I for some reason feel like I want to write about how interesting Japanese is. For those of you who don't know the Japanese written language has three parts, two alphabets called hiragana and katakana and kanji. Hiragana is used for Japanese words and conjugation, katakana is used for loan words and kanji are sort of the main chunk of the language. There are around 2000 kanji that are taught from elementary school to high school and there are more used in names and more complicated writings. Kanji is sort of a mess in a linguistic sense. Where in Chinese the kanji always have just one reading, in Japanese they can have many and you will always find extra readings that aren't in dictionaries. Kanji is difficult.
If kanji is so difficult then why does Japan still use it? There are several reason, despite having two alphabets the Japanese language doesn't have very much range in the available sounds. There are many words that have the exact same sound but very different meanings. People often think Kyoto and Tokyo are the same word but flipped when actuality it is 京都 Kyoto and 東京 Tokyo. The 京 kanji is the same but the other one is different. The difference is hard to hear but if you see the kanji you can understand it a lot more.
The same word can also have different kanji. This is a weird concept and makes it harder to study, but it allows for an extra level of depth not possible without it. I was watching Bleach today and saw a great example. The verb to protect is mamoru and is normally written as 守る but it can also be written as 護る. The kanji for the main character, Ichigo, is 一護(one and protect) not 苺 (strawberry). So in the show Ichigo is fighting himself in his mind and his other self says something like “The thing you want to protect isn't what I want to protect” but they used the 護る kanji instead of 守る. This seemed to have a second layer to the conversation because it was talking not just about protecting something but about Ichigo himself.
All of this would have been lost if I wasn't watching the show with Japanese subtitles on. Kanji gives Japanese so much flexibility and diversity in its writing, its just really interesting.
Ive decided to take the kanji test. This is the test Japanese people take to test their Japanese level. I am shooting for the same level as middle school students take, its going to be tough.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
nintendo 3ds impressions.
Ok so I am very lucky and I live only two hours away from the tokyo area so I was able to attend nintendo world 2011. The free event was set up to show off the new 3ds. So how was it? Short answer, I plan to buy one at launch. Long answer....
So the big thing is of course the 3d. And for the most part it worked really well. Much like 3d movies it isn't as much about things jumping out at you but more that you can look into the picture. Being able to look into the games world adds a lot to the experience. It may sound cheesy to say so but it feels like the video game world is more real, like the characters exist just out side of your reach. I worry about dating games on this because some people might get even more attached to the virtual girls. But it wasn't perfect. It took a bit getting used to and depending on how you hold it things might look a little flickery. You don't have to worry about loosing the 3d effect mid game play but each person will have a sweet spot. Speaking of sweet spots it is really good nintendo included a slider for the 3d because I found some settings better then others. I've also noticed that all 3d is not equal. Some games had more of a flicker to it then others. I noticed a lot of flicker in the metal gear solid demo.
The unit itself isnt that different from the ds. It does of course have an analog stick which is great. It is way better then what the psp has. It feels good and moves quickly. The units are really glossy which looks nice in photos but the smudges would drive me crazy. I didn't get to hold one without the security device on it but it felt the same as the ds .
I played dead or alive , street fighter , ridgeracer , kid ikuras , and resident evil. Doa was good. Looked nice just like doa3 the 3d was nice when the guys fell down to the next part of the stage and not too much flickering. Street fighter was great . It looks like the console version and had a sort of behind the player camera which also looked great in 3d. What really made me like it is yhr same thing that will make serious fans hate it , you have moves assigned to the touch screen. If you suck at moves like me just press a square on the touch screen to do a fireball. The combo gauge moves are also there and light up when they are ready. Very n00b friendly. Ridgeracer didn't have that great of graphics. It is obvious that this is a quick cash in but playing a racing game in 3d was a lot of fun. You can better sense the speed and how far away you are from the other cars. Kid ikarus was awesome. Flying in 3d was reallyy something else and makes me think how great all on rail shooters like Panzer dragoon would be. The demo was really easy but you have simple controls easy targetting and fun combat. It may be the killer app at launch. Resident evil seemed to go back to its roots with this one as the game is scarry. Movement is like re5 but shooting is done in first person. So when you pull out your gun the analog stick controls where you are aiming. First person looked great in 3d and made it scarrier at that monster just gets closer and closer to you. One little thing I loved was when you take damage the border of the screen turns red like most games but this effect just looked really cool in 3d.
I also saw a.video for metal gear paper mario and mario mart. Paper mario impressed me the most because he really looks like a piece of paper in a 3d world now.
So the 3ds is great and I will get mine in a month and a half and I think everyone should get one when they can.
So the big thing is of course the 3d. And for the most part it worked really well. Much like 3d movies it isn't as much about things jumping out at you but more that you can look into the picture. Being able to look into the games world adds a lot to the experience. It may sound cheesy to say so but it feels like the video game world is more real, like the characters exist just out side of your reach. I worry about dating games on this because some people might get even more attached to the virtual girls. But it wasn't perfect. It took a bit getting used to and depending on how you hold it things might look a little flickery. You don't have to worry about loosing the 3d effect mid game play but each person will have a sweet spot. Speaking of sweet spots it is really good nintendo included a slider for the 3d because I found some settings better then others. I've also noticed that all 3d is not equal. Some games had more of a flicker to it then others. I noticed a lot of flicker in the metal gear solid demo.
The unit itself isnt that different from the ds. It does of course have an analog stick which is great. It is way better then what the psp has. It feels good and moves quickly. The units are really glossy which looks nice in photos but the smudges would drive me crazy. I didn't get to hold one without the security device on it but it felt the same as the ds .
I played dead or alive , street fighter , ridgeracer , kid ikuras , and resident evil. Doa was good. Looked nice just like doa3 the 3d was nice when the guys fell down to the next part of the stage and not too much flickering. Street fighter was great . It looks like the console version and had a sort of behind the player camera which also looked great in 3d. What really made me like it is yhr same thing that will make serious fans hate it , you have moves assigned to the touch screen. If you suck at moves like me just press a square on the touch screen to do a fireball. The combo gauge moves are also there and light up when they are ready. Very n00b friendly. Ridgeracer didn't have that great of graphics. It is obvious that this is a quick cash in but playing a racing game in 3d was a lot of fun. You can better sense the speed and how far away you are from the other cars. Kid ikarus was awesome. Flying in 3d was reallyy something else and makes me think how great all on rail shooters like Panzer dragoon would be. The demo was really easy but you have simple controls easy targetting and fun combat. It may be the killer app at launch. Resident evil seemed to go back to its roots with this one as the game is scarry. Movement is like re5 but shooting is done in first person. So when you pull out your gun the analog stick controls where you are aiming. First person looked great in 3d and made it scarrier at that monster just gets closer and closer to you. One little thing I loved was when you take damage the border of the screen turns red like most games but this effect just looked really cool in 3d.
I also saw a.video for metal gear paper mario and mario mart. Paper mario impressed me the most because he really looks like a piece of paper in a 3d world now.
So the 3ds is great and I will get mine in a month and a half and I think everyone should get one when they can.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Its been a while
For anyone who reads this blog I am very sorry that I haven't written anything for a really long time. Plenty has happened but for the most part everything has just sort of become normal for me so I haven't felt that there was really anything worth writing about.
But in a nutshell,
Halloween was interesting. The elementary schools had Halloween presentations and they wore these garbage bag costumes and did little skits. It was really cute. Really really cute. I did a little introduction to halloween in Japanese in front of all of the parents too. That was a little embarrassing. I had a cloth power ranger mask on I got from the 100 yen shop so I think that made it a little more embarrassing.
Nothing big really happened in November. I went to a few more single adult activities and I meet some girls, get their email addresses only to find out that all but one time they were at least 10 years older then me! I found one girl who was really cool and just a little younger then me, but of course she had a boyfriend. The whole girlfriend thing is frustrating because I am doing all that I can do. I go to every single activity I can, no matter how far away it is, I don't let myself be shy and I go up and talk to strangers in Japanese, and I make it a goal to get at least one email address every time, but so far no luck. There are only so many activities. I do have friends who are keeping their eyes out for a girl they can introduce to me, but I guess it all comes back to patience.
December was Christmas the entire month. I did the same Christmas presentation at least 20 times. And if it wasn't that we were doing Christmas vocab or something like that. I didn't exactly hate it or anything but it was just a lot of Christmas. The high light was on Dec 24th-28th I was able to spend time with Courtney, Emily and Julienne, my friends from when I studied at Konan. We exchanged gifts, did yakiniku (hot plate bbq I guess), sang karaoke, watched stupid videos online, just good old hanging out. And on new years I spent the day with the bishop's family and had some traditional Japanese food. It was pretty great. I also had chocolate covered potato chips which were actually great.
So with the basic what I did stuff out of the way I want to talk a little more general about my life here. First off, I love my life right now. My job is fantastic. In the future I may have a job that is more rewarding and I will have a job that pays more, but I don't think I will ever have a job that is as fun as this is. With the younger kids all I basically do is play with them. Sure I sneak some actual teaching into the fun but its just great. I really enjoy spending time with the kids and I actually miss them when I am on break. Children see the world as such a bright and happy place and I can feel the same way by being around them. At my schools there is next to nothing to prepare and it is easy to change things up on the fly if need be. Middle school doesn't have that same happy go lucky atmosphere but I really enjoy talking to the kids outside of class. They all have some great personalities and are a lot of fun to be with if you get to know them. Inside the class things don't always flow all that well and you have to deal with the crazy shyness but it isn't "unpleasant" you just need to know what to expect. It is normal to get few volunteers or have some kids talking to each other. Once you can accept that, you are fine.
The pay is also great. As long as I am careful about my spending I can eat out whenever I want, pay all my bills, get all the little odds and ends that I need, buy one big thing that I want, and still save $1000 a month. If I was more careful I could save $1500 but I like shopping. I get 20 paid days off a year. That is basically a month of free pay. I also have great co-workers. Everyone likes me and I like everyone. I don't agree 100% with some of the teachers teaching style, but I don't really know the school system here. I took Japanese in college, not middle school, my experience isn't exactly the same as what the students are going through.
I also love where I live. My apartment is great. It is actually really warm. It is nothing like what I went through when I was in Kobe. I stay nice and toasty. Of course the reason for that is that my town has really nice weather. It is now January but it is a really nice day out. Kamogawa is also just a great place to live. It is so nice and peaceful, tons of nature everywhere, but you can still do shopping. Every time I go to Tokyo I realize how much better Kamogawa is. Tokyo is so busy and loud. It just drains the energy from you. I go to Tokyo to meet up with people or do shopping but at the end of the day I always just want to get back home.
At my job I also get a lot of time to study Japanese. Its great for two reasons, the first being its really hard to get yourself to study on your own, especially when you are out of school. If I don't study at home in my free time no one will know and or care, if I study while at work I look busy and that is a good motivation because other wise I would diffidently not be. The other reason is that I am getting paid to learn. For the past 4 years I have had to pay to learn, now I am getting paid to. If I can keep this up my Japanese will be at interpreter level in a few years.
I saw all of this but I only have one friend, by normal definition, in Kamogawa. The reason I say by normal definition is that there are lots of people that care about me and I enjoy talking to, but they wouldn't come over for a halo match. Like I said before I miss my students and I look forward to going back to work. I think of my students as my friends, just not normal friends. Same goes with all of the other teachers. And at my church I am friends with people who are much older and married and the missionaries who can't really do much. So while I always want to make more friends, I am not lonely. I think a lot of people who complain about living out in the countryside don't look at friendship the same way I do.
One thing still bothers me though, I don't know what to do with myself after I am done with JET. Obviously I want to continue to work with Japan and use Japanese. And truth be told I want to stay in Japan. I really love this country. I of course love America too, its my home, but you can't really compare the two. People always ask why I like Japan so much and I don't really have a good answer. Of course originally it was just I like Anime and how exotic Japan appears but the more I learn about it the more it just seems like this place matches my personality. It is really easy to get along with people here, the scenery puts me at ease, and just the lifestyle seems just what I want. There is one problem with working in Japan after JET and that is over time. On paper the work week is supposed to be 40 hours but in reality 60+ is normal. I don't want to do that. I want to come home as soon as possible and spend the evening with my family. I am willing to budge on it every once in a while, an extra hour here two hours there but in Japan people literally work themselves to death. So I don't know what I'll do. I at least have some time to think about it.
Ok well that was a nice good blog. If anyone has individual questions about living in Japan that might give me some more direction on what to write about.
till then
But in a nutshell,
Halloween was interesting. The elementary schools had Halloween presentations and they wore these garbage bag costumes and did little skits. It was really cute. Really really cute. I did a little introduction to halloween in Japanese in front of all of the parents too. That was a little embarrassing. I had a cloth power ranger mask on I got from the 100 yen shop so I think that made it a little more embarrassing.
Nothing big really happened in November. I went to a few more single adult activities and I meet some girls, get their email addresses only to find out that all but one time they were at least 10 years older then me! I found one girl who was really cool and just a little younger then me, but of course she had a boyfriend. The whole girlfriend thing is frustrating because I am doing all that I can do. I go to every single activity I can, no matter how far away it is, I don't let myself be shy and I go up and talk to strangers in Japanese, and I make it a goal to get at least one email address every time, but so far no luck. There are only so many activities. I do have friends who are keeping their eyes out for a girl they can introduce to me, but I guess it all comes back to patience.
December was Christmas the entire month. I did the same Christmas presentation at least 20 times. And if it wasn't that we were doing Christmas vocab or something like that. I didn't exactly hate it or anything but it was just a lot of Christmas. The high light was on Dec 24th-28th I was able to spend time with Courtney, Emily and Julienne, my friends from when I studied at Konan. We exchanged gifts, did yakiniku (hot plate bbq I guess), sang karaoke, watched stupid videos online, just good old hanging out. And on new years I spent the day with the bishop's family and had some traditional Japanese food. It was pretty great. I also had chocolate covered potato chips which were actually great.
So with the basic what I did stuff out of the way I want to talk a little more general about my life here. First off, I love my life right now. My job is fantastic. In the future I may have a job that is more rewarding and I will have a job that pays more, but I don't think I will ever have a job that is as fun as this is. With the younger kids all I basically do is play with them. Sure I sneak some actual teaching into the fun but its just great. I really enjoy spending time with the kids and I actually miss them when I am on break. Children see the world as such a bright and happy place and I can feel the same way by being around them. At my schools there is next to nothing to prepare and it is easy to change things up on the fly if need be. Middle school doesn't have that same happy go lucky atmosphere but I really enjoy talking to the kids outside of class. They all have some great personalities and are a lot of fun to be with if you get to know them. Inside the class things don't always flow all that well and you have to deal with the crazy shyness but it isn't "unpleasant" you just need to know what to expect. It is normal to get few volunteers or have some kids talking to each other. Once you can accept that, you are fine.
The pay is also great. As long as I am careful about my spending I can eat out whenever I want, pay all my bills, get all the little odds and ends that I need, buy one big thing that I want, and still save $1000 a month. If I was more careful I could save $1500 but I like shopping. I get 20 paid days off a year. That is basically a month of free pay. I also have great co-workers. Everyone likes me and I like everyone. I don't agree 100% with some of the teachers teaching style, but I don't really know the school system here. I took Japanese in college, not middle school, my experience isn't exactly the same as what the students are going through.
I also love where I live. My apartment is great. It is actually really warm. It is nothing like what I went through when I was in Kobe. I stay nice and toasty. Of course the reason for that is that my town has really nice weather. It is now January but it is a really nice day out. Kamogawa is also just a great place to live. It is so nice and peaceful, tons of nature everywhere, but you can still do shopping. Every time I go to Tokyo I realize how much better Kamogawa is. Tokyo is so busy and loud. It just drains the energy from you. I go to Tokyo to meet up with people or do shopping but at the end of the day I always just want to get back home.
At my job I also get a lot of time to study Japanese. Its great for two reasons, the first being its really hard to get yourself to study on your own, especially when you are out of school. If I don't study at home in my free time no one will know and or care, if I study while at work I look busy and that is a good motivation because other wise I would diffidently not be. The other reason is that I am getting paid to learn. For the past 4 years I have had to pay to learn, now I am getting paid to. If I can keep this up my Japanese will be at interpreter level in a few years.
I saw all of this but I only have one friend, by normal definition, in Kamogawa. The reason I say by normal definition is that there are lots of people that care about me and I enjoy talking to, but they wouldn't come over for a halo match. Like I said before I miss my students and I look forward to going back to work. I think of my students as my friends, just not normal friends. Same goes with all of the other teachers. And at my church I am friends with people who are much older and married and the missionaries who can't really do much. So while I always want to make more friends, I am not lonely. I think a lot of people who complain about living out in the countryside don't look at friendship the same way I do.
One thing still bothers me though, I don't know what to do with myself after I am done with JET. Obviously I want to continue to work with Japan and use Japanese. And truth be told I want to stay in Japan. I really love this country. I of course love America too, its my home, but you can't really compare the two. People always ask why I like Japan so much and I don't really have a good answer. Of course originally it was just I like Anime and how exotic Japan appears but the more I learn about it the more it just seems like this place matches my personality. It is really easy to get along with people here, the scenery puts me at ease, and just the lifestyle seems just what I want. There is one problem with working in Japan after JET and that is over time. On paper the work week is supposed to be 40 hours but in reality 60+ is normal. I don't want to do that. I want to come home as soon as possible and spend the evening with my family. I am willing to budge on it every once in a while, an extra hour here two hours there but in Japan people literally work themselves to death. So I don't know what I'll do. I at least have some time to think about it.
Ok well that was a nice good blog. If anyone has individual questions about living in Japan that might give me some more direction on what to write about.
till then
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Another trip to Tokyo
October 21st 2010
I think it has once again been close to a month since I last updated my blog. I don't know why I just haven't really been up to is all that much lately I suppose. But work is still going well. I still look forward to going to work but I have been a really heavy sleeper lately so I don't like the getting out of bed so early all that much.
I took a trip to Tokyo about two weeks ago and I was able to meet up with my friend Courtney. Courtney and I both went to Konan University, and when that program was over I thought we would never see each other again but she is back in Japan studying abroad for the third time so I guess things worked out really well. It is very do-able, but it is a serious trip to go to Tokyo. It takes two hours on the bus and because there isn't a single straight road anywhere in this country, I get car sick ridding the bus very easily. So I can't read or play a game or anything, which makes that two hours seem like a lot longer. There is a train that is a little cheaper but it takes like 2 hour 45 mins. I think I might do that in the future just so I can actually do something with that time.
But I got to Tokyo a few hours before I was supposed to meet up with my friend so I decided to walk from Tokyo station to Akihabara. I have GPS on my phone, but I forgot how terrible my phone is. Granted it was cloudy that day but it was saying I was going the wrong direction when I wasn't and I ended up doing a lot of back tracking because of that.
I meet up with Courtney in Akihabara and we did some shopping. I really enjoy shopping with Courtney because no matter how much I spend, she will always spend more so I don't feel bad about it. I got some animation cells which are awesome because it is literal a piece of an anime. Each cell is unique and for the most part they are very cheap. I got a Tenchi Muyo cells for like 500 yen, a dragon ball z cell for 1500 yen and some unknown anime cells for 100 yen. Its crazy. They are kind of odd size so I haven't found a good frame for them yet though. I also got some Lucky Star figures that we on sale. I went overboard buying figures last time but this time I just wanted something to add some personality to my apartment.
After Akihabara we went to Shibuya I think and had monja yaki. Its kind of like okonomiyaki but its kind of jell like consistency. It was good. And then I had a bakudan takoyaki, it was a single takoyaki the size of a baseball. It was pretty good. We also checked out some arcades and I played a racing game that was in 3D, it was a lot of fun. I really am looking forward for 3D stuff to take over.
After that we parted ways and I went to Shinjiku to stay at a capsule hotel. Capsule hotels really aren't that bad. Its like $40 a night which is cheap considering this is one of the biggest cities in the world. The bed is not comfortable at all and I didn't get that good of a night's sleep, but it served its purpose.
The next day I went to Saitama for a BBQ. Someone forwarded the information about a church BBQ in Saitama and I asked if I could come. All things considered it was pretty far form my house but I really enjoyed meeting those people and the food was great. The fellowship with my church is my lifeline here in Japan. It is how I meet new friends, its how I meet people who worry about me and know I even exist, and it is how I get out of my house and do things. Without it I would have a much harder time living in Japan.
The whole trip to Tokyo made me realize how different Tokyo is from Kamogawa. So many people, so big. I feel like I need to get a taste of this every once in a while, but I do not want to live in Tokyo. I like my little town, I like going to a store and people recognizing me. I like feeling special because I am one of the few foreigners in town.
Besides that trip I got a little sick. This is where living on your own really sucks. Having to get yourself together to drive to the store to buy medicine is not fun. Thanks to asking my friends on facebook I found out what medicine is good here but what I got was just a powder. I tried just putting the powder in my mouth and then quickly drinking something, bad idea. I tried mixing it with water, still bad. I tried diluting it with several cups of water, still not good. So I had to guy buy pills and put the powder inside myself. It felt like I was doing something illegal or something.
Well I guess that's about it. I'll try to write more often.
I think it has once again been close to a month since I last updated my blog. I don't know why I just haven't really been up to is all that much lately I suppose. But work is still going well. I still look forward to going to work but I have been a really heavy sleeper lately so I don't like the getting out of bed so early all that much.
I took a trip to Tokyo about two weeks ago and I was able to meet up with my friend Courtney. Courtney and I both went to Konan University, and when that program was over I thought we would never see each other again but she is back in Japan studying abroad for the third time so I guess things worked out really well. It is very do-able, but it is a serious trip to go to Tokyo. It takes two hours on the bus and because there isn't a single straight road anywhere in this country, I get car sick ridding the bus very easily. So I can't read or play a game or anything, which makes that two hours seem like a lot longer. There is a train that is a little cheaper but it takes like 2 hour 45 mins. I think I might do that in the future just so I can actually do something with that time.
But I got to Tokyo a few hours before I was supposed to meet up with my friend so I decided to walk from Tokyo station to Akihabara. I have GPS on my phone, but I forgot how terrible my phone is. Granted it was cloudy that day but it was saying I was going the wrong direction when I wasn't and I ended up doing a lot of back tracking because of that.
I meet up with Courtney in Akihabara and we did some shopping. I really enjoy shopping with Courtney because no matter how much I spend, she will always spend more so I don't feel bad about it. I got some animation cells which are awesome because it is literal a piece of an anime. Each cell is unique and for the most part they are very cheap. I got a Tenchi Muyo cells for like 500 yen, a dragon ball z cell for 1500 yen and some unknown anime cells for 100 yen. Its crazy. They are kind of odd size so I haven't found a good frame for them yet though. I also got some Lucky Star figures that we on sale. I went overboard buying figures last time but this time I just wanted something to add some personality to my apartment.
After Akihabara we went to Shibuya I think and had monja yaki. Its kind of like okonomiyaki but its kind of jell like consistency. It was good. And then I had a bakudan takoyaki, it was a single takoyaki the size of a baseball. It was pretty good. We also checked out some arcades and I played a racing game that was in 3D, it was a lot of fun. I really am looking forward for 3D stuff to take over.
After that we parted ways and I went to Shinjiku to stay at a capsule hotel. Capsule hotels really aren't that bad. Its like $40 a night which is cheap considering this is one of the biggest cities in the world. The bed is not comfortable at all and I didn't get that good of a night's sleep, but it served its purpose.
The next day I went to Saitama for a BBQ. Someone forwarded the information about a church BBQ in Saitama and I asked if I could come. All things considered it was pretty far form my house but I really enjoyed meeting those people and the food was great. The fellowship with my church is my lifeline here in Japan. It is how I meet new friends, its how I meet people who worry about me and know I even exist, and it is how I get out of my house and do things. Without it I would have a much harder time living in Japan.
The whole trip to Tokyo made me realize how different Tokyo is from Kamogawa. So many people, so big. I feel like I need to get a taste of this every once in a while, but I do not want to live in Tokyo. I like my little town, I like going to a store and people recognizing me. I like feeling special because I am one of the few foreigners in town.
Besides that trip I got a little sick. This is where living on your own really sucks. Having to get yourself together to drive to the store to buy medicine is not fun. Thanks to asking my friends on facebook I found out what medicine is good here but what I got was just a powder. I tried just putting the powder in my mouth and then quickly drinking something, bad idea. I tried mixing it with water, still bad. I tried diluting it with several cups of water, still not good. So I had to guy buy pills and put the powder inside myself. It felt like I was doing something illegal or something.
Well I guess that's about it. I'll try to write more often.
Why I need a GPS
October 25th 2010
I would like to talk today about why I am going to buy a GPS for my car.
So the trip every sunday to church can be kind of tiring sometimes. It is an hour and a half through a road with a lot of traffic and stop lights. It does have some nice views of the ocean but it is mostly city which sort of gets boring to look at very quickly.
About two weeks ago someone at church recommended that I take a different road as it would cut twenty minutes off my time because there are hardly any traffic lights and the speed limit is higher. It went through really middle of no where Japan but the view was pretty amazing. That day I looked it up on my phone and some how found out how to get home really easily with only checking the GPS on my phone once or twice.
Because of conference and being sick I hadn't been to that building in two weeks so I thought I would try the mountain road on the way there. It was a little confusing and I did end up taking more time then normal but I made it just fine.
On the way home however, things just didn't work out. I don't know how but I got really lost. When you get away from the densely populated areas of Japan, things are very different. Many roads not only didn't say what road it was, they would not have any signs at all. I had a sort of idea of where to go but everything looked so different going the other direction. I kind of had an idea of what cities should be next so I followed the arrows, but things weren't going so well with that.
So I tried to use the GPS on my phone, pulled over of course, but my phone's worthlessness really shined. I could understand if it had a hard time finding my location, it was cloudy and I think the GPS antenna in those phones is smaller then a proper GPS, but this thing would tell me I am in the wrong location. Relying on this thing caused me to go in complete opposite directions and just get much more lost then if I just had a simple compass.
Then the rain really started to come down and so did the Sun. It got dark and stormy and I was driving around on swerving roads with no idea at all where I was. It was kind of scary. Like I didn't really feel like I was in any actual danger, but I felt like I was just setting up some Japanese ghost story. The inaka (japanese country side) has it's own sense of scary and I really felt it.
What was supposed to be a simple 1 hour 10 minute drive turned into 2+ hours. And if I just had a GPS that worked, I would have been home before it got dark and stormy. So I am going to go out shopping for one after work, but at least I have a little story now.
I would like to talk today about why I am going to buy a GPS for my car.
So the trip every sunday to church can be kind of tiring sometimes. It is an hour and a half through a road with a lot of traffic and stop lights. It does have some nice views of the ocean but it is mostly city which sort of gets boring to look at very quickly.
About two weeks ago someone at church recommended that I take a different road as it would cut twenty minutes off my time because there are hardly any traffic lights and the speed limit is higher. It went through really middle of no where Japan but the view was pretty amazing. That day I looked it up on my phone and some how found out how to get home really easily with only checking the GPS on my phone once or twice.
Because of conference and being sick I hadn't been to that building in two weeks so I thought I would try the mountain road on the way there. It was a little confusing and I did end up taking more time then normal but I made it just fine.
On the way home however, things just didn't work out. I don't know how but I got really lost. When you get away from the densely populated areas of Japan, things are very different. Many roads not only didn't say what road it was, they would not have any signs at all. I had a sort of idea of where to go but everything looked so different going the other direction. I kind of had an idea of what cities should be next so I followed the arrows, but things weren't going so well with that.
So I tried to use the GPS on my phone, pulled over of course, but my phone's worthlessness really shined. I could understand if it had a hard time finding my location, it was cloudy and I think the GPS antenna in those phones is smaller then a proper GPS, but this thing would tell me I am in the wrong location. Relying on this thing caused me to go in complete opposite directions and just get much more lost then if I just had a simple compass.
Then the rain really started to come down and so did the Sun. It got dark and stormy and I was driving around on swerving roads with no idea at all where I was. It was kind of scary. Like I didn't really feel like I was in any actual danger, but I felt like I was just setting up some Japanese ghost story. The inaka (japanese country side) has it's own sense of scary and I really felt it.
What was supposed to be a simple 1 hour 10 minute drive turned into 2+ hours. And if I just had a GPS that worked, I would have been home before it got dark and stormy. So I am going to go out shopping for one after work, but at least I have a little story now.
November 7th 2010.
Friday night I came home, played some sonic 4 (awesome game by the way) and started to do some reading when I just passed out. I was so tired. I love spending time with younger students but they just drain the life force right from me. They want to play tag or something but my body just can't do it anymore. I mean I am pretty out of shape to start out with but I dunno I just get really tired. So waking up the next day I was just really lazy. Except for about 2 hours I spent the whole day just sitting in my room. I played a lot of RE5 with the move controller on ps3. I like the move controller a lot. It is like the wii remote except better and without terrible graphics, but the controls for RE5 is just really lazy. You just don't get to do what you think you ought to be able to do with a shiny new motion controller.
So when I did go out I went to a place that said it was a park on the map, but looked like some sort of bike club. I really don't know. I run into things that I have no idea what they are pretty often. Its kind of awkward because I don't know if it is like pay to enter kind of thing or not. So I just took some pictures of a temple nearby. I am trying to get better at taking photos and when I think about the composition of the shot it looks good in my mind but when looking at it on the computer it just doesn't look right. Often it is too bright or not bright enough or just sort of artistically it is boring. I kind of want to take a class or something.
On a different subject I got a GPS. I bought a garmin and I really regret it. The problem is that Garmin simply took the same system for their normal one and imported Japanese data and called it a day. But both Japan and the Japanese language can not be thrown on so easily. For example my GPS can not search by kanji (chinese characters), it can only search by hiragana (japanese alphabet), so it will bring up all of the results that have the same reading even if they have different Kanji. And because it can't search by Kanji you have to enter the locations official title. The other day I needed to get to the 会館 but I couldn't find it because it was listed as 鴨川市会館。The device also doesn't seem to know the speed limit of any road or how to take back alleys, so I very often get the less then optimal route.
I take a sort of middle of no where path to get to church and it is really pretty. It sort of sums up the reason why it is awesome to live away from the big cities. I am really looking forward to seeing the fall colors, it is going to be great.
Everything at school is still going fine. I have taught at Kindergarten and it was a lot of fun. It really isn't that big of a transition from being a student to being an ALT. My job is mostly about just having fun with kids. I do give my kids a lot of stickers, and I am starting to run out. I ordered about 1000 from some company in China but I still have to watch out even 1000 can run out quickly.
I kind of feel bad for anyone looking at this blog hopping to get some great insight about what it is like to live in Japan, Japan just sort of seems normal now. Like not in a its boring way, but just that I'm not really all that surprised by things anymore. The way things are done in Japan just sort of feel like the way that things ought to be done.
well thats it for now I guess.
Friday night I came home, played some sonic 4 (awesome game by the way) and started to do some reading when I just passed out. I was so tired. I love spending time with younger students but they just drain the life force right from me. They want to play tag or something but my body just can't do it anymore. I mean I am pretty out of shape to start out with but I dunno I just get really tired. So waking up the next day I was just really lazy. Except for about 2 hours I spent the whole day just sitting in my room. I played a lot of RE5 with the move controller on ps3. I like the move controller a lot. It is like the wii remote except better and without terrible graphics, but the controls for RE5 is just really lazy. You just don't get to do what you think you ought to be able to do with a shiny new motion controller.
So when I did go out I went to a place that said it was a park on the map, but looked like some sort of bike club. I really don't know. I run into things that I have no idea what they are pretty often. Its kind of awkward because I don't know if it is like pay to enter kind of thing or not. So I just took some pictures of a temple nearby. I am trying to get better at taking photos and when I think about the composition of the shot it looks good in my mind but when looking at it on the computer it just doesn't look right. Often it is too bright or not bright enough or just sort of artistically it is boring. I kind of want to take a class or something.
On a different subject I got a GPS. I bought a garmin and I really regret it. The problem is that Garmin simply took the same system for their normal one and imported Japanese data and called it a day. But both Japan and the Japanese language can not be thrown on so easily. For example my GPS can not search by kanji (chinese characters), it can only search by hiragana (japanese alphabet), so it will bring up all of the results that have the same reading even if they have different Kanji. And because it can't search by Kanji you have to enter the locations official title. The other day I needed to get to the 会館 but I couldn't find it because it was listed as 鴨川市会館。The device also doesn't seem to know the speed limit of any road or how to take back alleys, so I very often get the less then optimal route.
I take a sort of middle of no where path to get to church and it is really pretty. It sort of sums up the reason why it is awesome to live away from the big cities. I am really looking forward to seeing the fall colors, it is going to be great.
Everything at school is still going fine. I have taught at Kindergarten and it was a lot of fun. It really isn't that big of a transition from being a student to being an ALT. My job is mostly about just having fun with kids. I do give my kids a lot of stickers, and I am starting to run out. I ordered about 1000 from some company in China but I still have to watch out even 1000 can run out quickly.
I kind of feel bad for anyone looking at this blog hopping to get some great insight about what it is like to live in Japan, Japan just sort of seems normal now. Like not in a its boring way, but just that I'm not really all that surprised by things anymore. The way things are done in Japan just sort of feel like the way that things ought to be done.
well thats it for now I guess.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
The Story of Gon, The Loyal One Eye Dog.
So the following is a story that I translated. There is an interesting story as to how I got the Japanese version. A few weeks ago I was interviewed by a reporter for a regional paper that has about 200,000 readers. In it I mentioned that I translate anime and manga into English. The whole thing is actually kind of embarrassing but I guess there isn't anything really important happening in southern Chiba. So one day I get a phone call from one of the teachers at school saying that I have received a strange letter from someone in Tateyama (about an hour south). We both tried to figure out who it could be since I had never been to Tateyama. Once she opened it however it was a letter, a short story, and a pamphlet for an onsen. As it turns out that they wanted me to "share" the story of Gon with Americans. I've had some free time and I haven't had a good translation project for a while so I gave it a shot.
The reason I enjoy translating as a hobby is that there are so many challenges you need to address. First off is Japanese is a cute language. It is very easy to make something really really cute, I think its hard in English. Japanese cheezyness isn't as clearly defined as it is in English. The Japanese version really gives off a feeling of "Oh this poor dog, I feel so sorry for him" I don't know if I really pulled that off well in the English version or not.
The second thing is length of paragraphs and sentences. You would think that the best way to work with a story is to go sentence by sentence and keep the paragraphs the same, but Japanese can have crazy long sentences and very short paragraphs. There were a lot of parts where I split sentences and merged paragraphs, but this version still has very small paragraphs.
Another thing is quotation. There are lots of parts in the original that seemed like they should be quoted weren't and vice versa. I just went with what sounds better in English on that. One translation problem that you would see in any language though, is what if the original is just written poorly? This story would occasionally break the 1st person for a third person. I guess you have to change it for the better but you also need to protect the authenticity of the original.
Ok so enough of an intro, please enjoy the story
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Story of Gon, The Loyal One Eye Dog.
Written by Mitsue Suzuki
Edited by Shintaro Suzuki
Translated by Benjamin Pomeroy
My name is Gon. I'm a crossbreed shiba inu. When my mother's master moved away, she abandoned her. My mother wondered around looking for a new master, when the president of a construction company saw her while he was going for a horse ride. “Well will you look at that splendid dog. Someone might be looking for it, go grab it.”His employee grabbed my mom and took her home. She was very well taken care of. And then me and my brother were born, although my brother soon got sick and died. I was given to the Watanabe couple, who worked at the same company. They loved me as much as if I was their own child.
The old man who became my master was very good at singing and would always sing a song while going for a walk. It was wonderful, and I was enchanted when I listened. I thought no one could sing better then him.
I grew up very strong and healthy, and on the day that I turned three years old, a new hobby store opened up next to the school. Three grade school kids purchased a plastic pistol and were searching around for a target to shoot. Since I never caused any one any trouble, my master let me loose in the yard. I started to go near the three of them, and just my luck, they saw me.
They caught me, dragged me out to the field, and tied me up to a tree. The three of them took the pistol and shot point plank into my left eye. Three pellets hit my eye. “Aaaahhh it hurts! It hurts! Daddy! Mommy! Help me! It hurts!”
The kids untied me and ran away. I tossed and turned because of the pain. I was scared, and I hid myself under someone's house and cried. Dad and Mom were out all night searching for me. “Gon! Gon!” They were so worried they couldn't sleep. The next day they continued to search for me after they came home from work. “Gon! Gon!”
I was in pain and I was starving, and right when I was about to go home, my master found me. My eye was dangling by a thread. They were shocked and rushed me to the vet. The doctor removed my eye. “Three plastic pellets were lodged in his eye”,they all then knew that it was the work of those no good kids.
Dad took me in under the covers, and we slept together in the same futon. “Gon, it must have hurt so much. Never go near those kids again.” Whenever Mom would say “Is it really alright to have the dog inside?” Dad would quickly come back with “What are you saying? If this was our own child, what would you do?”.
I slept with my Dad's arms wrapped around me for a week, and I started to feel a little better, so I tried practice walking. Because I only had one eye, I wasn't very good at first. I would just go around in a circle or stumble about, but Dad would do his best to cheer me on saying “You can do it Gon! Don't give up!” Eventually I was able to get back to living a normal life, which made Dad and Mom feel revealed, and they started going back to work. This time they made sure to leash me to my dog house.
After a while those same those same bad kids came back. They wanted to shoot out my other eye too. A neighbor saw what they were trying to do, and called the police. It seems Dad and Mom told them “If anything happens, please contact us” The police contacted the school, and the teachers realized how big of a problem this was. The students and parents were all gathered together, and were given a stern warning.
The parents of the children came to my house to apologize, but simply said “Well just pay the medical bill, and it will be alright.” This upset Dad and he yelled back “Fix Gon's eye! What would you do if this happened to a person?” I was very glad to hear him say that. I think even dogs have a right to live.
Once I had fully recovered, Dad would take me for a walk and sing, just like before. I was really taken away by his beautiful singing. Life was nice and peaceful, but only until that one day.
Suddenly the telephone started to ring. “Hello? Is this Mrs. Watanabe? Something terrible has happened. Your husband collapsed at work. Please hurry and come down here.” Mom had been home with a touch of a cold so she left right away. Dad was rushed off to Kameda Hospital in Kamogawa and there he began a long hospitalization.
Dad couldn't talk, he had a vacant look in his eyes, and he was paralyzed from the waist down.
The blood vessels in his brain had been severally damaged. Mom never left Dad's side, so there was only me and my older brother, their son, left at home. My brother would leave for work after lunch, so I was left all by myself to watch the house.
In an attempt to help Dad regain consciousness, Mom played the tape that Dad recorded every day. The doctor told her that it wouldn't be a bad idea, so she determined to play it over and over again.
One day, Dad suddenly work up. Tears were rolling down his cheek and Mom too was crying tears of joy. After a while his condition became more stable, and he was moved to Tateyama hospital. There he struggled everyday with his rehabilitation. Dad still couldn't talk very well, so even though Mom would come home by bike to take care of laundry or what not, for the most part, she spent everyday helping Dad at the hospital.
Some people from Dad's office were taking care of me, but they didn't seem to have the time to take me for a walk. They would say “Gon, go take yourself for a walk” and let me go. More then a year had passed since I had last seen Dad, and I wanted to see him more then anything. I found a road that had Mom's scent on it, and I followed it until I came to an intersection. The cars were honking and zooming pass so, I found some old lady and I crossed the street with her. After I had followed the road for a while, I could faintly hear Dad singing off in the distance. A human wouldn't have been able to hear it. Only a dog, like me, could hear it. Our ears are much more sensitive than human ears, so voices that humans can't hear, I can.
I eventually came to a big hospital, and Mom's scent was very strong there. I sat down at the front gate and stared, but I just couldn't see Mom or Dad anywhere. So after two hours I had no choice but to go back home. The office people I was staying with would release me after they finished lunch, so I would follow Mom's scent and go back to the hospital.
Because I would sit in front of the hospital every day waiting, some of the nurses said “Everyday that one eye dog comes to the front gate and just stares. I wonder if it is a stray. It's really gross that he only has one eye. But he does have a collar on, I wonder if someone owns him” Mom heard this while passing through the halls and though that it might be Gon. She went to go tell Dad, who as listening intently, and gestured for her to go to the entrance and take a look. Nervously she ran to the entrance, and to her surprise, she saw me sitting there waiting for her. “Gon! How did you know we were here? Did you come along with someone?”
I didn't respond, I just sat there wagging my tail. I was finally able to see Mom again. I was just so happy I couldn't stand it. I leaped up on Mom. Mom couldn't hold back, and tears started to roll down her face. “Gon, please wait right here. I'll go tell Dad. When Dad finds out that you came here, he will be so happy. It might even help him recover”
Mom went back to the room and she started telling Dad about me. A doctor, who was passing by, came in and Mom told him as well. They couldn't exactly let a dog into a hospital, but since they thought that it might help Dad recover, they let us meet in the entrance way.
I hadn't seen my Dad for a year and a half, and I was so happy that I just jumped into his arms. Dad couldn't stop the flow of tears. After our joyful reunion, Mom told me “Gon, at two o'clock Dad has to go to the rehabilitation room, so go home and come back again tomorrow. Wait out side the pathway to the rehabilitation room and watch out for cars.”
I was sad, but I just had to go home and I could come again tomorrow. Mom called the office and told them “Today Gon came to the hospital! I was very surprised. I wonder how he knew where to go. I told him to come again at two o'clock, so please let him go after lunch.” I was once again able to meet Dad and see his smiling face, so I went home happy.
Despite his rehabilitation, Dad eventually left for heaven. Mom called the office and told them “Dad passed away today, please don't let Gon go” They didn't let me go that day.
Dad came home, but not the same way. Many people came to our house, and everyone of them was crying. I was very sad too and I cried “Awwoooo” A hearse came to our house for the funeral. For a final good-bye, Mom let me go. I headed straight for the hearse and I climbed inside.
“Dad, your the one who saved me, Dad. I love you, I love you so much. You can't leave me here, please take me with you!”
Somehow, I heard Dad's voice. “Gon, no-no. There is no way I could do that. You still have something you need to do here. Now that I'm gone, I want you to watch over Mom for me.”
That's right! I still have my mom. I need to be strong for her. I have to do this, for her! My brother shouted out “Mom this is bad! Gon got inside the car!” Mom was surprised and once again leashed me to my dog house.
The neighbors and relatives all ran around busy, but I just watched in a sad gaze. After a while, Dad came home in a small box. Everyone acted as though there was a great weight on their shoulders. I just couldn't believe that Dad, who I loved so much, was inside that tiny box. I cried out again “Awwoooo”. All I want it is to go for a walk and hear him sing again. God had taken Dad to heaven. “Please let Dad come home. Please, God I'm begging you!”
Without Dad, everyday was sad. One day, Mom and my brother took me for a car ride to the grave that Dad was sleeping in. It was very far away, there was no way I would be able to walk there myself. “I came to visit you Dad. Why are you sleeping under such a cold rock? I miss you Dad. I've come to give you flowers and water, so please come out of your grave.”
Just then I somehow heard Dad's voice again. “Oh Gon, thank you for coming. I can't fix your missing eye, but I am watching over all of you so you can live happily together. I need you to watch over Mom and help her out in my place.”
That's right! I can't just let myself be sad all of the time. There is something important I need to do. I have to keep it together!
From then on, everyday after I finished eating my lunch, Mom would play the tape that Dad made and I would wag my tail. We would listen together everyday, and everyday was very peaceful. ”You can relax Dad, I am watching over Mom. And I know you are watching over both of us too. “
One day, several years later, a fine young man came to our house. I didn't recognize him, but he was one of the boys who shot out my eye. “Miss, I am so sorry. As I child I didn't quite know the difference between right and wrong and I did such a horrible thing to Gon. I couldn't imagine it being possible for you to forgive me, but I am moving away to start a new job in April and before I leave I just have to apologize to Gon.” Mom told him “Thank you so much. I'm so glad that you've come all the way here to apologize. Gon has full recovered and you have become such a wonderful young man who loves animals. I forgive you.” When I heard this, I felt very happy inside. I forgot the anger that I carried for so many years. The boy and Mom shook hands and parted ways.
THE END
This story is a dramatization of the story of the dog Gon, owned by the Watanabe couple.
Gon passed away of old age after living a full life in 1999
The reason I enjoy translating as a hobby is that there are so many challenges you need to address. First off is Japanese is a cute language. It is very easy to make something really really cute, I think its hard in English. Japanese cheezyness isn't as clearly defined as it is in English. The Japanese version really gives off a feeling of "Oh this poor dog, I feel so sorry for him" I don't know if I really pulled that off well in the English version or not.
The second thing is length of paragraphs and sentences. You would think that the best way to work with a story is to go sentence by sentence and keep the paragraphs the same, but Japanese can have crazy long sentences and very short paragraphs. There were a lot of parts where I split sentences and merged paragraphs, but this version still has very small paragraphs.
Another thing is quotation. There are lots of parts in the original that seemed like they should be quoted weren't and vice versa. I just went with what sounds better in English on that. One translation problem that you would see in any language though, is what if the original is just written poorly? This story would occasionally break the 1st person for a third person. I guess you have to change it for the better but you also need to protect the authenticity of the original.
Ok so enough of an intro, please enjoy the story
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Story of Gon, The Loyal One Eye Dog.
Written by Mitsue Suzuki
Edited by Shintaro Suzuki
Translated by Benjamin Pomeroy
My name is Gon. I'm a crossbreed shiba inu. When my mother's master moved away, she abandoned her. My mother wondered around looking for a new master, when the president of a construction company saw her while he was going for a horse ride. “Well will you look at that splendid dog. Someone might be looking for it, go grab it.”His employee grabbed my mom and took her home. She was very well taken care of. And then me and my brother were born, although my brother soon got sick and died. I was given to the Watanabe couple, who worked at the same company. They loved me as much as if I was their own child.
The old man who became my master was very good at singing and would always sing a song while going for a walk. It was wonderful, and I was enchanted when I listened. I thought no one could sing better then him.
I grew up very strong and healthy, and on the day that I turned three years old, a new hobby store opened up next to the school. Three grade school kids purchased a plastic pistol and were searching around for a target to shoot. Since I never caused any one any trouble, my master let me loose in the yard. I started to go near the three of them, and just my luck, they saw me.
They caught me, dragged me out to the field, and tied me up to a tree. The three of them took the pistol and shot point plank into my left eye. Three pellets hit my eye. “Aaaahhh it hurts! It hurts! Daddy! Mommy! Help me! It hurts!”
The kids untied me and ran away. I tossed and turned because of the pain. I was scared, and I hid myself under someone's house and cried. Dad and Mom were out all night searching for me. “Gon! Gon!” They were so worried they couldn't sleep. The next day they continued to search for me after they came home from work. “Gon! Gon!”
I was in pain and I was starving, and right when I was about to go home, my master found me. My eye was dangling by a thread. They were shocked and rushed me to the vet. The doctor removed my eye. “Three plastic pellets were lodged in his eye”,they all then knew that it was the work of those no good kids.
Dad took me in under the covers, and we slept together in the same futon. “Gon, it must have hurt so much. Never go near those kids again.” Whenever Mom would say “Is it really alright to have the dog inside?” Dad would quickly come back with “What are you saying? If this was our own child, what would you do?”.
I slept with my Dad's arms wrapped around me for a week, and I started to feel a little better, so I tried practice walking. Because I only had one eye, I wasn't very good at first. I would just go around in a circle or stumble about, but Dad would do his best to cheer me on saying “You can do it Gon! Don't give up!” Eventually I was able to get back to living a normal life, which made Dad and Mom feel revealed, and they started going back to work. This time they made sure to leash me to my dog house.
After a while those same those same bad kids came back. They wanted to shoot out my other eye too. A neighbor saw what they were trying to do, and called the police. It seems Dad and Mom told them “If anything happens, please contact us” The police contacted the school, and the teachers realized how big of a problem this was. The students and parents were all gathered together, and were given a stern warning.
The parents of the children came to my house to apologize, but simply said “Well just pay the medical bill, and it will be alright.” This upset Dad and he yelled back “Fix Gon's eye! What would you do if this happened to a person?” I was very glad to hear him say that. I think even dogs have a right to live.
Once I had fully recovered, Dad would take me for a walk and sing, just like before. I was really taken away by his beautiful singing. Life was nice and peaceful, but only until that one day.
Suddenly the telephone started to ring. “Hello? Is this Mrs. Watanabe? Something terrible has happened. Your husband collapsed at work. Please hurry and come down here.” Mom had been home with a touch of a cold so she left right away. Dad was rushed off to Kameda Hospital in Kamogawa and there he began a long hospitalization.
Dad couldn't talk, he had a vacant look in his eyes, and he was paralyzed from the waist down.
The blood vessels in his brain had been severally damaged. Mom never left Dad's side, so there was only me and my older brother, their son, left at home. My brother would leave for work after lunch, so I was left all by myself to watch the house.
In an attempt to help Dad regain consciousness, Mom played the tape that Dad recorded every day. The doctor told her that it wouldn't be a bad idea, so she determined to play it over and over again.
One day, Dad suddenly work up. Tears were rolling down his cheek and Mom too was crying tears of joy. After a while his condition became more stable, and he was moved to Tateyama hospital. There he struggled everyday with his rehabilitation. Dad still couldn't talk very well, so even though Mom would come home by bike to take care of laundry or what not, for the most part, she spent everyday helping Dad at the hospital.
Some people from Dad's office were taking care of me, but they didn't seem to have the time to take me for a walk. They would say “Gon, go take yourself for a walk” and let me go. More then a year had passed since I had last seen Dad, and I wanted to see him more then anything. I found a road that had Mom's scent on it, and I followed it until I came to an intersection. The cars were honking and zooming pass so, I found some old lady and I crossed the street with her. After I had followed the road for a while, I could faintly hear Dad singing off in the distance. A human wouldn't have been able to hear it. Only a dog, like me, could hear it. Our ears are much more sensitive than human ears, so voices that humans can't hear, I can.
I eventually came to a big hospital, and Mom's scent was very strong there. I sat down at the front gate and stared, but I just couldn't see Mom or Dad anywhere. So after two hours I had no choice but to go back home. The office people I was staying with would release me after they finished lunch, so I would follow Mom's scent and go back to the hospital.
Because I would sit in front of the hospital every day waiting, some of the nurses said “Everyday that one eye dog comes to the front gate and just stares. I wonder if it is a stray. It's really gross that he only has one eye. But he does have a collar on, I wonder if someone owns him” Mom heard this while passing through the halls and though that it might be Gon. She went to go tell Dad, who as listening intently, and gestured for her to go to the entrance and take a look. Nervously she ran to the entrance, and to her surprise, she saw me sitting there waiting for her. “Gon! How did you know we were here? Did you come along with someone?”
I didn't respond, I just sat there wagging my tail. I was finally able to see Mom again. I was just so happy I couldn't stand it. I leaped up on Mom. Mom couldn't hold back, and tears started to roll down her face. “Gon, please wait right here. I'll go tell Dad. When Dad finds out that you came here, he will be so happy. It might even help him recover”
Mom went back to the room and she started telling Dad about me. A doctor, who was passing by, came in and Mom told him as well. They couldn't exactly let a dog into a hospital, but since they thought that it might help Dad recover, they let us meet in the entrance way.
I hadn't seen my Dad for a year and a half, and I was so happy that I just jumped into his arms. Dad couldn't stop the flow of tears. After our joyful reunion, Mom told me “Gon, at two o'clock Dad has to go to the rehabilitation room, so go home and come back again tomorrow. Wait out side the pathway to the rehabilitation room and watch out for cars.”
I was sad, but I just had to go home and I could come again tomorrow. Mom called the office and told them “Today Gon came to the hospital! I was very surprised. I wonder how he knew where to go. I told him to come again at two o'clock, so please let him go after lunch.” I was once again able to meet Dad and see his smiling face, so I went home happy.
Despite his rehabilitation, Dad eventually left for heaven. Mom called the office and told them “Dad passed away today, please don't let Gon go” They didn't let me go that day.
Dad came home, but not the same way. Many people came to our house, and everyone of them was crying. I was very sad too and I cried “Awwoooo” A hearse came to our house for the funeral. For a final good-bye, Mom let me go. I headed straight for the hearse and I climbed inside.
“Dad, your the one who saved me, Dad. I love you, I love you so much. You can't leave me here, please take me with you!”
Somehow, I heard Dad's voice. “Gon, no-no. There is no way I could do that. You still have something you need to do here. Now that I'm gone, I want you to watch over Mom for me.”
That's right! I still have my mom. I need to be strong for her. I have to do this, for her! My brother shouted out “Mom this is bad! Gon got inside the car!” Mom was surprised and once again leashed me to my dog house.
The neighbors and relatives all ran around busy, but I just watched in a sad gaze. After a while, Dad came home in a small box. Everyone acted as though there was a great weight on their shoulders. I just couldn't believe that Dad, who I loved so much, was inside that tiny box. I cried out again “Awwoooo”. All I want it is to go for a walk and hear him sing again. God had taken Dad to heaven. “Please let Dad come home. Please, God I'm begging you!”
Without Dad, everyday was sad. One day, Mom and my brother took me for a car ride to the grave that Dad was sleeping in. It was very far away, there was no way I would be able to walk there myself. “I came to visit you Dad. Why are you sleeping under such a cold rock? I miss you Dad. I've come to give you flowers and water, so please come out of your grave.”
Just then I somehow heard Dad's voice again. “Oh Gon, thank you for coming. I can't fix your missing eye, but I am watching over all of you so you can live happily together. I need you to watch over Mom and help her out in my place.”
That's right! I can't just let myself be sad all of the time. There is something important I need to do. I have to keep it together!
From then on, everyday after I finished eating my lunch, Mom would play the tape that Dad made and I would wag my tail. We would listen together everyday, and everyday was very peaceful. ”You can relax Dad, I am watching over Mom. And I know you are watching over both of us too. “
One day, several years later, a fine young man came to our house. I didn't recognize him, but he was one of the boys who shot out my eye. “Miss, I am so sorry. As I child I didn't quite know the difference between right and wrong and I did such a horrible thing to Gon. I couldn't imagine it being possible for you to forgive me, but I am moving away to start a new job in April and before I leave I just have to apologize to Gon.” Mom told him “Thank you so much. I'm so glad that you've come all the way here to apologize. Gon has full recovered and you have become such a wonderful young man who loves animals. I forgive you.” When I heard this, I felt very happy inside. I forgot the anger that I carried for so many years. The boy and Mom shook hands and parted ways.
THE END
This story is a dramatization of the story of the dog Gon, owned by the Watanabe couple.
Gon passed away of old age after living a full life in 1999
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