Familiarity

I realize that it's been a while, but I honestly don't find much about my day-to-day working life worth writing about (I really doubt that those of you that read this want to read my rants of the annoying kids that are peppered throughout my week's classes). I do realize that I am already taking many things for granted that are alien to our own culture, but it's hard to step back and see what those things are on my own. Anyway, I know I have a decent amount to say now and will do so.

Familiar Things

I have spent the last two months getting accustomed to my daily life and the city that I now live in. I will admit that this has proved harder than I expected and hoped, but is now the less going well. I have met a few friends here, but most all of them are foreigners (I've learned that the Japanese people tend to form fairly tight-knit groups and it can be quite difficult to get into one, especially when they wont approach me assuming that I can't speak Japanese). But along with the new people that I have met I have been shown different parts of the city (one of the foreigners has a car). Since I am now aware of more places I decided to spring for a bike so I can actually get around more. On top of now having the familiarity of a bike, I just had steak yesterday for the first time in over six months, which was pretty cool and delicious. I have also since found a restaurant that serves hamburgers fairly close to American style of hamburgers, because everything else available doesn't come close.

Familiar Faces

Almost two weeks ago a friend of mine came to Japan for about a weeks visit, during which I spent what time I could showing him the sights that I have become familiar with. It was pretty cool not only being able to share the stuff I've seen with someone, but also (and probably more so) being able to actually talk and joke with a friend. I showed him around Matsumoto, during which we stopped by a sake brewery that does tours.. Since it was a holiday they apparently weren't doing the tours that day, but we walked around for a little bit then went to the 'gift shop' for a once over. As we walked in, one of the shop ladies took out 12 bottles of sake and said that we should help ourselves to tasting them, which we did with gusto! Now, my friend isn't a heavy drinker, but he none the less was more than willing to give some of the free sake a try. I, on the other hand, was happily about halfway through the twelve bottles in front of me when the shop lady mentioned a special sake that I could try, but this one cost 300 yen, I gladly accepted (300 yen, ~$3, doesn't mean much here) and she brought forth a big sake glass full of it. It was more than worth it, but that wasn't going to deter me from finishing my quest of tasting the rest of the twelve bottles in front of me! By the time we left the shop, my friend was weighed down with one bottle of sake while I was laden with not only the two bottles that I bought (one of which was the special bottle) as well as a reasonable buzz. After our day in Matsumoto Jon went on to Kyoto then next day as I had to return to work.

Familiar Places

Sunday morning I met up with Jon in Tokyo and I showed him what I could of the bustling metropolitan in the day and a half the followed. Although it was an extremely busy day and a half, I really enjoyed it, again not only because of the company, but the places that I was seeing again. I will freely admit that living in Tokyo would be quite hard, and that working there would be crazy, but I became quite fond to the places and crazy people that are there. I relished in being able to walk around the places that had become familiar to me in my first three months in Japan. On Sunday alone I showed Jon the 'goths in Harajuku, the electronic shops of Akihabara, the crossing at Shibuya, all ending with sushi in Tsukiji. We all but ran from place to place trying to catch all of the highlights that Tokyo holds while having to skip the more relaxed and subtle nooks and crannies of which Tokyo holds many! By the time we said our good byes on Monday (me heading back to Matsumoto for work the next day, him to explore the remaining bits of Tokyo on his own) I was exhausted and quite disappointed in leaving a friend again, it felt sadly similar to my initial departure to Japan, minus most of the excitement of the unknown, but also the despair and fear of it.

Mountians, Tree Houses and Technology

I made it. I spent the few days at training just south of Tokyo (near Yokohama) then jumped the train to Matsumoto. It's been a crazy few weeks with many little problems (some of them not so little), thus the delay in updates, but overall I'm happy with how things have turned out. The trip out here was pretty amazing. I got on the train (not quite a shinkansen but damn close) and rode that for almost three hours through the mountains, and I do mean through. Getting here was cool, but it was already dark so I couldn't see the scenery when I arrived, but the next day I got up and on my walk into work (that's right I started work the very next day) I realized that the town is completely surrounded by mountains, any direction you look you can see mountains, about half of which are snow capped, and they're quite close too.

The apartment is small. Now don't get me wrong, I was quite prepared to live in a small apartment, but was looking forward to having a space where I could still cook and relax. This place is about half of what I expected though. the kitchen is all but non existent, it takes up part of the wall in the 'entryway' of the apartment (shared with the washing machine), the other side of which is the bathroom and shower. I don't have an oven, which I hoped for but hardly expected or even counted on, and I only have one electric burner/hot plate, and the refrigerator just barely beats out your average hotel room fridge,, but on top of that there is almost no room for storage of food and such. Then there's room, not rooms just the one. I was thinking that I would have a living room and bedroom, no matter how small the two may be, but instead there is just the one main living area with a loft for the futon (Japanese style, not American futon) and no room for anything but. Now all of this is rather frustrating, but doable, not ideal, but I can manage (after all I'll be spending much of my time out of the apartment anyway), however the real kicker is that I was told that the apartment would be furnished, promises were made of table and chair, sheets, futon, dishes and all other necessary accouterments. When I arrived in the apartment I found myself looking in on an empty living area, save for a chair (no legs just a padded floor level frame that would lock at different degrees, but was broken so it could only hold 180, 40, and 60 degrees) and a small coffee table that reaches a height of about one foot off of the ground. the futon was old and stained and only had one set of sheets that were... less than appealing. The first week of living here was much like the nights that I spent in the tree house that my brother and I built in our back yard, except if I remember correctly the tree house had insulation. I have since contacted the head office and complained, a lot (the gas had accidentally been shut off in my apartment that night due to miss communication between the head office and the gas company and I was cold, the gas heat the apartment as well as the water!). the next day action was taken by the head office and a few days later they sent someone up to help me out. A real table and chair was bought, along with a new futon, sheets, pillow, and toaster oven. I then went out and bought some shelves and drawers and have gotten reasonably comfortable here, though it still seems like a tree house.

After settling the various mishaps with the apartment, I went out and set up a bank account and got me a phone. The phone companies are a bigger pain here than I remember them being in America too! to get a phone, I not only had to buy the phone upfront (which was expected), but I also had to sign up for a bunch of ridiculous extras for the first month. I kept telling them I just wanted the basic package, but apparently new accounts have to come with all of the bells and whistles for a month, which costs over 4,500 yen more than the package I wanted. Even so, the phone is pretty awesome! I can watch live TV, do the whole internet thing, make video calls, and a lot more (I'm not yet sure of all the features, the guide book is in Japanese and I'm still making my way through it).

All problems aside, I have been enjoying the last few weeks more and more. The drama of the move is settling down and I've been getting comfortable in my new surroundings. I have managed to make myself a regular at a local Spanish bar (yes, Spanish bar in the middle of Japan), which isn't as bad as it sounds. The thing to do after work in Japan is to go to a bar for a bit and hang out with the other regulars, and since past GEOS teachers have been going to this bar it's the obvious choice for me. The bartenders and regulars are really cool and we all partied quite well for the holidays. After bar time they were asking everyone to leave, but asked the adult GEOS teacher, Chris from England, and myself to stay. Then a few more regulars showed up and we had the bar to our selves for over two more hours, and drinks became free (so all in all, good time had by all), although it still wasn't quite up there with the night we went to karaoke until 5am and worked the next day, a tough day! Along with the friends I have also been introduced to some new foods including basashi and inago (horse and grasshopper respectively), and am eagerly awaiting the first bites of kujura and fugu (whale and blow fish).

It's definitely been an adventure, but I think that the adventure is just beginning!

Who's excited? Me's excited!

So I just found out that I'll be moving out of Ray's English Club (the place I've been staying at for the past month and a half or so for those of you who may be a bit behind) on December fourth, just under two weeks! Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my time here, I like the teachers and the students and the free time that it yields, but I've been feeling as though I'm in a constant state of flux, just waiting to move to Matsumoto and have my own place.

Anyway I should probably fill you in on some of the past happenings before I get too carried away here.

I haven't been doing too much as of late, although I did go to Tsukiji Fish Market (one of the biggest fish markets in the world) and the Imperial Palace (the place where the emperor lives). Tsukiji was awesome and a sight to behold for sure! The area was huge and there were tons of different vendors peddling their fish and other wares. Some of the fish were huge and crazy (they resorted to cutting the blue fin tuna with an over-sized ban saw), but one of the best things was that attached to the Fish Market was another big area reserved for vegetables and fruits (basically a Farmers Market) which had some stuff for better prices than most of the supermarkets including strawberries! I walked around there for a bit then had to go to a sushi shop for some good eats! They had the freshest sushi that I've ever had and at really good prices, it was amazing!

After Tsukiji I headed to the Imperial Palace with Taylor (another one of the teachers) and wee walked around the palace moat and through out the adjoined garden, although we couldn't even see the Imperial Palace itself, apparently the emperor doesn't want to be observed by the public all day every day... go figure. One of the coolest things about the palace area was that it is a huge garden and grassy area smack dab in the middle of Tokyo, which isn't exactly known for it's grass and nature scenery. Actually one of the worst/most inconvenient things about the train system in Tokyo is that all trains go around the palace, so it takes longer and looks more cluttered.

And now back to the move! Fun stuff and I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'm not yet sure how I'm going to get my stuff to Matsumoto, but I'll figure something out. I just have to see if I'm able to re pack it all again, now there's the tough part! Right now I think I'm most excited about having something to do during the day and a place of my own that I can really start to cook in and actually get comfortable. That's all I really have to say now, so I'm outta here!

Paper Wins!

No normal pair of scissors could win against this paper, not to mention the damage it'd do to the rock!

I went to Higashichichibu last weekend with Danny (one of the other teachers). It was about an hour and a half trip to get there and it was a really small place, but it was totally worth it! It was completely surrounded by mountains and secluded from the neighboring town. We watched the people make different parts of the paper and watched them put the designs of flowers and leaves into the paper. After hanging around the 'factory' for a bit we took a walk around the grounds and saw some of the really old equipment that was used. Then before we left we spent over an hour in the shop looking at all of the different kinds of products that they make and it's absolutely amazing to think that it's all made by hand!

After that worthwhile trip we had to get up early the next day too for a trip to the neighboring bonsai village. A couple of the students said they'd take us over there and show us around, which was great because neither of us knew anything about bonsai trees and one of the students raises them. They drove us over there, and I have to admit I was a little worried at times (the streets are so narrow and they drive quite fast for the amount of hairpin turns and people walking in the street). We spent hours looking at all of the trees. some of them were quite young (10-100 years old) but others were over four hundred years old! These older trees were between three and five feet tall and had huge trunks. the trees were twisted and bent in all sorts of cool shapes and designs as well as planted to grow around and over rocks, but my favorite ones were grown around super old, partially fossilized, dead bonsai trees. the old dead parts were white and hard (not even a little brittle) and they had a new/newer tree growing around it following it's shape so that they started to fuse together. They were so cool! Sadly none of the places allowed pictures (but yet we could touch...) since they were basically considered treasures because of the time that they take to grow and the care that they require (here's the site, with some pics: http://members.iinet.net.au/~jold/bonsai-in-asia/japanomiya.html).

Til next time!

Future Boy, He's really Unbelievable!

Before I was merely fourteen hours ahead of the central time zone in which you all consider your home, but being bored with such a pittance of a difference, as the rest of you stood still for one hour, I moved onward through the space-time continuum and am now fifteen hours in the future. Thus I present to you... Future Boy(based on a real TV show back in the day, here in Japan, probably based on someone much like myself)!

I haven't accomplished too much in the last week or so. the main event was a going away party (better know here as a さようなら party) that we held for one of the teachers who had been here for over a year. It was defiantly a good time had by all! We went to a restaurant and ordered in true Japanese party tradition (everyone orders a thing or so that they want and when it comes it all gets passed around). I'll admit that there were some things that I didn't know what I was eating, and some things that the Japanese people didn't know either, but nothing was bad. After spending a couple hours and a decent amount of money there some people left and the rest of us went to a different restaurant where the main course was the booze (sake is gooood). All in all we were out for about seven hours and had a lot to drink, but we sent her off in quite the fashion!

Tomorrow I'm going to go to a town that is famous for making paper and I'm going to check out the processes that they use to get the leaves and such in the paper. I'm actually fairly excited about paper! It should be a good time. Even though this was quite short, until next time...

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!