The Fetal Diaries #33: RE: There’s a TV show about a TCK!

Posted by kristine on June 19th, 2008 | Categorized as Blog | 264 views and 3 Comments

This was originally supposed to be a comment on Maira’s post on the TCK TV show she found. I was reading it from my cell and decided to reply from my Nokia N95 (which still doesn’t have a name yet…) and eventually realised that I was blabbing non-stop, so I decided I might as well make a new post about this certain show I was blabbing about from my laptop.. Texting, my friends, is something I do a lot, and if you do it as much as I do, well, it’ll be like running on a treadmill for 15 mins, on max speed. Haha. But anyways, here it is.

Haha, I know about another TCK-y show! I think it’s a comedy.. all I remember is laughing at the frgn antics of the main character.. anyways. I mean, it’s not in English, but you can find it online. I thank God for subs, cause as fate would have it, I can’t speak Japanese that well. Although watching the show did help me a bit on my road to Japanese fluency.

So.. here’s a summary copied from the DramaWiki site… Yes, there’s a Wikipedia-like site for dramas.

Based on the hit comic book by Tomoko Ninomiya, this is a fun-filled quirky romantic story of two very opposite people.

Megumi Noda, or “Nodame” is a piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading the music score. She is messy and disorganized, takes baths several days apart and loves to eat, sometimes stealing her friend’s lunchbox when it is filled with delicacies.

Shinichi Chiaki, is Momogaoka’s top student. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. An arrogant multi-lingual perfectionist who once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy, he feels mired in Japan because of a childhood phobia.

They meet by accident. Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame’s unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Because of Nodame, Chiaki got the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people’s musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible.

Anyways… Yeah, Sinichi Chiaki, in case you haven’t figured out yet, is the TCK. Think he grew up somewhere like Prague and Paris. Fluent in Japanese, English, French, and I *think* some German. He comes off a little arrogant, like most TCKs do at first, but being a TCK myself, I symphatized with him and hated on those who thought he was arrogant. I understood him, and all. Funny thing is, I really did symphatize with him, but never really realized he was a TCK until the 3rd last episode. Talk about slow. At first, I was ecstatic. But the ecstasy was soon washed out by the realization that my brain had been slower than a snail trying to crawl from Point A to Point B. Really, when I thought about how slow I’d been, something very similar to this like came to mind.

Seriously. Minus maybe the cat (I think it’s cat anyways) ears on the guy.. Yeah.

Anyways, I really did relate to him. Maybe he’s one of the reasons I kept on watching. I mean, the whole story was AMAZING. It’s different, and the acting - especially the main girl - was very quirky and fun to watch, but the TCK thing going along with it was even better. And Chiaki’s not the only TCK there. It’s JAM PACKED with our kind. Seriously.

*Slight spoiler*

Chiaki was the TCK of all TCKs there though. He comes of a bit arrogant, a little bit of an outsider, couldn’t relate well to the non-TCK kids, and felt more at home when he went back to Europe to study and compete in conducting competitions. Let’s just say he was more calm and nicer when he was in Europe. Even Nodame, the main girl, made a comment about this.

Made me look back to my more TCK-y days (I’m still TCK.. but I meant the whole experiencing a non-North American lifestyle thing). Like, when I’d eat peanuts cooked under hot desert sand (someone tell me they’ve tried this before - it is AMAZING!), roasted lamb with spices, biriyani, and shwarma, and when I’d chug down a whole jug of Almarai milk whilst reading the newest Gulf News. Yes, I would occasionally buy newspaper, only to check tennis results, crop out pics of our fave players etc. etc. I even get it from the actual delivery guy. The one that delivers the newspapers to the stores. Yeah, I got it from that guy. Cheaper, rather than getting it from the resident ‘Uncle’. Sorry, Uncle Dan, but there was already an uncle to the TCKs in my side of the UAE even back then. Thinking about it, every adult male that we see a lot that didn’t work for the school (like this certain man who worked at a small store) we called Uncle. And I mean every single one. And the women, we called… what else? Auntie.

I really do digress when I write.. but anyways, I recommend the show. Here’s the link.

http://www.mysoju.com/nodame-cantabile/

It’s supposed to be “Under Repair” at the moment, or at least episode 5 and 6.. But should be okay later on. Hope you guys like it! I sure did. And I think Miyon’s seen it.. and liked it. Yeapp. And oh, some of my TCK friends have seen it too. They like it. Haha. Anyways, okay, that’s all. ENJOY!

Pc’n, Kristine aka Fetus.

Born in the Philippines, then lived in Abu Dhabi, UAE for almost 4 years. Immigrated to Calgary, Canada (one of the most, if not THE most diverse city in Canada), but lives even farther north now (where it seems to be the opposite of Calgary).