おは異様ございます！
250 years free! God bless America! Happy belated Canada Day too! (Generational fade run needs to end 🙏). I really missed 250 summer 🥲. I had so much FOMO seeing the celebrations, but I’m having fun too, so I can’t be that salty. There's just something about those American edits that just hit so hard and patriotic is probably not the best word to describe it. Could be the music, but I can not relate to country music at all, I have never set foot on a farm or held a gun in my life, but I just feel it, you know. I am so excited for Zach Bryan's new EP. This roll out and new track is bliss.
But is it really July? I refuse to believe it, but I must accept it like LeBron Raymone James leaving the Lakers. I am still going to rep the purple and gold, but I will always go wherever LeBron goes. Just let me know LeDecision. Warriors are likely the favorites and I would be happy if he goes, but nothing would make me more happy than coming home part 2. If he goes back to finish his career where it started and gets a chip with Spida-Mitchell that’s just legacy.
Round of 32 has been absolute peak besides the Japan heartbreaker. If they smoked Sweden they would’ve avoided Brazil and probably move on to 16. The guy had two business days to make that goal 🤦♂️. Ronaldo still the GOAT, his penalty kick to send Portugal to 16 was beautiful. I am hoping he can pull through with the Cup and ride off into the sunset.
Besides the bipolar weather, this week was pretty fun. My lab professor was out for a conference and playing ultimate frisbee in London, so my Monday was free. Being a researcher, PhD student, or even an exchange student at Kyoto University is such a dream. I took advantage of my free day by going to Kanazawa. My grandparents are from Kanazawa and I can see why they moved. Contrary to what my brothers thought that English speakers would be limited, there was a plethora of English speaking tourists. Kanazawa is nice, but gets super hot. I have never sweated so much in my life, Kanazawa was actually a sauna. Here are some photos:
Sleep has not been getting any better or easier. I can unfortunately say I’ve seen the sun rise and set 4 days in a row. I cannot blame hockey practices as the sole reason because the round of 32 World Cup games have been late or super early too. Those games are so fun to watch with the Europeans, and it would be such a shame if I missed them. Although I spent less time in the Kyoto dorm than my San Diego one, I am way closer with these suite-mates. That’s not to knock my San Diego mates, they were all genuinely chill people, but I think it’s the fact that my Kyoto suite-mates were all thrown in a completely new environment that made us gel well. I am going to miss them, but I guess I have more reasons to visit Europe now.
Despite having to cancel my trip to Naha and Taiwan this weekend, it was not terrible. I got to try Nagoya’s famous unagi dish, and miso-curry-udon:
The miso-curry-udon was a little less than $12. That would easily cost $25+ at Marugame Udon. Do not ever ask me if I want to go to Valley Fair again. I will never eat out in the States again unless it’s Little Ceasars or Costco 😂. Once I get home I know the depression is going to hit so hard, and Japan is going to be my whole personality. It’s incredibly difficult to adjust from cheap delicious food and goods, great public transit, walkable cities to overpriced gas, constant traffic, unsanitary cities, and denied insurance premiums. I paid for my health insurance and ice cream all for $30 at a convenience store 🤣. Luigi Mangione’s message is so good, but the way he “executed” it is intolerable. The goal in life is really to make an American salary and live in Japan 🤣. I know this sounds contradictory to what I said in the beginning, celebrating America, but America does have flaws like every country. One thing is for certain that although America is “not perfect, it’s not its mistakes.” Side note: Only One by Ye is a top 10 Ye song.
Hockey this weekend was frustrating. Dump-and-Chase hockey is so tiring. Every time my line-mates do that, they get off the ice immediately, which kills the momentum. My legs turn to jelly after the first period, I burn and use up all the caffeine from the pregame white-monster and electrolytes from the Aquarius in 30 minutes. I feel like a zombie when I’m out there at 1 AM. Everyone plays the game by the book here, which is good, but leaves no room for creativity. Hockey is fast-paced, changes on the fly, and you must be ready to adapt to the play. Teamwork and company work are mutually exclusive ideals in my opinion. I can not complain as much because I missed a lot of practices, and I am pretty much an independent contractor, but my style of play is always to benefit the team and defend my teammates or “co-workers” in this case. It’s funny how fun playing hockey in Japan was at first, then I realized how messed up the power dynamics of the senpai-kohai culture is, and how late practices/games are. I just feel bad for the lower class-men, 3rd, and 4th line that never get the chance to improve as much as the seniors. There was no reason why they should not have played this weekend. 4-2 W and 11-1 W (we were up by 5 in the first). The seniors are not that good to be doing all that. I did make one of the seniors bow to me 🤣. I ran out of cash to pay the senior for the curry-udon, so I offered to pay for the table with card. 3 udons for $36 what a steal. In the States, that’s one udon with tax and tip 💀. I am surprised I have not been billed by the team yet. The only thing I paid for was jerseys and my part of the BnB for Nagoya this weekend. Paying for the BnB was so pointless because our Friday night game ended at 3 am, we got to the BnB at 4, then had to check out at 10. Granted the drive from Kyoto to Nagoya is long, so I understand having to stay one night, but we spent the whole day up until our game at a super-sento, Japanese public bath lounge, which was a 24-hour one. I would’ve rather pay to stay longer at the sento than 6 hours at the BnB. Even though my Japanese is very limited, I enjoyed spending more time off-ice with the team. Team travel is always fun and I have been so lucky to have a great experience every time. No clue if you will ever see this, but I want to shout out the absolute goat of team managers, Simon Beckett. Simon you were always ready to adjust the itinerary to help me whether that be Pure Hockey runs because I broke my stick(s) or dropping me off at the airport because I had to fly home early to take an exam. You're the real MVP.
Alright enough with the sentimental, I am going to China for 15 days; Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shanghai, the legendary China bender (LCB). I am going with my another exchange hockey-playing student, and I am beyond stoked to go. Crazy how I only met him less than 3 months ago, and we're going on a trip together, but that's just how the hockey connection works. Before I even applied to this exchange, I knew I had to go to China. It is going to such unknown and foreign terrain, but that's how travel should be. Hopefully I do not end up like Benson:
Before I head to China, I am finally making my way to Kyushu. I am headed to Kagoshima and Kumamoto. If time permits, I will try to head to Nagasaki, but very unlikely. There will be a lot of spontaneous trips within the next month because there is no telling in the timeframe when I will be back, and I will never be as young as I am right now, so I need to take advantage of it. Being Kyoto offers such a geographical advantage for the shinkansen. It is such a central hub that is not too far from anywhere. I am really going to miss abusing that station and the shinkansen. Kanazawa, Himeji, Kobe, Wakayama, and Ise are all day-trips I can do. I am not ready to go back to sitting in traffic for over two hours just to get back from San Francisco Airport. Speaking of SFO, I will be flying home around September 8-10th. I am moving-out at the end of August, but I am going to spend a few days with my grandparents and aunt in Tokyo. After China, I am going to Singapore, Busan, and Seoul. My bank account is definitely going to take a huge hit with all this travel, but if I have made this much already at 19, I am more than capable of making it back.
After I finished Goggins' book, I got that delusional self-belief in me now. Also want to add that I have updated my reading reviews. My original goal was to read a book each month, but before coming to Kyoto, I realized how much of a hassle and space six books take. I do not like e-books because I just find myself getting sidetracked easily. Trip reviews should be out along with next week's log. With that being said, that's it for now. As always stay safe and Godspeed!
See you next week! じゃね