If you try hitting that 'next blog; button at the top of this page, chances are you'll rapidly be amazed, flummoxed, annoyed or incredulous; there's a dizzying array of purposes and personalities out there.
Of course, I'm hardly the first (or probably even the thousandth) person to start a blog about going to a foreign land. The novelty of the concept itself has assuredly vanished, and if you read enough of them even the content seems to repeat itself; rants about language barriers, jokes about vending machines, photos of bizarrely translated (or just plain bizarre) English signage.
All the same, some of the musings of these people manages to provide an engaging reading/viewing experience; I've collected some links to what I think are the most engaging such sites out there; Think of them as my 'esteemed contemporaries':
An Englishman in Osaka : He's English, he's a man and he's in Osaka. He also happens to have a great website devoted to his quirky (and very English) perception of Japan's second largest city. His photographic finds in particular are priceless.
Gaijin Smash! : You've possibly heard of this one before, seeing as it's something of a minor 'internet legend'; and possibly the 'original' (or at least most well known) 'American guy in Japan' blog. It probably helps that it's also really well written and consistently interesting.
Sushi and Maple Syrup : This one has a particular resonance with me, since Mr. LaFleur also served time as an AEON employee, in his two years he made a bunch of friends, skied a lot and got married. Yikes! :P Obviously that kind of adventure makes for some great stories. His photos are also excellent.
Tokyo Times : Ok, this one is technically cheating since it's not a 'blog' per-se, still it's far too hilarious to not mention. Few websites as adroitly highlight the 'uniqueness' of Japan as well, and I'd wager that none offer the same laugh/jaw-drop to wordcount ratio that the Tokyo Times does... check out their youtube links if you feel like taking a real head-trip.
As for me, time continues to tick by... the Japanese consulate in Melbourne still has my passport held hostage while they (presumably) verify that I've never been convicted of anything that wasn't a parking offense and/or laugh at my not-exactly-awesome passport photo. The facial holograms built into the new passports are probably a great anti-counterfeiting measure, but they aren't exactly flattering, in fact staring at my own blurry visage makes me feel slightly nauseous. I wonder if that's how I look to people who are inebriated? If so it certainly explains why they would choose my shoes to vomit on.
I went out with my parents to see Miss Potter tonight, and surprise, surprise it actually turned out to be rather good! Not that I have anything against Beatrix Potter (like generations of children in the U.K. her stories formed a cornerstone of my bedtime story material), but period-pieces aren't generally my thing. Ewan McGregor again demonstrated his amazing ability to make just about role interesting, and just about any film watchable (to me, he will forever be remembered as the man who saved Star Wars by steering episodes 1-3 into a controlled crash instead of letting them crater completely). Anyway, the point is, if you like cute bunny drawings, the English countryside, pinafores and Renee Zellweger then check it out, you won't waste your 90 minutes, and if you're one of those people still obsessing over Moulin Rouge then you also get to hear Mr. McGregor sing for a few more seconds... yay! (?)
Right, I'm off to bed, 'cause I have this thrilling plan to start a new book tonight; I'm tossing up between Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata and White Teeth by Zadie Smith... choices, choices...
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