Anti-American

Today I experience anti-american sentiment directed at me for the first time. It was really odd. I was sitting in McDonalds. Which is an odd place to have anti-american views as the man who didnt like me was drinking his coffee from the American company. So, i had my iPod on and was listening to loud music when out of the corner of my eye, i see this guy about 3 feet a way pointing at me and shaking his fist. I couldnt hear him due to the iPod but the vein throbbing on the side of his neck showed me he was angry. I muted my iPod and i hear this guy screaming at me at the top of his longs. He spoke both Japanese and Chinese which got me confused. He was probably 50-60 years old. He yelled at me calling me an America, Australian and Canadian. Apparently everyone not Asian was on his shit-list. So i told him in Japanese that i dont feel like talking and to please go away. Then he spoke Chinese. So i told him in my limited Chinese that i was tired and wanted to eat and then said bye. He kept going. Everyone was looking at me to see what i would do.

A manager came up to him and told him to sit down. He sat down 20 feet away but for the duration of my stay, he just sat there and yelled at me across the restaurant. I was a bit annoyed that the passive Japanese culture and lack of balls from the McDonalds manager didnt ask him to leave. Not only was he threatening me, he annoyed the others there.

I just continued to eat my fries and listen to his rant. I wanted to act, either say something a bit more harsh, or punch him. But the Japanese system isnt kind to foreigners who lash out at Japanese.

Audrey III

Audrey III
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

FEED ME! I got a Venus Fly Trap (a.k.a. Dionaea muscipula) the other day. I fed it a beetle that was dumb enough to land on me. It is quite interesting how fast it closes it's trap. Apparently the warmer and more humid the weather, the faster it closes. Needless to say, it is rather muggy here, so the trap is lightning fast.

4th of July!

4th of July!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Happy 4th all you Yankees back home! I had a 4th of July party here in the land of the Rising Sun. I bought a small arsenal of fireworks and had a BBQ along a river with friends. It was great. Beer, brats, Watermelon, Fireworks and friends.

I have to say, there are some cool fireworks over here. From what i saw in the States, the tend is to have more powerful home fireworks. Here the idea is to have more colorful and brighter fireworks. In the States the home fireworks may fly higher, but here they trail a large array of sparks a shorter distance but it sure looks good.

The odd part of the night is when a homeless guy who came over to tell us to stop hitting his blue tarp home. Apparently the fireworks after they went off had fallen on his tent. We offered him a brat to say sorry.

Next up, i have a baseball game this sunday!!