Hi Everybody

Sorry about the downtime recently. For the past little while (2-3 days), Pozland has been acting quite funny. Loading up incredibly slow, sometimes connecting, sometimes not… and just being more trouble. However it’s all fixed now.

As it turns out, my host server was merely upgrading their entire system, so that is why the site has been down for the past 24 hours or so. But she’s back up and online. The only problem I could point out is the fact that the forum is acting a little wonky. I can’t seem to access it from work, but that’s not to say that you folks can’t do so from back home.

What’s new in Japan you might be asking? Well lots! But what’s new that’s interesting enough to share? I go on vacation in two days…. count them… TWO! I have also been working a little less than usual (those 42-Day work-weeks are killer). I’ve cut back, and although it will mean lesson money, it will also mean more time for me to relax.

I have also been doing a little bit of car shopping lately. The 2005 Nissan Skyline tickles my fancy. It was a tough decision between leasing a car or just buying one. Leasing is much better for me in since I won’t have to pay for the upkeep here, and rates in Japan are quite low. If I was to purchase a car, it would have to be an older one and to put an old car on the road in Japan takes quite a bit of money, almost to the point or not being worth it.

So there you go, there’s a nice little update and I hope to see you all either posting in the forum OR posting your comments here on the main page (click right below this on “User Comments”)

Enjoy!

Sorry folks, but I just had to add this in. I just hopped off the scale… hopped back on, double-checked, triple-verified and hopped off again….

Y’know what? Since I came to Japan, I’ve lost 25kg!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

That is all thanks to the following…
-Japanese food
-Japanese style of living
-Lots (and I do mean LOTS) of walking

WOOOOO!

Quite a while ago, I talked to someone who said their friend absolutly hated Japan. I asked why, and he replied “She said it smelled horrible”. Now, I don’t know where that came from since Japan smelled like any other large city I had ever been to. Perhaps this woman was over-sensitive or lived up in the Andes.

But then I realized something… if you walk around Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara or any other number of crowded areas, you do smell something. It’s not pleasant, nor is it easy to take in. In fact, it’s quite gross and if you had an ill stomach, I’m sure you would woof your cookies on the spot.

I have asked quite a few Japanese residents just what this phenomenon is, and for some reason, none can give me an answer. I finally took to the street myself with the aid of two friends and found out exactly the source…. friends… family… I bring you the smell… garbage. Plain and simple. Garbage, or Gomi as it is called in Japanese, is all over the more central areas, however that is not to say that it is litter. It is simply placed in bags and set outside.

“Why don’t those silly Japanese use dumpsters like the rest of us?” one person commented… well simply because there is no room! So it is socially acceptable to place your large bags of trash out along the street. ‘Nothing wrong with it, just how it is.

AMAZING!