I actually typed a post yesterday and was fairly certain that I saved it, but given the fact that I was rather more than intoxicated at the point, rather than trusting myself to do it, it probably would have been better and safer for me to find a trusty bear in the forest, affix tiny spectacles to its eyes and teach it to use its flesh-rending claws to type whimsical missives about life in a foreign country. As a result of the uncooperative nature of bears around these parts, I was forced to type the entire post in a thoroughly inebriated fashion and apparently neglected to pay attention to the fact that I was clicking on the "quit without saving" button. In any case, this is probably for the best, as who knows what crazed nonsense my brain was forcing out through my fingers at that point. I have vague memories of it being sheer tomfoolery and gimcrackery, but now no one will ever know.
The building in the back of this picture is again from the trip to Osaka, as I've yet to upload any pictures from the Hokkaido/Tokyo trip. This shot is actually in Nara, the first real capital of Japan. The building is called the Daibutsuden, which means "Big Hall of the Buddha," and it is indeed rather large; it is apparently the biggest wooden structure in the world.
So earlier this week I tried saying the word "synonym" and spent about five minutes flubbering about with Ms and Ns like a candy factory possessed by vengeful spirits with a powerful love of nasal consonants. I knew that coming here would hurt my ability to speak English a little bit, but I didn't realize it would make me all kinds of specially abled. I swear, at this point it's only a matter of time before someone batters down the door to find me sputtering and roaring as I gnaw on fists full of socks, all walls covered in crayon and pillows glued to the ceiling.
Incidentally, the trip to Hokkaido and Tokyo was just great, I had the time of my life, saw the northernmost point of Japan, and never particularly want to see a regular-speed train again. After this, the big exciting trip I have planned is to go to China at the end of April with a friend so that he can visit his family. I had thought for a while that I wasn't going to be able to go, but now I think that as long as I can get a visa in time, I'm going to go - seven days in China with a native speaker willing to show you all around is simply too good an opportunity to pass up.
This Engrish is not actually quite as good as it seems - it is a package of trick poo-flavored or similarly ill-tasting gum, so it is possible that the choice of words was deliberate. Even so, a product with this name would never be kosher in the states, so it's still fair to point and laugh as far as I'm concerned.
- Gyaa! I'm give up
Naka-ku, Hiroshima
730-0803
JAPAN
