World Cup Aftermath

“If they didn’t want us to go through, they should have told us beforehand,” Arnold said. “Out of all four games, we haven’t had a fair go at all … There’s going to be a bad taste left in a lot of players’ mouths, but we have to move on.

1. Indeed.

2. I’m over the moon we made it this far, and I’m astonished we gave Italy such a solid game. But to lose, like that, was heartbreaking. The quality of the referees we have encountered have been the lowest of the low — prompting Graham Arnold’s quote above. Four games, four disgraceful referees. What sort of luck is that?

3. That said, a last-minute dodgy decision would not have meant anything if we had put two in the net by then. We had almost an entire half where we were a man up, but we couldn’t finish the job and score those goals. We can’t blame a bad referee (which he was) or a prima-donna Italian (I don’t think he dived, he tripped over trying to avoid Neill) for losing. Truth hurts.

4. So, onwards and upwards!

Final 16!

0606_roos.png

1. What else is there to say?

Ohhh, flattering!

0606_papfight.jpg

1. This is why I’d never be a paparazzi:

A fellow photographer relates: “Shane’s walked up the road. Suddenly there’s yelling and screaming between the two. Jamie’s given him a bit of a slap, and then Shane obliged by giving him a touch-up with the left. There was a lot of swinging, a few punches going down. That’s when I started taking photos.”

2. Look at the fat bastards go!

Alas, after such promising beginnings, the fight was marred by the photographers pulling each other’s jackets over their heads. “They were just punching blindly … they hit like girls,” the witness reported ruefully.

Japan synonymous with cute?

1. An interesting article at The Age newspaper, about the Japanese obsession with “cute”:

Cute is cool in Japan. Look anywhere and everywhere: Cartoon figures dangle from mobile phones, waitresses bow in frilly maid outfits, bows adorn bags, even police departments boast cuddly mascots.

These days, Japan Inc, known in the past for more serious products like Toyota cars and the Sony Walkman, is busy exporting the epitome of cute – bubble-headed Hello Kitty, Pokemon video games, the singing duo Puffy and the Tamagotchi virtual pet, just to name a few.

2. I’ve been in one of those “Maid Cafes”. It’s creepy.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

1. Guus Guus Guus!

2. Ok everybody, sing along: “three one, three one, three one, three one…”

3. I’ll have photos and more to write in a few days, but watching Australia play Japan, in Japan, surrounded by Japanese supporters and have Australia score three goals in 8 minutes was just amazing! Am I copping dirty looks at work or what!

My First Earthquake

1. In what has to be the very worst way to wake up (with possible exception to waking up inside a burning building), at roughly 5.30am this morning I experienced my first earthquake. Things were shaking, windows were rattling, pens fell off my desk — though the only danger I was actually in was the possibility I might stain my futon. It lasted maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute, but it was a helluva way to start your day….

Two Months

1. Has it been two months already? It doesn’t feel like it, but then I guess it rarely does. Technically there are only 10 months of my contract left, and no doubt those ten months will fly by the same as the last two have.

2. After a multitude of adjustments, both major and minor, here are a few things I’ve noticed since I’ve been here:

  1. I get excited when I use a big word in normal conversation these days. The last big word I used was “transliteration”.

  2. I’m not an alcoholic, seriously! But, aside from the usual things you could do (museums, art galleries and so forth) there isn’t a whole lot to do besides drinking in Hiroshima. Not speaking Japanese doesn’t help either. So I get a bit of reading and writing done.

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Stewart/Colbert ‘08

1. Coolest. TShirt. Ever.

Like, err, sand through the…

1. I find my weeks go by really, really quickly, which is a bit of a mixed blessing: on one hand the weekend comes by quicker (and weekends are when fun things happen), but on the other hand I feel like time is slipping out of my hands and I should have more done to show for it. Is it strange (and perhaps slightly neurotic) for someone so young to be so worried about time passing by?

2. My week starts on Tuesday, which isn’t a busy day but can be hectic because I’m planning lessons for the week. Then it’s Wednesday, a busy day for me with six classes, plus I have to plan the first two Thursday classes. Thursday is a very light day, which gives me a lot of time to plan the next week’s classes and catch up my paperwork. Friday is also pretty quiet, so sometimes I go do my grocery shopping between classes (earning me the nickname of “The Housewife”.) Saturday is my busiest day, but since all my classes have been planned by now it’s a stress free day. And then it’s the weekend!

3. Saturday night is usually a big night, as in the early morning kind, followed by a slow Sunday afternoon nursing a usually nasty hangover. (Sunday morning doesn’t seem to exist here in Japan, or at least I’ve yet to see it.) Sunday night is karaoke night, sometimes, which is usually accompanied by all you can drink. A dangerous combination, to be sure. Monday rolls by Sunday-like, and if I have a few things I haven’t done for the week I’ll pop into work for a few hours, though those hours are usually spent chatting to students (funny stories from the weekend are funnier when it’s translated on the fly.) And then, alas, it’s Tuesday, and the circle of commerce begins again.

4. Geography is irrelevant; nothing really changes.

The Da Vinci Code

1. A few notes about The DaVinci Code:

  1. I got it for a birthday present. So, no, I didn’t buy it.

  2. I read it in a little over 7 hours. And I was pretty hungover that day, so I had to do a lunch-and-Gatorade dash, and reread some of the dense dialogue. In any case, it’s a pretty easy read.

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