These pictures aren't really fitting for this entry, but whatever. I took them earlier and was planning to just write some bullshit about how I like the way my tie and shirt go together. I don't feel like taking any new pictures, so these will just have to do. Not sure what's the matter really, just in a crap mood today. Ah well, happens to the best of us.

It's about 1am here (so technically it's November 13th) and Jason just came stumbling in through the door. The first words out of his mouth were, "Another plane just crashed."

We rushed to flip the TV on, but that was pretty useless, as all the news is in Japanese. From what little we could gather, a plane went down in Queens, NY. Something about an engine falling off. There's not much else we can figure out, but I don't think they suspect it was a terrorist attack, as I have yet to see any pictures of Bin Laden or Afghanistan on the news broadcast.

Whatever the case, seeing houses on fire was not pleasant. People lived there just a few minutes ago, and now they don't. I do not really want to get into death and tragedy here, that's not why I made this site.

It's frustrating being so cut off from the outside world. I am not trying to imply that Japan is isolated (though it kind of is), rather, I am isolated. I can't understand a word the announcer is saying. We had to recruit Jason's friend, Scott, to come translate for us.

See, if I were back home, this would be plastered everywhere on TV, the 'net, the radio, you name it. But here, I am wondering if I will even hear anything about it after tonight.

Apparently Nova doesn't want us to talk about the incident on September 11th with the students. It's best if we stay away from sensitive topics. How stupid is that? When you learn another language, it is more than the words that you are there to study. You also want to know something about the culture, the mindset and of course, the history.

Language is so much more than a form of communication. It also dictates, to a large extent, the way we think and interact. I won't get into this, but just think of how you would be different if you spoke a different language, in which some of the words you use now, do not exist.

When you do not have the language to describe something, the concept itself cannot be expressed, and thus cannot truly exist in your mind. It's weird when you think about it. The classic example is to look at Orwell's 1984. But something else to consider is the way different societies function.

The Asian countries usually are more contextually based than Western culture. Why is that? Look at the language. Asian languages like Chinese and Japanese are written much like English poetry is written. There can be many interpretations of any one word, it depends on what the situation is. Now consider something like German. German is very direct and specific. There is apparently no word for "tank" in German, rather they resort to describing it, "a vehicle with a cannon, guns, heavy armour, tracks, etc..."

Compare the style of the language to the culture. Asian culture is not explicit at all. A person may say one thing, but mean something totally different. You have to look past the words, at the situation to see their true intent. Western culture on the other hand, is very explicit. Usually, what I say is what I mean.

I'm wondering: Do the Germans have poetry?