bang/ blame
Well, Christmas has come and gone, expectedly anticlimactic compared to years before. Thankfully, I received many "flat gifts" and don't have TOO many new trinkets to stash and store. God knows I don't need more stuff. Justin and I got all geared-up for rock-climbing at REI yesterday and now we can get started on outdoor walls and maybe even sport climbing if we get confident enough.

Saw House of Flying Daggers last night. Besides a few complaints about careless effects sequencing and fake blood, it was an interesting story, but I think I still prefer Hero as the Wire-Fu flick of the year. On the way to the movie, we ran into my dad. Literally. Like, bumper boats. But eh, all Justin did was move the dirt on either car around a wee bit. No harm, no foul. And we weren't even late for the movie; a big surprise with my family.

Now, if only I could have a vacation. It's about time for this whole relaxation thing to kick in and make sense. Christmas is over, my income is secure, and I only have two more college terms and a thesis project to worry about. Hmm, I sense valium in my future.

To steal an idea from one my ryuugakusei (overseas exchange) friends, I'm going to set up a small session of "this year in review" to count down to the New Year. What was I doing at this time last year? Well, I was in Tokyo, Japan. And about now I had just started my break. And as it would be rather inaccurate to say that Japan has a Christmas break, I'll just call it my Holiday Vacation. This time of year in 2003 was a turning point for me overseas. From mid-September until the New Year I pretty much lived in constant fear of leaving the house.

Why? Well, any number of reasons, maybe. I was an outcaste who stood out more than many. My language skills were poor. I was tired, stressed, and under the weather. Whatever it boiled down to, I had a horrible case of culture shock and it took the independent planning and travel that began during that holiday season to open my eyes. Then it all became clear...

12/25/03: (from) the lantern men

Waiting at the bus stop, I saw a man walking with a plastic lantern shaped in the traditional Japanese paper-lantern style. In his other hand, he held an unlit industrial flashlight. As he came closer, I saw he wasn't alone but accompanied by another man carrying two long, rectangular sticks; the kind used to create sound effects in Japanese theatre. Every few seconds, as they walked, the stick man would hit them together. Other than that, they said nothing except to converse softly on occasion. When they passed, I saw that they both wore green arm bands with lettering and the lantern had a similar banner.

I thought this strange but not nearly as strange as when I got off the bus two stops down the same street and passed another pair in the same getup. But this time the lantern man had a megaphone instead of a flashlight. (He wasn't using it)

I can still hear them walking back and forth through the neighborhood, the beating of the sticks making a soft but sharp noise in the night.

Is it some sort of neighborhood watch? If so, why tonight? Why, in fact, at all in such a reputably safe area (-- eek! a predator on the loose? --)? Is it some sort of festive patrol? Why on Christmas of all days, when it holds so little meaning to the Japanese?

For all its crushing weight, Tokyo never ceases to amaze and confuse me. Go figure.

What are the "lantern men"? As the New Year is one of the busiest and also coldest times of the year, the combination often results in many house fires. The "lantern men" are a New Years patrol to remind the Japanese to turn off their portable heaters and table stoves.