america hates america

today, during breakfast, a package arrived from pat. inside was a jacket, a pair of sunglasses, and a bottle of sunscreen.

most of the morning was spent chatting online and doing laundry.

before coming to japan, i had a week-long shopping spree. i ended up buying lots and lots of tanktops. sara later informed me that it is socially unacceptable to wear tanktops in japan, especially in school, where, consequently, i will be spending most of my time.

since i got here ive been living off t-shirts.

but today i threw caution to the wind. i put on a tanktop and a cute little skirt.

shortly after getting dressed, my host family and i piled into the car and headed off to a nearby park. played frisbee, cooled off in the shade with juice boxes and crackers, went shopping. i picked out a pass case and came really close to buying pretty hair accessories.

after that we went grocery shopping. japanese malls almost always have supermarkets on the bottom floor. anyway, i finally found graham crackers. when i first came to japan i noticed that my host family has a gas stove, perfect for making smores. chocolate and marshmellows were easy to find, but graham crackers are somewhat of a specialty item that can only be found at high-end grocery stores.

once we got back i had some downtime. i finished that book about lost japan i mentioned a few entries ago and took a short nap.

at one point during my nap the phone rang. i heard a lot of muffled japanese through my closed bedroom door, and a few minutes later i could hear moegi talking very rapidly and excitedly about something.

later i found out that imazeki-sensei had called about badminton, which he coaches. moegi has a huge crush on him. hes the reason she wants to become a history teacher (getting a teaching license in japan is extremely difficult, like pursuing a law degree at an ivy league college in america). she also thinks that hes incredibly handsome. moegi keeps promising to eventually introduce him to me.

for dinner we had clam chowder, ham, yakitori (skewered meat), potato salad, and rolls. moegi finished off a plate of sashimi (raw fish) by herself. i think it was octopus and tuna fish.

afterwards i convinced moegi to make smores. she kept insisting it was too late and that wed make them tomorrow, but after awhile she caved in. they were a big hit. she ended up having four or five. i had three, and my host father and mother each had one. she kept burning her marshmellows since i never showed her how to make them perfectly golden, which is difficult with a gas stove.

i read an email from pat and snacked on leftover graham crackers and milk. sent off an email, browsed diaries, checked out some design sites.

now its almost midnight. 8 AM in california and 10 AM in minnesota. im constantly calculating what time it is there.

in other news, apparently the american government is cracking down on porn (read an article about it here).

when president cowboy sent troops to iraq, it immediately occurred to me that it was a distraction so no one would notice that he had failed to capture osama bin laden.

but then i heard that the bush administration was planning on exploring mars and banning gay mariage and eliminating porn and i thought, man, theyre really bad at this.

i dont understand why republicans are still such die-hard supporters of bush. this isnt about republicans and democrats. besides, bush is no longer adequtely supporting the platform. all the added security measures against terrorism (and now porn) completely go against the republican idea of decentralized government, not to mention that the american government is slowly turning into a theocracy.

plus, the government is discriminating against an entire group of people. why does this only bother less than 20% of the population? why doesnt the remaining 80% seem to recall basic american history, like the native americans, the salem witch trials, macarthyism, the civil rights movement, the womens rights movement? how can 80% of americans be so critical of these events and yet rally against same-sex marriages?

while im on the topic, banning same-sex marriages is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and this cant be changed simply by adding an amendment due to the first item on the bill of rights. besides, the entire driving force behind the anti-homosexual sentiment is christianity, a religion that (supposedly) teaches tolerance. separation of church and state is also something that is outlined in the constitution.

and this new porn clean-up project is fucking ridiculous. talk about not being able to see the forest through the trees. why is something as non-threatening as porn being targetted all of a sudden? especially when there are so many greater priorities at hand. instead FBI agents are surfing through porn in an attempt to find the really hard-core stuff and as a result are in need of counselling.

in case any FBI agents are reading right now: YOU CANT TARGET PORN. IT IS TOO DECENTRALIZED. YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED THIS AFTER THE WAR ON TERRORISM.

why arent more consenting adults upset by this? youre over 18, people! you should be able to watch whatever you want!

needless to say, i am PISSED at america. i could go on and on about this for hours, but its 1 AM already (9 AM in california, 11 AM in minnesota) and i really need to get to bed.

its depressing hating where you come from. sumeba miyako, as they say.