Recently,
while finishing up one of my stories and listening to Chopin's Piano
Concerto No. 1, in E minor, Op. 11, on my Sony Walkman, I learned from
a fellow co-worker that I am officially a nerd.
So what? Nerds
rule the world, just ask Bill Gates, George Lucas or Kanye West. They
control what we see and hear, and even the mediums through which we do
either.
Just think ... you are reading this column right now, so
there. That's why I'm not afraid to do unabashedly nerdy things like go
JapanFest in Gwinnett.
I had known about the event ever since
coming to Atlanta in 2000, but had never gotten around to attending. I
was always too busy. That hasn't changed, but this year, I decided to
get myself out there, even if I had to battle samurai and ninja forces
to get there.
Now JapanFest is not as nerd-tastic as an otaku
convention (a gathering of individuals obsessed with Japanese
animation), but it does bring out its fair share of eccentrics. You get
your blond-haired, blue-eyed Americans wearing traditional Japanese
outerwear, such as kimono and yukata (a more casual, summer version of
the kimono), as well as a few of your cosplay folks (people who dress
up as characters from Japanese cartoons and video games.)
It's a
good thing that I was completely in my element. Before getting in my
car and heading to Gwinnett, I unpacked a present that was given to me
by an incredibly nice, elderly Japanese couple that semi-adopted me
during my two-year stay in Japan.
The present was a jinbe, a
kind of short set version of the yukata, worn during festivals and
special occasions. I knew that if there was anytime in an American
context that this uniform would be appropriate, this would be it.
I
suited up, but not before praying to God that I wouldn't be pulled over
and have to explain to the police officer why I looked so ridiculous.
Driving
up I-85 North, my self-consciousness subsided and I actually felt quite
comfortable driving on the Interstate in what was basically a bathrobe.
As I made it closer to the convention center, I felt like I was
returning to a home I hadn't been back to in a long time.
Somehow,
I was able to convince some of my friends to meet me up there, so I
wasn't alone in dork solitude. In fact, as I made my way to the gate, I
found that I fit right in.
People were taking pictures and
throwing the familiar "peace" sign that Japanese people seem to do in
all their pictures no matter what the occasion. Girls were wearing cat
ears, wooden sandals, and Hello Kitty accessories.
When I made
my way inside, the venue was sweaty, crowded, and confusing, but it had
many of the things I had been missing. I had a nutritious lunch of
unadon (barbecued eel on rice) and washed it down with a can of calpis,
a Japanese drink that tastes better than it sounds.
I also came
upon what I miss the most about Japan -- hilariously awkward
advertisements that occur when native Japanese speakers translate
literal concepts into English. One advertisement that almost made me
shoot calpis out my nose was an advertisement for Toto, a Japanese
company which makes toilets.
A huge poster with the words,
"Clean is Happy" featured a line up of different people of different
nationalities, all with exposed rear ends. Each international tooshie
had a smiley face painted on it, to illustrate how your behind feels
after it is treated to the heated toilet seat, the bidet, or any of the
other 30-some electronic features on Toto toilets.
My fondest
memory of JapanFest, though, was when I noticed a former Fulbright
scholar trying to teach a young boy how to use a kendama, a simple
Japanese toy. It's basically a mallet with a pointy stick on top that
is attached, with a string, to a wooden ball with a hole drilled in the
bottom.
The point of the game is to position the ball onto the
mallet using only momentum. There's a trick to getting the ball onto
the stick, but the child failed miserably several times.
Being a
nerd, I had a spare kendama in my bag and showed the boy -- as well as
a small crowd that had gathered -- how to do it correctly. I guess the
cool thing I learned about being a nerd that day is that you can be a
teacher, too.
Post a Comment