So what is everyone up to now?

 

Me? I`m going to stay in Okayama and be Korean.  yes, that`s right.  There`s no point trying to pretend I am anything but here.  No one believes me when I tell them who I am, not even when I throw my official documents in their face.

 

Take for example my trip to Osaka two days ago.  Me, going there to the Chinese Consulate General to get my visa into the country that I was born in, having the most difficult time in the world.  Why?  Here`s a bit of what went down:

 

Me: Hi, I`d like to get a visa into China to visit my relatives.

the man: Why do you want to go to China?
Me: I just told you, I want to see my relatives.

man: But you`re Canadian.

me: Yes, but I was born in China.  Here is my birth certificate.

Man: Ah, yes. I see.  But your passport is Canadian.

me: here is my immigration papers upon arrival in Canada.  Note the date I became a citizen and the date of my birth.  1980/1981.  I was barely conscious.

Man: But still, why did you change your name to an English one?  Why isn`t there Chinese in your immigration paper.

Me: I moved to Canada.  C A N A D A. Do you realize they don`t use Chinese as an official language there?

Man: Yes, but why?

Me: I don`t know.  Consult your history books.  I don`t think China took over Canada recently.

Man: Okay.  Okay.  It says here you also want to go to Hong Kong.  Why?

Me: well, it also says here that I want to go to Hong Kong for some shopping and travelling.  My relatives also live there.

Man: Why do you have Chinese relatives if you are Canadian?
Me: Because I was born in China.  My parents are Chinese.  Here are copies of my parents` Chinese passports.

Man: Ah, so your parents are Chinese, but you are not.

Me: Yes and no.  They are Canadian citizens now.  They were Chinese citizens.  now they are not.  But they lived there and fought for your communist government so yes, at some point, they were Chinese.

Man: But how come you don`t have a chinese name?

me: I do, it`s not on my Canadian passport though because they don`t write Chinese in Canada.

Man: But why do you have a Chinese name then?

Me: Because I was bornin China.

Man: then why are you holding a Canadian passport?

 

and repeat about 20 times...

 

Anyway, I`ll get my visa i nHong Kong.

 

I`m Korean so I`m going to just fuck off and die.

For Christmas, I think I`ll buy myself a DSLR so I`ll be able to carry a million cameras with me.  I am a little tired of carrying film around so I might as well make the switch.  They are cheap in Japan.  So that`s what I`ll do. 

 

For for the rest of you, I guess I`ll just send a prayer or something similar your way.  I`ll sacrfice a cow or eat a steak, which might be a little easier to do when I think about it.  Maybe burn some incense and recite poetry and sing christmas carols.  Sorry, but antying I send now will be late.  I must`ve missed the idea of Christmas here.  I think it`s probably because I`m kinda stuck alone in a foreign land.  Last Christmas was easier to forget because I was a newbie to Japan, but I guess I should`ve thought of that.

 

Nikon or Canon?  Hmmm....

 

 

I`m wearing knee high socks.  I went to take the Japanese proficiency exam on Sunday and it was pretty easy so I hope I pass it.  I think I was overconfident though, but I know, I know more Japanese than the exam granted me.  But then again, it was level 4, which is the lowest level.  But the fact that I worked my way up to have enough knowledge and understanding of the language to even consider taking an exam is good enough for me.  It just showed me that I was capable of absorbing a language by being exposed to it.  Maybe me brain is capable of "osmosis".  Or maybe my brain is still very childish and I can just absorb information and make new connections.  True, this would make me have a childish personality and most adults my age would think I was a quirk/queer/random jumble of crap, but then again, my life is full and they may only think that cuz they`ve grown up.  I am incapable of maturing.  This is awesome.

 

Other than that, I went mountain biking on real hills this past weekend twice.  It was also amazing because I got to see a lot of trails and my bike is weak from being beaten up on some of these normal rides.  SFU is much harder, but because I haven`t been up on a hill for a while, even the simplest downhill section was difficult for me.  Then I went dirt jumping, which was also fun.  Hahahaha, I had a great weekend.  You guys suck.