what happened?

March 2003 was a good month for me. Mostly, this was because of the fact that I was in Japan for most of the time. I went to Tokyo and Hokkaido, to tape a television program called 'Waratte Koraete!'. It's an informative program that doesn't take things too seriously. My show will be broadcasted on 9 april, so next month. Nichiki, a sister-company of Nihon Television, produced the program, and they will send me a videotape shortly.

Not only was it a lot of fun to make the program, it was also very satisfying to be in Japan again. Tokyo really is my city, a vast, complex, seemingly endless collection of houses, stores, business centers, train stations, and most of all, a place where a lot of people gather. In Tokyo, chaos rules the world, 24/7. Being in Tokyo feels somewhat strange, but it's one of the better feelings I know. It's safe, fun, never boring, always new. Truly, it's a Fast Life over there. Tokyo Traffic is hectic, taxi drivers never Take Five. Just go to Shibuya on a random evening, and go to The Crossing near Hachiko, you'll see what I mean. But there's also another side to Tokyo. With all the modernization going on, Things ain't what they used to be over there. Go out of the center though, and you can see How High the Moon really is, because the buildings are not so tall over there. You can hear beautiful Koto Songs there, and just being there feels like being Deep in a Dream.

Hmmm, I'll quit with These Foolish Things, these are enough quotes for now! Thank You Tokyo!

March 2003

25 - Tuesday - 20:59
Back again! And this time even as bertscholtes.com! Well, Japan was so great again! What an amazing country, what an amazing culture, and what an amazing amount of fun you can have there! As some of you might know, I was there for a tv-program, and it went great! And now I'm back in holland, enjoying the great weather. Good to be back home!!

26 - Wednesday - 08:24
When I woke up just now, I realized why I never get to putting new stuff on the site. It's because I never want to make the title graphic. It's not that I don't like it, but it feels like it's going to take ages. In reality, it costs me about ten minutes, so maybe I should just stop whining and start updating. Here's to hoping the feeling lasts.

26 - Wednesday - 17:41
Tim is here now, and we're playing Metroid Prime, an amazing game for the Nintendo Gamecube. After this, we're going to attend a lecture on Japan and the current war in Iraq. That's going to be interesting. The remainder of the evening will be reserved for Metroid Prime. This game is so good, it's scary. I am such a nerd.

27 - Thursday - 08:23
Why IS Japan indeed supporting the US in this war? One very big reason is still the threat of North-Korea. And Japan, without an army of its own, will need all it can get. Anyway, not to go into that too much, let me say that Metroid Prime is maybe somewhat better than I first imagined. Which scares me still. Now it's off to school, for a class with Hennie!

27 - Thursday - 12:12
Wow, having class in the early morning can indeed be a very good thing! You see, I just got home and it's only noon, which leaves me with heaps of time until I have to go to Amstelveen to teach. I think I'll use the time to clean my room, prepare for upcoming classes, and maybe play some games. After all, it's not only work and more work. Ideally.

27 - Thursday - 23:46
ll my plans for this evening, down the drain. You see, it is the last thursday of the month, and that's the time for the Tanuki borrel. I had forgotten all about it, but this is always a good opportunity to meet schoolmates. I had to teach too, though, and when I got home the party had just about ended. No fun for Bert tonight. Ah well...

28 - Friday - 10:40
Somehow I've got the feeling that it's going to be a good day today. The sun is already out, and it doesn't look like she will leave us any time soon. Martine will be in Leiden today, and I'm looking forward to that a lot! The last time I saw her was in Tokyo if memory serves me right. In Shin-Okubo to be exact. Ah, the good ol' memories of the Yamanote-line...

28 - Friday - 20:36
Well, my feelings didn't betray me. Today was such a great day! I went to classes, after which Marije, Jet, Martine and I went for a drink outside. It was great to see Martine again, and talking to her about Tokyo and what a great city that is. Jet left us after that, and we went to Karalis, an italian restaurant. Tonight I'm going out with my good friend Ruud Nellen.

29 - Saturday - 03:44
I guess it's time for the not-so-often middle in the night, half drunk message. While I was waiting for Ruud outside of van der Werff, Ad called me, saying that he would see me in 15 seconds. Then, Ruud showed up too, so we went to 'Het Keizertje' (the lil' emperor) and we had some drinks. After that, Ruud and I went to his place and listened to Cantaloupe Island. Very Sweet.

29 - Saturday - 11:51
Today the annual Japanese speech contest will be held in The Hague. I'm not participating, but that's just because I won last year, and although I AM allowed to participate again, I'm not going to, seeing a lot of people wouldn't appreciate that. I am going to watch though. It'll be fun seeing everybody be nervous. I wish everyone good luck today, may the best man win!

29 - Saturday - 23:59
Rachelle won the 16th Japanese Public Speaking Contest! A big congratulations to her, and to all the others who did a really fine job. It has to be said thought that Rachelle was just the best one there. As one member of the Jury put it, it was all perfect, her speech didn't miss anything. Two years ago Ad won, last year I won, and this year it was Rachelle's turn. Congrats!!

30 - Sunday - 11:41
Well! Today I'm probably going to Scheveningen to have lunch with a friend over there. Now I just hope that the weather doesn't get bad suddenly. I'm thinking about buying a scanner and a webcam, all for homepage purposes. Also, I have to buy Half-Life, seeing we want to build an Arsenal map, so we can run around in our faculty and shoot terrorists! Fuuuuuun!

30 - Sunday - 20:34
I bought no scanner today, and I also didn't buy a webcam. Lunch was kind of long, so by the time I was back in Leiden, the stores had already closed. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck. Still, I had a great time in Scheveningen, although the weather could have been better. Tonight I'll take the time to relax and prepare for another hard week of school and work. ;)

31 - Monday - 12:57
Maybe today is going to be the day that I buy a webcam and a scanner. Maybe not, you never know. Because the weather's so nice outside, I'm afraid that I don't want to go back in once I get out there. Still, when I have a webcam you could actually see what I'm talking about. Ronald has such an option on his site and I really like it. So let's buy one anyway.

31 - Monday - 23:38
Well, I bought a webcam, and it caused me quite the headache! Gee, the installation procedure was more difficult than rocket science, seeing it just didn't work. But I think it's working a little bit now, seeing I was able to get a live streaming webpage running on the Camarades site. Why don't you go there and have a look? I'd appreciate it!

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