I usually like to do more light hearted blog entries but today is the 11 year anniversary of 9/11… In about an hour, I will be teaching a couple of classes at E.E. Smith High school and being in a high school building today reminds me of this day back in 2001. I can remember clearly that we had just left a history class and during the class change, my sister came up to me by my locker and told me what was happening. For those who do not know, I am half deaf and with the students passing by me in the hallway, I thought my sister was talking about a movie she had watched in her class because I couldn’t hear her clearly. I smiled at her and said, “that sounds like an interesting plot” or something to the affect. I was in a grade below my sister and apparently the teachers decided keeping this from my grade and below was the best thing for the moment. It wasn’t until the second tower fell that the teachers assembled us together in the church located next to our school building. Once our principal spoke to us and turned on the news I found out my sister wasn’t talking about a movie. This was actually happening. My heart sank and I can remember praying so hard for my friends who had loved ones in New York and for the people going through such a horrific event. Everyone, we must remember today for as long as we can and what it stands for. We need to understand one another better because we are all interdependent on one another. We also need to remember that we should trust in God because nothing on this earth is for certain. Things may get worse, but we need to stand firm and remember we are fighting for justice, equality, and freedom. Please take a moment to pray for those who were affected by the events that happened 11 years ago.
I have been following this show since the beginning of 2012 (this year) after I discovered the main actor played in 20th Century Boys (a somewhat recent popular Japanese movie series). The Moteki Television series was originally a manga, which TV Tokyo decided to film as a live action drama. The comic aspects incorporated into the movie are entertaining, but there are deeper elements embedded into the movie. Concepts about love, how people who society deems as misfits live their lives, and even how people are having to redefine their journey at discovering love in a modern world. Moteki is a Japanese term for a special time period in a man’s life where women find him irresistible and this movie shows how a ordinary geeky guy named Yukio deals with this new found attention that he has been longing for so long.
Japanese dramas have increasingly become a part of my weekly television viewing. For the most part, I feel as though I can relate to many of the characters being portrayed in these j-dramas, more so than k-dramas or c-dramas. One character (Yukio) in particular is from this series. Though I am not someone who is in pursuit of a sexual encounter, the way he carries himself and thinks are some characteristics that I can definitely relate with. The movie has many memorable moments, quotes and amazing music. In fact, the music that is played throughout this movie is tremendous. I have never heard such an epic collection of J-Pop/Rock ever in a single movie. Moteki- Love Strikes is a definite must see for anyone who desires a deeper understanding of Japanese pop culture.
Scene from the movie with J-Pop group Perfume
Like I had previously stated, this movie has great music. The Japanese pop group known as Perfume (a popular otaku favorite) even appeared in the movie and performed. There are plenty of unique storytelling genres embedded throughout Love Strikes. This particular scene above with Perfume was when the movie took a brief musical aspect to exaggerate the determination and infatuation Yukio-kun had come to realize for Miyuki-chan.
DVD Cover
One of my favorite quotes at the beginning of the movie was
「愛することに関しては女はプロで、男は素人である」三島 由紀夫
In other words…
In love, women are pros, and men are amateurs. -Yukio Mishima
This quote represents the drastic change in the modern world in redefining the roles of men and women. Many guys often struggle with this cultural shift that has spread across many 1st world nations where women are developing a more assertive personality than themselves. Men are therefore trying to discover how they can maintain their masculinity while not looking socially awkward or weak. This movie is special to me for more reasons than I can express here on my blog, but I really appreciated this peek in how certain cultural shifts concerning daily interaction for Japanese culture is affecting relationships between men and women.
N’夙川ボーイズ or N’Shukugawa Boys have a particular song that is played several times throughout the movie. In fact, it would probably be safe to assume this song is the theme song for Love Strikes. It has become a personal favorite of mine and I am looking forward to discovering more music by the N’Shukugawa Boys. I hope you all enjoy this group as much as I have, as well as this cultural/ different review of the Moteki Movie.
This brand in Hong Kong sold for around $28 HKD or about $3USD
I may consider posting this post on both branhow.com and myhktrips.com, especially because of the topic. The item itself is not really Chinese but it is definitely popular in Hong Kong. I can remember the first time I went to Hong Kong for an extended stay, I spent a lot of time in the Welcome Mart. Well I myself love trying new foods, drinks, etc and I purchased this fruit juice called black currant! It is kind of similar to grape juice for those who have never heard of it, actually it would not surprise me if it is considered to be part of the grape family. Anyways every time I travel to Hong Kong or Mainland China, I make sure to stock up on plenty of Black Current juice boxes! Apparently the United States used to be known for its black current crops, but sometime in the 1800s the United States government banned farmers from growing it. I think I read somewhere that it was because it was interfering with other crop sales.
As you can see just this bottle is $8USD!
Well as I was strolling through Harris Tetter the other day I saw that they had Black Currant! I was speechless and this was one of the more popular brands that I would occasionally purchase. But as you can see, the price in the USA is so much more than what I was used to paying in China/ Hong Kong (also keep in mind I would get a 10 pack of juice boxes)! I am not sure why it is so expensive, except for the fact that it is imported from the UK. My guess is that this brand is also imported to HK but Hong Kongers consume it in a much greater quantity than us Americans. I think it would also be safe to say that most Americans have probably never heard of this fruit. Anyways luckily the cans next to the bottles are cheaper. These cans were about a 1.50USD and contained black currant, grape juice and raspberry. I hope to enjoy it during my lunch break tomorrow! Aww I miss Hong Kong!
I was purchasing some songs a little under an hour ago and I had an idea for today’s blog post! After I got back from China, I had purchased an iPod Shuffle because I missed my iPod Nano. Anyways due to the limited space with the Shuffles, I made a custom playlist of all my favorite songs that are in my library. I thought it might be a nice change to share the songs that are typically found on my iPod! Some people laugh at the songs that can be found on my computer or whatever, but I just wanted to share them with you all! Songs ranging from English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese and even Afrikaans can be found in this playlist! Click Here to download a PDF file of my iPod Shuffle Playlist! I hope this will give you all ideas for songs to add to your own library!
Though these two are not dressed up, they are professional Peking Opera performers! Our school on Friday had a special talk from Gong Xiaoxiong, who is apparently a renown opera playwright. I wish the performers had dressed up in their traditional attire, but it was fun all the same. They sang some and showed some traditional Chinese opera movements (or motions) for us to better understand the elegance of the Chinese Opera. I love the Peking style of singing and I would encourage anyone to Google or YouTube some Traditional Chinese operas to get a better grasp of it! Enjoy!
Peking Opera Performers Dancing
For as long as I have been studying Chinese and learning more about China, I have always loved listening to the type of singing found in Peking Opera. I have an interesting taste in music, something that I have openly expressed several times on my blogs. But I find this type of music very interesting, just like I enjoy an instrument called the shamisen found in Traditional Japanese music. If you ever have an opportunity to see a live Peking Opera, I would highly encourage it. China/ Hong Kong currently is investing a lot of money into revitalizing the Chinese Opera for younger generations, so as not to loose this important part of Chinese culture.
I have been blessed to have friends from all over the world, friends I have made online and then friends I have met either in my hometown or my travels abroad. This friend of mine I have been talking to for several months now and I have had the tremendous pleasure of getting to know her better. This friend of mine is named Hitomi and she is a Japanese Christian. Earlier this morning (EST), late evening (JST) she wrote me an email about the details of her being baptized on her birthday! She does not know that I am doing this blog post, so I was not sure if she would want me to post a picture of her face or anything. But this photograph that I chose to post instead is much more important! Hitomi has made a great leap in her faith by choosing to be baptized and I am so proud of her.
Christianity in Japan is well in the minority and to see a young Japanese woman of God stand up for her faith encourages me and gives me a heart of excitement! People often call me an egg (because I am white on the outside, but yellow on the inside) but they think its for superficial reasons. I believe I have such a heart for East Asia because God has given me that heart and He definitely cultivated it, because I used to not be interested in Asia AT ALL. But I just wanted to encourage others to be praying for the nation of Japan to come to Christ! According to the data pulled from Wolfram Alpha, Japan has a total Christian population of only 4.28 million people out of 127 million people, which makes Christianity only 0.2% of the Japanese population. So the people of Japan need prayer and the gift of salvation! We also need to be praying that God will be sending those who have a huge heart for Japan to spread the Gospel and rise up individuals in or from Japan to witness!
Hitomi! I know God has an enormous calling on your life and I believe that one day you will be able to lead a massive amount of Japanese people to Christ! Keep up the good work and Happy (late) Birthday! I know God is extremely proud of you!
Hong Kong is a very special place to me and once I finish with my university studies, I hope to move to Hong Kong. My primary major is history education and I plan on teaching either history or English while living in Hong Kong. I figured that a lot of other people are also interested in teaching in Hong Kong, so I asked a good friend of mine to participate in this interview. My Kiwi friend Liz Lawson has a very interesting story and some keen insights on teaching in Hong Kong. So I hope that you all enjoy this interview and that it gives you some insight on teaching/ living in Hong Kong!
Most of my friends know that my Ford Explorer after two years of starting my car and wondering if it was going to start, well it finally ended on Monday. The transmission went to the great beyond and I do not have enough money or even the desire to fix it. Luckily my sister has given me her old Chrysler Sebring. The only bad thing is that I am obviously having to put money into it for a tune up. So the money that I made throughout the last two weeks has now been absorbed by maintenance costs. But I am still thankful that instead of a $2,000 bill, I’ll only have a $200-300 bill fixing her car (new battery, fuse, oil change/ fuel filter change, etc).
RIP 😦
I really hate driving and this experience has not changed my opinion on driving. This reliance America has developed for automobiles for over almost a century has been a blessing and a curse. The United States has relied on cheap oil for way too long and I am afraid that it will play a major role in America’s downturn. No one can deny that every modern country is ruled by policies governed by oil interests. America consumes a large portion of the world’s oil and China is beginning to overtake our position as the largest oil consumer in the world. Now to be honest, I don’t car either way, but I do hate how America’s policies and policy makers are not recognizing this delima. One reason I love Hong Kong is that it has one of the best Metro services in my opinion. I wish more cities would begin to develop a viable public transit alternative. I just think it’s stupid to place the burden of car ownership on the average American. The cost of insurance, maintenance, car payments, gas prices, etc. Just think at how many lobbyist are in Washington pushing these policies because of all the money tied up in these industries.
Hi everyone! This is the second lesson in my new Chinese series! I hope this post is beneficial for you all, so please comment, rate or like. If you have any feedback I would be happy to hear from you! God bless! Oh and remember if you haven’t already done so, please purchase the New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook. You can find it easily on Amazon!
branhow.com 