By the shore

おはようござむす！Good morning, all.

I have moved into Kaiyou Gakuen, in Mikaotsuka. Now I am living on a dormitory floor with 20 12-13 year old Japanese boys, at a school with 120 such boys. The school only opened just this past April, so for the moment the facilities dwarf the school's population. There are entire buildings empty for now. Everything is, of course, brand new, and the buildings are well lit. I would post pictures, but since I cannot access the network with my own computer, I will have to figure out how to upload them to the computer they gave me. Said computer's keyboard is tiny and configured differently, so posting might be sparse until I get used to typing on it.

This is a very different way of living than I am used to, especially since I am coming off two months of relaxation at home. The day begins at 6:30am, they take roll at 7am, and go off to breakfast together. Roll is also taken in the evening. The day is seriously cheoreographed. It's been years since I lived in a way anywhere close to this -- perhaps I have never lived in such a regimented environment. Hopefully my Japanese will improve though.

The children were furtive around me yesterday, lots of giggling and so forth.

Now for some links:

In the Wall Street Journal, Cambridge's Brendan Simms, the guru of the Henry Jackson Society had an op-ed review of the always enjoyable Robert Kagan's new book, Dangerous Nation . Kagan's book is the first of two in a history of American foreign policy. Don't be tricked by the title: Kagan hardly thinks that US power is something to be concerned about -- rather, he sees it as dangerous to dysfunctional governments and tyrants everywhere. I have it in my "to read" pile, and will comment more once I've read it.

Over at the Weekly Standard, Peter Berkowitz reviews Douglas Murray's Neoconservatism: Why We Need It. Murray's book is part of the apparent emergence of neoconservatism in British politics, of which the Henry Jackson Society is assumed by many to be part. Personally, I am skeptical about the "exportability" of American neoconservatism. I am inclined to believe that it is a unique response to American conditions. But the review does clarify the numerous misconceptions about neoconservatism that abound in public discussions. (via Arts and Letters Daily)

Those are all the links I can provide for now. I will try to keep up with my posts.