100 Days In Japan (Hopefully)

A chance to go to Japan for 100 days AND GET PAID TO DO IT.
A chance to go to Japan for 100 days and BE PAID TO WRITE ABOUT IT.


This is literally like a once in a lifetime, dream-come-true sorta thing.


"On 24th December 2011, after completing its mission of travelling 100 days and reporting from all over Japan, the Travel Volunteer will transform into Santa Claus and deliver Christmas Presents to displaced children in the Tohoku region!" This is tailor-made for me. I've always wanted to be Santa Claus when I grow up. Santa Claus in Japan? That's so perfect it's scary!

Getting paid to blog... Is this real-life?

I'm filling out the application form now.

I filled out a good portion of the form, but I'm holding off on submitting it because I wanna make sure it's PERFECT. This is a completely sublime chance and I'm not about to let it slide through my fingers thanks to some poor grammar or an incomplete thought. I'm goin' at this samurai style. One slice, one kill. Everything in my entire being. Burning myself up completely and leaving no trace.

I'm going to list all of my Japan related hopes and dreams and put them into the appropriate section on the application. I hope they don't think me too greedy... ^_____^ I have a lot I want to do!

大和魂

Why I should be chosen.

I'm extremely personable. Charismatic, even. I love meeting new people and I get along with just about everyone I meet. Going to Japan has been a long-standing goal of mine and I've been completely engrossed in Japanese culture for well over a decade. I love absolutely everything about Japan. I even hope to pick up more of the language, and I anticipate I'll be able to do so relatively quickly/easily thanks to being fully immersed in Japanese-speaking society. Such a beautiful language. Both spoken and written. Name something Japanese-related, and I'll bet you that I love it. Samurai, sushi/sashimi, anime, video games, martial arts, Nintendo, Ghibli, robots, Zen, manga.

I love eating, working out, , watching movies, playing videogames, photography, writing, blogging, drawing, learning, and of course, learning about Japan!

Another trait that makes me a good candidate for selection is that I regularly maintain a blog now anyway, so it would be an extremely easy transition. I love to write! Especially on the internet! Some other pros to choosing me: I have a job that would understand. I have a safe place for my belongings during the 100 days.

I can't say it enough times and enough ways: This would literally be like a dream coming true for me.

In addition to all of that my birthday is actually on Christmas Eve and I've always wanted to be Santa Claus! I'm rather tall/large and I can grow a beard quickly, we might only need to dye it! To the kids I'll be the real thing!

What is my dream?


Like I've said, THIS literally would be my dream coming true. Getting to go to Japan for free is one thing, but for 100 days and essentially being paid to blog about it? Absolutely perfect. I've also always had what I thought was an unrealistic dream: to one day become Santa Claus. However, seeing as how as part of the package is transforming into Santa and handing out presents to the kids, this too will come true and combine with being in Japan to be simply sublime.


The only way this could fulfill even more of my dreams is if I also learned how to control my ki and fly and then went Super Saiyan! Haha! 


Here is a huge list of things that any one of would fulfill the function of my dream. I'd be happy with absolutely any single one.

- Simply going to Japan.

- Finding, acquiring and learning to wield an authentic Katana.

- Dressing in full Samurai regalia and getting pictures of it.

- Kendo

- Sumo

- Zazen

- Visit and sit in a real authentic onsen, get to wear (and maybe keep) a yukata and zori during/afterward.

- Meeting Akira Toriyama

 - Have him draw me DBZ style, get to keep it.

- Eating superfresh sushi and sashimi, and maybe learning how to slice some.

- Meeting and getting a picture with Shigeru Miyamato.

- Miyazaki Museum

  - Pictures/memorabilia

  - Meeting and getting a picture with Miyazaki.

- Visit Pokemon Center

- Pictures/video of the legendary Shibuya crossing.

 - Akihabra/Harajuku

- Osaka

- Tokyo

- Obtain authentic kimono and hakama. Tabi too.

- Picture of me with Mt. Fuji in background and a cherry blossom tree.

- Meeting and getting a picture with Kentaro Miura.

- I would like to retrace all or at least a portion of Basho's trail.

- Visit the grave sites of Akira Kurosawa and Shunryu Suzuki. (If located in Japan.)

- Meeting and getting a picture with Utada Hikaru.

- DOING THE OSAKA BANG THING!!!

- Learning how samurais and monks shaved their heads. Getting one.

- I would like to impress at least one local with pronunciation.

- Practice a character/phrase with calligraphy.

- Green tea ceremony.

- Aikido.

- A holographic Pikachu a la Hatsune Miku. (That one's for free, Miyamoto-sama. ;D)

- It would be an honor to run the Ninja Warrior course.

- I would like to be on a wacky Japanese game show.

- DRESSING UP AS SANTA CLAUS AND GIVE GIFTS TO ALL THE CHILDREN!!

- Learning to fly!

- Going Super Saiyan!

There is so much I want to do in Japan that this list could go on forever and ever. So I'll summarize again: simply being in Japan will be a dream come true. 

I thank you for taking the time to review my application and I thank you in advance if I am chosen, I promise I will do my very best at exemplifying why everyone should go to Japan. It will sincerely be my pleasure. It already is.

The Zen Of Anger

Girls vs. Boys
Crying vs. Yelling/Swearing

If I made you cry, good. You made me angry.

We abuse each other. And take more abuse than we fully consciously realize.

Random Ideas:
Girl that gets paid to have food eaten off of her. "taekwondo body pizza" (how's that for random?) has nightmares that intermingle with sexual fantasies about actually being eaten.

I will never feel guilty for being a man or expressing anger again. Not so long as it is acceptable for women to cry.

It is impossible to speak about the future. Anything we say automatically becomes the past, during the act of talking we experience the present. Thinking about the future is the only way to "talk" about it.

the value of limitation

"god mode" game, gain more and more skills until the "game" becomes boring, starts off as a puzzle, turns into an action-adventure, ends as a littlebigplanet/minecraft-esque create-your-own game, only way to "beat" the "game" is to recreate it inside itself
"infinity" the only thing there is to do when you've reached the end is: to start over. From scratch. "The Journey, not The Destination."

There is an inverse proportion between ability and motivation. The greater your ability to do something, the less your inclination to do it. We only want challenges.

The "meat" of the game is the human realm/level of awareness. Makes players forget they are even playing a game. The parts leading up to and coming after happen in a much shorter span of time. With the latter showing a propensity toward exponential increases in speed.

1 -through the dimensions
2 -single cell
3 -evolution
3a-ecosystem a
4 -consciousness
5 -humans
5a-Christ consciousness
6 -technology
7 -ecosystem b
7a-the singularity a [the direct beginning of the singularity]
8 -planets, solar systems, galaxies, cosmosystem, black holes, spiral power
9 -the singularity b [the near end of the singularity] "waking up"
10-starting over/ [Quantum Unity, Quantum Dispersal]

the "game" of "life"

Sorta like Katamari Damacy and Gurren Lagann rolled into one. (Get it? Rolled? fnar fnar fnar)
Dash of The Matrix.

What do you do once you've rolled everything up? Start over.
Separate it. Willfully disseminate it, then begin anew.


If I'm to be expected to control my anger, why aren't you expected to control your sadness?

I am high off of my anger right now.
I feel incredible.
I am thinking so clearly.

My anger focuses me.

Anger is nothing but misguided passion.

Words that are positively screaming to escape my brain/mind...

Wow.

Just wow.

Self-Advice Mode: [ENGAGED]

Here we go, buddy.

Words>Comics>Animation>Movies

Create your reality. Literally. Think Synechdoche. Spirals. Actively affecting the world around you.

Side note: I FUCKING LOVE GHOST IN THE SHELL.

Let your imagination be your guide.

"Where the mind goes, the body will follow." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Overcome your weaknesses.

Constantly improve.

Get stronger, faster, more flexible, last longer, GET BETTER. Not just physically. Mentally. Spiritually.

Art is training to be God.

I want to make movies. And anime. I want appreciation/admiration for this. I want to give back to the world around me in the most correct and complete way I possibly can. <-----------Self-Actualization

Right now. At this very instant. You are creating the world around you.

Hello, Neo...

One


You had a thought, coalesced it into words, gathered motivation to express it and then physically touched your fingertips to this keyboard. Knowingly and willingly.

DON'T GIVE UP.

KEEP FIGHTING.

LIKE GUTS.

LIKE YOU.

Shave your head. Keep your beard. Keep it maintained. Work on your body. Workout. Rehab your wrist. Don't take no for an answer. Do whatever you want. Make yourself. Fix your eyes. Fix anything else you want. LIVE FOREVER. If you want to... Or die. If you want to... Buy/wear nice clothes. Take care of yourself. Eat well. Adapt. Improve. Get better. Stay young. Stretch. Train. Do pushups. Real flat palm pushups. Walk on your hands again. Use the power of your mind/spirit. Wear wraps at first and ween yourself off of them. Get a cybernetic arm. DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO REALIZE YOUR DREAMS.

quit eating junk. treat yourself right. the best of the best. you deserve it. everyone does.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

I GO HARD.

Help everyone you meet. Unless they express desiring otherwise. Let people be.

Look in the mirror more. Both literally and metaphorically. Examine your reflection.

Temet Nosce.

Remember the past, enjoy the present, create the future.

If you haven't watched the Ghost In The Shell feature, you're not a true anime fan. Required viewing.

Spend less time on Twitter and Facebook and spend more time writing fiction and blogging. DO WORK, SON. Be productive Be-e productive. B-E P, R-O-D, U-C-T, I-V-E. Productive. That's right, productive! Cheer yourself on.

I wonder how many people reading this will understand it... (I wonder if my future self will...)

In short: Get bettter. It'll make you happier and it'll make your life better. That's not to say that you don't have anything to be happy about now. Or that your life isn't good. You do, and it is. Appreciate where you are, for sure, but strive to improve. The two are not mutually exclusive. Highly possible to do both. Be the best you that you can be. NO WASTE.

"Do not wait to express yourself fully." - Shunryu Suzuki

Closing notes, don't forget about Japan/Asia/The World. Connect with the universe. Or rather reinforce/rediscover the existing connection(s). You are one with everything and free to do anything. Literally. Seriously. If you can imagine it, you can create it. No fucking joke. Bicycles, computers, fiction, LIFE... Have an idea? Something to express? REALIZE IT. FULLY. NO COMPROMISE. But don't forget to laugh. Don't get too serious. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. What is being funny? Besides creating happiness where there was once none? Or intensifying preexisting joy? It's doing that for others. And for yourself. Perpetually. Being funny is one of the easiest ways to express love. Giving someone the simple gift of laughter. Here, friend, this is for you. [One laugh. - Love, Me] I love making people laugh. I love making myself laugh. I love sharing laughter. [Live - Laugh - Love] Cheesy teenage girl facebook-type shit, but still profound. Why you ask? Look again. Live-Laugh-Love They're all one in the same...

Go to bed on time. Control yourself.

Quit simply writing about stuff and start actually doing it.

Alan Watts - The Real You