Have you ever come across something that made you think, "Whoa...this can't be right."? Well, I just happened across something like that today. In Canada, we use commercials or newsflashes as filler between shows. In Japan, they use something called Healing Time.
Healing Time is basically a collection of tranquil, serene nature scenes, with accompanying soothing music. In itself, it is not such a bad thing. Lots of people buy those "Sounds of Nature" relaxation tapes back home, but the fact that the television stations actually felt the need to air this sort of stuff nationally is a little scary.
If you are unfamiliar with Japanese work ethic, let me enlighten you. Most people here work 10 hour days (at least) and have one day off a week if they are lucky. More often than not, people will work throughout the week, and over 10 hour shifts. And this is for any job, convenience store clerk to investment banker, you can expect to be worked to the bone. In Canada, we call this slavery. It is illegal.
There is even a Japanese disease, the name of which translates to something like "worked to death." How nice.
I have been trying to maintain a healthy diet. I am at work for about 10 hours a day (though I am only paid for 8), but I do get 2 days off a week. So, I figure I am a borderline Healing Time case. In a desperate attempt to remain mentally healthy, I have been trying to keep physically healthy. I've just recovered from whatever affliction it was that I had in my first two weeks here, so I will be seeking out physical activity here soon.
In the mean time, I am trying to maintain a healthy diet. Living in Japan is a really good way to become a vegetarian. Meat is so expensive (except for mad cow beef), I can't afford to eat it in the quantities I do at home. Oh, how I miss my mom's prime rib and horse radish dinner, with a side of roasted potatoes and ceasar salad. Mmm...
Above is a shot of what I had for dinner today. Carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, in a broth made of consume, salt, thai spices and freshly chopped garlic. And of course noodles. Noodles, noodles, noodles. I have eaten noodles every single frikkin day since I have been in Japan. Sure, I'll live a longer life without red meat, but why the hell would I want to?
Jason just stepped out to return The Boondock Saints (great movie, by the way) and I have the place to myself for a couple of minutes. I take the time to read another page of the book I brought with me to Japan. In case you are wondering, it is the first book in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I know, I know, it's actually a series that spans six books, blah blah blah.
I am really starting to like my apartment. It feels more like home now that I have been here for a few weeks and have had the opportunity to put some personal touches here and there. The problem is, rent is ultra-high. I get paid enough to sustain it, but I would rather live in a cheaper place and save some more money. But it's difficult to find housing in Japan if you are a foreigner.
Yesterday, I went to check out a gai-jin house, which is essentially a dormatory-style building. It's not anywhere close to what I have here and I don't really like the idea of sharing facilities. I mean, if I really wanted to share a toilet with 50 other people, I'd get arrested and go to prison. Come to think of it, the place did look a little like a prison. The corridors are dark and narrow, all the doors are shut, it's like lock-down or something. But, I will end up saving about $300 per month in rent. I'm so torn.
Hold on a second. I just got a call. Oh, it's my girlfriend calling. I'm so happy to hear from her! =) We were a little worried at first about my mobile phone. People who were trying to call me from Canada were claiming that they could not get through. I was afraid that I might have done something to the phone so that it could not accept international calls. In the end, we realized that it was just because we had bought cheap phone cards and they probably only have a few lines going into Japan, thus the busy signal.
What a relief, I am glad that I can get calls on this baby. Calling home all the time was getting a little pricey. I swear, the LD companies must be cleaning up here. There is no longer a telecom monopoly in Japan, but there might as well be. The government "deregulated" the industry, but the dominant player is still so powerful that it doesn't really make a difference. We have a choice now, but not much of one.
Hey, Scooby Doo is on television. I can't believe that I used to watch that show. The stars were just a couple of stoners. I mean, just look at Shaggy. He's always scruffy-looking and unshaven. He and Scoob always have the munchies...a sure sign that they were getting baked just before the episode. What really gets me about that show is that the so-called monsters were always just deranged people in stupid costumes. It makes me wonder what would happen if the Scooby Doo gang went to Disneyland...
Freddy: 
Ha ha, we've foiled your evil plans once again!
Guy in Pluto costume: 
<struggle struggle> What the hell are you talking about? I'm just
going to take a piss. Unhand me, you freaks!
Daphane: 
Not a chance baddie! You're not going anywhere.
Pluto: What the hell is the matter with you people? Leggo of me...I'm
gonna to make a puddle soon. <struggle struggle>
Velma: 
Let's unmask him and see who he really is!
Pluto: Quit it! Hey, stop that! You're tearing the suit...they
take the damages out of my salary!
Shaggy: 
Whoa, he's like, just a regular dude, man. I thought he
was like, a giant talking dog or something! Pretty freaky eh, Scoob? Like, let's
go back to the Mystery Machine and hit the pipe.
Scooby: 
Rime rah riant rarking rog. --> translation:
I'm a giant talking dog.
Shaggy: Like, aaaaaaahhh!
Pluto: Aw
crap, now look what you idiots did. How do you get urine out of foam? This
friggin' job blows. Screw the child support payments, I'm outta here.
I printed out an article about teleportation from How Stuff Works, at the internet cafe and was discussing it with Jason. After a while, the conversation somehow switched to whether things in this universe were finite or not. I said that perhaps physical objects have limits that are finite, but concepts such as numbers and time do not.
At this point in time, Jason comes up with the notion that there is no such thing as infinity. I point out that there is, just look at the set of real numbers between 0 and 1. Then look at the set of real numbers between 0 and 2. There are the same amount of numbers in these two sets, even though the paramaters are different.
He didn't believe me and went on to tell me that irrational numbers can end. But that isn't possible. By definition, an irrational number has an infinite number of digits in it. I think that he was just trying to rile me up, because the next thing he told me was that the last decimal in pi is 4. We have a bet going to see whether this is true or not. There's a movie rental riding on this, I will keep you updated.
I got a little tired of discussing infinity and so forth, so we moved on to talk about English. Jason had a little task for me: find the shortest word that contains all the letters A, B, C, D, E and F.
After a bit of work and a hint from him, I got it. Took a while though. The answer is just below, so if you scroll down, you will see it. Try to figure it out. It's an easy word, but I'd never have gotten it without the hint. Here is the hint: there is a 'K' in it as well.
Thank goodness I figured it out, otherwise I would not have been able to sleep at all that night. These are the sort of things that just bother the heck out of you.
Here's one for you: which English word has the most consecutive vowels in it? You probably don't care, but in case you do, I'll give you the answer if you ask.
Here are my efforts in trying to figure out the word last night.