Friday, January 22, 2016

Special Star Wars exhibit and chance meetings


In September there was a special Star Wars related art exhibit in our Art Forest. All staff at our university got 70% off on the entrance fee for some unknown reason (and all students got in for free), so I went to see the exhibit. It was very nice.


There were some costumes and props used in the old star wars movies, but most of the things on display were items inspired by Star Wars. There were lots of paintings by various artists inspired by Star Wars. There were also model dioramas. And technical descriptions and detailed drawings of Star Wars machines. There were some videos of George Lucas talking about his relationship with Japan too.


You could not take photos inside, but there was a storm trooper you could pose in front of and a light saber you could borrow. There was also a big Darth Vader outside where you could take photos.


Since I was there alone I had to ask random strangers to take photos for me, or take selfies. But when I was about to leave and go home, a young girl said: "Jonas?" She is a friend of the wife of one of my friends and we have met many times in our magic bar. I also keep running in to her in random places, especially on Halloweens. In fact, I run into her so often that she probably thinks I am a stalker. I sure think she is a stalker... But she seemed happy to see me, because she said she has zero sense of direction and was not sure she could find her way back to Sapporo alone...

Selfie with Darth Vader
There were some people visiting the exhibit in Star Wars costumes. Some of them were really good.


There was also a shop were you could by lots of different Star Wars stuff. I bought huge amounts and ended up with a very large bag difficult to get into the bus on the ride home.

Star Wars hangers
Star Wars kokeshi dolls
Star Wars sushi plates
C3PO tea cup

Some of the stuff I bought
Darth Vader coins and storm trooper coins
Darth Vader sandwich maker
Storm trooper sandwich maker

Someone I know
Waiting for the bus home

I also found a vending machine selling small wooden puzzles, and bought lots of that too

The Art Park has a surprisingly beautiful bus stop.


Brazilian food and chance meetings


One of the girls I met in Paris wanted to go try a Brazilian restaurant close to where she (and I) works. When I got to the restaurant, most of the people working there recognized me and it turned out that this place was run by the same company that runs a place close to where I live that I used to go to quite a lot. The Brazilian food was good.






Weird English and weirdly shaped ice cream



There is a series of ice cream called Pino that come in boxes of six round ice cream blobs covered in chocolate. The most common is vanilla ice cream in chocolate. There are many variations with berry flavors, coffee flavor, caramel coating, or whatnot. They also have heart shaped and star shaped items in some boxes. I found one heart and one star recently. In some boxes you can find up to six weirdly shaped ones. But that is apparently incredibly rare.



When eating ice cream I walked past a sign in "English" describing some construction work going on. I think they meant to say something like "To help blind people and people who do not walk so well, we are doing some changes to the sidewalk. We appreciate your understanding.", but it came out a bit different...



French fries on rice


Our university serves French fries on top of rice. With a mostly raw egg. This is called "Western food". Not sure I have seen anything similar in Europe or the U.S.

Japanese summer barbecue


Back in September I was invited to a summer barbecue by the river. One of my magician colleagues organizes a barbecue with his old friends from school every year. I was invited last year too, and it is quite nice.


This year I had received some corn the day before when I volunteered at a hospital, so I brought that along and we grilled that too. It was great. Other than that, there was lots of meat and vegetables and some fish.


People also tried to make cheese filled meat patties and some to make hamburgers. That went so-so, since the equipment available was not really appropriate...


My corn was treated in different ways. One was wrapped in some foil and shoved into the coal and one was put on the barbecue like the other vegetables. Both ways gave good results, though parts were burnt beyond the point of edible.



My friend had brought his dog, which spent large amounts of time chasing all the crows that gathered and tried to steal food from the grill.


The place these barbecues are held at is pretty nice. There is a river nearby, and it is pretty quiet.


Some of the participants decided to try some "who can jump from this rock to that rock without falling into the river" challenges. That, predictably, did not end that well.


Towards the end, people started setting marshmallows on fire and eating them. Marshmallows on fire turn out to be quite hot.


In Japan you also traditionally bring a watermelon and hit that with a stick while blindfolded. Last year they split the watermelon by hitting it karate style, and this year a different guy had to do that. It went surprisingly well, but of course after hitting it with his hand and splitting the melon, parts of the melon rolled away in the dirt and became less appetizing. This was solved to some extend by washing it in water. The edible parts were very good.


After the barbecue, everyone except me were very tired and immediately fell asleep in the car.