We don't have a dryer here in the appartment (most people let things air dry) so I'll have to go to the laundrymat (or however you spell that) and I don't think they'd be open at 10:15pm! Oh well, I guess that'll be a high priority for tomorrow, then!
So... to make a long story short, I won't be able to upload photos until I find a viable solution to this problem. Any suggestions are welcome.
I guess that's it for today... oh, shoot! I just remembered that I left my laundry in the washer. We don't have a dryer here in the appartment (most people let things air dry) so I'll have to go to the laundrymat (or however you spell that) and I don't think they'd be open at 10:15pm! Oh well, I guess that'll be a high priority for tomorrow, then!
Friday, June 1, 2007
Japan is so efficient
One thing about Japan that has surprised our entire team this past week is just how efficient they are. From big things down to little things, it seems that conserving space, resources, and time seems to be on the minds of Japanese inverters/tinkerers. Here are some examples that we've seen:
When throwing away trash, there is not one can or bucket, but three! One is for burnable trash (eg paper, cardboard, tissues, etc), one is for non-burnable trash (eg plastic bags, food trash, etc), and one is for recyclables (eg bottles and cans). In this way they can conserve on landfill space by burning the burnable trash and recycling the recyclable trash. Neat, huh?
Here's another way they are efficient. On the top of the tank lid of most toilets, there is a little spigot that turns on every time you flush to refill the tank. THis way, when you are done using the toilet, you can wash your hands in the water, which will be reused for the next flush. Ingenious, eh?
Japan's public transit system is surpurb, too. There are multiple train stations (usually either raised high or underground) that you can go to that have trains or subway cars comming in and out of every minute or two which go to every part of the city. Often times you'll have to switch trains (which can be really confusing if you're not sure what's going on!) but every place in Tokyo is within about a 15 minute walk of a station.
Well, that's what I got for today. I think tomorrow I'll talk about some of the big differences in similarities that Japan has. Until then, ja na!
When throwing away trash, there is not one can or bucket, but three! One is for burnable trash (eg paper, cardboard, tissues, etc), one is for non-burnable trash (eg plastic bags, food trash, etc), and one is for recyclables (eg bottles and cans). In this way they can conserve on landfill space by burning the burnable trash and recycling the recyclable trash. Neat, huh?
Here's another way they are efficient. On the top of the tank lid of most toilets, there is a little spigot that turns on every time you flush to refill the tank. THis way, when you are done using the toilet, you can wash your hands in the water, which will be reused for the next flush. Ingenious, eh?
Japan's public transit system is surpurb, too. There are multiple train stations (usually either raised high or underground) that you can go to that have trains or subway cars comming in and out of every minute or two which go to every part of the city. Often times you'll have to switch trains (which can be really confusing if you're not sure what's going on!) but every place in Tokyo is within about a 15 minute walk of a station.
Well, that's what I got for today. I think tomorrow I'll talk about some of the big differences in similarities that Japan has. Until then, ja na!
English Lunch Review
Well, today (Friday) we had our "English Lunch" at Waseda. They basically have been advertising to students that every week on Friday, people will be there to eat lunch and speak English with them in this park area in the middle of campus.
It was pretty cool! I got to talk with one of the "Student Impact" (Tokyo's Campus Crusade for Christ) staff member and a guy named Yagi (who goes by the nickname "Mei") for quite a long time. Today was _beautiful_! The sun was out and the sky was just cloudy enought to be pretty. Anyway, Mai seems eager to speak with me, even though his English isn't all that great. Tomorrow (Saturday), I'm going to hang out with him in Asakusa. He hasn't visited there either and wanted to explore the city. It's really funny... it is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo true how they say that the only way you can tell when you go from one district in Tokyo to another is that the signs say so. They are all squished together that you can't really tell quite where you are. It should be fun!
Pray that he would be he would be open and that I would have an oppertunity to share the gospel with him. Also, pray that language wouldn't be much of a barrier.
I took some pictures with him today, so I'll try some time to put those up.
Man! Sorry, ya'll! I keep saying that I'll put up pictures but I haven't had time. Ok, how about this. If you want picturs, leave me a comment. There should be a "comments" link right below this post. Give it a click and write me a comment. If you want to leave your name, click the "other" button and put it in there.
Ok, thanks, bye!
It was pretty cool! I got to talk with one of the "Student Impact" (Tokyo's Campus Crusade for Christ) staff member and a guy named Yagi (who goes by the nickname "Mei") for quite a long time. Today was _beautiful_! The sun was out and the sky was just cloudy enought to be pretty. Anyway, Mai seems eager to speak with me, even though his English isn't all that great. Tomorrow (Saturday), I'm going to hang out with him in Asakusa. He hasn't visited there either and wanted to explore the city. It's really funny... it is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo true how they say that the only way you can tell when you go from one district in Tokyo to another is that the signs say so. They are all squished together that you can't really tell quite where you are. It should be fun!
Pray that he would be he would be open and that I would have an oppertunity to share the gospel with him. Also, pray that language wouldn't be much of a barrier.
I took some pictures with him today, so I'll try some time to put those up.
Man! Sorry, ya'll! I keep saying that I'll put up pictures but I haven't had time. Ok, how about this. If you want picturs, leave me a comment. There should be a "comments" link right below this post. Give it a click and write me a comment. If you want to leave your name, click the "other" button and put it in there.
Ok, thanks, bye!
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