http://gaijzilla.com Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:17:59 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I bring you a cat playing a theremin. They sold these basic theremins, along with an instruction book, in most of the major bookstores in Japan. My friends and I would see the piles of boxes on display by the door. We called it the "My First Theremin Kit." ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/07/16/cat-playing-a-theremin/ You know when you think you know the lyrics to a song, but they turn out to be something completely different? The Japanese have a word for it, because they're pros at it. Soramimi Be sure to read the examples. http://gaijzilla.com/2008/04/24/soramimi/ I'm back in the US.  I've been here since April 2nd, trying to relax.  My Japan adventures have come to an end but that doesn't mean that gaijzilla is done with.  I have a lot more pictures to upload and a lot more tales to tell.  Keep checking back and ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/04/22/back-in-the-usa/ Don’t get mad, get even. I got screwed over by Softbank and there’s not much I can do except get revenge by warning other people.  Since it’s the end of March new ALTs will be coming into Japan for the new school year.  I want to counsel people not to get ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/03/27/fuck-softbank/ I'm making a slow catalogue of amusing and questionable Japanese signs. Train station in Kamakura 2/24/08 On a train 12/2/07 A van outside a clothing store in Kawagoe, Saitama 12/1/07 Tokyo Shibuya, Tokyo Tokyo Harajuku, Tokyo Shibuya, Tokyo 6/9/07 Shibuya Tokyo 6/9/07 Ashikaga, Tochigi On a train going from Isesaki to ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/03/04/see-the-sign/ The 6th years at my Thursday school are trying to make picture books. This mostly consists of them copying down Japanese phrases and then showing them to me determinedly, as if they could will me to know Japanese and translate the stories for them. But some actually try ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/02/25/odds-at-both-ends/ In a sake and sakura fueled euphoria, former ALT, Will Ferguson, swore to his coworkers that he would one day hitchhike the entirety of Japan in pursuit of the cherry blossoms.  Unfortunately, everyone around him remembered this unwise oath and reminded him about it for three years until he finally ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/02/18/book-review-hitching-rides-with-buddha/ Here's an article about Japanese men trying to say I love you. It's pretty cute and also heartbreaking in a typically Japanese way. http://gaijzilla.com/2008/02/15/say-it-with-cabbage/ An interesting note... every Japanese person who I've talked to on the subject wants Obama to be chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate (although no one has any vehemence against Hillary). No one has even brought up the Republican primaries.  No one has even acknowledged the existence of a Republican candidate. http://gaijzilla.com/2008/02/05/super-tuesday/  There's a store chain in Japan called Don Quijote. You can buy anything there from import foods, to furniture, to cell phones, to pet supplies, to sex toys. And it's open 24 hrs a day for your late night booze munchies. You can also buy clothing. Look how ... http://gaijzilla.com/2008/02/04/passion-type/