Am I updating twice in two days?

Actually, not really. But as this has become the only place where I consistently write in, I will now produce a short form, maybe list, of the activities I have done since this new year:

l I saw horses! Wild horses! And monkeys! On a monkey island! A few weekends ago, I went to Miyazaki with some friends. We went to Cape Toi, which is home of the wild horses, who are, much as most things claimed to be famous by the Japanese, not actually wild. Well, they let us touch them. And don’t do much. And have really fat stomachs but really skinny legs. I don’t remember the name of the monkey island, but I think the monkeys on it are supposed to be very smart as they wash their potatoes before eating them. However, the dude that drove the boat that took us to Monkey Island said that they just did it once, and it was in front of a television camera. Nevertheless, we saw a bunch of monkeys, who immediately swarmed us as we stepped onto Monkey Island. There was a mother monkey nursing her young! There was an adolescent monkey sucking on clams! I took a bunch of photos with my cell phone, but I don’t know nor do I plan on learning how to upload pictures here. So you will just have to imagine the awesomeness of Monkey Island.

l On the same trip, we also went to a cool shrine that’s built partially into a cave/mountain, and we ate in both a Rastafarian and a Middle Eastern restaurant. And this is why Miyazaki may be the most awesome place in all of Japan. It’s gorgeous, has a beautiful coastline that attracts surfers from all over the world, which is probably why people there seem more laidback and able to break free from the required norm unlike in other places, has delicious food, is warmer than Chiran in the winter, has at least one Israeli living in the city (shakshuka! Shwarma! ), plus the aforementioned wild horses and Monkey Island. Oh! I forgot to say that we also saw monkeys all along the road as we were driving. So not only is there a monkey island, there are monkeys just hanging everywhere! I kind of dislike monkeys as they’re pretty creepy and capable of terrible evils, but I think we can all agree that seeing random monkeys whose habitat in every other place I’ve been has been zoos just chilling is pretty awesome.

l This weekend I went ice skating! We went to an ice skating rink in Ebino Plateau (or Ebino Tableland, as the signs read) which is also technically (maybe) in Miyazaki. It was in Kirishima National Park, which is in both prefectures. At first it was very very cold, and I could see dustings of snow on the mountains in the distance. But then we started skating, and it was the perfect temperature. I forgot how much I used to love ice skating. I think it was the first time I skated without having my toes feel like they would fall off. I also managed to do some crossovers (or “Leg-Over-Leg”s, which is a much better name in my opinion), which I don’t think I ever could despite the skating lessons I used to take. It also snowed a little while on ice, which made me nostalgic for the winters of home and the beauty of the first snowfall before everything becomes grey and a nuisance. It was a very nice day, in a very nice weekend.

l Today I was at one of my favourite elementary schools and after one of the best school lunches ever I was treated to a concert by the 3^rd and 4^th graders with whom I had been eating. They played a song called the Bumblebee Something on these little handheld keyboards that have tube attached that they breathe into. I have no idea what it’s actually called, but it’s awesome. Then they played another song with some of the kids now on recorders and one on an actual electric piano. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and I really wish I could have recorded it. It is things like this that make me love my job.

l I have decided to recontract. Last week I signed the papers, and today it was made official. I am staying in Chiran for another year!

Now I am off to a late dinner.

On to Part Two...

Again with the honesty, this is probably going to be short since I don't know if there's much to say about Tokyo. I know that statement sounds ridiculous, but after living in Japan for five months, the novelty of what makes Tokyo more than any other big city has worn off. I'm used to the unreadable signs, the blinking lights, the ugly concrete buildings. There's more than that to the city, but what made it so utterly foreign and overwhelming those first few days in August turned normal by December.

So what did we do? For starters, Tokyo Disney! Actually, Tokyo Disney Sea, which is different from Tokyo Disneyland. I think it’s supposed to catered more to adults. We went on Christmas Day, which in Japan is a holiday for couples. So it was me and Tami, the two Canadians wearing multiple layers of long underwear and scarves, surrounded by women wearing the smallest mini skirts and the highest heels accompanied by their boyfriends in matching Mickey Mouse hats. And that’s all that needs to be said about Disney.

The next day, we ventured to Tokyo proper. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day. So besides walking to a tiny shrine and to a Hello Kitty store, we mostly stayed indoors and underground in Shinjuku station. I did buy a pair of sequined green high heels, so the day was not a complete waste. The remaining days in Tokyo proved to be beautiful, and we spent most of the time walking around various areas and window shopping. I found an amazing used book store in Ebisu, took a picture of the Saigo Takamori statue in Ueno Park, got a haircut in Shibuya, and ate a donair in Harajuku.

Throughout the trip, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of foreigners. In Kagoshima, whenever I would see a fellow gaijin, I’d stare at them and try to figure out if I know them, or start up conversations. I feel like many of the foreigners I saw in Tokyo were fellow workers in other more rural parts of Japan, because there would often be the stare and the gawk but a definite attempt to conceal this action. It was right weird.

A few days before New Years, our friend Tim at www.japants.blogspot.com came up from Hyogo-ken to spend a few days with us. We met up with another Ottawa friend in Tokyo, and wandered around Meiji Shrine, Ginza, and Harajuku of the aforementioned donair fame. Meiji Shrine was really cool, but I bought a fortune for 100 Yen, which turned out to be bad! I don’t remember what it said because it was shocking and a little upsetting. Half in English, it just listed all the terrible things that may or may not happen, and that I should not leave my house ever again, and while at it, throw out all sharp objects in case something cuts my ear off in a freak accident. Okay, the last part was not actually written, but it was definitely inferred.

The three of us were planning on going out for New Years, but couldn’t find anything that looked worth staying out all night for and was not overpriced. So we headed back to Shibayama, where we were planning on going to a shrine at midnight. But then it got really cold so we stayed in and watched Back to the Future and The Goonies, both which I had never seen and now feel like I missed out on a lot in my childhood.

The coolest thing we did in Tokyo, and probably the only real cultural thing besides the bad luck shrine, was visit the Imperial Palace. The grounds are only open two days a year, on the Emperor’s birthday and on the 2^nd of January. There were a ton of people there, but the lines were super efficient, with different security checkpoint for bags and bodies. Then we walked in an orderly fashion to the front of the palace, which was a bit underwhelming, where we waited with a bunch of people for the emperor and his family to come to the balcony and wave. Oh! I forgot. We were also given paper Japanese flags, and when the family came out, everyone madly waved their flags and all you could see was little red circles and all you could hear was the whooshing of the wind against the paper.

And that’s that about Tokyo. Tami came back to Kagoshima with me, where we did a bunch of touristy stuff even though it rained the whole time she was here. I also introduced her to the wonders of Joyfull, but that may have to wait for another entry.

Winter Vacation Adventures, part 1

Well, I'm not going to lie. You all know I'm terrible at updating, and I'm going to admit now that the main reason I continue to do so is that the few emails I receive stoke my ego. My desire to see the red dots on the Clustr map to the right spread and multiply also helps. Also, since I'm absolutely shit at remembering to bring my camera anywhere with me I feel like I should have some means of recording this adventure for posterity.

So I guess I should update about these past few weeks:

The issue with my car has for all extents and purposes been resolved. The dude called my Board of Education, who then came to my main school the next day to have me sign a bunch of papers I didn't understand to have the insurance pay for it. Then I cried because I had no idea what was going on and missed my mom and felt sorry for myself and came home early and took a nap and forestalled packing. The Friday was awesome because there were no classes but we did have to stand on the cold floors of the auditorium/gym for closing ceremonies of the second (Autumn) semester. I ate lunch with my teachers at my favourite sushi place, where I managed to drop half a sushi chunk of rice on my lap. I believe this was my first ever Japanese chopsticks spill, and I blame it on the tough piece of unknown fish eaten.

That evening, we had our junior high school Bonenkai (end of the year party) at this ryokan (Japanese inn/restaurant) whose former proprietress was a surrogate mother to many of the kamikaze pilots. There were pictures and model planes all over. The food was pretty delicious. The teachers in charge of the planning made a top ten list of events of the past year, on which my arrival was number six. As I was sitting blank faced in my own little daydream for the previous four entries, I had to be informed twice of this and then was forced to make a speech, which basically was 'Ugh...these past few months have been very interesting. This food is tasty. Ugh....thank you.' and then I sat down. We also played a bingo form of Secret Santa. I got a really cute mug and table mat, and my purchased gift of a Takoyaki (fried octopus balls) maker was won by the eminent Kyoto-sensei (vice principal) himself. I don't think he liked it. But at least he didn't win a Kitty-chan (Hello Kitty) vacuum cleaner like Kocho-sensei (the ultimate principal), who tried to pawn it off on me. Then I went home while everyone else continued on to karaoke. I had to pack for my next adventure: Tokyo!

I woke up early Saturday morning to an unpleasant surprise: frost on my car windows! I was already a little late to meet my friend whose house I would be parking my car at while in Tokyo, so I hurriedly scraped some ice off with a random cassette tape holder found in the car and anxiously sped off towards the freeway. As I was leaving my sad excuse for a driveway, I hit the left side of my Daihatsu on this concrete block that indicates the sidewalk. There was a loud scraping sound as I rushed to get out, which I later saw was the sound of my left floodlight being pushed up into itself and its frame being pushed out. As nothing broke, and I don't even know how to use the floodlights, I'm not stressing this, although I can't say I'm too proud of my two accidents in the span of less than 60 hours.

Nevertheless, I arrived to meet my friend and got to the airport with time to spare. After buying some omeyage for Tami, the friend I was meeting in Tokyo, I boarded the plane and proceeded to pass out for the entire flight. From Haneda, the airport in Tokyo used primarily for domestic flights, I took a bus to Narita, the international airport about an hour and half outside of central Tokyo where Tami happens to live. Unfortunately, although I was a bit early, Tami emailed me to let me know that she was in the hospital! She had a stomach flu, and her overeager office took her to the hospital to get an IV. I would have bussed to her house, but as I had no idea where she lived I chose to wait a bit until she got out. In the mean time, I busied myself gawking at all the foreigners in the airport, browsing the magazines and books, looking at all the different Tokyo Hello Kitty cell phone charms, and buying a face mask.

I don't think I mentioned the prevalence of the face mask. The first time I encountered one was at Matsugaura elementary school, where I scrambled in late to my first morning class to see 10 six and seven year olds, half of them with their mouths and noses covered by these surgical-like masks. I wondered if there was an epidemic that I wasn't told about, but it's just the kids' (or their mothers') protection against common winter air born viruses. Actually, I'm not sure if the kids wearing the masks were sick or just germaphobes, but in any case it was a weird sight.

So, though Tami was just hospitalized, we talked and she told me that she was feeling much better. In any case, she suggested I buy a face mask to protect myself from whatever thing she had. So I did, and wandered about the arrivals area of Narita wearing this thing and waiting for Tami. Although in the next week I would see thousands of people wearing facemasks, I'm pretty sure I'm the only non-Japanese person to ever do so. It would explain the strange looks I was getting, from tourists and natives alike. So Tami picked me up and we drove to her place, in a little town called Shibayama that's famous for their creepy ceramic life-like tiny people statues.

I think it's a universal JET fact that anytime one JET enters another JETs apartment, the former experiences some form of housing envy. Since almost all JETs have no choice in their living arrangements, which are chosen by each JETs contracting organization (or town), the housing varies considerably. While I live in a drafty tiny apartment with virtually no kitchen and a bedroom smaller than my bathroom, Tami lives in a freestanding house with a massive kitchen and two large rooms. She also lives about an hour from a Costco, so her kitchen was stocked with some Western favourites, like brownie mix (she has an oven!) and taco seasoning. Well, some of my Western favourites, at least. She also has nice dishes and no clutter from her predecessor, as well as an awesome heating system in both bedrooms, so of course I wanted to kill her and take over her identity in order to live in her swank house. But as she was graciously putting me up for the next ten days, I decided not to.