So, this is the end of Gaijin Smash.
But wait, hold your horses! I'm not retiring...yet. I do feel older. I see the kids with their Facebook and their Lady Gaga and iPhones, and I think back on the good 'ol days when, if we wanted to talk to people, we actually went to their house. We listened to good music like Boyz II Men, and Steve Jobs wasn't preparing to become our new evil overlord (quite the opposite, actually...).
But for reasons, many of which are beyond my control, I have to change the name of this site.
But wait... many of you are undoubtedly saying...you're still alive?
First off, obviously yes I am still alive. Last update in...December? Wow, that's half a year ago! Doesn't even feel like it.
So lots of things have gone down between December and now that have kept me busy. I went back to America for Christmas (1st time in 6 years), I dove even further into the Japanese salaryman world, then I changed jobs/careers. I've been sick, injured, and a wonderful combination of both.
On the technological forefront, as most of you know the Rudius Media network went down in a fiery ball of flames. I planned to move Gaijin Smash back to my Outpost Nine site/server. But then my server went through an update, and in the process there are now monthly bandwidth limits. Outpost Nine tended to hit that limit around the mid-way part of the month. So for half the time I couldn't even access my own site.
Then the gaijinsmash.net domain actually expired. I had been trying to gain possession of it, but its still under the control of RM and there isn't anything I can do about it without their help. I have been contacting people on their end but they haven't been getting back to me. And now it looks like a German blogger has gained control of the gaijinsmash.net domain. This is a good opportunity for me to just change the name of the site and get my own domain for it. I actually never was a huge fan of "Gaijin Smash". A lot of people misinterpreted it as me, and many other foreigners, just bulldozing our way through Japanese culture. And while that does happen, I personally feel like I've come way past that stage. Don't get me wrong, being a large black man still has a huge impact on Japanese people, but I don't really feel like I'm smashing anything these days.
Plus, I feel that the focus of this blog (yes, I will actually call it a blog now) is going to change. When I started it, it was a nice outlet for me to air my grevances and surprises about how different and quirky Japanese culture can be at times. I just can't do that anymore. I've been here for almost 7 years now, and very few things surprise me anymore. Now I'm just a guy who happens to live here. Granted, some things that happened in the past are still fairly jaw-dropping, but those incidents are now few and far between, and I don't feel like making a big deal out of the few that do happen anymore.
So it feels like a good time to refocus things a bit. Stop trying to be fish-out-of-water Gaijin and just write about the stuff I want to, even if its not off the wall or eyebrow bending. That, and I can't make blog posts in German. I could try, but I'd probably end up offending at least 32 UN countries. I'd like to keep my "Countries I've Offended" list in the single digits if possible. Makes obtaining visas a bit more easier.
Of course, I Am a Japanese School Teacher/Gaijin Smash will live on in the archive. That off-the-wall nonsense will never stop being crazy. Although I kinda understand now all the critics I had back then. I read through the old posts and I think "Wow, there's no way this nonsense actually happened!" despite me being the guy it actually happened to. Truth really is stranger than fiction.
So, thanks to all who enjoyed the stories. I had fun writing them, and it helped me keep my sanity even when everything else seemed completely insane. I think one of the greatest compliments a writer can get is to just have people want to read what you write. I had a lot of readers, and that meant a lot to me.
...But enough of that sentimental crap. Farewell, Gaijin Smash.
Hope to see you over at the new site, Gaijin Chronicles!
