Month: September 2002

Austin Powers Doesn’t Translate

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I paid $15 Saturday night to see Austin Powers at a local cinema. And the only laughter came from our group of English-speakers.

Seeing a movie at a theater is pretty expensive in Japan, and the venue quality here in Nagano leaves something to be desired. The theater looked something like a high school auditorium, and I’ve seen bigger screens in home entertainment systems. On the bright side, I was able to buy a beer at the snack counter.

How well does this sort of humor translate into Japanese? It doesn’t, judging by the audience response. No wonder there are no comedy sections at the local video stores.

Beyonce Knowles should get some kind of award for Leading Character with Zero Character. You can dress her up, but…

Mountains and Hospitals

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hakuba

Had a day of mountain biking in Hakuba on Saturday with Ben and Peter that ended with Peter in the hospital.

Hakuba is a small village at the base of the Japanese Alps, where ski jumping events were held during the 1998 Winter Olympics. It’s about 45 minutes from Nagano by car. There is some spectacular mountain scenery—it’s easy to see why the area was nicknamed the Japanese Alps. At one ski area, you can pay to take gondolas up a mountain with bikes, then ride down the trails.

Late in the afternoon, Peter took a bad jump and landed on his head, leaving him in a state of shock. He had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital in a town about 20 miles away. He wasn’t coherent until about three hours after the accident. There were no broken bones and a CAT scan showed no serious damage. But he’s staying at the hospital overnight for observation.

Trying to deal with language barriers in medical emergencies isn’t much fun, but everyone was very patient and helpful.