Misadventures in Translation

How was your spring vacation? I bet it was incredibly lame. You may have seen college females drunkenly flashing everyone in Cancun, but I saw… On second thought, maybe your spring vacation was better. In one week I went to three different islands, two world heritage sites, two castles, three major metropolises, and one volcano. Prepare to bath in the radiance of my life.

My epic journey began on March 24th in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district at 9:00 PM. Fifteen and half hours of riding on a night bus put me and my friend, Natalie, in front of Hakata Station. Fukuoka doesn’t have a lot to see, but it was worth visiting for a least one day. Fukuoka is better known for being a party town than a good tourist area. However, we ate some of Kyushuu’s famous tonkotsu ramen, visited Fukuoka Tower, and took a stroll through one of Fukuoka’s good parks.

As I’ve said before, Japan loves to make sure each town has a tower for Godzilla to tear down. Or maybe they like to give couples a good place to go. Everytime I visit the observation level of one of these towers, young couples are always hogging the view.

The nightime view of Fukuoka.

For more photos from Fukuoka, click here.

On the 26^th, we took a two-hour train ride over to Mt. Aso. Mt. Aso is one of the world largest calderas. From Aso Station, we took a bus up to the Mt. Nakadake Cable Car Station. Mt. Nakadake is still active and still erupts from time to time. The sulphuric gases in the air were a little irritating. It was like being surrounded by thousands of rotting eggs.

Kyushuu Island is noted for their unique JR Railway trains. The Aso 1962 is one of the well-known trains that took us from Kumamoto to Aso. It was funny to watch the train geeks take pictures of the train arriving and the inside of the train. There were even some people who were recording the sounds of the train. If there is something that will keep you living with your mother and never getting a girl, it’s being a train geek.

Nothing like the smell of sulphur.

Geology is boring in both English and Japanese.

For more photos of Mt. Aso, click here.

We left the caldera and made our way to the famous onsen town of Beppu. The geothermal heat in the area really heats the water up. I like going to onsens, but the onsens in this town are hotter than the surface of the sun. I can normal stay in the onsen for a while, but I had to get out before I was cooked like a lobster. The town of Beppu also had the Takasaki Monkey Park. The monkeys here are so used to humans that you could easily touch one if you wanted to.

Feeding time was a stampede of monkeys. Hundreds of monkeys came running down the side of the mountain.

The sign says, “The tall promontory mountain is this way.”

For more photos of monkeys, click here.

We also went to the Kannawa Hells. The Kannawa Hells are basically big steaming vats of water, however each one has a unique character due to the elements in it. Some are light blue, some were blood red, some where whitish, and one was just a big, bubbling mud pit. Kinda boring. I should have went to Cancun.

Tori at the Ocean Hell.

The Ocean Hell.

Cherry blossoms make me a little fruity. I didn’t think there were flowers in hell.

The Blood Hell was disappointingly not bloody enough.

Hell is nothing but boring, bubbling mud pits.

On the 28th, we took a bus and ferry from Beppu to Hiroshima. When compared to other Japanese cities, Hiroshima is very well designed. The streets are wide and the downtown district is very lively. It’s surreal to think at one point we had wiped the city off the face of the earth. In Hiroshima, we went to the Atomic Bomb Dome, The Atomic Bomb Museum, Mitaki-ji, and Hiroshima Castle.

The Atomic Bomb Dome at night.

Hiroshima at night.

What has Japan done to me? I guess the peace sign is appropriate for this photo.

For more photos of the A-bomb Dome, click here.

A picture from the Peace Memorial Park looking at the A-Bomb Dome. You can barely see it, but in the middle of the picture is the Flame of Peace. The flame will remain ignited until the last atomic bomb is destroyed.

A recovered watch stopped at 8:15, the time of detonation.

For more photos of the A-bomb museum, click here.

In Hiroshima, we also we went to a lesser-known temple in the area called Mitaki-ji, “The Three Waterfall Temple.” It was a nice peaceful area. It was nice to go someone not crowded with tourists. Here are a few photos from the temple grounds.

The Mitaki-ji grounds had some nice bamboo. I decided to show off my monkey climbing abilities.

For more photos of Mitaki-ji, click here.

Just like many of Japan’s other castles, Hiroshima Castle was rebuilt after World War II. Many people were in the Hiroshima Castle Park having the usual springtime cherry blossom picnic.

I’m getting tired of cherry blossoms. They’re all around me, I hear about them on the news everyday, and everyone keeps talking about them. Maybe I’m not Japanese enough to really appreciate them.

For more photos of Hiroshima Castle, click here.

On the 29^th, we took a ferry over to Miyajima to stay the night. The next day we visited Itsukushima-jinja, the large gate, and Mt. Misen. Miyajima is considered one of Japan’s three most beautiful sites. Thanks to part of the island being a nature park, the island hasn’t been ruined with annoying tourist development.

It’s funny to tell Japanese people I like to eat deer since deer are sometimes considered sacred animals.

The view of the ocean from the top of Mt. Misen.

Wildlife is too tame here.

This is the Reiko-do Eternal Fire Hall. The fire in here is said to have been burning for over 1200 years and is the same fire used to light the Flame of Peace in the Peace Memorial Park.

For more photos of the Ootori, click here. For more photos of Itsukushima Jinja, click here. And for more photos of Mt. Misen, click here.

On the 30^th, we returned to Hiroshima and then took a ferry from the Port of Kure to the Port of Matsuyama on Shikoku island. I wish I could have stayed here longer, but the start of school prevented that. Since I was in the area, it was worth just hoping over to the island to say that I’d been there for a day. Dogo Onsen is the most famous onsen in Japan. It has a long history and was used at the model for the onsen in the anime, Spirited Away. Although a little touristy, Dogo Onsen was a good experience.

For more photos of Dogo Onsen, click here.

While in Matsuyma, we also went to Matsuyma Castle. Matsuyama is one of the oldest original Japanese castles. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, it was a weekend, and the park was full of cherry blossom watchers. A common springtime event is to plan a picnic with your friends and have it under the cherry tree. I knew this was a popular activity, but I didn’t realize how popular until I witnessed it first hand. Matsuyama is a huge castle. While in Ehime, we also tried out sanuki udon. I guess I’m turning Japanese because I’m starting to listen to recommendations to try the local dish. It’s supposed to be the famous dish in the area, but my barbarian, foreign tongue could not detect any difference between the special udon and all the other udon I’ve eaten.

For more photos of Matsuyama Castle, click here.

After that, we went back to Hiroshima to catch the bus back to Shinjuku. We were waiting at the shinkansen exit at Hiroshima station for our bus home, but evidently not at the right place to see the bus. Fortunately, the bus driver called me and I was able to find him at the bus stop before departure. Another 10 hour bus ride later and we were back in Shinjuku.

At school, I’ve had to talk about my vacation too many times. Next time, I’ll write a summary in Japanese and send it to everyone as a memo. It’ll save my throat a lot of pain.

So, school is a lot of chaos. In Japan, the teachers do not stay at the same school for years on end. The ones that stay at the same school are the secretaries, nurses, and tea lady. There are three new teachers and a new principal. One of the new teachers replaced the young guy at my school. She used to work for a company, but decided to change to teaching. I’ll have to find out more about her motivations later. Her English is spot on since she has done exchanges in New Zealand, England, and America for a total of about 2 years. My new principal has nasty, creepy teeth. When he talks to me, I can’t help but stare into the abyss.

March 7th was the Shingen-ko Festival. It is a big festival in Kofu in which about 4000 people dress up as samurai and do parades all day. I basically hung out with my friends all day watching all the activities. I could have participated in the festival, but I never heard about the sign-up. There’s always next year… oh, wait. Nevermind. Kofu was the home of Takeda Shingen, a famous samurai. NHK (Japan’s national television channel) recently produced a show called Furinkazen. Furinkazen was the slogan of Takeda Shingen and is a shorten form taken from Sun Tzu’s Art of War. It means “Swift as the Wind, Silent as a Forest, Fierce as Fire and Immovable as a Mountain.” Thanks to the show, more tourist are coming into the Yamanashi area.

Takeda Shingen with his troops. Samurai support JR Railways.

Tom Cruise ain’t got nothing on me.

If Natalie wants a J-guy, she won’t have any problems.

For more photos from the Shingen-ko Festival, click here.

This past weekend (March 14th and 15th), I stayed over at my former principal’s house. On the 15th, I participated in a festival in his town. It required me dressing in a yukata (a summer-time kimono) and wearing some sexy make-up. Along with other people in the village, I helped carry a 400 kg spiritual thingamabob from one temple to another. Not only did we carry it, we had to stop every so often to dance a little jig with it on our shoulders. Parents would take their kids under the spiritual thingamabob and back for good luck/health. It’s two days later and my shoulders are still killing me. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I don’t have any pictures from the festival. Too bad, because I was super hot in my make-up.

Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

Sasuke is a crazy obstacle course show that comes on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It puts American Gladiator to shame. Only two people have actually completed this crazy course. One is Makoto Nagano, a fishermen. Recently, Sasuke has been translated for English speaking audiences and is known as Ninja Warrior in the U.S.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

No, I haven’t been killed by ninjas, been in a fight with Godzilla, or caught up in the middle of Yakuza gang war. I’ve just been very busy with school and living it up. It’s been almost a month since I’ve posted, so a lot has happened since then. So, I’ll briefly summarize it:

February 24th: Geekdom - My friends and I took a brief daytrip over to Tokyo. My friend was hoping to buy a cheap, used Macintosh in Akihabara. He ended up not buying one, but I ended buying a nice iPod video. Now, long train rides aren’t as boring. We also found a really nice jazz bar near the south exit of Shinjuku station called Four Roses. It takes its name from the Kentucky bourbon of the same. The owner was real cool and the atmosphere was really low key. The collection of jazz and spirits was excellent.

My other photos of Four Roses were crap, but I think this accurately captures the atmosphere.

March 2nd: Akeno Junior High Office Party – Another drinking party to alleviate all the stress of work. My drunken coworkers always teach me the most interesting cultural aspects of Japan such as where I can find the best prostitutes in Tokyo. My principal also told me that his daughter likes me a lot and that it would be okay to marry her because I’m a gentleman. She’s only 15. SCORE!

March 3rd: Here Fishy Fishy Fishy – After the drinking party, I ended up staying with my principal at a ryokan (a traditional Japanese hotel). I thought I would end up having a free day to catch up on things, but I ended up go fishing with him. You should never upstage the principal and I did good job of that. He caught four fish to my measly zero fish. That evening, I went to a fundraiser for a friend whose mother’s house burnt down and had a jolly good time.

Doryou Waterfall (Dragon’s Breath Waterfall)

Maybe it was still too cold to fish.

To see more pictures from fishing, click here.

March 4th: An Epic Day of Travel. After my morning run, I got a call from two of my friends. They had taken a train an hour and a half in the wrong direction. One of them needed to meet his parents at Narita Airport in Tokyo, but also needed to pick up things from his house in the middle of nowhere before meeting them. This resulted in an epic drive up, around, and under the mountains of Yamanashi to get my friend to his house and back to the nearest train station. Thanks to the power of metalcore music, we got him to the train in time.

March 9th: Freezing in Kiyosato – I picked up a friend from Uenohara at Anayama Station and then traveled up to my friend’s apartment in Kiyosato. Kiyosato is a village in the Northern part of Hokuto almost on the Nagano border. It’s up the mountain and so it is a fewer degrees colder than where I live even though I’m in the same town. We spent the evening watching movies and hanging out. We stayed the night so that we could wake up early and go to Nozawa Onsen in Nagano for snowboarding.

March 10th: Buttcrack of Dawn – We woke up at 5:30 to make our way to fabulous ski slopes up North. We grabbed a quick breakfast from the 7-11 and took the Chuo Expressway. A lot of snow had melted, but the top of the mountain had a nice blanket of snow. I spent most of the day helping improve my friends snowboarding skills before I abandoned her to recklessly race my friends down a red course.

Although Natalie wasn’t ready to wake up, but once I told her that there would be plenty of hot, single Japanese males she changed her tune.

Too bad I don’t have a photo of me doing my patented 360-tailgrab-faceplant.

The top of the restaurant says that “We Like It On Top!’ So do perverted Westerners.

What do you do when waiting for a friend at the bottom of the slope? Make horrible looking snow titties.

March 11th: Sonny Bono – Another full day of snowboarding. It snowed all night and day, so we had fresh powder for a great day of snowboarding. Since marked courses are boring, we took our adventures off into the words. Jumping off hillsides, boarding through valleys, and navigating wooded areas was awesome. These were my last runs of the season and I made the most of my time. In America, I’m going to have to try out the Rockies. I ended up getting home at around 10 o’clock and then going directly to bed.

The sign says, “Go this way to break your neck.”

I think we got a little lost.

Gareth and Shereena chilling on the mountainside.

To see all the snowboarding pictures, click here.

March 13th: Graduation – The 3rd years (equivalent to an American 9th graders) have reached the end of their compulsory education. The graduation ceremony is during the middle of the day and is full of formalities. I wish you could have seen the number of times the students had to practice standing up, sitting down, bowing, and walking in. There were a lot of speeches, singing, and crying. To give you an idea of the formality, when the principal gave a speech, he first bowed to the prestigious guests (superintendents, police chiefs, etc.), then walked up on stage and bowed to the Japanese and city flags, and then bowed to the crowd. When he finished speaking, he did this in reverse order. I think I may have thrown my back out of place with all the bowing. After the graduation, the students gathered in their homerooms one last time to take pictures together and sign each other’s yearbooks. Since Japan likes to make things complicated, the school year isn’t over. The 1st and 2nd year students still have classes until spring vacation starts on March 23rd.

Everything followed an exact plan. Many things were measured out, counted, and checked two or three times. A little excessive, but at least I didn’t have any responsibilities besides helping carry in the heavy graduation sign.

I’m glad this isn’t a big school or all this bowing would have made the ceremony last all day long.

I make this suit look good.

This girl is too short.

Check out those sweet kicks.

To see all the pictures from the graduation, click here.

March 13th: An Uninvited Quest – One of my former classmates is hoping to teach English in Japan. He has several interviews lined up, but needed a cheap place to stay. He is staying at my place until my spring break. I’m such a nice guy.

This weekend is yet another fun filled weekend. Saturday night is a pub quiz in Otsuki with a jaunt over into Tokyo. Sunday, I have an international dinner in my town. Sunday evening, I have dinner plans with my Japanese friends and my friend from college.

Next week is the week before spring break. It’s basically a very lazy week. My spring break is going to be quite awesome. I’ll be spending a week down in Kyushuu, Shikoku, and Hiroshima. On the 24th, my friend and I will take the night bus from Tokyo down to Fukuoka. The bus ride is 14 hours! We’ll stay in Fukuoka one night and then we’ll head to Mt. Aso, the world’s largest caldera. From there we’ll stay in the famous onsen town of Beppu. From there we’ll be taking a ferry over to Hiroshima. From Hiroshima, we’ll visit Itsukushima-jinja, and finally visit Shikoku. I’ve gone more places in Japan than most Japanese people have.

Now, for you moment of Japanese zen:

Evidently, I’ve been getting a lot of perverts to my sites after I made the post about Asuka Izumi. Why people are looking for “hot 13 year olds in thongs” or “hot 13 year olds nudes” completely blows my mind. So, to get a classier set of pervs coming to my site, I’ll post pictures of popular, busty Japanese models. The first one is good ole’ Aki Hoshino. I’ll just let the pictures and videos do the talking.

The following video is great. Nothing like watching three Japanese idols try to get candy out of a bowl of milk. Japanese television is fantastic.

If can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJDUL5v2Bx4

Cleavage zoom in? Check.

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j4LN6ObdhE

This is a video of her on a Japanese variety show. It’s quite funny.

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hdwq6sPzoA

My trip to Hokkaido was an epic adventure.  The Sapporo Yuki Matsuri was one of the most fun things I have done during my stay in Japan.  There was so much to see, do, and eat.

My travel companions, JD, Grace, Natalie, and Brian, during our first night in Sapporo. Later that night, we had to make a mad dash back to the last train to get back to our hotels. Sliding across snowy roads and hopping over cars should be an Olympic event.

A picture of downtown Sapporo just outside of Susukino Station.

A major Japanese city would not be complete unless it has a tower. Godzilla has to have something to tear down.

The mammoth snow sculptures were amazing. I can’t imagine the amount of time and effort it took to complete these detailed works.

An Antarctic themed sculpture.

Japan loves Disney stuff a little too much.

I was told that snow had to be brought in this year since there was less snow than usual. The amount of snow on the ground could have fooled me. It snowed everyday while we were there.

There were also MANY smaller sculptures.

If you want to see more pictures of snow sculptures, click here.

The name of this restaurant was Ebi Kani Gassen. It was one of the many all you can eat crab establishments in Sapporo. My primitive land-locked taste buds could not comprehend the awesomeness the fresh crab. It was by far the best crab I’ve ever eaten.

A hairy crab that we named Harry the Crab. Because of his tough exoskeleton, Harry would later become a star at the Yuki Matsuri. Thanks to my charisma, a British girl’s purse, and a daring escape plan, we were able to get Harry back out in the wild.

So, Spongebob looked a little lonely. Since we had convinced Natalie to stow a crab in her purse, we decided to put it to good use. The crab was the perfect addition to the sculpture. Previously, no one was stopping for the sponge. For some odd reason, everyone had to stop and look at the crab. “Eh? What’s this? A crab?” Watching everyone whip out their camera-phones and cameras to take a picture of the crab was priceless. We probably wasted a good 10 to 20 minutes just laughing at the photographers.

The victory pose for scamming Japan. Actually, this was our effort to traverse the Sapporo rail system by means of three-legged race. We were quite successful.

One day of the trip was spent snowboarding. This is the view of Sapporo from the top of the Teine Ski Resort.

Too much rock has been known to cause avalanches.

You don’t have massive piles of snow? Well, you can suck it.

Natalie decided to make a mockery of her homeland’s lack of snow.

I can’t believe we taught these kids how to say, “Suck it, Britain.”

To see more snowboarding pictures, click here.

The entrance to Sapporo Beer Garden

The Sapporo Beer Museum

The history of Sapporo Beer. They learned their techniques from the Germans. Sapporo has been around for about 130 years.

A brief look at the poster ladies throughout Sapporo Beer’s lengthy history.

The Sapporo Bear asked for a kiss. I obliged.

If you want to see more photos from the Sapporo Beer Garden, click here.

Two wild and crazy guys.

Ice mazes and slides! Too much fun at the Sato Land Site.

Getting lost in the maze makes you freak out.
For more pictures from the Sato Land Site, click here.

The last thing we did in Sapporo was go to a club near Susukino Station called A-Life. We were there from eleven until it closed at six in the morning. I had my dancing shoes on all night. We took the morning subway back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, then took the train to the airport. The hour and a half on the plane was the best sleep, ever. For pictures of other good times in Sapporo, click here.

Hokkaido was definitely one of the more interesting adventures I’ve had while in Japan. I plan to go to Hokkaido again this summer and check out the more rural areas there. Hopefully, I’ll have more time to try out some of their famous onsens.

Now, for you Japanese moment of zen:

A while back, Justin Timberlake was interviewed on SMAP’s (a famous Japanese boy band) show SMAPxSMAP. I caught the rerun a couple of weeks ago. The interview was fairly funny. The expressions one guy makes when he is trying to come up with something to say in English is priceless. They jokingly created a collaborative effort called “Jusmapping.” Justin sings “Sexyback” by himself, but then the members of SMAP join in with him to sing “Rock Your Body.” An okay effort on Justin’s Japanese counterparts. I wonder if I sound that bad when I sing in Japanese.

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPDD_3NIjr0

• “Wear u updates be, dawg?”
• Shut up. I’m busy.

I would’ve updated earlier this week, but I’ve been busy with various things during the evening this past week. Meeting people for dinner, tutoring English, work, and studying take up too much time. However, other than teaching and hanging out with friends, the only other big thing I’ve done lately is go snowboarding at Hakuba Goryu in the Nagano Prefecture. It was a great weekend of snowboarding and debauchery. I’ll definitely be going there again.

The snow at Hakuba was excellent. We went up Friday night (Jan. 26th) and stayed at the Hotel Lady Diana. During the night, it snowed and we had about eight inches of fresh snow in the morning. Then, it continued snowing all day at the resort. The fresh powder was excellent. Here are some pictures from the first day of snowboarding.

A picture just outside the Hotel Lady Diana.

Too much snow.

My fellow snowboarding companion, John.

Mid-afternoon, it finally cleared up to provide a splendid view of the area.

Later, we hit up a nice outdoor onsen in the area to relax after a full day of boarding. We then had a decent dinner at the hotel before preceding to party the night away. The highlight of the night was meeting a young married Japanese couple who were apparently swingers. I promptly gave the guy instructions on how to hit on the nearest blond haired foreign girl. He put forth a good effort, but ultimately failed. Poor guy. Oh, well. No time to fret. I had another day of snowboarding ahead of me.

Just chillin’ on the second day at Hakuba

John’s a dirty Mexican.

The view from about half-way down the advanced slope.

Saturday and Sunday were both very crowded. There were also many Europeans here on vacation. I saw some Brits, French, Germans, and Russians.

A decent view up the slope.

If you want to see the rest of the pics from Hakuba, click here.

This week, I had a dinner party with a few of my teachers from the elementary school. The usual shenanigans occurred.

Today, I went snowboarding (again) at Koumi Re-Ex in the Nagano Prefecture. John and I met up with Rumi, a teacher from Akeno Elementary School, and her friend. We tore up the slopes from eight in the morning till late in the afternoon.

John, Me, Rumi, and the Ski Ninja (I couldn’t remember her name)

The big plans for this week are to go night snowboarding on Tuesday and fly to Hokkaido on Friday. The trip to Hokkaido is going to be awesome. I’m looking forward to checking out the fantastic snow sculptures at the Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival), sights in Sapporo, and the slopes at the Niseko Ski Resort. I’ll be going with a few other friends from Yamanashi. It will be an epic adventure.

—Random Thoughts—

Every now and then, I discover something interesting. Marty Friedman, a former guitarist for Megadeth, has been living in Japan for sometime. I can’t remember the name of the show he was a guest star on. However, I found out he has his own show on TV Tokyo called Rock Fujiyama. He also has own studio in Shinjuku. Too bad I’m never up late enough or around to watch it. It would be nice to have his level of Japanese skill. Here are some links to some more information about good ole’ Marty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Friedman_%28guitarist%29

http://avexnet.or.jp/marty/

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/fujiyama/

Now, for your Japanese moment of Zen:

This is Shoko Nakagawa. She is better known by the nickname Shokotan. Although she is a singer and actor, I think she is more famous for being a female gamer/geek. This makes her the wet dream of many otaku. However, her love for her video games (she wants to marry Dragon Quest V) and her cats kinda creeps me out.

If you can’t see the video, click youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJhi7TOXmC4

Shokotan is also a well-known cosplay model.

Meow indeed.

If you feel like looking at a bunch scribbles, you can read her blog at http://yaplog.jp/sdtrawberry2/ I can give you a brief summary: it’s here talking about her damn cats too much.

You can go to her official website at http://www.nakagawashoko.com/to hear her sing, but it’s nothing but a bunch of clicks and whistles.

Japan is crazy. I love it.

This past Friday (1/12), I went out to celebrate the New Year with my Japanese friends Sakamoto, Kei, and Kouichi. We had an excellent time. Even though two guys had to get up at six for work, we were out until three in the morning. Work hard, party hard.

Me, Naomi, Maiko, Takashi, Sakamoto, ?, Kei, and Kouichi.

Kei and Sakamoto.

Naomi, Kei, Me, and Maiko. Naomi was a nice girl, but she was definitely not the sharpest crayon in the box. How can you think Brazil is near the United States?

Sakamoto can still be a sexy man even when making ridiculous faces.

This was the location of the “second party” that we were at until three in the morning. We went through a maze of back-roads to get here. If I were to try to drive there on my own, I do not believe I could find it. Besides the food, the best thing about this place was the excellent Grover book in the back.

Sunday, I went snowboarding for the thousandth time. John (another ALT in the area) and I went to a nice intermediate ski resort. It’s a area for practicing. Occasionally, we would hold some conversation with other people on the ski lifts. We had some intellectual banter such as how delicious strawberry milk is. This ski resort is only 40 minutes away, but we found out some people came all the way from Tokyo. It’s a nice place, but I wouldn’t come all the way from Tokyo to go skiing there.

Me and John at Chateraise Ski Resort.

A nice view of the Yatusgatake mountain range.

Teaching at the elementary school is awesome. The kids are super energetic. Plus, I get to hear crazy things. Kids coming up to me and saying, “Come on, baby,” “Erotic,” and “OH, BABY,” makes my day a brighter day. With the youngest students, I just play simple games such as the Hokey Pokey…

Karate or Hokey Pokey Big Fever? The Big Fever was an addition by one of the teachers. I like Hokey Pokey Big Fever better than the plain old Hokey Pokey.

Does it matter if they do what I say? Nah. As long as they have fun.

I think that somewhere in my contract it says that I must occasionally be a substitute jungle gym. I feel like Ah-nuld in Kindergarten Cop.

This is by far my favorite picture from Japan. It’s how I feel some days.

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot more television. The other day, there was a program talking about the incidences of cancer in Japan. It talked about how America has had two consecutive years of lower cancer rates. The big reasons were increased screening and early detection. But the program went on to attribute some of the decline to Americans consuming more vegetables. This surprised me since the American waistline is definitely not indicative of a diet high in vegetables. Then, there was another surprise. Japanese consumption of vegetables has been in major decline. Since vegetables have many antioxidants that are helpful in preventing cancer, the show went on to describe the cancer fighting abilities of vegetables with some cute animations. Japan doesn’t have to worry, though. I think all the green tea makes up for it.

While I’m talking about medicine, according to this article, http://www.cogme.gov/report16.htm#sumrec, it looks like I’m going to be pretty busy when I graduate medical school. By 2020, the supply of doctors will be outstripped by demand. There are already a shortage of doctors in many areas. America’s increasing population and the time it takes to train a physician will make things very difficult. The shortage of doctors will probably push the cost of medical care even higher. Things could be a little rough for a while in the future.

I believe I’m addicted to snowboarding. I went snowboarding yesterday, I’m going again tomorrow, I’m night snowboarding again next week, and I’m spending 2 days up at Hakuba, Nagano snowboarding. I’ve got to get in top form for the Winter Olympics

Next month, I’ll be heading the Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido. I’ll fly up to Sapporo from Tokyo and spend four days up there. I’ll get to see some awesome snow sculptures, try some awesome food, and see some awesome sites. Oh yeah. I’ll go snowboarding too.

Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

A few people stumble upon my site after searching for various topics about Japan. There is a common theme, though.

• getting a japanese girlfriend
• japanese girls
• japanese girlfriend
• japanese girlfriend fantasy
• nude sexy girls
• i want a 13 year-old japanese girlfriend

That last one has been entered more than once. This goes out to the weirdo who stumbled upon my site by searching for “how to get a 13 year-old Japanese girlfriend.”

It’s Izumi Asuka! It’s Japan”s number one under 15 thong model! You want more you sick freaks? http://www.izumiasuka.com/ Too bad she’s not even that cute. Before you start flipping out, these girls are not nude in the magazines. Of course dirty old men purchase these magazines, but it does not mean Japan is full of pedophilic perverts as some people like to imagine. This is just a major difference between Japan and the West. I saw this girl and her mom sitting on some serious round table discussion the other day. I never saw anyone berate them. However, I hope that you don’t feel Japan has a massive Lolita complex. Maybe it’s too late to prevent that.

Wait. You’re still not satisfied? Here’s a video. Unless your workplace allows you to look at a 14 year-old Japanese girl wearing a thong bikini, then I wouldn’t suggest watching it. I think the soundtrack to the video is awesome, though.

If you can’t see the video, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEQYfEukb1k

I think I need to take a long shower.

Oshogatsuomedetougozaimasu. Happy New Year! Over the past week, I stayed with my host family down in Gamagori, Aichi. I arrived there on the 30th and celebrated New Years with my family. Also during my stay, I did some sightseeing in Nagoya and in Kyoto.

Since I was staying for a week, I needed to get my host family some gifts in return for feeding me and giving me a place to stay. I brought the some of the famous snacks from Yamanashi (Shinjin Mochi) and got the kids some Christmas gifts. I bought the Japanese version of Monopoly and I kind of regret it. I had to play it a bajillion times.

New Years in Japan is is a lot like Christmas. Families travel across the county to see each other, gifts are given (typically money in a sealed envelope or food), and a lot of food. Since I was staying, I got to go to New Year dinners on both sides of the family. I kinda felt like I was intruding, but everyone was welcoming.

Why do people want me to write things? Don’t they know I’m going to be a doctor? Doctors over here can’t write worth crap either. This was part of a family shodou contest that I didn’t know about. If I had known, I wouldn’t have accepted such crappy work.

Some of the family from my host father’s side. I hung out at his brother’s house (the older man squatting in the photo) for a while. He was a little tipsy when I got there. I got a lot of, “Handsome boy,” compliments from him… The funniest thing was when I was taking a photo with his wife and she grabbed my butt. Twice.

Everyone makes me look bad.

The ryokan (Japanese hotel) that my host mother’s parents own. I’ve had many excellent dinners here.

From left-to-right: Some cousin, Ryo, Tsubasa, some cousin.

A typical Japanese New Years decoration

For more pictures from my stay with my host family, click here.

On the 3rd, I headed over to Nagoya for some light sightseeing. Nagoya is a nice, well-planned city. Whoever was in charge of development post-WWII did a great job. The city is well layed out. However, there isn’t that much in Nagoya in terms of great sightseeing places. What Nagoya does have, is still nice though. The major attractions are Nagoya Castle, Osukannon, the Robot Museum, Toyota Museum, and several small temples.

Something about Japan forces me to do the stupid peace sign and look like a tool.

If Atsuta Jinja didn’t cost 1000 yen to go inside, I could have had more pictures. These are all the people pissed off about the outrageous entrance fee.

Buy 1, get 7 free. I love the faux fur and kimono style in winter.

A picture from Toganji Temple in Nagoya.

The entrance to Koshoji Temple in Nagoya

If you you seen one five-storied pagoda, you’ve seen them all.

A picture of the Higashiyama Skytower behind the the Nagoya Zoo.

Nagoya at night. Japan’s fourth largest city.

A nice sculpture just outside Nagoya Station.

The twin towers of the Nagoya train station.

On the 5th, I took a bus over to Kyoto for some historic sightseeing. Kyoto is the old capital of Japan and is rich in history (and tourists). It’s easy and cheap to get around Kyoto. However, there is just too much to be experienced in one day. I will have to make another trip to Kyoto in the future. The big places that I went in Kyoto were the famous Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) and Kiyomizutera.

Kyoto Station has a nice open air design. Too bad its freezing cold in the winter.

A picture from Ryozen Kannon in Kyoto. This is a site for the unknown soldiers who died in WWII.

These are omikuji (fortunes). People get their fortunes and then tie them to trees in the hope that it will come true.

In front of the entrance to Kiyomizutera.

Kiyomizutera is under consideration for becoming one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. http://www.new7wonders.com It’s a great place, but I don’t believe it will make the new list.

The water is supposed to bring you good health/luck. Only if the person drinking before you doesn’t have bird flu.

A crappy photo of the entire Kiyomizutera area.

For other photos from Kiyomizutera, click here.

The Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) in Kyoto. Of the places I went, this was my favorite.

For other Golden Pavilion pictures, click here.

I love Japan. Since about a month after arriving, I’d actually strongly considered re-contracting and applying to medical school again later. I probably should have waited to apply to medical school till after this program. However, I researched options that will allow to pursue both medicine and my interests in Japan. Fortunately I was able to find out about the Japanese Family Health Program at the University of Michigan (http://www.med.umich.edu/jfhp/index.html) . The program at Michigan is dedicated to serving the large Japanese community living in Michigan. Japanese companies send their executives to America for long stints of service and their family comes along. When medical issues arise, it can be difficult to get effective treatment due to communication and cultural differences. The head of the program, Dr. Fetters, is fluent in Japanese due to studying in Japan for 3 years. I’ve been communicating with him and have found research options that would allow me to pursue medicine and continue my Japanese studies. The Japanese Family Health Program at Michigan is interesting since the concept of family medicine is actually a relatively new and developing concept in the Japanese medical system. The plan would be to come back to Japan for research during the summer vacation after first year, possibly take a year off between 3rd and 4th years for a year of research, and some more work in Japan during my residency period. I have an interesting and difficult road ahead of me.

Today, I turned in my form stating that I would not be re-contracting. It was kinda sad since I’ve become good friends with my supervisor. But he understands what my career path requires. At least we have 7 more months to hang out. Hopefully, we’ll have chances to meet again after I return to America. With my busy medical school schedule it’ll be difficult to stay in touch, but I will make the effort.

And in other news, the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando, died January 5th at the age of 96.

This weekend, I’m going snowboarding again with some friends at Hakuba in the Nagano Prefecture. Nagano has some great slopes. The Winter Olympics were once held in Nagano.

And in other news, the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando, died January 5th at the age of 96.

Now for you moment of Japanese Zen:

Move over Christina and Britney. Koda Kumi rules. Koda is a huge pop star in Japan. Geeky Americans will know her from her song in the game, Final Fantasy X-2. Actually, geeky Americans obsessed with Japan would know her. The following music videos are singles from her latest CD, Black Cherry. The first video is Cherry Girl and the second one is for Juicy. Both feature effective uses for liquor bottles. If you can’t stand suggestive pelvic thrusts and dry humping, don’t watch.

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Equiso95Vfg

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGB2C84w8I

P.S.

I had an excellent Merry Hot Fantasy Christmas here in Japan. I would have posted sooner, but I’ve been too busy and not even near my computer.

This past Friday (22nd) was Akeno Junior High School’s Bounenkai (Forget-the-year Party). It’s a time for all the faculty to get together, reflect on the year, and get teetotally hammered. Ichijikai (First Party) involves everyone eating and drinking A LOT. Sometimes, the parties involve party games. At this year’s Bounenkai, we had a quiz show game over the past year’s events. There was even even a question about whether or not I’m capable of eating natto (fermented soybeans). Natto has a horribly bland taste, but I can eat it.

The calm before the storm.

If only I could understand what they say…

Check out my sweet bow-tie.

I was on Team Santa with my Principal. We totally owned everyone with my exceptional Japanese skills (I cheated). Our prize? Cheap Japanese junk.

At nijikai (second party), the party breaks up into smaller groups. The different groups go to their favorite yaki-tori/ramen/niku-yaki shops, bars, or karaoke. I chose karaoke yet again. I can’t sing worth crap, but all my coworkers think I do. So, I get unnecessary positive reinforcement. When I return to the U.S., I will receive constant jeers.

Putting beer caps in your eye and then singing takes skill. It’s a cornerstone of Japanese culture.

You can see all the pictures from the Bounenkai here.

After nijikai, those left standing always go to sanjikai (third party). This usually involves more shady establishments. I better not receive calls from Japan 18-20 years down the road…

After the Bounenkai, I crashed at my principal’s house. He has wanted to me to visit for a long time, but my weekends had been too busy. I didn’t realize that staying over at his house for one night would turn into three nights. This was just fine since the family was extremely hospitable. I got crap-tons of food, a Christmas present (underwear, socks, and wine), Christmas cake, and a lot of Japanese practice. Also, I got three free onsen trips. Nothing helps male bonding like getting naked together at the public bath. We even washed each other’s backs…. Principal Furiya goes to the onsen everyday, so everyone there knew him.

During my three day stay, I helped my principal trim back the shrubbery in their garden. A couple of trees were too tall for ladders and the principal had to borrow his friend’s cherry-picker. I was like a little kid and enjoyed riding in the cherry-picker. The weekend was also spent helping his fifteen year-old daughter practice her English and do her winter vacation homework. After describing my brother, she was said she would like to meet him when he comes over here. I’ve got plenty of other girls lined up as well. It must be his long flowing locks.

This is my principal’s house. It’s an old farm house surrounded by peach and grape farms. The house seems to have been part of a few generation of the Furiya family.

Christmas in Japan is just as fun as an American Christmas. It lacks the same feeling, but all the fun stuff is still there. Christmas songs (sung horribly), Christmas cake, Christmas dinners, Christmas lights, and Christmas presents. These things aren’t as prominent as in America, but they are there and most Japanese enjoy Christmas even if they have no clue about its origins. Fried Chicken is considered a Christmas food due the brilliant marketing of KFC. Christmas Cake is much different than an American cake or pie. Christmas Cake is like angel food cake covered with icing and fruits. Christmas Cake isn’t supposed to be eaten after the 25th. Since Japan hasn’t had it’s femine revolution, girls that aren’t married by the age of 25 can be called the slightly derogatory term of christmas cake.

Wednesday (27th), I went snowboarding with several other foreigners who didn’t go home for winter vacation. We went to Fujimi Panorama in Nagano-ken. Fujimi Panorma has the best course that I’ve been on yet. Fujimi has a 3 km course that requires a long gondola ride to the top. It was a great day for snowboarding. It wasn’t too cold. The skies were clear and the view from the top of the mountain was fantastic.

Gareth, Me, Julia, Brian, Sachi, and Shereena at the top of the 3km run.

Two Wild and Crazy Guys

Julia (from Singapore) and Gareth (from England)

Ain’t no mountain high enuff’

Mt. Fuji from inside the gondola.

The bunny slope.

You can see all the pictures from Fujimi Panorama here.

Today, I got my christmas candies from America. Only four months in Japan and my taste palette has already changed significantly. I ate only a few pieces and felt sick. American candy is too sweet. It’s a good thing I have many friends to give this stuff to. There’s no way I can eat all this. The only safe stuff would be the jelly beans, pretzels, gum, and nuts.

Thanks for all the candy. Too bad it makes my stomach turn.

Saturday, I will head down to Gamagori-shi, Aichi-ken to visit my host family again. I’ll be spending a little over a week with them. I’ll be celebrating New Years with them and taking trips to some of the more interesting things in the area. I’ll probably head up to Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto during my week-long stay.

Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

Japanese style can be very unique. For women, go-go boots are very popular. Most young Japanese girls wear the go-go boots with short skirts or short shorts.

When they wear normal boots, they tuck the pants into the boots.

Another well-known style is ganguro (literally “blackening the body”). Basically, the girls get a heavy tan and wear lots of make-up and accessories. I’ve only run into a few ganguro girls. None as flamboyant as this since the above is an advertisement. However, there are way more flamboyant ganguro girls in existence. I suppose the heaviest concentration of ganguro girls in Harujuku or Shibuya. Only a small percentage of people actually follow this style.

This is an interesting look at ganguro girls. The subtitles are decent, but not entirely accurate. It’s a pretty funny look at a niche subculture within Japan. If you can’t see the video, follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUMErw6VBU

This video is great since it shows off some horrible English. The best part is Dr. Nakamatsu’s Formula for Sexual Sensitivity. There’s a formula? If you can’t see the video, click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_eptqUDh30

I wish every one was a ganguro girl…

Old man winter has come to Japan. It’s cold. It sucks. Fortunately, I live near the mountains and can easily go try out some winter sports for the first time. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a discounted snowboard from a friend in Yamanashi. Saturday, I went with another ALT and two other Japanese friends to Koumi Re-Ex in the Nagano Prefecture. Right now, it’s fake snow. However, I didn’t really care since it was my first time. Koumi Re-Ex is definitely a good place for beginners. Also, the prices on the ski lifts are not bad. It’s only an hour away from my house, so I will most likely go there and other places in the area several times during the ski season.

My ichi-nichi-ken (All Day Ticket). It was very cheap that day since only one slope was open.

My sweet new board.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures from the ski trip. I actually forgot to bring my camera for once.

Monday, I hung out with Sakamoto and his friends (Takashi, Kouichi, and Kei) again. Thanks to them, I know some of the better places to go in my small town. Sakamoto’s mother was kind enough to drive us to the izakaya. I had the usual self-introductions. After dropping us off, she said in surprisingly well-pronounced English, “Oh, nice face!” Japanese women love me.

I love the fact that the Japanese have no clue what they’re wearing. Sakamoto is a cool guy. I am now the proud owner of this cap. Now people will know that, “This Bitch Starts Automatically.”

Takashi, Sakamoto, Kei, Some White Guy, and Kouichi. I’m the master of karaoke in two languages.

As of now, there aren’t any plans for this weekend. My first unscheduled weekend in a long time. As I said in the previous post, next weekned is Akeno’s Bonenkai (Year End Party). The next day, Tomita and I will head to Chiba for his wrestling friend’s Christmas Party. To live in Japan, one must have strong intestinal fortitude.

For winter vacation, I will probably go and visit my host family down in Aichi again. Since I will have more time, I will get to stay over longer.

On the topic of travel, I will most likely need to come back to America during the summer. Why? One of my best friends, Jon, is getting married on July 14th. Maybe I can be the wedding singer due to all my karaoke experience.

Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

It’s almost Christmas time. So, time for the Christmas videos.

This is Ayumi Hamasaki and Kyoko Fukada performing White Christmas. Ayumi’s English is okay, but Kyoko needs more practice. Since they can’t sing all of the song, they just turn it into some rock version of White Christmas and dance around. The redeeming factor is the Japanese Santa on the bongos.

If you can’t see the video click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1-nfm2uGsI

The following two videos are from a Japanese program covering W(Double You)’s trip to Tokyo Disney for Christmas. Altogether, it’s about twenty minutes. Don’t worry about missing any meaningful dialogue. It’s pretty much themsaying:

• “OHH, soooo cute!”
• “Look! It’s Mickey! Soooo cute!”
• “Look! It’s Minnie! Soooo cute!”
• “WOW! That’s sooo pretty!”
• “We’re popular for no apparent reason!”

Maybe it’s better that you don’t understand. There is some English in the video since there is some goofy English guy in there for comedic effect. Of course, there is the usual Japanese tradition of eating something and overexagerrating the wonderful experience of tasting the food.

If you can’t see the videos click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSCT1yMVvgE and this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DGWv1rOOOE

Super Spicy Ramen? Check. Naked Figurines? Check. Super Spicy Naked Figurines? Check.

Tokyo has all this and more. Once again, I had a great time in Tokyo. Thanks to Tomita’s friend, Chunta, we had a free place to stay at over the weekend. It’s nice to have several connections in Tokyo. Makes staying over a much cheaper experience.

Friday night after school (12/1), Tomita and I took the train from the desolate Anayama Station to the human maze of Shinjuku Station. We then we to Ikebukuro to meet Chunta and eat at Antonio Inoki’s Restaurant. Antonio Inoki is a famous Japanese pro-wrestler. At some point, he fought Muhammad Ali. The restaurant is quite famous and was packed when we got there. The dinner was great and I actually had a half-way decent steak (for Japan). Here are some good pictures from the restaurant. For more pictures from the restaurant, click here.

I contemplated ripping my shirt off and running into the restaurant yelling, “AMERICAN POWER!!!”

Tomita loves wrestling. Too bad I know squat about wrestling. But at least we both know Stone Cold Steve Austin. Tomita has a pro-wrestling friend (Osamu Nishimura?) who has houses in Chiba and Miami. Nishimura lives next to Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees. Evidently, we get to attend Nishimura’s Christmas Party in Chiba the day after our school’sYear End Party.

Antonia has a bigger chin than me. Amazing.

Antonio is so awesome that he catches fire when doing his signature moves.

Tomita and Chunta, my host for the weekend.

• “Hey, Adam!”
• “What?”
• “Let us order you something.”
• “As long as you’re paying.”
• “SUUUUUPPPAAAAAA HEEEEEBBBIIIIII!!!!”

I thought I was in Japan. Not Germany. I’m not accustomed to seeing mugs the size of my head in Japan.

We’re high rollers…

Tomita loves ramen. Everytime we go somewhere to eat during the week, it’s always ramen. I think he’ll name one of his kids ramen. Chunta, Tomita, and I met up with Tomita’s friend Maeko. We then headed over to one of Tokyo’s famous ramen spots. Muoko Tanmen Shinjuku has been featured on television a bajillion times. Why? It has the spiciest ramen west or east of the Mississippi. I took on the spiciest they had to offer. Just look at the pictures. It screams, “I’m going to make your poo burn.”

I ate it all. Is this all you’ve got Japan? Come on.

We then took a trip over to Tokyo Dome. Chunta works somewhere near there. The Tokyo Dome area has a lot going on. It has many shops, a ferris wheel, and A ROLLER COASTER. The roller coaster was well designed, but low on thrill factor. It needed more speed. The roller goes on top of a building, through a gigantic hole in some important building, and through the ferris wheel. It would have been been better with more twists and loops. At 262 feet tall, it is the fifth tallest coaster in the world. But it lacked any major punch. Maybe that’s why it had the pansy name of Thunder Dolphin. This coaster has the most unnecessary rules I have ever seen. I had to completely empty my pockets before riding. Lame.

They told me strike a cool pose for the ladies. I don’t believe it worked.

I paid 1000 yen for this?

For more pictures of the Tokyo Dome area, click here.

After goofing around at Tokyo Dome, we headed over to nerd central: Akihabara. Akihabara is great for good electronic deals, but I didn’t really need anything. I enjoyed browsing around and seeing some of the weirder things.

We’re too cool for Akihabara. This was just outside a shop that sells some interesting costumes and accessories. Maybe we should have worn the sunglasses inside too.

Akihabara only looks good at night.

If you think these figurines are scandalous, you should see the other ones I haven’t posted. They are more naked and ridiculously expensive. 500 dollars for a big naked figurine in compromised positions? 500 could almost buy you a Russian bride.

At least Japan knows that Rambo rules. Too bad this costs 120 dollars.

Did I buy these? Maybe. I like to pretend I’m at the beach during the winter.

For more pictures from Akihabara, click here.

After Akihabara, we went to an izakaya (Japanese restaurant) in Tokyo. Apparently, Tomita and Chunta used to frequent this place quite often in their college days. We ate some great nabe (various vegetables and meat tossed into heated soy sauce), udon, and soba. For more izakaya pics, click here.

This old man can make a mean batch of soba. Best soba I’ve had.

If someone gives the peace sign one more time, heads are going to roll.

Maeko, Tomita, Chunta, and I.

Maeko, Me, and Chunta.

Sunday, I went to Chinzansou Hotel near Edogawa. My friend, Eri, has a hobby of modeling wedding clothes. She was modeling Japanese wedding clothes that day. Here is a picture of her. I didn’t get to stay long enough to see the completed look.

I’m glad I don’t have to wear all that heavy crap.

On Sunday evening, we went to Tokyo Tower. I’ve seen Tokyo Tower in the daytime, but it is much more impressive at night. I wish I had also brought my DSLR with me. The pictures would have been better. Maybe another time. For other Tokyo Tower pics, click here.

I kept waiting here for Godzilla to come and destroy things. But he never came. He still hasn’t returned my calls.

Maeko and I at the base of the tower.

Before leaving, we ate okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is very fun. You are given the materials necessary to make your dish and then cook it yourself on a hibachi grill. It’s really simple. All you do is poor the stuff on the hibachi and and mix it around for a while.

Maeko demonstrates the way of okonomiyaki.

It doesn’t look delicious, but you must suspend disbelief and try it.

Coming back home is always a little odd. I leave the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and arrive at a train station that doesn’t even have a ticket counter. At least the air here is cleaner.

This weekend, I have a holiday party with the other ALT’s in Yamanashi. You’ll get to see some pictures of me in my snazzy suit.

Now, for your moment of Japanese zen:

I’m think about modifying my little car into a car pool.

If you can’t see the video, click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecjqzAyu4O4

Last Wednesday and Thursday (11/22 - 11/23) were spent in Tokyo. The main purpose of my trip was to see The Mars Volta. It was definitely worth the trip. It’s one of my favorite concerts I’ve been to. Two hours of nonstop playing was awesome. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the show

The concert was at Zepp Tokyo in Odaiba.

Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala

The Mars Volta. You can only see 6 of the 8 members in this photo.

Cedric Bixler Zavala

This guy came all the way from France to see The Mars Volta. That’s hardcore dedication. I would never go to another county just to see a band.

If you want to see more pictures from the concert, please click this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anwooldridge/sets/72157594382262022/

After the concert, I met a friend at the Roppongi district in Tokyo. I ate at the Tokyo Hard Rock Cafe and then went to a couple of clubs. Very fun times at the discotheque.

The next day, I purchased an all day subway pass (around 7 USD) and went all over Tokyo. Here is a break-down of the places I went:

• Odaiba - an artificial island that’s now famous for it’s shops.
• Roppongi - a popular nighttime haven for foreigners.
• Asakusa - an area ofTokyo with traditional Japanese architecture, shrines, and temples. Most were destroyed in WWII and then rebuilt.
• Akihabara - an area well-known for its electronic shops.
• Shibuya - a popular area for Tokyo’s younger set. Many shops ranging from the Gap to Gucci.
• Harajuku - an area well-known for youth fashion trendsetting.
• Shinjuku - Tokyo’s skyscraper district.
• Ueno - this area has nice shops and large open market. At the open market, a person can find many good discounts.

Now, here are some pictures from around Tokyo. If you want to see more, please click this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anwooldridge/sets/72157594394185171/

Me at the Kaminarimon Gate to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

Nakamise-dori leading to Sensoji Temple. Many shops trying to sell crappy (sometimes good) stuff to tourists.

Sensoji Temple. Notice the smoke in the middle. You are supposed to bath and inhale the incense for good luck. Or cancer. Whichever comes first.

This is the Fuji TV Building in Odaiba.

Japan shrunk our Statue of Liberty and stole it.

Japanese Stampede in Shibuya! This intersection is like this all day long.

Tokyo Tower in Roppongi.

Poor girl. Maybe she should’ve studied Kanji harder. She is handing out flier’s for one of Akihabara’s many maid cafes. The maid cafes are very popular among the otaku (geeks). The maids call the guests master and give them a royal treatment. It’s a about the closest to having a real conversation with a girl most of the geeks will ever get. Too bad they have to pay.

This store is all over the place in Tokyo. Stay safe! Too bad its catered to the Japanese market.

I didn’t have Thanksgiving, but I guess I had the equivalent of it on Friday night (11/24). It wasn’t meant to be a substitute, but I will say it was. I went to eat dinner at Kobayashi-sensei’s house. He is a teacher from Oizumi Junior High School in Hokuto. I went there with Kazue, Megumi, and another ALT, John Tejeda. It was big dinner. Sushi, salad, udon, tofu, chicken, and vegetables. No turkey, though.

Saturday night (11/25), I hung out with Tomita-sensei in Kofu. Ate some cheap ramen, went to some good bookstores, videostores, and to Don Quixote. As I’ve mentioned before, Don Quixote is a large entertainment and shopping center. At Don Quixote, we took purikura. Purikura translates into Print Club. At the purikura booths, you take several photos, edit them, and then you get a print out. The photos are adhesive. Purikura is extremely popular in Japan. We took purikura to give as a prize for our students in our elective English class. I don’t have a scanner, so you will have to excuse the quality of the photo.

Pretty homosexual, eh?

Thursday, I will have a farewell dinner with Kazue. She is returning to the United States to resume her studies there since she finally got a new visa. It was fun teaching math on the side. I guess I’ll have more time to study Japanese now.

This weekend (Dec 1st through the 3rd), I will be in Tokyo again with Tomita-sensei. His friend is letting us stay at his house. Tokyo is huge, so there is still much more to see and do.

After a long update, you are once again caught up. Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

I’m going to start giving the peace sign every time I get done taking a poop.

If you can’t see the video, click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSn9VRsZWbY