The Trip to Nagoya and Beyond

So I spent a four day weekend and went to Nagoya to do a bit of 観光 (that's sightseeing for you English types). I took a night bus there and back, because they're so much cheaper than the Shinkansen, and just winged the whole trip. I didn't make any hotel reservations at all, because I wasn't sure what I planed on doing! When I got to Nagoya I found a Business Hotel and stayed the night, but decided to go to 関市、岐阜県 (Seki, Gifu) which has been famous for making swords since the 1200's and is now famous for making some of the best chef knives in the world. The place was awesome, so many little shops and knife smiths, and I didn't see one other foreigner during the two days that I was there. When I first got to Seki it was afternoon so I looked for a hotel, during which I got a bit lost (as in very, street signs basically don't exist here) so I stopped in a random shop that looked interesting to ask for directions and boy did I surprise the owner! She had probably never had a foreigner go into her shop and she was so happy to see one that she was just super nice! We talked for a bit and after she had explained how to get to the hotel, when I was on my way out, she stopped me and said to wait a bit. She went into the back and returned with a bag of candies and crackers for me (she wouldn't take no for an answer, but I have to admit I didn't try too hard to refuse, it's actually rude to refuse but it's expected to at least try). I got to the hotel, which had huge tatami mat rooms and a decent Sento, dropped off my bags and went out to hit the town! I found some of the great little shops and a cool main place that sells a bunch of the Seki-made cutlery. After perusing the sweet knives I headed for the neighboring "Seki Sword Smith Tradition Museum" (I know, it's a mouthful). At first I was thinking about going to grab a bite and just checking out the museum the next day, but I figured since I was there already, why not (I'm glad I went that day). The museum was open a bit later than normal because there was a big group of businessmen there so I wasn't rushed out the door after just a bit, but more than that, when I was leaving they were starting a demonstration (which they apparently never do except for really special occasions) and the businessmen, seeing my interest, invited me to watch. The workers were dressed in traditional sword-making-clothes and proceeded to make a Katana from a block of ore. once the demonstration was finished they took out a couple of swords from the Edo Period (~1600 to mid 1800's) and then they passed them around. The businessmen were pretty excited to hold the swords, but not nearly as excited as they seemed to be when they decided to let the foreigner hold it (even the museum people took a couple pictures of me holding the Katana)! The next day I just walked around and saw more of the shops and temples of the area, it was a lot of fun, but the first day was definitely better.

From there I returned to Nagoya and did more sightseeing. I spent two days in Nagoya and on the first day I headed over to Nagoya Castle, stopping by the Nagoya Noh Theatre on the way. Now, despite the repeated attempts by one of my college professors, I have to admit that I don't like Noh plays. Don't get me wrong, I understand the structure and the importance of the simplicity of the costumes and the props, but they just don't interest me. I will confess to liking the kimonos that were worn, the masks and I even enjoy the simplicity of the structure, but I can't watch them without falling asleep (but there wasn't any Noh plays being preformed during the two days I was there). I'm not sure how to describe the castle, but it was so amazing! I have never seen anything like it and really want to see more now. Even though the castle was all but destroyed during WWII, it was rebuilt basically exactly how it used to be, save for the materials used, but they look the same. I took a walk around the grounds, taking pictures of the castle from all angles, then I crossed the moat (probably at least thirty feet down from the outside and fifty feet down from the inside). On the main castle grounds I first went into one of the guard posts/towers and looked around there, even though there wasn't much to see besides the structure it's self, but on the third floor you could look out and see the castle from a better angle as well as the rest of the grounds.

As I entered the castle I was surrounded by all kinds of different artifacts including: folding screens, hanging wall scrolls, weapons, models and pottery. One of the coolest things was that we were allowed to take pictures of pretty much everything (we couldn't take pictures of the most precious and authentic pieces that were on a separate floor, but I did buy a couple of picture books with all of that stuff and more). I was surprised to learn/remember (I'm not sure if I knew this before) that the castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu for his son. Ieyasu was one of the three main people attributed with the modernization of Japan and the beginning of two-hundred some odd years of peace (fairly important fellow there). I really don't know what else to say about the castle, I think that the pictures describe the place quite well.

That night I stayed at a capsule hotel, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. For those of you who don't know what a capsule hotel is check it out online (or the movie The Fifth Element, shows something like it on the plane), but basically it's a room that is about one meter wide, two meters deep , and one meter tall, just enough room to sleep and they are usually men only. Although the rooms are a small hole to sleep in, the hotel had four floors reserved solely for relaxation. One of the Floors was a Sento with eight different baths (one of which can only be described as a swimming pool) most filled with varying sizes of waterfalls and two saunas. the next floor was just for massages. Then there was a floor with their own restaurant. The last floor was full of recliners (about 150-200) each with their own TV with speakers in the headrest.

After a night of comfort (seeing as how I had been walking at least ten miles each day while carrying my two bags) I spent my last day at the Tokugawa Art Museum. This place was amazing. The Tokugawa Period is one of my favorite eras of Japanese history and this place had a ton of original works, but no cameras were allowed seeing as how all of the stuff was at least two hundred years old and sensitive to light and all that. i did buy another picture book that has a lot of the pieces in it. After the Museum I took a stroll around the garden, which I did get pictures of. The building and garden of the Tokugawa Art Museum used to belong to a powerful family from the olden days and you can see the history preserved throughout the grounds. (http://www.tokugawa-art-museum.jp/english/index.html)

Overall the trip was well worth it, although I did spend more money than I planed on, and the bus to and from were small for the Japanese people (and absolutely tiny for me).

The Job Hunt is Over!

That's right, I found a job. yesterday I had a second interview at a large teaching corporation called GEOS. This corporation has many different schools throughout Japan and initially I was applying for a job in Niigata (on the west coast of the main island, about two-thirds up), but when I got there they said that that position was filled, I was a bit pissed because I've heard really good things about Niigata. Then they said that if I was interested I could apply for a position in Nagano prefecture (in a valley in the middle of the southern Japanese Alps, called the rooftop of Japan). This made me really happy! Nagano is where the Winter Olympic games were held ten years ago and as you can probably guess, Nagano is surrounded by mountains, lots of snow in winter, and the towns are a bit more traditional with many Onsen and cool historic stuffs! Check out some of the stuff at the wiki site for the town that I'll be moving to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_City

I'll still be staying in Urawa (northern Tokyo where I've been for a month or so) until the beginning of December while the company sets up my work visa and all that boring paperwork stuff. Although when all is said and done and I've started my job, I will have an apartment, Japanese bank account, and cell phone (I'm excited!).

Also, the other day I went to a Japanese Sento (public bath house) and oh my god it was awesome! they have seven different baths filled with different temperatures of 'therapeutic' water along with a sauna, which was basically dangerously hot! three of the baths were outside and one of those was a 'sleeping bath' with seats that were reclined in the water so you could lay back and look up at the sky, and apparently sleep. The place just makes me more excited to go to an Onsen (hot spring), a couple are even close to Matsumoto!

This weekend I'm going to Nagoya for a four day weekend. It should be a lot of fun to get out of the Tokyo area and see a bit more of Japan. I promise more pictures when I get back!

Over the last couple of weeks I've been really busy, but give the highlights.

A week ago Friday I walked to Omiya, the neighboring town. I thought it would take about an hour but turned out to be a little over an hour and a half walk. I found a ton of great shops and restaurants there and have been back a couple of times. One of the shops is a international shop which made me a little homesick for some of the foods that you just don't see here (ie: good soft moist cookies, candies, chips, eventhough I don't ever eat them save for cookies... it's weird). The store had a ton of stuff that I wanted to buy, but as you can imagine, it was expensive, so I settled for a Milka bar and went on my way. That night I decided to try an Italian restaurant and have some pasta and wine to cure the bit of homesickness that I had gotten. It's just not the same. the pasta was cooked wonderfully, but the sauce was all wrong, but at least there was wine, and a lot of it (thus leading to the album entitled 'Urawa and Omiya at Night')!

That Sunday I went to Yokohama with a couple of the other teachers and students for an International Food Festival and, not far away, Oktoberfest! At the food festival there was a ton of little stands with food from different countries, all with their flag in front of the booth. some of the countries were: Japan, China, Korea, Tailand, Napal, America, France, Mexico, Germany, Spain, and so many more. After spending a ton of money on food we walked over to Oktoberfest to 'relax'. I was a bit surprized when we got there because it was so much more expensive than the food festival. The entrance fee was 200 yen (100 yen ~ $1) but then each beer was 1,000 yen! it was all German beer so that was probably most of it. The beer garden was packed full and all of the Japanese people were so very drunk dancing and 'singing' to a German band. Overall it was a great time, and more than one of our group passed out on the train ride home (Japanese people just can't hold their beer, sake is fine, but beer).

Over the last week I've been either working on the ever elusive job hunt or making myy way back to Omiya and surrounding areas to see the sights and just to familiarize myself with this place. This week will be pretty crazy because I have two job interviews (one of which is near Nagano) and I have a lot of little things to do (We're having a Halloween party at the english school and I was asked to make some food, so I have to find the ingrediants... if I can).

Urawa and the Job Stuff

So about a week ago I moved into a different place. I found a opening for a "job" in a city called Urawa (a northern suburb of Tokyo). The place is a bit sketchy, but as long as i teach 12 hours of English conversation lessons each week I get a free room (which is considerably cheaper than the hotel that I stayed at for the first two weeks!). Since I got here I've been getting to know the area and the other teachers. It's really nice to be able to talk to other living people! I've still been looking for pretty much any job, and it gets more than a little disconcerting after awhile, but I still have time. I did have an interview today that went fairly well, but we'll see how it turns out in a week or so (it definitely has ups and downs, but it's the first place that I've heard much of anything from and no job is going to be perfect, oh and the place that I might/probably would get if I am accepted is fairly nice). Over this last week I feel like I've been settling into the Japanese life style a bit more, and I've done some cooking for the other teachers now that I have a kitchen at my disposal (granted it's tiny in comparison, but what isn't?!)

Well I thought I would write more, but... I got nothing! Till next time; bye, bye!