China - Day 1.

Off to China on the 6 day, 3 city whirlwind.

The prelude of packing. I don't know when or how I actually became a disciple of Rick Steves, but his podcasts and travel philosophy totally work for me. Minimal packing... carry on luggage only.

I got six days worth of stuff in my Rick Steves Veloce [Messenger] Bag, my Rick Steves toiletry bag and in my Rick Steves Travel Neck Wallet.

Day 1, flying into Beijing, eating of the famous dish Peking Duck, and checking in to the hotel.

Check out those happy, enthusiastic tourist faces.



Chinese airline food was pretty good.

First surprise of the trip... we had signed up for a package tour, so that all the logistical nonsense of tripping about a country you don't speak the lingo is taken care of... so I expected to be one of those touristy types with another half dozen foreigners following around the guide with a flag.

Nope.

No other tourists, just Sandy and me.

Our own private tour guide, our own personal car.

In all three cities yet.

Pretty cool.

[Well, we had a van in Shanghai... but still, it was just us.]

So, anyways, this is our tour guide in Beijing - Jia'a Den. [No idea on the spelling there, sorry.]






Peking Duck was awesome.

Probably my favorite meal all week, not that the rest weren't good.




The hotel was... ummm... good enough.

For showering up and resting up, anyways.

Not the greatest I've ever stayed in... not the worst though. Though it was probably the worst I've stayed in in some time...

Come to find out that the Chinese definition of "3 Star Hotel" is highly variable from place to place.


Night time in Beijing from our hotel window.

Remember, Mao is Watching.

Mao is always watching.

What does my wife do on vacation?

She decides to reorganize my DVD collection.

She's got special issues, my wife.

[Like Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder.] :)

Early Christmas.

Since Sandy and I were gonna be in China on the holiday, we celebrated our Xmas early, on the 22nd, the day before we flew out.


In accordance with proper Japanese custom, we got our KFC Christmas Pack and a right proper Christmas Cake.

I don't care what Sandy says, I could eat KFC for Xmas every year.


Sandy's Gangsta Christmas.


Our limited, but spirited, Xmas decorations.

Part of Sandy's holiday haul... international shipping is a tricky thing.

[Hey, the rest was here when we got back from China.]


And my haul.

Just like America... cartoons on the TV [yes, that is a Charlie Brown Christmas - blessed be the internet], followed by the post-meal nap.

Pre China Weekend of Busyness, Part 4 - Helping out with Kathy's English class.

And my last "event" in the whirlwind weekend of stuff to do was helping out fellow Fukutsu JET Kathy with an English class/Xmas party she was helping out with.


Kids in Japan are almost unfailingly cute, so I volunteered to help out with the gaijin/English speaker/games portion. Easy [except for the whole "getting up early on Sunday" bit].


Kathy, in her natural teaching environment.




Sandy, in the spirit.


Kathy came up with all the games, including her awesome Santa Claus dress up game.


Sandy got into the holiday spirit totally let me put stickers on her face!

How cute is she? I mean, seriously?

YouTube Loop.

"Robert Anton Wilson tells it how it seems."

Man, do I love RAW.

"This is the sound of revolution"

"The voice audio I used in this video...

Video source: Rob Dougan - Clubbed To Death
Music source: Rob Dougan - Clubbed To Death
---------------------------------------
Here are the speakers for the video:
(following chronologically)
JFK- (ladies and gentlemen)
DAVID ICKE- (speaking on the status quo and fighting fear)
ALEX JONES- (eugenics and the nwo)
AARON RUSSO- (all the lies)
MICHAEL TSARION (some individuals are psychologically captive)
ALEX JONES- (you need to research this)
JFK- (our friends are in danger)
AARON RUSSO- (the microchip)
MICHAEL TSARION- (you have the power, you give it away)"

WMD LIES

The state of politics for the last eight years.

"Love Mattress" - I would totally buy one of these.

No, not what you're thinking.

But this... this would help solve one of the great relationship problems of our times.

Love Mattress Prototype by Mehdi Mojtabvi - Boing Boing Gadgets:

"I think this 'Love Mattress' concept by Mehdi Mojtabvi may have something to it. The middle section of the mattress is broken into slats, making it possible to wrap your arms around someone without cutting off your circulation, or sleep on your belly while sticking your feet straight down."

Pre China Weekend of Busyness, Part 3 - Kokusai Spirit Xmas Party.

So I get back from the rice pounding and start getting ready for that afternoon/evening's Xmas party for Sandy's Fukutsu City international group - Kokusai Spirit.

[Kokusai means international, for those of you playing the home game.]

It was good, we had some Christmas-y party foods and decorations, plus a Secret Santa/White Elephant/Gift Exchange and Steal extravaganza.


Where's Sandy?

There she is!

Performing the hard work of party preparation.



Kylie drew Jon. Ah, kids...

Anton stealing somebody else's Christmas Joy!

Okay, it was White Elephant, so he's not evil.

Officially, anyways. :)




And then, the best part, to get rid of some extra Xmas gifts we played "Battle Jan Ken Pon." Jan ken is the Japanese version of rock/paper/scissors, and this version of Battle Jan Ken, if you win - you attack. If you lose - you defend.

Watch the video to see how it worked.

It was pretty damn cool.

Cause hey, you get to hit people.



This one is Battle Jan Ken - Mother Versus Daughter - The Takamiya Clan!





The young lady [Saori? Sorry, horrible with names I am...] on the left was the absolute Battle Jan Ken Master. Reflexes like a coiled spring!

"The mujihadeen have no organized army and no industrial policy and they don't know where to find any.. God was supposed to handle all that for them."

Bruce Sterling speaks wise.

Bruce Sterling public interview on the state of 2008 - Boing Boing:

"Some people still think that there's an "Islamo-fascist tyranny" somewhere that hates our freedoms and can organize Islam-dom into a coherent fascist state... There's just no way. Al Qaeda and the Taliban aren't true "fascists." Fascists can at least make trains run on time. Even Communists were better-organized. The mujihadeen have no organized army and no industrial policy and they don't know where to find any. Because God was supposed to handle all that for them. You're supposed to die nobly in a crowd of unwitting strangers, and then God's supposed to make that all better. That's the big plan.

But when you blow up the china shop, God doesn't reassemble the plates for you. Being faith-based doesn't trump reality.

It's pretty good news that Al Qaeda is getting tired and losing its charisma. They've held center stage more than long enough.

I think "we" in the largest sense, planetary civilization, world culture or whatever, we're closer to a consensus idea of futurity than it's been since, say, 1997. It's a green futurity. People don't like it much, but they know it's coming anyway.

...Now the Americans have clearly lost the thread... the Americans are really just horribly out of it, they're like some giant fundie Brazil, nobody takes their pronunciamentos seriously or believes a word they say... Whereas the world is much more seriously global now. China and India are real players, they're part of the show and they matter.

Serious-minded people everywhere do know they have to deal with the resource crisis and the climate crisis. Because the world-machine's backfiring and puffing smoke. Joe and Jane Sixpack are looking at four-dollar milk and five-dollar gas. It's hurting and it's scary and there's no way out of it but through it."

Hucka-freude.

Hilarious.

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > One Cheer for Huckabee:

"I have to confess I'm enjoying Mike Huckabee's victory, even though I disagree with virtually all of his platform. Mitt Romney represents everything Americans hate about politicians: the empty man hungry for power and willing to say anything to get it, the privileged man who thinks he can buy an election without actually standing for anything. Intellectually I know I should prefer him to Huckabee. I'd rather my rulers be driven by personal ambition than by ideology, except in those rare cases where their principles bear some resemblance to mine. But for now I'm happy to let my visceral reaction to Romney rule my mood. If I can't have optimism, then at least I can have schadenfreude. If politics were a 1980s teen gross-out comedy, Mitt would be the Alpha Beta frat and the Iowa caucuses would be the revenge of the nerds."

Jackie and Jet - The Forbidden Kingdom. Gonna be a good year.

"How to Protect Your Health Against Toxic Behavior"

Worth remembering.

Cut 'em out like a cancer, that's what I say. And have done, for that matter.

How to Protect Your Health Against Toxic Behavior:

"What follows are specific patterns of behavior that I believe fall into the 'toxic-to-your-health' category:

1. Attempting to intimidate you by yelling or becoming violent in any manner...
2. Consistently talking down at you, sending the message that he or she is just plain better than you.
3. Regularly telling you what he or she thinks is wrong with you.
4. Slandering others behind their backs i.e. trying to engage you in gossip that is hurtful to others.
5. Spending the bulk of your conversations complaining about his or her life and others.
6. Discouraging you from pursuing your interests and dreams.
7. Attempting to take advantage of your kindness and resources, and trying to make you feel guilty if you don't do what he or she wants."

Pre China Weekend of Busyness, Part 2 - Katsuura Rice Pounding.

So the next morning I was out at Katsuura Elementary School for the annual mochitsuki - the pounding and making of the rice.

First, you smack the steamed rice with the big hammer, making it into a gooey dough. And when the kids do it, when the hammer is almost bigger than they are, it does give new meaning to the word cute.

And then the kids take the pounded rice and make it into a variety and flavors of mochi/rice balls.

[Daifuku is still the best, imo.]


But this is my 3rd year for the mochitsuki, so really, the only new thing rice related I learned is that pounding on the rice is a little harder when slightly hung over from the previous night.

Here's a couple of the adults, doing it the right way.






Actually, the coolest thing I saw that morning was a couple of the kids rough housing. And rough housing in Japan translates as well executed Judo techniques. Throws, reversals and pins... and the finish with the arm bar. Good stuff. Check out the vid.

Pre China Weekend of Busyness, Part 1 - Bagus Dinner and Drinks.

The weekend before Sandy and I headed to China I had 4 events, all of a psuedo-party, psuedo-responsibility nature, in the span of about 2 and a half days.

Kicking things off on Friday eve was the annual[?] Fukutsu get together of JET related gaijin and assorted friends and family. Good food and good drinks had by all.

The evening started off at Bagus and proceeded onwards, for some, to karaoke afterwards.

And for some of us dumber souls, drunken martial arts. [Ingredients - 2 former Marines, copious alcohol, testosterone... shake well.] That never ends well, a lesson I've continued to fail to learn, and in this case, ended with me being crushed nigh to... injury. After such stupidity, I headed home.

But for some hardy souls, all braver and better than I, there exists tales and legends of continued drinking and carousing, until 8AM the next morning.

God bless them, but by that time I was on to the next event.