Vacation

Ok good fox! I’m off to Kyoto, Nara and Tokyo now to get some vacation. It’s expensive to travel in Japan, but I hope it will be worth it. I’ll travel with the Ching hanza tonight, and I’ll wake up in Kyoto tomorrow. A brief report is to come.

I wanted to go to North Korea on vacation, but I guess it wouldn’t be a vacation. It’s only one hour from here but probably, they won’t let me in so I’ll just skip it. I don’t think it’s dangerous to go there, the problem is that I’m an open capitalist who loves America. Kim Jong simply doesn’t like these kind of people so I’d probably get into trouble if they’d google me at the airport :(

And when I think about walking around in the streets of Tokyo with my i-pod and Big In Japan by Alphaville in my ears...ahhh...I can hardly wait to leave the lab.

Take care soo long...

The extended adolescence

Growing up is not easy. As an un mature adult, I can’t help fearing the fact that being adult seems to be….boring. So, by going abroad for one semester makes it easier to live like an extended adolescence.

First of all, being between 25-35 (+ a couple of years) is not old. We are raised to believe that time is running when we’re 30 and that we ought to settle down with someone and get married. Especially for woman, since we have that biological clock that’s ticking, we ought to settle down, get married and fix our lives. We compare our selves with our parent generation who had a fix job, two children and a new bought house in our age. Times are changing as Dylan said. Once and for all, being 30 is not old for not settle down!
Why do we have to get settle with one person? First of all, there is not ONE person but several that you might like in different situations, how do people decide who’s right and not? Sorry to say it, but there are so many adorable men in this world. Most of them aren’t as holes as most woman say. Who is right and who’s not?

Another thing that I don’t like about married people is that when they do get married, the individuality fades away as fast as cheap nail polish on an Indian summer.

But on the other hand, growing old alone don’t seem to be fun. And to raise children alone is cruel…it’s a catch 22.

You know you've been in Japan for too long when (Part III)

I thought this toilet was an urban legnd but I dont' dare to try the "music button"...



I was going to write about how elegant japanese woman are and that I kind of feel like Marylin Manson who just entered a perfect pink world, but then I got these flip flops as a birth day gift so I think I'll do it another time...

Every photo of the people at the lab have some kind of "rabbit move". I don't dare to ask them why or what i means, but could please anyone explain what this is? Should I start doing this?

I managed to go to the bank alone today and get my refund. My advice is; learn japanese before you go to the bank. Last time I was at the bank, they lady bowed so I bowed back and my intention was not to stop until she'd stop. So we keept on bowing back and forward for 5 minutes. It was a competition of last man standing. But I have up and the bank lady won... Please don't do this when you're at the bank, probably the bank lady has a boss who's watching her and she won't giv up until you give up.

Free riders

Desire must be human’s best friend and worse enemy at the same time. First of all, with desire, you feel pain, the unbelievable attraction to get something or maybe someone. That makes you suppress other things. But at the same time, it makes you work so it’s efficient. Imagine a life without desire, a life where you can get whatever you want or whoever you want.
I have this unbelievable desire right now to get this paper published so I can put the name on it. As I previously posted, the only way to get the name on the paper here is to be in Japan when it is being published.

So here is the strategy from now on; I finish the final version of the first paper in order to get it published, go on vacation, drink sake, spend time at Starbuck’s, read books and maybe write some kind of report and cook dinner for my friends for the rest of my time here. Since I wont’ get my name on the other paper anyway, I might as well take a long vacation and enjoy Japan from a tourist point of view. I got the scholarship for this trip anyway.

Sorry to say it people, but if it wont’ be visible in your CV that you’ve struggled then don’t do it. It’s just stupid to work hard for nothing. Work hard for something, that’s fine.

Just let the turtle illustrate what I’m trying to say. Now let’s guess which turtle is the smartest one…Simple behavioural test from animal models, applicable on human beings.

The truth is out there!

I went out in Fukoka this week end with a Canadian Girl, Diana (too) and I just simply have to review the club life in Japan out of a non feminist point of view.

Let’s start with entrance fees: for men 3000 yen (23 USD or 180 SEK), for woman 2000 yen (15USD or 120 SEK).

Woman could dance on the stage but not men.

The female bartenders wore little clothes. The male ones were fully dressed.

In that price, 2000 yen for woman, there were drinks included all night.

I thought it would be a really creepy environment with really drunk people. But actually there was nothing like that. No one got into a fight and they didn’t even have any security guarding the place.

This proves that alcohol policy is something that is ought to be taught instead of forbid young people to drink alcohol.

I have to say that the Japanese were really adorable. They were wild and crazy, not the way I am used to see them normally. Everything simply just comes out when they are out.

In the club, “happy coq” (suspicious name, I know), I meet a lot of American marines, who were on some kind of permission. Many Japanese women go to that club to find themselves an American man to marry, just so they can move out from their parents place. The Japanese guys were there to meet non Japanese woman, since they have a reputation of being “easy” compared to the Japanese woman. I actually had a 19 year old stalker (he looked like 15) who followed me the whole evening just because I talked to him for a short time.

And about the American marines, they were really cocky at “happy coq”! Since the Japanese women were running around them, their self confidence raised up to an unbelievable level. Please chill out. Back in Alabama, nobody will even look at you!

I had a great time at the place that kind of felt like a harmless meat market. When Diana disappeared, I could just start dancing with the Japanese around and have fun with them. That would not have been possible in Sweden. If I’d dance alone there, people would think “who’s that looser”. And from now on, I know that the Japan is more than just work work work because the truth is out there.

Diana wrote on her blog about "girls night out" from a more interesting point of view on this blog.

Nothing is interesting!

There are a few advantages when it comes to being in research. For instance the dead time between the experiments, the meetings and the paper writing. I usually read news or try to learn some Japanese. The problem when you read the news every day is that nothing seems to be important or interesting in the news world.

The only good thing about Kim Jong II bomb testing is to provide media with something to write about. It must be awful to be a journalist now days, nothing is really happening and in order to write about something at least, the news papers come up with stupid things to put on the front covers like “Katie Holmes not allowed to scream during labour”. WTF? I’m reading a news magazine, not a gossip magazine. If Kim Jong wouldn’t test bomb then that is the only news we would have to read.

I don’t say that I like war, but please, behave or just don’t write anything in the newspaper. The majorities of the texts produced in the papers and on internet is crap anyway.

They'll never take away our freedom!!!

I’ve previously written about the situation here in Japan for the poor little kids. They are constantly being watched by either their parents or by the school. The parents require them to be the best student, the best ping pong player and the best pianist. It’s a hard knock life for them! Even people who doesn’t even want to continue school are being put under pressure. Why can’t people just accept the fact that some people are meant to study at the university and some are not?

The religious free schools (read Muslim free schools) that we have back home in Sweden provides this kind of society .That is following;

Children should not integrate with other non Muslims. That could give them an idea of changing their religion and that means that the parents won’t be able to have them under their rules.

In the end, this whole drama thing comes to sex. That’s what it’s all about. To be clear, a woman is nothing else than an “orgasm machine” for the men and that’s why she ought to wear a wail, because men simply “can’t behave”.

To connect these two stories that I’ve noticed, the first one from Japan and the second one from my time in Lebanon and Swede, the conclusion is; Society needs to protect children from “dangerous” parents!

The main philosophy as a neo liberal is to have a small government who can leave us alone so that we can decide what to do with our lives. BUT at the same time, we need a government who can make sure that the liberal (parents) ones won’t suppress others to become un liberal (children).

I still remember the time when I asked my mom if she was happy about moving from Lebanon to Sweden and the answer got to be; I’m happy to get this social welfare protection but I’ve lost my children on the cost of that…
What she meant was that “we were not under her rule” like we would have been back in Lebanon.

My mother is the coolest mom though. She went against the river and allowed me to move out of my parent’s house to study in Uppsala and she encouraged me to go to Japan. That, if something, is really impressive since all of her friends never let their daughters move out before marriage.

And that’s why we need the government. It’s easy to think that humans free minded, and on one way, I believe in that. But in order to be free minded we need influences from other people. And that’s why we shouldn’t let the religious free school take over the country.

The picutre has....ehhh... nothing to do with the text. Let's just say that it's a symbol for freedom or something. (It's a view from my apartment that I get to enjoy every morning)

Priorities at the tram?

They say that one picture says more than 1000 words. How would you interpret this sign about priorities of the seats?

Top of the world?

Climbing a mountain is something everyone should do when they visit Japan. You'll get the excersize and if you bring a smoker with you, then you'll get a rest aswell on your way up. Here are some photos from the mountain climbing this week-end. Besides from the snake we saw, the only dangerous thing on this trip was the fresh air that 4 metropolitans had to bear in nature...

Google and the Stalker-goes together like a horse and carriage

Obviously, people Google other people and it’s not uncommon anymore not to admit it, even though, still, it’s a bit of a tabor. To google people means that you’re a stalker.

The fact is that if a person doesn’t Google you, than that means that they’re just not that into you! If they’d care about you, they Google you, but if not, they don’t waist any time on “googling” you.

The problem is that some people are really hard to Google, maybe because they have a common name or maybe because they just don’t leave any marks on the internet, If you want to google that person, you need to follow a certain procedure;

You start by writing the name+city or +company. If you don’t get any information, start by searching for other things, like a union he/she is a member of. Are they members of a certain sports club? And from that, which other people are members of that club? Search on their names and continue...

Google is really the best gossiper of our time. What did really people do before google? Read gossip magazines and hered reputations from 4 way sources???

Thank you Larry Page and Sergey Brin for bringing us google, you really are the geeks who were smart ennough to become rich on "the cool" peoples demands.

North Korea-Japan's problem?

The test bomb that were previously held by North Korea is something that USA won’t accept and the UN security council say that it’s something that has to be taken seriously. The extensive consequences that might occur probably depends on how the world reacts. How will for instance USA react? They can’t react against a country with nuclear bombs. It’s a difference to invade a country like Iraq without any nuclear weapons or bombs. Probably, USA won’t be able to do anything.

If USA won’t be able to deal with North Korea, than Japan is the most probable country to clean up this mess. Shinzo Abe is the new prime minister who, compared to Junichiro Koizumi, wants to change the international politics and the North Korean nuclear bombing is used by the Koreans to change the opinion in Japan.
Not only Japan but South Korea and Taiwan, with support of USA will be the countries forced to develop nuclear bombs.

What’s the point with the test bombing? Probably to get the attention of USA. What kind of reactions do they want? Maybe to return to the six part negotiations?

North Korea has been occupied by Japan and in war with the USA. The country is closed so not much is known about the country. The ideology is independence and to hate USA is one of the main conditions for the ideology. The Bush administration made it easy to do so. The leader is to be admired and to brain wash children to praise the leader is something that makes the country dangerous. The country is a pure threat to democratic countries. Communist countries where the people are starving and the leader is considered to be god should never under any circumstances be accepted. That’s why this ought to be taken seriously.

My moral sense

I've finally taken this Ethical test that has been rotating around at the internet. The questions are really hard I have to say and for some questions, my answer turned out to be the first thing I could think of. The good thing about the test is that it's only 12 questions.
I am 100% Ayn Rand and 99% Aristotle, wow. I knew that I kind of shared many of Rands theories but not like that! Rand is for many pepole (read socialist) a coldhearted objectivist with no moral sense, something I wouldn't agree on.
I thought I would be more cynics.

Your Results:
1.
Ayn Rand (100%) Click here for info
2.
Aristotle (99%) Click here for info
3.
Aquinas (82%) Click here for info
4.
Stoics (82%) Click here for info
5.
Nietzsche (75%) Click here for info
6.
Spinoza (72%) Click here for info
7.
Kant (72%) Click here for info
8.
John Stuart Mill (71%) Click here for info
9.
Cynics (61%) Click here for info
10.
David Hume (60%) Click here for info
11.
Jeremy Bentham (58%) Click here for info
12.
St. Augustine (57%) Click here for info
13.
Ockham (55%) Click here for info
14.
Epicureans (53%) Click here for info
15.
Plato (52%) Click here for info
16.
Jean-Paul Sartre (47%) Click here for info
17.
Prescriptivism (41%) Click here for info
18.
Thomas Hobbes (40%) Click here for info

The meat market?

The "Kunchi festival" arranges every year a market for people to go out, eat and have fun. It was kind of like a market we have back home. You could buy grilled corn, ice-cream, locally produced plates and than also meat...alive.

The chickens on the picuture is often caputred by children, put in a plastic bag and then transporet home. The children plays with the chicken and feed it until it gets big ennough to be eaten by the family.
The mini turtle...really small and Giga cute!
The less cute "pets" like beatles.

Kunchi festival

Every year in October, there is a festival arranged in Nagasaki with a huge market and a spectacular show. To get tickets to this show, you have to pay a lot of money and buy the tickets 2 years in advance.

I managed to get this ticket for free and was at this spectacular 4,5 hour show this morning. The show included dancing, geishas and some kind of theatre that showed the history of Nagasaki.

This shows when the people from The Netherlands enterd the port. The children are playing the music to put people in a "trans" condition.
Children playing the empiror.
This guy was carrying a huge "tower" all by himself. Whenever he started to rotate, the crowed got crazy and started to scream.
The dance of the geisha.


The creapy thing about this was the music that kind of put people in "trance". The huge ships shown on this picutres had tires made out of wood and were heavy. To rotate them requires strenght. As soon as the rotatioin of the ship started, people started screeming and jumping around...

The feeling of being a part of a sect where children are playing the music and where people are screeming as soon as a certain kind of behavour was made didn't feel good. The feeling that you had when you were a child and saw Sainta Clause is the same feeling you get when you'll se the geisha (if you were afraid of sainta clause).

Retired? No, I'm not tired

Old people work here. Back in Europe, people complain about how tired they are and how theirs shoulders hurt. How awful and stressful it is to combine the family life with the profession life. People are “worn out” and tired, 40 hour working week is terrible, make it 20 instead. Retired people “have the right not to work so why should they work” even though they are perfectly healthy?

The old ladies who’s gardening the university park are really cute in so many ways. They clean the garden, have green tea breaks together and work with enthusiasm. The times I’ve been complaining, I’ve felt really awful.

I’m twice their size and half their age, but still, they’re working harder and they never complain. They just do the job. Same thing with old ladies at the supermarket…

The old ladies should be sent on a field trip to Europe to teach us some working moral.

Under pressure

I have to lend in the first version of the scientific article we are about to publish tomorrow to the professor and I am not donne yet. This will be a long long night.

The system is; if we get it published during my visit here in the paiper, than I will get my name on it. If not, no name=no glory. That is a stupid system!

At least I got tickets to the Kunch festival this weekend. I heared that you have to book them 2 years in advance. And I didn't have to pay a single yen! Free is good.

BTW (back to work)

Be cool, stay in school!

I’ve been listening to Swedish radio this morning and they were talking about the school student’s lack of respect to the teachers. I have to say, moving from Lebanon to Sweden when I was young I really felt that the Swedish youth had no kind of respect at all. They were cursing, attending classes late, not doing the homework etc. Back in Lebanon, we got beaten up badly for these kinds of behaviour.

The new parliament would like to make the school more strict and disciplinant, with different rules that have nothing to do with the student’s ability to learn things. The school in Japan is completely opposite to the one back home.

By making the Swedish school like the Japanese school, the politicians manage to create students that can not be free minded, because they have to follow the orders of the professor. It suppresses the creativity and the spontaneity of each individual to become the way they want to become. By crating strict disciplinant laws that each student has to follow, we take the focus from the main task that the school has, which is to teach students things and give it a task to teach students to obey!

What the school in Sweden needs is not a strict hierarchy with discipline. The school has to teach students how to respect other peoples opinions, no matter if they don’t follow their own and how to behave against other people, not make them become something they aren’t.

I sometimes get the feeling about the fact that the authorities love power, and that’s why some people became teachers, in order to feel some kind of power. The past years when the teachers role has become less of an authoritarian, the status of becoming a teacher has decreased. I have another subjective example, my uncle. He has 3 childrens and he is purely mad at the school because he thinks that the schools teach his children to become free minded and that they’re not disciplinant enough (what he’s really afraid of is that when they grow up, they will be able to break free from him and he won’t be in charge of them).

Sometimes, I also get the feeling about the fact that people who has leading positions are psychos in some kind of way. They get this horney feeling from giving order instead of helping people.

Puberty is hard enough as it is. By forcing adolescence to be something they aren’t will, I think, make more people drop out of the school. And that is not cool.

Iojima Hill, not Iwo Jima Hill!!

What is better to do on a Sunday after having a 4 hour sleep, to much sake and karaoke the day before? A day trip to Iojima hill. Ok, this is not the Iwo Jima hill that Johnny Cash sings about in “The ballad of Ira Hayes”, but it could easily have been that hill. I was disappointed when I searched for the real spelling, since I thought that I did visit the “Iwo Jima” (it’s like finding out that you will se Robbie Williams but instead, you end up with Robin Williams).

About the Iwo Jima: During the pacific campaign of WWII between the US and the empire of Japan in 1945. Japan lost many man and the USA, as Johnny Cash sings, “There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill, Two hundred and fifty men But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again”. The overtake of Iwo Jima was important to the USA since it gave them a base on the way back to the states to land. The Japanese had their radar at the Iwo Jima hill which notified incoming B-29 (Boeing used in attacks). Iwo Jima was also used for incoming Japanese aircraft, heavily loaded with bombs and fuel.

About Iojima Hill: It's kind of a resort with spa and nice hills and a Costa Del sol. I'd rather wisit Iwo Jima instead.

The last photo shows the Japanese coast guard today. I'm glad that it doesn't have the same size today as it did during WWII.

The best of a "Japanese steotypical Saturday Night"

The Karaokep place. Really retro and wounderful. It looks like as if they haven't changed a thing since the 60's. Even the owner in the bar!

Second photo is a Duett with Kai , either "Something Stupid" By Sinatra, "Ring of Fire" by Cash or "Amazing" by Aerosmith
Third photo: Two Germans singing...
t...
Kai and Torsten,Two Germans trying to BBQ the Japanese way. They look pretty male even thought it's not a read bloody steak!