Gelzo GTFO of America

Gelzo · 2012-03-21 14:54:07

Tonight I'm going to be trying to get on a flight to Japan to study abroad at Osaka University. I'm trying to make sure everything is in order before I head out. If I forget anything, I'll have to have it shipped with high rates, wait six months to get back to it, or buy a new one.

ProfessorGator · 2012-03-21 15:00:52

Sounds interesting. Hope you have a good time there!

Salix Babylonika · 2012-03-21 15:31:06

....legitimately?

Not saying I'm suspecting or anything, it's just that I don't recall you mentioning this before.

Well anyway, good luck.

Gelzo · 2012-03-21 15:32:42

I've mentioned it a few times before. It might have been a while since I've said anything specific about it, though.

Unknown · 2012-03-21 15:36:26

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Icalasari · 2012-03-21 17:29:18

:< I am jealous

millercross · 2012-03-21 17:51:43

Gelzo: Best of luck, man. Take the really important stuff with ya, and if you really need it, make a checklist and check for everything 4 hours before the flight or something along those lines.

Icalasari · 2012-03-21 17:58:03

^ But that gives him no time to get to the airport!

Gelzo · 2012-03-22 07:09:47

It's 4am at the airport. My dad used to be in the Coast Guard, so we get the privilege of free seats on this military flight if there are any empty ones. We'll find out in an hour and a half if there really are any. If not, we'll figure something else out. For now, I'm trying to kill time. I guess I'll try harder to take a nap.

Obā-san · 2012-03-22 08:23:38

Naps are good.

Gelzo · 2012-03-22 08:29:51

It turned out to be only around 20 minutes long, and it wasn't great. Killed some time though. They should be making an announcement or something soon.

Gelzo · 2012-03-22 08:40:35

All right.

Looks like we made it. Still have several hours of going through the system and flight, though.

Unknown · 2012-03-22 09:38:28

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Gelzo · 2012-03-22 09:47:31

Got through security and ate some more airport food. We should be boarding in 45 minutes.

I think it's been around four years since I last flew, and I've never been on a flight this long.

ProfessorGator · 2012-03-22 09:58:16

A word of advice: If they're offering an in-flight movie that you're interested in, by all means, watch it. This advice is probably a bit Captain Obvious, but I didn't follow it when I flew from Atlanta to Italy 3 years ago.

Gelzo · 2012-03-22 10:12:27

I've got a book and video games in my carry-on. I think I should be okay, but I guess I'll consider it if it's something I haven't seen and want to.

ProfessorGator · 2012-03-22 10:28:14

... Derp.

I didn't even think I could bring my games in my carry-on at the time. I could have saved myself so much trouble. Good thinking.

PlutoniumFist · 2012-03-22 18:25:00

Unless that movie is Daredevil.

Gelzo · 2012-03-23 04:42:49

I'm posting from a hotel in Tokyo. There's a lot to say about the experience, but I think for now I'll just say that I'm happy to be here, and leave it at that.

Unknown · 2012-03-23 05:12:35

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Viani · 2012-03-23 08:22:29

baka gaijin

Obā-san · 2012-03-23 08:22:55

Uguu~

Mr_W · 2012-03-23 15:38:46

Hmm, you're actually in Japan?

And I thought this was a joke.

Gelzo · 2012-03-23 18:03:10

Yes, I'm being completely serious in this thread. Maybe we should have a tag for non-shitposts.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-03-23 18:14:40

I suggest "serious_thread"

Haven · 2012-03-23 18:15:24

That's what Talk is for.

Hope you keep having a good trip, by the way. Take some pictures if you can.

TheMightyAnonym · 2012-03-23 18:16:30

I have taken it upon myself to write a to-do list for you:

Take a picture of a vending machine.
Amass an unwanted harem, then take a picture.
Complete the Ninja warrior course while wearing MLP cosplay. Take a picture of yourself after each obstacle.
Eat blowfish and a live octopus in the same sitting. Your harem should take pictures.
Give Godzilla a piggy-back ride with your humongous mecha. Have your harem take pictures.
Post pictures.
Remind me that this is supposed to be a serious thread.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-03-23 18:20:28

Amass an unwanted harem, then take a picture.

He's in Japan. This is going to happen whether he wants it to or not.

TheMightyAnonym · 2012-03-23 18:24:27

*sips tea*

This is true.

Gelzo · 2012-03-24 08:10:09

Actually, the first picture I had taken of me was in Japan was front of a vending machine.

I was impressed that the same machines dispense warm and cold drinks.

And I did intend for this to be a serious thread. So, that's 3 out of 7 within two days.

TheMightyAnonym · 2012-03-24 12:25:08

What on earth is that stuff in your hand (the left one)?

Edit: oh wait, it's tea.

I want some of the stuff that says "fire" on it! :D

Justice4243 · 2012-03-24 13:44:00

GOD DAMN IT! Now I miss vending machines every few yards.

They're a drain on your finances, but they're just so convenient.

America also needs to get on that $5 coin thing.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-03-24 13:50:16

Or we could just let our machines accept 5s.

Especially in vending machines where things cost $3-10 anyway, but no, if you don't have 1s or change, fuck you.

Justice4243 · 2012-03-24 13:53:50

It's a tad more common for vending machines to accept fivers, now. The ones in my work do.

Though having $5 worth of "coin" makes it feel like it's not a lot of money and you'll be more likely to spend it.

I know not all of America lends itself well to people walking all over the place, but the places that do need to get in on this by putting vending machine every where!

ProfessorGator · 2012-03-24 13:58:11

^Having a lot of vending machines around sounds interesting. Not sure about the $5 coin though. I think we still associate $1 coins with rare collector's items, so people might go a little crazy over it.

Gelzo: I'm a bit curious about the train system for some reason. Have you been on it yet? And if so, how is it?

Unknown · 2012-03-24 14:03:21

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Justice4243 · 2012-03-24 14:04:05

*stealing Gelzo's thunder, though expecting him to answer*

Man, Portland needs to extend the reach of the MAX (our public train). Tokyo's subway system is just awesome.

The bullet train is really great as well. Be nice if we had something similar where you could just pay and get on something that'll take you across the country instead of all the security and other crap that goes with flying.

In related news.

Fuck you, congress. FUCK. YOU.

Mr_W · 2012-03-24 15:11:25

Riding a bullet train sounds like loads of fun.

Gelzo · 2012-03-24 15:52:05

I really like the money here. 500 yen coins make a whole lot more sense. American coins totally suck, in that the largest denomination for them is 25 cents (dollar coins and half dollars are novelties) so you can't really carry money in coins that's worth anything unless you have a lot of them weighing in your pocket. And getting change for your purchases is a burden... pennies are worth less than a yen. I know five and one yen coins exist, but I've only seen a single five yen coin my entire stay here, and that was when the tour guide at the temple held one up and explained how they are used for prayer offerings because of a pun in the language. I also really fucking hate having to flatten out singles for American vending machines and coin-op stuff. Oh, and by the way, 500 yen is a tiny bit over $6.

The train system is totally awesome. My dad and I have been using it to get to most places. Buying tickets took getting used to, but it's more or less pretty simple. Knowing English really helps here, I hear it's like that in Tokyo especially. Most important signs are in English and Japanese, and Katakana is pretty common. Plus, if you stand around looking confused and white for a minute, chances are good that a friendly stranger will try their English and make an attempt to help. Anyway, I like it better than Seattle's bus system. You get to wait for your vehicle inside and it comes every five or so minutes instead of every fifteen or so minutes. We haven't experienced rush hour, which I hear is godawful.

Oh, and Japanese advertisements are way more entertaining. Usually even more so than their television.

Justice4243 · 2012-03-24 15:56:34

"dollar coins and half dollars are novelties"

I got the impression that dollar coins saw more use in places like New York, where coins are often used in subway systems.

But that's pretty much the only instance I've seen of anyone putting dollar coins to practical use here.

"pennies are worth less than a yen"

Exchange rates can easily reverse that relationship. I think when I went to Japan, the Dollar was enjoying slightly better rates than the Yen, so it was pretty swell to have a bunch of American money to turn into even more Japanese money.

Gelzo · 2012-03-24 16:00:32

In any case, that's the rate we have to deal with now.

ProfessorGator · 2012-03-24 16:02:21

Here in Atlanta, we get dollar coins if we have more than a dollar's worth of change from the MARTA (our city's bus/train system) ticket machines. These ticket machines are pretty much the only thing dollar coins are used for.

Boney · 2012-03-24 16:02:33

Dom Rep has 5 peso coins too.

They go up to 25 pesos.

Justice4243 · 2012-03-24 16:06:16

"In any case, that's the rate we have to deal with now."

I hear ya man, tough luck, that.

Exchange rates can easily make an international trip that much more fun or be something of a pain.

And you know, unless one is going to plan their trips around what the markets are doing, one is usually at the mercy of whatever international finances.

Gelzo · 2012-03-24 16:54:11

I wasn't really complaining. I just thought Japan and Tokyo especially would be expensive in the first place, and I didn't really know so much about the rates before now. In any case, I don't think we're really strapped for cash, especially considering how little we've spent on plane tickets and the hotel room so far.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-03-24 23:27:01

I rather like paper money, but I'm in a minority there.

I'm surprised that many people in Tokyo know English, though I guess I shouldn't be, it is an international city after all.

Run into any nationalists yet? I hear they like to bother tourists.

lee4hmz · 2012-03-25 00:33:22

Justice: Whoever wrote that article sounds like a spoiled brat who got mad because his parents said he had to take the bus to school instead of riding his bike. :P That said, high-speed rail in the US would be good in two or three places and that's about it -- the cost of building Shinkansen-class high-speed lines across the US, through largely rural (or, out west, completely uninhabited) areas, would be on the order of rebuilding the entire Interstate system.

On the other hand, I can't help but think that the airlines are helping to kill this somehow. We used to be big on showy projects that would be useful "someday". If the people in Congress had the attitude they did now when the Interstate Highway System was being considered, freeways would pretty much not exist outside of cities, and people would be forced to use air transit or trains.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-03-25 02:22:39

I don't remember where our tumblr thread is.

edit: well that was the wrong thread.

Gelzo · 2012-03-25 04:46:26

Well, the English they do speak isn't usually fluent. And no, haven't seen any nationalists.

I could go into it more later, but I had a tiring day, and I'm cranky.

Justice4243 · 2012-03-25 14:05:18

@Lee.

Heh, I just read until I understand what happened. I didn't bother to read the guys opinion on it, though obviously he was "pro trains".

Rott and I talked about this a bit last night. We think there'd be couple places on the East Coast they might build a couple and hopefully one on the west coast. There's way too much open ground to bother doing one from east to west.

"And no, haven't seen any nationalists"

Some of my buddies who have spent way, WAY more time in Japan then me have had run ins with old folk who've called them names and given them dirty looks before going about their business.

Gelzo · 2012-03-26 21:16:39

Something weird I've noticed here: the crows don't have the same caw.

Back in the states they had a more sort of cackling call that sounded like "caw". Here they have a sort of lower-pitched "hawh" call.

Gelzo GTFO of America

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories