Thursday, February 15, 2007

random sightings

Some updates:

In case you haven’t heard, my girlfriend, Angela, is coming to Tokyo, so yay to that. Also, the past couple days I’ve been taking some random photos. There is a new pub that opened about 2 blocks from the University. This pub… is going to do VERY well. Half pints are a couple bucks and pints are a little more. They have appetizers and fast bar food like chicken, burgers, and dogs. It’s called 82 alehouse, no relation to the ale houses in Florida. It is literally on the way back to the train station from the university. Way too convenient. I don’t think the owner had any idea how much money he was going to make, but good for him. As a sort of announcement to the world that the pub was opening, small cups of free beer were distributed by a major pedestrian intersection near the train station. There are no open container laws and so the pub's activity was legal, and well received by students and locals. Also pictured is some sushi I ordered on the way to get my alien registration card. In case I haven’t complained about the alien registration process, let me take this opportunity to do so. Any foreigner who is in Japan for more than 90 days has to apply for National Health Insurance and an alien registration card. Interestingly, even though there is a national health system, each Ward (like a state) has its own registration. Therefore, when I first arrived and was living in a hotel I had to fill out a registration card for Minato Ward. Now that I live in an apartment, I had to fill out a card for Shinagawa Ward. The sushi in the picture below is from my trek to the Shinagawa Ward office. Also, I took this picture because I wanted to remember how inexpensive great sushi was. This sushi and the egg and soup and tea was less than $4.00.

Also, there are pictures (and a video) of a guest speaker Temple University brought. His name is Kunio Hamada. He is a former Japanese Supreme Court Justice. Most justices are appointed near the age of 65 and are required to retire by the age of 70. Therefore, of the 15 justices about 14 are within 5 years of each other. He discussed his role on the court, how he was appointed, and some of the reforms the Japanese judiciary is going through. It was a very interesting speech.

Lastly, as a gift, my mom sent me some hot chocolate. I was a little sick for a while, so I stayed away from it. However, now that I'm better, I boiled some water, mixed in the powder and had some delicious hot chocolate. Thanks mom.




2 comments:

angelaphotos said...

yay! I got a shoutout on your blog :) See you in a week!

Sarah said...

mmm...that sushi looks tasty! I want some :)