mid-year conference [2007.11.03]

This doesn't really have so much to do with the JET ALT Mid-Year conference as it has to do with the events of the first night of the conference.

Basically, the beginning of the night was a complete debacle, exacerbated by my lack of a cell phone.  Not having a cell is not really a big deal until one needs to coordinate several groups of people into one cohesive merry-making unit; in that case its utility becomes immediately apparent.

There was lots of calling (thanks Dino!) and fumbling and trying to figure things out, as well as confusion and misinformation.  In the end, I managed to meet up with Jess (friend from New York), we gave up on Christine (also NY) and burgers, Dino got delayed in the hotel for a long time, Jyoti couldn't find a shirt, and Ellen had no issues whatsoever.  So Jess, Jyoti, Ellen and I ended up going to Nagasaki's Chinatown to get some Chinese food, but not before Dino and Jyoti went up on the roof of the hotel where I joined them for some fantastic views.



Chinatown was ridiculous.  "Ridiculous" as in "incredibly tacky and stereotypical".  I actually couldn't believe it when I saw it at first, I thought I was at a theme park.  Past the big plastic looking entry gate and the neon dragon there were flowing water displays and traditional-ish sounding music emanated from many of the buildings.  I guess I was supposed to feel like I was "really in China!", but I just felt like some stupid tourist in a really glitzy trap.  The food was good and not too expensive though, so I guess alls well that end's well.  The portions were a bit small and overall the experience just made me miss Far East Taste like whoa.

Afterwards there was a Halloween costume party organized by Miss Jennifer Willett wherein much money was raised for Laotian Commotion to build a new school.  There were some awesome costumes (I hope the Blues Brothers won), but Jess and I ducked out early to play some Initial D and Taiko no Tetsujin!  Taiko no Tetsujin being possibly the greatest rhythm game ever made, featuring taiko drums and musical treats ranging from "Turkish March" to the "Super Mario Brothers" theme, with a whole lot of crazy in-between.  I'll have to get a video of Mario next time...

Oh, and the conference was actually pretty good too.  How about that?

newly-inspired love from the future,

-greg.