I am currently in the midst of a persuasion, and this persuasion involves some pseudo discoveries about myself and my planned future. I finished reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond about a month ago and have been massively excited about the implications its had on eventually affecting my life. I think it already is affecting my life. After reading this and a small collective of other related ones, I am completely and utterly enthralled by culture. I am being 100% serious when I say this train of influence has been leading my daydreams into becoming an antrhopologist and traveling the world to live with and study remote tribal villages territory. I think I totally want to do something like this with my life.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to make considerable sense. My entire life has revolved around a burning, unfettered desire for independence, for exploration, and especially encountering new and unforseen obstacles. My earliest memories stem from being in places that are regarded as ideals of established civilization. I grew up in a semi-transplanted American culture, filtered and inevitably influenced by the conditions and peoples surrounding it. The most sedentary part of my life was absolutely the most anxious. My desire to set out on my own far away from home, isolated in the metropolis, was not something I had ever ever second guessed. Chicago filled that void until it became clear I was ready to move on. Given my situation, I was certainly fortunate enough to do it. I had the support system to enable my ambitions and am and have been exceedingly grateful for it. Now, I am hitting a new ceiling that is itself being lifted to reveal a level of potential reality. This is my excursion into my true passions. What I'm discovering is fixating itself within my conscious as an awareness I've never experienced before. Something that repeals all preceding daydreams and entertains newer, more exciting ones into a realm of "Holy crap, I really could actually do that."

So it is here that I come to announce if not for anyone that reads this then for the sheer excitement of making an 'announcement' on my blog. And here it is:

I would like to travel the world and periodically live among the most remote tribal villages I can, learning and growing as I develop a new understanding and appreciation for life unattainable in the comforts of my situation now.

I'm well aware of the naivete that comes along with this announcement, but I do really believe it is something I have to experience in my lifetime. Divorcing myself from every comfort I've ever had the implicit opportunity to take advantage of has always been appealing to me. I've been extremely fortunate in my life, but I've always wanted to experience that other side I've never been able to have direct access to. It's a somewhat delusional desire to be humbled beyond all means experienced so far. I want to live in a mud hut with no electricity or running water. I want to forage for food with experienced New Guinea tribesmen leading the way through a rain forest. I want to take a blind eye to my origins and immerse myself as an observer and enthusiast among peoples that represent everything foreign to me.

This is not a biased desire to reject my foundations and culture as a person, and I'm well aware of it potentially coming off that way. Please set all negative connotations aside. What this is is something so much deeper than that. It's a mind-altering possibility that is learning the constructs of human society at the most intimate level conceivable. It is about reverting to a position of vulnerability and ultimately recognizing the stakes of a prize through it. The prize isn't within some realm of cultural empowerment, but rather through personal integration into a system that is completely foreign to me. A system that will humble me to my core.



I mean look at that picture. How cool is that? The way these girls are decorated represents, to me, an entire aspect of cultural significance that is in the process of dying out. Call it 'primal' or 'under-developed' or whatever, the fact is that it is as foreign as foreign can get to someone living in a 'modernized' culture. I can glimpse and learn about these things through the internet, but I want to be there experiencing it all firsthand.

There is just something irresistibly appealing about the whole thing. I can't say that it will happen right away, but it is absolutely going into the "life goals" section of my brain. Even just a summer living within this type of setting would be incredible.

Looooooooooong Delay

Hello everyone. Actually, hello anyone. It's been like 3 months. My hiatus has been a bit embarrassing, but the realities of blog life can be a completely burdensome and annoying chore when it comes to actually caring about the stuff you're writing out (two or more hours for one entry? maybe its just my terrible typing skills). I want to share what's going on in my life as of late, but so much has happened that I have to forgo writing every detail from those months here in one entry. Instead, I want to focus on my most recent (and probably best) of exploits. That exploit is Japan, and I am here to tell all that Japan, in my humble opinion, is officially the coolest place on earth.

So to start off, Joel and I booked a flight way back in the beginning of November and made plans progressively closer to our leave date of Christmas day. The trip was slated for the 25th through the 3rd, with full intention of exploiting Japaneseness at every possible waking second. When Christmas finally arrived, we woke early like anxious kids ready to get their presents, grabbed our bags, and headed for the airport in a limousine (side note: it was not actually a limousine, just a really nice bus). On the bus, I started playing with my brand new ipod nano's camera, realizing I could very easily make a documentary film with the most ridiculous contraption ever created. I excitedly told the camera how we were going to Japan while recording the scenery and parts of Joel's suppressed scowls. Once finished, I set the ipod down and calmly laid my head back, put on some Tortoise, and tried to relax my body for the adventure of a lifetime. In the course of maybe about two minutes, running through trip necessities in my head, I came across probably the worst realization of my entire life:

I DIDN'T HAVE MY PASSPORT.

OF ALL THE THINGS I REMEMBERED TO DO FOR THIS TRIP, IT WAS THE ONE THING I FORGOT TO PACK.

I nearly had a panic attack. Like a serious panic attack. I'm not at all using that as an expression. Joel can attest to this claim. Coming to terms with the magnitude of your idiocy can be a horrific experience. ESPECIALLY when you're on your way to THE AIRPORT which will then take you to FREAKING JAPAN.

After ranting for nearly 5 minutes straight, Joel managed to get a grip on the situation with his classic 'Don't Panic' (it's a tattoo of his) style and walked me through ways we could resolve it. I was amazed he didn't strangle me right then and there, as my brain was basically ready to explode from immediate "oh my god I'm not going to Japan anymore!" stress.

By the by, after running through hair brained schemes of using various other I.D. cards in my wallet, we got to the airport, pushed our flight back (very luckily) free of charge, called my boss (I had left it in my desk at school because of a trip to the bank the day before), worked out a way for him to go into the school on Christmas day and leave it in an envelope at the mailbox for me, got back on the limousine, traveled back to Jeongja, retrieved the passport, waited in a Tom'n'Tom's for awhile, traveled back to the airport, waited for a couple hours for our new flight, and finally sat ourselves down in a packed airplane ready to (re)embark on the trip of a lifetime.

All that said, the flight took about 1/1000th of the time and effort put into making sure we made it.

Once we arrived, Japan turned into a still somewhat hazy reality, as the effects of redundant Korean life began to wear off with a slowly adopted but hastily omnipresent 'arigato gozimus' ('thank you very much' in Japanese). We immediately hopped the night bus from Osaka to Tokyo to save some cash, and arrived early the next morning.



For what its worth, describing Tokyo here is practically useless. The utterly magnificent concrete jungle that is this city requires its own full blown encyclopedia. Describing what we (or I) marveled at throughout such a brief five day encounter is as far as I can go- and even that requires two more blog entries and at least 16 hours writing time (not kidding). However, I will leave my descriptions here short for the sake of the reader.

When we arrived, Tokyo honestly just felt like another big city- full of skyscrapers, traffic jams, and busy looking people. As the trip progressed, its magnitude was revealed. Its charm resonated from corners deep and dark, full of intoxicating foreignness. I won't go as far to say that we discovered any 'hidden' gems, but I won't pretend that parts of the trip weren't completely surreal reality check moments. We were in Japan. Even saying that now sounds ludicrous. From the all too fun to say name of our train stop (Takadanobaba) to the real (real!) cross-anywhere-you-want-while-funneling-yourself-through-thousands-of-other-people intersections
made even the most seasoned city dwellers pinch themselves in disbelief. This city is massive. Unbelievably so. To the point where trying to take it all in in one horizon shattering view from Tokyo Tower emits a sense of over stimulation. Akin to imagining the scope of the universe.

Most of the time we were there, Roy was gracious enough to offer his stupendous services as informant, interpreter, and all around amazing guy. He guided us through the various 'must see' areas of Tokyo with the kindest ease, offering to let us be our own guides and enjoy everything at our own pace. We even went to a traditional bathhouse:



The things we're wearing are called Yukatas and everyone is naked under them. Just in case you didn't see the descriptions on my facebook, everyone is so like totally naked under them. Anyway, because Joel has tattoos, our initial attempt at entering the public bath was stifled by a traditional Japanese stipulation associating all tattooed people with the Yakuza. Basically Joel wasn't allowed inside because he had tattoos. After graciously respecting the rules, he, Roy and I went to find relaxation elsewhere on the grounds. Outside we walked a heated canal path designed to massage your feet with strategically placed (smooth-edged) inconveniently narrow rocks. No easy task for the weak-footed. Here, if you look closely at the water, you can kind of see what I'm talking about:



After the bathhouse, we did some general exploring for the next couple days. Roy and I happened upon the tiniest most completely excellent jazz record shop I've ever been in:



What you see in the picture frame is what the entire store consisted of. Note the stairway leading down into the main space.

There was a specific point in Tokyo that ended up being one of my favorites. While briefly meeting up with Buntaro (a friend we met in college, actual recording engineer, and preeminent badass) on his only free night the days we were there, we ended up walking near and eventually down the streets of Roppongi, observing the night life. In a totally random aside, Buntaro casually pointed out what he considered the best live music venue in Tokyo- a stylish, unmarked, completely anonymous entrance he claimed was called "Super Deluxe". It was a basement venue with only so much as a glass door, wackily patterned walls and floors, and a set of stairs indicating it as anything other than a crazy entrance to a random apartment. With a sleek effervescent cool, he kept on walking, like it was nothing to care about. I in turn, immediately freaked out over the overwhelming coolness of the entire episode. It all happening in Tokyo made it a pristine "forever" memory.

Super Deluxe:



And here is me and Buntaro:




After Tokyo, we took an all day local train ride back to Osaka, saw a clouded Mt. Fuji in the process, and arrived pretty much drained of all our resources. However, this didn't keep us from meeting up with Roy and Hiro (our two other friends from college) for a few drinks. It was a grand night perfectly summarized by the following:



After a stress related break in our plans, Joel and I parted ways later on to head to our desired destinations. I went to Kyoto (which merits its own blog and pictures) and he went to Kobe. I saw some history, he saw a giant robot. In essence, we experienced Japan in all of its wonderful glory.

Because of this trip, I am now thoroughly convinced I will be living in Japan by this time next year. I've already started looking for teaching jobs to start me at the end of the summer. I practically don't even care where I teach. All I know is that I have to experience daily life there once more. After I finish Korea in May, I plan on subletting a place in New York to be with my brother for the summer, then planning a trip to Okinawa to revisit our childhood, and finally onward to life somewhere in Japan. I am so excited!