The Future

Ok, so I tried reviving this blog with mostly positive content, but this is just too much of a deal for me to overlook.

Japan.

When are you going to start taking me seriously?

Last week, I started taking a class outlining the basics of differential equations, pretty much. The teacher seemed younger than the others, but very well spoken, good at math and had the skin and gums of someone well into their 30's or starting on their 40's.

I do my thing; sit at the front and solve whatever problems come my way. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, when the teacher has filled up about 3-and-a-half blackboards of diagrams and equations, he turns to me, and asks, loud enough for the entire room to hear: "you can't read this, can you?"

I glance at the Japanese word problem in front of me and answer patiently: "I can read this."

He adds: "Oh, I see. I can translate it for you if you need me to. Do you?"

Feeling insulted, and in a bit of a passive-aggressive mood, I counter: "... hmm, actually. Please do."

So I watch him struggle through a completely useless attempt at a translation of a simple word-problem. It was pretty good effort for a Japanese in general, but bear with me as I make this generalization as I am clearly not doing the same thing he was doing to me. The reason why this is so upsetting can be summarized in the following points.

• I'm pretty god damn good at Japanese. In fact, I know few (less than 5) non-natives that are as good as or better than me (that includes Asians)
• I am a student at a university where all the education is done in Japanese, not to mention at the very top (two years completed)
• The man's proficiency in English is worse than mine at preschool age (which clearly says something about what he expects of me)
• I had to help him find words

Now, I've been in similar situations in Japan before. It's just not expected of anyone who looks like they're not Asian to be able to read their moonspeak. I was at the school doctor/nurse's office the other day, saying I was considering taking a break from my lifts due to a pain in my hip and the nurse wanted to fuck so bad but anyways, I read one word on her computer monitor and she was literally throwing all of her panties at me.

Moral of the story? Unless I become nationwide famous, Japan will always assume this stupid shit about me, that I can't read or even understand what they're saying, until I actually prove it (and even then a lot of times, it's like their self-image doesn't allow them to accept that someone who looks so western can do something so eastern).

I can think of so many times where I have been at a counter or met someone new and had an Asian with me and the Japanese person tries really hard to have the conversation through the Asian (oh wow, this reminds me of helping a Taiwanese girl find an apartment where a guy was confused as fuck when I was translating for her).

You know, stuff like this is fun and trivial when I don't give a fuck about the person in question, but it's a little alarming to think it will always be like this.

I've spent 27.9 hours in the past two weeks playing Borderlands for the first time. A few hours in, I got the hang of the gameplay, realizing how to manage items, skill-points and quests. It was a lot like Diablo II, only in this futuristic, mystical landscape called Pandora.

As with most works, be it films, books or whatever, I have a very close-minded approach. I make effort to know as little as possible beforehand, achieving an experience that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Rather than a third party, I let the developers tell me what kind of a game it is, through the game.

Once I got the hang of the gameplay, I quickly realized what made it such an addictive game. It carefully balances challenge with reward, making both you and your enemies stronger. You create a character of godlike power, while maintaining a fair level of difficulty.

I obviously enjoyed the game for the characteristics mentioned above, but what really intrigued me was the story and the artwork. Pandora is a lawless world, full of adventure and mystery. There are few humans, and Earth as we know it seems to be a long since abandoned or destroyed (or even forgotten) homeworld. The main interest on Pandora is a so-called "vault", full of countless treasures of some sort. While I thoroughly enjoyed the quest for the vault, what did it for me was the setting; exploration on this barren wasteland, far removed from mankind, in the depths of space and in the distant future. Listening to the logs of Patricia Tannis, a human faced with solitude in this distant world, I really got the feeling of immersion into this unique world; into Pandora. It was mine to explore and I had all the time in the world, or at least, the time my mortal form would allow.

This brings me to another point that hit me only once I finished the main story of the game, and that is that this vault only can be accessed every 200 years. So whatever is guiding you, obviously has some way of surviving for several of these cycles, awaiting access and/or control of the vault. My first thought was, that this probably was some future sentient being, capable of rejuvenation or cryopresevation, but only when I saw that cut-scene of the satellite peering down on Pandora, did I think A.I.

Immortality.

The reason why I decided to write about this, was that I was feeling kind of low. I knew that the odds of being able to explore a planet, like Pandora, and going on a quest like the one I experienced through this game, were very much against me. This game gave me a glimpse into a reality that I honestly believe I would prefer over what I have. It saddens me that it is not real, and even if it were, it is grossly out of my reach, or the reach of technology as we know it in this day and age.

So yeah, I don't want to end on such a depressing note, but this game really is that great. Only 27 hours in and I realize that it is so good, it makes me depressed to compare it with real life. Borderlands: Only 27 Hours.