ski/snowboarding excursion

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN CENSORED AND IS NO LONGER ABLE TO CONTAIN PICTURES.

every year in japan, the ichi nen sei (first year students) go on a ski/snowboarding field trip. i'm not sure if every school makes this expedition, but i wouldn't doubt it if nearly all, if not all, makes the annual trip. i don't get to go with my base school, arai high school, because i must take my paid holidays days, which are always low for me. instead, i get to go with my visit school which is equally as good.

so a couple of weeks ago, we set off, my friend miyuki, and i to suginohara skijo. this ski resort is a little better than our normal resort, ikenotaira, because the slopes are a little wider and longer. the day was good. it was refreshing to go in a newer place (i'd only been there once before), and i got to go during normal work hours!

success!

the annual mid-year alt conference

another mid-year conference come and gone. another day to niigata. another day off of work. a holiday in disguise in the form of a 2-day meeting.

not too intelligently and ill-advised by our supervisors, tiffany, carrie, and i decided to make the 2 – 2 ½ drive to niigata in mid-winter and peak-snow. we needed to be signed in and settled with our supervisors by 10:45 to hear the opening speech with the 100 odd other alts from niigata, fresh faced and looking our best. being that it was snowy snowy outside, we left at 7:00 to ensure our safe travels to the capital city. after all, we didn’t want to reflect badly on our supervisors or schools, which we would surely do if we walked in late, appearing careless.

we almost immediately got grid-locked on the streets in our very city. this was not a good omen. we need to make haste and get on the pay-expressway, after a stop at mcdonalds for a hot breakfast of course. almost immediately, it was made apparent that we would not be making it to the drive thru for our hashbrowns and bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. alas. . .

carrie called and informed us to please go ahead, she was grid-locked further down the street. we aborted our plan to meet carrie at the 7-11 and passed it right on by. passed it is a slight exaggeration; we crawled on by slower than a snail’s pace. watching the minutes creep by, our time shortened and shortened; our tension, anxiety, and fear of being late grew with each passing minute. we eventually found out that both expressway entrances in our city were closed due to the exceptionally bad weather of the day – or at least of the morning – key for us.

we traveled on, now having wasted almost 2 hours in our own city – trapped by the barricades of snow walls and bumper to bumper traffic. we made the executive decision to take the slow and winding back roads – definite disaster and doom – inescapably unavoidable. calling our supervisors, our schools, our contacts at the niigata education center – our destination, and our vice principals, we enlightened everyone of our ill-advised decision to drive. everyone chanted the same thing: just get to the meeting when you can and make it safely.

the hours crept by. the feeling of anxiousness gave way to surrender – either feel guilty allowing our moods to dip low, or surrender thereby creating a false bubble of calm.

meanwhile, my accompanying teacher and carrie simultaneously weren’t faring so well. i couldn’t reach my accompanying teacher - coincidentally my japanese mother as well - nishikata sensei, despite my countless attempts. first curious and then worried, i finally got a call from my school letting me know that nishikata sensei was forced to turn back. smartly taking the train, she was held up about half way. the train ahead of hers had hit a car, and the trains lines were down. this conference was drifting faster and faster into a headfirst downward spiral. carrie was on the same train, but braved the day and foraged on. she miraculously made the meeting - at the end of the afternoon – missing the first day completely, only after taking about 3 or 4 different methods to make it: car, train, taxi, and finally bus. or something equally painstaking.

tiffany and i pulled into the parking lot, just in time for lunch. literally. almost to the minute. feeling guilty and quite unfashionably late, we tiptoed in, only to met by one of the niigata education center supervisors. repeating a chorus of apologies and making countless bows, we snuck into the back of the running-behind morning ceremony.

and off to lunch!

so, after a first half-day, supervisor-less and much more relaxed, it was time to get down and boogey at the annual mid-year conference party that night. after all, it just wouldn’t seem the same to be hungoverless for the second day. everyone is aware of the fact the alt’s stay out till the wee hours of the first night. on the second day, trying to hold our attention and keep it alive, even the key note japanese speakers almost always joke about the plain sight of our hungover-ness. the jokes always garner a few chuckles.

and here we go! pictures from the party . . .

tiffany and i


seemingly a little tipsy already: tiff, mary, and myself


troy, giving his best face yet


nuria and jp


……. and meanwhile, alt’s had already made the annual trip onto the bar. lopaka and mary


eric, ben, ryan, and martin

martin


yes, ladies, work it work it


me, eric, martin, and kate


andddd, the taxi ride home. what a night.

osaka round two

sometime late last year, before the craziness of the holiday season began, tiff, carrie, and i found out that the kaiser chiefs would soon be playing in our beloved osaka. january 27th to be exact. we saw the kaiser chiefs back in july of last year at the fabulous fuji rock music festival. they were entertaining, they were talented, we adored their music, and it was just plain ole’ rocking fun. ok, so back to the holiday season set in 2005. i suppose the craziness of the holiday season that i’m referring to isn’t exactly what you folks over in the western half of the world think about regarding this insane period of time. i was more referring to the time when most ALTs get ready to make their annual holiday sojourn to tropical paradises, struggling asian countries, or home to some familiarity. if you read some of my earlier entries, you’ll realize that i for one, however, didn’t do any hectic packing, last minute planning, flying, and vacationing in distant lands.

sooooo, because of the fact that i was stuck in snowy-wonder-winterland, i was damn well ready for our concert party trip to osaka to take a load off and to soak up some non-snow-filled air into my pores. i just knew the the fresh air would do me great good.

and boy did it. we were only gone from a thursday night to a sunday evening, but the trip was well - very well - worth it. i needed that trip in some ways, if only to get away from snow madness for a couple of days. it was so refreshing to realize again that there’s a world outside of our conservative, aging joetsu city. that people are alive, fresh, sassy, bold, and energetic. and not afraid to talk to foreigners! as soon as i arrived in the city, i felt like i came alive. i felt like i’d taken a deep breath of ‘wake the hell up!’ i felt comfortable. i felt like i was in my appropriate element. . . . . . . i felt at home.

i recently have had to make a major decision – a thought-provoking, life-changing, and stress-inducing decision – about my current job situation, more on that later. the ending result is that i'm staying in niigata for a third year (the issue wasn't if i wanted to leave japan or not, but whether i wanted to stay in the country or move to the city) but as i write this blog, the question keeps popping in my head, ‘why the hell am i not moving to the city???’ it’s a hop, skip, and a jump away. i would thrive there in a way that’s almost necessary to my being and almost impossible in conjunction with me living here. hmmmm.

so, osaka! we took the train to the bus pick-up point in myoko and a bus to osaka – which was over-night. we arrived at 6:30, groggy and a little sleep derived; the friendly, teasing, older-gent japanese men dropped us off merrily, wishing us a good time.

too early for check-in and stumbling around in the still-dark, early morn hours, we passed a still-open restaurant with a few tables of patrons eating drunk after the wee-hour partying? breatfast? late dinner? who knows . . . we ducked in for a sit. and a beer. that beer turned into 2 beers. beer for breakfast! breakfast of champions from what i hear.


this was outside a korean restaurant. we were wandering by on our first day – a friday morning, hungry and wanting some food. after taking a photo and out there no longer than a minute or two, a woman – an employee of the restaurant – walked out and explained, in fabulous english - that these were fertility statues for a couple. finding our ignorance and picture amusing, and not in the mood for korean, we ambled on.


meandering around the hundreds of shops in shinsaibashi, we found this fabulous hat i decided to don. buy? no . . . these are the hats that the goth girls and boys and little boy peeps put on before displaying themselves in harajuku, tokyo. and apparently in osaka too.
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moving on into the evening. unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures at the show of course, and the night after is just short of a blur.

another favored bathroom shot . . . the only picture resulting of the evening


the next day: rested and a little hungover, saturday

shopping in a jewelry store turned into a photo shoot


ready to go out for the night, we made a pit stop


and another one


thanks to tiff’s research months ago, we researched ourselves right into 3 bar stools at the fabulous martini bar on saturday night. Fun, cheap, and definitely interesting; it was the first stop. i recommend it highly. after several martinis [for accuracy’s sake: a mix, first of vodka martinis and then apple martinis] and dinner, we moved on. but first – dinner. dinner was . . . . . . . . get this!! nachos and other, good ole’ american junk we never get in niigata. we were conclusively pleased!

a man i wouldn't stop chatting me up . . . it's ok; i didn't mind too much. it was interesting at least!


pleasantly loud and animated, we dragged with us 4 men from the martini bar. and then we met up with 2 more – these two boys, nori and nobu – we met last year at fuji rock festival, and we adore them. we had agreed to meet them at sankaku park (triangle park due to it's bordering shape), and what an elated meeting it was! after uttering loud and happy exclamations, we trooped on, all together, to the rock club (rock rock) that we would patronize.



carrie with the boys, nobu and nori


rock rock in action




some new friends: mauricio and rodrigo. not sure about forefront japanese boy.


tiff and i earlier in the evening, already a little saucy


cute cute nori


nori nobu


this man would not get off the floor, as well as his buddy not pictured here. spoke to the buddy later in the evening, however, and he was amiable and polite


and tiff and i in the later evening hours


will save my comments on the freedom in this picture for another blog and will probably repost the picture. fabulous.


the rest is history. literally, right tiff and carrie?

next morning, loopy, giggly, and loud, we managed to stuff everything in our bags for only a one-hour late check out (1 pm). and then off to find much-needed lunch. this was en route to lunch in the apple store, rocking! the music was a kind of mix of folk, soft-rock (not like your mom’s light and easy hits), and traditional japanese music. notice the man on the right playing the traditional, japanese instrument, the shamisan.
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now this is the section for the ‘engrish’ mistakes we found over the weekend:

mmmm mmmm good


nothing like some nice ass for dinner


notice the catch phrase




and if you didn’t catch it, a closer view


fresh-faced, loving the city, and not wanting to go home, the weekend regretfully ended.

leaving my job

i wrote this next excerpt, more of a stream of consciousness, in an email i sent to a couple of friends. it came at a time of stress for me, which is currently enduring. my job has recently told me i can't recontract for my third year as i had originally planned and hoped to do. japan's economy has taken a swift flight downwards in the last few years or so, and now, niigata ken cannot maintain my position in it's budget. the opportunities i've been afforded because of this job have truly been amazing in the truest sense of the word. and i'm not nearly finished with japan. as difficult as living overseas has been in certain aspects, it absolutely pales in comparison to the benefits. i am currently in the process of considering my options for the immediate and far future; i'm feeling an internal pull to make some kind of blueprint for the years ahead. now's the best as ever to think about it, considering the upheaval and overturn in my head, job, and location. going into effect immediately, i must find another position quickly if i don't want to lose out on any options or positions. i have until july 25, 2006 to work at my current high school, but mentally, my job is already ending. to be on the receiving end of the information came as quite a shock. the bewilderment period didn't last so long, and now my thoughts have been relegated to sadness and discomfiture. i look at my students, and i think that i won't see them next year. i won't see them graduate. i won't see the new ichi nen sei students through their first year of high school. i'm leaving after the first term; i will teach my students in the new year from only april to july, 4 months. it deeply saddens me to think an era in my life is ending; i'm already mentally prepping myself. whereas it's exciting as well to be commencing upon a new journey, that phase in my brain hasn't begun yet. i'm still just trying to wrap my head around the million, zooming thoughts racing around in my mind.

begin email:
>> i gotta a lot of love, and life is funny. what the hell is each year going to unfold for me? it's exciting, in fact, so exciting i can indisputably barely wait. it seems like i'm counting the days forgetting to enjoy the current ones i have. grasping and desperately holding on to the future, where i have money is sometimes such a mean, horrid tease i can't hardly stand it. i keep telling myself, a couple of more months a couple of more months. well, a couple of more months has finally landed and for once i'm going to get to indulge in my full monthly paycheck. i've found that i want money in life to enjoy myself socially like i like and want to. i want money to travel, be with people and be with those people drinking my favorite cabernet wine, partying, going to bars, taking their picture, and dining for hours over good conversation and food. to enjoy the lust of full paychecks just in time to get the boot from my job; hopefully i'll have a new job at that time. i prefer in my current setting not to think about it too much as it brings stress and unhappiness. it doesn't jive with my existent perfect situation, i won't go into all the factors that are making this delicate balance happen, but it's too much of a shame to have gotten this heavy piece of information recently. i seem to have found myself in sort of transparent bubble, where until now had been disguised. it makes me want to thrash out in my true american core; we like to pretend we get out and live a life of internationalization, but to be born to a country automatically enslaves you to its fundamentals, ideals, and habits. as japanese-y and shocking-to-some-of-my-friends-from-back-home as i may act sometimes, i am my mother country's child. i want to run outside on the streets, yelling and drinking - wild with life and drunk on air and libations. get me into a culture that won't mind my behavior and superfluously insert their domineering ways like a thick layer of honey on my outerself. my life will end here, japan is not my country, and these are not my people. albeit i am reminded almost everyday that i am not one of them, brains quickly forget what's up and what's right if it's in the same trench for a while. not even a trench but situation. i will never be one of them, as it was, i always knew that, but to be reiteratively reminded of that anew is refreshing. my convictions aren't wrong, they're just different, so it goes. this stress in my life is a bump in my smooth recent non-rollercoaster. as going with the current mantra and conscious i've been trying to employ in my most recent adult years, this will be yet another adventure i will embark upon that i will hungrily eat alive. i like to say i'll eat it alive and if only i was that strong. i will learn from it and take those experiences with me to add to my always molting, melding form. add another layer. i will try to indulge in this stress and turn water into wine. <<>

ganbarimasu.

sax's birthday

so i’m back after a short hiatus. why you ask? why a hiatus? i’m not sure exactly, but i’ll try to keep up better than i have been as of late. . .

during the cold, wintry holiday season, it was saxon’s birthday. saxon is an aussie who moved to joetsu about a year ago with his gal, candy – a brit. damn internationalism i tell ya! we all gathered for an evening over at candy and saxon’s apartment for a night of drinking, fun, good conversation, and best of all, beer shotgunning, courtesy of yours truly. saxon and candy have a fabulous apartment for parties, good space, nice decor, and most importantly, perfect lighting. the party drew out a well-mixed group of people from different areas. at some point, josh counted, and we had 32 people at once at the party. this may not seem like many to people overseas, but to those who are aware of the space restraints in japan, this is a big number. house parties are unheard of for all intents and purposes. many japanese grow up and continue to live with their parents and still-living grandparents due to the traditional custom comfortably in place. the alternative is to live in an apartment, with neighbors and paper-thin walls. there's no space for parking here in japan, and no where to get raucous and loud.

here's the birthday boy, saxon. he turned 29 - i think??? it's no wonder i don't remember after the noxious amounts of alcohol we imbibed during the party hours.


and his gal, candy, and i


saxon, over the holidays, starting working at arai ski resort. he teaches skiing to the public at large, anyone wanting to get better at the highly popular winter sport. we live in a perfect location for it, niigata being the snowiest location for anywhere on earth of its same latitude. anyway, the point being, saxon had met some new, japanese coworker friends and invited them along for the celebration. this girl being one of the employees at arai resort.


and some other ski instructors


josh, drinking some good beer, must've cost him a pretty yen over here in japan


at some point, i dragged a couple of different groups out for some good ole' quality time of shotgunning beer. candy and the birthday boy join in on the fun


erin, a newer canadian english teacher, and i


my loved, loved friends, carolyn and alexi. they're about to have a baby coming this week - good luck you guys!!


we got into the post it notes. i don't remember why.


carol ann wanted in!


an evening well had by all. happy birthday saxon . . .