Come Sail Away

Hello everybody, and welcome to my blog - Two Pirates in Japan - a magical place where anything can happen. Well, okay, so maybe "anything" isn't able to happen, but if all goes as planned then a lot of wacky things should.

My name is Camron and as it would so happen, I am the boy pirate up in the header - the girl is my wife Melissa. Now, before you ask, no, I'm not literally the drawing of the pirate, come to life to write a blog. That's just a drawing.

In the event that you can't distinguish art from life I highly suggest that you turn back, for the humor and sarcasm that is about to ensue my likely cause your head to implode upon it's self from the shear weight of confusion.

Now for those of you who understand quite well the differences between reality and not, I highly suggest you join us on our maiden voyage to The Land of the Rising Sun.

Before we get going though I thought it would be best to give you a little bit of background info on why this blog exists in the first place, but to do so we must travel back to simpler time, one filled with bright colors, flashing lights and far too tight of pants - usually utilizing both bright colors and flashiness.
The 80's were a mystical time filled with some of the greatest things this world has ever seen. CD's, Rubix Cubes, Glow Worms, Michael Jackson's nose, Melissa, and little Japanese company by the name of "Studio Ghibli."

Around 1988 my dad introduced me to the latter in the form of a "Sci-Fi Cartoon" by the name of "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind." The reason for the quotes around "Sci-Fi Cartoon" is for the simple fact that he called them this not realizing that these were actually Japanese Anime dubbed over for an American audiance.

Instantly I attached onto this new medium finding myself each week asking our local video shop owner if he had received any thing new. Unfortunately growing up in a town of 600 people doesn't make for a good selection, especially when you tastes fall into a minority.

Days into weeks, weeks into month, months into years. I was slowly deprived of all things Anime. Then one odd day in 1997 my family decided to gather up the wagon (figurative of course) and move on over to the Will-a-mett-ee Valley, where with that move came some of the most life-culture changing moments in my life.

With a new city and far greater access to things that most take for granted (such as a library, cable television and the internet) I quickly found out that there are quite a few people like me. You know, those weird kids at the back of the class who love science class, have a tendency to read comic books and for the most part couldn't get a date to save their life.

In Japanese there is a word for this type of person, and that word is Otaku; or as we know it, "geek." Yep, I was an outsider and I liked it just fine. Eating my noodles, attending the Anime Society at Emerald City Comics, playing Risk all night. It was a simpler time in my life, and one which helped shape my love for the Japanese culture.

Now let's flash forward 6 years to where some things have changed - such as the fact that I was obviously able to find a girlfriend - while other things are much the same - such as the fact that I spend a lot of my time playing board games.

Deep down I'm a nerdy kid with a love of Japan and I think I always will be, which brings us to our current state. On March 26th, 2009 I will be heading off to Japan with my wonderful wife Melissa to live out a dream from my childhood.

This will be a time of firsts for me and I plan on blogging it all along the way and hopefully on into the future when I get back. As we head on from here this is how things will go down, along with a few tips:

• I will try make a post every day, usually around 7:00 AM PST
• Posts will be photo heavy, so I hope you aren't a fan of my writing
• I love sarcasm. If something is offensive, there is a good chance it's sarcastic, as I usually am not an offensive person.
• Comment as often as you like - it's a great way to stay in contact while we are away
• Last, but not least in any way, a reminder: as much as this is a blog for friends and family to read it is even more so a journal for us to remember our trip. Some things may be boring or over detailed. I happen to have a poor memory, so the more I write, the more I retain - besides I'm paying to get these memories, so I better not forget them.

So, with this little slice of history I must bid you all adieu until my next post where in which we'll go over our itinerary. Yay!