Zen and the Art of Living It Up

Going Retro...

2006-07-13T15:48:00.000+09:00

I have decided that due to my lack of posts lately, I should post some of the things I never got around to writing about....

Last year my sweet sweet Nanny came over to Japan. Jan is one of my oldest bestest friends and it was such a treat for her to come here. It was her first time to go across an Ocean for international travel, and she came by herself.. I love it. Jan arrived in Japan on my town matsuri day, and me being the evil friend I was, I asked her to travel from Narita to Arai to meet me. This was her first train experience. Jan tackled the adventure, made all the trains, somehow figured out how to calll my keitai to tell me she would be there earlier than we had thought... and although she arrived frustrated and tired to me drunk and clad in a yukata on the platform, she was a great sport about it. I wouldn't have put her up for anything that I didn't think she could do... and I am talking about one of the strongest most clever girls in the world here..

During her visit, we did lots of things, but being the outdoor goddess she is, at her request, we climbed several mountains...

since you couldn't be there with us, enjoy the scenic view (of a year ago)
This is of a local mountain, Yoneyama

isn't it just lovely

in the heavens

practicing my mantra~

the shrine

in the yoneyama shrine

jan and the shrine, no shirt, no shoes, no~

yoneyama summit

hot, sweaty, sexy, and on top of a mountain... one of three down... (we climbed Myoko-San and Fuji-San also)

jan kicking up her feet after the climb in the mountain hut

2006-07-13T13:53:00.000+09:00

CHINA

2006-05-09T12:07:00.000+09:00

back safely from china, had many great experiences... climbing the wall, dancing all night, scoping the scene with my girls, seeing the forbidden city, being held at mini-celebrity status, having my camera stolen (well not so great), talking freely in Tiananmen Square about things that Chinese people aren't even educated about such as the disaster of 1989, enjoying delecicies in street stalls, and playing drinking games with tiger penis liquor...oh what great fun it was...I will update as soon as I have pics (thanks in advance liz and tiff) and time to write out my stories....

Bai Wu Yi Shi

2006-04-25T10:24:00.000+09:00

I leave for China with Liz and Tiff in THREE DAYS!! I am uber-excited...while reading some news and browsing some sites, I ran across this, the Chinese Idiom of the Day~ BAI WU YI SHI ~ It means ~
"~No Danger of Anything Going Wrong ~ No Risk at All ~"
I think that is a great sign!

TWISTER AND HANAMI~ who knew!!??~ Great day recap

2006-04-18T10:08:00.000+09:00

Ohanami + Twister = loads of fun.....

I had the day off work yesterday, and it was a gorgeous day!!

I got up at 7, made breakfast, picked up Liz and took her to school from the station, took strawberries to the BOE just for the hell of it because it was such a nice day, went to lunch with Liz, got the girls to go straight from work to the park for Hanami with the three of us, (hanami is cherry blossom viewing) ....I got the beer, and for kicks I brought Scrabble and Twister, we played Scrabble when we got there while sitting under the trees and catching interesting stares from the other Hanami attendees, we got cold, debated about leaving, walked around got some food, the beer kicked in, met some new friends, talked about going to the Haunted House, drank, talked, ran into old friends, broke out the twister game, played and laughed our asses off, missed the train home, said screw it, noticed the haunted house was closed (our new friends promised they would take us), got sad, yet not deterred, snuck into said haunted house, (thanks tiff for your umai knot untying skills) ran around haunted house, safely returned from haunted house to tarp, lights of park went out, we realized how long we had been there, decided to leave~ 7 people 3 bikes..went to nakamachi, new friends got pulled over by cops (we were riding bicycles- two at a time wa dame) played a game of darts, had a night cap, got a date, retired to Tiffs house, caught early train in the morning, made it to work...and am just sitting here thinking "WOW WHAT A GREAT DAY THAT WAS...LIFE IS SWELL!!"

me getting cold at park

Liz, also cold at park, looking cute in her pigtails...

Tiff, enjoying a beer at the park, behind her you can catch a glimpse of a traditional Japanese Hanami drinking party....very different than ours....

and now....

2006-03-31T11:32:00.000+09:00

MC Hammer has a blog . yoshi~

For Those of You Unfamiliar with the Pleasures of Sushi

2006-03-24T10:03:00.000+09:00

How to Eat Sushi

The Truth About Sushi

check out these videos, they are sure to please....

おいしいそうだね！ doesn't this look delicious??

2006-03-22T11:54:00.000+09:00

Last night, I got a surprise visit around midnight from my friend Takahito. He brought me this sushi that he made for me as a gift. Doesn't it look fabulous...too bad, it is sitting in my fridge until I get home this afternoon to eat it for dinner. (Well actually I have already devoured one of each for a succulent breakfast...it is melt in your mouth, sushi wonderfullness...

if you are ever in town, I will have to take you to his sushi restaraunt, he trained in and specializes in delicate japanese cuisine that is drawn out over a long relaxing meal....the place has no menu, it is always omakase, chef's choice, so you are at his mercy (and the mercy of his father and mother who also are there socializing and running the business- don't be surprised if you are handed a plethora of random treats i.e. cookies, mikans (tangerines), sake, wine) you not only will get the treat of delicious sushi made as you chat, him forming the rice in his hands and cutting up the fish, slapping it all together, and then setting it in front of you on the counter that they have cleaned off....but you can have martini glasses full of delicacies such as ikura (salmon roe)...which to be honest I can only take so much of (and not a martini glass full)....or seared tuna with wasabi...or salmon with pumpkin sauce...or mussel soup.... the food (when served) has yet to dissappoint...that and he is one of the friendliest men I have met in Japan, when Tiff and I were going through pre-HongKong missing item trauma, he was the one who helped us out by calling the police and rounding up information....even though he can't speak English, he is a joyous person who is always generous.

this photo must be credited to Tiffany, it is from a dinner we had at sushi yoshi a while back- oishisoune!

.....great friends are so important in life...and surrounding yourself by true genuine people is even more important...I am so lucky to have those luxuries in my life...this delicious surprise topped off a rockin' weekend I spent with Tiff dancing our butts off, socializing our hearts out, having stimulating conversation, enjoying each others company, and discussing the true important things in life.... (that and we missed liz a lot too, hoping for her safe return)...

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Suess

so true. so true.

Got a New Keitai

2006-03-20T10:44:00.000+09:00

So I got a new keitai...cell phone...mobile...whatever you want to call it...and it has a ton of great features...like a 3.2 MP camera with amazing lens/antishake etc...but it is proving to be less than Eigo-friendly...so I may change it...I will know by tommorrow..then I will tell you all about it!!

Weekend Becomes Eclectic

2006-03-14T12:37:00.000+09:00

This past weekend, was a lot of fun. I got to get to know new people, I got to see people I don't always see, and I got to celebrate at a matsuri with a large wooden phallus. Who could ask for more? It was also one of those weekends that was only half-assed planned. We knew we wanted a good time on Friday, but it wasn't until Thursday and Friday afternoon that our plans got underway. Friday was definitely one of the most random nights I have had in a while.

...has nothing to do with story, but it kind of goes with it..

On Friday, we started at Nest meeting up with a guy I had met a few weeks earlier, Junichi, (I also had since forgotten about him until a drunken conversation the night before inspired me to mail him) So since it was his day off, he wanted to meet, but he wanted to bring friends (which was ok by me) but not ok by the girls since they both were pre-occupied with other people and they were worried he was going to bring the friends they had met when we met...groups colliding choto abundai ne? (a little dangerous, huh?) But after a series of emails, in which I tried to get him to ditch his friends all while trying to not make the meeting sound like a date or a gokon, finally I gave up and told the girls to suck it up, he is coming with his friends...truly the more the merrier.

So Tiff and I met at Nest, got a beer and waited... there were a couple of tables there already, one was a big group of people and one of a couple men. To be honest it was one of those times when I didn't really remember what he looked like to know if it would have been him, but they looked like they had been there a while, and he had mentioned that like me he was gonna be a bit late.

While we were sitting there a couple people came in, this one dude all nice and sexy in a suit with a bright smile. Then this other guy with dreads, who was sporting a men's kimono and those rope sandals and dirty hands, that were falling apart. Every time someone came in there was an air of anticipation, Tiff even commented on the guy in the kimono "check out the guy in the sandals and trench coat"

So finally my phone rings... I missed the call but it was him... I called him back, told him I was at Nest and asked where he was... he said he was there... well obviously I didn't see him or have it click at this point, and Tiff and I being the only gaijin in the place stuck out like a sore thumb, so he knew who he was meeting, but I was a little clueless... turns out that he was waiting outside...so I waved him on in, told him we were all meeting here at Nest to start drinking..

Tiff and I were at the bar, so we moved over to a table, because his friend was coming and so were Liz and her friend she had met in Osaka the week before. As we sat down I was surprised when his friend turned out to be "that guy in sandals and a trench coat". his name was Reichi, or just Re. We all took a big swig of our beers, nervously laughing at the situation that was unfolding.

Liz showed up with her friend, Kimihiro...who do to my lack of ability to remember names, I dubbed Osaka-chan for the night...he said he was cool with it...Osaka-chan was a little more conservative looking than the other boys, just one of those "good boy" looking guys. There was a moment when Re was introducing himself that Kimihiro couldn't catch his name. The boys, in order to explain his name started rambling off the Japanese alphabet...going "Ra,Ri, Ru, "Re" which made us a little uneasy about how this group dynamic would turn out, but it turned out alright.

as we sat there drinking, the final friend of Junichi showed up, Takaya. Liz, Tiff, and I all had that moment of "hmmm maybe we know you from somewhere", and he informed us all he had held lengthy conversations with all three of us before, at Nova (go figure). turns out he is the break dancer we see in there some times...

you should have seen the faces of our friends at Nest when they saw the collection of people we had assembled... the sight was priceless...
around the table we have me, Takaya a hip-hop breakdancer with hyper-active-energy that's through the roof, Re the dreadlocked kimono clad hippy, Junichi another ball of energy with wild frizzy hair, Kimihiro the conservative cute boy from Osaka, Liz and then Tiff both looking hot as usual.

We had a few beers, which really loosened everyone up you know. The laughter and conversation was in full flow, on everyone's parts (I think everyone got a chance to get to know each other a bit). Junichi, Re, and Takaya kept going on how cool it was to be so internationalized.

After we all got to know each other at Nest, we moved on to an izakaya. At the izakaya we kampaied and ordered food.

I tried shirako for the first time... this is the kanji for shirako 白子 the first kanji 白 means white while the second kanji 子 means children...so "white children"...another hint, it comes from a fish.....before you read on think about that for a second, what type of food could this be???

Shirako meaning white children is milt.... still clueless??

Main Entry: milt : noun: the sperm-containing fluid of a male fish

I had fugu (the dreaded deadly blowfish) shirako. So basically I ate a blow fish's sperm sack. Now, this is a pretty normal food over here in Japan. So the shirako really wasn't all that bad. I had heard it was completely awful. Maybe it was the beer that helped me out, but i had seconds and then thirds. I will say I don't think it is something I would crave or order on my own. The taste isn't what makes it crazy it is the texture... you break through the soft skin and the sperm explodes in your mouth, and then as you chew the consistency of the liquid turns chalky like...then you finally have it were you can swallow. It definitely is a bit odd, but I am glad I had the experience.

So while we were at the izakaya Tiff's friend, Hase, showed up. He is a bit older than the rest of us, but not much older (35ish maybe) and he owns a ramen shop in a town about an hour and a half away. I felt kind of bad, he shows up to this eclectic ensemble of people, and we were all already drunk. But he was a good sport about it all. The boys also had another friend show up, he was one of those bling bling open white shirts blonde guys. I didn't really get to talk to him too much, but what I gathered is that they were all old friends and it had been a while since Re had seen everyone. Good times. All in all the evening was great.. Tif went home early. And Liz and I dragged everyone else to Nova for a party that turned out to be a bunch of highschoolers celebrating graduation, we definitely weren't the oldest in the club, but definitely the only teachers. Liz retired home so she could go boarding the next day (but that didn't happen because they missed the train- Osaka-chan came all the way from Osaka to go boarding...ha!) But Junichi, Re, Takaya, blonde hair guy, and I stayed and danced for a long time...I honestly have never seen a funnier site than a dreaded man in a kimono breaking it down.. I retired home, and got ready for the next days activities.

Hodare Festival

The next day the girls and I drove up to Tocchio for a shindig put together by Michelle and Kelly. It was a great time. Saturday night we went to Kelly's for a party. There was a great collection of people gathered, everyone up for a good time. After the food was served, Michelle, being the darling MC she is, broke out a game. We had a good time doing various activities competing against other teams; we had to trade clothes with a partner, play a round of I have never, musicless lap dances, do a round of clap, clap, snap; and I can't remember the other activity...I suck..or it could be because I was making tea kettles full of french martinis to enjoy... we then went to karaoke, which I didn't survive very long at, so I got a cab and somehow managed to get back to Michelles, where I was told Liz came home, attempted to spoon me, and I was having none of it.. no recollection, I was obviously asleep..

The next day was the Hodare Festival. The Hodare Festival celebrates fertility and the worship of a large wooden phallus. It is known around town as the penis festival. I finally have some pictures, so here you go....

these men are hammering the living daylight out of some rice which is over a fire. They are making mocchi. This is how you would make mochi until about 50 years ago when the machines were made to do it. Mochi is sticky rice cakes..I really enjoy it.. I brought some home for Christmas. .

We got there too late, so we missed the ceremony of blessing the girls, but after the ceremony you line up to pray at this shrine.

After praying you walk across the stage, where you are given a branch of leaves and sake to drink out of a plate. The man in the orange is wearing a hapi, which is typical fashion for those participating in matsuris (festivals) the man in the gold robes is the priest like figure who blesses and performs the ceremony on the girls and the wooden phallus.

It may be decieving in the pictures, it was not raining, but pouring snow. Here in Japan the snow is so wet you use an umbrella to keep from getting too wet- although me and my comrades were drenched through.

after everyone is done praying to the penis, it is brought out of the shrine and put upon a wooden contraption made to carry it. It is tied down with rope and the girls who are wishing for fertility set upon it and are carried around town. After that you can get upon it yourself and be carried around (I am too shy for that, but I know some people who were up there riding it around)

a cup of sake with fish in it

After the festival, we went to plant 5, for the first time. Plant five is like the Home Depot/ Super Target of Japan. I took special interest in the crazy t-shirts they had for sale. here is a tastse of them....

...leftover crack..

a cap from Destin Florida, something you would maybe buy if you were actually in Destin Florida?? but instead you need only to travel to Kashiwazaki Japan to get one...

and we thought other countries hated us??

this is only a small bit of the selection of cup of ramen available.

or you can get some constraining underwear that makes your butt in jeans look beautiful by any angle..

...I had a great weekend, with great people, and great friends....

i will later try to get some pics off Liz for Friday night (she was the only person with her camera out)

いいあんばい！！ II Anbai--> Good Feeling...

2006-03-06T08:36:00.000+09:00

II anbai, is hougen (local dialect) for a good feeling...

Today, instead of a typical ohayou gozaimasu, I was greeted with an open armed, running start, gigantic hug from my third year student, Misato. It was great. Hugs are a rarely practiced in Japanese society. It is such a good feeling to have an effect on someone in such a way that they are willing to step outside social norms, and venture into an area of thought or action different from others. It is moments like these that make me so happy I am here, teaching in Japan. I have learned so much from my students, and in the simple instance of a hug, I can tell my students have learned as much from me.

Today is graduation.

Everyone is working in natural hectic fashion. Preparations for this Junior High School graduation are intense. There were four days of shortened lessons last week to prepare, and one day dedicated to just cleaning the school and graduation and singing practice. It really is a big deal, and after three years of hard work and having to prepare for other classes to graduate, the third year students really deserve this day to go smoothly, even if as a few of us sit here sipping our coffees, the rest of the school appear to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

I must tell you. It is a great feeling to see these students graduate. But I am really, really, really sad to see them go. I love my third year students. Now they can be a pain in the ass sometimes, I mean they are at that age, 15. Some of course are just too cool for school. I totally relate to these kids, I was there once, so I have a good time with that attitude. Now that I have been teaching for a while, I honestly think back to what a little tyrant I was when I was 14. Especially to foreign language teachers, of which I have now determined to be one of the most difficult subjects to teach. A lot of the time you have no clue what is going on, and if you, as a student, fall behind at all, you are so doomed. And on top of that, who can understand the practicality of learning a language at the age of 12?? Not many students; other than those who want to be politicians, writers, or rock stars--> but many of my students are destined to take over the family land and be farmers or baby makers in this little corner of Niigata. Other than the immediate desire to talk to me, or to understand something they have seen written or heard, my students have very little reason in their mind to need to learn English. And as many reasons as I can come up with; travel, meeting people, film, music...there are those students who honestly aren't interested in leaving this area. There are actually people who never care to leave thier little corner of the world. This has always amazed me, but you find people of this nature in most countries. I remember one time I called home and a lot of my extended family were gathered at my house. Other than my close family (immediate and grandparents), the rest of my family has spent most of thier lives in very rural America. I do come from Kentucky, which is a rural state in and of itself . It was interesting to me though, because when I called home, one of my relatives mentioned to me, "Wow, I have never talked to someone on the phone in another country. "

What different lives my relative and I lead. I have very little desire to stay in one place for a long time. I find that I get stir crazy quite easy, and am always looking for the next adventure. And here my relative is content and happy on staying close to home, barely even ever venturing to cross the river into Indiana. To be honest, in some ways I admire these people, and their ability to be so content doing the same thing day in and day out. They never do seem to be bored. They go day by day saturated with the simplicities. I try my best to enjoy the simplest pleasures of life, the first bits of sun in the morning, the sound of rain, a good surprise snowball attack, the comfortable silence while with loved ones. It is life's simplest pleasures that bring us the greatest joy, ne? But, I see that in my life, as shy as I am, I yearn to meet many people, and nurture my passion I have for learning and sharing. I think I have now found an answer to the question everyone here seems to ask, Why did you come to Japan? "I came here to learn from everyone I meet."

And these students, as they leave here today, may have no idea how much they have enriched my experience teaching here. They are the ones who make my day.... Misato's hug, the whole student body's excitement, and the way they go out of thier way to share with me their feelings and happiness, there is no better feeling than that.

II anbai!!

いいあんばい！！

Inside Tokyo....

2006-02-26T14:17:00.000+09:00

...東京 ...

Tokyo...Oh how I love that city.... Every time I go it makes me want to stay forever. I always have the craziest time and meet the most interesting people, and rock the night away...I really do belong in a city...But for now, going to Tokyo is such a nice way to escape from my snowfilled rice paddy surroundings. All I have to do is jump on the train, catch the shink and be whisked away for a wild weekend of fun...

...The wintry wonderland I escaped from...

This time the girls and I had a bit of an agenda....We went to see Franz Ferdinand at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. So in typical fashion, I left right after classes, met the girls on the train (always with a loud and boisterous "wooohooo"), caught the shink to the city, checked in at Shiba Park Plaza, our trusty hotel friend in Tokyo, flirted with the hot young porters as they gave us a very unneeded setsume (explanation) of our room; how to turn on the lights, the tv, etc.; cracked open a beer as we threw on our rocker clothes and dolled ourselves up, we ran down and caught a cab, and showed up right on time to the venue.

Now this venue is like the venue of venues in Japan. It is the ichiban, the powerhouse, the Madison Square Gardens of Japan. Located very close to Yasukuni Shrine, this is the venue were the Beatles introduced themselves to Japan, were Dylan recorded his Live at the Album, it is famous for being large, aesthetic, and earthquake resistant, it was originally built for the Judo competitions of the 1964 Olympics, but is used for many things today. The place was huge, cramped with people, and the concert was completely sold out.

the nippon budokan

The Magic Numbers, a band I have been digging lately, were opening. They were already on by the time we entered the venue with our beers. The tickets we had, were seat tickets. Now, if you have ever been to a concert with me, you pretty much know that I am not one who likes to sit down amidst a sea of people and nod my head to the beat. No way. I will be busting ill moves, bopping away, enjoying every ounce of music the show provides. I was that girl who was standing during Bob Dylan (his recent stuff is blues, who cares if you are 60, break it down..) I was that girl who probably obstructed your view at Clapton.. but my opinion is come on people, it is a show, I pay good money to go and enjoy myself, the band is rocking out, give the band some energy and stand on up....

As we walked towards our section, keitai in hand as a flashlight, I was amazed that no one, ok well very few people, were up moving...It became a concern, for we were there for a rock concert, not a symphonic orchestration of Do You Want To. I threw my stuff in my seat and went down the stairs a bit for the Magic Numbers set, almost no one, not even those on the floor were energized for their set. After a short break Franz came on, the place was now packed, so I returned to my seat with the girls, and we stood on up and danced the night away to a great set from the sexy Scottish Rockers who started off the show saying , "Playing at the Budokan is an unforgettable moment in the life of a band," It was great to be there for that milestone.

franz ferdinand raibu (live) at the budokan

Now dancing in cramped seating area is not ideal. But it is a lot of fun if you can get the people around you moving. And we were having a blast. But there was a moment. If you have ever been up high at a arena, like say Rupp, where it becomes steep, that is where we were. And the girls behind us were enjoying themselves a lot, and werdancingng. All I know is that one girl, lost her balance and fell onto Tiffany who was standing in between Liz and I. As this girl catapulted forward she used Tiff to break her fall, therefore sending Tiff into a jetting forward motion. In a split of a second both Liz and I grabbed Tiff, to save her from what seemed to be a possible tumbling down several rows of chairs in the budokan.

But the evening turned out great. Due to the insanely early hours shows start in Japan 6:30~7ish, they also tend to be very short, ending anywhere between 9 and ten... so after the show, we had a whole night ahead of us! We followed the flow of people to the Metro and caught the train to Shibuya, an area of Tokyo that is frequented by the hip young Japanese crowd, and is also a great place to find a club.

as a way to reduce sexuaharassmentnt on the trains, they have introduced a new women only section on thTokyoyo metro

On the crowded train, I discovered a new favorite past-time of mine, making faces at the grim looking old salary men (not the hot young ones).. I found myself wedged over by an old man, and entertained myself making faces at him and watching him react by trying not to react... it really is a lot of fun, I suggest you give it a try.

shibuya (as stated by the trainI i just love the way that stop is announced)

The girls ended up at Club Harlem in Tokyo.Thisis is a club known well for "above-ground hip-hop" music. I love that, above-ground hip-hop..Itit cracks me up, but it is the way they say mainstream...I mean to them it makes sense, we do have "underground hip-hop", so why not have "above-ground" hip-hop?? I mean you do hear "above-ground" sometimes, but it honestly is more oftereferreded to as main stream. I shook my ass as long as I could, and headed on back for a nice lie in on Saturday morning.

in the quiet area near Shiba Park Plaza

Saturday was nice, I got to sleep in, then go get a coffee in the morning while the girls slept a little more (their nights were a bit wilder than mine :) After that, I met up with them and we went to have lunch. We ate at Kirin City, which offers a varied line of Kirin products, of which I was too futsukayoi to enjoy.

and it even offered the following... sounds absolutely delectable doesn't it...

After that, from what I can remember, we went back to the hotel to get ready for our Saturday night. That is what it is like sometimes when you have becomaccustomeded to traveling in Japan to enjoy the night life; a typical cycle.... get ready, party, return home after the club closes and the trains start back up, pass out, eat, possibly nap, get ready, party, repeat.. it really is great...

So we got beautiful, and caught a train to meet my friend Waco. Waco is an absolutely stunning person. I completely adore that girl. We met her in Shinjuku in front of Studio Alta, a very common placamongstst the young Japanese to meet friends for a night in Shinjuku. A block away from Kabuki-cho, this leads endless possibilities for the night ahead.

gotta love Japanesese girl who is willing to chug: Waco and Tomoe

and dance...have no clue what Tiff is teaching her, but I have a horrible series of the two breaking it down...

It is always a lot of fun to meet friends in Tokyo, they usually know interesting places to try out, or cheap izakayas... and Waco is one of those special people who is just so sweet, she brought us all chocolates for Valentines day... she is too caring... It was also nice to see her because I got to hear about her plans to get married in Guam on May 5th, and then her move to Nagasaki.. I will be sad when I go to Tokyo and she will no longer be there to visit :( But I will just have to visit Nagasaki :)

The night rolled on, the big beers flowed, amongst other various kakuterusu (cocktails)...and then it was time to say goodnight, the girls returned home on the last train, and we caught thtrainan to Shibuya for another night of dancing. This time we hit Vuenos for some hip hop and booty dancing... returning home in the morning, with a beaming smile after a great night out, we then slowly packed up our things and returned back to snowy Niigata.

~Heading To Tokyo~

2006-02-10T10:52:00.000+09:00

~~I am heading to Tokyo in a couple hours with two of my closest and craziest friends on this side of the Pacific~~ It is going to be a blast~~ only three more lessons to go....

...On a side note, sorry I have been so slack lately...I have been busy at school and have been lazy at home...

To Skeet or Not to Skeet

2006-02-07T13:53:00.000+09:00

My san nensei students want to learn pronunciation differences between sheet and seat.. so I am making a worksheet with a group of rhyming words to practice... here is what I have...

sheet, seat, sweet....street, sleet, skeet...

can I use skeet? It is type of shooting game... but....??

I can just see the lesson now...
sheet, sheet, sheet, sheet, seat, seat, seat, seat, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, street, street, street, street, sleet, sleet, sleet, sleet, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet.....

will I be able to contain my laughter?? I truly just know too much slang for my own good...

this is not as bad as Dave's rhyming practice....
sang, sang, sang, sang, gang, gang, gang, gang, bang, bang, bang, bang.....

2006-02-01T14:19:00.000+09:00

he wants to go to "gamu senta"
but I told him I am busy, so we are going to "play" tommorrow during hiru yasumi ;)

Tanoshimi!! 　楽しみ！

2006-02-01T13:10:00.000+09:00

So I got a big date tommorrow...it is with my ni-nensei student, Ishida-kun.. he is in the bad class I teach...he is a doll... he was sleeping and I woke him by playfully laying my head on his desk too, and he woke up, and asked if I was free tommorrow and if we can play... by the way that is how they say hang out- strange huh... "can we play tommorrow?" I told him, yes I am free and asked him where he wants to go... he told me he would think about it and come to me at break...I will have to let the little one down easily, we always laugh together and have a good time I am sure he knows I was joking... (but I am also pretty sure he has it for me)... you know in this country it is strange how much ballsier the younger kids are... if only they were a few years older...

明けましておめでとうございます！HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2006-01-17T08:21:00.000+09:00

So I just got back from a whirlwind two week visit to the States. First time in 18 months, stirred up some strange feelings... Here are a few of my observations...

日本　vs AMERICA

(in no particular order)

10. Pumping my own gas...most stations in Japan are full service, meaning you don't have to leave your car nor touch the pump which leaves you with that fresh, impossible to bottle, scent of gasoline, you pay through your window, and you are not required to tip...I have become so accustomed to this that I nearly forgot how to take the lid off the gas tank when I needed to refuel my rental car.... and I sure don't miss standing there shivering in the freezing cold while I pump! But I have always said that holding that valve is quite an invigorate experience.... After deliberation of that point, I still have to go with Japan on this one.... So...POINT 日本!

9. Driving on the right; This is a given, it actually came back more easily than I thought it would (as I sat in my sisters car as the passenger, in what would usually be my drivers seat in Japan, I was worried that it would be very difficult to get back in the swing of driving on the right).. With my heart beating faster, I pulled out of the rental lot, but kept steady with my mantra... The driver is on the inside of the road, the driver is on the inside...) I must say that I felt people took right turns much slower in America, and you do see a lot more cars with different color doors or crunched up sides, which I have never seen in Japan... but as the driving on the right came back to me, I saw very little difference at all... so for this one, I must call it a... DRAW

8. CAN I GET A BEER OVER HERE!!! This may have been the most annoying thing... Having to wait to actually get served, in the States there is no yelling over a server when you need a refill, no calling out Sumimasen when my drink was half full... no one waiting on me hand and foot... WHAT!! Why has this quality of service that I have become so accustomed to in Japan not caught on everywhere else in the world?? (and this is coming from a girl who has had professional restaurant serving experience (I was always on top of my section though) But in America... There I was out of water, I had been out of water for a while...I sat there trying to make the necessary "eye contact" and get the attention of the server, who was just chatting in the corner with her co-worker... I was dying to yell out "Sumimasen" and get my water, that would have been much more convient than sitting there parched, and I would have been a more satisfied customer. POINT 日本

7. Being a short girl. In Japan, I am not short. I am also not tall by any means either, Japanese people who are sterotyped as being so short are actually quite sizeable. I expected a lot more from all the stereotypes you see in the media. But my first night in America, reality hit me again. There I was in the bar, amidst a sea of people, and on average I was at the height of most peoples shoulders. On average in the States, I was short! It really was a reality check. Maybe it is the lack of bars in which you have communal socializing, or it was the fact that other than rushing through the streets or on a train you typically are not in a social environment with many people standing around talking (the few exceptions are dance clubs and events or PTA)..but I really did feel short, and it was surprisingly different..I kind of liked being able to duck by shoulders and under arms to navigate through the bar.. POINT AMERICA..

6. Varieties of Beer; In Japan you have two types of beer; beer and black beer... now for me, a person who prefers darker more flavorful beers, I like my options... so it was nice to have more options than just "beer" and "black beer"... now I admit you can find good beer, and I like the beers they offer here, but I loved being back in the land where you got your pilsners, your ales, your stouts, lagers, your micro-brews, your imports...all on tap!! none of this looking around for something other than a Heineken or Kirin...now that was very refreshing... POINT AMERICA

5. Being able to read , now this is effected by the fact that it has been extremely difficult for me to learn kanji. In Japan I have learned how to live being illiterate. I look at pictures on medicine boxes to determine if it will cure me, I memorize my grocery store in order to find products... I struggle with menus taking a long time to figure out what I want to eat and limiting myself to about half (if even that much) of the items offered (although the lack of reading menus has helped me, being the indecisive creature that I am) But all in all I must say that it was nice to be able to look around and know exactly what everything is, without having to peak my head in and see for myself...and for that reason....POINT AMERICA

4. Friendly, After my stream of visitors everyone said, "Wow everyone in Japan is so nice" And I began to agree with this... that was until I realized that the whole everyone is nice thing is true, but not everyone in Japan is as nice as they could be... really... On my connecting flight between Chicago and Saint Louis I really realized this.. as many people put their carry on luggage in the overhead bin, everytime if it looked heavy, someone would offer to help. My bags were even light and this man next to me immediately offered to help with my bags or at least ask if I need help. This is not common in Japan! You can sometimes see an old lady walking down the road with a heavy load, and two able-bodied men next to her who do not ask if she needs help. Or you can be dragging all your suitcases down the stairs and people with empty arms walk by, and don't even bat an eye. One time in Takada there was an old lady trying to carry too much, and I offered to help her. She didn't take my help, probably because she thought I would run off with her things because this kind of friendly gesture is unheard of in Japan... for this (and I can't believe I am writing this) I must say the friendly vote goes to the States, POINT AMERICA

3. Tipping.. why oh why is this in our American culture?? Can't we just even up the pay scale on all occupations? After waiting forever to get served at a bar, I forgot to tip, and then I had to run back through the crowded bar to leave my tip.. I also saw people around me be shitty tippers...now if this were my friend I would have said something to them, but really leaving 3.76 on your reciept in order to even it up to be 60$ on your 56$ bill is just ridiculous. I had the same server as him and she rocked! Her name was Louise..now if you are leaving a place and you know the name of your server, you know she was good at her job...she was fun, and made hefty reccommendations, and even comped a drink for this guy (I saw her do it) and he left her less than 10%!! WHAT??! You would think that in a society built on tipping, that at some point you would get a lesson or two on it...without having to work in the service industry.. but you still have it, your good tippers and your bad tippers, and then you have JAPAN where you don't even have to tip at all... I will say that it is much easier to do that.... so POINT 日本

2. People without inhibitions / Getting hit on.... Oh how good it felt to be able to speak to anyone about anything...before I even arrived in Saint Louis I had 3 new friends and had 3 great conversations with those interesting people... one at the baggage claim, one waiting for a flight, and one in route to customs... and then you have the bars...how long had it been since I had actually met ahot man while trying to flag down a bar tender at a crowded bar..18 months... it was nice to walk into a place, and know that you have the ability to be curt, sassy, witty, and sarcastic... wow how glorious.. (I will say conversing in my groutesque japanese is also fun..but..I gotta give this one to the states) POINT AMERICA

1. Credit Card Friendly environment / true universal cash cards.... now I know it causes debt.. but I think the main reason it is nifty is it reduces the amount of cash you are always carrying on you... and if you are getting ready to travel internation from Japan, that means all your travel money... this leads to the main draw back to Japanese banking systems is that your cash card only works in JAPAN... come on now, become global all ready!! I can use my local bank card from the States at an ATM in a post office in Japan, but my bank card in JAPAN doesn't even work at all the ATMs in Tokyo... this really needs to be corrected and fast... POINT AMERICA

日本　３　 America 6 Draw 1

Now there are many reasons that I love each country, and this isn't to say that I love America more, but these are fresh in my mind differences after returning to my home land on things that really stood out to me....

and on another note, another thing I

Reality TV... I never thought I would say I missed it... actually I would instead say that it wasn't that I am missing reality t.v., but it is all the pop culture I am missing out on due to reality t.v. Watching reality t.v. with my friends really put into perspective how much I am missing.... "So there is this girl who was on Tyra Banks show~ America top model~ and she won or was runner up or something, and then continued her reality t.v. star streak by being put in a house with all these B list celebrities, where she fell in love with a Brady (the guy who played Peter Brady / the youngest one), and then they moved into a house together and are getting or got married and they are passionately in love despite the 40 year age gap..." or something along those lines... and all this derived from one tv commercial on VH1... whew! who knew so much was going on in America, the only thing I hear about in Japan is about what's his name Bush?

I bring you a taste of Japanese TV

2006-01-15T14:40:00.000+09:00

While at home, many people had many questions... and a lot of people inquired what Japanese television is like. Other than your CNN (the only channel not in HI Definition) you have your typical shows, which tend to be bunch of people trying food and exclaiming "Oishii" or traveling and exploring new corners of the world (actually mainly Japan) But the thing most people at home are interested in is anime and game shows... check out the following links for your very own taste of Japanese TV...
crazy anime
crazy game shows

~ENJOY~

雪があるよ！We got snow!!

2006-01-13T14:36:00.000+09:00

Here are two articles from the Japan Times and a photo regarding the incredible amount of snow we are having..last year everyone was amazed because it was the most snow in 15 years, well this year has outdone that with the most snow in over 60 years (well that is what they are saying) (sorry the whole death toll thing is a bit morbid, but the article about the snow was interesting..)

GSDF troops are called in to help dig outHeavy snow expected to continue in wide areas as death toll rises to 63

NAGANO (Kyodo) A Ground Self-Defense Force unit in Nagano Prefecture was dispatched Saturday to help deal with heavy snowfall as the Meteorological Agency warned that snow will continue blanketing northern and western Japan.
By 5 p.m., more people were confirmed to have died due to snow-related incidents, bringing the death toll to 63 across 16 prefectures since the snow season began in early December, according to a Kyodo News tally based on reports from authorities. The number of people injured came to 1,040 in 28 prefectures.
Public transportation was affected, with the Joetsu Shinkansen Line suspending operations temporarily and the Tokaido Shinkansen Line experiencing delays, affecting some 130,000 people.
The GSDF Matsumoto garrison sent its disaster relief unit to Iiyama to remove snow in the first such mobilization of a GSDF unit this winter. It is the first time Nagano has received such GSDF assistance since January 1981.
The Nagano Prefectural Government issued the request Friday night.
About 100 GSDF personnel began removing snow on roads so ambulances and other emergency vehicles could pass, and around houses that could be isolated due to snow, garrison officials said.
Niigata Prefecture also asked the GSDF on Saturday to send a disaster relief unit to the town of Tsunan.
In Iiyama, more than 200 cm of snow had accumulated as of 8 a.m. Saturday. The Nagano Local Meteorological Observatory forecast up to 70 cm of snow for the area between Saturday and Sunday.
According to the Meteorological Agency, cold air of minus 30 to 40 degrees is expected to pass over western, eastern and northern Japan as a strong winter pressure pattern emerged near the country.
Some areas saw accumulation of more than 300 cm. As of 5 p.m., Tsunan recorded 357 cm, the city of Myoko in Niigata Prefecture 324 cm and the village of Nozawaonsen in Nagano 309 cm. A total of 34 observatory points had marked new snowfall records for the month of January by Saturday.
Up to 70 cm of snowfall was expected by 6 p.m. Sunday in Niigata and Nagano prefectures, 50 to 60 cm in Hokkaido and along Sea of Japan coastal areas in the Tohoku region, and 30 to 40 cm in Gunma Prefecture, the Hokuriku region excluding Niigata, the northern Kinki region and Gifu Prefecture.
The Japan Times: Jan. 8, 2006

Blizzard deaths hit 81; weekend thaw in works

NIIGATA (Kyodo) The nationwide death toll from the recent blizzards rose to 81 Thursday with the finding of five more bodies, and helicopter relief and airlift operations were hampered by poor visibility and strong winds.
Residents shovel snow to keep the road in front of their houses clear.
The Meteorological Agency meanwhile issued an avalanche warning to snow-packed areas because it expects temperatures to rise nationwide from Friday to Sunday.
The number of deaths from snow-related incidents since December rose to 81 in 17 prefectures Thursday after a 75-year-old man in Yamagata Prefecture died after being buried in snow and four other men were found dead in Fukui and Gifu prefectures.
The body of Yasutaro Oba, 75, was found by his house in Mamurogawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Wednesday buried in snow that had fallen from his roof, police said.
The other four men died in similar accidents sometime between Dec. 18 and Jan. 11, according to the Fukui Prefectural Government.
In Nagano Prefecture, a chopper planning to carry a medical team to an isolated part of the village of Sakae was scrubbed due to bad weather.
The Ground Self-Defense Force meanwhile entered its third day of snow-relief efforts, working to clear a key road linking a Niigata Prefecture town with a Nagano Prefecture village that have been isolated since Sunday's record snowfall.
In Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, nine elementary and junior high schools held ceremonies to mark the beginning of the school term, two days later than scheduled.
One branch school, however, postponed the ceremony because a police helicopter that was to carry teachers to the isolated school was unable to fly due to strong winds.
The Japan Times: Jan. 13, 2006(C) All rights reserved

yet there are people freaking out over the LACK of snow on Mt Fuji, oh japan...
Experts say no reason to worry about lack of snow on top of Mount Fuji

The top of Mount Fuji is covered by little snow on Thursday. (Mainichi)The surface of the ground at the top of Mount Fuji is still exposed due to a lack of snow this season despite record snowfalls in other parts of the country that have killed dozens of people and disrupted transportation systems on the Sea of Japan coast.This winter's first snowfall on Japan's highest mountain was observed on Oct. 11 last year, 10 days earlier than the previous year. Japan saw an extremely cold New Year's Day with a massive amount of snow falling in many parts of the archipelago.Nevertheless, there has since been little snow on Mount Fuji because of a lack of precipitation in areas along the Pacific coast of the Tokai and Kanto regions in central and eastern Honshu, the Meteorological Agency said.The amount of rain in December was zero in Shizuoka, as compared with 59.6 millimeters on average, and 3.5 millimeters in Tokyo as compared with the normal of 39.6 millimeters, according to the agency. Mount Fuji stands on the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures.There has been little rain because of a winter atmospheric pattern of western high and eastern low. The atmospheric pattern causes cold winds to blow from the continent into areas along the Sea of Japan coast. Since such winds have gathered moisture after absorbing steam from the sea, they form rain clouds. The rain clouds develop into thunderclouds after hitting mountains in inland areas of Honshu, bringing heavy snow to areas along the Sea of Japan coast.The winds that become cold and dry after causing snowfalls then blow into districts along the Pacific coast.Even though it has snowed on Mount Fuji this season, the snow was blown away by strong winds caused by the winter atmospheric pattern.The Shizuoka Local Meteorological Observatory forecasts that the winter atmospheric pattern will ease from Friday to Sunday and allow a low-pressure system to pass along the south coast of the Japanese archipelago, possibly bringing snow to the Tokai and Kanto areas."If the forecast proves correct, the top of Mount Fuji may be covered in snow," an observatory official said.Experts have dismissed presumptions that the lack of snow is a sign of a volcanic eruption."No irregular seismic data regarding Mount Fuji have been observed and its volcanic activity is quite stable. There is no correlation between snow and volcanic activity. It's simply a meteorological phenomenon," said Toshitsugu Fujii, professor at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute. (Mainichi)January 12, 2006
Copyright 2004-2005 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved

私はうれしい！ that says... I am Happy!!

2006-01-13T14:03:00.000+09:00

got a new computer for Christmas, I am in love with it!! I can even type in 日本語！大好きですよ！Still getting it lined up with my programs and personalizing it, but this baby is rocking my world right now... it has been too long...

I'm going to America

2005-12-23T07:59:00.000+09:00

いまアメリカにかえるよ！たのしみ！たのしみ！RIGHT NOW I AM ON THE WAY TO THE STATES! ITS GOING TO BE FUN. I AM EXCITEDo(^-^)o

a quick night in niigata

2005-12-17T12:46:00.000+09:00

ON THE BUS TO 新潟市 LOOKING OUT AND REMINDING ME OF WHAT I LOVE ABOUT JAPAN IN THE WINTER. TO MY RIGHT I HAVE SNOW CAPPED MOUNTAINS & TO MY LEFT RICE FIELDS FROZEN OVER WITH ICE & BEYOND THAT THE ROARING SEA. ちょううつくしい！

In less than 5 days....I will be in Hong Kong!

2005-11-15T23:14:00.000+09:00

After giving speaking tests in a cold hallway all morning, I keep thinking to myself... "Carrie four more days until the weekend, and ONLY five more days until vacation...and Hong Kong's weather is upper 70s, your nose won't be cold much longer!"

In less than five days, I will be boarding a plane to fly to Hong Kong.. what started out as a last minute good idea to jet off somewhere for a weekend (we have Labor Thanksgiving Holiday next Wednesday here in Japan) has turned into a nine day get away.

The original idea had a departure of Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, but that easily warped into us saying "well, we would want to leave a bit early on Tuesday to get in on time...then we would have to take nenkyu (vacation day) on Tuesday, and if we have to take Tuesday off, then why not just go ahead and take Monday off, and get a couple more days in Hong Kong..giving us two Saturday nights (although we arrive at nearly 11pm on Saturday, I am sure we will still go for a good wandering to check out the night life)..so now my weekend getaway is a 9 day stint in Hong Kong...I am uber excited...I am ready for some new sights... some new sounds...a little getaway...and having travelled with Tiff before I know we will have a good time... I honestly didn't think I would get away before I return home to the States in December (by the way that is booked too: December 23-Jan 8) So this will be a nice change from the cold hallway of the school and the stuttering of students taking thier speaking tests with me... (thanks Tiff for the photo)

My Long Overdue Sayonara for Beth (and a couple other folks)

2005-11-07T15:51:00.000+09:00

I have had this post saved for months, and it really is about time i finally put it up...It took forever because I had funked up the html somewhere...

It's a funny thing, life. I have been living over here in Japan for 15 months now. So that is 15 months of hearing from friends and family that they miss me. Missing someone. That has always been an interesing concept for me. I miss people, I do. It is not that, I guess it it is harder to be the person who hears they are missed, because you always question the truth of the statement, you know you are missed but really how missed are you,kana. You know, Life moves on. But recently the last three months have given me a chance to realize how much you really do miss people when they are gone from your everyday life... because in August many people moved on...

The above photo is what pops up on my phone when I am sending mail!~Everyone in the above photo has left Japan (well with the exception of Akio, because he still lives in Japan) Around the table left to right...Dave, Beth, Annie, Akio, Melanie, Laura, and Neil. Actually everyone with the exception of Laurais living in the UK. Dave has gone there to pursue his acting career, Beth moved back to be with family, Annie has moved there to be with (new) family, Mel moved back as she had originally planned, and Neil scored a sweet marine biolgy job in London. I guess I am going to have to plan a holiday to the UK. Because I miss these crazy kids~

hug at the van, last time together , we really are all a lot cuter than this, but if you have ever survived the heat and humidity of a japanese summer, a night at an izakaya with these wild girls, and the tears of a sad farewell, then you really don't know how great we are looking (well not great by any means but still)

beautiful beth .... Beth was one of the first people I met in Japan that was going to live in Niigata. We had no idea that first day that we would be living less than 10 minutes apart from each other. We discussed relationships and the fears of moving to Japan while fishing at strange things in our soup.I fell in love with that sweet Scottish accent right there atop the Keio Plaze with the gorgeous view of the Tokyo skyline.
Little did I know then that the two of us would not only live in the same prefecture, but our houses would be less than a ten minute drive (20 minute bike ride from each other)

As I sit here writing this I am listening to a Beth Ongaku Osusume, Micky Hart. Beth is one of those people who truly does light up a room when you see her, especially in Japan being the blonde bombshell that she is...I know, I know, that is such a cliche, but if you have ever been near the girl you would know that her energy is vibrant and beautiful, she truly does brighten up peoples days... Beth has a radiant aura....

I don't know if PTA will ever have a voice like that grace it's mic ever again... that sultry, sexy vixen was one of the best damn karaoke singers Joetsu has ever seen... although Mel did give her a run for the money at the Arai Maneki neko singing All I want for Christmas is You...(in September) I really miss that striking voice belting out one of my personal Beth favorites Garbage's Cherry Lips or Hey Big Spender (and baby I would pop my cork for you by the way) ...

Beth is one of those people who supplies support for her friends. She is a sensite charmer with the brightest smile and softest kisses. Never a let down to be around. I would say that a group of us here in a Joetsu can be a handful, but that girl was right up in the mix, sharing crazy antics and living life up with the rest of us. I often find myself being like this is Beth's song!! or god, she would think that man is so hot...

She is a strong woman, with the most admirable sense of independence and vigor. This girl traveled to Thailand all by herself and had a hell of a time. (On a side note.. she does have impecable luck, in flight to Thailand when the tsunami hit, and then once again in flight to london when the bombing occurred.)

She filled my year with many memories, a sexy Scotish accent, and alluring charm.

We rocked it out and scoured through the mud at fuji rock toghther..and to no surprise to each other had the same agenda for the day, dancing our butts off all day to various bands- my highlights definitely being Kaiser Chiefs and the Pogues...and then the ska tent in which we seemed to be the center of entertainment, as no one else was brave enough to dance...

on a number of occassions we ripped apart Tokyo together, probably my favorite was when we caused a stir in Kabuki-cho, caught the last train to Roppongi, danced all night, jankened over men, and all had a great time ending in Shinjuku... with various stories of sweet treats to satisfy us all from sky rises to breakfast cake to hurt knees...

or maybe my favorite was that quiet dinner we had with Akio, Waco, and Taiki...Taiki was right, Beth is one sound bird.

one of the many nomihodais we partook in, this one in the company of good friends in tokyo; Beth, me, wako, akio, taiki...who is an interesting character, he is in training to be a monk, so he only has the one outfit that he wears (he hides his clothes in his pillow case and sneaks out of the temple to meet us... Japan's culture regarding monks is very different.. more on that later...)

but the year ended too quickly and we had to say goodbyes, here is our last dinner for mel at an izakaya in Arai.

we also had a dinner for Beth in Arai, her last night in town, and being the darling sport she is, she entertained us all with her classic rendition of Little Green Frog....

and we know

frogs go...

danananana...they don't go ohohahgh~~~

we sat our cameras up and took some timer shots

crazy kids, a crazy (and teary) good bye to a woman who has touched my life, can't wait to see her again (soon)

If I could have one wish...BEAM ME UP!!

2005-11-04T00:00:00.000+09:00

well truly that is hard to answer... but if i could have a superpower or if the world needs to figure something out (other than in the means of healthcare) I think teleportation needs to be at the top of that list!!

I just got back from a rocking day with the girls... early morning nursery school halloween party, after that Liz's High-school (Yuko) Bunkasai (culture festival), and then some yaki-niku in Takada with the girls, hitting up the matsuri in Arai where i saw a ton of students and got to say hi (and told to go away as one student tried to win a lighter with a girl on it at a booth), going to the temple (of which the matsuri was celebrating) and chatting with the men there over coffee and having them teach us many things, then hitting up the sushi-ya to say hi to a new friend and cap off the night... more details to come on the events, but it all ended so fast as Liz and Tiff had to catch the last train home, so on the walk home I was thinking man, if I could have one superpower it would be teleportation...I could be anywhere I want to be anytime...head home for a happy hour for a beer, zoom by my grandparents for a chat...start the day without any hassle...end the day with less hassle... I am off to bed now, exhausted but I wanted to keep this idea for food for thought...any crazy physicists out there...work on this for me!!! I wouldn't even know where to begin, maybe some info on the Philadelphia Experiment/ Project Rainbow??

~Angelic~

2005-10-28T11:20:00.000+09:00

As I sit here at my desk writing this, I am listening to angelic voices. Really it is just my students practicing for the school music festival next Wednesday. It is amazing how beautiful the little tyrants can sound, this is a complete contrast from my typical lesson. (I have yet been able to go practice with the teachers and parents but I am expected to and going to attempt to sing two japanese songs next week in front of all my students like i did last year

Aren't they the cutest little darlings~on the left we have Sena showing off her ishou (costume) and on the right we have Ruki. Ruki was too anxious for a picture she just wanted to show off her jack-o-lantern. I started back teaching my ekaiwa this week. I really do enjoy it, but it is a lot of work to entertain small children with English for an hour. Especially since it is only three students- makes games an issue, but you just look at their cute little faces and it all goes away. Sena and Ruki's mom is in my adult class, and their english rocks... they are not shy so it is a lot of fun to play with them. I recently ran into another one of my ekaiwa students, Aira, at the grocery store. Aira saw me and screamed Eigo no Sensei (I had only taught him once thus far) and then he ran off to find his friends, and i went back to shopping. As I was browsing the various rice toppings I heard the voices of three small children yelling "eigo no Sensie, Eigo no Sensei!!!" they were running around the store looking for me...three wee ones ages 2-6. cute! they wanted to know what I was buying, and how to say miso in English, and they were completely amazed when they learned we also call it Miso.

stay tuned for updates which are on their way because I have been a busy little bee and yet again I have a hefty weekend planned full of Halloween fun and Rock Party madness

The Year Anniversary

2005-10-25T09:06:00.000+09:00

Sunday marked the year anniversary of the Niigata Earthquakes

So, It has been a year since I was wildly rocked atop the second floor of Jusco, admist swinging bras and crying kids, full of the fear that the wire racks were going to fall on my head, taken back with the realization that amidsts all the other shopping Japanese ladies, I was the only one who seemed to have learn the duck and cover technique beacausse they were all just looking up and holding on to large heavy pillars or racks. You can read my account of it back in my archives of last year. But here is a picture I never posted. This one I took on my ketai as a crowd formed around the televisions so we could see what happened. The initial report I saw was that the epicenter was in Nagano, people were buzzing that they thought Asama had erupted. Asama is an active steaming volcano about 2 hours from where I live, and when volcanos erupt, earthquakes tend to happen. I can't believe it has been a year, and on top of that I can't believe that this quake was my first of what has turned out to be many while I live here in Japan. I must say that it instills a certain type of fear in you, There are times, like when Sara, Jan, and I are in Tokyo and the ground started to shake, that you fear the worst. I honestly fear being in that city when the predicted "Big One" hits. After seeing photos of the quake that hit Kobe, which is a city, I never want to be in a city when one with the magnitude of the quake I was in last year hits. Even now, a year later, you can still see the aftermath of last years quakes. There are still schools gone, fish dead, mountain sides missing, people struggling to get their life back together. ..even though Niigata is out here in the inaka in the city like Tokyo you still can see the aftermath of that quake, since the quake, I still have not been to Tokyo without seeing people out fundraising for the Victims of the Niigata Earthquake.

My friends and I are all so lucky for our safety last year. And in a year of Natural disasters that have hit so close to home, friends, and family so many times, I am lucky that it is not just times like this that make me think of my blessings, but it sure helps resurface the feeling of "look at what has happened in the last year", what a year. I am so thankful for my safety, blessings, opportunity, friends and family that have surrounded me in my life.

The End of the Season for My Redbirds

2005-10-20T14:55:00.000+09:00

Everyday I have been checking on my team, wondering if they have won their game, last year I had enough free time to stream the games and watch them, but this year my schedule is too busy. But now the season has come to an end, the Cardinals lost in game 6 to the Astros, making it The White Sox and the Astros in the World Series. Not only that, but this was also the last season for Busch Stadium (the one we know now) There is a new stadium in Saint Louis, was how much changes in a year, I guess I will get to see it when I come home in December...

So now let's begin our travel back in time....FUJI ROCK

2005-10-03T12:00:00.000+09:00

In July I found myself at one of the largest rock festivals in Japan...

FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL.
After nearly a year of living in Japan and only seeing one live show (I saw the Scissor Sisters in February) other than my friends or others rocking out, I packed up my bag, threw together my gear, grabbed my friends and headed to Naeba Ski Resort (the venue)- which convienently is located just a bit over an hour from me here in Niigata. Tiff, Liz, Mel and I met up on the train cracked open our beers and the weekend we had all been waiting for began....on Thursday. We headed up early so we wouldn't miss a beat.

armed with our headlamps we set up camp. Then we head off into the night for an evening of fun.

This is the palace of wonder, complete with a tree made out of exhaust pipes that smoke, to a giant ant eating a car. The artists creations used auto parts. The venue kicked ass. It was HUGE, intriguing and well planned out. The one issue I would say was that it is laid out in a long straight line, making some stages way off in BFE.

main gate on the way to DJ Kentaro's set....

After wandering some, we headed back for some campsite fun and getting to know our new neighbors whom we met in route from the train who moved their gear and camped near us....

They are Uma, Nori, and Nobu.. All three dig great music which is sometimes a challenge for Japanese kids...all three are from Osaka (where I will be going very soon for four days of fun) here Nori is enjoying many many peanuts...

the campsite is set up on the ski slopes, we marked our tent with a Niigata Alberix fan, I knew that that pole we lugged from Arai would come in handy....

Friday Beth came up and joined the fun (as of right now, I have no pics of this day but maybe Beth will provide me with some.... Friday was so much fun!!
Kicked the day off with the first band of the festival. "Cake": man those guys are getting old, so that means I am too!! We then saw one of my highlights of the weekend in the Red Marquee was watching the Kaiser Chiefs. A group of my friends and I gathered up front and danced like there was no tomorrow to many tunes off of their album Employment- and if you don't have this, get it (dance/rock)..Good stuff....After getting sweaty with music love, the girls and I headed over to see another Brit band "The Music" end their set, and then Beth and I saw a bit of "Coldplay", enough to see Chris Martin thank the crowd after the opening song with a sincere "Sayonara" which most everyone in the world knows means Goodbye in Japanese...imagine a band coming out and playing one song then saying Goodbye..that's what happened while heading over to jig away in the mud and watch "The Pogues". I couldn't believe no one else wanted to go and see them. Luckily Beth was there, and we got to watch an inihebriated and staggering Shane MacGowan, reunited with the Pogues, create a crowd of craziness with some Irish tunes drenched with Scotch. The surrounding Japanese folk thought it was funny when we told them that MacGowan is speaking English, but we can't understand it at all....We jigged back to through the mud and ended up in the SKA tent, dancing away (being the center of attention as some people here have horrid shyness issues making dancing a bit difficult at times) we were exhausted and had consumed our fair share of beer at that point, so we headed back.

Only to be woken up by the rest of the folks (particularly Liz and Tif) at some odd hour...don't be mistaken by the smile, I am extremely pissed off here... I know, I know, why are you sleeping you ask?? Because Saturday was my big day...I had people I wanted to see starting at 12 pm with the last one staring at 4am, long day ne.

mama melly
Saturday was the day I had been waiting for...got to see my number 1...BECK!!! I also knew it was going to be a long day for me, as I wanted to see Laurent Garnier spin at 3am...I had been listening to both artists for ages, and had never seen them, so this was my day...

tif and me : Saturday's Shows: The Black Velvets, The Bravery, Asian Dub Foundation, Beck, Fat Boy Slim, Vitalic Laurent Garnier,

fans

waiting for Beck ....I was going nuts waiting for Beck...the roadie would tune a guitar, I would scream...Oh! He is gonna play an elecric set...Then he would tune an acoustic, OH he is going to play an acoustic set!

AGGGH BECK!!! I have waited so long!!

very very happy to see beck face ... The show was awesome!! He completely rocked out and played songs from all my favorite albums. During his acoustic set, which he played Golden Age, the band set down and ate a meal, letting Beck take center stage, and highlighting the show with latin like percussion accompaniment using the silverware and plates as their instruments.

dancing

wooohoo

show

fat boy slim spun a great set, and had a 3D light show to awe the crowd (none of us had glasses but some people around us gave me a peek.

our camp site : Sunday was also a blast. We all partied until we almost missed our train home (we actually did miss one) Sunday was a day for some surreal music: Sunday's shows: caught the last tune of the Magic Numbers, but did not see them, chilled out with Mel and saw Aqualung, rocked out with the gals and the Osaka boys to the Futureheads, ran over to the White Stage singing along with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys on the way (which really entertained the folks around us- it is amazing how many Beach Boy tunes one actually knows) and caught the end of the Doves, then I headed off on my own to the Field of Heaven and danced amoungst the hippies to a favorite of mine Yonder Mountain String Band

(gotta love the Bluegrass) met back up with Liz and Tif for a mind blowing show by Mars Volta

(catch them if you ever get the chance- unreal!) and then to top that off they were followed

by one of my favorite bands to see live Sigur Ros,

a band that is ambient, tearjerking, beautiful, even in the atmosphere of a large festival the crowd was silenced..

after that we danced into the wee hours of the morning to Milo, Peter Hook of New Order (killer set) and DJ Takayuki Serino.

Living in Japan you sometimes run into strange celebrity like photo shootsÂWe walked by this guy in this hat (the frog one Tiff is wearing) and the next thing we know we are getting our picture taken numerous times with this group of kids...I swear there have to be 15 people out there with a picture of them, us and this hat.

many many chopsticks - waiting to be recycled...next stop, paper!

the boys at the site: Uma, Nori, and Nobu : the site is set on the mountain side, so you sleep (or attempt to sleep) at a strange unpleasant angle

.
All in all the show was a completely rocking time...so amidsts the torrential downpours and the mountains of Niigata a ton of fun was had. Can't wait until next year, I am ready for those swollen dirty feet again.

(photos credited to Tiffany, Smash, and myself)

Messing With My Muse

2005-09-22T12:00:00.000+09:00

My city has new noon music and new five o'clock music....I HATE IT!!! I have grown so accustomed to listening to the same song for over a year, and from my understanding there has been the same song for eons....WHY CHANGE IT NOW??? The new song is a wierd tone, has an unpleasant ill placed rest in the middle and is just no good... why mess with me....For those who are completely confused, the music I am referring to is the music that is played at noon and five o'clock on loud speakers throughout the city...When I first moved here last July, I remember hearing the five o'clock song for the first time and opening up my windows to look out to see what it was, and thinking, man, thier icecream man sure is punctual, hitting the area at precisely 5 pm.

Ohisashiburine....

2005-09-18T17:29:00.000+09:00

It's been a long time since I have written and I have so much to write about- getting my drivers licsense, Sara and Jan visiting, mountain climbing, festivals, and a ton of parties, and some school info I guess...so be patient as I get this all together over the next week...I will organize some pics, write some stories, and give you a lot to entertain yourself with....

2005-08-31T16:40:00.000+09:00

GETTING GAS ON THE WAY TO MY DRIVING LESSON. STALLED 2X MOVING UP FOR THEM & THEN POPPED MY TRUNK 2X TOO. IT IS ONE OF THOSE DAYS.

No Matter Where I Am In the World.....

2005-08-31T12:42:00.000+09:00

When I lived in London, it was during the Mad Cow era was infecting the beef, now here I am in Japan and the bird flu is attacking the chickens.
Signs of bird flu again detected in Japanese poultry, report says
Authorities have detected signs of bird flu at seven additional poultry farms near a previously affected ranch outside Tokyo, a news report said Tuesday.
Antibody tests showed the chickens may be infected with a virus from the H5 family, and officials have restricted movement of fowl and eggs in the affected area, in Ibaraki Prefecture just northeast of Tokyo, Kyodo News Agency said.
Signs of the antibodies means the chickens were infected in the past but had survived.
Local authorities are still deciding whether to cull the birds.
Japan's Agriculture Ministry identified a previous outbreak of bird flu in Ibaraki last week amid reports that 260,000 chickens would be culled. The strain involved is less virulent that the H5N1 variety that has ravaged poultry in Southeast Asia since 2003 and killed more than 60 people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
Bird flu hit Japan last year for the first time in decades, killing or prompting the extermination of more than 300,000 chickens. Japan also confirmed a human case of bird flu in December, but no deaths have been reported.
An outbreak in June forced the culling of about 94,000 birds at another farm outside Tokyo. It was caused by the H5N2 bird flu strain, a variety not known to infect humans. (AP)
August 30, 2005

A Bizarre Way To Tell People Not To Smoke

2005-08-30T14:20:00.000+09:00

smoking sign

part one

part 2

part 3

PRIS RIST

2005-08-29T13:14:00.000+09:00

more Engrish....This lovely sign appears out in front of a salon in takada...it is a high service salon, with straight perms, and even a discount for the style conscience high school student... instead of 40 bucks a cut it is $35...bargain... once again the L and R are confused- ending up with Pris Rist, that C sound and silent E are kickers too, by the way obviously Pris Rist = Price List ..... maybe I will try it out and get my hair cut here (still have only had the one given to me by Dave and Dave and I have been here a year!) I only hope that their stylist techniques are better than their English.

Sayonara Sara

2005-08-26T00:25:00.000+09:00

I am crying. Sara just left. I want to spend more time with her. It feels like she just got here and we have been going and going. I fell asleep the last hour she was here watching a tape she had made me of Law and Order. We wer both exhausted and I so wanted one last chat, but she let me fall asleep. It sucked being woken by the cab driver and having to say goodbye. I fell like I didn't take advantage of the time she was here enough, and there is still so much I want to show her and tell her about my life here. She had a mild case of culture shock, so it took a while for her to get comfortable with everything. I think for her the culture shock goes two ways, one being exposed to something so totally different, and two seeing me in that environment living day to day and being honest (for example there are lots of times I just say "yes" even though I have no idea what was said- she laughs everytime...) I miss her, i loved showing her what life here is like, and I hope December comes quickly.

2005-08-24T20:15:00.000+09:00

いま新井かえる。月曜日京都いた。本当に楽しかったよ！あした長野いく。o(^-^)o楽しみ！

富士山 Mount Fuji

2005-08-14T11:19:00.000+09:00

ON TOP OF 富士山 RIGHT NOW. よし！つかれたよ！でも本当によかった！

Ninja Village

2005-08-12T08:31:00.000+09:00

私はにんじゃ！
＼(=。=)/∞
【】
／　＼きょう私たちはにんじゃむらいく！

2005-08-10T09:38:00.000+09:00

Jan and I went to Nagano today, after reassuring her it would never be a big deal the day before while we were on a mountain road, I popped a tire while we were away from home. Frustrated (mainly due to the rusted lug nuts and the fact we were on the side of a road on not a shoulder) we changed the tire- me working the jack, Jan working the wheel, I noticed we had a small crowd of spectators of old ladies standing in various places for the whole duration of the tire change...afterwards we went to the gas station and got it plugged, worried since the puncture was on the side that the plug wouldn't work, we drove home anyways, it worked, but that reminds me I got something to deal with...got to find a used tire- I am not replacing all four right now....

2005-08-08T10:56:00.001+09:00

2005-08-08T10:56:00.000+09:00

2005-08-08T10:53:00.000+09:00

2005-08-08T10:52:00.000+09:00

2005-08-08T10:50:00.000+09:00

yukata

ALMOST DAMED!

2005-08-05T14:27:00.000+09:00

IN にいがたし JUST ALMOST GOT DAMED ON A あたらし DRIVERS LISCENCE. SOME ISSUE WITH MY PASSPORT BEING TOO NEW. WTF? 日本はいつもむずかしいよ！

Goodbye Mama Melly!

2005-08-03T09:33:00.000+09:00

Mamma Melly, here I go again

My my, how can I resist you?

Mamma Melly, does it show again?

My my, just how much I've missed you

Yes, I've been brokenhearted

Blue since the day we parted

Why, why did I ever let you go?

Mamma Melly, now I really know,

My my, I could never let you go......

Last night I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends here. It was very sad, Melanie left for England. I will truly miss her. Mel is one of the sweetest, loveliest, quirkiest, sexiest, funniest, smartest, on-the-ball, most sensible, most organized, most on-top-of-it gals around. I don't know who will organize my time for me, or do the research when I don't feel like it, work out the train schedules, track down what we need, or remind me of the name of some person who I have asked the name of at least 1000 times before. She was nicknamed "Mama Melly" for a reason- she gets everything done for us! I will miss her calling me up just for a "chat", or filling me in on where Esmie is in the world, or talking to me about Rob, or listening and sharing stories about the random people we meet or the random boys we all have been working on. I will miss the intercultural sharing; the fact that she gets corrected all the time for saying American words, such as ketchup, while my friends at home think I talk with a British accent. Who will finish off all the leftover sauces? No one is more talented and has the ability to stick so many things in her mouth- lookout men of England! I am worried I may accidentally order a lemon chu-hi in the midsts of our nama birus and moscow murus. The goodbye was sad. Mel is the first of three of my closest friends that I will have to say goodbye to. Beth leaves next week and Dave leaves the following week. I threw Mel a small sayonara party here in Arai.. We never go out in Arai so that was good fun. Tif, Beth, and Dave were the guests, so we had a pleasant group of five. After a beer at my house we headed out into the streets with the skies flashing lightning and a low grumble of thunder- we are all obviously gaijin since none of us had an umbrella and we all discussed carrying one before we left. Our intended izakaya was closed so I thought we could try this place I had seen up in front of the train station. So, we did. It was a nice little place, after being ushered to the corner table we asked if we could sit up amidst everyone, who were asking us to sit near them. So we did, and we all immediately started practicing English and Japanese- striking up conversation. To be honest, it truly was a night as regular as any of our classic nights. We were out in full force, all of us chatting with various strangers. Dave, being the lucky solo-man was really a good sport, putting up with everything. The conversation was great, and the highlight moment comes during the discussion of Star Wars- one of the four boys we were chatting with showed off his Darth Vadar keychain, upon which I saw I started in; dun dun dun dudundun dudundun (the Dark side theme) and the next thing I knew the whole place broke into singing. (I am talking whole place- everyone in the restaurant) . After the surreal Star Wars moment, we all left. (Dave had left earlier so as to let us be I guess) We took the four boys we had been chatting with back to my apartment for the remainder of the Sayonara party for Mel. Back at my place we played a few games- one being Osama wa dare? and Mel gathered the remainder of her things together. IM taxi came early, with the precisioness that is Japanese, and we had to say our goodbyes. It was hard, I was close to tears, but did not cry, big hugs all around, but it is weird, it will never feel like that hug was tight enough or that kiss wet enough for this girl. We got a "Urusai!" (your loud!) from a neighbor as we gave Mel a farewell "Banzai, Banzai, Banzai!" kisses on the glass of the taxi, turned to sloppy smudges as they pulled away. When we went back in my apartment there was a lot of silence among the crowd of now 7. No more games. We explained to the boys how special a girl Mel is, how much we have all been through together, and how important the moments in our life we shared are. They understood. They also agreed with us that the saddest part about the whole Sayonara was that none of us know when we will see each other again. All I know is that we will see each other. So Mel, if you are out there reading this somewhere....

Until we meet again... Take Care and Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu! よろしくおねがいします! I love you!

Jan Arrives in Three Days!!

2005-08-02T10:37:00.000+09:00

Just got off the phone with Jan. She will be here on Friday. I was prepping her. I am having her come from Narita airport to my little town of Arai all by herself. Not becaue I don't love her to death, orbecause I want her to hate Japan. But because my town Matsuri is on Friday and I would have to take a whole day off work to get her, and I would rather spend that day off work with her since they are so priceless. our conversation was over an hour (and I was on the phone at work). There were lots of long silences, "you sure you are ok?"s, and even a "so you really can't come to Tokyo and get me?" moment. And of course a "ganbare! and I love you!" at the end of the conversation, of which my first year student heard and asked me about... so I told them my good friend is coming to Japan for the first time on Friday. They were excited too! Then left the room having learned the words ii tomadachi = good friend. good friend = i love you. So I got a My friend Carrie, I love you! screamed across the teachers room upon their exit. So cute. Well about Jan...That girl has some balls! I am so excited about her coming. This will be her first time to travel so far alone. I think other than our trip together to Mexico it will also be her first time abroad. And she is going at it like a wild woman, she has done lots of research and appears to be just as excited as me. Our plans are to hang out, go camping and hiking. It is going to rock! I can't wait for her to be here!

the aftermath

2005-08-01T12:15:00.000+09:00

So I am sitting here at work- 12:16 p.m.

I am barefoot under my desk.

I am barefoot because my indoor shoes don't fit right now. no shoes fit. my feet are covered in blisters and would be blisters...they are swollen too big for my indoor shoes.they are swollen and blisters and so sensitive i screamed as my pants touched them when i got dressed earlier..too much running around, and dancing my ass off for three days straight i guess....but as always it was so worth it.

I just returned from Fuji Rock Festival. It is Monday morning, well actually afternoon, I have yet to spoken to anyone at work today. Due to the inconvient train schedule between Nouetsu and Arai, I rolled into work about 45 minutes ago. So that would be around 11:30, my work hours start at 8:10...so yes, I was late, but am trying to get by without having to take nenkyu. So far so good, just got an Oh! Carrie, hello bow thing. I saw KyotoSensei look at his watch a few minutes after I got in,but I honestly don't think he truly cares. I really have no reason to be here. I am trying to keep on the DL, see if anyone has the balls to call me out on my late arrival. I doubt they will. So far so good= only three hours to go.

My eyes are fading. Upon writing this I realized I still have my contacts in. I don't have my glasses, a contact case, or rewetting drops. All those essentials are still in the pack which is thrown on my apartments floor right now. I want to walk down the hall to the English room for a short nap, but that requires shoes, oh the choices and trials one goes through...and every bit of my pain right now was worth it. I had a blast! It's not like this is the first time I pull a day like today working on just a few hours sleep from a couple days before.

LAST DAY OF FUJI ROCK

2005-07-31T18:01:00.000+09:00

FIRST DAY W/NO RAIN. ちょうたのしよ！

2005-07-29T11:43:00.000+09:00

AT FUJI ROCK! GONNA SEE ME SOME CAKE, KAISER CHIEFS, POGUES, & FOO FIGHTERS TODAY! たのしみ！

FUJI ROCK IKIMASHOU!

2005-07-28T08:46:00.000+09:00

I AM LEAVING FOR FUJI ROCK RIGHT NOW!!!! From the pics I have seen it looks like it is going to be great! and Beth just emailed saying she has a ticket for tommorrow!! Can't wait to dance for three days straight (even if I am feeling way-uner-the-weather- not going to let being sick stop me!)
http://www.fujirockfestival.com

THE PALACE OF WONDER　(C)F-8 Co., Ltd. YASUYUKI KASAGI

BOARD WALK　(C) Noriteru Ino

Sayonara....now it's time to say goodbye...

2005-07-26T12:00:00.000+09:00

It has officially been a year since I have been here. With that being said, it has been truly wonderful thus far. I have moved successfully to Japan and established a life here. Crazy. I must say that the people I have met here are some of the strongest, greatest people I have ever met in my life. I am truly going to miss being surrounded with such beauty all the time. So to those of you who are not staying and have finished your contract, all my love and best of luck with the life that lays before you. You are in my heart, so for all the times we have had to overcome our greatest weaknesses just to survive here, kiss kiss, and konpai!

How lucky am I to know someone who it was so hard to say goodbye to.

The girls, Melanie, Liz, Beth, Tiffany, and me...the whole Joetsu crew got together for a Sayonara party at Funaie. Mel and Beth are returning to England and Scotland...I am going to miss them a lot. These are my girls. We had a sad discovery while taking this picture that through all the wild, and i am talking WILD, times we have had together, that this photo was the first one we had ever gotten together for, and this is the going away party..

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

maria and i : Maria is a dancer, come writer, come driving instructor, come brilliant superstar. Recently, she has supplied me with driving lessons..I am buying her car, which is a stick, and I am in need of knowledge on how to drive it..she is very patient with me...not only when I am behind the wheel, but she has been patient in Japanese class all year too carrying the weight of the questions as I show up without having studied all week. I never got to see her enough.

chris and satako: Satako is for real one of the coolest chicks around. She is dating Chris- who has spent the year being our local Joetsu Regional Advisor. He has valiantly let us grow and become part of the community without putting his head down and shaking it in shame too often. Satako will be going to England to work for a year, and with her luck she got her placement close to the uni chris will be taking grad classes at! Lovely people these two...lovely...

me and laura : Another gal I never saw enough of...Laura and I spent days on the slope together- but she being the expert boarder she was, we only would see eachother when she popped over to the bunny slopes to visit me.. She and I also got into a stir of trouble as we were left to entertain four men from Saitama recently at the Sayonara party in Kashiwazaki... Canada watch out, this giril is TROUBLE..babe my money is on day 10.

I couldn't decide which one was hotter.

dave and i

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we all take a little bit of each other everywhere...some people come in and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same...

brooke and dave: Brooke just got great news, she just landed a job in Joetsu! She hadn't recontracted and decided around Golden Week that she was not ready to leave us! Smart girl. I am so happy for her. And then Dave, oh, Dave. I am going to miss that lovely Kiwi voice saying "Hey Carrie" as he answers my calls. We definitly are two completely different people, but the thing we share in common is a love for life and a love for others, so therefore when I get together with him it is a guaranteed good time; gonna miss those times.

me and zeshan : he's not leaving, but he is a great guy who puts up with me- I always love catching up with him when I see him.

liz ; not leaving, but damn this is hot! Spent the last few weekends chillin on the beach together.

mel looking equally as hot!

maria and jehanne so this is what hanging at a bar in japan looks like. Everyone grabs a seat on the floor, works the room, and digs into the eats with their chopsticks!

There was a special announcement..

liz and chuck: Chuck is totemo cool. Best damn ultimate player around.

dave and carolyn; obviously I missed something.
After a great party at the brand new Funaie, (and by the way I kind of already miss the old one- how are we going to meet people there now!?) We all headed to nijikai at PTA. PTA was packed with us singing....

beth and i singing Big Spender maybe? and she sang for me my ultimate Beth favorite- Garbage's Cherry Lips (Go Baby, go, go)

this girl has a voice i tell you- she's gonna be big one day..and i am not talking karaoke circuit..

tif and beth close

tif and beth

mel and tif . After all the singing we went to sanjikai (3rd party) at Nova, our local "club" and danced well until the morning, leaving only after the sun had come up.
Thank you for being a friend, travel round the world and back again, your heart is true you are a pal and a confident...(...if you don't know the tune you are missing out on a white haired classic..)

Dance Battle

2005-07-25T12:03:00.001+09:00

We topped our weekend off by spending most of the day in the in Autobacs parking lot watching a Dance Battle. I met up with Liz and Tif and sat in the hot sun watching groups of people have a dance off and show off their skillz. And boy, did they had some moves!~ (we likened our situation to sitting in a AutoZone parking lot all day watching people break dance, that is what we did essentially) Then we headed to the beach , were I spent time watching Liz and Tif practice thier routine for the next dance off *they want to enter and they have some good moves up thier sleeves- I mean, for real, I have never seen jazz fingers like theirs!* That night there was a bustling crowd out for Takada Matsuri. We hit Takada Honcho, admiring the yukatas and watched the break dancers again. Rockin'!

break dancing

It is so going to ROCK!!

2005-07-21T12:34:00.000+09:00

This is the layout plan of Fuji Rock! It looks awesome!! I am so ready to see live music. Living in Japan has had one huge change on my life, I no longer see live music at least once a week like I did in the States. I do go to whatever show is around and available, but living in the inaka (country) it is hard to come by, and going to Tokyo is expensive.... So I am going to hit one of Japan's biggest Rock Festivals...Fuji Rock...dates are 29, 30, and 31st of July! I am going with three of my best friends....it is going to kick ass!
I have been waiting years to see Beck!! He is my must see...

Finished!!

2005-07-21T11:06:00.000+09:00

So I just realized I have taught my last class until September! ROCK ON!!!! Too bad I still have to report to work everyday....But now I can concentrate on my plans with Sara and Jan!!

15 DAYS AND COUNTING

2005-07-21T08:27:00.000+09:00

My dear and lovely friend Jan is coming from the STATES to visit little ole me in Japan, she wrote me the greatest informative email telling me to get on the ball about what to do....to prepare for her...she even asked me what the deal is with the bathroom slippers!! funny....can't wait, our plans are jampacked while she is here, we are going to go mountain climbing...and hopefully climb Tateyama and Fuji- two of the three sacred mountains of Japan....

ちいさのパーテイーです (chisai no party desu) plus some other things

2005-07-19T10:59:00.000+09:00

This is the interior of my apartment. Recently I had a few people over, kind of by accident, a small dinner for Mel and Tiff's birthday turned into a night of goodtimes and laugter as a random eclectic crowd gathered for some drinks. good times though.

Dave and Dave entertained themselves with whistle pops, sent to me by the lovely Emily Weiss. Same with my beautiful, colorful, light up my day windsock. They got some good tunes out of them, but my favorite part were the cat calls definitely.

On Sat there was a going away party in Kashiwazaki were I said goodbye to many ALTs from Niigata who are moving on with their lives. Monday was a holiday, so I drove my car up Myoko to watch the Sekiyama Matsuri.

The matsuri had samurai fighting and sumo and was really cool to watch. I immediatly got frustrated however when I got stuck behind a mikoshi (portable shrine) and got out to see if there was a way around it. When I got back into my car, it wouldn't start. I decided to hang out and watch some fighting, made a I swear impossible call to my rental company (of which I think we both understood 40% of the conversation) and waited to be saved. So I paced the streets surrounded by men drunk on sake and waited. I asked around for some jumper cables, meanwhile, an old man stopped me and asked me for my keys. I gave them to him and he got in my car and immediately started it. He then said "Japanese Car! Ok. OK! Good Car! Nihonjin OK!" My only response to the starting of the car was "hontoni arigatto gozaimashita, wakaranai~!" I then drove down the mountain to home.

sekiyama matsuri

I also was in my local newsflier recently. It talked about how the kids had fun in my ekaiwa.

where i have been...i better get crackin....

2005-07-13T16:00:00.000+09:00

My good friend Tiffany had this on her blog,check it out at http://japanbystorm.blogspot.com I thought I would share my map of countries too... I better get traveling...only 17 countries, 7% of the world, and look at all those chunks of light blue, I need to hit the Southern Hemisphere....you better watch out.......I'm coming...

create your own visited countries map

create your own visited states map
The States I am doing a pretty good job on...(I did not include stopovers- or else you could throw Laos in there)

Open Mic at Memory

2005-07-11T10:07:00.000+09:00

Everyone loves a litte live music... The Joetsu crew gets together about once a month to have an open mic. It brings out all the many talents of the people who surround me here. One of the major components of being able to live as a foreigner in Japan is having a creative personality. I love watching the peeps do thier thing; Chuck on bass, Brooke on banjo or fiddle, A japanese rock band, chris and alexi beating on some percussion, sometimes we have chris from niigata on trumpet, and the pleasing voices of beth and dave. an open mic is always a good time. even for those of us who don't have a special talent to show off- we are all music lovers aren't we?
the crowd

house band

tif and carolyn

beach party randomness

2005-07-10T12:34:00.000+09:00

For mel's birthday (although she is not pictured) we hit the open mic at Memory and then headed to the beach for a big hip-hop party. We were the only gaijin (foreigners) there (of course) and we danced the night away next to the sea of japan.

the girls and i at hag

Getting Crazy and Busy in Joetsu

2005-07-07T15:20:00.000+09:00

The last few weeks have been easy, laid back. I have taken a break from constant travel and stayed in the Joetsu area relaxing and working the scene here resting up and saving money for next month when Sara and Jan come to visit me!

My friends and I fill our time with an array of activities hitting the local scene (which surprising is growing here in the inaka (countryside)- I guess it is true the area I live in is on the outskirts of the third largest city in Niigata (really that is not saying much- it is kind of like a Saint Charles, MO kind of town..with no larger city to retreat to, and Japanese) The girls and I have been busy doing many things from making our appearance at the makeshift dance club in Nest to yelling our hearts out at Japanese Professional Wrestling.

Due to our area we tend to frequent Takada's Nakamachi.. It is the street in Takada, lots of the bars are hostess bars, you can go in and get chatted to by a purty lady, and as you can see from this sign- talking can be pleasurable...lots of the places along Nakamachi are yakuza ran. The yakuza is the Japanese mafia, and I guess that it really is rather seedy, seedy but safe.

On Friday (6-24) Mel, Liz, Beth, and I hit the town. We went to Club Nest. Nest is a coffee shop in Takada. It is really the only place you can get a cappuccino or espresso that is not from a push button machine (well at least that we have discovered). They also serve cocktails, but I go there for coffee. We have gotten to know the staff at Nest from our frequent meetings there, as it is a good place to meet up before a night out on Nakamachi. The staff at Nest presented us with a flyer about Club Nest and asked us (repeatedly) to come. We promised we would.

Nest is a swanky joint; sharp white furniture accented with stainless steel, a bar area, and big open windows in the front. They share their space with a record store that sells vinyl and cds. They always tend to have good tunes pumping through the system. The one drawback is Nest is usually a little bright with all the in your face white screaming at you (doesn't bother me all the much but it bugs some of my friends). But for Club Nest, they toned down the brightness and created a small space for dancing. We were warmly welcomed upon our entrances for Club Nest. It was ladies night, so that meant two drink tickets with the 500 Yen entrance fee. Rock on. That is basically two drinks for $5.00, which in this country is nearly unheard of!
The DJ was rockin’. He was spinning a varied mix from reggae, to hip-hop, to classic rock. Every thing with a beat that made you move. So one strong Moscow mule into the night, I found myself busting ill moves on a makeshift dance floor in my local coffee shop. The girls and I constantly laughing, stirring it up, dancing our asses off were quite a sight I’m sure.

Club Nest closed down a tad early (they were suppose to close at 11:30 pm, but we found ourselves leaving a little after 12) so we headed over to Nick’s and PTA to cap off our night.

It is interesting: I would say my friends and I have definitely become a fixture on our little scene here in Joetsu. We have our places in which we frequent (as have all the other ALTs before us I am sure)
PTA’s, the small karaoke bar ran by the friendliest “Master”, Nick’s Be Café, i.e. Nicks, more of a pub-like atmosphere with a big wooden bar and darts!, Funaie, the local izakaya with an English menu and cheesy potatoes to die for, Memory Live Bar, we have our monthly open-mic’s here and visit it ocassionaly for various live music…

and then me and my girls have added a few more into the standard mix as well…
We have Nova, the only dance club in town, Tiff and I scored life-time free passes by always sitting next to the owners on our trips for a nomihodai at Funaie,
Nest, the aforementioned swank coffee house,

Hag, a bar in which ShimuzuSensei from my school is the sempei of the master- it is a tiny bar with a friendly atmosphere and CHEAP drinks! Hag is sort of our little secret, it sets along the river and is like a little hole in the wall kind of joint, this is the place we go for a few drinks and a chat, just like the others who go there: a funny fact is that the name was actually suppose to be HUG, but do to a spelling error they wound up with HAG- an acronym a few friends use for Hot Asian Men- so from HUG to HAG... oh English.....

Sleeping Sheep, another bar that sits up above Nicks with chilled atmosphere and cool interior.
All these places have friendly staff that are welcoming to my friends and me, and if you are ever in the area are worth a visit for a taste of small Japan.

Saturday was a good day. While taking a stroll on the beach, Mel ran into a guy, Takahiro, whom I had met a few weeks earlier. So she called us telling us to come down to hang out. So, Liz and I met Mel and went to the beach. Takahiro and his friends were hanging out and had some jet skis. I was inappropriately dressed in a long white linen skirt, but got taken for a ride anyway. Takahiro and his friends were really sweet- pulling it all the way up so I would only have to wade through ankle deep water to get on the back of it. He took me on a great ride on the ocean, and went back to shore. As I began to hop off the back in maybe a couple of feet of water, being a gentleman, he called to his friend and once again he took me to only ankle deep water. How nice. Yet, myself being blessed with all the grace in the world, I found myself falling off drenching myself in the only ankle deep water. I am such a fool. Always! My white linen skirt drenched to the skin exposing my cute little black knickers…lovely…I actually didn’t care that much, me being near a body of water and attempting to go close to it, goes hand in hand with me eventually falling in it… So we hung out on the beach taking in the rays and chatting and then went back to get hot for the party that night….

Saturday night was a going away party for our friend jen. She is moving to Tokyo to be with her man Tak, they are great together. We started at a beer garden, then hit Nicks, and then went to Nova where Liz and I danced the night away.

Thursday was Tiff's birthday, so we did what any special gal would want to do on her birthday, we went to watch Professional Wrestling. The Japanese professional wrestlers are not that different from American.

Except for the presentation of flowers done by the women in kimonos, I have never seen that on WWF.
Our pro-wrestling experience was quite surreal really. Our seats happened to be right smack in the midst of a large group of mentally handicapped people. Their smiles were contagious as well as thier yelpings of "Ittai-sou!" (That looks like it hurt!) The japanese are quite shy and reserved a lot of the time, but once we started screaming, the crowd followed suit (although there were some hard-core fans who had been screaming the majority of the time. We also asked around to see how many people believe that the wrestling was for real. Every fan we met believed it was. (Although like us, most japanese people know that pro-wrestling is planned otherwise there would be a lot of broken necks) right?!

2005-07-07T10:55:00.000+09:00

Engrish

2005-07-07T10:53:00.000+09:00

ekaiwa

The Japanese Name Generator

2005-07-01T14:10:00.000+09:00

My japanese name is 藤原 Fujiwara (wisteria fields) 恵美 Emi (blessed with beauty).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
The above link provides you with an electronic generated Japanese name. As you can see I did not edit the provided text for the link~ Beware...It is not all true and I have no idea what the technology behind it is, but you know, it is a bit fun. So try your hand and see what name you get, if you want you can come back and tell me!

2005-06-27T10:44:00.000+09:00

MY COMPUTER IS DEAD. I WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS IT IS FIXED

YES! IT WORKED

2005-06-24T10:39:00.000+09:00

So now, I can send text messages from my ketai (cell phone) to my blog. DoCoMo (which is my Japanese mobile provider) is not yet supported for a photos, so I will have to keep it text only..this could be fun, I can always add pics later...

2005-06-24T10:37:00.000+09:00

キャリーです。TEST POST FROM MY KETAI

A Surprise on my Desk

2005-06-21T15:25:00.000+09:00

After returning to my desk from giving a couple speaking tests during sixth period today, I found this on my desk. It was from a group of my second year students who had just made it in home-ec class, isn't that adorable?

I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet

2005-06-20T14:50:00.000+09:00

Had two earthquakes today. Both of them were quite small, they registered a 4 here in Joetsu. I didn't feel the first one, although most everybody else did. I was walking around and the wind has been strong so I really didn't notice it. The second one, I was in the teachers room, everything rattled. It is weird because the thing with earthquakes is that they ease into the big tremors, so you never know if the little ones are going to end up being big ones. So you always kind of have to brace yourself for whatever will happen next.

There was also a quake last night in Tokyo, and I have heard there was another one later in the day in Osaka... THE PLATES ARE A'MOVIN~...if you are more interested on this and want to see the latest earthquake happenings you can check out this site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/

I Hate Computers

2005-06-20T08:12:00.000+09:00

So I wrote a great post about my experiences from this weekend, and then my computer froze, losing it. I am sad, but will write it again so you can hear what it is like to experience a visit to the doctor (and not just any doctor)

Going to the Doctor in Japan...My Annual....

2005-06-19T20:21:00.004+09:00

Part of the adventure of living in Japan is partaking in the daily activities that we take for granted all the time. I still get a thrill getting behind the wheel of my car and going to work in the morning (I must say the ease of my little town sure beats morning traffic on 40). Just today, I went to a grand opening weekend of a grocery store. It was really exciting to see all the new foods that are available and to see all the patrons stirring about excited for the sales and the new selections (there was a gigantic fish- the length of an endcap refrigerator section that they were carving samples off...could you imagine getting a food sample of sashimi while hitting Kroger or Schnuks?). I would say daily I do something, which as normal as it may seem to me now, is no where near to the lifestyle I was living just a year ago, and I barely bat an eye at the differences anymore. I have gotten so accustomed to my lifestyle and the obscurities of Japan, that I, a person who loves to saturate herself in the beauty of the quirkiness of the world, find myself driving along passing roadside shrines and ricefields barely even thinking much of them. I do constantly have "Hell, Yea! I'm in Japan" moments, striking me; making me dance and sing praise of gratitude of my good fortune. I am completely appreciating the opportnity and path that my life has given me. I still love noting the asthetic beauty of everything, and I am constantly in awe of the grandeour of my experience, but I think that initial feeling that was at once so overwhelming , that nostalgic feeling of good god, where am i? has started to wear away....This thought had me feeling that I was good and settled, wondering if without the aid of visiting guests, would I ever have that fuzzy, wierd, first time experience again?.....That was , Until I made my annual trip to the gynecologist....

Caution: The following contains details of a FEMALE'S ANNUAL doctor visit...it is not intended for those who are easily disturbed by the discussion of the female cycle...so if you have no fear and don't mind knowing too much about my personal life....read on....it is detailed....

After weeks of telling eachother we should go together, my friend and I decided we would do it, we would go for our annual gyno visit. We decided on the local clinic in Joetsu due to the convience of hours on Saturday and walk-ins welcome policy.

We got out of my car, our nerves stirring, because to be honest even in the States a visit to the gyno is not the most comfortable situation, no matter how much you like the doctor, you are fully aware that they are going to be scraping, poking, and prodding at your most delicate areas. Dictionaries in tow (both electronic and print) we entered through the sliding doors into the empty waiting room. We called for a nurse, answered a few questions about the condition of our mankos*, and sat in the waiting room. We waited for seriously eons. We paid the takai 200 yen for a water, and watched pregnant women come and go, all while getting curious looks from the women, as if they were just discovering, yes Westerners also have vaginas. *manko is a horribly crude Japanese word for well, you know, a woman's vaginal area

Finally a nurse came out and called..."Kyari SaburettoSama!" (which is my name by the way)

I walked over to the door a little confused because my friend and I had made a request to go together, both for language skills and mental support, and the nurse had only called my name. So I asked, "Sumimasen, Gomennasai, Watashi no tomodachi wa TiffanySan. ishoni ikitai, onegaishimasu. Nihongo sukoshi wakarimasu. Daijoubu desuka?" Which in horrible japanese says " Excuse me, I'm sorry, Tiffany is my friend. We would like to go together please. I only understand a little Japanese, Is that ok?" The nurse said "Daijobu." So we got to go together.

When you enter the doctors office, it is quite different than that of the states. First they made my friend and I switch seats (who knows why) The area I was in was two small cubicle-like spaces connected together. A hallway runs through the back of the office, of which the nurses run around through. We sat and had our consultation with the doctor. Then we were pointed and told to go through the door.

As I passed through the door I realized I was not in the States.

There was no table to lay on. No stirrups for your feet. There was just a big pink chair!

The doctor told me to take off my pants and sit on the chair. I did as I was told.

It is never more than obvious that Japan is the land of electronics than the first time you experience an electronic gyno chair. The best part of the experience was the name...Space Natul...

So I sat upon the SPACE NATUL, resting my thighs on the I assume, thigh rests. There was an announcement telling me about the lift off, then it moves, spreading my legs apart as it lifts and tilts to the proper position. There is a click of a light when you finally are in position. There is a curtain that seperates you and your lower half, so you never see the doctor during the examination, I personally found this horrible. As you decent there is another announcement and then you go in for your landing. All in all, the experience was pleasant, but totemo omoshiroiyo!

2005-06-16T15:00:00.001+09:00

Toru, Liz and I after the Joetsu performance of Peter ja-Pan

A Typical Night

2005-06-15T09:42:00.000+09:00

One of my favorite things to do is go and sit at the sushi bar at Funaie. Many times my friends and I will go with a good size group and sit at a table, but I prefer to go with a one or two people and squeeze in at the bar. (we always tend to get set corner of the bar, but that is ok, in the end people always end up coming over near us, and it gives us a good place to view all those coming and leaving the bar)

Tiffany and I So even though japanese is pure shite, I find that everytime I sit hereI get to chat with the Tsuchi, the sushi chef that always works down where we sit and randomly feeds us odd and end items the and waiters as they scream Moscow Mule, futatsu acroos the bar. Now if you have never been to an izakaya, realize that they don't just yell it one time.... it goes in a series, so for example we will tell Akira, "Nomihodai, onegaishimasu, Moscow Mule futatsu." (Two hours of drinking, two moscow mules please) and then Akira will yell it to Tsuchi (who maybe three feet away), and Tsuchi will yell it to Ma-chan (who may also be 3-6 feet away), and Ma-chan will yell it to Hiroko (who is running around in between tables in some other corner of the restaraunt) , and then Hiroko will yell it to whoever, and then everyone in the restaraunt is running around screaming "Moscow Mule Futatsu!" This happens anytime you order, it is even greater when other people are ordering things somewhere else in the restaraunt, it turns into an orchestrated symphony of orders (sort of like they do it at a grease-spoon cafe in the states, like a waffle house, but instead of screaming scattered and smothered, they are screaming random things in japanese)

Akira...he is my favorite waiter at Funaie- I abuse him by asking him if my ecchi japanese is decent...it always brings on a great time..he likes to practice his funny English, and he gets a kick out of our presence...other than always seeing the regular Funaie employees, we also tend to run into the owners of Nova, the one club in town. Due to our constant bumping into each other, we have now been granted life-time passes to the club.

uchujin

2005-06-14T12:36:00.000+09:00

my students/cleaning crew are so cute, they teach me new words everyday by acting them out, today they taught me the word uchujin, it means alien....it was fun to guess what it was. lots of movies being named and hands over the head making faces kind of thing...

A Nice Quiet Weekend: Cheesesteaks and Mountains

2005-06-13T15:09:00.000+09:00

This weekend was a great weekend. It was a quiet weekend compared to last week. No hitting the town, no city lights, just another adventure in Japan filled with great friends. I would say that having great friends is what makes my Japanese experience all the more exciting. We are there for each other, and provide laughter for each other. We also share our knowledge of what we have learned (which is a true bonus for me since I am the slowest learner of the Japanese language by far)

So you may wonder, what makes a quiet weekend in Japan? Well I will tell youÂ.

Friday night me and my girlfriends stuffed our faces and talked like men. We were crude, rude, and had lots of stories to tell Mel from our weekend in Tokyo. We also shared with her the pleasures of a Philly Cheesesteak. Now you would think a sandwich as good as that would have made it to the meat and cheese loving country of the UK. We also reflected on how strange it was that things we donÂt crave at all in the States we get this insatiable cravings for here in Japan. A lot of it is completely unobtainable such as a turkey sandwich- or anything from a deli really- that is why we can easily justify paying 11$ for a Subway club.... buthingsss like ~ Mexican and cheesesteaks, those two items when craved can easily be made- granted they are makeshift and unlike the ones you would get at home, but they satisfy the urge.Definitelyly not El Magueys.

So the Liz, Mel, Tif, and I sat around Mel's table eating gooey gorgeous cheesesteaks and homemade potatoes and told crazy stories of backstreet alleys and meeting random strangers in Tokyo. We have a great knack at meeting lots of random people. Since Mel is not recontracting, she was not at the conference, so we took Friday evening to fill her in on all the dirt.

Saturday was beautiful. Not really as far as weather was concerned, but as far as life is concerned. A small group of us had plans to celebrate our pal Simon's birthday. He had asked us to go paragliding and mountain climbing to celebrate his aging. So he organized a crew of us to go...

If you are unaware, in Japan there is a whole season dedicated to the element, rain. And with our luck, that season up and started on Saturday. Luckily we knew in advance, so we cancelled the paragliding bit the day before... but hiking was still on. We all met at Narus in Kakizaki, a town about an hour away from me. Surprise, surprise, and a fact well worth noting...Liz and I were the first to show. Funny how when I show up first or early somewhere, everyone else is late. Shouganai. We sat there as the sky was pissing down rain, looking at each other saying are we really going to do this? All of us knew it would be a good time, but all of us were kind of like, ~hiking up a mountain, in the rain, can't we just go do karaoke somewhere and save this adventure for another day?~ because that was the if it rains backup plan. But...No, this was to be done! We wersummittingng the mountain, rain or not, and surprisingly we were all up for it. (Granted I did my usually are you serious huff, but everyone knew I would do whatever, seems to be a character trait I am just starting to notice)
So we all braved the elements and started up Mount Yoneyama.

The hike was easy, no scaling rocks or anything of that sort. There was a well trodened path, lots of stairs, and even natural stairs or worn divets made on rock near the summit. We would come to clearings that would offemagnificentnt views of the inaka Dave sang me the tune he wrote for the last openmic that I missed whilI i was in Tokyo, he has a knack of writing corny song lyrics and interesting tunes.
We guided our ways along sheer dropoffs, it was a bit slick from all the rain, but we all made it up safely.
When we got to the top of the mountain, the sun had already began to set. Due to the rain that had been falling all day a mist shrouded the valleys below. It was a beautiful site.

mel after summiting the mountain
Atop the mountain, on the summit, is an A-frame cabin. The cabin is open to public use. When we got to the cabin, there was a group of five older Japanese people. I am not sure they knew what to think when a group of foreigners showed up at the setting of the sun, and began to kompei and begin a boxed wine challenge.

We partied away bay candlelight, devouring our dinner we had lugged up in our packs, which consisted of various delicacies such as sushi, onigiri, soba, and edemame. To my biggest surprise two of our friends from Kashiwazaki showed up nearly an hour after the sun had set. They had tried to come up on the Kashiwazaki side of the mountain, met a road block, drove around the mountain, started the climb, and towards the end, they were using their ketai (cellphone) as thier only means of light.

Behind the cabin is a shrine, with a tatami room in the back, a few of us took refuge in there trying to save the people whom we are sharing the cabin with a little sanity. We left Dave and Satako in the cabin attempting to sing strange Japanese songs with them.
I should probably also mention that the clouds were low and the mist ovetheeh mountains was intense. When you stepped outside, not only was it pitch black, but even equipped with our handy headlights, the mist left the visibility about nil- ok, maybe you could see about 6 inches in front of you, but for real that was it. This made our evening stroll between the cabin and the shrine, which was seriously no longer than 10 meters, an amazing feat and adventure in the still of the night.
After our great night of sleeping in the wilderness, I had to be up early and down the mountain before everyone else because I had a birthday party to go to. Chieko's grandson turned 2 on Sunday. So I booked it down the very slick mountain in the morning, got lost driving around the mountain, and got back to Arai just in time to shower and meet Karmen, Chieko, her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids for our lunch outing. It was great, for some reason the crazy antics of Shunpei, get me cracking up all the time, he has the bubbliest of smiles.

2005-06-12T22:33:00.001+09:00

mel and rob dancing at PTa

2005-06-12T22:32:00.002+09:00

as part of the fertility ritual, the women ride a large phallus in front of the shrine

soy latte

2005-06-06T16:23:00.000+09:00

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed

At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky

You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it

Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Karaoke at PTAs

2005-06-04T22:41:00.000+09:00

This is PTA, one of our local watering holes, it is one of the few bars that is open and allows a crowd to mingle. In Japan most people go to izakayas, which are bars in which you sit with your friends and enjoy to the group you are with. Most bars here do not set up a scene in which it is easy to socialize and meet new people. The bars that are set up in that type of open atmosphere tend to become frequented by foreigners- because we like to mix it up.....

Tacos at Tiffany's

2005-06-02T20:50:00.000+09:00

liz and tiffany are teaching the boys how to make tacos, it was thier first time..
~then we all had fun trying on each others glasses and playing silly games ~

2005-05-31T14:40:00.000+09:00

We call this Engrish, everywhere you look there are misspelled words or language that is just plain old funny...this is actually a good one, because in Japanese there is no "L" sound, so the japanese often misuse an R in it's place, hence "escarator" The lack of the L has made my most recent ichi-nensei (first year) lesson unbelievably fun and cute, I had them sing the Beatles tune "Hello/Goodbye" jump up on hello squat down on Goodbye and hop on hello, hello... all while singing, and to see them all jumping around and singing "you say goodbye, and I say Hero...Hero, Hero!" was absolutely cute and hysterical... got to love them...

A Random Sunday

2005-05-29T09:03:00.000+09:00

I met up with a few friends and spent a nice pleasant Sunday. It consisted of going out to lunch, getting a proper coffee at Nest (a true coffee is hard to come by, and Nest really is the only place in town, actually the next town over, Tif accosted...tne student stuck around and took the heat while the other students ran into the manga (comic) store...When asked "how are you" the boy replied, "I'm fourteen years old" he was so scared, it was so cute... After that we wandered through the upstairs of a department store, tasting the various odd snacks for sale- such as dried fish, squid, and fruits...We then hit up Takada Park for the remainder of the afternoon
Maruyama and I

Liz and Tif

2005-05-28T15:54:00.000+09:00

after walking 33 km i met up with the girls for a night out

2005-05-27T20:53:00.000+09:00

tiff, liz, and mel at neil's going away party

karaoke at PTAs, i had left by then, but i organized the even with a nice friendly tart email

Always behind

2005-05-23T13:26:00.000+09:00

So the last Star Wars opened last week in America, and I must wait until July for it's Japan release. crazy huh. a full month to read all the reviews and spoilers :(

Fire On the Mountain

2005-05-14T15:53:00.000+09:00

kanji and fireworks above the mountain

Liz no Apato desu...

2005-05-13T22:53:00.000+09:00

a wild night at liz's

liz, me, and tiff

abunaiyo~

we got into a bit of trouble, that is my friend Pei, he busted us being mischivious

2005-05-10T17:32:00.000+09:00

my apartment

Stirring It Up In Tokyo and Soeul

2005-05-04T14:16:00.000+09:00

I had just done a karaoke nomihodai with wes and mills, they were responsible and went back for a good night a sleep, I hit the town with my girlfriends

mel and I on the tokyo metro

ready for a night out

we met these guys in Kabuki-cho on the way to catch the last train across town for our wild night out...from L-R Shogou, Beth, Me, Tatsuya, Tiffany, Susumu

heading to the dance club

Shogou, Tatsuya, Tiffany, and Susumu....We had a wild night / morning in Tokyo before heading the next day to Korea.

the next morning

our first night in Korea

a typical street in souel

oishikatta

like shi

hitting the town sunday night. We went straight to the club from walking around all day, none of us knew we would be doing that, so we were dressed like scrubs...i had hiking pants on for bloody sakes, but that didn't ruin my game...we all still had a good time..we went to NB this night

the city lights of Soeul, a view from the mountain that Souel Tower sets on

everywhere you look there are street vendors selling food

to get where we needed to go, we had to head down street of try to walk

these are buckets of scraps and garbage, yum

hungover?

One of the coolest things about Asia is the architecture, check out this shot, right in the middle of the city is this amazingly ornate palace, surrounded by beautiful gates and walls... what a contrast from the modern highrises that surround it

Tiffany getting down with her shadow...
she is also holding one of the most expensive things we bought in Korea, a Starbuck's coffee

the pic she was taking

the three of us

the roof of the entrance was intricately painted in amazing colors, it rocked

inside the palace gate

Due to our grand evenings and fun-filled nightly adventures, we made it to the palace too late to see it, so we got to hang out on the grounds for a few minutes and gaze in awe of it's grandeour... mel and tif in standard fashion, goofing off...itsumo tanoshii!!

Even through the lack of communication we were quite good at meeting people, here tif and mel say cheese with a group of random korean kids, the coolest thing about korea was how superbly nice everyone was!

they later emailed the pic they took to tiffany

the art district

the bookstore reminded me of the one that I used to frequent on delmar, except due to the language barrier, and my illiteracy of korean, i couldn't browse like i love to do

colorful candy

korean drums

sweetpotato art

the woman is cooking a kimchi pancake, a famous korean dish

Mel and Tif in a moment

this is a barrier that marks the beginning of the DMZ

a guard walking the border, they are allowed to patrol here and up to the edge of the DMZ, but not in it

-
on the other side of this fence is a "freedom bridge", the last people to come to South Vietnam from the North used this bridge... they crossed it at the end of the fighting, escaping to democracy...yet since there has been no resolution and the borders have been closed, the bridge is now fenced up and lined with barbed wire to ensure no one will cross the border...
people adorn the fence with flags, cloth, and notes in memory of loved ones that were seperated during the division of the North and South

the fence near the bridge

this is the train runs on the tracks closest to North Korea, right along the border of the DMZ, there have been incidents of bombing the train

korean flags and barbed wire protect the border

this is an altar that was set up at the edge of the DMZ so people could pray here. Many people travel to the border to pray for their love ones who were lost or seperated during the division of North and South Korea

some scenes on the stones that surround the altar

the entrance of the tunnels that lead to North Korea.. the North Korean government wants a share of the profits S Korea is making off the tunnels, because well, they built them...

due to security concerns you must stand behind a line to take pictures at the DMZ observation.. here you see all the folks lined up for a horrible bi

that my friends, past the binoculars, do you see that horizon? that is North Korea, this is really the closest I could get... it is near impossible for an American to get a visa, word has it that when you apply it takes ages, and many times your application gets lost in all the paperwork.....

the largest flagpole in the world... this is in North Korea...they hold the Guinness World Record for having the largest flagpole in the whole world, cool huh!?

that poor guard must get people like us everyday... this train station is a beautiful new station but nothing runs from it, it is built only to serve as a hope of reuniting with North Korea

the girls trying to escape to the North...

Soeul has a really cool art scene, as part of the hi-soeul festival there was this

amazing

light

show, with transitions and movement all

orchestrated to music

city lights... we got taken around and shown many a places here...

once again out on the town

i was not a big fan of this guy, he said i looked like ET, he was going for the girl from ET, but he said ET none the less. he was also a chavanist, and tried to put us in our place one too many times, he invited himself to join us, and then he opened his mouth, enough said

we got treated to a VIP room with a full spread of fruits and vegetables and liquor, sodas, and beer....

hello, everyone please meet, CarSnufalupagus. that is my name, they were so proud when after many moments of practice they finally could say it~

and this is my friend Sari!

right outside this palace is a huge gathering ground for old men...it is great! next time I go to Soeul, I want to spend a couple hours just milling around talking (well probably not actually talking since english may not be known) but hanging out with the old folks...they were all sitting around, drinking, dancing, in one corner you would have some group listening to classical, another corner there would be a group of old men listening to what sounds like cambodian hip-hop... it was great...mel got up in the midst of them and started shakin' a leg! what a superstar she was!

mel gets down with the old men

they really took a liking to us, i wanted to hang out with them, but we had to see some sights, we needed to do at least one while it was open..

old men begging for us to come back

the pathway into ~palace

the landscape was gorgeous

the ~

mel and tif being good student

this is ~ it is the longest building in all of korea

the thing that grabbed my attention most was the uneven stones that lay in the square in front of the great hall

Mama Melly reads to us about the temple, she was our educator, well at least mine, i was typically not in any type of mood for learning about sights, i was happy just being visually pleased

these creatures were seen atop many temples and shrines in korea, they look like evolution, but i think that they may actually be signs of your year

the wall of the palace inside

a man relaxing in the shade of the palace grounds

just to give you an idea of how big this is, look at the cars driving by, and the size of that wall.. unreal i tell you

rooftops

always~ coca-cola

i decided i didn't need anymore moo-moos so i didn't get the shopping done that i expected; the choices were mainly old lady clothes, or cheap brand name clothing- i don't wear that stuff so i returned empty handed

seafood

and now close up, delicious

we sat down at a food stall and kanbeied our beers

we then began chatting with these three, but they knew absolutely no english at all...

we used body language and the phrasebook to hang out and learn things about eachother. All week people kept asking Tiffany if she was an actress, because she is so animated while acting out various words.

after the foodstall they invited us to a place i dubbed the Korean Denny's only because of the decor

they had one friend show up who knew a few english words, we hung out with them for several hours, no language ability at all and had a great time..

i saw these men and had to join them, i ended up sitting and chatting with one of them for a long time, the guys that we were with started telling him in korean things they had already told us, like thier jobs, the business man said, they are...and i finished his sentences, jewlery designers, yes i know,...everyone was shocked and in disbelief that we were actually able to understand what they were trying to say without any language...especially the guys we were hanging with...shows what living somewhere you have limited language skills can do to you.

this ~ he was the business man that i met, he was very friendly, he helped us get a cab that night, it was nearly impossible due to the holiday

the city was vibrant for hi-soeul festival

i am pissed off if you can't tell, i had an issue when buying my food...grr...

we made it to thursday and we are still hitting the town...that is jared, he is a cool guy we met at our hostel, he seemed to enjoy our company, he is a squash professional and he comes to korea to live on the offseason..he rocks... here we are at hoe bar 2..jared was very happy to tell us the next day that he discovered hoe bar 3, which means there was one for each of us~thanks jared~

mel looking hot

tif and jared

me and tif

now it's friday we did nothing but lay around and go to an onsen before meeting friends for dinner and clubbing

dancing the night away was pretty much what i did in korea

here we are on Korea University's campus. It was a lively campus, I got to watch part of a pick-up basketball game... oh and there where we are standing smelled amazing~

that my friends is dog meat, dig in...

the subway was filled with brilliant

for tobacco

we got to the point where we were running into friends on the street quite often.. here we are on our last day and we bumped into Jared..the night before we had bumped into ~

our last dinner- the most expensive but i thought the least impressive

on the train back to niigata

back in japan

My Second Wind of Visitors!! Wes and Mills in Japan

2005-04-29T11:40:00.000+09:00

Wes and Mills at Sensoji Temple

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colorful kimono fabrics

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Mills ties her fortune up on the cherry tree, due to sakura season already ending, the blossoms were fake

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Sensoji temple at Asakusa is known for gigantic lanterns, here you can see one in the Temple gate- check out that big shoe too!

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a woman in a kimono and the incense burner at sensoji temple

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sensoji temple

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Wes and Mills in front of the market in Asakusa

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the pagoda on the grounds of Sensoji Temple and koinobori... which are the fish windsocks.. they are flying for childrens day which is during golden week... this year it was on may 5.. the carp symbolizes strength and courage, because carp are able to swim up a waterfall.. youu see these banners flying all around

Ohanami ~ Cherry Blossom Viewing Season

2005-04-17T15:09:00.000+09:00

Takada Park is the third best place in all of Japan for night-time cherry blossom viewing, and it is right in my own back yard! People travel from all over Japan to sit under these blossoms at the start of spring~ You send someone in early to get your group a prime spot, you lay out a tarp, kompei your sake or beer, and enjoy the pleasant surroundings of the new life...all while getting completely inebriated.

Pokeman balls, these were so yummy, little dough balls baked to look like Pikachu.... kawaiiyo~
Lining the park are State Fair like games and food stalls with typical Japanes treats. What constitutes as a traditional japanese treat you ask? Well, you could get everything from grilled squid on a stick, takoyaki (which are grilled octopus balls), cotton candy, chocolate covered bananas (now this was a cool one because you play janken (paper- rock-scissors, the japanese answer to everything) with the vendor and if you won you get two- I lost), pokemon balls, okinomiyaki (a cabbage like pancake), and of course miso soup, beer, and sake.

sakura at dusk

Now it is really important that when you plan your Ohanami, or Sakura Viewing Party, that you also plan to have it on a day in which the blossoms are in full bloom. You don't want to be having your Ohanami party with crappy half open blossoms! That is JUST WRONG! Because of this phenomenon you find yourself going to a whole series of park get togetheres (that and due to extreme popularity of course) and you also get nightly news predictions of the sakura blossoming process...

if you think this is funny you should see the anime induced weather reports....

This is Takada Castle, it is in the middle of Takada Park surrounded by a lake that in the fall will be filled with blossoming lotus flowers.

Ohanami at the Hospital: If She Can't Join Us, We Will Take It to Her

2005-04-16T15:04:00.000+09:00

Ohanami at the hospital... On a covert operation, Liz and I stole some cherry blossoms off a tree, and smuggled in pizza for Tiffany in the hospital... Tiffany had to have surgery on a tendon that she cut, and in the Japanese way she had to be laid up in the hospital for a month. She had to live in the hospital for a nearly a month. It was scary, we likened it to the scene in Beatlejuice waiting room, where all the heads were shrinking. It was fun to go visit Tiffany in the hospital because she was the happening girl on the floor. Everyone was coming out of the woodoworks to visit her, and she was such a sport making friends and trying to make the best of a situation.

Here we are at our makeshift Ohanami party for Tiffany: Mel, Tiff, Liz, and me.
Due to the timing of Tiffany's surgery she was going to miss the whole cherry blossom viewing season in Japan. So we brought in the branches. The wild child also broke out a couple times, we had plans for a scheming escape, but she ended up just asking and getting official permission. She walked around the parties in her sylin' hospital pants. In the end she got released on the last day of the season, also just in time to go to Korea! (She told the doctor the day that they admitted her that the day after her initial official release date she was flying to Korea for a week, she said the doctor gave her a stern look)

that my friends, those two pizzas, that is $40 worth of pizza...hefty price huh? the movies cost $15
WE were told specifically that we were not allowed to bring her pizza (well they told Tiffany she couldn't order one) That the other patients would smell it and want it. WE told Tiffany we didn't care, we would smuggle it in, and if the other patients wanted some, if there was any left they could have it, but why don't they just order their own. People are always bringing in Fast food in there , we didn't see much difference.

she cut her tendon and had to be laid up in the hospital for four weeks- she got out a few days early, but her stay covered the duration of the cherry blossom viewing season... she busted out though and got to see it, and she also got to go to Korea with us, baby you rock...you can see her gory details on her blog... http://japanbystorm.blogspot.com