James Wynn

I’ve always found it irritating and trite when people post their personal and emotional woes on blogs. Yes, its a forum where at you can display whatever dribblings your mind can spit out, but all too often it seems that these gibberings are the same problems that everyone else has had, and has already read about so many times. Why not provide entertaining content, or a semi-original thought. Perhaps even just post your solution to your own problems. A blog is neither personal nor private, why treat it like a diary. Why do I care? I dont really. I dont read other peoples blogs, not often least wise.

Maybe you think this post in itself is a personal rant, and to you I pose a question and a statement. Why does it seem like every time I post on this blog Im drunk? Because the only time I have enough free time to post, I’ve already had enough free time to do the rest of my hobbies.

PS. Never have I said these posts would be logical, coherent, linear, or even suitable for audiences of any type.

Ok, I’ve been having an utter blast in Japan. I’ve met some amazing people and have seen some awesome things. All of the people I’ve met here (save two, which I wont go into right now) have been great. Im not sure if its just being in a strange environment together or what, but everyone I’ve met has been great and I’ve made so many friends. I hope sometime they will come visit me in Oklahoma (especially Yuko and Ayumi), but for right now Im just glad to have made such great friends.

BTW, if you havent noticed I’m currently typing off a wicked drunk. Was having a not so on-day so I decided to kill it with some good drink and better friends. I dont think I will ever bitch about how Japanese beer is so expensive in America, ITS MORE EXPENSIVE HERE!

I’ve noticed some very interesting things as of late. 1) I knew last summer when I left Japan that I didnt want to leave yet, but upon returning this summer I have realized that the reason that I dont want to leave is because (to me at least) it feels like home. Not just like MY home, but there is some quality about it that just makes me feel comfortable here. I dont really even notice most of the time that I’m in a foreign country or that people speak a different language. 2) Girls are generally the same all over the world (or at least America and Japan, as my experiences are somewhat to these places). I’ve heard skinny girls here in Japan still complain about needing to go on diets, and I’ve seen girls here just as crazy as any American girl. But, yet there is something that is a bit different about the girls here. As much as I would hate to fall in to the stereotype of ‘that American with the Japanese girlfriend’ I find that there is something strangly intriguing about Japanese girls. Its beyond the Japanese ‘look’, its something about the attitude, or possibly the personality that the society breeds — I’m not sure. Or perhaps I’ve just met one or two exceptions, the few random girls that are particularly ‘good’. Who knows. I’ve never claimed to be good at such evaluations.

Now for part two of the synopsis of my trip:
After a few days of aclimatization (real word?) I finally began my Japanese classes. These started slow, but with activities with the buddies wherein I spoke almost exclusively [bad] Japanese, my skill with the language slowly progressed. I can scarecly say I can always get my point across, much less that I am fluent, but I can often say what I mean to now. I visited various shrines and temples with the buddies, some of which I was able ot snag pictures of. We also attended a party, and subsequently hit up some karaoke action (pictures of neither [zanen]). I made some interesting friends and got to talk to many very attractive girls , but the party was too short to talk to any one person very long, so I went to karaoke with but a few friends. I’ve also eaten at some awesome restaraunts too; its amazing how little you want certain food when it just isnt available. But maybe thats just me, other people have been complaining.

BTW, I finally got a phone up here. If you want to email me hit up: jameswynn@k.vodafone.ne.jp
And when I say, ‘if you want to’ I mean ‘you god damned well better’

More Pics forthcoming…

Last semester sucked, the finals week that followed equally sucked, and between my intersession class, moving to a new apt, and preparing to leave the country, I was utterly overwhelmed. But now I’ve finally gotten to wind down here in Kyoto with some good friends from back home, and some awesome new friends from here at Ritsumeikan. I’m going to set up a gallery with pictures of all the stuff I see, and if you are lucky I might toss up some good Japanese slang for your amusement

If you’ve ever thought about studying abroad, and haven’t, and I mean for ANY reason, you need to stop your debating and do it. It is quite possibly the most interesting and enjoyable experience that can be had in college. The friends you meet are awesome, and the new perspective you gain from experiencing another culture are absolutely invaluable.

And now a synopsis of my first week in Kyoto in 20 lines or less:
It started with a flight like any other, huge lines and almost missing my first plane in OKC, transferring in Denver and almost missing that plane, and finally a 3 hour lay over in LA before my decently comfortable 11.5 hour flight to Osaka. The train from there to Kyoto Station was also long (~45min), boring, and uneventful, but once I got there and realized I didn’t know where to transfer to and had no idea how to contact anyone, it was extremely interesting. And by interesting, I mean very… disconcerting. I was too tired to really think straight, over paid on my locker, couldn’t figure out how to use the phones, and couldn’t remember any Japanese for the life of me, but in the end I found a little hostel to stay in for only 2300 yen (~$21) right before they closed. The next day I got it all sorted out through email and checked into the dorms and have been having a blast ever since, hanging out with my new Japanese buddies at karaoke and school, and drinking with my friends pretty much every night. Wednesday I went to Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) and then to a welcoming party where I met a ton of kick ass friends which then took me to karaoke. So in short, KYOTO KICKS FRIGGIN ASS HARDCORE MONKEY STYLE!!