Hey all,
Yup I'm still still here. Had a rough week with many tests, but they went reaaonably well. Here's the scoop!
As for my camera, it's irretrievably lost, and I'm not going to be upset about it anymore. As for my computer, I'm mildly upset but I know I can get it working again eventually and the data is not lost. But, one more piece of technology failed on me that I absolutely can't stand....my contacts!
It seems that even precisely manufactured cups of plastic don't like to associate with me. After TWO DAYS with my brand new pair of 3-month contacts, my left eye one became caught in the lid of my contact lens and ripped. There's a nice hole right smack in the middle of it, and I cannot wear it at all. This means I will have to wear glasses for the rest of my time here, and probably for the next three months. Words cannot express my frustration.
On a lighter note, I will describe the Shana movie escapade that we had on Monday. After a half hour of wandering around the station, Haley and I finally went into a hotel to ask directions to the cinema. Due to the super duper map of the area that hotels usually have, we found it no problem. I picked a showing in the middle of the afternoon, so only people around our age ( and some old men) showed up. It was kinda cool, to be among the real otaku!
Well, after munching on some stale unbuttered popcorn, we entered the theater (in a very orderly manner, according to the order in which tickets were purchased). Again, it was a small screen.
The movie was mostly recap, but it was nice to see Shana on the big screen. With that ticket, which cost 1500 yen, we also got to see two other half hour anime movies. One of them was so funny, omg! It was Inukami the movie, and it was so undescribably funny that I won't even try. Suffice to say that I enjoyed it.
As we left, we stopped by a game center and played DDR. Surprisingly, there are not many DDR games left here, it has gone out of style. Instead, the Taiko game is really big right now, so we played that. You have to hit a drum in time to the music, its rather fun. Then we left!
Enough of that. Other than tests, there is not alot of stuff going on. Some news not related to Japan: I've got a job at college this summer, so I'll be staying at college for most of the summer. Also, during room draw I had my friend Kristen pick for me and she got me the biggest female single on campus! How about that?
Well, you may be asking, "What does the title of this post mean?"
I'll tell you- Golden Week is a (nearly) week-long holiday almost equivalent to the stretch of days between Christmas and New Years that alot of people have off. It is like and yet unlike to April Vacation, seeing as it occurs in the beginning of May and is a series of national holidays, not school vacation. And, it's about to start!
I'll let Wikipedia do the explaining for me:
"The National Holiday Laws, promulgated in July 1948, declared nine official holidays. Since many were concentrated in a week spanning the end of April to early May, many leisure-based industries experienced spikes in their revenues. The film industry was no exception. In 1951, the film "Jiyu Gakkou" recorded higher ticket sales during this holiday filled week than any other time in the year (including New Year's and Obon.) This prompted the managing director of Daiei Films to dub the week "Golden Week" based on the Japanese radio lingo “golden time” which denotes the period with the highest listener ratings.[1]
Many Japanese take paid time off on the intervening work days, but some companies also close down completely and give their employees time off. The longest vacation period of the year for most Japanese jobs, Golden Week is an extremely popular time to travel. Flights, trains, and hotels are often fully booked despite significantly higher rates at this time. Even some foreign destinations (such as Asian Countries, Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, and cities on the U.S. west coast such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco) are affected during this season by large numbers of Japanese tourists."
-Wikipedia.comYes, Japanese people do actually say "Goruden Ueeku" (Golden Week) when they talk about this vacation time. Here's the holidays of which it is comprised:
April 29
Shōwa Day (昭和の日, the Emperor Show's Birthday)
May 3
Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日)
May 4
Nature Day (みどりの日)
May 5
Children's Day (こどもの日) also known as Boys' Day (端午の節句)
Since April 29th is a Sunday this year, Showa Day gets observed on Monday. Which leaves Tuesday and Wednesday as "normal days" when schools and businesses operate, only to be closed again on Thursday and Friday.....huh?
I find this schedule to be ridiculous in the extreme! I mean, who is going to come to school or go to work for only TWO DAYS during a week that's mostly holidays and prime vacation time! I mean come on, why not invent some special meaning for the other two days and give them off too. They did it for "Nature Day" because it was sandwiched inbetween Constitution Day and Boy's Day and therefore according to the law, had to be made into a holiday. From the Wikipedia article and from what I understand from talking to people, I think most companies do just that and make it into a full week of vacation.
Here's a side note on Japanese vacation holidays:
Apparently, in 2000 they implemented a holiday date change called "the Happy Monday System (ハッピーマンデー制度)" (yes that's right, Happi Manday Shistemu) which moved a number of national holidays to Monday in order to have a long weekend. In America, that is a matter of course! What took the Japanese so long, I wonder.
The very fact that it is prime vacation time is the reason that I am not going to go anywhere. Plus the facts that I have no money left and finals are rapidly approaching, along with the myriad papers and whatnot that must be completed before that time. Therefore, I intend to stay close to home during Golden Week. Perhaps I'll go stay at Haley's for a couple of days to watch their big screen TV.
Speaking of Haley...tomorrow is her 21st birthday! To celebrate, we are going to DenDen Town tomorrow ( place where they sell all electronics/anime/video games in Osaka). We will also visit a keeki baikin (All you can eat cake restaurant) and at the end of the day, go karaoke-ing! Personally, I wish it was MY birthday. You can't ask for a better birthday than that!
Maybe on Sunday I will go to an event in Intex Osaka that is for "Akiba-kei" (anime geeks) and maybe I won't, cause I don't really know what's there. Perhaps I'll go to that manga museum in Kyoto...I don't know. My plans are very vague at this point, the only thing certain is Haley's b-day plans tomorrow.
Well, that's all for now, I'll make another post as events warrant.
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