CHA NO AJI - 茶之味

World Leaders !

The New Yorker - Portraits of Power

Une "Desperate Housewive" dans la course à la présidentielle ?

I'm sorry guys I don't have much time to post stuff, because organizing the JET Alumni Association International Meeting takes me so much time.

And now, for something completely different, some funny post about politics and sitcom in New York Post POPWRAP ! (spéciale dédicace à Cécile et Caro).

Romain

Spiel Klezmorim !

Hey, it's me again. The meeting in Chateaubriant was very nice. We were invited by an association of artists (painters, photographers, sculptors) living in a 13 000 inhabitants town and willing to share their experience with Japanese artists.

Did I tell you about the klezmer live I went last week-end with some friends ? Five musicians (clarinet, violin, trombone, drums, keyboard) played for us joyful tunes in the basement of a café. The room was narrow but we danced, inviting cute girls, lining all together, singing. I was all sweat and beer, shouting "Spiel Klezmorim, Spiel !" and even tried to steal the mike to sing a hassidic song. They weren't very happy with that but we all had a great time. There was an old guy who just looked like Tevye the Milkman from "Fiddler on the roof". Very groovy.

I'm back on the train, with Mr. Kiyono, a funny gentleman. He says that Bretagne's plains remind him of Hokkaidô. I was writing yesterday about my two ambitions this year :
- One is to prepare my PhD abroad at Kyôto University.
- One is to stop wasting time.
I'm not smart, neither athletic, but I believe i can achieve anything I want with efforts. It's time to be serious, guys. I mean, you too ! Fun is important, but it has to be serious fun. I mean, watching some sick reality-show on TV when you're supposed to study will make you feel better. It's just bullshit. If you wanna have fun, prepare some friends and booze for a happy barbecue or invite a sexy woman to dance. Stop bullshiting, that's the word baby ! You can always pretend you're working when you pile, sort, arrange or, let's say, buy stuff on the web ("I need this book for my research !"). One good thing about blogging is that you cannot bullshit too much. It's easier to play games. Sometimes you're maybe too kind with yourself in your posts, but that's okay ! Who else will cheer you, believe in you ? J

I'm done, fellas, enjoy your time !

 

R.

On a train

On a train. It's around eleven in the morning. I feel like taking my shoes off. I do it.

The folks around me are all reading books and papers. Some of them are maybe teachers or graduate students. It reminds me about my own condition. Working full-time for the Council of Japanese Local Authorities for International Relations, I manage to do some research on my free hours. Moving to Paris was quite soft. I found the job, the flat, a very nice roommate who introduce me to Chinese culture and cook some great food. I invite friends for diner twice a week, practice aikido or swimming every time I can. I don't feel like searching a girlfriend. I met a lot of girls, but no one did succeed driving me out of the dull world.

Music is as usual very important to me. Sweet drops of pure gold pouring into my ears. Recently I recorded with my bro, the bluesy boy, and a couple of his friends some cover of The White Stripes. It was great fun. You guys would laugh at my accent, though.

We're running countryside, everything around is so calm. The weather is gentle. The sky is blueish grey. I same some cows. Everything looks like a Corot's painting.

 

I found myself two challenges for 2008. One is some kind of a large scale, can-you-achieve-it sort of a dream. I'm considering going for a PhD, in Japan.

I studied Japanese for four years, then worked in Tochigi for two years? It's my third year as a regular "salary-man". The job right now is just cool. For example, my mission today is to help the people of a small town called Chateaubriant (Bretagne) to help the people there set up sister cities relations with Japan. I kind of like it. The office may be boring sometimes but I'm surrounded by very interesting colleagues. I'm always debating with the other French guy, learning about the job from the Japanese lady sitting on my left side. One very nice lady is spoiling us most of the time and the expat staff is quite challenging, reminding me the foreigner I used to be in Japan, and in the same time very nice, fond of French culture and always helping me with my clues on Japanese culture and history.

I might ask for a Japanese scholarship. I want to go to Kyôto and do some research on Meiji intellectual history. I believe history helps us a lot when dealing with ourselves, what we are and the nature of our relations with other. Nowadays that everyone is staring at Chinese "opening", I would like to study the early Japanese opening, 150 years ago, the way intellectuals and politicians absorbed western civilization, blended it with their own patrimony and achieved competing with western wealthy nations. It is not something strange that Japan became an imperialist colonial country, since its models (Great Britain, Prussia) were very colonialist entities. I'm just wondering if there was no other blending possible. How did "politics" appear in Japan?

American Pictures

There is an incredible website I was thinking to recommend you for a long time.
The name is "American Pictures". It's about a Danish backpacker, Jacob Holdt, who traveled the USA in the seventies and spend lot of time with minorities (especially poor black people). He took a lot of pictures of their miserable condition, studied the "roots of oppression", the slavery system, fell in love with some people, fought against other but came back to Denmark with a deep love for American people and a huge need to express what he felt during his trip. He wrote a book, "American Pictures", very accurate, dark, but so close and honest to the people he met (he even spent time with Ku Klux Klan member living with them, trying to understand them). He also is visiting schools all around the world to talk about oppression and racism in our modern societies.
The thing I like about Holdt is that he is not judging American people from outside. He clearly love them (in a religious and -sometimes- physical manner), try to be fair to both poor black people and white supremacist, sometimes endangering himself. That's hardcore investigation. A true human experience.

Just click on this link, dig the "Roots of Oppression", and don't forget, it's not only about America. Look around you.

Romain

A commuter diary

It has been 2 months since I came back to France. France, not so bad, no so good either. I feel enthusiastic about the food (salads are so good), the music (Celtic music, African music, Jewish music, even Japanese music !), the people. I'm spending time with my family, great parties with my long-time-no-see buddies and I meet half-a-dozen new groovy people everyday.
Some might say : Hey Romain, what are you din' in your life ?
Well... it's complicated. I spend hours commuting from my green calm countryside to the grey and dynamic Paris. I go there for classes (Japanese history of ideas) or semi-professional purposes (I did interpreting two days ago for a 3 hours conference about Japanese history, big deal ! Waiting for work interviews, etc...).
Yeah, speaking of interview, I just had one for a job at CLAIR Paris, you know, CLAIR, a Japanese organization supervising JET Programme. Well, everything was fine, except that I was confronting with a French Elite class CIR (and very kind too), so I have no idea...
They will let me know on Monday. If I'm in, then I will work full-time with Japanese people investigating the European local autonomy, for decent paid. I'm planning to save a lot of money for 2-3 years to go complete my studies in USA. Man, it's so expensive : About 20 000 euros a year !
If I'm (most probably) not in, then... I'm still officially a student.
One year of academic post-graduate researches and then two years in an interpreting school, ESIT.
ESIT is very famous, not so expensive (500E a year) but I'll have to stay at Mom and Dad's place and study on a crappy campus. Yes, French educational system is damn cheap, but so poor ! So dirty, cold and dark it's unrespectful. I'm sure they have nicer classrooms in post-sovietic Russia. I feel very sorry for my teachers...
Say it simple. If I can get the job, I'm going (in 2 or 3 years) to brightful (and expensive) California. Otherwise I stay 3 years in Paris, graduate in interpreting, translating, and then...
Wait for me, World !

Mata ne, Lil' Buddies ! Any idea for winter vacation ?

Follow your dream

Good evening everyone and welcome on my new weblog, "Parenthèse(s)". It's about interpretation and translation, living altogether, travelling around the world and all kind of multicultural issues.
Please feel free to correct my poor English and share your thoughts or feelings.
You're more than welcome to write in English, Japanese or French. If you want to use a different language, please send me the translation too.

Oh, by the way, let me introduce myself briefly. I'm Romain, 25, born and raised in Paris, France. I used to study Japanese language and civilization at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris. I've just came back from 2 years in Tochigi prefecture, Japan, where I used to work as a Coordinator of International Relationships (JET Programme). I'm right now graduating a Master degree in Japanese studies at INALCO. I'm planning to enter next year at Paris most famous interpreter school, the Ecole Superieure d'Interpretes et de Traducteurs (ESIT).

I am looking forward to exchanging with you !

Romain

PS : I just noticed that the websites of my schools don't offer any english version. Please ask me any question if you are interested in them.