Staffa

Here safe and sound!

2011-10-20T16:07:00.002+09:00

Well after 35+ hours in a row of being up, we are all here safe and sound. We are staying at a hotel that is situated close to the main train station which is really convenient when arriving by train... provided you actually know where you are going. I had a good idea of the direction that we were supposed to be heading in, though with two large suitcases and ma and pa kettle following in tow, things always seem to be farther than they appear.

When we disembarked from the train, we found ourselves in the middle of rush hour traffic, both pedestrian and vehicle- and I should say that "vehicle" includes buses, trams, cars and hella motor bikes or scooters - whatever you want to call them. We were all a bit tired, obviously, but I was determined to get us to the hotel in a way that caused no casualties. We took the first two turns correctly, and accidentally overshot our block by one street. Thankfully, after having lived in Europe I know that you have to look in the weirdest places for street signs, and the one we needed was mysteriously absent. Oh well - we forged on (in the wrong direction) and continued on our way. As we took the next turn, we heard helicopters over head, and noticed that police cars and motorcycles were blocking off traffic for some sort of motorcade. After a bunch of police vehicles zipped down the newly cleared streets followed by the typical black sedans. I joked and said "look, it's Silvio Berlusconi" knowing full well that we'd have no idea who was actually in the cars- or so we thought. There was one silver sedan in the midst of the funeral-esque motorcade- inside the sedan there was a strange yellow glow, and a grey haired man with a white cap on his... holy crap it's the Pope. Within 10 minutes of being in Rome, we saw the freaking pope. Check that off the bucket list. I tried to tell my mom that this means I'm set for life and never have to go to church again. She didn't buy it.

South African Observations

2009-09-29T16:17:00.001+09:00

In my short time here I have made some observations about the people, the culture and the lifestyle. These are just my observations of a unique country I was able to travel for 10 days.

1. South African urinals are unusually high up on the walls. I literally have to pee up to arch it into the urinal. Trust me, they are placed rather high on the wall....or I have shrunk in height.

2. The ghettos here make the ghettos in the USA look like Beverly Hills. Rappers rapping about hard knock lives should come to the shantytowns here. I saw a card board box "hair salon" with the "S" backwards. I saw a tin-walled "night club" called Club Fantasy. These shantytowns have everything, hospitals, bars, homes...but you wouldn't want to spend more than 12 seconds in one of those ghettos.

3. The drivers in the rural parts of South Africa are rather polite. Anytime you come up on someone driving slower than you, they move onto the shoulder and let you pass.

4. Police cameras that "catch" you speeding suck. I think this is cheating. They didn't "catch" me. If they send me a ticket with a picture of my car speeding, im gonna send them a picture of the cash they want me to pay.

5. Walking around the city centers (centres) of a South African city at 10pm looking for a place to buy beer is not a good idea.

6. Apartheid is still alive in South Africa.

7. 81% of blacks in South Africa are unemployed. 6% of the whites are unemployed.

8. There is a saying here: "In London they have watches, in South Africa they have time." Things here don't happen on time. Case in point, I ordered lunch with two of my friends. It was not a busy time of the day. We all ordered our dish. After 25 minutes my two friends got there meals. I asked where my warthog meat pie was (seriously) and the waitress said, oh I forgot. That will be another 45 minutes until I bring it out. What? Not Cool.

9. To get details out of a South African is rather hard. I stopped by another restaurant near the Southernmost point of Africa. I went in to the nice cottage with it's door wide open at 11am. I asked the waiter if they were serving lunch. "No we only serve breakfast and dinner, not lunch here" he replied. I continued with "ok, can I have some breakfast, it is 11am." He slowly answered "no sir, we are finished with breakfast." "Ok" I said, "What about dinner." Again in a slow paced voice "No sir, it is too early for dinner." I stood inside the open door and said "ok, can I get any food to eat?" "No sir, we are closed." Well tell me that when I first opened my mouth! And shut the damn door. And flip your "open" sign to "closed".

10. GPS is not infallible.

11. South Africa has a weird balance of stunning beauty, and terrible dirty trash laden cities.

I need your ideas/help

2009-03-12T01:05:00.001+09:00

Ok, so I am working on a project and I would like some of your suggestions. I won't bore you with the full details of my project.

I am trying to build a list of interesting/curious "firsts". It is fine if we know the answers, that isnt the point...I just need unique firsts. For my project I am researching "firsts". Like;

a) Who was the first human to skydive?

b) What was the first mp3 song?

c) Who was the first paying passenger to survive a plane crash?

d) What was the first email message?

and

e) Who was the first cop to be shot with a bullet proof vest?

If you have any "firsts" you are curious about, please post them.

Thanks!

天王寺英会話

2009-01-13T17:58:00.000+09:00

天王寺英会話

僕はマイケルズイングリッシュスクール　天王寺校のマネージャーをしています。

場所は天王寺のルシアスビルの向かいです。

英語を勉強したい人やスクールを探してる人は連絡ください。

レッスンは月謝制で１レッスン６０分のグループレッスンや４５分のプライベートレッスンがあります。

無料体験レッスン受付中です。

ＴＥＬ　０６−４３９７−０１７０

ホームページ　

Japanese Clock System

2009-01-10T17:42:00.003+09:00

Ok Japan, So we all know that speaking your language is hard. Fine, writing your language is really hard. Most people outside of Japan rarely fully understand your culture too. I realize that the art of bowing is a little confusing too. So, congrats on confusing those who visit or try to live in Japan.

BUT WHAT THE HECK JAPAN?! What is going on with your clock system. Honestly. I understand you like the idea of a 24-hour clock. I'm used to Army Time. (Thanks Dad). Who in the world has a 26 hour clock?

Today I was looking online at the NFL playoff schedule and one game is on at 26:55. The date is 1/11. Does that mean it is on 1/11 at 2:55am? Or since it is continuing the 24 hour clock for January 11th, does that actually mean it is on 1/12? When is the game?

Maybe I can understand things that say 24:15. Maybe. But 26:55. Who do you think you are?

And yes smarty pants, I can go online and check the game time in America and use an online time converter to change the time to Japanese time, but talk about a hassle.

Japan, you think you are so cool with your big clocks. And don't even get me started on the year system here. It is what, the 22nd year based on how many years the emperor has been in "power". Who are you kidding.

Beijing Olympics

2008-09-01T15:27:00.003+09:00

Hey Everyone,

The theme of this lengthy blog is the letter "F". Mainly, Fans, Flags, and Food. Other words such as: Fun, Fat, Food Poisoning, Funky Smell, Felons, Flynn, Ferry, Fight, and Fuwa, are also sprinkled throughout this email. ("Fuwa" being the Chinese word for the Olympic Mascots....of course).

If you don't know, I don't like being in the same place as thousands of other people. I'm not a big fan of crowds. I'm not claustrophobic, I just don't like elbowing little kids in the face accidently because some mass of people shoved me forward just to get on a bus. So with my lack of affinity for crowds, I reluctantly decided to go to the Beijing Olympics. With a billion people already in China, I wasn't so excited to be there for such a huge event. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Before my girlfriend (Yuning) and I boarded our boat for China I was starting to realize that the Olympics just might be a lot of fun. Yes, I said boat. Ship is probably a better word, with ferry actually being the correct term. We looked at the airplane costs to fly to Beijing and taking a ferry was 80% cheaper. Yes, we saved 80% on the ticket price to take a two day boat ferry to China from Japan. But what we saved in money we gained in time. 2 hour flight versus a 2 day cruise. The ferry wasn't all that bad if you viewed it as part of the vacation. I actually had time to read a Vince Flynn book from cover to cover. But if you viewed the ferry simply as transportation (as Yuning did) you would get bored quickly. The ferry did have 2 restaurants, 1 bar with karaoke, 1 ping-pong table, and 40 illegal dvd's from China for you to watch on your TV. We shared a room with two Mongolians. In our room was a TV, a sofa, 4 beds and a large window....and also a rather strong funky smell. Apparently Japanese Kimuchi (spicy cabbage) is better than Mongolian kimuchi and the container that our roommates had wanted to bring back exploded in their suitcase in the room. Kimunchi shrapnel everywhere! So for two days it smelled a little funky. I did enjoy the boat however, it didn't rock much, no one got sick and the illegal dvd's made me laugh.

What I didn't laugh at was when we got to Shanghai and the Chinese police stormed (ok... quickly boarded) our ferry because there were 4 felons on board who were being deported back to China. These 4 guys stuck out like a sore thumb on the boat and I pegged them as a bit odd right away. They looked like felons. But they wondered around the boat and drank at the bar for two days creeping everyone out. But the cruise ship staff (ooops, ferry staff) didn't tell us who they were until we got to Shanghai.

So we made it to the port of Shanghai which unlike most large city airports was right in the heart of downtown Shanghai. We met up with some of Yuning's relatives in Shanghai. I don't know if it is Chinese Culture or just my girlfriend's family, but they like to eat, and they like to make you eat. I learned this last time in China. Prior to this trip my girlfriend and I dieted. I lost 3kg in anticipation of this trip. Long story short, I ended the trip gaining 4kg. So only +1kg in my eyes. Seriously, I like to eat but this was almost torture. Maybe that is Chinese torture. I remember having a spoonful of soup in my mouth, my other hand holding a pair of bamboo chopsticks desperately grabbing some dumpling....only to be ordered by her grandma to "EAT" whatever the other food she was pointing at. It is physically impossible to eat 3 things at once. Even that Japanese hot-dog guy Kobayashi couldn't have kept up with the pace I was on for 2 weeks straight. One day, thankfully away from the relatives, neither of us ate breakfast nor lunch due to our enlarged tummies.

After 4 days in Shanghai and all the food ever cooked in the city, we boarded a night train for Beijing. The train was great with it's bar and restaurant and sleeper beds. It would have been cooler if I didn't have food poisoning and the bathroom were those european style ones....you know the ones.

We arrived in Beijing and immediately had breakfast, much to my dismay. Out of all the Chinese words I know, "eat" is the one that strikes the most fear in me.

I must say, the difference between the last time I was in Beijing and this time was monumental. Every taxi in Beijing was replaced with new ones. Each train in the subways were replaced with new trains with tvs in them to watch the olympics while you zipped around the city. Chinese government ministers had gone through Tian'amen Square picking up cigarette butts. The stoic Chinese Army guards actually responded to you when you said "Ni Hao" to them. The government spent almost a billion dollars on tree and flower plantings to green up the city. It was completely different then the last time. People had been directed not to spit on the streets (a nasty, hopefully former, habit of Beijingers....Beijingites...Beijingese?)

Wow this blog is getting long, but stay with me people!

The next day Yuning and I headed off for the 2008 Olympics. In my USA shirt and flag I boarded a bus to get to the Olympic rowing stadium to go to watch a St. John's Johnnie compete in the 8 man regatta. On the sardine-packed bus, some woman yelled (in chinese) "Don't touch me" with a Chinese man quickly replying "I'm not trying to, it was an accident". Then a verbal onslaught began. The two going at each other. At that time, Yuning said "Don't be so annoying, you are making China look bad". One person clapped and the man shut up, but woman kept pushing the argument. After 10 minutes of her yelling on a bus where we were all sandwiched together, another person had enough and shouted "Get off the bus". The woman shot up in the air and snapped "Who said get off the bus?" Immediately responding were 10 strangers who in unison proclaimed "We all said get off the bus" after which the whole bus, sans the annoying woman, erupted into applause. It was something so fun to witness and something that would never happen in Japan.

We got to the rowing stadium only to have it canceled due to rain. The following day we went and the sun was intense and the sky a deep blue. The weather was great. I found the USA rowing coach and told him to tell the SJU alum that there was another Johnnie in the crowd cheering for him. He politely obliged. The Johnnie went on to get a bronze medal in the 8 man rowing event. Rowing was done, off to Track and Field for day. We had a day ticket to the Bird's Nest. Walking into the Olympic park was amazing. I was blown away and being dressed from head to toe in USA and China apparel I was beginning to get caught up in the olympic spirit. We watched the 100m, 800m and lots of field events. Our seats were up high but cleverly found our way down to the lower level! The stadium was even more amazing in person. It is huge and well designed. The Chinese were so friendly. I was cheering for China and yelling in Chinese to support their athletes. The Chinese around me were so happy to hear me support them and be decked out in USA stuff, they more than 20 people literally lined up to take a picture with me. The friendliness of the Chinese all throughout Beijing was real, it was everywhere.

After Track and Field we wondered around the Olympic park. We looked for athletes and took pictures with them. We looked at the various culture tents that taught people about the 42 different cultures in China. 42 different dialects, 42 different traditional clothes. If you saw the opening ceremony you saw 42 children carrying the olympic flag, they were representing the 42 unique cultures in China.

At night we walked around the outside of the basketball and baseball stadiums. Each stadium was so unique and actually I took more pictures of the buildings than the events we went too! We ended the night by going to swimming in the Water Cube. Save the best for last! That was so amazing simply to enter the building. The funny thing is that we didn't actually buy tickets to the Water Cube. Online prior to the Olympics they were like $300 each so we opted to skip it. When we got to Beijing and saw the Cube, we felt we HAD to get in there and see the inside. a spur of the moment idea came to me as 2 old dutch woman (according to their shirts and face painting they were dutch) came out of the Cube. I asked them that since they just walked out of the Cube, theoretically they could turn around and walk back in. They said "yes". So I asked them if they were going to do that later in the evening. They said "No" and gave us their tickets and told us to enjoy and not to forget to support the dutch swimmers. I kept my promise upon finding our/their seats INSIDE the Water Cube, seats that for us were FREE!

The Olympics was truly something I will never forget. I will forget seeing the Chinese Army missile launchers next to each stadium to shoot down terrorists planes, but I will never forget the beauty of Beijing, the friendliness of it's people, the fun of being with Yuning in her hometown supporting China and being proud to cheer for the USA, China and even Japan (although cheering for those 3 countries really confused the people in the seats next to us!).

I recommend getting to any future Olympic games.

I made an online gallery of my Beijing / Shanghai pics. Check them out at http://gallery.me.com/mtstaffa/100058 (or click on the title of this article!

So that was a really long blog and for those that are still reading....thanks!

Until next time!

Dentist

2008-04-08T18:12:00.002+09:00

Ok, so i'm back. Sorry for the delay. I have been.....busy.

Ok, for today's story. I went to get my teeth cleaned in Japan. I had Yuning come with me a few days earlier to specifically tell them that I wanted ALL of my teeth cleaned. Why would I have to specify that? Well, because I went to a different dentist to check the cost and they asked what I wanted cleaned. Apparently I had the option to clean either my gums, the front faces of my teeth, in between the teeth or the backs of my teeth (or any combo of those). Who would have thought I had to tell them which teeth to clean! I thought you go in, they clean it and you are out. Not that simple in Japan.

So we went to another dentist and he said he understood to simply clean all my teeth. I guess it wasn't that simple. The next day I went at my scheduled time. I sat down, put on a bib, spit some water into a sink....the usual. Then 18 minutes later I was out. They only cleaned the front 8 teeth on my lower jaw. Add to that, they only cleaned the front faces of those 8 teeth. They never even touched my molars let alone my upper teeth. What the hell Japan! I had him write down just what he did (In Japanese) and showed it to Yuning. Apparently the doctor looked at my teeth and only clean "the dirty ones". WHAT?! Can you imagine going to get your hair cut and the lady only cuts "the long ones". I honestly don't get this country.

Japanese Wedding

2007-09-23T18:10:00.000+09:00

Tonight, Yuning and I are going to a Japanese wedding. It is our friends Yuki and Ayumi getting married. This will be our third wedding in a year, and all three in different countries! We went to a wedding in China, USA and now Japan! Should be fun!

Chinese in a Japanese Kimono

2007-09-23T18:07:00.000+09:00

Yuning and I went to a Japanese festival the other week. It was a lot of fun. We had the day off, got some beers and walked around the festival. There were food stalls and vendors selling chances to win a prize at their games. It was cool to see Yuning dress up in a Kimono too!

Business Hours

2007-09-03T12:26:00.000+09:00

I think Japan is a good country, but something they do here are just insane. Japanese love rules and following them. The like to make guidelines. They love to give the customer all the information they might need. But I see it as a bit annoying/confusing as well as pointless. Here is my most recent example.

So, you want to go to the "Osaka Museum of Housing and Living" right? (say "yes" for the purpose of this post!). Well, lets pick up the information pamphlet and check out their hours of operation! (the following quote is taken directly from an information guide)

"CLOSED: Tuesday (Wednesday if Tuesday is a national holiday). Days following national holidays (Except when the holiday is Sunday). The 3rd Monday of each month (Following Wednesday when Monday is a Holiday). Dec 29-Jan 3rd. *Regardless of the above, the museum will be open on April 29, May 3-5. **The Museum may also be closed occasionally on other days."

WHAT?! So wait, is it open on the Tuesday following the 3rd Monday if the moon was full after 6pm? What if there are more then 6 clouds in the southern sky?...then is it closed? I mean COME ON JAPAN! Does anyone else think this is a bit crazy?

Vikings!

2007-07-02T21:31:00.001+09:00

So I was biking around my neighborhood and i saw this sign. It is a restaurant. I dont know what kind of food they have. But you can order their food "Viking Style". I imagine you get big battle axes when you walk in the door. And you have to scream your order. There must be free refills on the glasses of grog or whatever Vikings drank.

Actually, i did some more research and "Order Viking Style" really means that the restaurant is a buffet style restaurant. Odd i know. And they dont pronounce the V sound, Japanese say it as "biking". Odd.

Cucumber soda? Pepsi Cucumber hits Japanese stores

2007-06-14T00:13:00.000+09:00

What? Every day Japan does something that makes me say that word. Here is the new wacky Japanese thing. (side note, i have yet to see this first hand)

"Japanese are staying cool as a cucumber this summer with 'Pepsi Ice Cucumber' - a new soda based on the crisp green gourd.

The soft drink, which hit stores here on Tuesday, doesn't actually have any cucumber in it - but has been artificially flavored to resemble 'the refreshing taste of a fresh cucumber,' said Aya Takemoto, spokeswoman of Japan's Pepsi distributor, Suntory Ltd.

'We wanted a flavor that makes people think of keeping cool in the summer heat," Takemoto said. "We thought the cucumber was just perfect.'"

All i can say is, What!?

Click on the title of this entry to see the full "news" story.

Great Concert!

2007-06-09T05:42:00.000+09:00

I just got back from the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" concert at Osaka Dome. It was amazing! It was my first major concert. I have been to a handful of small concerts, but this thing was crazy! They had massive displays with lights, tvs, etc. It was a great show. The funny thing is that Japanese people dont really move around much. They just kinda stand there. Also, i tried to use my phone as "lighter" and wave it in the air, you know, like you see a group of people do that with lighters....well the Japanese security man (who was smaller than me) told me not to do that. They dont want anything shiny to effect the singers. yah, cause the smoke, fireworks and huge spotlights on them doesnt effect them either huh! Crazy. But an awesome show!

Who Sleeps in a Fridge?!

2007-06-05T10:35:00.000+09:00

Last week I took the bullet train up to Tokyo to meet with officials at Camp Zama US Army Base. I have signed a contract with them to do comedy shows there for the troops. I spent two nights there, so i needed a place to sleep. But Tokyo is quite pricey. So, I will do what everyone else does. What i did, doesnt even surprise people in Japan. It is the norm. They are cheap places to crash if you missed the last train or too drunk to drive home. Rooms range from $20 to $40 a night. I slept in a "Capsule Hotel". These are little cubes, about the size of a fridge tipped on it's side. Inside you have a nice bed, a tv, radio, clock, mirror, AC and little shelf. There are rows of these capsules, stacked 2 high in rows of maybe 100 or so. It was amazing but i actually slept well! I actaully decided that sure there are Ritz hotels, and Hyatt's, but when the lights go out, all the bedrooms are the same!

Amazing iPod

2007-05-21T23:49:00.000+09:00

So this little 1st Generation is AMAZING! I have had this little device for almost 2 years (i think) and it has weathered a lot of storms. First i kicked it when it was connected to a computer at work, bending the usb connection but still working. Then just the other day, I did a load of laundry and with it my iPod. Halfway though the tumble cylce, i heard a faint bang sound so i reached my hand in to see what it was. Then i pulled out the iPod. Needless to say i was NOT happy. But i put a hair dryer to it, and let it sit in the sun for two days.....and it WORKS!! Amazing!

Okinawa!

2007-05-06T11:56:00.000+09:00

Okinawa was great! Yuning and I went SCUBA diving twice. Once was a cave dive!!! The colors were amazing. We did see lots of military people around. We went to an uninhabited island for my birthday and went diving there and had a BBQ on the beach! It was a great week!

Okinawa!

2007-04-29T16:34:00.000+09:00

Hey Everyone,

Im off to Okinawa tomorrow for a week. I will be sitting on the beach drinking a cold beverage with Yuning for my birthday. Should be a lot of fun. I will try to post pictures when i get back!

The Crazy Crane Game

2007-04-16T20:24:00.000+09:00

Sure America, you might have that claw game where you get stupid stuffed animals. Sure you might be able to pick up plush toys to give to your sweethearts. But can you get something ALIVE from your crane games? Didnt think so. But in Japan, not only can you claw for something alive, you can also eat it!

Check this pic out. What i dont know is how you get it home!

What the HELL Japan?!

2007-04-05T22:40:00.000+09:00

Got a baby you dont want in Japan? Just drive to your local hospital and open the anonymous hatch and drop your baby you dont want anymore into the hatch where it slides into an incubator. Then a bell dings inside the hospital and someone picks up the baby you didnt want. This is CRAZY i think. It is such an odd thing and so Japanese. This country really does a lot of things that frustrate me. Click on the title and read it! Post your comments!

Cherry Blossoms!

2007-04-04T10:40:00.000+09:00

It is Cherry Blossom season in Japan! This is one of the few times this concrete jungle looks like a beautiful contry. The city is full of pink blossoms. People picnic in the park and drink all day. It is a good time to be in Japan.

Natures Alarm Clock

2007-03-25T11:09:00.000+09:00

Click on the title of this blog entry to see what woke me up. It is a CNN report about the earthquake that hit northern Japan. I have felt a few minor quakes here before. Those feel odd themself. It seems like your head is shaking a bit, then you have a short headache. But this one was different. I was actually worried during this quake. (and yes, DURING). This lasted a long time (in my opinion). I was sleeping when the apartment started shaking. I work up and being tired I was in bed thinking what was going on. Then a few seconds later I figured it out and jumped out of bed and put on warmer clothes. I thought if I had to evacuate in a hurry, i better have some clothes on. I put on clothes and hurried to the living room to see if I could see things shaking. I also turned on the TV to see what the warnings were. The warnings are in Japanese but they have a map of Japan showing where the quake started. By that time, the quake ended, but it was freaky. This was my first quake that I felt a bit worried about. Oddly enough, I was just thinking last week that i have been here for 2 years and never felt a "powerful" quake. And then there is a good sized quake! Maybe if I think about the fact that I have been here for 2 years and never found a million US dollars!

"Blonds are Dumb"!

2007-03-24T08:43:00.000+09:00

Japanese politics are crazy. I have complained before about the racsim in this country. Japanese think they are the best and that everyone else is dumb. Well, now they have the Foreign Minister saying it on record.

"Japanese are trusted. If (you have) blue eyes and blond hair, it's probably no good," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said.
Click on the link to read the CNN article.

Shark Energy Drink

2007-03-16T21:49:00.000+09:00

I just negotiated my first sponsor my Comedy Troupe. We got a company that is a rival to Red Bull called Shark Energy Drink. They are the biggest energy drink in Southeast Asia. They teamed up with us last week. Our job is to have their logo everywhere our logo is. We will have their poster on the stage next to ours. What we GET from them is.....$500 a month cash to use for promos, fliers and posters. Plus they pay for our custom shirts with our logo on the chest and their logo on the sleeve. It is a huge deal and it is really fun to think of a comedy group to have a sponsor!

Post Office

2007-03-13T01:02:00.000+09:00

I went to the Post Office to mail a letter today. I was blown away by what I learned today about Japanese Post Offices. I tried to mail a letter today. I needed an envelope. Well, I was told by the Japanese Post Office worker that "we dont sell envelopes here." WHAT?! How in the world does a post office NOT sell envelopes. Dont they go hand in hand. That is like a (insert funny analogy here). I cant believe it. Can you? If you have any fun analagys to the fact that a Post Office doesnt offer envelopes...post them here.

For the record, I had to go 10 minutes away to a grocery store to get envelopes. A GROCERY STORE with envelopes?! AHH Japan, sometimes I just cant figure you out!

Right Mindset?

2007-03-09T22:38:00.000+09:00

I read a story about the different attitudes towards giving birth between Japanese and Chinese. The Chinese believe the expecting mother should eat as much as she wants and gain as much weight as she can, that way the baby will be big and healthy. Seems to make sense to me.

Then there is the Japanese mindset. They believe the woman should diet. She should try to lose weight. That way the baby is born small and thus causes less pain for the mother. What do you think about these two ideas?

It seems the Japanese are not thinking of the health of the baby, just the comfort of the mother. I feel that maybe if it is "more comfortable" for that moment of child birth, the comfort would dissapear as the mom tries to get the baby to gain weight and be healthy.

There is a Chinese teacher at work and she was telling me the two different views on childbirth. What do you think?

Army Mascots?!

2007-02-22T00:40:00.000+09:00

If you dont know, Japanese people love mascots. They love cute little characters. Everything here has a dumb little chacter similar to Pokemon. They are really annoying. This country does not appear to be too mature.

Today i read that the Japanese Self Defense Force has their own cartoon mascot. This mascot is aimed to improve their image in Iraq.

In the title of this blog, there is a link to their national news article about it. In it appears the following quote from a critic of the mascot. "This could only happen in a country that is so open to immaturity," said Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist and author. "Authorities here feel it's easier and less threatening to use characters to get the public to accept them, rather than explain the facts."

The WORST quote / statement was as follows; ""Everybody loved it," said Aki Tsuda of the Foreign Ministry's aid department.
Some have even suggested that Captain Majed was the reason the Japanese trucks weren't attacked during the2 1/2-year mission there."

WHAT! Iraqis didnt shoot the Japanese trucks because they thought they were cute?! I cant imagine some guy with a gun and a turban getting angry at the West, then seeing a stupid mascot and putting down his weapon to rush out and buy a plush stuffed animal mascot becuase he was so moved by the cuteness of the drawing. Give me a break! I think a military is there to fight, and at the end of the day....kill. Not have cute mascots plastered on their trucks.

Beer + Red + Black = Not Good

2007-02-17T01:05:00.000+09:00

The other day i went to a bar and ordered a beer. When i go to a new bar, i like to try different beers. I ordered something called a "Red Eye". Now i think i know a thing or two about beers, but i didnt know what a "Red Eye" was. If you reading this does, then you are really smart.

What it turns out it was, to my surprise....was beer mixed with Tomatoe juice and if that wasnt bad enough, the real kicker was that they sprinkled Black Pepper on top. At first it looked cool, but it was actually horrible!

So stay away from "Red Eye's".

Comedy for Companies

2007-02-13T12:04:00.000+09:00

Last week I was pretty bored. So I went online and found there are 190 U.S. Companies with offices in Osaka. I searched and found 40 of those companies had a number of foreign employees living in Osaka. Companies like Proctor and Gamble, Motorolla and Sharp. I wrote them all letters proposing that my comedy group do a private show for them.

I don't expect many companies to actually hire us, but i'm hoping they will look at the website and maybe talk about my group to other people. We do have one private show next week in Kobe but this was not a result from my mass letter mailing.

Also, i'm going to write to some of the 90 U.S. Military bases here and try to do a 4th of July comedy show for the troops here. I figure if Frank Sinatra or Robin Williams can perform for the troops, why can't I?

Signs

2007-02-08T11:48:00.000+09:00

So my apartment has had signs about pets for a long time. The signs always had a picture with a dog and a big red X through it. When i got my cat i never thought i was breaking the rules. The apartment next to me has 2 cats and the room below me has one. I have seen these cats from my balcony. So when i decided to get a cat, i thought i was in the clear.

However, recently there is a new sign. Again with a dog and an X through it. But when Yuning came over and saw it and translated it, she gave me a warning. The sign says; "We know someone in the apartment has a dog or a cat. You cannot have any pets, not even babysit one for a short time. If we find out who has a pet, that person will have to move out." Wow. Well, i know there are lots of pets here and i think they are just getting more serious, but im not worried about getting kicked out. I told Amy to meow quietly!

I'm Still Alive

2007-01-26T19:04:00.000+09:00

I just want to appologize that i havent posted for a long time. (whom ever it is that is actually reading this). I was away in China for a bit and have been busy tring to catch up since being back. I have been quite busy lately.

My baseball season started up again. We are in a new league. Before we played in the local city league. Well we won that, so this year we are in the state league. It is fun, but a lot more travel is involved. We had our first game last week and we won in an exciting fashion. We won in the bottom of the 9th with a two run homer! I batted .500 with a single, strikeout and a walk.

Comedy is going great. We had a show on Sunday with our largest crowd to date. We had 130 people there. We are getting a stronger fan base and it is fun to see new and familiar faces in the audience. We are also getting a lot of attention. Newspapers have written about us, Japanese comedy companies have come to check us out. It's been fun.

I took this picture of Amy when she saw a mouse on TV. She really likes the Animal Planet channel.

So im back and i hope to post more, sorry for the long delay!

China is "better"

2007-01-14T16:31:00.000+09:00

There are all kinds of stories going around that the Chinese government blocks websites in China. And that the internet "is no fun" in the Red Country. Well, I have the photographic proof that the internet in China is actually better than the internet we all know.

Great Wall

2007-01-14T16:28:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture of Yuning and I at the Great Wall of China. It is a the section of the wall called Balading. It is where most of the world's leaders go when visiting the Wall.

Ni Hao Lai Zi Zhong Guo (Hi from China)

2007-01-01T17:37:00.001+09:00

Hey Everyone! Well im in China and having fun. I've been here for 9 days and have 8 more to go. I have been in Beijing for 4 days, then down to Macau, Hong Kong, and a city called Guangzho (not sure on that spelling). Hong Kong was huge! It was a lot of fun. It was nice to hear proper English!

Macau was fun, I did a little gambling. The Portuguese influence was really strong and quite cool to experience while still being in China.

We went to the Great Wall (at Balading) and that was impressive. It is the same part of the wall that all the US Presidents go to (but Clinton chose to go to another section of the wall). We also saw the Forbidden City. That was huge. However big you think the Forbidden City is, multiply it by 10 and that is how big it is. It's vast!

Oh and i saw Chairman Mao's body. Looks good for a guy who has been dead for almost 30 years.

It has been really interesting to try to understand just how old the culture is here. We went to a relative of Yuning's in a small city called Baoding and there was a 7 year old girl playing a traditional Chinese instrument. It is the size of a long thin table but is played sitting down plucking strings like a guitar. They told me that the instrument design was over 1,200 years old. Not many people knew of what is now Minnesota 1,200 years ago!

We spent Christmas in Hong Kong. That was fun. We went out to the bars. It did have a good Christmas feeling. There were people singing carols, decorated trees and other seasonal things around. Hong Kong is really a multicultural city. People of all races, creeds and religions all seem to get a long there. What I started to be surprised about was how everywhere we went during the Christmas season, songs were playing...for example in the train station. The songs coming from the speakers were pretty religious in nature, yet no one was complaining that there were no Kwanza or Jewish songs. It seemed like peoeple didnt care, the songs were festive and that was all that mattered. I have read a lot about the decreasing seasonal spirit in America and I hope it isn't true. I really liked how extra friendly people seemed to be around the holiday season. Now I read about the Seattle airport and how they had to take down 10 Christmas trees because a rabbi complained. In Hong Kong, it was a season to be happy, regardless of who's "imaginary friend" you chose to worship. There were more than 10 people who randomly wished me and Yuning "Merry Christmas". That was great.

Sorry for that rant on the lack of a festive spirit!

Now to the FOOD! Here is what i have eaten: Ox Tail, Chicken's feet, Pig's feet, Cow Stomach, Duck, and Goose eggs. The food really is the staple of the culture. When we went to the Forbidden Palace, there is a sign above a room that says "Food is our God" and they mean it. I have put on 3Kg since being here for 9 days! AHHH. But overall it's good food.

Well, i hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (and Happy Kwanza) and hope you have a great New Year!

CHINA!

2006-12-21T23:52:00.000+09:00

Well, in 7 hours im leaving for China. I will be there for the next 18 days. I plan on going to Hong Kong, Beijing, Macau, Xian, and Guongzou. I will post if i can, but i dont think the Chinese government allows access to this blog company. Maybe in Hong Kong i can update. I hope everyone (especially my family) has a Merry Christmas, and a safe Happy New Year!

12 Day of Christmas

2006-12-21T12:11:00.000+09:00

On the 12th Day of Christmas, my true love told me the importance of, the 12 school children at a monument. Here they are at a children's memorial in Hiroshima. There was a child who was injured from the A-Bomb attack and at the time it was believed if a child folded 1,000 Origami Cranes, they would be healed. So she started folding in the hospital. She died after making a few hundered. Now, classes make 1,000 cranes and bring it to the memorial.

11th Day of Christmas

2006-12-21T01:36:00.000+09:00

On the 11th Day of Christmas, my true love photographed, my Japanese baseball team.

GREAT news on my team. We won our city league out of 25 teams. So starting next season, we have been promoted and will be playing in the State league! I'm really excited, and really nervous. I was already put in some of the most tense situations of my life playing games with people i cant communcate with. Now the stakes are even higher next year!

10th Day of Christmas

2006-12-20T11:34:00.000+09:00

On the 10th Day of Christmas, my true love told me not to touch, 10 Samurai swords on a wall.

9th Day of Christmas

2006-12-19T22:08:00.000+09:00

On the 9th Day of Christmas, my true love was with me, when we opened 9 Christmas gifts. We did this in the company of Amy.

8th Day of Christmas

2006-12-18T14:32:00.000+09:00

On the 8th Day of Christmas, my true love when with me, to a castle with 8 wooden roofs. This is Himeji Castle. This is a world Heritage site near Osaka. Yuning and I went there for a lunch picnic.

7th Day of Christmas

2006-12-17T15:22:00.000+09:00

On the 7th Day of Christmas, my true love photographed, 7 Improvers improvising. Here the "Pirates of the Dotombori" take to the stage spreading laughter to all in Osaka. check out www.piratesofthedotombori.com for a revamped website. Or just click on this post title.

6th Day of Christmas

2006-12-17T15:16:00.000+09:00

On the 6th Day of Christmas, my true love told me to do, a six minute jog to the ropeway station!

This was on Miyajima Island in Southern Japan. And we didn't run, not even a little.

5th Day of Christmas

2006-12-15T23:25:00.000+09:00

On the 5th Day of Christmas, my true love took a picture of, 5 little origami insects reading tiny origami textbooks.

4th Day of Christmas

2006-12-15T01:44:00.000+09:00

On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love told me to look at the, 4 Wa-Daiko Drums. These were a collection of Japanese Drums (aka Wa-Daiko) that we saw in Hyogo. Although I have an extensive drumming past!....I refrained from playing these!

3rd Day of Christmas

2006-12-13T01:25:00.000+09:00

On the 3rd Day of Christmas, my true love pointed out to me, 3 bamboo cups on a stick. This was in Hiroshima. the cup is used to wash your hands before entering the temple. You find these "sinks" all over the place, i always think they look really cool.

2nd Day of Christmas

2006-12-11T23:15:00.000+09:00

On the Second Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two beer pong playing Japanese friends. Recently I threw a party for some friends and I took it upon myself to teach them some American drinking games. I don't have a ping pong table, so I used one of my doors! It was a fun party!

1st Day of Christmas

2006-12-10T23:52:00.000+09:00

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a giant wood rice spoon.

I went to Miyajima, famous for it's large tori gate and apparently rice spoons. They were being sold everywhere. In Japan, Miyajima is considered the most beautiful place during the autumn season, and i would have to agree.

I'm starting the 12 days of Christmas a bit early. It's 12 days until Yuning and I leave for China, so I thought i'd start it now.

12 days of Christmas

2006-12-10T23:15:00.000+09:00

Well, it's that time of year again. I will be doing the "12 Days of Christmas Japan edition" again. I wanted to do it for China since i will be there then, but Yuning informed me that the Chinese government won't let me use the Blogger website in China due to their strict laws.

I will try to do it each day, but it might get hard, so have patience! Tell your friends, there should be some good pics. If you want, check out the archive for last year's 12 pictures!

Comedy Auditions

2006-12-10T23:12:00.000+09:00

Well my comedy group just had auditions today. It was great. Consider that my group was started a year ago (almost to the day). Today we had 9 people audition to be in the group. There was a lot of energy and a variety of skills. It was so fun to see the group grow and it is really taking off!

Awaji Field

2006-12-04T22:54:00.000+09:00

Awaji Field
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

This weekend I went with some friends from work to another island in Japan to play in a soccer tournament. We had never practiced together and played against teams that pratice and have their own uniforms and warm ups! We did great. Out of 15 teams, we ended up ranked 4th after the first day. We played 4 games and won the first 3. After securing a spot in the playoffs the following day, we played a bit lazy and lost the last game.

Then the next day we lost 1-0 in the quarterfinals. It was a tough but fun game. I was honored in the game. I was the only American on the team. The rest were British, Australian and Italians, yet i was elected to captain the team. My hard play the first day payed off and it was nice to see others recognize it. It was a great weekend.

Hiroshima Park

2006-12-04T22:44:00.000+09:00

Hiroshima Park
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Here is a picture of the A-bomb Memorial site in Hiroshima. It was a beautiful park. The weather was great, the leaves were changing. Overall it was a peaceful place with a well designed memorial that was more informative about the effects of nuclear bombs and less anti-American like the Vietnam war memorial was. (For clarification, the Vietnam memorial I am referring to is the one I visited last year in Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam).

Hiroshima

2006-11-21T22:15:00.000+09:00

I will be away for the next few days. I will be on a short vacation to Hiroshima. Should be interesting. It will be the second war museum i will have visited (first being in Vietnam). I'll post pictures when i get back.

As for my last show, it was huge. Over 100 came for the 3 straight sell out show. In the audience we had representatives from Music Japan TV, Yoshimoto Company (like Second City Comedy Company in the US) and the Daily Yomiuri national newspaper. We didn't disappoint. We brough in over $2,000 in bar sales for the bar we performed in over the 90 minute show. I guess our fans like to drink!

Breaking News!

2006-11-15T22:13:00.000+09:00

Breaking News!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Hit the decks folks. There is a tsunami coming to Japan! Cover the windows, buy a generator. Get some Powerbar's for emergency food. CNN is currently reporting that a 16 inch tsunami has just struck Japan. How are the words "16 inch", "tsunami" and "struck" used in the same sentence?

I'm sick of the media taking stories that have not evolved into legit newsworthy stories, and just blow them up in the Media. Does the world really need to know that a 16 inch wave has crashed onto the beaches of Japan? Are the fungi and kelp supposed to heed CNN's warning and evolve legs and flea?

As I write this, I hope in the future this story does not turn out to be something worse, then I will really look bad.

Follow up, CNN just reported a second 8inch tsunami has hit Japan. I'm in a shelter as I type this, wearing bubble wrap and a hockey mask for protection.

Mauer

2006-11-08T12:18:00.000+09:00

Mauer
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Yesterday I went to the MLB vs NPB All-Star game in Osaka. There were a lot of highlights, and a couple of lowlights (is that a word?).

We sat in our seats, beers in hand. I brought out the American flag determined to get on tv. That subject is the source of one lowlight. In between every inning, the cameras panned the audience putting them on the jumbo-tron. I saw people sitting doing nothing get on TV. There people talking on their phone, men eating. All of these people got on TV. I was the ONLY person in the stands with an American flag. Did i get on TV? No. Did the kids 4 rows up from me (doing nothing interesting) get on TV? Yes. How in the world did i not get on TV? I think (and my friends there agreed) they didnt want to put the US flag on TV. grrrrr.

It was great to see the MLB All-Stars though. Howard hit another homerun. The pitching was great. It was fun to see Joe Nathan close out the game. The only sad thing was because Mauer had played in the previous game, he sat out this game. i did get some pics of him and Nathan (playing). Overall it was a great atmosphere and a lot of fun. MLB won 7-2.

Victory

2006-11-07T10:55:00.000+09:00

Victory
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Baseball Update: My team is now one of the top 4 teams in Osaka. (in a 25 team league). We had a game last Sunday and won 5-3. I batted 1000% with one hit and a walk with two stolen bases.

We have the semi-final game next Sunday. Then if we win, the Championship game the following week.

What is great about this league is that we sometimes play in small parks, and other times we play in stadiums like Midway Stadium where the St. Paul Saints play. It's a great atmosphere. Playing baseball in a playoff game in a foreign country with communcation problems, but expectations that being an American i should be good at baseball, has put me in one of the most stressful/nervous situations of my life. It sounds odd, but when everyone is watching what the "blonde haired" kid does, it kinda gets to you. But it sure is fun!

Go Hitension!

Boo

2006-10-30T16:08:00.000+09:00

Boo
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I believe i have set a record. I have no way of confirming this record, but i think i paid the most for a pumkin that any America has (to date). I have paid 2000yen ($17) for a large pumpkin. I'm not sure what the going rate is at your local pumpkin patch, but here they are hard to find. In fact, this pumpkin wasnt even for sale. I was biking around and saw a floral shop. They had the pumpkin as decoration. They little old lady was quite confused when I told her that I wanted to buy her pumpkin and not a bunch of roses.

Yuning and I carved it and placed it next to a small fake pumpkin outside my door. Now I just look out my window and laugh as my Japanese neighbors walk buy a bit conused. Happy Halloween.

Trips!

2006-10-24T22:28:00.000+09:00

Next month Yuning and I are going down to Hiroshima to visit some of her friends. We will spend 3 days touring the city and the surrounding areas. Pics to follow. THEN. The BIG trip. I just booked a ticket to go to China for 3 weeks. CHINA! The catch is that I will be meeting Yuning's family. No one in their family speaks English. So I have frantically been learning Chinese to try to communicate with them. Cute enough though, her Grandma is learning English so she can talk to me. We will be circling the country. Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao and what ever is in between. We will be flying from place to place. (it's cheap and hopefully safe to fly in China).

Then funny thing (sorta) is that her mom used to work for the military as a nuclear bomb scientist. Combine that with her Grandfather who has passed away, but apparently he was quite big in the military ranks. When her Grandfather was ill, he had two soldiers guarding his house and one full-time cook. Now with a call from her mom and with the grandfather's connections, a military escort will pick us in each city and drive us where ever we want for no cost. He will act as a drive and tour guide. (Sounds a bit odd if you ask me.) And in case I am searched, I will leave my military ID from the US Army at home so I don't get in some kind of trouble. I will be leaving on the 22nd of December.

Still no word from any of the Minnesota Twins coming to Osaka (big surprise) but they still might call the day before the game (when its their day off) so i'll keep you posted!

J-Halloween

2006-10-15T23:04:00.000+09:00

J-Halloween
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I'm not really sure what is going on in this picture. What i do know is that Halloween is gearing up in Japan and no one born in Japan has a clue what Halloween is or how it is celebrated in the U.S.......but they all take their best shot at it and try. Its funny to see religious holidays (especially Christmas) in a place that attaches no religous meaning to a holiday. Instead they just have another sale and put odd devil faces on a stuffed santa.

Twins in Osaka!

2006-10-10T12:03:00.000+09:00

Twins in Osaka!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Who writes letters to professional sports players asking to meet them? Little kids with high hopes right? Well, also add a 25 year old ex-pat living in Japan to that list.

In November, a new team of Major League Baseball All-Stars will be coming to Japan to play the Japanese All-Stars. This will be a 5 game series. It's held in Japan every 2 years. What makes this interesting is that it is League vs. League. (Not American vs. Japanese). What I mean is that Japanese players (as well as Venezualans, Mexicans, Dominican Republicans etc) playing in the MLB will take on members of the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) which has Americans as well as Japanese.

If you click on the title of this post, you will go to the Japanese site with the major names coming ot Japan. More names are added as the season wraps up.

But Joe Mauer, Johan Santana and Joe Nathan are coming to Osaka!!!! So, dorky staffa found the address for players off Twins player Pat Neshek's blog and wrote to the 3 Twins coming to Osaka. They have the day off before coming to Osaka from Tokyo so I thought maybe (just maybe) i could say hi to them!

I will keep you posted if i hear from them!

Oh and i did buy tickets, i will be in the 4th row directly in front of the 1st baseline!

Crazy Japanese

2006-09-29T23:12:00.000+09:00

Crazy Japanese
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Ok, before clicking on this picture, take a guess at what this is. Go ahead take two guesses. Now, click on the picture and take a closer look.

Then write in the comments what you thought it was, and if you were right!

Baseball Tickets

2006-09-26T00:24:00.000+09:00

Today I tried to buy baseball tickets. In November, an All-Star Team from the MLB will play a Japanese All-Star team in Osaka. There will be a series of games in Japan, but only one in Osaka. I like baseball, and when i found out that Johan Santana will be pitching, i decided to buy some tickets.

I went to a convience store the day before they went on sale to make sure i could buy tickets through them. The next day i went in and tried to buy 5 tickets. Apparently one cannot buy 5 tickets. There is a limit of 4. Why? You tell me. So then i jokenly told the staff i would buy 3 from his store then go down the street and buy two more from another store. He didnt think that was funny. So i tried to buy 3 tickets but another glitch in my plans arose. None of the tickets i would buy would be together. I would have 3 tickets spread out around the stadium? WHAT? I asked the staff and he said that you cannot buy tickets together, you can only buy multiple seats if they are not together. Who goes to a game with friends and sits in section 210 while their girlfriend is in section 819? I couldnt believe it.

The end result was that i DID get 5 tickets, and i DID get them all together. BUT i had to leave the store and actually head to the stadium. I went there and told them about the convience store and they couldnt understand why they did it.

Yet another reason Japan has their collective heads on backwards.

Go Twins!

Best of Melon

2006-09-18T22:03:00.000+09:00

Best of Melon
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

This is it. The pinnacle of melons. This is the ONE melon that all other melons in the world are judged against. I found this store that has top-of-the-line fruits. I'm talking pyramid shaped watermelons, an $8 apple and then this. One cantelope for the equivalent of $180. Yes, one hundred and eighty dollars. It comes with a nice yellow bow and a ring on the bottom to act as a stand. It is also certified grown from a melon club. (I didnt know melon clubs existed). I can't even imagine what it would taste like to sink your teeth into a spoonful of the "Best of Melon". Hell, i'd even eat the $180 seeds.

What I don't know is what happens if this is not sold before it rots. Then what? Do you think people buy the rotten carcass of a "Best of Melon" for around $45?

If you want me to pick up one of these for you when i come back home again, please wire your money and photocopies of two forms of ideas. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Dinner Anyone?

2006-09-10T21:56:00.000+09:00

Dinner Anyone?
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

No, they dont serve chicken here. I applaude this eatry for getting to the point in regards to their menu. I haven't gone here (yet) but i would be curious if there is also Horse on the menu (as that seems to be a popular odd item to eat.

I biked by this place and i thought it said "Beer and Horse" and i thought 'that is a bit odd'. But then i read the sign more carefully and saw that it was actually BEAR! Crazy.

Family

2006-09-09T18:52:00.000+09:00

Family
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Well I just got back to Osaka. I spent a little over two weeks back home in Minnesota. Yuning and I had a lot of fun back home. It was great to see my whole family too!

Even though it was our "vacation", we did all kinds of things in Minnesota. Highlights were; Duluth, St. John's, the State Fair, MN Freeze Footy game, Minnehaha Falls, Downtown Minneapolis, Karl and Nikki's Wedding, and every food place in Minnesota!

It was great to see all of my friends and Yuning's new friends. Thanks to everyone for spending time with Yuning and I while we were there.

Especially thanks to my family, you were the best. You really helped me give Yuning a great trip. Thanks for your patience even when i had none!

America!

2006-08-19T07:53:00.000+09:00

I will be coming home to MN for the next few weeks. I hope to see many of you there! I will be back in Japan in early Sept.

Just Sad

2006-08-09T01:09:00.000+09:00

Just Sad
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Ok, so this is just sad! Click on the title to read the story. I knew about this before i came but i forgot about it. I just saw this article on the web. These guys need to get a life, or at least a full size doll instead of the hacked off lower legs.

Can you imagine you have company over...sure at first they would think it was kinda cool. Different, but cool. But you know in the car ride home, they would be talking about how much of a creepy looser you were. So, save your $90!

Amy Watching TV

2006-08-02T22:20:00.000+09:00

Watching TV
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Well, the other day i got a cat! It was free, heck they even gave me 1000yen to pay for some food they had promised (but forgot) to give me. A couple teaching at an ECC school went home and wanted a good home to take their cat. It was free. I felt good taking the cat seeing that the couple provided vet documents of all its shots and it had been spayed.

The cat, named Amy, is great! She is really friendly. She is almost more like a dog. She greets everyone that comes over by running up to your leg. She doesnt meow much. She LOVES to watch tv. I think she is a Liberal cat since she favors CNN.

She is litter trained. She just relaxes and follows you everywhere. Yesterday she followed me into the shower! I was really surprised. She does like to try to eat the newts in the glass tank in my room!

If you have any cat tips, feel free to post them!

Oh and click on the picture to see another pic of Amy sleeping.

Anti-American

2006-07-25T11:40:00.000+09:00

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

2006-07-16T11:53:00.000+09:00

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!

2006-07-06T12:10:00.000+09:00

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!!

Panasonic Commerical!!

2006-06-27T22:13:00.000+09:00

Panasonic Commerical!!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I just got back from my $200 Pansonic photo shoot! It was hilarious! If you have ever seen the movie Lost in Translation, it was like that. It was a handful of my friends and I sitting in a bar with martinis and wine. We were wearing "elegant casual" clothes.

Panasonic apparently has just released a "wide-angle" lens camera. Apparently a first in a digital hand-held camera. So the shoot was in a bar and they took pictures with both the standard Panasonic camera and then again with the wide angle camera to show the buyer the difference. It was a lot of fun and basically free drinks and money!

Click on the title and you will see the U.S. website, i will be in the Japanese website but you can get a good idea of what the pictures would be like. I will also be in some commericals as a still photo.

Happiest Place on Earth?

2006-06-26T15:16:00.000+09:00

Happiest Place on Earth?
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I found this "park" sadly about 15 mins bike ride from my apartment. They day before i actually saw kids playing on the playground. It was a sad sight to see. At least they put the trash in the right place!

Panasonic

2006-06-24T19:22:00.000+09:00

I have a photoshoot for Panasonic on tuesday!! Apparently i have to dress up like a snobby rich person and hold some wine and a Panasonic product. should be fun! I will keep you posted!

Baseball!

2006-06-11T16:50:00.000+09:00

Baseball!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I finally got on the field for my first baseball game in the Japanese City League. I started at 3B for the Osaka Hitension. I started off a bit shaky just getting used to the communication troubles. We spent a long time before the game making sure i knew the signals given from the manager. I settled down after the 2nd inning. In the last inning i fielded a strong grounder to third and relayed it to first for an impressive out. I also had one hit in the game. Not to make excuses but everyone on my team said that the strike zone for me (the only foreigner in the 20 team league) seemed a bit big today. I was called out on strikes on a ball (in my team team and I's opinion) was around my ankles. I am sure i will play a lot better for the second game!

Working Email Adress

2006-06-04T15:05:00.000+09:00

Hey sorry for the bouncing emails. For some reason one of my email providers just decided to cancel email service.

My email address is:

mtstaffa@gmail.com

and my mailing address is:

#702 Media Plaza
1-4-35 Midorigi
Suminoe-Ku
Osaka-Shi
Osaka-Fu
559-0022
Japan

Tokyo

2006-05-29T18:51:00.000+09:00

Shinkansen
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

So i took the Shinkansen up to Tokyo this weekend. One of my best friends is going back to Ireland. (Aonghus McDonnell). So neither of us had been to Tokyo so we went up there. It was a blast. We took the Shinkansen (aka Bullet train) at 190mph up to Tokyo.

We then went to Shinjuku where over 3.3million people go through that train station a day. We went to Roppongi and all the touristy places.

We then hit up the bars. It was a great relaxing time to have a night out in another city.

Japan got this one Right

2006-05-28T16:29:00.000+09:00

I like the way Japan TV airs American shows. When shows are aired in Japan from the States (24, Alias, Lost, etc.) they air the whole show with no commerials. So when there is a hour long show like 24, the first 41 minutes is non-stop show. Then when its over and there are still 15 or so minutes left in the time slot, Japan tv then runs commericals for the remainder of the time. I like this style.

The First Comedy Show!

2006-05-19T21:06:00.000+09:00

Comedy Show (the Group)
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

The show was a huge success. There were a lot of questions to be answered before the show though. Was the audience familiar with Improv? Would the audience participate? Would the new performers actually be as confident on stage as they were in practice? Would we be funny?! They answer was YES to each question!

The were over 100 people that came to check out the show. People from all over. About 20 Japanese and then the rest we from all over the world. Everyone was eager for something new to do in Osaka.

We took the stage and got the place rocking right from the start. There was never a low point. The show went on for over 90 mins.

This show was probably the most rewarding show i have ever done given all the hard work that was put into it by everyone involved.

I have uploaded more pictures so just click on the one in this post to see about 5 more from the show!

Newts Can Communicate!

2006-05-16T23:02:00.000+09:00

First, i will write about the show tomorrow.

But i have found out that my two newts (Uga and Agu) can communicate with me. One of them before had escaped. Well, I was watching TV today and one flopped on the ground again! I took a glance at the water and it was a bit past "clean". I think that is their way of telling me to clean the water!

Pirates of the Dotombori

2006-05-09T12:10:00.000+09:00

Pirates of the Dotombori
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Check out the feature my new Improv Comedy group, the "Pirates of the Dotombori" got in a Osaka magazine. Go to:

www.kansaiscene.com

Then click on "Special" on the right side. There are a few typos but overall it should really help bring some people to the show.

Stinky but Soft clothes?

2006-05-05T20:10:00.000+09:00

Well, i just found out (from my girlfriend) that the laundry "detergent" was actually just Fabric Softner. I had gotten a gallon of the stuff and was using it as my soap for the past two months. I guess it did ok as a soap, but i am now using the real stuff! HA!

I'm back!

2006-05-04T23:04:00.000+09:00

Sorry for the delays in my posts. I just moved apartments and it took about a week to get the internet set up.

The show is fast approaching and so is my first baseball game. I just had practice and i really impressed the Japanese team. I am really busy but i promise to do a better job posting now that im all settled in!

No Wave...No Way!

2006-04-23T16:39:00.000+09:00

No Wave...No Way!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Well, last year i went to a pro baseball game here in Japan. The Hanshin Tigers. While i was there a few of us Americans tried to start the Wave at the stadium. We were surprised to see a large security detail surround our area and with arms crossed tell us to stop. I spent a year not knowing why.

Then the other day i went back to the pro stadium to watch a new season. As i was walking to my seat with Hide my Japanese friend, we saw this sign. WHAT! No wave?! So we decided to pose and take a picture.

I still don't know why we can't do a wave. The games here are crazy. Every player has their own chant and dance (like the macarana). There is nonstop cheering. But why no wave? Apparently it is something that cannot be controlled, and so, the Japanese ban it. There are cheer-leaders. Guys with whistles that start and stop the cheers and everyone followes it to the T. So i guess they get nervous when some Yanks try to control the crowd.

On the baseball news, i have just joined a competative baseball team here. I am now playing for the Osaka Hitension. (that is the Japanese spelling of "High Tension"). Whatever that means i dont know. I have my first practice on Sunday!

Haha

2006-04-12T00:35:00.001+09:00

写真 7
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

You so funny!

Tiny Nose

2006-04-12T00:35:00.000+09:00

Tiny Nose
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Grrrrrr

Mark

2006-04-12T00:34:00.003+09:00

写真 6
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Hello, my name is Mark and im a jock.

Alien

2006-04-12T00:34:00.000+09:00

写真 4
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Take me to your leader or my tiny teeth will nibble you to death!

Big Chin

2006-04-12T00:09:00.000+09:00

Big Chin
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

So i had a bit of fun at the Apple Store the other day. Here is one of the pics taken with the built in camera and a funny lens. I have a couple other really funny ones i will try to post soon!

COMEDY SHOW

2006-04-06T23:08:00.000+09:00

Well it has been a lot of work, and there is still a lot of work to do. I have finally negotiated a theater space for my comedy show. I have been teaching an improv comedy group for the past 5 months. They are beginners but showing a lot of heart and effort. They are picking things up rather quickly. I will have no problem trusting them on stage. It has been on not being my usual group of comedy friends. I miss a lot of the inside jokes i had with them, but i am making my own jokes with this group. I am also carrying on a lot of traditions i have learned from the different groups i have worked with.

So we have our first show on Sunday May 14th. Please come! ha. It's Free too! It will be in the best place possible in Osaka. It is in Ame-Mura which means America-Town (twice featured on the Simpsons) in a massive bar/theater called Balabushka's. It is basically the only place that has enough space in this crammed country.

Those who know my style know that i will fight for something. Getting this theater was such a fight. I had to use a translater and a little bit of strategic lying...sorta. I convinced the largest English magazine to do a two page feature article on us. This article would be a great promotion. The article however, was not a guarantee. If the article was poorly written, there would be no article. (i was not writing the article). But i didnt tell the bar owner it wasnt a guarantee. I kinda told him it was a go and how great of an ad it would be for his bar. He bought into it, but only after over a month of negotiations.

So we have about 5 weeks to get ready, i think we can do it. Wish us luck! i will let you know how it goes.

Huh?

2006-04-03T02:37:00.000+09:00

What is this website about?! I just read up on it, check it out. Pretty crazy. Click on the title of this post or put this link in your browser.

http://www.venganza.org/

let me know if you have heard about this before.

Champions

2006-03-28T14:14:00.000+09:00

Champions
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

This weekend we played the Tokyo Goannas Aussie Football team. Tokyo has been playing for 20 years and some of their players have been recruited by semi-pro teams in Australia.

My team has been around for a year. None of us are/were semi professional. It didn't matter this weekend. We came out champs. We won 45 - 38. It was a great game and it was fun to see a stunned Tokyo side. We were never losing. We got the lead and never looked back.

For more pics, click on the link in the title of this post.

One of my best!

2006-03-22T00:58:00.000+09:00

One of my best!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

This maybe one of the best pictures I have ever taken. This is with my digital camera (to replace the one "taken" in Veitnam). I am finally getting all the settings down. I took this picture in Kobe along the harbor. Kobe actually uses it's harbor to attact people, versus Osaka uses it's harbor to dump sewage into.

Escape!

2006-03-14T14:21:00.000+09:00

Escape!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Today I woke up to a surprise. I got up and before i turned on the lights, i saw something on the floor. Sometime black and the size of well....a newt. I couldn't believe it. One of my newts, "Uga" had escaped!

Now this isnt surprising to me now that i think about it. I have two newts. One is bigger, "Uga" and he spends all day on the rocks out of the water simply looking up at the same place in the top of the aquarium. Now i know why. The other newt "Agu" simply swims in circles under "Uga" while he now seemed to be plotting his escape.

This would be a tricky escape too. He had to pop off the thin plastic lid, then jump off the tank. The tank sits on top of a fridge. This is at least a 4 foot fall. I dont know how long he was out, but he is lucky (i guess) that i found him in the open and not hiding in the corner were he would have died.

I have put him back and he has gone back to staring at the top of the aquarium. There is a rather large book on top now, so he will have to bulk up to push that thing off!

Most Random Day

2006-03-12T17:47:00.000+09:00

Most Random Day
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Today was a random day. There were 3 unique experiences I had today. Not all of which i fully understood. Today's fun/odd experience number one. I went to church. I saw a building near my apartment with a cross on it. I saw a sign with a time, 11pm Sunday. So today i walked in. Wow. It was a bit different. I had to take my shoes off and put on slippers. I was greeted by everyone there and there were a few confusing looks. The total number of black hair parishioners: 18. The number of blonde haired parishioners: 1. They had to stop the service half way through to make sure i was on the right page. Sure minister, like i know what im doing with a Japanese Bible. But i faked it well. Yes, he was not a priest. It must have been either some Protestant church or an Ecumenical one. Not sure, didnt ask....didnt know how to.

Then, i went to an audition for Universal Studios Japan. I was asked to audition for the Fire Chief part for the ride "Backdraft" at Universal Studios. Apparently they are running short of blondes here. It was so odd. I thought i was on American Idol. I had my head shot taken. I had to fill in a form (not sure what they wanted, but i told them my age, phone number and height in Cm). Then i went into this room, not kidding...4 japanese guys (one with a camera). I was told to stand behind a piece of tape and introduce myself. C'mon Japanese skills, do you best! That part was done, then they told me to grab (an imaginary) firehose and rescue a small child in a building. Ha. So i did it, but i was laughing in my mind at the sheer randomness of what i was doing....so i was told to act a bit more serious. Sorry Simon Cowell. After that, i was told i would be called. Right, and my people will have lunch with their people. Sure sure.

Then, i went home. And who do i run into, not sure but he is huge. There were 4 sumo wrestlers on my train. They were massive. There is a tournament in Osaka (it happens once a year). I asked for a pic and they laughed and said sure.

So that was my random day. Japanese Jesus, Saving invisible burning babies and smacking sumo wrestlers.

Small

2006-03-12T10:14:00.000+09:00

Small
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

I think i now visual proof of three things. First, this is the shortest escalator ever built. Second, the Japanese are a lazy bunch. I mean honestly are these four ladies trying to decide to take the stairs or the escalator? It is amazing that these short people are not round and plump from being spoiled with automatic everything! Yesterday i was walking with a Japanese friend and we came to a store and it didnt have automatic doors. She literally stood there for a few seconds waiting for the doors to magically open. It wasnt until i came and pushed them open that we physically entered the room.

Third, the Japanese have entered a contest with themselves to try to cover every square inch with advertisements. I have seen ads on the rails of escalators (i have visual proof). I might also post a pic of inside the train. There are no needs for windows as they are all covered with ads.

Insane.

Updated my "other" pic site

2006-03-10T00:40:00.000+09:00

I have added more sites to my other pics site. I added a site about the various Blossom festivals in Japan (plum and cherry) and for comedy in Japan. Check em out!

Japanese Comedy!

2006-03-09T22:18:00.000+09:00

Japanese Comedy!
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

So the other day, Yuning and I went to Yoshimoto in Osaka. Yoshimoto is the comedy capital of Japan. It is a theater/company in the heart of Japan. We went to a 2 hour long show. It was great. It was in Japanese. It was still great. There were 2 man style comedians called Manzai, there were stand-up comedians called Rakugo and then there was a sitcom type show that we saw called Shinkigeki. That was a blast. We also saw a Japanese Magician and an American Jugglar. It was a blast and i was the only foreigner.

R.I.P Kirby Puckett

2006-03-08T13:52:00.000+09:00

Game 6, 1991. Nuff said

Improv

2006-03-01T13:29:00.000+09:00

Improv
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

So my comedy group is going well here. We have started to get prepaired for a show towards the end of April. The group is doing great, they are really picking up things quickly. There are a still kinks to work out. But overall, im extremely impressed with the way that have picked up everything and gone about it with little or no fear. We have 8-10 members from all over the world which really adds a unique style of improv comedy i have never seen.

Conversational English CD's

2006-02-21T23:28:00.000+09:00

Well, I picked up a new part time job. You know those random language CDs you can get and listen to two people speak the most overtly clear and normal pronounciation (but it isnt actually very natural sounding)? Well, i got approached by a company and am now in the process of making a 1 minute demo for them. From that demo i will be given paragraphs to read (sent from a specific client) and in a studio i will record them and turn them into CD's. I also have to create randon "typical" English conversations and record those in studio. What the heck is a "typical" English converstation? I know what they want, but is that really typical?

Here is what the company wants:

A: Good Afternoon Michael.
B: Good Afternoon Thomas.
A: How are you?
B: I am fine, thank you, how are you?
A: I am good, thank you.
A: I like Pizza.
B: I like Pizza too.

But here is what it should be:

A: Hey loser, i heard you got drunk and forgot to go to school yesterday.
B: Yah, i was wasted.
A: That sucks man, i heard that test is worth 30%.
B: Oh well, life goes on.
A: Yah, so what do you wanna do tonight? Wanna go to a bar?
B: Does a bear shit in the woods?

So i will let you know how it goes and try to get you some samples. I am also gonna try to negotiate and get my face on the cover of the CD and title it "Learn English From This Guy".

Valentine's Day

2006-02-16T23:33:00.000+09:00

Really?
Originally uploaded by mtstaffa.

Click on the title to read about my Valentine's Day ....Japanese Style!

Yesterday i was walking through the train station in Osaka's busiest station. Umeda in case you wondered. And i saw this sign pointing at me. I stopped and took a picture, which completely baffled the one Japanese guy out of the thousands rushing to work with their heads down and walking in zig-zag lines. (Dont get my started on who the Japanese dont know how to walk properly). I guess ads here are a little more blatant. For the record, Hep Five is a shopping complex complete with a Ferris Wheel. (Osaka people love Ferris Wheels, i have seen 5 here of various sizes).

My only complaint is that the sign didnt tell me exactly what i needed in Hep Five. Was it a new shirt? Was it a double chocolate hand dipped ice cream cone? Was it a new belt. If the sign is going to give me orders, be more specific.