Arrival and excitement

Okay, I'm here now.

The trip from Stockholm began about four days ago (well, maybe not that long. But it takes a good few hours.) After a brief flight to Copenhagen, I bought four hours of wifi-time, and learned to appreciate Skype. I hope to use it extensively during my stay here in the Land of Heated Toilet Seats. 

Having spent waaaay more time at Denmark's international airport than I should ever wish to, I made my way to the gate, where I more or less stumbled upon two fellow Swedes. 

One has been living in Tokyo for three months, the other is just beginning his first year here. Long story short, we have common friends at home and ended up hanging out all the way to Shinagawa station. I think I'll be seeing more of them both.

The house I live in, where I will stay for the next six weeks, is situated in Kugahara. It lies a ways away from central Tokyo, to the southwest. I have yet to explore my surroundings, but my walk from the train station hinted at a very quiet neighborhood with small houses and – gasp! – some greenery.

In an hour or so I will have dinner with the other students staying here, so more about them later.

Okay, I'm here now.

Into the west... oh right, east.

You know that scene from one of the endings of The Return of The King? Frodo's departure at the Grey Havens, when everything looks shiny, and everybody's sad but kind of glad too? I've been re-enacting that scene several times over the last couple of days, and it's painful. 

I'm excited about the whole Japan-thing, but being away from the people I love is not cool. I suppose I'll be able to give a better assessment of how uncool it is in a week or so, but right now, I'm a sad bear.

I'm just about done packing, so I guess the next time I write something here, I'll be in Tokyo. Possibly Denmark. Maybe Portugal if I get lost at the airport. We'll see.

The year for living dangerously!

Yeah! Finally, the sad, monotone existence of 2008 is over! Dead and gone!

Alright, that's enough exclamation marks for now.

Another year has passed. A year that, for me, saw many transgressions. I ended a long relationship, moved from one job to another and spent many scattered weeks unemployed and chillaxed. 

I traveled to London for a week, Denmark for a day, and Malmö for two very pleasant weekends. My band found a new label and started working on our first album, to be released this year.

All in all, I think 2008 ended with a pretty cool cliffhanger, so I'm not one to linger on what has passed. That said, I think a recap is in order. Here now, listed in no reasonable order, is my 2008 favorites.

Live Music

Having just read and responded to His Holy Beardness' post about gigs in 2008, I realised what an awesome year it has been for live music. I finally got to see Best Band In The World™ Oceansize, albeit as an opening act for Coheed & Cambria. They still killed, though.

Alt-noiserock-legends Sonic Youth were never on my must-see list, but having just opened my ears to them this summer, I joined some friends at the Way Out West festival to check them out.

In retrospect, it was one of the brighter ideas of my concert-going life, since their show was among the best I've ever seen. Hell, I didn't even know half the songs. I didn't care.

My friend Olle, aging veteran of a thousand gigs at a thousand blood-soaked venues, who has seen Sonic Youth, like, seven times, could attest to their quality on the day. It was fantastic.

I also saw Cult of Luna again. I've seen them about five times now, and I never tire. Really.

This time they played at a good venue, with both drummers on stage and a longer set than usual. Incredible.

Aside from that, The Mars Volta, This Will Destroy You, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky and a Vessels concert in London were all good or really good.

As for 2009, I only have one concert in my calendar so far: Mono playing in their hometown of Tokyo on March 14. That should be cool, I hope I can get tickets (like, not that they might sell out, but I hope I am physically able to purchase a ticket in Japan. Maybe not, you know?)

Movies

I've seen alot of movies this year. More than I care to remember, which is why this recap won't really do them justice. Among the noticable were the many comic book adaptions, and their quality. The Incredible Hulk was alright, Iron Man was fun, The Dark Knight was excellent.

I was also happy to see at least two superb Swedish films. Yes, there are more than most care to recognize, but then there's also alot of shit. So when something is as good as Ruben Östlund's De Ofrivilliga, or Låt Den Rätte Komma In, it deserves to be noted. 

On the lighter side of things, the Indiana Jones series got its much anticipated closure in Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Temple of Magic Spears of Light In The Hands of Evil Corporations (NAMBLA). 

I could do without it, but it has its moments. George Lucas wants my money and I can't turn the man down. Just look at him.

Anyway, I had a good time at the movies this year. Looking into the future (as I do), I have high hopes for 2009. Apart from the usual "hey, cool!"-stuff that looms on the summer-horizon – Wolverine, Star Trek, Watchmen, Harry Potter and The Half-blood Prince – there are things like James Cameron's 3D revolution Avatar, which seems like a very big deal indeed.

Music

Again, the list is too long to even sum up. Among the favorites is Fleet Foxes self-titled debut, Cult of Luna's Eternal Kingdom, The Hawk Is Howling by Mogwai, The Mars Volta's Bedlam In Goliath and the heroic self-titled debut of United Nations. 

I've just heard alot of random stuff that made me go "dude, nice", and I really hope that'll continue this year.

TV

I don't watch TV. I do, however, watch TV-shows. On DVD. And that has for the last few years been one of my favorite things to do in front of my 32" screen. This year, the highs included two seasons of 30 Rock (which I had just heard really good things about, but never seen a single clip from) and the first, excellent season of The Wire.

Games

Well, okay, I won't try to cover everything I've done, seen, eaten, smelled, punched or raped, but I like games. Videogames, that is. Or console games. I don't know the right term for it. 

The kind where you're not as nerdy as PC-gamers but still can't pick up girls with it. That one.

I own a Wii, and buy enough games to sustain me constantly should I feel like playing. That has meant about five games this year. I started with Lego Star Wars, then moved on to Metroid Prime 3, took a while with that, then got Mario Kart for my birthday. That lasted a couple of months, then I bought Call of Duty 3 (a couple of years late, but I wanted to check it out). Went back and forth between that and Mario for a while, then I got Okami. 

Okami is easily the best game I've played this year, including the fantastic Metroid Prime. It looks, and plays, alot like Zelda (especially Twilight Princess, where you incidentally play as a wolf…) but only to the game's credit. 

It looks good, the story is good, it's fun, it's all shiny, Japanese-y, wolfy brilliance and I want more of it.

I also shared some of Fredde's PS3 funtime, namely GTA4 and Call of Duty 4 and 5. It was awesome. If I thought I had slightly more time to play games, or gave up hunting ducks, I'd get one.

As for predicting 2009, I have no fucking clue what to expect. But IGN does, so check that out if you give a shit. 

In less than four days, I'm leaving for Tokyo, never to return (for three months). It makes my eyes pop out just thinking about it.

Winter What-the?-land

Season greetings to all, and to all a happy Xmas. 

Friends, something has been eating away at my fragile sanity for some time. Something dark, sinister, and most confusing appears every year around this time, colouring my red-and-green spirit a dull brown.

I am referring, obviously, to the song Winter Wonderland. Or, more specifically, its lyrics.

Now, I am not one to criticize songwriters, especially those who make a living writing Christmas standards. Songs like "White Christmas", "Jingle Bell Rock" or "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" has ever been a part of my celebratory traditions. 

But the happy-go-lucky lyrics of those songs tend to focus on describing and foreseeing simple concepts like "I want snow, because it's totally awesome" or "Santa will give you a present and eat your cookies" or "Fuck the Jews, Jesus loves Mickey Mouse".

Now, having listened to all these songs several thousand times each, I can't help but feel that Winter Wonderland was written by someone who had been inhaling a very serious amount of cocaine.

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, 

In the lane, snow is glistening

A beautiful sight,

We're happy tonight.

Walking in a winter wonderland.

Alright, fair enough. "In the lane" is a pretty awkward expression, but fine. You're pleased to see pearly snow lining your driveway.

Gone away is the bluebird,

Here to stay is a new bird

He sings a love song,

As we go along,

Walking in a winter wonderland.

"A new bird"? What fucking new bird? A woodpecker? Because he sure as shit won't sing you any love songs. Also, bluebirds don't migrate, as far as I know. He's not "gone away", homie.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,

Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?


We'll say: No man, 


But you can do the job


When you're in town. 

Okay. Here it is. This line has been the bane of my existence for the past few Christmases, and I've finally found out what it means. Apparently, back in '34 when this here song was done written, parsons – that's a protestant minister, a church-man – would travel the small towns and perform impromptu weddings.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

So let me get this straight. You'll go to a big ol' clearing, erect a snowman, and go all crazy-brainfreeze-schizo, pretending that it's just the friendly neighbourhood random priest, passing by for a quick marriage. Great!

And isn't that exactly the kind of conversation you would imagine taking place in a 1934 american small town. 

- Hey there, children. My name is Brown. 

- Hello. I'm Michelle, this is Kevin. We're both 26 years old.

- Say, are you two young sinners married? I saw you holding hands.

- We are not, actually. But since you showed up here all random and sudden, we might as well let you do it. Right now. 

Later on, we'll conspire,

As we dream by the fire

To face unafraid, 

The plans that we've made,

Walking in a winter wonderland.

"We'll conspire, as we dream"? That's nonsense. And "To face unafraid, the plans that we made"? You'll face your plans? Come on. Rephrase, please.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,

And pretend that he's a circus clown

We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman,

Until the other kids knock him down.

This is just retarded. Yeah, I'm sure you'll have "lots of fun" with three gobs of snow stacked on top of each other, until some asshole bully shows up and devastates said construction. 

Where's the verse about you avenging "mister snowman" and beating the shit out of those "other kids"? Huh?

When it snows, ain't it thrilling,

Though your nose gets a chilling

We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,

Walking in a winter wonderland.

"Frolic and play". Yeah, I'm sure that's precisely the Eskimo way. They sure do love their snow, them silly Eskimos. 

As with most Christmas songs, this one has been recorded dozens if not hundreds of times since it's inception. Artists as varied as Louis Armstrong, Michael Bolton, Macy Gray, Ozzy Osbourne, Kenny G, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson and The California Raisins have all gotten a stab at guessing what in the hell a Parson Brown is.

Me, I'll stick to Mr Hankey's Christmas Classics, thank you very much. Nothing says Happy Holidays like hearing racist, bigot Mr Garrison singing "Merry fucking Christmas". 

That, and chocolate. Mounds of it.

Into the great unknown.

Or as the geographically talented call it: Japan.

In less than a month, I will leave the comforting soil of motherland Sweden behind, setting my course for Tokyo. (In reality, I will not have to set the course myself. What a modern age we live in.)

There I will stay for more than three months, studying Japanese at Geos Kudan Institute (dig that groovy retro 90's website!) and living for a time with a Japanese family.

The whole thing has been a couple of months in the planning, but was made official only a few days ago when I made a stupidly huge deposit to the Blueberry organization, the in-between people who hooked me up with all of this.

My feelings towards the trip are, as far as I care to define, positive. A kind of optimistic excitement, spiced with a healthy dose of fear. I don't know what's going to happen, outside of my schedule for the Japanese Conversation course (which I also don't know very much about.)

Today, I know absolutely nothing about the family with whom I will stay for six weeks, nor the student dormitory where I'll live the remainder of my time. 

I'm writing this mostly as a prologue to my trip as documented on this blog, and in hopes that it will remind me of these uncertain times in years to come. 

I'll try, mainly for my own sake, to write often.

Fish!

Today I ate fish. It was good, but I feel kind of bad for them.

I have been a vegetarian for almost five years. It started around the time I lived in London, which was not long after the whole mad cow-thing (no, not that one). I basically wasn't too keen on red meat, and also I was broke as a rat so veggies seemed like a good idea.

It caught on, apparently, as I am now approaching five years without meat of any variety. Or, it would have been five years this January if I hadn't wolfed town a delicious piece of salmon for dinner tonight.

"Wtf?", I hear you cry (no I don't). Well, my reasons are many. The main and singularly significant one is that I'm moving to Japan for a while. 

Japanese cuisine tends to include a very serious amount of fish, and since I'm staying with a family for six weeks, I thought I would make it easier on them. And me. 

So there it is. I'm officially back on fish. 

That doesn't mean it's okay. The sea is awesome. Don't fuck with it.

Buy me some health!

Fuck! I should write more. Oh well.

This past week has seen the official transgression into Christmastime, or Juletide as people with no understanding of what they're talking about like to say. I am totally stoked! 

Unfortunately, this might come at a price, I fear. When something exciting appears before me, I tend to hype the hell out of it until I barely care anymore. This is usually true with movies, which I often know about months or years before I can see them, and have plenty of time to digest every shred of information one at a time. I want to see something new when I actually see the movie. As a result of this, I have now begun to ignore trailers, rumours and other such pieces of hyperbole if it's a movie I really care about. Anyway, I'm derailing here.

My point is, I'm not sure I can retain my Christmas cheer for 22 more days. This relates to my previous post about starting Christmas early, which I still think is silly.

Hopefully, I can take it slow and save my celebrating for choice occasions, such as this weekend. I just wish there was more snow. But, hey, that's manbearpig for you. 

Oh yeah, the title of this post relates to my previous weekend. Me and Melody was at a spa of sorts. It's not really a spa, but I can't think of a better English word. It's more like rehab for people who aren't sick or addicted to heroin. 

It was nice, and a bit wierd. We ate lots of vegetarian food, and did some swimming (that's the health part) and filled our remaining hours with a stupid amount of sleep and many episodes of Family Guy (less healthy, but not that bad either).

It's always fun to see the different ways people approach the "pay to feel better"-concept. Because as friendly as Masesgården was, it was damn expensive. But we didn't pay for it, so I'm in no position to complain. The aforementioned activities constitutes one hell of a weekend for me, end of story. 

Plus, we hung out with a Yorkshire terrier with short fur, which may actually be the cutest non-fictional being on this earth.

As a last note, I have just about finished sending in my paperwork for the stay in Japan. It looks like it's happening. Holler.