When Dan's Bed's Rockin....Its Probably an Earthquake

On the night of May the 6th or Morning of May 7th, I was sleeping rather soundly after a productive day when all of the sudden I felt a slight rumbling. I awoke to find the world around me shaking like it was the 1960s and I was having withdrawal from various mind altering drugs. Of course, this was not some hippie trip I was experiencing. To be honest, I wasn't 100% awake and in the beginning thought it was a dream. So laying back down I closed my eyes and attempted to fall back into my blissful slumber. However, this consistent rumbling I felt persisted. Perhaps I was having a seizure, an epileptic fit, or Godzilla was attacking? It took me another 30 seconds to realize that I was experiencing my first earthquake. But, being the sleep enthusiast I am, I realized that there wasn't much I could do about it, and went back to bed. I awoke the next day to find my room and indeed the rest of the house in fine shape. Nothing had fallen that I could see, and the family seemed to be in fine condition. Business as usual followed with breakfast and catching up on the news. The lack of acknowledgment from my host mother about the incident lead me to believe that perhaps it was truly a dream. I would later find out from CNN that the earthquake was quite real and a 6.8 on the Richter scale! Fortunately in my area we only received the aftershocks! Overall there were no fatalities or property damage, but two people were mildly hurt. This goes to show you that Japan is well designed for the earthquakes that plague the nation. However I was haunted by the fact that literally a day before the earthquake, I had scoffed as Matt said Japan was due to have a rather large earthquake soon. So as always, I tip my hat to Matt for his insights into the country he knows so well.

Gambatte
-DPN


P.S. Our thoughts and prayers to all the Chinese who have been effected by the recent earthquake that shook the country.

Random Observation 5: Klan't We All Get Along?

Warning, this entry will undoubtedly be a bit more serious than most.

This is something I've been meaning to write for a few years, and was going to publish as an article in my school paper. However I think that, for the moment, this is the best forum on which to express these thoughts.

As an American, I've long prided myself on America's culturally diverse population and ability to, eventually, assimilate and appreciate foreign cultures. Being in the 21st Century, I was under the impression that most of my generation, peers had grown beyond silly notions as ethnic bigotry and ethnocentrism to the point of xenophobia. I still believe this about most of my peers. However, there still exist many who cannot accept things which are different from their definitions of normalcy.
Roughly three years ago I was exploring the novelty that was my new facebook account. While idiotically wasting time looking around for facebook groups to join, as many college freshmen would do, I stumbled upon various anime related groups. Now, I've never hidden my affinity for anime, nor Japanese culture in general, but I don't consider myself an otaku (or hardcore fan) which I think gives me a greater degree of objectivity about these matters. During my search, a certain anti-anime group caught my eye. I don't personally care that such anti-groups exist, because everyone has the right to have express themselves and their personal beliefs (and I invariably have the right to attempt to rebuke those opinions). On the facebook group's wall were, quite possibly some of the most ridiculous, misinformed and bigoted opinions I have ever encountered;

Can anyone explain how adults watch these cartoons. Not only are they cartoons but there is no storyline and they show naked cartoons being raped. My roomate says he watches them for the nice drawings when all there is nudity. I think these people have a cartoon fetish. It's sad. I'm proud to be an american

Now, let's address the first parts of this quote, "How can adults watch these cartoons"? Because they're entertaining to the people who watch them? I don't know this former student personally, but my guess is that he's tolerant of people watching cartoons such as Family Guy, the Simpsons, and South Park. But of course, shows like Family guy are known for their consistent and ever relevant stories and ground breaking and intricate tales of the human condition. In NO WAY is Family Guy strung together from various random sight gags and non sequiturs held together by a thinly constructed standalone episode plot, but rather an epic saga on the scale of classics such as The Iliad. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable for adults to watch shows such as these.

The biggest problem I have with this person's critique of anime is his final statement, "It's sad. I'm proud to be an american (sic)". HOLD ON THERE COWBOY, so any American citizen who likes anime (and I'm going to assume anything else not made or associated with America) is not proud of the being American?! I hate to burst his bubble -o- ignorance, but if using, wearing, and liking things which are produced from outside America means they are not a patriot, then hop aboard the treason boat their Mr. B. Arnold. If he's so passionate that non-American produced goods are so anti-patriotic then he should probably immediately strip out of all the American Eagle and Gap clothes he is probably wearing, since I'm very sure that most sweatshops that produce those fashionable hooded sweatshirts and faded jeans were made in a sweatshop by foreign labor. While you're at it, NEVER watch the Simpsons, a show which has used South Korean Art studios to help produce cells for the show. In our large scale globalized world, there is very little which Americans buy which has not been helped in production by a foreign nation.
Statements like his are clearly forged in the furnace of post-9/11 "patriotism" in which waving a flag and spouting fanatic American superiority is what makes one a patriot. Being an American patriot is not solely about spouting propaganda, and having a nationalistic attitude. A true America patriot is someone who lives and dies by the words of the Constitution and the principles on which the nation was founded. Principles such as equity, and the ability to accept that which seems foreign. A patriot is one who seeks to have a true understanding of America's history and development and its systems of government. A patriot does not strive for a completely homogeneous and stagnant American population, but rather seeks to incorporate new cultures into the ever changing and growing American identity. An American patriot is one who is willing to respect and be exposed to different cultural viewpoints, even if it is not always palatable. Many people, both Japanese and American, have expressed that being abroad and viewing other ways of life helped them better understand and reflect upon their home nations, and invariable become a better citizen in their home nation. Again, I don't know the person who wrote the rather inane wall post, but my guess is that he and his "proud american (sic)" friends neither vote nor take the time to understand American history and politics beyond the superficial information glossed from from Wikipedia and CNN. Thus, I make and expand a plea that I once made to college students. Please American citizens, you may not always agree with other cultures, but be open to them and learn to accept and respect different cultural views. As Americans, hold yourselves to a higher standard, and rise above the hypocrisy that saturates our nation. Remember that, while to us, America is the best nation in the world, most people from other nations tend to hold the same sentiment toward their own respective country.

Gambatte,
-DPN

OMAKE (Extra): Some more wall quotes and my comments about them (I usually like to shy away from personal attacks on people and their characters when tackling issues such as this, but some of these were just too easy targets to overlook):

1. "I'm so sick of coming home to my room and seeing bright flashes and people screaming in japanese gibberish. It is so retarded and it is hardly an art form. i'm so glad this group exists because i have alot of anime rage. The animation is all cookie cutter, the plots either involve some demon/monster in medieval times or robots in the future or prehaps a robot demon in the present. The dialogue is retarded. Worst of all are those Anime music videos where they take good songs and ruin them by putting them against this animated bullshit. Fuck Akira, Fuck Full Metal Alchemist, Fuck Pokemon. I appreciate art but anyone who considers hyper moving backrounds, blue hair, and mouths that are small when closed and huge when opened can do the honorable japanese thing: killing yourself by Hari Kari.......I am glad i was able to vent."

My response: Clearly a lovely example of American ethnocentrism. Any language outside of American English is gibberish. Geez, why can't most of the world just get with the program and be like America? Also, a man who uses such vulgar words is criticizing others for their "gibberish"? Note, the hypocrisy of ATTEMPTING to use the so called "gibberish" language to make a point, and its Hara-Kiri by the way. Also, for a guy who hates anime with such vigor, he knows quite a bit about them. To quote Shakespeare, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks".

2. "I took Japanese at my school because it was a mega slacker course, but the class was entirely ruined by the mass amounts of anime nerds that also took the class so that they could watch their poorly animated cartoons in their original languages. Their culture is seemingly subhuman. It makes me sick."

My response: Well, at least this guy admits that he is a slacker. While honest, I'm not sure he understands that prefacing by telling us he likes slacker courses really helps his credibility. By "subhuman culture", I'm going to assume he's referencing Japanese Society. Again, clearly any society which is not American based is subhuman, regardless of the fact that Japan is one of the most advanced nations in the world, and produced the Playstation which he probably played in place of going to class or taking his exams and helping advance his own mental development. One day the children of such an insightful man will have the pride and honor to say that their father is the top specialist in charge of the application of sodium chloride to oil saturated potato slices in the tri-fast food restaurant area!