Home for the Holidays

I'm coming home in 3 weeks and feeling a bit nervous. There are so many things about this experience that has changed me, and the only way I'll be able to understand who I am now is to go home. To give an idea of what I've been dealing with, I am part of the miniscule 0.01% that makes up the population of western people in Japan. That's right, for every 10,000 Japanese, there's only one westerner. If that doesn't make a person kooky, I don't know what will!

But my original intention of this post is to tell everyone when I'm coming home. I want to see all of you! I will be in Raleigh from December 28th until January 3rd. I have tons of goodies from Japan that I've been stockpiling to give to everyone. My suitcase will be absolutely packed, but I can only bring so much so please let me know if you'll be around and if you want to meet up!

And now for the -
~~~~~Weekend Update~~~~~~

It was an interesting weekend: after my volleyball tournament in Obama on Satuday, I decided to find a public bath to freshen up before meeting up with a friend in Omura. I was wandering around Obama searching for an onsen when I wandered into what I thought was a hotel. It was here that I met Yoko Ono.

Well, not THE Yoko Ono, but a very nice lady with the same name! She spoke wonderful English, let me use her private bath, then invited me up to her condo to chat. Her home was so festively decorated for the holidays that it felt like I was back home. Her husband is a neurosugeon who seemed so amused by the whole thing. It was incredible to meet such friendly people in the middle of Obama!

After that serendipitous experience, I went to an African drumming night in Omura. It was really, really crowded, but I didn't freak out because there were tons of great people there. After the party, we wandered over to an ALT's house. It was an eclectic group of people, and somehow we failed to realize that a crazy J-boy we didn't know followed us there. Antics ensued:

Crazy J-boy asks us "Where you from?" about 50 times each
Crazy J-boy takes off ALL his clothing to prove that he has no tatoos and is therefore not yakusa
Crazy J-boy sees gay boys kissing, joins in
Crazy J-boy realizes boys are gay, and is disgusted (AFTER making out with them!)
Crazy J-boy passes out
Crazy J-boy pees all over the living room (I wasn't there, but heard he was conscious and doing it deliberately!)

Christ, where do we meet these people?

Last night was our hanto "Better late than never" Thanksgiving dinner at Katie's house. There was lots of potatoes, chicken, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, broccoli, and salad. Good food, good company.

And on that note, it's off to bed for me. I'm doing much better with this blogging thing now that I don't care!

Rough Draft

Well I haven't had a real update in a while...I think I've figured out that I am a perfectionist with my writing, but I just realized that I won't have anything to look back on if I don't stop that NOW. (hence the runon sentence...imperfction has begun!)

These past few months have been a whirlwind...if you look at my Flickr page here it gives a general idea of what I've been up to. In summary:

September:
Got stuck in a typhoon in the car ride back from Kumamoto, pieces of the car were flying away and Suzie was a crazy driver, but we amazingly made it back to the hanto just in time. I made her stop at a hotel because I was afraid the sea would swallow us or a telephone pole would land on the car. We ended up at a swanky love hotel called "Chapel Coconuts" which was littered with fallen tropical statues of flamingoes and dolphins; I thought I would die by getting knocked over by one on the way to the door. It turns out the hotel was full, so we tried another one in which I accidently bought a $10 thong. Stupid vending machines!

October:
Rode in a van up to Yamaguchi with a bunch of JETs, camped in the woods, played on the most amazing jungle gym known to man, watched debauchery unfold before my very eyes, made a friend (Becky), went to the BEST FESTIVAL IN JAPAN (Sake festival), had my ears assaulted with way too much Guns n'Roses for a human to stand, saw some fellow ALTs disrobe at a rest stop to the amazement of onlookers

Helped harvest rice, received a 5 kg bag of genmai (brown rice) for my labor

Purchased my first Macintosh!!! I love it!

Had a wild night in Fukuoka for my birthday...learned that I don't like for people I don't know to dance with me...discovered that having a prop to go out with is fun...my prop was a giant daikon (radish) with pictures of Hard Gay that Erich made me

Halloween: Me, Suzie, and Katie dressed up in matching jumpsuits; I was a plumber and they were carpenters. We went to a house party in Sasebo that was busted by the cops, so we wandered the streets aimlessly for the rest of the night. Katie and I did the limbo with measuring tape.

Witnessed the Yosakoi, amazing dance that takes place every year in Sasebo. The most notable thing about it is that the dancers seemed to really be having fun. That's something you don't see often in Japan!

November:
A fairly laid-back month...went to sumo in Fukuoka, got yelled at for throwing cushions, drank lots of hot sake, absorbed the amazing atmosphere, realized that I'm very socially awkward, met some very nice Kumamoto JETs, danced my arse off in darkroom and Keith Flack

Shimabara Sideshow Spectacular! Finally all those weeks of band practice paid off because we had our first gig! It wasn't perfect at all, but I'm proud since we only just started playing our instruments. Many people in the audience told me that they have been playing bass much longer, but never had the nerve to perform.


My final thought is this: it's too easy to become too perfectionistic. If anyone reads this, remember to just do whatever it is you do and don't worry, you can perfect it later.

Or, you can just tell yourself that. ;)

Student work

If I live in America, I'll use a gun.
If I use a gun, I'll be tired.
If I am tired, I'll play basketball.
If I play basketball, I'll run.
If I run, I'll go to Japan.

If I have a lot of money, I'll buy America.
If I buy America, I'll leave America soon.
If I leave America soon, I'll cry soon.
If I cry soon, I'll use a gun.
If I use a gun, I'll sleep in White House.

If I have a lot of money, I will go to Jupitar
If I go to Jupitar, I will build the mansion.
If I build my mansion, I will make alien friends.
If I make alien friends, I will come back Earth with alien.
If I come back Earth with alien, I will comquer the Earth.

If I live in America, I will visit my relative.
If I visit my relative, I will play with my relative.
If I play with my relative, I will be hungry.
If I am hungry, I will eat good humburger.
If I eat good humberger, I will want to cola.


I think the boy who wrote the first and second essays has some homicidal tendencies...but I must say I'm most disturbed by the gun and hamburger imagery prevalent in the "America" poems. I have failed as a teacher of American culture!

This is ridiculous. Let's look at last year compared to this year:

Number of students
Last year: 200
This year: over 1000

Novels read per month
Last year: about 4
This year: < 1

Amount of money spent on office supplies
Last year: 0
This year: approx. 5000 yen

Visits to Jusco (local mall) per week
Last year: 2-3
This year: 1

Pints of alcohol consumed per week:
Last year: 3-4
This year: 5-10

Number of blog entries in September:
Last year: 17
This year: 1

Amount of money earned
Last year: 300,000 yen per month
This year: 300,000 yen per month

So if you look at the data, you'll see that the number of students has an adverse affect on my reading, shopping, and blogging, but somehow I still managed to spend more on alcohol and office supplies while making the same amount of money.

I think I need to put this book down now...

Sometimes, enkais* can be the bane of my existence. Slobbering drunk men asking "Doo you rike suuushhhii?" and sitting with my knees crunched up under me in the least comfortable position makes me so angry when there's no forks available with which to slash my wrists.

Well, this enkai was one of the better ones: swank restaurant, no sitting on the floor, buffet, fully-stocked bar, and a bus to shuttle me there. I was also spared sitting next to lecherous men (of which my school has many). So why do I feel the same nagging not-quite satisfied feeling afterwards?

Because I dispossess the gene that allows me to get drunk after a 2-hour nomihoudai**!!!

Or maybe my tolerance is just too damn high. Enkais are both a blessing and a curse: they allow you to stand on the line of the imaginary social circle that separates Japanese from other people, and occasionally flirt with the inside. The enkai is the only time you might get a toe in. I am happy standing on the line; in fact I revel in it. I like to watch their faces turn red*** and guess what they are talking to each other about. At an enkai, I am my own best friend.

So, in my un-inebriated state of mind, I can conclude this: I don't want to be Japanese!

*After-work party
**All you can drink
***Literally, when Japanese people drink, their faces turn red because they genetically lack an enzyme that breaks down alcohol.

Mt. Fuji

This is the first time I've been home alone in several weeks, which provides the perfect opportunity to write. There are even fireworks outside and I'm sitting here doing this! But honestly, it's what I prefer tonight.

Time has really crept up on me - one year ago, I knew very little about this strange place called Japan. One year later and I'm hiking up its highest peak. Although it doesn't make me an expert on Japan, it makes me gifted in the art of suffering. Or a lunatic.

The funniest thing about Fuji-san is the contradiction of its size versus visibility. You'd expect to see a 3,770 meter mountain before you get to it, right?

Let's play find the mountain!




We got to Kawaguchi-ko in the afternoon and sort of checked in to our hostel, which turned out to be this hippy-owned restaurant with a few tatami rooms in the back to sleep in and no shower. However, it was redeemed when the owner and his snooty French friend cooked us wonderful vegetarian meals. The French guy made us a gorgeous salad and pasta the first night, the second night we had homemade pizza, and the last morning we had gorgeous crepes.

The next day, we woke up bright and way too early to climb the mountain. Katie and Kuni-san, her 62-year-old Japanese friend who has climbed Fuji-san 4 times, picked us up from the hostel and off we went. We started at the 5th station, which is basically halfway up the mountain at 2000 meters. It started out great: I had energy and a healthy supply of CalorieMate to keep me going.

And then I just sorta blanked between the 7th station and the summit.
One
foot
in
front
of
the
other.
My Ipod was my best friend in the whole wide world, I couldn't speak, every break was like a little sliver of heaven. And then we reached it:


During the journey to the top, it's like a constant burden knowing that you haven't reached it yet. When you are there, the burden is lifted and it's the best feeling in the world.

To top it all off, Suzie and I got separated from the group before descending, and when we started to follow them, a really hot guy told us not to go that way, because it's really difficult. So we ended up taking the easy way down and beating them!

7.5 hours up, 3 hours down.

I'm glad I did it.

Friday night, I was given the opportunity to DJ a set for the Nagasaki Leaver's party. I've never had more fun in my whole life, even though my set was the first and hardly anyone was there. The best thing about it is playing the stuff that I like and getting compliments on my music taste. Let me try to remember what I played:
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
Sneaker Pimps - Six Underground
Thievery Corporation - Warning Shots
Grandaddy - Now it's On (got some major props on this one)
Postal Service - Such Great Heights
Weezer - The World Has Turned and Left me Here
Belle & Sebastian - Your Cover's Blown
Smashing Pumpkins - Eye
Modest Mouse - Float On
Groove Armada - My Friend
Beck - Girl / Hell Yes (by request)
Cake - I Will Survive
Interpol - Evil
Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

And a later set:
Muse - Hysteria
New Order - Crystal
The Kinks - Turning Japanese
Placebo - Nancy Boy
Editors - Munich
Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
Franz Ferdinand - Take me Out
Arctic Monkeys - I Bet you Look Good on the Dancefloor (by request; I'm not especially fond of this song)
Smashing Pumpkins - Today
(I was told to "wind down" the crowd because it was 5am by this point, but I had nothing mellow so Debbie stepped up and played some U2)

Saturday night, I DJ'ed again between Morning Cood and Wesley's sets at Big Blue Sky. It was great fun, until the CD Wesley was singing along to STOPPED without any explanation...I felt like a dumbass for screwing it up for him but he was absolutely cool about it...I'll miss Wesley

She burns like the sun, and I can't look away
She'll burn our horizons, make no mistake

This is what happens when a retard applies sunscreen:


Don't build your world around
Volcanoes melt you down

Not only am I trying to learn this song on guitar, but I also visited the local volcano recently:

Beautiful, isn't it?

On a hanto[island] in the sun
We’ll be playing and having fun
And it makes me feel so fine
I can’t control my brain

I was surprised how many people turned out for our "Hanto Lovefest" last weekend...we played on the beach, ate food, and lit sparklers.


There's a broken beam inside of the big big bridge
I guess that whole thing is caving in
Maybe it is time I learn how to swim
I'll be a dolphin, I'll be a dolphin


During the Hanto Lovefest, we took a cruise to see some dolphins. There's a huge shoal of them living near the Amakusa islands.


Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different woman[man]
Time may change me
But I can't trace time

I just found out today that in September, my whole teaching situation will change. I currently teach at one junior high school all the time. The folks at Minamishimabara city have decided that in addition, I will go to Kuchinotsu Junior High every Friday, and rotate between 6 elementary schools every Tuesday. I think it might be a good thing, since the kids tend to take me for granted since I'm there all the time, and I really look forward to working with different schools...especially the elementary schools!

“i think there r more dolphins on my shore,” Carlos wrote in a text message last week. Since early this year, an alarming number of dolphins have been washing up dead on Carlos’ beach. We don’t know why and probably never will, so for fun let's just blame it on the old standby: Global Warming.

Instead of imagining the darkly comic image of a dolphin being pan-seared by the sun, I felt a wave of emotion, similar to seeing roadkill decomposing or dogs dressed in sweaters for the humid Japanese summer. The thought of suffering is never far from my mind, which is why I am at least partially vegetarian. But what I didn’t expect to feel was the desire to actually see the deceased!

I bought flowers in hopes of having a little memorial service for the poor creature, but left it on the table when Suzie came to pick me up. So, armed with only incense, we proceeded into Futsu (that’s “normal” in Japanese – funny considering the abnormality of this situation) to get Carlos and pay our respects.

Well, it turns out that we also forgot to bring something to light the incense with. So we held our sticks of incense (and our noses) and said a little prayer. It was sad leaving it on the beach amidst decades of rubbish, but I feel like we did our part...I will certainly not be able to push the image out of my mind any time soon. And I would post the pictures, but don't want to traumatize anyone.

Only for the morbidly curious:
I know a dead dolphin when I see one

So what does one do after paying respects to dead dolphins? Why, go to Uniqlo, of course!

And what did we eat for dinner (only because it was a Hawaiian restaurant and they put it in everything)?

TUNA! *gags*

Let me tell you a story...

...about acquiring a driver's license in Japan.

As an American, in order to transform my license from North Carolina into a Japanese one, I have to take a written and a practical test. I have to do it by July 29th, because that is when my non-renewable International Driving Permit expires and I DON'T want to be stuck here without a license. So, after driving for 12 years, I must be able to pass a piddly little driving test, right?

WRONG!

No emoticon can convey the sense of absolute agony, frustration, and nervousness that I have experienced the past 3 weeks. That's 3 attempts in 3 weeks, and I still haven't managed to pass. Taking a driving test here is similar to doing a tea ceremony: you have to know exactly what to do and execute it in a precise fashion. If you do anything less than perfect, you fail.

It's been almost a year now since being stuck on this tiny little half-island in the belly of Kyushu. Suzie, my dearest friend out here, and I are pretty much alone down at the bottom of this peninsula, with only movies and the occasional un-working Erich to keep us company. We kind of drew the short straw in terms of having lots of people to hang out with: the JETs closest to us have their own friends, and the people in Shimabara are lovely but an hour away. Carlos, our other dearest friend, is leaving this year and I will be SO SAD when he leaves!

Out with the old, in with the new...

So Suzie and I have been praying that the 2 new JETs placed closest to us are sane. (Well, I've just been praying for their sanity...Suzie is probably praying for hot Scottish men...actually, I wouldn't mind that either!) Just decent people...that's all I ask.

I guess we'll see next month...

But I'm forgetting the original purpose of this post: we finally made a Japanese friend! Her name is Ayako, and she works at the local convenience store. We met her one day when I was trying to buy edamame, and she said in perfect English, "I'm sorry, but I can't sell these to you because they are expired." My jaw dropped to the floor, I forgot all about the edamame, and a friendship began.

Ayako is lovely - she majored in English at university, and she currently has a Dutch boyfriend who she talks to on the Internet. Her English is so good that sometimes I forget she really is Japanese. And she lives right here in Kazusa!

It's funny how when you want something bad enough, it just appears at the local Family Mart and won't sell you edamame.

Great Kansai Adventure

PARENTAL ADVISORY: Blatant profanity and some negativity are apparent in this entry. Sometimes, I'm just weird.

So, last week was the conference for recontracting JETs. What that means for a lot of us is a chance to go to a big city, party with other gaijin, and make asses out of ourselves. I am definitely one of those people!

Suzie and I started off the journey on the overnight bus...what a mistake. Thinking back on it, we should have brought either alcohol or tranquilizers...or maybe a gun. Should have taken the Shinkansen, but in my effort to make myself look like a thrifty gaijin, I ended up screwing us over. Sorry Suzie!

After arriving at Osaka (instead of Kobe; one of my cost-cutting measures), we took a train to Himeji, the city where the famous castle stands. It was pouring down rain, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. The highlight of the excursion is this photograph:



At first, we thought it was a raindrop, but I doubt a raindrop would have that whitening effect. The weird thing is that we had just been reading about how samurais would kill themselves, then be beheaded and washed in this special area near where this photo was taken. No conclusions have been drawn, but most people concur that it is definitely weird (except Will, "I'm not fockin' stupid, mate!").

After the brush with the ghost, we headed to Kobe to check into the hotel for the conference. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice the degree of urban sprawl in the Kansai area: it seemed to never end. I have a greater appreciation for my inaka lifestyle after seeing how ugly everything is there...I love green forests and mountains! So we checked into the Portopia hotel, and it had fabulous and very large rooms:



Unfortunately, my roommate and I didn't hit it off but luckily, Suzie was right across the hall. There were many Nagasaki people there who had also stayed an extra night, so we all hung out together that night along with a really sweet girl from Okayama. We met some random people at the convenience store, and ended up chatting out there for a while. We then proceeded to the hotel bar, which was on the top floor of the hotel. It reminded me of the bar from Lost in Translation, so I tried to take a "Suntory moment" photo:



But sadly, due to our douchebaggery (mainly mine), it didn't really work. ;)

The Conference:
yadda yadda yadda internationalization yadda yadda i'm a douche yadda yadda look at me i'm genki yadda yadda let's only have presentations about high school yadda yadda yadda -Actually, there was a really awesome presentation about learning Japanese, in which we learned pick-up lines and some REALLY bad words- yadda yadda yadda -It's not that I don't appreciate the effort that went into it, it's just that hardly any of it applied to me- yadda yadda yadda

What really matters: After the conference
The first night wasn't so great. Went to a Chinese buffet, but there wasn't anything veggie so I ended up paying 1500 yen for a salad. Wandered around a few bars after that, but the party seemed to be in a place we couldn't find. Went home at 2am, making it an early night. Talked to some random people in the lobby, saw my first mukade (poisonous centipede). That's right - not in the humid backwaters of Kyushu, but in Kobe!

The second night was much better. To start off with, we found a superb organic vegetarian restaurant. The night could have ended there, and I would have been satisfied but it got even better, because we were all in such a good mood after our fabulous meal. Here we are chilling in a nice bar:



While wandering the streets, Suzie randomly managed to break the heel of her shoe off. This resulted in her hilarious effort to mend the shoe with sugarless chewing gum. I suggested trying the sugary kind instead, which seemed to work a bit better. While we sat on the street waiting for it to dry, money started falling out of the sky. It was our night!

We walked (Suzie limped) to a club to cap the night off, and it turned out to be spinning drum and bass. Perfect! Danced for a while, got hit on by a drunken JET, and rolled out of there a little earlier than everyone else, since my roommate insisted on turning in the key at 7:30am.

Oosaka
Many people don't realize that Osaka actually has 2 o's. Don't forget to say it with a longer "o" sound if you come to Japan, because they won't know what the hell you are talking about! We went to this megalopolis after the conference, and I was quite impressed. Our capsule hotel was kind of lame, though. One shower on the women's floor? You've got to be kidding! But at least it was in a love hotel district. Look at this gem:



We had a good laugh in the capsule lobby because some people noticed that Will was with a big group of ladies and were calling him "playboy." During our okonomoyaki dinner later, I was harassed by a father-son duo who insisted that they were samurai. I think the son fancied me because he gave me a towel. Osaka people are weird.

Later, we stumbled upon the best bar ever. Ever! I swear, if God could create the perfect bar for me, "Rock Rock" would be it. They were spinning Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, The Hives, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. Everyone was dancing and having a good time, there was a chillout room, an area to stand outside, you could actually walk up to the bar and order a drink, and the people were fun. We partied there until dawn.

The next day was miserable, though. The capsule hotel wouldn't let us leave our bags there, so we had to wander around various stations for 2 hours before finding a locker big enough. After that, however, we found a great veggie food place, where I got a pizza with fake ham on it! Mmmmm. And then we found the jackpot of all that is weird and idiosyncratic about Japan:


And it gets better:


Japanese people are obsessed with their dogs. I think the most illustrative example is the "Dog Cafe Italiwan." We wandered up there, and found a place where dog owners can eat with their dogs. The waitress brings out a tray of food, along with a dish for Fido. Hmmmm, still not sure how hygenic that is. Then we wandered up to the pet store, where I saw the CUTEST thing ever: a pug puppy was chasing its tail for like a full minute, then without interruption, squatted and took a shit. I just about died.

Then: vintage stores and toiletry shops and Mexican food, Oh My! (can you tell I'm getting lazy, now?)

After nearly missing the overnight bus (we came within a minute of missing it), we were cruising on it back to Nagasaki.

Final Thought: I need to get out more.

Highlights from my past few weeks

Sports Day:
The enkai that followed was interesting - I don't think I talked to a woman all night. The PTA was there, and all of the fathers of my students talked to me and got me drunk - how all enkais should be.

Golden Week:


Fukuoka was great - I stayed in a capsule hotel for the first time. But I really want to stay in one of these!

The everyday:


The rain has been pretty constant, but when it gives way to sun, the beach near my house is beautiful. Suzie and I often go running/walking on it after school.

My mom and Ward loved Japanese food!


They tried things that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, like natto. I'm proud of them - they did really well here!

Sorry for the hasty update - I have to get ready to go to Kobe. Tonight, Suzie and I are taking the overnight bus, and we have a day to explore before going to the JET Renewer's Conference. I hope we can get to see Himeji-jo, the best castle in Japan.

Cherry Blossoms!

They are not in full bloom yet, but the cherry blossoms are out! I hope to have some better pictures by the weekend.


I've been going insane these past 2 days at work, because they put up an Internet filter that blocks everything: Gmail, Livejournal, Flickr, you name it. I don't use the Internet that much at work, but to check my gmail is a necessity...especially when there are no classes. I feel like my connection to the world has been ripped out for no reason. So after much tearing out of my hair, I managed to stream gmail through my cell phone. Please forgive me if you receive a response like this: "how r u? its good 2 hear from u...sory I snd stupd."

There comes a point in any ALT's career when you just wish for something exciting to happen. Days upon days of sitting at a desk can be really boring, and although the occasional class provides some excitement, it's seldom that anyone says or does anything remotely interesting. During cleaning, I try to talk to the students, but all I can usually squeak out is the old standby "I'm fine, and you?" As I sit at my desk twirling my hair, I find myself imagining what it would be like to be an ALT in one of the so-called "bad" schools, where the students ask you about penises and sex and boobies.

And then it happened: in my last 1-1 class of the year, we were playing a game where each student has a letter, and we ask them to spell out different words. Before the game started, a particularly outgoing boy had found himself the letters S-E-X and was holding them up proudly. I wanted to laugh so bad, but looking at my stern JTE's face told me that if I did, I'd get in trouble.

So I laughed inside, and continue to pray for moments like this.

In other news, the Japanese Alps are gorgeous, and snowboarding was ace:

The ni-nensei that went up a hill but came down a san-nensei

Being a teacher is one of the most depressing jobs in the world.

Picture this: Kodama-sensei, homeroom teacher of 3-1, is sitting at his desk, on which is a beautifully-decorated placard that all of his students signed. There is also a signed rugby ball from the culture festival and a huge bouquet of flowers. After the graduation ceremony this morning, he sits at his desk all day and looks shell-shocked while the students galavant outside, excited and happy.

This particular batch of graduates is especially hard for the teachers, I think. They are the most enthusiastic, intelligent kids I've ever met. There's Hiroki, the boy who loves English. He wants to be an English teacher...or maybe he just said that to impress me. Then there's Eri and Chihiro, who are very quiet in class. When they asked me to sign their yearbooks yesterday, I was so touched because I didn't know they liked me. Many of the quieter students are like that - but maybe they just like me because they sense that I am quiet, too. And even the "bad" students of this group are not that bad: this boy whose name I forgot always left his tests blank, made no attempt to speak English, but usually smiled (smirked) at me anyway. Today, he caught my eye and said something like "I understand English" (in Japanese, of course).

I will miss these kids...but more than that I am dreading the inevitable: the takeover of the NI-NENSEIS! (second-years)

Junior high school boys are between the ages of 13 and 15. Ni-nenseis are 14 years old. This is the age where girls finally stopped having cooties, but the boys are still scared shitless. For example, a ni-nensei will run up to me, say "HELLO!", and run back to his friends to have a good laugh. While a first or third year boy will politely help me put some chairs away, a ni-nensei will go out of his way to ignore me. They also like to embarass me in class by making me pronounce difficult Japanese names, and then laugh about it all class long. My JTE summed all of this up when she poignantly said, "It's a difficult age." No shit, sherlock.

The question is, when will they transform into the polite san-nenseis (third-years) I love so much? It better happen soon...or I might need to bust out some kancho...

The funniest Engrish I've ever seen!

I was scared shitless!

I'll be honest: I really didn't know how to write about the Nagasaki Lantern festival. I was only there for about an hour, but it made a lasting impression. After going through the photos, it became abundantly clear that they all have one thing in common: they are scary as shit.

Pictures: Beware of cultural bizarreness! (Dragons and rabid rabbits and beheaded piglets, oh my!)


Before we went, a fellow JET told us to "Look for the beaver...trust me. I can't say anything else, just find it!" Well we never found the beaver, so I will always wonder what was so great about it. Come to think of it, we might be better off.

I did manage to gobble up some sesame balls, mmmmmm! Aside from their penchant for eating cow guts and brains, Chinese food is much better than Japanese!

My first brush with geologic activity

While chatting last night, the house started to shake. Erich said it was the wind, but I found out today that it was an earthquake.

Just had to take note of this momentous event because I am a science nerd.

Recontracting...

Started this week riding high on an idea of staying in Japan for another year...went to see supervisor still riding that wave but he was out...as the week went on that idea started to be tested because of insecurity and doubt...decided to take my fate in my own hands...triumphed over self-doubt..I just signed the forms to stay another year...

I love snowboarding!

I found out this weekend that I love to snowboard. Who knew?



On a whim, Erich and I met up with some JETs in Saga yesterday for free snowboarding lessons. At first, it seemed impossible ("What? We have to stand up NOW?") but after half a day of pain, I managed to go down the bunny slope about 10 times. And it was FUN!!! I want to do this every weekend - too bad it's 3 hours away!

Hong Kong? Why are you going there?

Since almost everyone has asked me that question, I'll go ahead and answer it. I went to Hong Kong because Hilda and I wanted to go to China, but we were scared away by the bird flu. Our travel agent recommended Hong Kong instead. She has some relatives there and can speak Cantonese, and I just really wanted to go somewhere over the winter break. I ended up trying some really delicious food, getting lost in shopping malls, and seeing one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the world.

I took well over a hundred pictures (including some that I ganked from Hilda's flickr site, gomen!). To see the whole set, click here:


Since nobody has the time to look at all of that, I'll just give you some of the highlights:

Actually, my happiest moment was rather dorky. When our airplane was just taking off, it was a clear day. I was looking down at Japan, thinking of all the places I have left to see when I saw Unzen and my town from the air!


The first few days were overwhelming and exciting. We walked around Wan Chai, had street food, and spent about $78,294,732,984,723 in Zara. One thing that Hong Kong does not lack is shopping. I actually got lost for hours in one of the malls on Kowloon. But unfortunately, most of the stores are in the Prada-Gucci price range.

We had a really good day when Hilda's aunt showed us around. We went to a temple and had dim sum. She even helped us get appointments to get our hair done (thank god, I really needed that trim!).


We bumped into some other JETs while going out one night. One guy is actually in my ken! Another guy flew out of DC with Hilda and I. We went to this Russian bar, where we did vodka shots in a freezer while wearing faux minks:


The Great Buddha of Lantau
I think this is the largest sitting Buddha in the world. It is really big - I could see it from the airplane.


My camera takes really crappy night pictures, so my nightscape photos of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak didn't turn out so well. Here's one of the better ones:



So instead of trying to sum this experience up into quirky tidbits of wisdom, I'm signing off because I'm still exhausted...

Happy New Year!

I had a great new year - drove down to Miyazaki, met up with Hilda, ate lots of Indian food, celebrated the new year with friends in an indoor ocean water park with karaoke afterwards, and accidentally took some amazing pictures of seagulls.



So I should be packing for my trip to Hong Kong (leaving Tuesday morning) but I feel procrastinatory. How was everyone's new year?