I'm in Canada, eh?

Oh my goodness!!! Can you believe it? Me? In Canada? Have to say I never foresaw my coming here.

So, I need to tell you about my flight to Toronto from Raleigh. Got through security great. Had no problems with luggage or anything, wasn't even charged for an extra bag!!!

Only thing is that they wouldn't let my mom come back and wait with me until my plane took off. =(

I, by luck alone, got a window seat!!!! For the first time in my life, I got to watch out the window as the plane took off and as it landed. On my previous trip to Europe, those lovely little bastards (my ex-classmates and teachers) who had already flown multiple times, refused to give me a window seat. From Raleigh to London, Paris to Miami, Miami to Raleigh: no window seat. By the time we got on the little ricktey airplane that took us home, I was so POD I slept and didn't talk to anyone. But I digress...

The plane that took me to Canada was even smaller than the one that I flew on from Miami to Raleigh, but it was not rickety at all! I have actually discovered that I love flying. It's very peaceful. I shall now describe what I saw (lol).

I took this bit down on the plane:

Being high up in the sky looks as if you are sailing on a vast ocean of white and blue, with white piles of snow (here and there). Falling wouldn't be so bad.

As I gazed out across the endless blue, I realized that I was completely at peace. I was filled with a wonder that I don't think I've ever felt before. Oh, what it would be like to always fly in the sky; where everything above and below looks so ravishingly beautiful!!!

On take off and upon landing, I can only describe it to you as a google map. Leaving the ground, you slowly zoom out from street level to satellite view. Coming down, it's the absolute reverse. I'm on google maps and I'm zooming into a location.

As I come down, the world below looks so beautiful. The closer I get, things look like a little miniature town you might see in a child's train station (does that make sense to you?). When you get close enough to distinguish one building from another, they look like nothing more than lined up dominoes, ready to topple. The cars literally look like ants, that move about the speed of a worm.

The closer you get, the faster they go, but it still looks as if the world below is in slow motion. Another wonderful, blissful sight was the actual descent. We go from being above most clouds to slowly sinking into them. At a certain point, the world right below my view was covered in a white powdery mist, so snow like. Or, I could say that it looked like (what I suppose) the ocean in Antarctica, or a similarly cold place. Water frozen over and frosted, big snow drifts and glaciers. It was so breathtaking!!!!

I try not to let my thought wander to life and death, especially when in situations such as this, but I was so peaceful; I had a revelation and I can firmly say that I wouldn't mind going high in the sky. The fall would be lovely on the way down. Hopefully I'd lose consciousness before I hit the ground, but again, I digress...I know it's weird, but if I had to pick a way to go, sky diving (or gliding) would be at the top of my list!

Anyways, customs was such a breeze once I got here! A simple look at the passport and ticket, then I was shooed through a door to the terminals. No bag checks, no security scanners, nada. I think I like Toronto airport. =)

Unfortunately, I ain't diggin this airport food. I bought a bag of real fruit gummies and a bottle of evian. I'm hoping it will hold me over until I get on the plane at 1pm, and then however long it takes to get something to eat.

I'm going to go now so I can shut down this computer and preserve some battery life for the airplane. Until then, じゃまったね！

It's that time~

HI everbody!

It is finally that time! Time to go to Japan. I'll be leaving for Raleigh in a few hours and at 7am tomorrow morning I get on the Boeing to fly to Japan.

I have become nervous more and more as the days pass. I hope that I have a safe flight! I'm trying not to think so much about what I'm leaving behind, as much as what I'm going to experience. I know that it will hit me eventually, that I'm leaving my beautiful little brother and nephew for 5 months....there will probably be tears. =,(

Of course, I will miss all of my friends and teachers too! I'll miss Meredith and NCSU; Raleigh; North Carolina; the USA; everything! I will miss American food; forks and spoons; cold tea; so many things!!!!

I hope that you won't forget me! Please, please, please: Everybody get skype ready! I'm sure I will need face-to-face support. Don't forget my Skype ID is tutu.tiffany so go add me now! (If you don't have me already!).

Now, I've got to go eat what might be my last normal breakfast. Ciao!

Kozukappara Execution Grounds

So Landon woke me up at 2am and I couldn't get back to sleep. I then decided to browse the web, and as usual, my attention turned to Japan. I found this awesome website called thE qUirKy jaPan. Really interesting stuff! Anyways~

You know, I've got that big list of places I want to go visit in Japan? Well, in these wee hours, it seems to be getting much longer. One of the places I've found out about is here: http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/kotsukappara.html

It's called the Kotsukappara Execution Grounds and it's in one of Tokyo's special wards. It was opened in 1651 and closed in 1896. Between 100,000 and 200,000 were executed here. The graveyard is locked and visitors are not allowed in, however...

You can get some good peeks inside. Also, on route to said death pool is a bridge called Namida-bashi aka the Bridge of Tears. There also used to be a river running through the area called Omoide-gawa aka River of Memories. I shall now give more information about the significance of this randomness:

The Tokugawa Shogunate did not usually execute people in public. After all, the executions could get very gory. From the site

"executions took the form of beheadings, burnings at the stake, and a particularly nasty form of crucifixion in which the person would be stabbed 20-30 times by two spear-weilding executioners who alternately drove their weapons from the side of his or her belly, through the inside of the rib cage, and out the armpit. Finally he or she would be beheaded."

Talk about overkill! The prisoner was usually paraded through the streets prior to the execution. They say that when the condemned passed over the Namida-bashi, that they would burst into tears at knowing their fate was sealed. After the execution, their heads would be speared and displayed for the public.

Kozukappara was actually near a red light district, and many people stopped by for a view on their way home from their sexual exploits. (Why? I don't know. You've already been promiscuous, why not go admire a speared head?)

Most of the bodies were just covered with sand and not given a proper burial. This was so the birds could pick at their bodies. There are two temples in the area called Ekoin and Enmei, that were founded for the people who lost their lives.

Biggest ah-HAH! Moment ever!!!

Okay. As you've probably guessed, I just had the biggest ah-hah/OMG! moment of my life. Let me tell you about it:

So, I was sitting in the living room with my dad watching Rush Hour 3. I'd seen it before a long time ago, but couldn't really remember much except that it was in Paris and people spoke a lot of French in the movie.

So...there is this one part in the movie, involving the care chase w/cab driver George and the bikers, and Carter/Lee are thrown out of the vehicle. They are then taken away to the underground sewer system of Paris. Lee's "brother" shows up and they have a conversation.

While the subtitles were rolling, I found myself picking up on what I assumed was Chinese, you know, Jackie Chan and all? Then I thought, this is some weird Chinese...It is so similar to Japanese...And then it hit me! They WERE speaking Japanese!!!

I confirmed this when Lee said the guy's name, "Kenji". Such a Japanese name. Anyways, the beginning of their conversation asked "Wasuremasu ka?" and Chan replied "Wasuremashita"? So basically, "Did you forget?" and "I forgot". I picked up some other things by ear, but the subtitles made it extremely easy to figure out if I was hearing correctly.

Isn't that just too awesome! It made me so very HAPPY! So extremely happy that I had to share it via blog! Has anyone else had a ! moment when they hear something in another language and know what it means?

HOMICIDE?

Okay...so this one is a little darker than the last...I suppose. Actually, not really from my bad times. I remember watching something on TV one day and pondering if everyone has the capacity to kill someone else. This is the result of those ponderings:


HOMICIDE?

Did you know?
Do you realize
That you have the potential,
A yearning,
The capacity
To kill?
To annihilate your foes.
To crush the competition.
To hurt those
That have hurt you.
Can you feel it?
It’s there,
Buried deep inside.
A primordial urge
To defend yourself,
To protect,
To strike back.
If you think,
For even a second,
That you are not able
To commit such an
Atrocious crime,
You’re wrong.
When you feel it
Bubbling up inside
And you want to do something,
Just do it!
Let go!
Don’t hold back.
Take all your ferocity
And deliver such a blow
That your opponent
Will never draw another breath.
After the deed is done
You will feel better.
I promise.

Another Poem~~~BOYS

As I said before, I will continue posting poetry from after the darkest times. (I'll save my dark collection, that is bound in a book called Seraph of Torture for after I exhaust these slightly lighter poems, not too light though :))

Anyways, this poem is called Boys and don't ask me what the heck I was thinking when I wrote it, because I have forgotten! I obviously have no experience thus far with the opposite sex (nor do I have the desire at this point) so take my poem with a grain of salt. If it speaks to you and some of your experiences, let me know. I think all the girls in this world can pretty much agree that boys are baka anyways.

BOYS

A heart is not a play thing,
A heart is not a toy.
But if you’d like it broken
Just hand it to a boy.

Boys just like to play around.
They’re never serious.
Even with something
Like that first kiss.

Boys never give their hearts away.
They use us like a tool.
They wait until we give our hearts,
And then they play it cool.

One moment he flirts and teases,

Then with his friends he ignores you.

One moment you’ll be happy,
Next thing you know, you‘re blue.

And when you happen to see him
Your heart begins to dance.
Your life revolves around him;
Just a few moments of chance.

And then it starts to happen,
You worry all day long.
He doesn’t call you back
And he never picks up the phone.

Boys are immature to a fault.
If you choose one, the price you pay is high.
He may seem sweet, gorgeous and nice,
But remember he’s just a guy.

Don't fall in love with a stupid boy
If you can, just observe.
Because what you need is a man
To get what you deserve.

So, if you think you're in love,
You better have a plan.
Before you give your heart to him
Make sure that he's a man.