AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Never before have I felt as stupid as I just did.

My boss designs tires for a local gymkahna driver. She drove her car to where I work to pick up a new set of tires for the race this weekend. It was a Lancer Evo 8. Hot. She was so nice that she offered to let me drive!

EMBARRASSMENT: I SAID NO. Not because I wouldn't want to 0r that this might be my only chance for the next how many years of my life to drive a rally car, but because...(drumroll)

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE MANUAL. Worst decision of my life was getting an automatic for my first car. Even when I first bought it, I was second guessing the transmission. FUCK.

Now back to designing drag and stud racing tires.

Monday Morning

I'm currently waiting for the supercomputer to get done analyzing my 3D tire models. Nothing else to do, but blog. Friday I was informed that I could NOT have cable internet at my apartment. Apparently the cable company called up my dorm maintainence people to schedule the installation and the maintainence people told other people who decided that since Toyo does not have a contract with the company, that I could not get internet. I'm glad it's taken 2 and half weeks for them to finally figure this out.

I miss the internet. I purposely have no TV. I just recently bought an IDE to USB converter so I can listen to my many MBs of music files off my old HDD, but I still feel pretty unconnected. Another disturbing fact is that I've received a fair share of calls at the house and most of them have been from people who do not speak English. Still weird. All I do is mumble some things and apologize and then they eventually get it and hang up. What's funny is that the only words I understand when someone speaks are the filler words and people's names. In English, we use "um" and "ah" a lot, especially when we're nervous. Japanese has its own fillers and because people are always nervous around me, they get used a ton.

Last note: My english has gotten really bad since being in Japan. Making full sentences instead of broken phrases is becoming more difficult everyday. I am also getting worse at spelling. I am recognizing Katakana, though, so at least I will be able to pronounce anything foreign (as Katakana is the second phonetic alphabet created so that people could pronounce foreign words).

Mother Nature Strikes

In keeping with the many postings about severe weather, I will be preparing for the coming typhoon that is scheduled to hit Osaka, (my city) tomorrow morning. This will be my first one!!! This will be the 11th typhoon to hit Japan this year. There was also a 7.2 earthquake in Northern Japan a week ago. August is brewing up some nice storms.

Common Sense has finally returned to America

It just took 4 years! The state of Connecticut is challenging the No Child Left Behind Act. What's so great about the bill is that no one involved in the education system has supported this bill. It's rediculous to think that the nation's worst school's will get better by administering a test and distributing funds by its results. There are other provisions in the law that are even more rediculous, but this part will be the unraveling. WHO THOUGHT OF THIS? Oh yeah, the master of rhetoric, George Bush.

I'm sure there are better articles, but you can read a quick one here: Yahoo! News

Now all we need is someway to get the freaking Patriot Act repealed. It's amazing what hysteria can create.

Photos continued...

Mana, Manager #1
Originally uploaded by mjbruni.

These two are in charge of the Toyo account, of which I am the trainee. They have helped me a ton.

Photos

Naho, Manager #2
Originally uploaded by mjbruni.

Here's a start. This was taken at my welcome party.

third times a charm

I will be leaving now to attend my third welcome dinner; second by Toyo (although all three were paid for by them).

Today I finally got to start doing my own thing, instead of just learning. It was nice. There are over 5 different programs I have to use in order to design, test and evaluate a simple tire. I am using them all.

Last night, my boss helped me fill out the paperwork, which there is a ton, to join a local gym. It is a very nice facility and very close to my work and room. It is a very different layout than I am used to though. I have been to multiple Ys and other sports facilities, and this is the first one that felt different. There is almost no free weight area and the weights only go up to 40 or 45. My high school, which is really freaking small, even has more weights than this. It's just a different style as there is a huge cardio room, stretching room, aerobics room and even massage room. I will adapt.

I Want to be like .... T-rent?

So I have managed to lose my cell phone. Note: I cannot actually USE my cell ph0ne in Japan. I brought it "just in case." Now I am out a phone, many numbers and any means of telling time. :-(

This last week of not posting felt like an eternity. I went on 3 trips in 5 days and had multiple revelations on each trip. I also went with different people on each trip. I will only post about the first one today.

Friday:

8:30AM I met my boss, Watanabe-san, at JR line next to my house. We headed to Kyoto. (A little history: Kyoto is located on the southern shore of a large lake and the mouth of a locally famous river. Kyoto is home to many buddhist and christian temples as well as a large castle. It was the original capital of Japan.) He and his wife knew English, but were very hesitate in using it when we first started the journey. The long train ride broke the ice and once we were in Kyoto, talking commenced to a normal pace.

We walked along the river, forget the name, and up to a small tea shop near a temple. We had traditional green tea. This might sound unspectacular, but the etiquette for mixing and drinking the tea is quite complex. The tea tasted very good and I learned a weird fact about Japanese cooking: when you stir food in a bowl, you don't stir in circles, but rather in an up-and-down motion.

Mr Watanabe told me of a traditional play with samauris. I was under the impression that we were going to see a play or musical. I was wrong. The highlight of historical Kyoto: a Japanese film studio. It turns out there was an old Japanese TV show filmed in Kyoto and they turned the studio into an amusement park. Revelation: I thought samaris and ninjas were an AMERICAN thing that Hollywood overplayed. Apparently, the Japanese public is very fond of these warriors as well. The performance was a live drama of a friend's betrayal. There was a lot of fighting and falling and sound effects that were a little off and I didn't understand a single word that was said and ... it was pretty sweet. After that, we stayed in the theatre for a comedic performance of a salesman that trys to sell his product by cutting himself with a sword. Again I didn't understand anything, but that was the beauty of his show. You didn't have to hear a word; the acting was all that really mattered.

We toured the studio some more and Mr Watanabe and his wife thought it would be funny for me to dress up like a samari and get my picture taken. I will post it later, once I find a scanner. The sandals I wore were at least 8 sizes too small. The very end of the sandal didn't even reach the front of my heel.

The day ended with a visit to the Hankyu station in downtown Kyoto. It is 14 stories high and is a modern building. Just magnificent. We ate at a Chinese restaurant and I had real ramen. It is my favorite dish thus far.

Gone faster than Mix can drop 'trough

I have been in Japan for less than a week, but my body begs to differ. I do not remember feeling completely awake or asleep since being here. I have gone out to dinner every night thus far and my sleeping schedule is still messed up. In other words, I'm feeling great.

To recap the last 2 days, AIESEC threw me a welcome party at an "Italian" restaurant. It is now apparent that the only way to eat another country's food, is to go there. Japanese Italian has seaweed and other classic Japanese spices in place of traditional Italian ones (not that I've ever had those either). Beer(Asahi) and drinks were included and the company bought. The food was great, although I didn't care too much for the octopus tentacle. If you were wondering, the Japanese don't mind eating animals that still are the animals. On Monday I ate a shrimp. I mean literally, a shrimp: the eyes, the legs, the little whisker things, etc. Then the octopus tentacle that looked like it would stick to my hand, if it were not for the absence of a head.

Moving away slightly, my boss' boss invited me out for dinner last night and had a couple more brews; this time Suntori was the hops of choice. My boss, Mr. Kato, decided to get a huge cake with ice cream for dinner. Since I really didn't know what else there was since the menu was not in English I ordered the same. It turns out it was a huge waffle with chocolate and ice cream. Delicious. Not Japanese, but I dare anyone to find this food in the US.

The company summer break starts tomorrow and goes until Tuesday. I still have barely unpacked and have not studied any Japanese since the airport. I also am lacking in sleep. Yeah, and then the upper boss, Mr. Watanabe, invited me to a traditional theatre in Kyoto that will be performing a play about Samari's. We're meeting at the train station at 8AM. Saturday I was planning on going somewhere with @ers. So, I might be able to finally settle down Sunday.

I will finally leave work now, as I will not have internet access again until Tuesday. It is 8PM, if you were wondering; another long day finished.

Livin' the Dream

Today was my first day on the job. I am leaving in 5 minutes to attend my welcome party with @Kobe. So far, they are AWESOME. They have helped me with everything.

My "dormitory" is great. First of all, it's free; internet, TV, microwave, laptop, frig, personal bathroom, balcony, AIR CONDITIONING, washer/dryer, and electricity are all included. It is a very welcomed improvement from the Cave.

As for Toyo, they are very friendly. My boss is really cool. No one really speaks English that well, but after these first couple weeks that better not be a problem. I am forcing myself to learn Japanese.

To my previous roommates,
When I first received an email from the company, it was from the Passenger Car division. Cool, but a little boring. I start talking to my boss and it turns out that all racing tires are made in the passenger car division. In fact, my job is to help develop tires for dragsters. I will become one with my townieness and go back to my childh0od upbringing of racing! BOOYAH!

Mushi Mushi

I leave on my first leg to Japan in less than 24. The last weeks have been beyond crazy and this somehow has made me feel really relaxed. I guess I don't really feel right unless I'm doing 40 things at once. The mind continues to race.

My dream of working on a team to design new automobiles is going to come true in a week. Reality refuses to hit me.

When I'm relaxing in my new, company furnished apartment, I will be sure to update my blog on all of my adventures. I haven't had time to sit down and reflect on anything.

OH, and my TN manager is awesome. She just got the company to pay for my 2-day stay in a hotel until my apt is ready. I just hope it doesn't turn out like Lost in Translation; although, I'm not married, so that might take away most of the plot.