Monday, August 31, 2009

Konnichiwa!

This means hello, that you use during the afternoon. It literally means good day. :P Hi! Well, I'm feeling a lot better! Wahoo! Dad ordered TV Japan for me, and I'm sooo happy about it! ^_^ I'll talk more about it in a bit. ;) Also, we went to Sears to get my dad's new contacts, and I got to have a sample to replace the one I scratched. So, now I can see! Awesome! :D

I watched a lot of TV Japan today, because I'm still slightly sick and we just got it. (TV Japan is NHK's broadcasting channel.) It's on channel 245 here. Crazy number for a channel! I know it goes much higher but I don't usually use anything higher than like 113 or something. (By the way we really don't watch all those channels they just come with the package.) The first thing I watched today was Live From Your Hometown. It's about visiting different areas in Japan, and I think it has a certain topic to each show. Like in this one it was about flowers and gardening. Also, they showed plum trees and then showed the people who make the pickled plums and how they make them. It was very interesting. Although, I couldn't tell where they were. -_- Just after this there was a weird short about music boxes and dolls. I think they were Swiss and something about a dream.

The next thing was a program called Hobbies and Leisure. It's about learning about the hobbies that people have and what they like to do to have fun. Today, was about a pianist. And most of it was lessons on how to read notes and begin to play. It was rather funny, because the host kept saying it was too hard. I understood everything they said in this one, because it was about music. The guy who they were getting lessons from was very good too.

I'm not sure if this was before or after the Hobbies and Leisure program, but I watched a bit of the Business Frontline show. I thought it would be boring, but it was actually interesting. There was business news at the beginning, which they talked a lot about the New York Stock Exchange. Then, they showed how they make yen. That was cool! I think it's similar to how we make dollar bills, but it was still interesting.

Then there was the news. (I might be getting the morning shows mixed up on time, but it still shows what's on the channel.) Which is international. There was brief overview of the recent Japanese election. It was historic, because this is the first time in about 50 years that the Liberal Democratic Party lost to the regular Democratic Party. Everyone, including foreign countries like the US are interested to see what the new government will do. Some of the news was about Korea and some of it was about the US. But, the election was the main topic.

After all this there's a show called World Heritage 100. It's a show that goes around the world and shows the culture and history of the place. It's only like 5 minutes long, which I thought wasn't long enough. They went to Columbia, and talked about the traditional buildings, the history, and Carnival. Not much time to squeeze that many things.

Next, was Fashionable Living. This is about hair, make up, skin care, and clothing tips. Also, they mostly talked about a makeover that they did to someone who was just out for a jog. Kind of ambushed her. :P But, she agreed to it. She looked pretty good at the end, and her husband and kids were shocked. In fact, I don't think her husband could speak until the very end of the show. It was kind of cute.

I watched the show Today's Menu. It was kind of corny, but hilarious nonetheless. Reminded me of Emeril, where has a band and tries to make the audience laugh too. They do different types of ethnic cuisines from around the world. Today, they chose to do Spanish food. They started with a mashed potatoes and anchovy paste type salad. They were trying to be funny at the end of cooking it, and made it into towers and topped them off with olives. The funny thing is they say the calories to everything when they're done cooking. :D Next they made Paella with shrimp and other seafood. For another side they made what they called a mushroom marinade. More like mushrooms in a marinade. But, that's ok. :P

Next, was Good Morning Japan at 6. This is very similar to our Good Morning America. I thought it was interesting that it 2 PM here and over there it was 6 AM the next day. I knew that there was a 16 hour difference, but it was still kind of interesting. So, technically for them it's already September 1st. :P They talked about the Flu (I think the H1N1 flu or 'swine flu') and how schools are trying to sanitize everything and prevent an outbreak. They must have been on a break too for their schools. I think they also said there's not enough of the vaccine for everyone. Hmmm... sounds awfully familiar. (The US is saying the same thing.) Next, they talked about soccer. And picking which teams are going to qualify for the World Cup. Then, there was the weather. Which I have to say looks really weird, but maybe after seeing it more it won't be. The US said on there that they will support the new government. I think the next topic was about how the world's consumption of meat has increased. Also, how the supply of meat is growing thin around the world. (I don't know if that's what they really said, but I know it was about meat and the world and something about it being a global issue.

Next, was J- MELO. This is a very interesting show. It's about showing the world what Japanese music is all about. It's mostly in English except for some of the people they interviewed. They spoke it well too. First they talked about Yokohama and when they opened their ports 150 years ago they let in 'western music'. Most of the western music was actually from America. They showed an orchestra there that mostly plays American composers like Koplin, Gershwin, and more. Next they showed a hip hop duo named Clench and Blistah. They're named that because they seem to clench the mic so hard and get blisters from performing so much. They performed with one of the hosts of the show. It was actually kind of interesting. Next, they had a Jazz fusion band named Unit Asia. The musicians come from Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. When interviewed the leader of their group said the only way they communicate is musically, when asked about the language barrier. Kind of corny, but I like it. Next they had the duo called Vamps. They come from 2 very popular bands in Japan, but I think they kind of sucked. But, I also think they were to 'hard rock' for me.

Next was Good Morning Japan at 7. This was a much more in depth show than the one at 6. They actually showed what the campaigning before the election looked like. At least on the streets. Some of the people that were doing it looked scary. (A little too into it.) Also, talked about a typhoon that grazed a bit of Hokkaido. There was massive flooding on the streets, even though it never actually reached land. Next, was about disaster plans. Also, how some of the elevators are designed to alert officials of a disaster and if anyone is trapped in them. That's kind of cool. Next they talked about a baseball game with the Eagles.

The Women's Power show wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It's about trying to become more successful and what it means to be a woman at the same time. Also, about the ups (happy times) and downs (depressive times) of life for a woman. That's what I gathered from it. I didn't like it because they spoke the fastest and most slurred then any other program. Like they didn't want you to hear this woman's story and only had a few minutes to show it. I gathered most of this because she drew a graph from when she was 18 until now which she's 42. It had peaks and dips through the whole thing. Well, this channel seems to be more interesting than I thought it would be. Can't wait to watch more. :D

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