Call Me Liz and These My Ramblings

word of the day: amazing!

2006-06-12T14:33:00.000+09:00

some situations i'm talking about being amazing are genuine. some not. . . . . . . but amazing's the word of the day!

japan is incredibly beautiful . . . take note of the mountains.

and this is just amazing as well . . . these are from first years in high school - their mid-term exams. i love the skill of my student's english ability. hey, it's not my fault! hahaha, just kidding. they actually are pretty amazing. . . and indeed amusing.

i have to grade exams, at least it's entertaining . . .

graduation!!!

2006-04-24T14:31:00.002+09:00

I had to take down the pictures of this post.

ok. fine. so i’m a little late, but we had graduation some weeks ago. all the third year students get dressed up in kimono (mostly girls, but some guys would dress up too) or suits, and march in twos. i teared up a little, but managed to hold it together among all my fellow tight-lipped japanese teachers. this year’s graduates were my favorites. i felt we had, in particular, achieved some level of camaraderie. we shared jokes . . . we chatted in both english and japanese . . . i went to see their rock bands live . . . . i played sports with them . . . . i went to their games and practices to watch them. i liked them a whole lot.

japanese high school graduations are generally held during the morning on a normal school day. all students and teachers attend, along with parents and guests. it’s usually held in the gym, and it’s pretty ceremonial, just like america. and then there’s picture taking, talking, and laughter afterward. however, unfortunately this year i had to take off immediately following the ceremony because i had to rush to osaka. damn! so, no pictures actually with the students. but, here are some during the graduation . . .

i, myself, was pretty sad to see them go . . . . but their ghosts remain running through the halls and playing on the fields. sitting in the seats during the classes i teach, their laughter echoes. i only hope i affected their lives in some way as they have affected mine . . . .

SATOSHI!

2006-04-20T11:21:00.000+09:00

i teach this boy named satoshi. several months ago . . . during late november? december? i can’t be sure, carrie, tiffany, and i were eating at our favorite sushi joint in arai, having a normal threesome evening for us. while munching on our makase (chef’s choice), sitting at the sushi bar, a man comes out of one of the private tatami rooms. he had heard us speaking english, so he ventured out to try his hand at it with us. in short, it turned out that he had lived with his family a year ago, for a year, in connecticut of the states. and he was wondering if any one of us would like to teach his son. wanting some private lessons, i offered to teach him. after making arrangements with yamada san, i began teaching satoshi once a week on wednesdays at their home next to my school.

he’s 7 and adorable. his english is great considering all the factors. and his pronunciation is fabulous. this goes to reinforce the fact that children take to and learn a foreign language much easier than adults. get them started early!! yamada san knows what’s up. smart smart. we go over vocabulary, learn verbs, play games, sing songs, etc etc. satoshi’s rambunctious and has become comfortable with me which i like a lot. we’re affectionate with each other, and i’m confident he likes me a lot.

so here's pictures of talented little satoshi . . .

a grand wedding!!

2006-03-30T11:45:00.000+09:00

my brother got married. it was a completely foreign, scary, and surreal idea at first. my brother and i are survivors of a divorce and messy family past. as we grew up, the idea of marriage was a frightening and impossible idea. the older i became, the more plausible it became. now, i’m not so opposed to the idea (eeek! did i say that?) with that being said, i thought that my brother and i wouldn’t be getting married for many, many years. not until we were older and had played our hearts out, making sure we were ready to spend our lives with one person, not committing the same mistakes my parents had made years before. when i heard the news, i was a little shocked. what!?!? he’s getting married? he’s so young! is he sure? blah blah blah . . . soon, i came to terms with it. after all, he’s a man now, 28 and executing his own decisions. his wife, lynda, and my brother, hank, have been dating off and on for several years. many of my friends and family and me have gotten to know lynda pretty well. she’s a great, caring person. she loves hank. hank loves her. and they’re wonderful together.

the wedding was a couple of weeks ago. taking off of work for a 4 days, i was able to jet home for an entirely too short 5 days. i knew sitting at my desk the anxious days before that i might as well be back, sitting at my desk once again, it would pass so fast. and indeed it did. i’m back, longing to still be home . . . for at least a little while longer. another week would have been nice. there were several people i missed. and still miss. several connections and conversations i wanted to make and have. new friends i wanted to see. old friends i wanted to bond with. so it goes.

the wedding itself had the potential to be an emotional train wreck for several reasons. i love weddings. i cry at weddings. i’m emotional at weddings. and it was my brother - who i love love love - getting married. such a joyous, momentous event – all this coming from an anti-marriage kind of gal! don’t get me wrong, i like the idea of wedding. the idea of having someone, one person, to come home and be on your team no matter what – now that’s back up. but the whole idea, in my eyes, is faulty in several matters as well. however, this is a blog about my brother’s wedding, and not me waxing about the philosophy of marriage. anyway, the day of the wedding, i achieved the feat of not being too emotional. the rehearsal dinner was a different story. it overcame me at times (i feel kind of silly writing about it). so, wedding trip pictures!

after arrival in columbia, my home town, and at a bar. first thing: happy hour! but only had time for one drink . . . . i was a busy gal! mom and i.

we went to dinner. there were 13 of us; i bet we made that waitress’ night. after dinner with the family that evening . . . we young kids hit the bar.

lynda and cousin english

lynda the bride, hank the brother, and i

and then to lunch the next day . . . i was still not feeling jet lag too terribly much. my grandmother, mere – she’s fabulous and 93.

rehearsal outside the evening before the wedding. the beautiful day boded well for the wedding weather the next day.

nick and i

the groomsmen lined up, playing, not practicing, and certainly not paying attention!

hank getting mere to dance was hilarious! she’s incredibly old and forgetful . . . hence making her extremely amusing! i just look at her and smile and laugh . . . affectionately of course.

cousin chloe and i

and the big day! making it to the wedding location at noon was no easy feat on my hungover, jet lagged body. we had to be there at noon for the bridal luncheon and pictures. it ended up being a lot of fun getting ready and playing with all in the wedding party.

hannah and melanie

shannon fixed katie’s hair while katie did lynda’s makeup - eeek! fun girl stuff . . .

hank, meanwhile, took much less time to get ready. looking sharp!

then the girls got ready and had time to play for pictures.

breaktime from the thousand pictures session

andrews, a groomsmen looking hot!

jeremy, andrews, matt, and neil

riley and gage

reception . . . i didn’t have my camera during most of the reception, so no royal treat of pictures. jeremy and i, a groomsmen and friend for several years.

and nick and i actually after the incredible long day of meeting and greeting, drinking and dancing . . . heyward made it out too after his long day of drinking fun at the st. patty’s day fest.

javed came into town that evening. i adore him.

no night’s complete without arm wrestling from nick.

hurting sunday afternoon, the whole family needed a nap . . . especially me.

and we made it out again. champagne and sake!

heyward was excited.

and after little sleep, not enough drinking and socializing, and a lot of love, i was off to japan once again. i would have been a wreck of a picture due to me holding back the flood of tears . . . so i took a picture of nick instead.

cup o' soup

2006-03-15T11:23:00.000+09:00

well, i'm so relieved and happy that this is soup is suitable and special just for me!

what?!?

cupid valley ski resort

2006-03-13T14:35:00.000+09:00

i want to write about this short trip due to the sheer beauty and nature contained within these photographs.

some of our best girlfriends in niigata ken invited us over for a night of catching up, dancing, eating, drinking, and snowboarding. the girls, jaime, megan, and michelle, chose a centrally located ski resort, cupid valley, at which to meet. so, early saturday morning, tiffany and i started the drive to cupid valley. it was an absolute beautiful, sparkling, crisp day. the sun was out, our moods were giddy, and the day held fresh promise.

not only were we looking forward to hitting the slopes, but we were dying with anticipation to see the girls - it felt like it had been literally forever. and not only was the day going to be fun, but the night too. we had an enkai (all you can drink and eat party) planned at a hawaiian themed restautant/bar in nagaoka with them and several of their other friends. a day of carefree fun - don't you love them!

it's hard to really understand or see through the pictures the vast beauty of nature - i wish everyone could have seen this gorgeous day. in the morning soon after we met.

feet and feet of powder. when i first learned to snowboard, i couldn't stand dipping into that type of snow, preferring to stay on the slicker, flatter and harder stuff. my inexperienced skill would lead to me catching my board under the very deep snow, causing me to fall without fail. which, in the powder is a pain in the ass because you must dig yourself out - getting hot, wet, and bothered (wow, i like where that's going!). but now, my increased level of skill has proportionately increased with my love with the white stuff. the powdery white stuff.

and then post-onsen and clean up: tiffany, me, and michelle

a new friend, tatsuya

mmmmmm - jamie and i

michelle being fabulous

charlie and megan

it's way too rare to see these fair friends of ours. and the sad fact about it is that there's no reason for it - we simply have to make time for each other. and hopefully we'll be doing more of that until there departure date in late july/early august. . .

japanese cafeteria!!

2006-03-10T10:39:00.000+09:00

welcome to morrison's! or picadilly cafeteria! or whatever you want to call it. but instead of the normal french fries, salted green beans, and slow-cooked southern food at most of the southeast located cafeteria style restaurants, you'll find sushi, tenpura, salmon, rice, miso soup, and tea - among many other delectable dishes. where can you get such a treat?? at our locally owned and operated japanese cafeteria style restaurant! who knew such a fabulous idea for dining had ever caught on in the land of the rising sun? but it has . . . . and for the first time, tiffany and i decided to patronize the joint. and it was good! different from american cafeterias (well, obviously), it was pretty delicious (i won't go so far as to say it was really delicious). worth the trip and perhaps a second trip from us will sometime be in its future.

in case you're helpless and just plum don't know what to do

you walk in and there were lots of side and main dishes, just like home.

however, they don't keep them warm like at home. so you go to the food prep station and zap your selections. oh - the miso soup and rice came hot at least.

i was satiated. good for a quick stop for a cheap budget. go! go!

tokyo!!

2006-03-08T11:01:00.000+09:00

as i sat thinking on the quick and easy shinkansen ride to tokyo, i wondered how long it'd been since i'd been in tokyo for a weekend rendezvous. and i figured out this: it'd been since august when i was coming home from the wholly-needed, indulgent, and hedonistic trip to the states. entirely too long!!!

so, tiffany, carrie, and i hopped on the shink after work on a recent friday. excited, anxious, and in good moods, we found ourselves in tokyo in just enough time to get to our hotel to change and beautify ourselves. in time to get us to the main goal of the weekend: franz ferdinand does the budokan in tokyo, japan! and so budo-licious it was . . . .

we arrive, and on the way to our hotel, we see a fabulous free service. carrie and tiff, being the fabulous glasses-wearing gals they are, stopped at the clean-your-glasses-yourself stand outside a spectacles megastore! well, as mega as it could be; it's tokyo - which implies jam-packed squished shop after shop. with wonder and amazement!

being the non-spectacles fabulous self that i am, i quickly and vainly took several shots of myself, happily in the city.

and all cleaned up

dying with anticipation, we pushed ourselves through the crowd

we had to be sneaky ninja-like to get some shots during the show. . .

and the flag. it came as kind of a shock. there it was, huge and in my face. i thought it was a little strange, over the top, and fantastically patriotic, but then i placed myself in america doing the exact thing in a similar type of venue, and realized that in many places, an american flag would be present.

post-show and exuberant

this man on the train to downtown was tickled with us

and then the next day, we found this sign in the station. japan has had problems with 'chikan'. chikan are grabbers - mostly men unleashing their grubby hands upon women. so to combat the issue, many railway companies have conceived of women-only cars, for the early-morning bone-crushing packed-in hours.

and at our selected restaurant for lunch. we were astounded and wholly amused by this lunch option, eventually passing on it for other, more delectable dishes. after i got home and was at work the following week, i showed a fellow english teacher the picture. we laughed and laughed, until she realized that it's actually a real flower in japan, and the legitimate translation is a 'rape blossom'. what a connotation that flower holds. wow.

and out for the evening!

we met 2 fabulous australians, newly arrived in japan for a snowboarding excursion

the aussie's newfound friend

and on our last afternoon of our very short trip, we made it a wendy's afternoon. which is fabulous because as bad as fast food is, when it's the only - shitty - american food place you can go to, it's oh so delicious! we don't even get these places in niigata - we have to make the trek to tokyo or other big cities. and this wendy's was exactly how all wendy's should be: equipped with draft beer. for about $3 no less! yessss.

ski/snowboarding excursion

2006-02-27T14:57:00.000+09:00

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

2006-02-27T09:36:00.000+09:00

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

2006-02-24T10:51:00.000+09:00

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

2006-02-13T14:35:00.000+09:00

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

2006-02-07T21:24:00.000+09:00

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 . . .

new year's eve

2006-01-06T21:41:00.000+09:00

well, new year's eve was new year's eve. what can i say? it came and went. it was fun. the later hours are foggy. got to see from friends i don't normally see. and though i wasn't with my closest loved ones, it was nonetheless festive and enjoyable. it turned midnight and there were streamers and poppers, singing, hugging, kissing, and free sake. mmmm . . . . free sake.

it started off with a two hour karaoke and nomihodai deal. constant screwdrivers and some singing. towards the end of that stint is when it starts to become unclear. . .

at the karaoke box - lida and amy -

my lovely lady, carolyn, singing with chucky

hiton and holly

pete and joe

ben and holly

it's cute, so another one of them

alexi and carolyn's very small kiss series

hiton self-portrait

and a u.k. new year's eve turning-midnight tradition. i had never seen it, and the next day after i had uploaded the pictures on my computer and was reviewing the night, i hadn't the slightest idea what the were doing. (the night's a little fuzzy, remember?) it didn't take me too long to recall . . .

why my scowl? i don't know; i'm happy about the baby!

hiton and joe

holly and i

ben, me, hiton, and holly

and yet another, but i like the shot. holly and ben

and on the way home. i won't show the rest. they're embarrassing.

happy new year.

christmas party galore!

2006-01-06T19:37:00.000+09:00

i was pretty sad when my initial christmas plans fell through. initially, i had planned to go on a solo singapore trip; well, even before that, i had a friend that was going to meet me in singapore, but that fell through as well. good thing that turned out to be, because i had to cancel my trip due to complications with my plane ticket. three months of saving money, a hostel reservation, and perfect, sunny location, and that anticipation down the drain. however, the canceled trip turned out to be good for various reasons.

one of them was that i got to spend some time with some fellow joetsuins (is that right?) - japanese and western. and go to local christmas parties. and experience a japanese christmas and new year.

these pictures are from one of the christmas parties i attended. it was held at pta, the much publicized, favorite karaoke bar owned by master. i first went alone to another party after i got invited the previous night by a couple i met recently. i recognized a few faces there, and it was a more sedate, sit-down party. not my favorite, but a good experience none the less. next i walked to the close-by pta, and there ended up being many people i knew there. i was the only whitey, which i liked a lot.

a christmas singer

some guys we've met several times; i always fail to remember their names. nice fellows

master in the christmas spirit, trying to hide. he's hontou ni (really) camera shy.

kei chan and some guy i can't remember his name

IKEPON!

takahiro

master's getting serenaded

kei chan rocks! she's not as girly as many japanese females, which i like. she works construction - yes!

everyone got up and danced for this number. it was a snappy christmas song, although at this point in time, i have no recollection of what it was

dancing, in the mood. too bad i can't show video on here, i've got great footage of it

takurou, a new friend, and i

kumiko

see? i keep telling myself, there were good things to missing out on a challenging, worthwhile solo trip to sunny paradise.

the play comes to town!

2006-01-06T18:48:00.001+09:00

last year, i participated in the niigata ken annual charity play. last year, the play was peter pan - or as it were - Peter jaPan to avoid potential copyright issues. the proceeds went to building houses and school supplies in papua new guinea. it took up a lot of time, but in the end, i was pleased i performed in it. the practices and subsequent shows took place on almost every weekend for some months straight. however, this year, i declined the opportunity to display my fine acting skills to cash in on a little more free time snowboarding.

every year, the play visits the biggest cities in niigata ken to make traveling for all involved fair. recently, it was time for the play to have practice in my town, joetsu. having been ages since i'd seen some friends and thespians, i took it upon myself to visit their practice and let some of my girlfriends snag a place on my floor that night. that evening, there was a charity party hosted at nova, our favorite dance club in town. part of the cost of getting in the party was going towards the pakistan earthquakes, and the other part was going towards the play fund for papua new guinea. so party we did! the night was a success . . . . we ended up raising a bit more money than we expected for pakistan, and there was a lot more people cutting the rug than we counted on! cheers to libations and charity events!

justine and kat

every year, i believe there's a secret santa event at one of the christmas practices to make everyone feel just a little bit more at home and to induce the christmas spirit. this year, everyone just put all the gifts on the floor in the center of their circle, and at the count of 3, dove for a present. how western of us. it was much more civilized last year. harmph. hahaha . . . although the faster didn't necessarily mean the better! gifts were in the 100 yen range, essentially a 'dollar store' present. except in japan, the dollar stores are much more superior!

and the results . . .

after the cold, dreary, and drafty practice, everyone dolled up and headed to a 2 hour nomihodai (all you can drink) before going to the dance party. kat

troy in the spirit. i love you troy!

debbie

james and debbie, james drinking my favorite screwdriver

sam and kate

carrie

mary and sarah

sarah and sam

unfortunately, i didn't bring my camera out at the dance party. or actually, perhaps it was a good thing . . . to all participants involved.

oh by the way, this year the play's the highly anticipated jungle book, directed by the fabulous mississippi mary. can't wait!

snow update!

2006-01-04T22:38:00.000+09:00

i like taking pictures of the snow progress, and it’s now at its biggest and baddest! in fact, there are several parts of japan that are now having record snowfalls such as nagoya and fukui kens. the temperatures during the day are now getting as low as –1 degrees celsius, below freezing, in joetsu city. with the broken kerosene heater in my apartment, it ain’t too much fun.

in any case, everyone in japan has been taken by surprise and swept off their feet, and now are trying to scurry back to recovery by clearing rooftops, roads, and driveways. there have been deaths reported of people falling off of roofs and being buried in the snow and of car accidents. you would actually be surprised at how few car accidents there are however. the japanese, or at least the ones used to a little snowfall are pretty damn skilled at driving in huge masses of it. i’m relieved in times like these that i live in a place that’s adept and ready for dealing with these situations. besides the train being late everyday (NOT fun sitting in the literally freezing cold waiting sometimes for on upwards of an hour for the damned train to come) and traffic being backed up, life continues as we know it here in little ole’ joetsu. so here are some pictures. i believe we’re up to about 3 ½ meters – or over 10 feet. good thing snowboarding is nearby to take away my wintry blues.

2 weeks ago:

last week

see? there is some good behind all the wood blockades put around the trees in japan

that's the second-story windows you see on that building

aaahhhhh, snowboarding. it's damn cold out there; it looks sunny, but don't let that fool you. the top of the slopes will get you icy in no time flat

the sun is actually unusual. most times it's gray and blizzardy

bon enkai

2006-01-04T11:44:00.000+09:00

a traditional and highly common custom in japan is to celebrate the end of the year by a drinking and eating party – an enkai, which i mentioned before – a bon enkai to be exact. bon enkai directly translates into ‘forgetting the current year,’ and we do this quite literally by drinking the celebratory party away. and forget we do. the bon enkai is specifically the end of the year party (there are many, many enkai here for almost any occasion at all). almost every club, company, business, and school has one in japan. last year, unfortunately, my bon enkais fell on the same day for both my high schools.

however, this year, one of my schools planned our bon enkai quite early, so i had the opportunity to celebrate with both schools. i always wish to take more pictures, and i almost always fail. it gets to be a certain point of intoxication that happens and the inevitable following of forgetting to bring out the camera. damn.

of course, as every enaki undoubtedly is, they were great fun. how can it not be? you drink, you eat, you be merry, you play games (usually only at the bon enkai), and then you drink some more. throw in some occasional karaoke at the after parties (nijikai, sanjikai, etc.), and it makes for some memorable times.

bon enkais, i believe, are the best because they’re near the holidays and almost everyone attends them. they’re biggest – the more people to chat with, the better.

wow.

2005-12-26T13:47:00.000+09:00

i stole this from a friend's blog (thanks erik and justine).

this video brought fabulous tears to my eyes, and they sure weren't tears in awe of talent.

check it out:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648

luckily, these boys are chinese . . . . . phew! i thought the jap boys had reached a whole new level of greatness.

a night out on carrie's birthday

2005-12-26T11:21:00.001+09:00

so, carrie and tiff are officially 26. i'm the baby at 25. yeah, that's right. you read right, the baby.

carrie wanted to hit all our usuals of joetsu, the usuals being: pta, nicks, hag, and nest; i think that's all the list was comprised of.

we first dashed into nest. slamming a couple of drinks, we chatted with friends who work there, oota san and jun kun. they found it amusing we looked more 'made up' than usual. a little surprised they noticed, we acknowledged the change.

notice nothing different, huh . . .

they began playing the happy birthday tune as carrie arrived last and fashionably late. we also sang and spanked carebear - even coercing the boys to spank her as well (it's not the first time), more than once seeing as how the first time was only a playful slap. carrie's first "cake/gift" of the evening.

after the discounted beers - for their happy hour - we walked to uo, the next pit-stop.

our friend, kanako - more dearly called ka-chan (a term to express child in japanese; you add it to the end of a person's name. comparable to mr, mrs, or san in japanese. it's sometimes added to an older person's name as a term of endearment and closeness.) - invited us to a nabe party at our friend's bar, uo. so feeling obliged, we hit up it up for a light dinner comprised of finger foods and the japanese hot stew of vegetables and seafood (nabe).

carrie's first cake of the evening

mmmmmmm, cigarettes and cake

the drunken eyes already starting to appear

i wish everyone had the pleasure to know IKEPON!!! he's fabulous. he and i had a walk-off, proper supermodel style as in the movie, zoolander, one of the first times we met. i won. a good fight he did put up . . .

third gift of the evening: the second of out of two bottles of champagne (the first one at uo, with the cake). carrie accidentally unceremoniously popppped! it, and we lined up, patiently waiting our turn.

and seconds

what a great group. can't we all just be lovers?

i'd thought my home-country readers would like to see a japanese bar (nicks). this one is abnormally large.

some dart action

carrie feeling flirty

then drunk

and back to flirty. good recovery, carebear, good recovery

fight-o fight-o, but alas, satoshi, the bigger of the two, won.

and carrie's fourth, final, and most delicious gift of the night: a chocolate cake from beloved master at pta.

starting to feel a little tired

he was just plumb tuckered out!

all in all, a successful evening. good thing the next day was friday . . .

the fabulous, caring people who call themselves the japanese

2005-12-26T11:17:00.000+09:00

how wonderful. this is a water pitcher and dish for random passers-by walking their pet. everyone needs a little pit-stop sometimes . . .

it was placed outside on the sidewalk by the employees of our favorite coffee and internet cafe, nest. fabulous.

cheers! it's christmas

2005-12-26T11:12:00.000+09:00

this is about the extent of our holiday cheer in japan. yes!! it sure does get me in the mood . . .

just kidding. there's a little more than that i suppose, but we're sure not inundated with repetitious make-me-vomit-after-weeks-and-weeks-of-listening-to-them christmas songs, obnoxious decorations, grumpy, hurried shoppers, and endless traffic. aaaaahhhhh . . . .

our first snowboarding trip of the season!

2005-12-18T14:52:00.000+09:00

so tiff and i stuffed our snowboards, appropriate gear and articles, snacks for post-boarding power-up fuel, and ourselves into tiff’s mini-car and hit the road. the drive to the ski resort is about 40 minutes from my house, a hop, skip, and jump away. taking road trips is always pleasurable, especially with your best friend. chatting nonstop only to pause for eating our on-the-road breakfast and belting out our favorite tunes, the short drive seems to be nothing at all. previously, we had ordered and paid for our season passes, we only had to trade our confirmation form for an actual pass at the resort, ikenotaira. so, to the ski-jo we made it. starting a little late, we arrived at 1:00. we needed to get a strap adjusted on my board, rent boots, and make our passes before we started zooming down the moutain. first renting boots and getting my board fixed, we headed to the ski resort onsen (hot springs) building where we could make our passes. waiting for a short while, bouncing with excitement and anticipation with hitting the slopes, our passes were handed over from the cute employee.

finally! it had actually been almost two hours from the time we arrived to our first test run. unfortunately, feeling a little nervous and unconfident, we wanted to make it down the easy bunny slope first, but being early in the season, it wasn’t operating.

the ride up to the top seemed to last a lot longer than last year, i guess due to nervousness and it being the first time. i felt like i was going to my impending doom . . . . alright, now quite, but i was worried i wasn’t going to be able to perform well.

and the results are . . . . . . . it’s not as bad as i imagined!! i thought i was going to be a whole lot worse off than i was. only going about four times last year as a beginning snowboarder, i wasn’t exactly skilled. well, maybe that’s a little of an exaggeration. i wasn’t really good at all, but snowboarding is surprisingly difficult! yesterday, i feel like i leveled with last year’s skill and improved a little more. i already surpassed what i could do in last year’s season - this holds promise!! yesterday was a lot of technical practice for tiff and i: dig toe in, raise heel, twist body, feel the burn, go vertically down, lean forward, ease up to stop breakneck speed, turn backwards, turn frontward, etc. what a conscious, and methodological thing learning how to snowboard is! soon hopefully, it will become a mechanical, automatic process. we made it down three times before the slopes closed for the day, at about 4:45.

i feel like i need to go again soon so i can reinforce what i practiced and learned yesterday. i’m ready! i’m gonna be pro soon. just wait and see. first of all, however, i need to let my aching and screaming-with-pain body recover. i succeeded in falling so many times, my arms and ass are feeling the resulting strain. what a workout. good, because i can’t exactly do my running in the already two feet, soon-to-be-more snow.

ikenotaira, the resort

you can barely make out the little people flying down the slopes

waiting and waiting . . .

right after we received our passes.

on the ski lift. unbelievably, i forgot my hat . . . . my hair iced over. fast.

afterwards, back at the onsen building to buy christmas gifts in their gift store

the pain hadn't really set in yet

horribly, there was another reason we were back at the onsen. sometime during the day, unnoticed, my season pass had slipped off my arm and was lost. no one had returned it, and being that the japanese people are mostly trustworthy, it was thought to still be on the slope, likely covered by the snow fall last night. the cute employee gave me my second season pass of the day - for free!! but, there was only one problem, my name was spelled wrong. damn. oh well, it's funny.

bareboru taikai!!

2005-12-15T22:12:00.000+09:00

every year, my school has a two-day volleyball tournament betwixt all of the students. each class plays ferociously against other classes. and during the final hours of the second day, the tournament comes down to two final matches between two classes – one match for the girls and one for the boys. usually, second and third year classes end up being in the final stages, but this year a first year class, girls, made it to the championship match! i was pretty proud of them, astonished at their organized, skillful moves. i had no idea they had that ability in them, unaware that any of them had any interest in volleyball.

since wednesday and thursday were free days, they were two good days to catch up on some work i had looming on my desk for several days. i slipped down to the gym as much as possible, and if there was ever a time i wished i was still in high school, it was then. i love to play sports – watching them doesn’t interest me so much – i’d rather be spending my free time with other activities – but playing them is fabulous. since i’m an adult now, the chance to play in organized, or even loosely knit pick-up games, doesn’t rise too often. but here in front of me, were games galore, and i couldn’t join in. but nonetheless, it was highly exciting to watch, with holding breath, the huge effort the students put into their matches and the sorrow and happiness with which the kids reacted after their games. some had to lose, and it broke my heart to watch their eyes shed tears afterwards. girls only of course, the boys were too manly to let such things show.

the event ended at four on thursday with two championship teams. there were hopes of organizing a quick match between the teachers, me included of course – i signed up to that opportunity real fast-like – and the champion boys team. alas there was no time, hence, no match. that’s too bad, but maybe next year.

i hope i get to!

the view is marvelous

2005-12-12T09:23:00.000+09:00

you just can't beat it. on clear, sunny mornings on the way to work, it's unstoppable.

look at number 2

2005-12-12T09:02:00.000+09:00

the answer is supposed to be: i need your help. how the hell did he come up with, 'can you please me? is he asking me specifically? hahaha. i don't know, can i explain to my student what this means? probably not.

nabe night

2005-12-07T09:20:00.000+09:00

recently, i was invited to go to a dinner party at one of my friend’s student’s houses. my friend, carolyn, has lived here for five or six years now and is sadly moving back to the states in march of next year. her and her husband, alexi, another great friend, will be sorely missed.

carolyn is an english professor at joetsu university of education. she teaches all freshman and upper class english intensive classes. recently one of her freshman students had the idea to have a nabe dinner party. a good way to have some foreigners over (us whiteys from europe, america, and canada) and some good grassroots culture exchange.

i think about ten or so of us piled up in cars on one blustery, cold, rainy evening and headed over to our hostess’ house. we walked into the warmth of an old, big, family traditional japanese house. the heat was emanating from four big pots on a long table in the dining room. i should digress and take a moment to explain what nabe is. nabe is a traditional japanese winter-season meal. it’s made by throwing various foods in a big, ceramic bowl and boiling it over a fire stove at the dinner table. nabe is particularly great because a) it’s healthy and b) you can put whatever you fancy in it: meat, seafood, tofu, and various vegetables. this evening there were four different types: traditional japanese style, kimchi, a european consommé type, and a tomato based one. they were all great – what a feast!!! in true japanese fashion, there were also many side dishes and tons of alcohol. and in true japanese tradition, all the guests brought something to add to the feast. when going to a person’s home in japan, you always bring something – usually fruit, alcohol, or some type of food.

everyone listening to an introduction. when we first arrived, we arranged ourselves around the table, and then intoduced ourselves individually. then the kampai speech followed, and last we dug in! at big meals or parties in japan, someone must make an opening kampai speech (an opening toast) before eating or drinking anything. the hostess made our speech.

a look down the table

some of the food to be put into the nabe

how expensive it must have been to buy all this awesome food . . .

brooke: ooooh, oishii! (delicious)

in order to get the full effect, you have to try the many different types of nabe by going to all the pots

on the far left is kei, a senior in high school. he's the son of a good friend, midori, of carolyn and alexis. his english is fabulous; i'm always impressed when i talk with him. so is his best friend's english, kensuke, in the middle of the picture. kensuke is the younger brother of the hostess. and stacia, a first year alt from the states. culture exhange at its best!

these boys both came a little later, so i didn't get to talk to them as much. but they both want to be english teachers; i hope they fit in some good practice that night.

we feasted, snacked, chatted, and culture exchanged into the late hours of the evening. success!

students' english

2005-12-05T10:38:00.000+09:00

to think of what american kids are capable of in terms of foreign languages is embarrassing. i think of my previous spanish abilities while attending high school and college and compare it to what my high school 14-18 year old students can do, and i'm shocked. in today's modern world filled with computers, televisions, email, fast postal services, and easy flights, it's never been easier to connect with distant lands and foreign peoples. foreign peoples who speak foreign languages. hence, it'd seem appropriate that we teach our youth in america some foreign language skills that go beyond some easy grammar and vocabulary. i'm amazed to hear the sentences that my students construct - it's downright shameful to think of american ability. and why exactly is it so bad in the states? i'd rather not think it's due to our swollen arrogance that leads to subconcious ideas that we don't need to learn other languages. we already know english - the key to unlock the world's communication. we're already at the top - everyone else only needs to learn our language. the whole world being so accessible, however, screams for attention for the knoweldge of other countries' languages.

and, with that small rant, here are some examples of some of my student's writings.

an ichi nen sei (first year student); 14/15 years old

and a few close-ups. now granted, i had given some written examples of these sentences on the back of this worksheet, but they were different and much more simpler. amazing.

and here's a song my third year (senior) student wrote; 18 years old. and while this one doesn't seem quite so advanced, the fact that he's constructing these sentences on his own is still incredible. english is extremely difficult; always before i just took the english language for granted because i never had to think about it. now being surrounded by it daily in a learning environment, it makes you realize all the little nuances involved in english. i'm so happy i'm a native english speaker!!

CENSORED

some music nights i've been to lately

2005-12-05T09:34:00.000+09:00

there's two kinds of music venues i frequent here in joetsu city: a rock club and dance parties. some of the dance parties are hip hop, and some are spun rock dance tunes. since i love to dance to anything with a beat, the dance parties are immensely enjoyable. although, the rock nights are, most of the time, my favorite nights. those nights are just so rare - and we just found out about the sole (i think?) rock club in joetsu only recently. how horrible! the rock dance parties are incredible too - our friends will spin using records and cds to mix dance remixes of the bravery, the strokes, kaiser chiefs, and many other fantastic favorites.

so here are some shots of the rock club and one of the rock dance parties.

this is at the rock venue: joetsu earth livehouse. my students' band: jet ten bin

the headlining band

and the latest dance rock party. the djs in japan, or at least in our part of japan, are all parts of teams, or groups. my favorite group is named, 'time for livin' - appropriately named i think. they dj together, they plan parties together, and most times, djs from different teams don't mix too much. this is at heaven's cafe, who hosted the 'time for livin' party

these girls didn't hold the signboard all night, this was at 3:30 or so when everyone was cleaning and packing up to leave. i imagine the girls are holding them for their boyfriends while they got their things together

this morning i wake and . . .

2005-12-05T09:16:00.000+09:00

there's snow!!

over the weekend from friday afternoon to sunday afternoon, i managed to make it to my house briefly on saturday evening for about half an hour only to shower and change. most weekends are spent in takada where the restaurants, bars, fun, activity, life, and tiff's apartment is. we usually hole up there on the weekends.

when i went home on saturday for that brief time, i noticed snow had fallen just a little, but it quickly melted. well, i think it's here to stay for the remainder of winter. i woke this morning and saw this:

so as of december 5th, 2005, the snow has landed. and it sure is cold enough, jeez. here we go . . . .

oh no!

2005-12-02T10:50:00.000+09:00

i've started to see my students out and about at the bars and clubs . . . hope they won't think less of me for seeing my normal, nighttime self! i'm, um, ahem, very professional at work.

they're all third year students (aka seniors) and 18 years old. kazushi and me

some other third year girls i don't teach

the other boy doesn't go to my school

i have no idea . . .

2005-12-02T10:32:00.000+09:00

get yourself some happiness by making it . . .

obviously this is a case of 'engrish', when the japanese make mistakes in their printed english. why don't the writers get their work checked before putting it up in public? how bizarre! maybe they don't mind that it's wrong, figuring people who read it here in japan (except for native english speakers like myself) will have no idea that it's wrong either. who knows.

the meaning is easy to understand, it's just grammatically incorrect. i think the general meaning is: make your own happiness!

a school marathon!!

2005-11-30T17:14:00.002+09:00

so my story of success starts with a young, middle school girl with eyes alight and shining with hopes of doing well during her very first season on the cross country team. she started running, slowly, barely making it two miles. throughout her high school cross country career, she ran through ups and downs - figurativally and on the course. those difficult and nearly impossible - seeming two miles streched to six a day before it was all over and done with. or so she thought . . .

of course the girl of which i'm speaking is myself. i was a runner during my school years. what i didn't know wasn't over and done with was the running bug coursing through the blood in my veins. through the several years since graduation, in various phases and cycles of my life, i've, at times, freshly felt the bite of the running bug, inspiring and spurning me on to hit the pavement once again.

well, that bug bit me almost the moment i arrived in japan last year in 2004. and then this year, when the weather changed from horrible to fabulous and i revved up my motivation, my old, dirty, beat-up running shoes pounded my previous running paths. this time, however, is a little different. for the first time since high school, i've wanted to keep it up for longer than a couple of months. perhaps, like other sayings, once you're a runner, you're always a runner. it's in my blood, just like traveling. the feeling of being out there on your own, in the zone, and listening to your music is close to unbeatable. if you run for long enough, your second wind kicks in, creating a natural high - yet clean and extremely good. your body feels so strong when you run for distance, during, and in particular, after.

soon it will be too cold to run outside, like it almost is now, and then it will be impossible, due to the snow, until next april or may next year. i'm going to miss it i know.

it just so happens that, in japan, every elementary, middle, and high school has an annual 'marathon'. it starts with 800 meters or so for the youngest kids, and by the time the kids hit high schools, that 800 meters has stretched into several kilometers.

out of all the schools in the joetusu city region, my schools runs the longest distance. and i rather like that! the boys were originally supposed to run 17 kilometers (story to ensue), and the girls, 13 kilometers. and according to my trusty ole' favorite converter site, 17 kilometers is 10.563 miles, and 13 kilometers is 8.078 miles. and i was ready! i was excited. i'd been running since june of this summer. last year i didn`t run at either of my schools because i was at the opposite school each time they decided to have the marathon.

as soon as i found out the marathon was coming in the fall, i started doing one long run a week. now, i'm not talking about running super long runs, like actual marathon lengths, but i was running nonstop for about an hour and anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes. it felt so good.

and then the runner's nightmare happened. i got shin splints. shin splints affect you heavily, with shooting pains exploding in your shins (hence the name) every time your foot comes into contact with the ground. this go round - i'm a pro when it comes to having shin splints - it was very painful from my ankles to my knees.

thus, i had to quit running for a while so as to heal my strained ligaments. with a small break, i recovered enough to run a little before the marathon - pain free - enough times to be prepared for the school marathon. i was pumped!

the marathon was postponed due to torential rains, and we finally had it on a friday instead of wednesday. the courses, however, were changed because there wasn't enough teachers to cover all the checkpoints (those teachers had business trips that day). it turns out the boys would run the girl's course, and it was shortened to 12 kilometers; the girls would only run 10 kilometers. i decided i would run with the boys - 7.456 miles - because i was prepared for that.

and the results - drum roll please . . . . i came in 150th out of 220 boys total in an hour and 15 minutes. and i beat several girls running a much shorter distance (parts of the course were converged, including the ending kilometers). yes! it felt great.

i hadn't seen the course beforehand, but if i had, i feel like i could have done it faster. i held off too much in the beginning, pacing myself, trying not to burn out. if i knew the course, i would have known where to pace and where to speed up. oh well. there's always next year. . . .

the finish line at the school

I had to take pictures down from this post.

the school marathon enkai

2005-11-30T13:19:00.000+09:00

so of course having a hard and trying day called for some relaxing beer guzzling, sake downing, and food stuffing with the fellow teachers. we call these things enkais in japanese - a two hours all you can eat and drink party. there's enkai for everything - special days, holidays, and coming and leaving parties for people. soon is our bon enkai - next week - the winter holidays enkai; most teachers will attend this one. all the enkais range in very small (7-8 people) to very large (as much as 100 or more, i'm not sure, i don't know the about the biggest enkai ever).

enkais are just so great because it allows inebitions to breakdown, letting people mix, mingle, and talk with people whom they don't normally chat. particularly me. several teachers are a little apprehensive at trying their fading english skills during the work day. but get a few beers in 'em - and boom - they're ready to roll. it's always entertaining getting drunk with your normally reserved teachers.

so gather we did for party!

on my walk to school

2005-11-29T14:31:00.000+09:00

every morning, i walk from the eki (station) after riding the train to the school at which i work. the distance is 1km aproximately, or about 0.621 of a mile. during the spring and nice fall days, it`s a real treat. the air is warm and fresh, beautiful japanese nature and culture abounding with every step, and peace felt in my life here. during hangovers, it`s refreshing to have a nice, sobering walk. during friday afternoons when i get off at half past noon, it`s a tantalizing think-tank period for all the fun that`s surely to come mere hours later. but during the cold, freezing, and snowy, dark months, it`s hell. the wind whips blindly around you while you slip on the snow and metal grates on the ground, urging your cold legs onwards towards the warmth of the station and train. it`s 12 minutes of wishing and whining in your head, `why don`t i have a car?? why don`t i have a car? why oh why . . . . `

this past weekend, i had to make a brief appearance at work after forgetting something essential at work the previous day. luckily, the sun was brilliant, creating a perfect mid-morning stroll. i snapped some pictures, i wanted to show you a few of the small daily reminders of why i love japan. how quaint, lovely, and perfect everything feels by just looking around and seeing these surroundings. it makes you retrospective and reflective, all the while appreciating the calmer sides of life. japan is incredibly beautiful; obvious in the mountains and landscapes, and subtly in the more mundane areas of life. once you get over how shockingly different it is to your home country and backwards it seems, everything starts to make sense . . .

a very typical home

another one

forlorn, kind of pathetic looking mailbox; i`d like one to keep in my home

a shrine. yep, a years and years and years old shrine, just on my way to school. you simply can`t get more terrific than that!

world`s smallest garage. this little, old man - i want to say - scooterizes around town on it. i see him often; he`s cute. i wonder what he thinks of me? probably not so cute. probably this disruptive foreigner who`s bringing the horrible modern life with her, tearing down traditional japan, and creating a playground for which the world to dive enthusiastically into

and a gorgeous yard - small, deceptively simple, and soothing

japanese daikon, a common sight

2005-11-29T14:20:00.000+09:00

around late summer and during fall, you can eat pickled daikon (japanese radish) until it gets too cold. i`m not exactly sure what too cold is, but i remember not being able to eat the daikon during the long, freezing winter months. it`s my favorite japanese pickled vegetable, with a hint of sweetness in conjunction with a vinegar and earthy taste. they`re delicious, and they`re offered frequently as an appetizer or side dish at restaurants during the peak season. many japanese people farm - particularly in niigata - and tend gardens here. most of my neighbors grow assorted fruits and vegetables, and occasionally one of my teachers will give me some `rabbit food`, as a friend of mine once called those nutritional staples many years ago. after picking the ripened daikon, you must hang it up to dry it out, or something like that. to be honest, i`m just not that sure, but hanging them follows that logic you see. anyways, you see them hanging everywhere.

here`s to happy eating!

the winter front is gliding in . . .

2005-11-29T13:49:00.000+09:00

you know winter`s coming when you see all your japanese neighbors tying up their trees. tying up the trees??? . . . you wonder, what does this mean, you think desperately. you`re dying to know . . . yep, well here in japan in the snowy regions, everyone ties up every little bush and tree in hopes of salvaging the greenery when a more menacing force of nature comes along. snow, with the drudgery of your nightmares and the weight of a glacier, can do a thing or two to skimpy little shrubs. recently, everyone`s been trying to beat the flakes to save their yards. this might be perhaps singular to japan, i`m not sure to be honest. but, it`s a little taste of cultural japan that i thought my avid readers needed to know.

the long, reinforced approach. smart fellas there!

the new seedlings (or i guess a little older than seedlings now, what`s the word for baby tree?) get their deserved treatment

even big boys will bow under the weight

my school`s trees

even the itty bitty babies; perhaps they need the most help

and then, this beautiful yard has a little of everything japanese - the much celebrated fall leaf colors, the bound trees (you can see towards the bottom of the photograph), and the daikon (japanese radish) hanging from the balcony in the back. i find it to be fabulous

i think this tradition actually looks pretty cool, trees all tied up together with bamboo. if we did this in america, we`d probably use some sort of ugly metal. another apsect of old japan peeking through modern society`s edges.

another edition of students

2005-11-28T08:41:00.000+09:00

i just can't keep away from photographing my students! i love them, they love me, i love photography, and as much as they try to act like it, they love having their picture taken. and i love taking it; i'm their girl. so a day recently, i took my camera to school and took these shots during classes and afterwards.

CENSORED

kekonshiki!!

2005-11-27T22:35:00.000+09:00

before i lived in japan, i was pretty curious about what japan was like, their social structure, their culture, the rules, what they wore, what schools were like, houses, cities - everything - i would have to say, i was curious about. the whole gamut. so i thought that since i got the opportunity recently to go a wedding here, i’d blog about it. the wedding took place between a friend, a welsh and fellow alt, dave, and a japanese gal, haruna.

from what an older japanese woman told me, there aren’t many completely traditional japanese weddings anymore. at those, the bride and groom put on traditional japanese clothing, and the ceremony itself is more honorific and serious. of course, a lot of the ceremony and reception would take place on the floor, particularly the reception.

but in today’s modern times, most couples choose a japanese ceremony with a contemporary reception. weddings, like the states, are extremely expensive. the dinner reception after every wedding is extravagant with fabulous food accompanied with ever-flowing beer, sake, and such. it is also customary to provide every guest with a gift bag.

so tiff, carrie, and i dolled up for the day and rode the train up to myoko mountain where the wedding was held. there were three main parts of the wedding. the first part was before the wedding. this part was for everyone to take photographs of the bride and groom together with each other and their families; there is no tradition in japan that the bride and groom must stay separate before the ceremony. then, everyone walked next door together for the actual ceremony of which i understood the words very little due to me not being able to hear and also the difficult words of the wedding context. i understood some of it anyway due to the motions and gestures. after the wedding, everyone headed back next door for the dinner ceremony. it was great fun; it was just like a big enkai (a two hour long party with food and drink), except that i knew few people. fabulous nonetheless, it carried on for about 3 hours, full of speeches, ceremonial walks around the room by dave and haruna, and a photo slideshow made by dave.

we all rode together from haruna’s family’s ryoko (japanese style inn) to the wedding location. many japanese still wear traditional dress to special occasions

still early in the day

as soon as we got there, we signed in under the groom’s side

before the ceremony, the bride and groom make a walk around the guests and then pose with each other for open picture opportunities for all the guests

there was also a chance to sign a sign-board made by dave

no photographs were allowed in the chapel during the ceremony.

afterwards, we were taken outside to a red carpet for haruna and dave to make their first walk as a married couple. it was really pretty; everyone was all smiles while filling the air with rose petals as they walked by

i thought i’d add this one to show wedding wear and japanese fashion

we listened to a few opening toasts and speeches. i caught some ojiisans dozing (grandfather)

and off to the reception after a few short minutes! dave’s mom was rightly-so emotional throughout the day

cutting the cake

this is a common wedding cake i believe. sometimes on tv, i’ll see wedding shows, and they always show the same type of cake. it had a really soft and delicate taste

another western practice

after, haruna changed her dress to a pretty pink reception dress; they made a round through the room

carrie was asked on the spot to give a toast; it was amusing watching her switch between english and japanese. well done carrie, i would have been pretty nervous myself . . .

dave and haruna presented their parents with teddy bears engraved with their names and birth weights. each bear weighed exactly how much they did when they were born as well, an incredibly sentimental and touching gift; an emotional moment

haruna’s parents bowing, expressing thanks

dave’s mom clutching onto her new dave-like teddy bear

and after the three hour party ended, i caught a shot of haruna’s brother, a friendly guy

another culture-filled typical day in the land of the rising sun . . .

mexican fiesta!!!

2005-11-20T11:46:00.000+09:00

a couple of sunday nights ago, carrie and tiff attended an all you can eat and drink party at this fabulously-decorated, hawaiian-themed restaurant that's nestled in with a group of other shops and restaurants in town. i didn't attend it due to money constraints, and was of course highly disappointed due to that fact .

at the party, the girls met some boys that would fit the bill perfectly for some of our friends from home. they party a lot, they're mature (some of the japanese are slow on the draw with that aspect), they can drink a hefty amount (not that that's a requirement; we just like to party for long hours on end, and we want our friends to party with us the whole time!), they're laid back, they like good music, it goes on and on.

so, tiff having a great idea, decided we needed a mexican fiesta dinner party due to the fact that these boys had never eaten mexican food! oh dear - how can that be!??! so, the next friday night, we gathered at tiff's apartment and ate and boogied down till the morning hours. . .

we had it all, cheese dip (kind of an americanized version), ground beef tacos, chicken enchilados, guacamole, and that's right, margaritas. we speedily went through two big bottles of tequila; the boys enjoyed it immensely. and i guess the fact that we started doing regular tequila shots first and then tequila body shots next - thanks carrie - only sped the process

ryo and shinya already getting red in the face because of their alcohol intake

the night started innocently enough with us gathering around the table, munching on mexican

i was pleased everyone assumed the correct taco eating pose - head tilted, cradling their taco in their hands delicately as to not break or spill any morsels of their own, individual mexican heaven

manabu needed a little work on his positioning, but it worked for him

and the dancing began!

and posing

and more posing

tiff got into her element, practicing martial arts

carrie very much enjoying her introduced tequila body shots

we got a little loud towards the the later hours, and we were worried about the neighbors. the boys practicing being quiet, in case the actual need arose

hopefully, new friendships have sprung from this fruitful, highly enjoyable evening

the japanese doing what the do best: being discreet

2005-11-20T11:37:00.000+09:00

carrie and i went to the drug store a couple of weeks ago, and in the parking lot, we found a real treat! i've passed this before always in a hurry to get somewhere else. but, seeing as we're already parked in the lot and we had the time, we decided to document this extremely typical, japanese cultural tid bit.

any way for the japanese to save face and avoid certain, embarrassing situations, they'll take advantage. being that condoms have to do with some of the more delicate areas in life, they decided to stick them in a vending machine for the public's using pleasure. so here we go!

notice the cartoon condoms - nothing comes without a cartoon here! they think it makes everything just a little easier to swallow; for me, it`s the exact opposite. they make it a little hard to get down - gag - damn cartoon characters everywhere!

shabu shabu!!

2005-11-19T20:43:00.000+09:00

so for the first time recently, i had the opportunity to eat shabu shabu. shabu shabu is a japanese dish that, like yaki niku (cook your own meat on a grill at your table), requires you to cook at your table.

sometimes, tiff, carrie, and i will go out to dinner with master from pta. sometimes, master invites some of his single bar patrons out with us – maybe thinking he can play match maker. we always joke around with him, asking him to invite some cute ones, but so far, he’s never quite accomplished that. it’s always a good time anyway because it’s delicious food and great japanese practice; a cultural experience on several levels.

first you order plates of meat – beef or pork. i believe each table comes with an array of tofu and vegetables as well. then, you dip the meat in the boiling broth and swirl it around until it’s cooked. you bring the hot, freshly cooked meat into your individual bowl of sauce and then to your mouth. it’s great, and each morsel of meat is really tasty. at that particular restaurant, there were two sauces from which to choose – a thinner, soy sauce based sauce, and a thicker sesame sauce. both were delish

in the end, i still prefer yaki niku; it’s often that i crave it. smoky, bite-sized, grilled to perfection, supremely-seasoned yaki niku, i’d love to have some now . . .

finally! halloween.

2005-11-10T23:36:00.000+09:00

before i begin, i found my camera; i know everyone was worrying! in my vague memory of the evening, i thought i had made it the last bar of the night with camera, props, and all. figuring that would be the first place i would start looking, i happened to stop in a different bar a couple of nights after i lost it. the master of that bar had my camera – one of the earlier stops in the night. oops. i guess my beer fogged memory wasn’t so good for that evening . . . but at least i have it back!

hmmmm, one of the harder decisions. at least for me. the choices are endless; the ideas are limitless. but originality is the problem. what spin can you throw on something to make it fun and fresh? there’s not much room to breathe in this area. what i’m referring to is the annual tradition of picking a costume. many people choose not to partake in the costumes, beer-guzzling, and party jumping. i for one, however, still enjoy the consideration of the carefully chosen clothing, gathering of the props, and adornment of the body with ridiculousness. this year, i loaded up on rope, plastic guns with loud, obnoxious poppers, tool holsters for the plastic guns, and cowboy boots . . . no luck on the cowboy hat. one might assume i was the mundane cowgirl, the getup that thousands of girls wear tirelessly every year. but, my innocuous looking costume had two meanings, a double entendre if you will. imagine minds to wander at this point.

you can't see tiff's box of lunches, but it's there.

being an ancient egyptian karate expert is hard work; it calls for frequent breaks of beers and smokes. just kidding; i have no idea what the hell tochi was. but at least he dressed up!

this is saito san. he was robert de niro from taxi driver - he looked great. his costume is not apparant here; he adorned it after his dj stint. and how rocking that he chose something that was part of foreign culture for him, something we would understand! i'm not making the assumption he did it for us, quite contrary i'm sure, but it was a good idea all the same.

satoru and toshiki. i have no idea what satoru was; i don't think satoru knew what he was. but rock! he dressed up! and toshiki was a hospital victim that had been shot in the head as far as i gathered. he kept on grabbing my guns and pretending to shoot himself. or maybe he was a suicide victim who just didn't succeed; it's likely i'll never know.

satoru getting into it

this is oota san. i don't recall what he was, but damn he was cute.

this is the high school boy that occasionally helps out at parties. it makes sense he put on a high school girl's uniform for his costume.

this is ai. she's a coffee-filler by summer and a national japan team professional snowboarder by winter. what?!?! she's fantastic, and her english is as well.

shu kun and koji didn't know what they were; they just had random props. at least there was some effort put in . . .

carrie and some guy

chuck was a samurai? a famous one perhaps? i don't know; i had already drank a couple before he arrived.

a famous japanese wrestler i believe

saito, after djing, playing travis bickle from taxi driver

results of halloween . . .

2005-11-01T11:34:00.000+09:00

ok. i promise to post about last weekend - halloween!!! - whenever i find my lost camera. i foggily remember thinking at about 5 in the morning on our adventurous halloween night out that i was triumphant. triumphant for what you might ask? triumphant for the fact that i made it to the last bar of the evening with all props, costume pieces, and camera still at my side. i didn`t want to put my camera in the bag i was carrrying because i wanted to be full-on prepared if there was a fabulous candid shot i needed to be taking due to the hilarity of the evening. so, i think it might be with the master of the last bar of the night or with the friends we trekked around with half the evening. i hope!! trusting the mystery will soon be uncovered, all my worries will be tossed aside (hopefully), so i can rest assured.

halloween is coming!!!

2005-10-28T10:58:00.000+09:00

the hours are booked, the plans are made. halloween parties and celebrations are coming this weekend; i can barely wait! being that most of japan doesn't recognize halloween, it's great that we've found so many soirees to attend. so many, in fact, that we won't be attending a few. but we surely picked some good ones, and hopefully there'll be good details to follow . . .

a fun and interesting night indeed

2005-10-27T15:57:00.001+09:00

recently, feeling honored, tiff, carrie, and i were invited to a wedding party of a friend of ours.

nova, which i have mentioned a few times, is a dance club we often frequent. it's only open on saturdays, so many of those nights are spent by us dancing in the small, smokey, box-like room called the dance floor. nova is only comprised of two rooms, which is connected by a narrow 12 foot long hall. in the hall is access to the bar, literally a little, square hole in the wall, off to the right side.

we found out about nova soon after we arrived in the city it seems. we have pictures of us dancing and mingling there since fall of last year. it has become a staple in our social calendars; because of this, we've gotten to know several other dancers, drinkers, talkers, music lovers, and scenesters on the hip hop front. one of those people we've gotten to know is kiichi; he's a friend of the family that owns nova, the terajimas. he was always nice from the very first ocassions we started going there. our relationship has extended to the point where we always make a point to chat with them when we go, and he'll come out to the dance floor to dance with us or bring us free drinks. whenever we go and he's there, we never end up buying our drinks because kiichi just gives them to us. sometimes he'll give us food to eat there or to take home with us. i have vague, foggy memories of carrie one night carrying around a plate of corn to everyone in the small club feeding them, including tiff and i, spoofuls of delicious corn.

so, friends we've become with kiichi. we had no idea he was married, he conveniently chose to leave that piece of information out, and then one evening, we were invited, by the terajimas, to kiichi's post-wedding party.

it was on a sunday night, at 7:00, at funaei, a bar-type restaurant. one by one, our nocturnal friends started straggling in. how bizarre to see them in light and without an alcohol-induced brain!

the party was great fun, a 2-3 hour all you can eat and drink deal. there was a gift give away from the terajimas, an extremely nice gesture, and everyone ended up getting something. we chatted with old and new friends; we were the only foreigners. we thanked the terajimas and congratulated kiichi - we didn`t get to see his wife due to her being sick!!!

after the party, we decided to continue to party (our decision making was skewed due to the excessive amounts of alcohol we had already drank) with some friends of ours, other attendees of the party

we decided upon an izakaya, same type restaurant as funaei, although we would just be drinking at this one. another friend of theirs, satoru, showed up, and we quickly figured out it was his birthday! someone asked for a cake, being the dutiful friend

carrie told him that, on your birthday, it was a tradition in the states to put the icing of your cake on your nose, so he did it. bad carrie! bad carrie!

then we helped him eat it

the birthday cake was actually a small loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with whip cream and fruit. this didn't seem odd to the boys, so i guess it's normal. it's just so funny that we don't even know what's normal and what's not. how bizarre. we thought everyone should help him finish it due to its size. everyone took a turn . . . this is tochi, a local dj in town

this is gen and toshiki, both of them are talented djs

i asked tochi to give me a funny face, which he duly complied. i was mildly surprised because often, japanese people get embarrassed easily, but he had no problem with the request. it made me happy

toshiki

we were extremely loud and rowdy in the second izakaya. the table behind us probably hated us. we had already been to one drinking party, so it really couldn't be helped. our waiter finally kicked us out an hour after they closed. oops - i used to hate when i waited tables and people stayed after closing - i had things to do!!

we promptly affirmed someone's suggestion to drink more - just what we needed - at tiffany's conveniently-located-in-town apartment. off we went to the convenience store to buy more drinks. it was raining outside, i didn't spill drops of my drink all over my shirt -

and back to tiff's -

things got a little out of hand and a little late. we were called down on three separate occasions by two different neighbors to keep it quiet - we were way too loud

karmen's birthday

2005-10-26T14:21:00.000+09:00

karmen is a fellow ALT. she's from slovenia, and she's enduring her second year as well. i don't see her too often; however, it was her birthday recently, which called for a party!

she wanted a dress-up, closed affair at one of our favorite bars in town, nicks. so, for a set price, we could drink and eat as much as we wanted. scurrying around and getting fancy, tiff and i made it to the party as soon as possible. carrie works at the same school as karmen, so she helped karmen organize the event and had gone early to the party to give a hand.

it was fun to get schmancied up for an evening and dance to good songs a dj puts out all the while sipping (ok ok ok, you got me - pounding - just kidding . . . . . . kind of) all-you-can-drink libations.

carrie and russell cutting the rug

chris and alencar looking sharp

me, russell, carrie, and tiff

i thought it was cute of carrie yawning ... it was late after many hours of being schmancy. i don't think she was aware of me taking the picture

lastly, alencar and carrie

i have a picture of us teaching the older japanese teachers that attended the party the macarena dance. unfortunately it doesn't properly show what we're demonstrating; it's not a very good shot. maybe it was after much, um . . . . . . . sipping, screwdrivers, my drink of choice.

astoundingly, i didn't get any shots of the birthday girl. . . well, happy birthday karmen and here's cheers to you!

yakitori

2005-10-22T13:29:00.000+09:00

occasionally, more recently than not, we've been patrons of yakitori restaurants. i think the reason i hadn't gone in a while was that i wasn't too fond of the first, solely yakitori restaurant i went to. tiffany and i wanted dinner one evening and decided to give yakitori a go. it'd been a while (for me, not for tiff), and we chose a different location - there's literally thousands of them in japan.

most of them serve draft beer, japanese shochu (japanese liquor), and various meats on a stick. yakitori means meat, seafood, or vegetables grilled on skewers, usually served in singles or doubles. each restaurant it seems has a mysterious, secret sauce they spray on the grilling skewers during cooking. yakitori usually has a great smokey flavor, sometimes coming sauced up. at this particular restaurant, we ordered the salted chicken yakitori. it comes sans sauce. we also asked for this smokey, chipotle-reminiscent, slightly spicy red paste. it's to die for. slathering your yakitori in this paste is all you need. being that you can order as much or as little as you want, it's relatively quick, and it's also healthy, making it a popular choice for the japanese. i'm a huge advocate of it at this point. hmmmm, what am i having for dinner . . .

draft beer, grilled prawns, aspragus wrapped in bacon, piman (peppers) and chicken = perfect. you can see the red paste peeking in on the left side

yakiniku with master!

2005-10-19T11:37:00.000+09:00

recently on a weeknight, carrrie, tiff, and i had plans to go out to dinner with our all time favorite master, shingo. we usually call him masta (master) however. he is the owner of the best karaoke spot, in my eyes, in town. it's called PTA, and instead of the ubiquitous karaoke box, it's a small intimate bar with a small stage for belting out your favorites. i don't much like the expensive karaoke box due to the enclosed socially-strangling room you must enter to sing. it doesn't cost anything to sing at PTA, and drinks aren't pricey. many friends, new, interesting people, and regulars are always there to ensure a good time had by all. some of my best memories have been staged in PTA, starting with my first month of living in japan. so, of course being extroverted, we've made friends with the sole bartender, the owner, masta. we go to him needing advice, japanese help, and for fun conversation.

a couple of weeks ago, we met masta at arai station and then piled in his car. he took us to a yakiniku restaurant in nakago, a neighboring town. it's such a benefit to us to go to dinner with him because he's japanese and native to joetsu, therefore knowing all the best, most delicious spots in town. he was right on with his pick for the evening. this yakiniku restaurant beats out almost all, if not all, other yakiniku restarants i've ever been to, including osaka, where yakiniku in particular was recommended to us to eat. it was spectacular, and of course we got top notch service because we were with a regular, not to mention an older japanese man as well.

we wore our bibs; ok, well not through the whole meal, just for the picture. master wore his bib, however, through the duration of dinner. good thing too, he later spilled on himself! yakiniku tends to be messy. you order raw plates of meat and vegetables and then cook over a grill at your table. i love it; it's definitely one of my favorites here in japan. master and carrie

after dinner, we decided to have a beer at nest. tiff took me by surprise

after nest, we wanted to pay patronage and support to master - he wouldn't let us pay for dinner earlier, and it was expensive. besides, we needed another drink. we got to chatting with some friendly businessmen

late and not wanting to pedal furiously home, i hopped in a taxi, hoping i wouldn't be too hungover the next day. thankfully, it would be a friday

a long weekend!!

2005-10-14T17:16:00.000+09:00

we had a 3 day weekend recently - renkyu in japanese. starting thursday, we wanted to get full advantage of our time off. so little free time it seems to be able to do things we want to do. i often wonder where the time goes, as i’m sure so many other people do as well. we started off with drinks at this bar called hag. it’s become a favorite after a slow start. not many foreigners go there, which is one of the reasons we love it. it’s tiny inside with 5 or 6 bar seats and 1 table at which you can sit. we always like to sit at the bar, where is where most people tend to sit. being that small and intimate, most customers tend to be insiders in the industry – owners and bartenders of other bars in the area and many regulars. the bar is tended by the same two men every night – the boss and the young bartender, and they work from about 8 until 6 in the morning 6 days of the week. sunday is their only day off. talk about hard workers!! and this of course isn’t abnormal – you’ll find this all the way across japan. one night, we were curious why they chose the name they did for their bar – hag. so we asked, and it turns out they had originally wanted to name their bar hug, but didn’t have one of those handy professional english speakers, ahem ahem, to check their spelling (i knew we had to be useful for something). they innocuously spelled it wrong, and ended up with a word used to describe old, decrepit, ugly, single women – hag. we had a good laugh together, and there budded a beautiful bar relationship with the young barman. the owner we’re working on. we had previously decided he was a little cold and untalkative man – not wanting to chat. we recently reversed our decision and observed he’s just shy and most likely nervous. he really tried a couple of nights ago to talk and even spit out a couple of english words. of course we were the only people in there so he had no need to get embarrased in front of his japanese friends

the next day, as early as we could drag ourselves out of bed and get our stuff together, we piled in carrie’s car and headed to niigata city, our capital city and most fun place to party in our prefecture. the trip took about 2 hours. we drove directly to an art exhibition – our main ambition for the day. we met with a friend, katsushi, outside the building and queued up together. inside was a body art exhibit. the original method was created by a german man, and we didn’t know until later that we actaully saw an imposter’s work. there were several bodies - real bodies - at which we could look eye to eye, inches away, and stare at every organ and part of their body. eyes, fingernails, internal organs, brain and scalp, and even remnants of sparse hair all were included. the artist had preserved the bodies, evidently imitating the famous german artist’s methods, making different cross sections on different bodies to show different systems. i held a brain – a real, gray, deceivingly simple looking brain. i touched a real, preserved body – his flaps of muscle, his shriveled genitals, his horribly eerie skin, and his fingernails. they had fetus’ ranging from 3 months – no face and alien-looking – to full term. I stole this pictures from tiff’s blog

we were excited

after we exited the exhibit, we headed downtown to the main shopping area, and went off to search for a friend’s exhibit we’d been invited to. my friend, russell, had let me know previously he would be having a furniture exhibit that whole next week. we found it and examined his beautiful work. all four pieces looked individualistic and like a lot of love and hard work had been put into each. after looking around and leaving, we came across the need for a decision. go home for the evening or find a party and some dancing in the city? without clothes for the night, we decided to rough it. getting ready by parking lot glow, we headed to dinner.

two hours of drinking and dinner later, we fantastically found out the party we wanted to attend was just a staircase decent below us – incredibly convenient. it turned out to be a long night – around 5? 6? we headed home, carrie heroically driving once again. i was passed out, completely horizontal in the back, for the first half. tiff fell asleep, head back, in the front for the last half. i have no idea how carrie managed going from wild night party to driving into the sunrise, speeding home. unflattering at best and funny, here’s a shot of us when we finally arrived home the next morning – we were still pretty drunk i believe – tiff and i were (carrie didn't drink because she was driving)

then saturday night, there were 2 dance parties. the requirement for the first dance party at nest, our favorite internet café by day and one of our favorite dance spots by night, was to wear a ‘one piece’ – their words for dress. i would say about half of the attendees dressed up – dancing at nest first, we walked to nova, our favorite dance club stand-by in joetsu. the only thing bad about nova is they’re only open once a week on saturdays. this is an ok idea i think because it tends to draw many people out on the same night. if they were open all the time, the small amount of dancers would be dispersed on different evenings, making nova not very busy

i don’t why she was squatting behind the stool

this girl crept up behind me, wanting to be part of the action

student mess ups

2005-10-12T21:20:00.000+09:00

they never fail to make me laugh . . . .

recently, the students at school had mid-terms. being the english speaking professional, i check the part of exams that require the kids to construct sentences. these are some of the tests that were amusing.

having to correct 240 exams, i needed a break

lubu lubu osaka

2005-10-12T16:21:00.001+09:00

the worst has happened. i knew it would. i fell in love . . . . . . . with osaka. it. was. so. much. fun. the weekend snuck up behind me, and before i knew it, it was thursday. i had to hurry to pack after work to catch the train to toyama, a neighboring prefecture, the pick up location for our overnight bus.

osaka is incredibly user friendly. looking back, the city just seemed magical. perhaps it was because i was with my best gals, tiff and carrie. perhaps it was because it seemed like we had so much time when we set off into the city friday morning after arriving at 6:30. perhaps because we had two days off from work – friday the 7th and monday the 10th , a national holiday. perhaps it was because it was my birthday trip. but undisputedly, it was. magical that is. the city itself is beautiful; while tokyo seems unattractive in comparison. now, reflecting on tokyo, i think it’s because that in tokyo, everyone is rushing rushing rushing in all directions to get somewhere – work, bars, home, appointments, shops, drug dens, i haven’t any idea. tokyo seems uptight and more closed off. the architecture seems univiting. i do have a place in my heart for tokyo of course, having been there to play on numerous occasions, i relatively know where things are and how to get to the party. it’s fun; it’s crazy – don’t get me wrong.

but osaka, man, osaka. that’s where it’s at. it’s the luxury of having a big city – i say luxury because, for me, i can’t imagine my life down the road without me imagining me living in a big – so it’s the luxury of having a big city with the ease, the comfortableness, and the slow-going life. of course this is generalizing – there did exist rushed, fast-paced, rude denizens.

still working out my thoughts and feelings about the trip and the city itself, i guess the conclusion i’ve come to as yet is this: i love japan, and that inclination is as strong as ever. i have completely fallen in love with the people, the landscapes, the customs, and the country. but while i still love japan, my roots twist back to america and western culture. the things we westerners do that make the japanese shocked are still within me – the volume of our voices and exclamations, our extroverted and exorbitant movements, our unabashed freedom and selfishness for our own lives. osaka is still japan, and while it’s still japanese in every essence, i bet it’s as western as you're going to get here. i’ve been internally contemplating the reconciliation of my two lives. my western, home-life, and my life in japan. i hadn’t figured it out. but oh my, osaka is cutting it close. almost too close for comfort. it’s hard for me to be here in back-country joetsu, knowing that extravagant city, where my dual citizenship will seemingly play out, is a few short hours away.

the city itself seems wider and more modern than other places i’ve visited in japan. there’s ease and accessibility everywhere. the city is actually pretty – the design and buildings are beautiful. it just seems like a vacation city – the dazzle, the night after night of packed venues for events, the outdoor dining. it all just seems so romantic. sometimes i get frustrated because japanese people sometime seem so withdrawn, stiff, nervous, and hard to get to know. but in osaka, they’re wide open – day and night – they were talkative, interested, and easy-going.

since we arrived at 6:30, we decided to load up on caffeine in order to keep our weary eyes open until later that afternoon when we could check in our hotel and nap before the evenings activites. afterwards, we headed downtown to shinsaibashi where all the rocker people and shops were

we roamed the city stopping for pictures and cool clothes seen in window fronts. well, the buildings aren't too pretty here, but others were fantastic

one of many - let me stress many - love hotels, undoubtedly filled most nights of the week

this is one of the hundreds of restaurants. take note of the rib roast

we hit the area of downtown of hostess bar upon hostess bar - for men

and women. this is more rare, although you'll find a surprising amount in the bigger cities. you pick the man you want to hang out with and talk to for your expensive short time together. we thought about doing it just for kicks and ended up not having time to fufill our curiosity. they'd be so nervous, those boys wouldn't know what to do with us . . .

after we snuck into the hotel separately (we only paid for 2 people - the cost for 3 people was extravagant, and besides, we don't mind cramping up together in a tiny room), we got dolled up and hit the city in dire need of food

we decided after scoping out some restaurants we wanted yakiniku. yakiniku is fabulous!!! i was never a big beef eater, nor meat eater for that matter, before coming to japan. but that's all changed. yakiniku makes my mouth water just thinking about it. we try to get out to eat it about once a month. it's where you grill your own meat at the table. of course, it doesn't exactly hit the spot without a bowl of rice and draft beers. we do it up! you can choose between various cuts and meats - pork and beef usually. tongue, stomach, roast, ribs, and other scary sounding parts are offered. we like to order the garlic sauce drenched beef that's frequently offered. cooking it on the fire the shortest time possible, we grab with our chopsticks dripping, mouth-burning morsels off the grill for the perfect bite of rice and meat. assorted vegetables are also a staple on the menu, and a must for us. ahhh, just typing this out . . . this restaurant was decent, but we'd had much better

we hit up a dance club that night - it was great fun. many times we'll enter a club that's more a playground for boys and girls to mingle than for brushing up on dance moves. however this club, in particular, was not. the dancers were there to do just that - dance. the dancing was stopped twice for short performances by groups of dancers. they're always fascinating for me because i love to dance myself - so i spend this time critiquing and gathering tips. most of the groups encompass either breakdancing - which is endless entertainment - or background dancing type stints. on our way stumbling home, we found this foursome sitting on a stoop outside a convenience store, drinking zimas. my mind is fuzzy as to why i decided this group in particular needed a photograph, but alas, here we are

the next day, after sleeping in and eating subway - hey, i'll take any sub sandwich i can get my hands on - we decided to hit up a

and yes, you guessed it. a little nervous, we walked inside to the smells of body odor and cigarette smoke. one customer was getting work done hidden behind a curtain, while a goth girl and other girl waited. belly flopping, we made an appointment for an hour and a half later. don't be mistaken - that's leftover ink, not leftover grub from the last night's dancing

and us three, you can't see mine too well. of course we asked the proper questions about sanitation and safety - were they honest? let's hope so! just kidding, i saw them prepare my setup fresh from a new, sealed pack. the pain wasn't as horrible as i remember. we had decided beforehand carrie would go first, it being her first tatoo. she vocalized needs for us to hold her hand all the while shouting out moral support. i volunteered second to get the butterflies out faster. but, when we showed up for our tatoos - we soon found out there were 3 tables and 3 tatoo artists. together we went

this is my artist. he was friendly and a little shy. as you can see under my arms, i was sweaty nervous

that night, after hurriedly prepping, we hung out with our boy friends we met this year at fuji rock festival at naeba ski resort. this is a picture we took of them at the festival - i stole this from tiffany - thanks tiff! uma, nori, and nobu

we went to eat at an izakaya - a bar type restaurant offering small dishes for sharing. uma, nobu, nori

so cute, little nori!

the group after dinner

we gave uma some extra love to send him on home. briefly before, over dinner, uma informed us that he was getting married to a girl he'd known for an extremely short time. she's pregnant. ugh!!!! we didn't convey that particular sentiment of course, and simply wished him luck. precious, precious uma

after recouping throughout the next day, we headed out for the evening

in search of the mexican restaurant we'd seen before, we discovered an outdoor bar; it was beach reminiscent. at this point, i was sad because i knew we'd be straggling to the train station after checkout the next morning to head home. but, i was oh so happy due to the fact that in just about 6 short hours, it would be my 25th birthday

and mexican we did eat; jeez, i felt like i was going to burst. we started with mouth-burning, fried, cream cheese jalapeno poppers. one for each of us, eaten with homemade, chunky red salsa. my favorite. we also devoured 3 pitchers of margeritas and plate upon plate of sloppy, cheesy, saucy mexican food. i had a burrito and enchilada combination - the beef kind. it was to die for - i can't really compare it to anything because it's been months since i been able to taste proper mexican

we donned the hats that adorned the walls for decoration in honor of my birthday. one would shoot, while the other kept a lookout for our waiter coming up the stairs. we didn't ask for permission - they tricked me into thinking he was coming. i look like a frightened child caught with her hand in the cookie jar

we dolled up for another night of dancing. wading through the district of bars, clubs, and youth, we happened upon this pimp ride. we were admiring, halfway joking, when the owner, a young hot japanese boy walked up. of course, we asked to get inside for a picture. he was incredibly friendly - and did i mention hot?

later, at the club. they played great, booty-shaking, birthday songs for me to work off that night's meal - it was a blast

being my birthday, that night ended very, very late. literally throwing everything in my bag the next morning, extremely groggy, we headed to our departure at osaka station. needless to say, i slept as best i could on the bumpy, uncomfortable ride home. we ended up going out for ramen that night, the japanese hungover food, and beers for dinner to commemorate the trip and my birthday one last time.

romantic enough for me. magical enough for me. enough for me to have fallen in love . . . .

osaka here we come!!

2005-10-06T14:37:00.000+09:00

so my bags are packed, i`m ready to go, i`m standing here outside your door . . . . going on a trip songs, like john denver`s here, have been rounding my head as of late. and that`s because tiff, carrie, and i are heading to OSAKA!!!! it`s a birthday trip, for none other than yours truly. i`ll be hitting mid-twenties right on the head of the nail - 25. we`re heading on an overnight bus this evening to land us right in downtown osaka at 6:40 in the morning. i am so excited i`m about to burst!!! exiting the bus dazed and tired, i`m sure we`ll perk right up when we walk into fantasy land. for us at least, the dream to go and live in osaka has been a common topic among us gals. osaka is the second biggest city in japan, following tokyo. if you want history and japanese culture, you go to kyoto. but if you want party, party, and more party until you drop - you head to osaka. earlier in the year, over the summer, the girls and i were deciding where to head for my birthday celebration, and we decided osaka almost immediately. my birthday is situated perfectly for a short trip every year because it`s a national holiday in japan. yes!!! osaka is the fashion, hip, youth, art, and progress center for japan. and we`re going to be in the middle of it all - osaka better watch out . . . here we come

dammit, we missed it!

2005-10-05T21:25:00.000+09:00

recently (well quasi-recently), for tiff's birthday evening we went to the japanese version of the wwf. the evening started with quick beer drinking before the event started around 7:00. not getting back from work until about 5:45, i had to rush to shower and get ready before heading out of the door to takada, where tiff's apartment is. riding into town like pee wee herman on my bicycle, i slid into town just on the dot. carrie brought me down a beer, and drinks and all, we piled into taxis to head to w.w.f. wrestling - japanese style. we were expecting, and wanting of course, horrible tap beer to sold in paper cups for exhorbitant prices, rowdy, drunk people, and loud catcalls to the wrestlers. well once again, (why don't we expect these things by now?) it was completely different. we walked into the huge auditorium to sober men rushing to get to their seats. being the only foreigners, the place was packed, mostly with males. since we weren't responsible and ticket bearing already, we were placed in the not-quite-nosebleeds section. we plopped down with a cheap can beer buzz, expecting to be wowed. and wowed we were. one of the first things i noticed, was a gentleman sitting in the front row, ring-side, holding an 11x14 framed picture of obviously his favorite wrestler. the event, being a japanese one, started promptly on time to our delight. i think we gave the surrounding, sober, more conservative people a little shock with our sudden outburst of cheers. having gone to a similar american wrestling event for one of tiff's past birthdays, the urge to yell, 'kick his ass!!' was strong within, but i held back. instead we just whooped and hollared wildly. it was absolutely hilarious. the audience was really into it, making us believe they believed, wholly and loyally. they all ooooohed and awwwwed in unison at just the right moments, just like the baseball game we attended some months before. man, do they think this stuff is real? i can't believe it! what made the event just a little better, i mean this genuinely, was that we were placed in the not-quite-nosebleeds section along with the mentally hanicapped contention. they were great!! they tended to like to copy and yell out whatever we yelled out, much to the amusement of their escorts and us. ending at just about the time i couldn't handle big, spandex-clad wrestlers anymore, the show ended. oh by the way, the gentleman propping up his framed wrestler in his lap held it the the entire show, from beginning to end. we promptly headed off in search of more cheap beer and a fun birthday buzz

this is a poster for an event similar to the one we attended, although ours was japanese performers only. look at the western guy at the bottom on the right. what????

it's a costume party!

2005-10-05T20:45:00.000+09:00

recently tiff, carrie, mississippi mary, and i went to this costume party at an awesome house up in the mountains in the neighboring town. this house was huge, equipped perfectly for a proper house party. big open room for dancing, good stereo system for superbly volumed party music, several bedrooms, a porch for grilling out, and an onsen (japanese bath) for bathing. our friend, carol ann, held it in honor of her birthday. the requirement was to come dressed out in a costume of a famous person. last minute like i usually am with costumes, i chose pamela anderson – yeah, i know, i know. not too fitting, eh? but it worked for the evening – i piled on the makeup and in the socks for a huge bust, and off i went. turned out to be a long, fun night.

pamela and nori, a new friend

and the award goes out to . . . . carrie! beer and all, how perfect she is as the pregnant britney spears . . .

and the group of famous people. can you guess what everyone is? i couldn't

and later that night at nova, our only dance club. still have the heavy makeup, but thankfully sans stuffed socks

these boys ain't afraid

or maybe just drunk

a small rant about the elderly

2005-10-03T21:47:00.000+09:00

often times, i feel like the japanese elderly just plain don’t like me. i’m western, i’m loud, and i’m flashy – by their standards. i believe there is still wide-spread prejudice and dislike of foreigners, and i think that japanese culture is partly to blame. the youth of japan are starting a revolution of sorts, but the elderly are still pretty traditional. the youth are breaking conventions and becoming more comfortable with public contact. the japanese aren’t really into touching. i remember i hugged the office lady, takimoto san, at my school after getting back from thailand last year, and she called me rude, albeit laughing through it. she may have laughed, but i could tell she was disturbed by my simple gesture. particularly with the elderly, there’s often not a whole lot of interest in globalization and rubbing elbows with foreigners. as one of the roots of this, japan was a closed country for about 100 years in its past . the shogun almost completely isolated japan, forbidding traveling abroad and foreign books within the country. the people weren’t allowed to be interested, and this mind set hasn’t completely dissipated. whereas world travel and education is important in the states, you’ll find many elderly people here that haven’t left japan not even once. in fact, most of them grow up and stay in the same town or city their whole lives, barely ever making it another part of japan. of course, things are inevitably evolving, and i speak mainly of the older generations.

i walk or ride my bike down the streets of my city, and many times, all eyes are on me. i’d like to think that it’s because i’m looking smart and sassy, but i know it’s not. it’s because i’m a foreigner. the eyes seem fixed in a scowling face - they always just seem so disapproving! of course, i’m a subject of interest because i’m different. i look different, i dress different, and i’m shaped different. people stare. depending on my mood, i’ll call out a playful konnichiwa or else i avert my eyes in the other direction, pretending not to notice. sometimes i feel uncomfortable being scrutinized at the grocery store or on the train. it’s always a fun trip to the local supermarket because all the elderly are constantly peeking in my basket to see what gaijin (a less than polite term for foreigner – although not all together rude) eat for dinner.

when i first came last year, i was mostly oblivious to the intricate and complex culture structure in place. standing out, i walked down the street probably breaking several social codes, unbeknownst to me.

the most uncomfortable i feel is the quasi-frequent trips to the japanese onsen. an onsen is a natural hot spring of extremely skin-reddening pore-opening hot water. japanese people onsen often – which i think is an attribute of their fabulous, young looking skin. well, after you wash in a separate shower, you lay around in the hot spring baths, many of them filled with natural minerals and smelling of sulfuric rotten eggs. you do all this naked. you can imagine the covert, darting eyes when the gaijin walk in completely nude. fair`s fair however, as i have of course stolen several secretive glances as well.

as time went by, i started to feel that whenever i was out in public, i was doing something wrong. there’s so many proper rules and social details in place, it’s hard to be aware of them all.

and, at this point in time, i finally feel like i’ve gotten the japanese way down in public - quiet, subtle, and humble. hahaha, me, you ask? somewhat of course, we still make quite a stir often; we’re given a little slack because ‘we just don’t know any better’. at least i don’t feel like i’m doing something wrong all the time anymore. but who knows, the old people are probably still shaking their heads and wondering what’s wrong with those damn foreigners!

of course, these are all my opinions, i’m sure japan’s chock full of gaijin loving old people. here’s one!

this gentleman was at the arai matsuri (festival) that i went to over summer vacation. he was really nice. or perhaps just drunk. i’d rather believe the former than the latter, and since the tell-tale sign is missing (the japanese get really red faced after drinking alcohol), i tend to believe he was just plumb friendly

gimme a hostess

2005-10-03T21:39:00.000+09:00

this is only one, among thousands, of hostess bars in japan. i thought this one, however, deserved a picture due to design and bar name. i think it's just fabulous, and we have the complete honor of having it in our town

the joetsu city new ALT welcome party

2005-10-01T18:01:00.000+09:00

once again, it was time again to throw a party for the new ALTs. last year, it was us. but this year, we got to exercise our cool, senior we-know-what-we're-doing aura. it was usual great fun including nomihodai and tabehodai (all you can drink and eat for 2 hours), rowdiness, dancing, drunkenness, and the inevitable next day forgetfulness. i got to meet some new people as well as seeing some friends that i hadn't seen in a while

the four of us, carrie, tiff, me, and mary, managed to get ourselves together for the party. this was one event we didn't want to be late for due to the all you drink session starting promptly at 7:00

simon, our RA or regional advisor, from the uk, a third year, and great guy, gave the welcoming speech. we 'kampai!!'ed our beer and let the festivities begin

martin, a brit and second year, and i pre-drink

and then mid-drink. i always love taking bathroom shots after i heartily imbibe in libations, reason unbeknownst to me. this particular bathroom was perfect for being our makeshift
studio. tiff and i

carol ann, a scot, and i outside of the beer garden en route to the next bar

and we wonder why everyone always remembers who we are . . . we never remember because of alchohol over-indulgences. oops

another one of those damn bathroom shots

oota san is on bottom, and toshiki is up top. they're great fun. both of them are dj's, and we make it out to their events frequently. they love having us - the token foreigners - because we're loud, rowdy, and (hopefully!?) fun. the bottom guy works constantly at our favorite coffee internet cafe, nest. they both love great music

another occasion of us being very . . . . well, foreign. unjapanesey of us to say the least! i don't think this poor boy knows what to make of us

carrie and i at nest

russell and i at pta, our favorite karaoke bar. russell is a relatively recent friend; he's lived in joetsu for 5 years - his mother is japanese and lives in japan as well. he makes fantastic furniture for a living, and i really enjoy his company. this is towards the end of the night; i have no idea how i managed to look so put together

popping a squat

2005-10-01T17:42:00.000+09:00

i was shocked when i came to japan last year and first saw the extremely normal and common way for japanese people, ranging from child to old person, to sit or rest. kneel i suppose. to an unassuming american, the position almost looked crude due to the fact it looks as though they were squatting to go to the bathroom. and actually, with traditional japanese toilets, which i have come to prefer over the western style toilet, this is the way you must position yourself to use it properly. but, enough with the toilet talk! it's actually comfortable to squat like this after you train your feet and ankles to bear the awkward-at-first weight distribution. i often assume it and love to see the japanese doing it as well. i'm envious, those japanese are so limber continuing into their older years!

sado earth celebration!

2005-10-01T16:43:00.000+09:00

so, after i got back from the states, i went directly to kodo earth celebration on sado island. i’ve decided i’m cursed for living here in the winter, and blessed for living here in the summer. during the cold months, the snow piles up, and i don’t mean accumulating an inch or two. back home, we would get excited about a snowflake drifting through the desolate skies. but here, it amasses all the way over streetlamps and stoplights. i’ve walked on 6 feet high fields of snow, climbed in a 10 foot high snow igloo, and searched my way through a snow maze. the winter precipitation here in joetsu city ain’t no joke.

but, it’s fabulous in the summer to live here! i live about a 20 minute short windows- down vocal-cords-excercised wind-whipping-through-your-hair perfect-sunny-day car trip away. besides the other perfect back drops to summer, we have 2 music festivals, the first being fuji rock festival, and the second one being sado. these are 2 world-wide famous 4 day long music festivals. and they are both in my prefecture, niigata.

as worn out and disoriented as i was upon returning to japan on that tuesday in august, i had sufficiently recovered enough to trek to sado. ride is more like it, tiffany and i rode the ferry – about a 2 hour trip.

we were completely excited, knowing what was in store for us. this was the first trip we took last year – bonding with other new ALTs, listening to the amazing drum beats of kodo, and dancing our pants off. sado earth festival is comprised of 3 main concerts. each year, kodo invites a new, eclectic, complimentary band from around the world. in 2004, it was a russian brass band (which was a i-literally-can’t-stop-dancing-they’re-so-good concert); this year, it was spanish carlos nunez, bag pipe player. they played celtic music. although they had some more mellow tunes, he and his three other band mates (including his brother, the drummer) could get the crowd going. we jumped around with huge smiles on our faces, dancing outside on the grass. friday night, kodo plays alone, which is amazing enough on its own. saturday night, the guest musicians play, and sunday is a spectacular show including both groups. during the shows, cameras are prohibited, so i didn’t get any pictures at the actual concerts. i snuck in a couple, but trying to be ninja-like covert, they didn’t come out so well.

during the day, there would be fringe events, such as smaller shows, workshops, and a flea market with international food vendors. oh, the tacos!! i was in heaven – greasy, cheesy, ground beef, spicy tacos – ahhhh. nothing like greasy mexican to scare the hangovers away.

we couldn't take pictures at the main events, but we were able to at the smaller daytime shows. this was one of the main fringe events that showcased some performance art of a famous calligraphy artist in japan. he was the logo designer for the festival this year.

this is the performance artist. his paintbrush consisted of 6 large brush heads screwed into the base in front of us. the act of calligraphy itself was almost orgasmic with the attention and he effort he reserved for the show. there was ceremonial preparation time, and then he started.

it was incredibly heavy due to the size of the brush and weight of the paint. it looked like he mainly pushed the brush around. the act looked physically exhausting

another fringe event. the woman under wraps changed costumes several times during the show and was talented in assuming different characters for the assorted short acts

carrie and i waiting for the bus

anyone could sign up during the day and play at the busiest spot of the festival - the flea market, which consisted of food vendors, shopping, and more kodo shows

this man enjoyed the music each day. i think i remember him from last year - he's kind of hard to forget

this vendor had the right idea - it was extremely hot

working all day tuckers you out

after the concert and back down to the flea market area to mingle and meet new, neat people

some new friends - they were incredibly rowdy and friendly during the concerts - inviting us to leap around and dance with them

and on our fourth day, tired, sunburnt, and hungover, tiff, carrie, sara, and i headed home, back on the ferry

america!!

2005-09-14T13:55:00.001+09:00

i thought i'd put some pictures up of my states side trip. there are many, and of course i could have put several more. it started off as a whirlwind tour and ended even faster. i felt invicible that tuesday night i hurried from the airplane to the area just past the security checkpoint to see my mom and brother, hank. overwhelmed, exhausted, and discombobulated, i welled up with emotion and tears the moment i set eyes on my family. i knew i would with the hurricane i was feeling in my chest. every moment was filled to the brim with activities, albeit fun, it was a little too rushed and busy for my tastes. i could have stayed happily for another week, taking a vacation from my vacation. before i knew it, i was emotionally overtaken going back to the airport two weeks later in the middle of the night. i got a new camera friday. after i got home. unfortunately, i didn't have one for my first couple of days.

nick and i at yo burrito, a locally owned restaurant in columbia, to eat mexican!!! for dinner. it's not a place i would prioritize on my list of places at which i had to dine while being a glutton for two weeks in america. in fact, i wouldn't have gone at all, but we wanted to catch two of our friends who play there regularly friday nights

you better believe it! there are no frozen daquiris or margaritas where i live in japan. you have to head to the bigger cities, like tokyo. i had several of these at different times during my trip. it's got to be red, no sour lime for me
this is james and kenley, old friends of mine. it was james' last show; he was moving to san fransisco. he should be there now

being a friday night, well what am i talking about, it doesn't have to be a weekend night for me to head to art bar. which i proved night after night through the duration of my vacation. let me rephrase, being nighttime, we headed to art bar, my favorite bar in town. this is jordan, a guy interested in the JET Program (the program i'm in).
heyward and i, late in the evening

not letting hangovers discourage us, we headed for some good american deli sandwiches. this is probably my most missed food in japan. this is my favorite sub sandwich joint, ten times better than any of the rest - i speak with authority - i was a sandwich artist in high school for almost two years

and the next night, gearing up for another night of drunken art bar, at new brookland tavern

mandie and myself

being a saturday night with a disappointing close time of 2am, we headed to our friend, jason's, house. we wanted to play with fireworks. jason, nick, and i

the cops didn't seem so concerned about the noise we were making, although the neighbors were. me, shauna, and mandie

then on sunday, off to my mom's house for some barbecuing and southern homecooking. it just didn't get any better!

my brother, hank, and i

nick and i getting to relax, while my family cooks

my mom, as if you can't tell, and i

heyward and nick showing off their similar space tshirts

of course i had to spend some time in minglewood playing pool and talking to kevin and kelly. kelly, kevin, me, nick, heyward, kate, and geoff

later that night, allston came into town, just getting back from traveling all over the states

i was infatuated with candle shots that evening, heyward

the night started early when greg, an old friend from high school, strolled in from his new hometown, charleston

it ended late involving a hotel room, late night mcdonalds (come on - american fast food! i can justify anything), me taking pictures of myself in boys underwear after the other two had passed out, and allston, greg, and me stuffed into a tiny bed - i ended up crawling to the floor sleeping on that night's clothes rolled under my head. wasn't the best for my headache in the morning

jonathan came to town from where i can't remember, with josh the hammer on the right. the night started at delhi palace, and indian restaurant; this was at the oyster bar in the vista

we tried to keep javed happy, if you look at the bottom of the picture, you'll see his crutches. he broke his foot in drunken antics (sorry javie)

in my old laundry room, now currently heyward's and geoff's house

I've got the what?!?!

2005-09-12T23:39:00.001+09:00

in light of recent knowledge, i did a little research on the internet. mumps ain’t so old; in fact there are existing, albeit rarer, cases every year. there wasn’t a vaccine until 1967, and up until then there were 200,000 new occurences every year.

i wake up this morning to a beautiful, fall-like day. the sun’s shining bright and clear with a tiny nip in the air. the morning news states the high will be around 31°C, about 88°F, still hot for this area. it’s one of those mornings where you wake up feeling like the day has promise. the sun in conjunction with the nippy, fall feeling gives me a vague memory of old days gone by when there wasn’t a worry in the world. when i was oblivious and happy. well, i’m happy now, but it’s a different kind of happiness – could it be childhood happiness i’m reminded of? one of those ideal days you read about. by 7:45, i’m sitting on the outside stairs of my apartment, waiting yet again for the school nurse to come round to pick me up. i can tell the day is going to be hot because it’s already starting to broil. good thing i’m not doing my normal bike, train, and walk a kilometer 30 minute trip to school; i’d be sticky sweaty by the time i shuffle into the teacher’s room. i don’t want the students to see me like this anyway – with a growth and all. the school nurse, here on out referred to as kasahara, pulls up in the sparkling brilliance of the day. she and i chat about how my swelling hasn’t gone down, do i have a temperature, could i eat breakfast, did i sleep and so on. we chat about inconsequential things such as our families, the weather, and a fall related word in japanese requiring a long explanation because it was nonexistent in the dictionary – kouyou. it’s the process of the leaves changing from green to red, orange, and yellow in the fall. by the way, according to kasahara, it’s happening soon here in joetsu city, and watch out because it’s pretty.

after a brief pitstop at our school, the workplace, we head to the hospital and are there by 9:00. i inwardly sigh with relief as we sign in, we’re here early before the major crowds; it’s going to be a short doctor’s trip!! i can be back at my apartment with some good medicine, having an easy living breezy monday. oh no. oh no no no. by noon, i’ve been through endless pronunciation practice with kasahara of english medical jargon, i’ve started my first reread of the harry potter book one, i’ve stared off into space, letting thoughts drift in and out of my head, i’ve watched the various annoying, screaming kids abuse the tired-looking, washed out moms, i’ve looked up countless words in the dictionary and taken notes for future study sessions, and i ‘ve seen what it seems like a ton of people come and go, disappearing in the doctor’s office and reappear almost just as quickly. maybe they have an appointment, i think to myself, trying to quell any annoyances. finally, after hours of waiting and some blood work, i’m pulled into the straight-backed, uncomfortable patient’s chair to hear the results. with the doctor a foot away, 2 nurses hovering around, and kasahara there as my savoir, he tells me my condition. first he shows me my blood work test results and explains how most things are ok; my white blood cells could be a little higher. what i gather is after my sickness, they should rise on their own. getting a little nervous, my heart beat quickens a tad. my expression morphs to one of alarm. pretty soon, he gets to the jackpot. he starts to write on my test results – m-u-m-p-s v-i-v-u-s, ‘vivus’ meaning virus. i have the mumps. the damn mumps. i thought that disease was extinct!

and here are the doctor’s orders: i must stay enclosed in my apartment until the swelling has gone down; he projected anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks. i’m contagious, enough so to keep me cramped up in my hot, little apartment for a miserable week or two. hello movies. hello internet. goodbye fun. goodbye freedom . . .

it ain't fun being sick

2005-09-11T23:26:00.000+09:00

tonight is cool and fall-like; last night’s rain grabbed on and held fast until the last moments of sunlight today. i should be nursing a killer hangover with the music notes of last nights’ songs drifting through the memories of the night before’s beach party. snapshots, shrieks of laughter, and slices of time should be swirling through my head as i sort out my soggy-logged brain from alcohol-induced forgetfulness.

but instead, today i woke up in my own bed, not on kashiwazaki beach, with a clear head and good-enough sleep. i nurse myself through a torturous breakfast which makes my head pound and throb with intense pain until, not being able to take it anymore, i stuff 2 pills down my throat. yep, one’s a pain reliever, and not your over the counter pain reliever either, it’s doctor prescribed. the other pill is an antibiotic. i woke up in my own bed for a horrible and unsatisfactory reason. i’m ill; and the worst part about it is that i have no idea what the hell i have. not only have i never experienced this unusual what-the-hell-is-it sickness, but i’m in japan where the doctor’s office is an exam on every word and every minute i’ve ever studied. listening to the doctor, i leaned in anxiously, hanging onto every word, processing his sentences in my head seconds slower than his natural speech rate. i’m not getting it all. shit. i don’t know what’s wrong with me. good thing the school nurse at the school at which i work went with me; good thing she speaks no english. and good thing the japanese have a fantastic knack for diagnosing exactly what’s wrong with you while barely listening to the i’m sitting at death’s door sick customer’s symptoms. good thing i know useful japanese for this trip such as, “wooowww, you’re cute!! wanna sing karaoke?” instead of inflammation, umm, temperature, or i don’t know – growth or tumor. the teachers i work with seemed to take one look at me and think i had a cold. “normal back to school sickness!” they’d say cheerfully. the school nurse pointed out the mumps, measles, and rubella in the big, fat official-looking medical dictionary. what?!?! a cold? mumps?? measles, rubella??? this is not the early 1900s; i thought we conquered those archaic epidemics decades ago! perhaps i’m wrong; perhaps i should research on the trusty internet. so, i’m sitting here; today i’ve watched, between naps, back to the future I and II. forgot how fabulous they were! i’m trying to ignore the huge lump growing out of the right side of my face. i’ve got swollen glands, extremely swollen glands.

it all starts last wednesday when i came home from running tired and strained. thinking i was strained from the recent late nights, i didn’t consider the dire sickness that would soon hit. of course!! what was i thinking?? how could i not realize that within the next 8 hours, i would wake up to a huge, ugly growth surrounding my right ear? the swelling started wednesday night along with a pressure-filled headache. i dismissed it. thursday i woke up, immediately my hand drifting up to my face. what it reminds me of is the scene in drop dead fred where rik mayall’s, drop dead fred of course, character’s face gets flattened somehow until it’s wide as a pizza pie. cut that in half, and that’s what i feel i have. thursday passed with dizziness, the chills, the sweats, the fever, and an above-described trip to the doctor. the diagnosis and medicine was perfect, so perfect in fact, that i’ve still got the SAME SWELL, BUT BIGGER, growing out of my face. ok. so it’s not a huge growth or tumor. it’s not a mountain, and i’m not going to die, from this at least, but it’s ugly and foreign feeling. AND DID I MENTION IT’S ON MY FACE? after another trip to the doctor today and by now several days of mr. ugly swell, i’m going to an ear and nose doctor tomorrow morning. the ideas of a cold, mumps, measles, and rubella have thankfully been dismissed. great! now i don’t have to hear ‘moompsue – the japanese pronunciation of mumps – anymore. i don’t have to teach tomorrow or work at all for that matter. the past few mornings, pre-medicine, have been agonizing pain filled, induced from chewing, swallowing, turning my head, or even talking. it’s felt best to put my head down, close my eyes, and cup my swell with a warm, loving hand.
hopefully this ear and nose doctor can do something about these stubborn glands of mine. today’s doc mentioned tonsillitis - i hope that’s all i’ve got! gimme some more meds; some that treat my problem!! results to come; hopefully the tumor will be gone.

it's about damn time!

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

LIZ'S TO DO LIST

DATE: late 2004 - now

start a blog

if this were my notepad on which i wrote my to do lists starting circa late last year, this is what it would look like. i’ve wanted to create my own blog for quite some time now, but there was always an excuse of why the project couldn’t be started just then. well now, i’ve got some time, and i can’t find any excuse why now’s not the right moment to begin.