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gnakajo
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Country: Japan
Metro: Osaka
Gender: Male
Expertise: one-time childhood prodigy......jun ken po, rubik's cube, professional karaoke singer, Iolani School 5th grade backgammon champion, kendama, chess, bbqs, hawai speling champiun,
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/12/2003
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| EATING WITH THE SUMO GUY PART 2
last night, i went to the sumo tournament in hawaii with ronald. the event was very fan friendly and they made many changes that would not have been done in japan, mainly for the western audience. okay, when i say western, i use it very lightly since most of the audience was either japanese, like 100 percent japanese from the motherland kind, or local hawaii japanese like myself. lots of old local japanese grandmas out there. i don't know if they were looking for dates or they just enjoy sumo. all i know is the old lady sitting next to me brought out her game program from the last time sumo was in hawaii, back in 1993. she was probably checking out takamiyama back in the day. speaking of old ladies, i had to laugh at the picture with the old lady from my china trip from my blog entry exactly two years ago. not having xanga premium makes it easier to check out old entries.
so anyways, how did they change the sport for hawaii?
first of all, they shortened the pre-match rituals so that instead of three stare downs, there were only two. i'm also certain that the promoters told them to entertain the fans as there were many extra long staredowns--the kind you would see before a japan pride (check it out) or ufc match--as this video featuring takamisakari shows. by the way, if you don't know who takamisakari is, check this video out. everybody knows the effects boxing has on boxers and how it slowly causes damage to the brain......bet you didn't know sumo can be hazardous as well. he's by far the most popular wrestler in japan because of his in the ring theatrics. i'm pretty sure it's not an act though. here's an up close and personal interview with him.
second, they put a microphone right above the sumo circle so that people could hear a loud smacking sound when the two men hit each other. it was a natural reaction for people to gasp and cheer when the naked bodies of the giants initially collided.
finally, there was much more interaction between sumo wrestlers and the fans. sumo wrestlers who wanted to smoke interacted with fans outside. a new law in hawaii was passed last year preventing people from smoking indoors or in public places. thus, any sumo that wanted to smoke, had to go outdoors in designated smoking areas where the fans were waiting. it was kind of funny that most of the european sumo rikishi were the ones outside interacting with fans. they also had the sumo wrestlers sign autographs for fans as they left the sumo circle and headed to the dressing room. it would have been cool if they took off their loin cloths and gave it to some lucky kid in the front row like they do at baseball games. now that would have been fan freindly.
i think the fan favorite on sunday was mongolian, ama. he put on a show by jumping over one guy in one of his matches, faking a jump and tripping a guys legs in the next match, then making it all the way into the final battle before losing to hakuho, the new grand champion.
later in the evening, i was invited out to dinner with hokutoriki again, but this time he called for back up. thirty minutes into dinner, his stable master, yokozuna, hokutoumi, joined us for dinner. it was pretty to see how much respect this guy commanded. that's when the heavy drinking started. for some reason, he made me and everybody on the table drink. crap, i'm not a freshman in college anymore and don't let people make me drink....
but i did.....
and with a semi happy smile on my face.
i told my friend, if he keeps this up, i'm going to challenge him to parking lot sumo wrestling match after a few more drinks. i really wanted to. seriously. if i cut up my arm, so what. wouldn't that be the coolest thing to show the ladies at the bars. yeah girls, i got this scar wrestling sumo.....on the pavement.....against a yokozuna.
chicks dig scars.
i thought about how i could beat this guy if he stepped up to my challenge. i wonder if i gave it my best effort and my hardest shove, if i could push him back a little....a few inches maybe. better yet, if i gave him a shake left and go right move, i could get behind him and pull him down from behind. the basketball juke and drive. that would be the best sneak attack since pearl harbor. or what about the football defensive lineman swim move? think that would have worked? a little tag team action would surely have worked. you know the one where your partner gets behind your target on all fours and then you push your target. oh yeah, that surely would have toppled the big fella. i was snapped out of my little dream when i heard a thunderous voice, oi, sake nomeyo!
yeah, sometimes my mind gets a little crazy while drinking.
look for my picture with the sumo rikishi on the walls of yanagi sushi. i'm the skinny one (skinny compared to those fatsos) with my red drink face on.
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| EATING WITH THE SUMO GUY
the sumo is in town and for two days, sumo fans in hawaii can enjoy the native japanese sport at the neal blaisdell arena.
tonight, i had dinner with a sumo wrestler. his name is hokutoriki and his rank is sekiwake, the third highest rank. man, could that guy eat. we ate everything possible on a japanese menu: sushi, soy beans, kushiyaki, katsu, fish, shrimp tempura, etc. at first i was trying to match him sushi for sushi, but then he ordered another plate of sushi and then udon and rice balls and more shrimp. by that time, i had given up. it's a good thing i didn't have to pay, it would have come as a shock to see the bill.
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| GLOBAL VILLAGE
im teaching at a small private english school called global village. It's on the corner of kalakaua and keeamoku in the pacific guardian life tower, right across the street from ala moana center. actually, it's not that small, with about 400 students. i'm surprised there are so many europeans at this school--i think the majority of the students are swiss or japanese--so it makes things interesting.
for the first term, i taught two speaking and listening classes for lower level students, meaning the class was mostly japanese and korean. as a part time job to make a little cash before i start school in the fall, it's a good job--i get $800 for each class i teach and i work from 1-5, monday through thursday teaching my two, two hour classes. it's the prep work and getting ready for the classes that's difficult and time consuming. I guess if i wanted boring classes, i wouldn't have to prepare much, but we're talking about the GTN, the Great Teacher Nakajo, so classes better be damn good.
for the new term, which started yesterday, the school has me teaching grammar and TOEIC classes. first of all, grammar? i don't do grammar. homie don't play that. the kids are in trouble. just the other day in a private lesson, i was teaching the students "how come"
I told her that we can use "how come" in place of "why."
For example, "how come you're not coming with us tonight" can be asked instead of "why aren't you coming with us tonight?" later that day, somebody pointed out to me that "how come" is local pidgin english. ooops.
on my first day of the new term, i had a korean kid challenge me. i was teaching the class "used to...but now" for example:
britney spears used to be cute, but now she's a white, trashy, whorey girl.
another example using the negative:
I didn't use to like girls, until my parents thought I was different so I started making sure they knew that i was into girls, but now things are okay and my parents know that i'm straight.
okay, nevermind, too much information.
anyways, the korean kid asked me why can't we say, I used not to like girls, but now.....
okay, that was just an example using the sentence topic above, but he used his phrase in that grammatical pattern. then another girl, surpisingly, a japanese girl, chirpped in, how about, I used to be not able to like girls, but now....."
I told them I don't think it's right and they asked me "how come?" okay, i'm kidding, they didn't ask how come, they asked "why?" I had no way of explaining why it was wrong, actually who knows, it could be gramatically correct, so I just told them that it sounds funny.
my two first term classes
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| THE LIBRARY CARD
yesterday I went to the public library to sign up for a library card. i filled out the application and the clerk asked me if i had ever had a card before. although i had one as a kid, i told her no. as she was inputting my information into the computer she told me that i had an overdue fine. in my mind, i was thinking, "what?!!?" i made a comment along the lines of, i haven't been here since i had to do book reports. she said, you're correct, the overdue fine incurred on may 17, 1986. haha. immediately the movies and sitcoms came to mind. you know? the ones where people had to pay hundreds of dollars for over due library fines and interest. luckily my fine was seventy cents as i breathed a sigh of relief......but i did have to pay a ten dollar charge for a replacement card.
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| AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL
i want to be a male model.
today, I did my first photo shoot.
okay, i don't really have aspirations to be a model, but today i went to my first ever audition for a part in a television commercial. ronald's father is involved with the hitachi commercial that feature's hawaii most famous tree. the commercial became a hit in japan and the jingle is known by most japanese. they will be making a new commercial soon and are casting people for parts. if i get a part, it will soon be: john, who? who's that? just kidding, john. you will always be my favorite male model and my john 3:16.
okay anyways.....talking trash over a bunch of beers, i became not only an agent for my buddy hiro, but also an actor myself. i coerced hiro into signing a contract that would give me 10% of his acting earnings and the next day we would go to the audition. that's what you call a businessman.
arriving at the ala moana hotel the next day, i didn't realize there would be professional models there like hawaii's top bachelor, kelly komoda, so it was a bit intimidating at first.....actually, it was more amusing for me and hiro. in the bathroom, guys were primping their hair, adjusting their accessories. girls were all dressed up, push up bras and make up and styled hair. you could tell we were dealing with professionals here. while everybody was taking this audition pretty serious, we were just enjoying our experience.
when it was my turn to knock um dead, they called me out, not by name, but rather "number 176," yes, that's me number 176.
i was called up for my very first photo shoot.
i held my profile paper up with 176 written in large numbers, as they took one close-up photo. luckily, i had only one big pimple on my forehead rather than two (i had taken care of the other bastard last night).
please state your name, your agency, your ethnicity and your experience.
experience? whoa damn, this is kind of serious. the people in front of me had their photo portfolios with them. me? luckily, i had my digital camera and i was tempted to show them my pictures from the bachelorette party i attended last weekend (yes, bachelorette party, but that's for another story).
my name is greg nakajo. i am not affiliated with any agency. i'm half japanese, half chinese. i have never been on any commercials although i have been on smap x smap and kinniku banzuke, two popular japanese television programs.
actually, hiro was model number 175, one spot before me. when they asked which agency he was from, he rightfully said, "my agent is greg nakajo." that's right, he knows where he stands in this world. when they asked for his ethnicity, he stated, "half hawaiian, half japanese." i still have to teach the guy--just because your mother was born in hawaii, doesn't make you half hawaiian. you're 100% japanese.
okay, greg, will you pose for the camera.
immediately, zoolander came to mind as i flirted with the photographer. actually, i take that back, the photographer was a dude, so i flirted with the camera. sexy eyes. pouty lips. i did it all--techniques i learned in modeling school, handsome boy modeling school.
greg, will you turn to the right and then turn to the left.
that worried me since i know my my space angles and my side profile is definitely a weak point, with my a flat nose and my crooked bridge--as if it were broken at some point in my life....well, okay, it's definitely isnt owen wilson crooked, but definitely not perfect.
okay, we need you to do a 360 greg.
i slowly did my turn, wiggled my ass a little (pfffff, as if that would get me a part).
thank you for coming, greg. next, number 177.
and with that, my photo shoot was over, just as well, my modeling career.
they were looking for a 20 something year old, i look about 40
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