...into shape. I think.
Yes, having joined the Cult of Billy (Cult of Blanks after all would just...suck), I have come to the realization at just how frickin out of shape I was. OK, no surprise. I went from a fairly active job slinging around motor oil, antifreeze, and tires, to a basically sedentary job. Sure I bike to work, but that's hardly a work out anymore. Repeated warnings from my doctor, as well as a ever so slight tightening around the waist of my pants meant that it was about bloody time I did something about it.
Japan right now is in a big Billy Blank's Boot Camp craze, with people who wouldn't seem to need it working out. My cousin, two ladies from Tsuyazaki City Hall I met today playing tennis, the handball coach at school who sits behind me at work, all thin as rails, and all doing the circles. circle. circle. circle...
Even anime has jumped on the band wagon. I give you... Jin-Rok's Boot Camp for lulz. Its from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
9/10/2007
A year in review.
It's been a while since I've posted, and if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I usually do these review things.
So where am I now? How's life for me in Japan?
Back, almost 2 years ago, when I first started the ball rolling on my JET application, it was in response to an epiphany I had a year and a half previous to that. Then, I had stood in front of the ashes of my ancestors, having come to the realization that I wanted to live in Japan. My acceptance into JET was the first step towards that dream, and a year ago when I was at the park overlooking that temple where my ancestors lay, I felt a great sense of...accomplishment? Satisfaction? I felt I had come full circle.
So what then? Well, circle of course is a closed circuit, and so there is something to be said about the symbolism of a circle as a fixed track, and thus a poor (however appropriate) it is in describing someone's life. I guess the real question is, do I see my life as that symbolic circle?
Well, in one way I suppose it is an appropriate metaphor. My daily life is as ever routine. I go to work, do my lessons, come home, watch some TV, and read before I go to sleep. It's a comfortable, if somewhat boring existence. But then again, I've always been a bit of a stick in the mud.
But then again, I've added exercise to my routine (I've joined the cult of Billy Blanks), watch what I eat, and in general taken a genuine interest in developing my teaching skills. Its a bit of a revelation that the stuff they teach you at monthly meetings and seminars has a definite practical use in the classroom. I feel over the last few months, and especially over the summer, I've become a better ALT.
So then if it's a circle, lets instead think of it as a coil. A continuous ring, that takes me in cycles to some eventual goal. Heady stuff...or a silly metaphor depending on your point of view.
Indulge me the metaphor. What's the goal? I think, as always, it remains to live in Japan. This is something I am accomplishing, and as it stands, I don't see a real end. I don't know for sure if I will commit to the entire five years I can on the JET Programme. After all, things will eventually get old. And it also has the negative side-effect of prolonging any real decision as to what I will do with my life, something which I really shouldn't be keeping off at my age.
In the end, I think, I'll just keep on keepin on. It's what I do the best, and thinks always seem to work out anyway.
So where am I now? How's life for me in Japan?
Back, almost 2 years ago, when I first started the ball rolling on my JET application, it was in response to an epiphany I had a year and a half previous to that. Then, I had stood in front of the ashes of my ancestors, having come to the realization that I wanted to live in Japan. My acceptance into JET was the first step towards that dream, and a year ago when I was at the park overlooking that temple where my ancestors lay, I felt a great sense of...accomplishment? Satisfaction? I felt I had come full circle.
So what then? Well, circle of course is a closed circuit, and so there is something to be said about the symbolism of a circle as a fixed track, and thus a poor (however appropriate) it is in describing someone's life. I guess the real question is, do I see my life as that symbolic circle?
Well, in one way I suppose it is an appropriate metaphor. My daily life is as ever routine. I go to work, do my lessons, come home, watch some TV, and read before I go to sleep. It's a comfortable, if somewhat boring existence. But then again, I've always been a bit of a stick in the mud.
But then again, I've added exercise to my routine (I've joined the cult of Billy Blanks), watch what I eat, and in general taken a genuine interest in developing my teaching skills. Its a bit of a revelation that the stuff they teach you at monthly meetings and seminars has a definite practical use in the classroom. I feel over the last few months, and especially over the summer, I've become a better ALT.
So then if it's a circle, lets instead think of it as a coil. A continuous ring, that takes me in cycles to some eventual goal. Heady stuff...or a silly metaphor depending on your point of view.
Indulge me the metaphor. What's the goal? I think, as always, it remains to live in Japan. This is something I am accomplishing, and as it stands, I don't see a real end. I don't know for sure if I will commit to the entire five years I can on the JET Programme. After all, things will eventually get old. And it also has the negative side-effect of prolonging any real decision as to what I will do with my life, something which I really shouldn't be keeping off at my age.
In the end, I think, I'll just keep on keepin on. It's what I do the best, and thinks always seem to work out anyway.
7/03/2007
Paging Dr. House.
Just like it's not paranoia is they're really out to get you, it's not hypochondria is you're actually sick a lot. Well, since I've come to Japan (almost a whole year now if you can believe), I've gotten sick a couple of times, had a small asthma attack once, but otherwise been fairly healthy. However, my asthma means that as a general rule, I go to the doctor at least once a month. Now, my abuse of the Japanese medical system aside, this means that for the most part I catch problems early. Consider my high cholesterol, a problem which emerged while I was here, and then due to prompt treatment, is back to normal.
But back to my current problem. After a weekend being cooped up in the house, I got to the doctor's today. After drawing some blood, some initial testing may indicate that I have whooping cough.
Holy fucking shit.
Really it's more annoying than anything else. I haven't been told to quarantine myself or anything, but the wiki article seems to indicate that this is pretty damned contagious. Well, I'll take care to keep a towel or something I can cough into. In the meanwhile, I have some meds (good ol' Azithromycin) to cure me up. Lets hope that it doesn't actually take 100 days to cure, as the Japanese name would seem to indicate (it's called "100-day Cough" here).
But back to my current problem. After a weekend being cooped up in the house, I got to the doctor's today. After drawing some blood, some initial testing may indicate that I have whooping cough.
Holy fucking shit.
Really it's more annoying than anything else. I haven't been told to quarantine myself or anything, but the wiki article seems to indicate that this is pretty damned contagious. Well, I'll take care to keep a towel or something I can cough into. In the meanwhile, I have some meds (good ol' Azithromycin) to cure me up. Lets hope that it doesn't actually take 100 days to cure, as the Japanese name would seem to indicate (it's called "100-day Cough" here).
7/01/2007
Yippee-ki-yay Motherfucker!
Went to see Die Hard 4.0 (or Live Free or Die Hard, as it is marketed in the US and Canada). Can I say... awesome!!!! The last time I got to turn off my brain and sit back and ENJOY an action movie was xXx, and as entertaining as it was (no, it wasn't a good movie, but it was definitely entertaining) Die Hard 4 delivers more in and in spades. About 20 minutes into the film the action starts, and it basically doesn't stop until the end. Plus, John McClane's daughter is a hottie. And the evil chinese hacker chick is a hottie. OK, so the F-35 is stupid. But who cares?
Just awesome. This is one for the DVD collection.
Oh yeah, Happy Canada Day motherfuckers!
Just awesome. This is one for the DVD collection.
Oh yeah, Happy Canada Day motherfuckers!
6/24/2007
6/16/2007
Only in Japan
Here's an interesting find from the land of the rising sun...
Yes, that is indeed Ice Cucumber flavoured Pepsi. It does smell something like cucumber, and the taste holds a hint of cucumber, but other than that it's pretty Pepsi-like. FYI, cucumbers are meant to evoke a feeling of coolness, hence (I assume) this odd flavour.
The other treat is a salted ice-cream bar. Yes, salted. Actually, there's a well documented connection between salty and sweet, like chocolate covered pretzels. Or... well, maybe not so well documented. Anyway, it's surprisingly good.
Also, perhaps I just wanted to test out my new camera.
Yes, that is indeed Ice Cucumber flavoured Pepsi. It does smell something like cucumber, and the taste holds a hint of cucumber, but other than that it's pretty Pepsi-like. FYI, cucumbers are meant to evoke a feeling of coolness, hence (I assume) this odd flavour.
The other treat is a salted ice-cream bar. Yes, salted. Actually, there's a well documented connection between salty and sweet, like chocolate covered pretzels. Or... well, maybe not so well documented. Anyway, it's surprisingly good.
Also, perhaps I just wanted to test out my new camera.
6/14/2007
Damn you Namco!!!!
OMFG I think I just came.
Damn it why the hell is it an XBox 360 exclusive? Rumour has it it will come to PS3, but those are only rumours. Microsoft has already even developed a flightstick throttle combo for it, so unless Sony is following suit, does that mean it will remain only on Xbox? I dunno if i can wait...
Damn it why the hell is it an XBox 360 exclusive? Rumour has it it will come to PS3, but those are only rumours. Microsoft has already even developed a flightstick throttle combo for it, so unless Sony is following suit, does that mean it will remain only on Xbox? I dunno if i can wait...
6/03/2007
Professional business attire does not mean come to work dressed like a vagrant.
OK, so maybe it's not that bad, but I feel the need to rant a bit.
This past week, I went to Kobe for a JET conference for recontractees. The conference was fine, if a little warm that's to the A/C set to 25c throughout the building. Some really good workshops, some not so good. Ultimately, I think it was a valuable conference on professional development.
Yeah, professional.
While I realize that not everyone agrees on what exactly professionalism is, it seems that some sort of minimum requirement is necessary. Consider that the conference was for recontractees, people who want to do another year on JET. While for some people it's just a chance to fuck around and make more money, to many of us, it also signifies a greater commitment to our own jobs, even if they are contractual in nature.
Greater commitment doesn't necessarily mean that you need wed yourselves to your job, or throw you identity our the window in favour of conformity. Nor does it necessarily imply that JET is a career, though to a small percentage people it is a sort of feeder job into the world of EFL teaching. But if you make a commitment for another year, this means that you willingly play the role again of not only a representative of your home country, but of your school/CO as well.
Cargo shorts, untucked polo shirts, khaki pants, or running shoes do not fall under the realm of professional business attire, yet I saw an abundance of this in Kobe. There are some justifications I'm sure people cooked up for their attire: this is how I dress at work, or this is what is considered professional where I come from; or I'm not Japanese, so their conventions don't apply, or I don't want to lose my sense of identity; I didn't want to pack extra shoes because their heavy, or a shirt and tie are too hot for Japan; it's the last day of the conference and I didn't want to bother getting changed again or repacking my bags...
Ultimately, I think how you present yourself is indicative of how you view your commitment to your job. If you choose to be taken seriously, you will present yourself in that manner. Putting on a tie doesn't mean you lose your personality, a fact that is made plenty evident by the quality of some of the workshops I attended. But if you choose to dress like a tourist, then I have to wonder what kind of attitude you take with you into the office. Perhaps you do go to work with shorts and a t-shirt. That's fine if you're at work--I wouldn't want to run around the room with a bunch of 8-year-olds in a suit or tie either. Perhaps you dress in hawaiian shirts in your home country, as that's acceptable business attire. That's fine if you're back home.
But the simple fact of the matter is that you are NOT at your workplace, and you are NOT in your home country. You are at a professional business conference in a country where you are expected to dress appropriately for the occasion. I guarantee that those other teachers, who you work with and wear jeans and t-shirts to work with you, would be in their suits and ties if they were at a teachers conference.
This is a rant, so of course it is based almost purely on the distaste I felt at seeing people dressed like they were out walking the dog for whatever reason, especially when so many of us were in suits enduring the warm of a crowded hotel. Its sad that there's little real consequence to this, as the disapproving Japanese group eye has little or no effect on some people. But that doesn't stop me from wishing that something could be done about it. Photos are probably out of the question, as that would seem to smack of the sort of pseudo-fascist STASI-esque surveillance. Besides, we're adults right, and should know better. But a greater MEXT (Japanese Ministry of Education), or CLAIR (Council that in is charge of the JET Programme) presense might help curb some of the more excessive dressing habits.
It's a shame, because it's probably unprofessionalism like this which is helping destroy JET. The Programme already has a reputation for good pay for little or no work, and things like this can't help it. Assuming that the various Contracting Organizations get reports on what actually went on, it's no surprise that more and more places are opting for cheaper, probably more professional, non-JET ALT options like Interac.
OK, end rant.
This past week, I went to Kobe for a JET conference for recontractees. The conference was fine, if a little warm that's to the A/C set to 25c throughout the building. Some really good workshops, some not so good. Ultimately, I think it was a valuable conference on professional development.
Yeah, professional.
While I realize that not everyone agrees on what exactly professionalism is, it seems that some sort of minimum requirement is necessary. Consider that the conference was for recontractees, people who want to do another year on JET. While for some people it's just a chance to fuck around and make more money, to many of us, it also signifies a greater commitment to our own jobs, even if they are contractual in nature.
Greater commitment doesn't necessarily mean that you need wed yourselves to your job, or throw you identity our the window in favour of conformity. Nor does it necessarily imply that JET is a career, though to a small percentage people it is a sort of feeder job into the world of EFL teaching. But if you make a commitment for another year, this means that you willingly play the role again of not only a representative of your home country, but of your school/CO as well.
Cargo shorts, untucked polo shirts, khaki pants, or running shoes do not fall under the realm of professional business attire, yet I saw an abundance of this in Kobe. There are some justifications I'm sure people cooked up for their attire: this is how I dress at work, or this is what is considered professional where I come from; or I'm not Japanese, so their conventions don't apply, or I don't want to lose my sense of identity; I didn't want to pack extra shoes because their heavy, or a shirt and tie are too hot for Japan; it's the last day of the conference and I didn't want to bother getting changed again or repacking my bags...
Ultimately, I think how you present yourself is indicative of how you view your commitment to your job. If you choose to be taken seriously, you will present yourself in that manner. Putting on a tie doesn't mean you lose your personality, a fact that is made plenty evident by the quality of some of the workshops I attended. But if you choose to dress like a tourist, then I have to wonder what kind of attitude you take with you into the office. Perhaps you do go to work with shorts and a t-shirt. That's fine if you're at work--I wouldn't want to run around the room with a bunch of 8-year-olds in a suit or tie either. Perhaps you dress in hawaiian shirts in your home country, as that's acceptable business attire. That's fine if you're back home.
But the simple fact of the matter is that you are NOT at your workplace, and you are NOT in your home country. You are at a professional business conference in a country where you are expected to dress appropriately for the occasion. I guarantee that those other teachers, who you work with and wear jeans and t-shirts to work with you, would be in their suits and ties if they were at a teachers conference.
This is a rant, so of course it is based almost purely on the distaste I felt at seeing people dressed like they were out walking the dog for whatever reason, especially when so many of us were in suits enduring the warm of a crowded hotel. Its sad that there's little real consequence to this, as the disapproving Japanese group eye has little or no effect on some people. But that doesn't stop me from wishing that something could be done about it. Photos are probably out of the question, as that would seem to smack of the sort of pseudo-fascist STASI-esque surveillance. Besides, we're adults right, and should know better. But a greater MEXT (Japanese Ministry of Education), or CLAIR (Council that in is charge of the JET Programme) presense might help curb some of the more excessive dressing habits.
It's a shame, because it's probably unprofessionalism like this which is helping destroy JET. The Programme already has a reputation for good pay for little or no work, and things like this can't help it. Assuming that the various Contracting Organizations get reports on what actually went on, it's no surprise that more and more places are opting for cheaper, probably more professional, non-JET ALT options like Interac.
OK, end rant.
5/22/2007
Bah, lets finish this beast off...
It has been too long since I updated, but in defense I have been pretty busy at work. Where were we? Oh yes, day 3. We packed up, made a last trip to Akiba, got on the train and went home. Well, more things happened, like my trip to the gashapon toy shop for more otaku-memories (m4a1s for all my Gundams!), and as a souvenier a ticket stub from Akihabara Station.
Exhausted, we decided to nix the Nagasaki trip in favour of a more chill day downtown in Fukuoka, and the next day we were off to Beppu. Onsens galore, including the tourist trap "The Nine Hells" or whatever. De rigeur, but it was really a chance to walk around a small town. What better way to relax? Why an onsen of course! We found a pretty nice, large onsen and partook. I forget the name, but it featured this awesome "waterfall" bath, more a wading pool with several pipes high up on a wall hurling water down at you. If it sounds corny, it isn't. Let me tell you, this was one of the most relaxing experiences I have ever had. Like some sort of masseuse, kneading away at all the tension built up from the Shinkansen ride home. A note on the bullet train...never again! Next time I go to Tokyo, its airplane or bust.
Our trip home was eventful. We walked around for some 40 minutes or so, getting ourselves lost before we flagged down a taxi (AFAIK not normally done, but I'll attribute our ease to the presence of my friend) and headed back to the local station. Our longish trip back as interrupted a few stops away from home by some sort of Event at Hakata Station (notice the capital "E"). To this day I do not know what happened, but whatever it was, it caused our train to ride delay getting into Kokura (Kitakyushu City JR hub) by an hour, then an at least as long stop at Akama Station. Well enough of this shit, we decided. Jumping on a cab, we arrived home 2 hours and 20 minutes late and about $40 poorer. Oh well, at least we were home.
The next day, Ian was off to Kyoto and environs, which gave me some time to do some much needed housework. Ian returned 2 days later, and one last night in Fukuoka, with our last meal as an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, we capped off a very successful spring break.
Oh, last minute shenanigans. Ian almost missed his flight! My fault, as I underestimated how busy check in would be. Ian was through the security gate with some 5 minutes to spare :P
OK, so reflections? On Tokyo, I need to stop visiting and revisiting Akiba. But it's just so much damned fun, and it rekindled my interest in drawing. Beppu? Hmm, ok, onsens = really bad eczema. I had a month of hell after that, so no more for me.
Guess that wraps that up. As always, my photos.
Exhausted, we decided to nix the Nagasaki trip in favour of a more chill day downtown in Fukuoka, and the next day we were off to Beppu. Onsens galore, including the tourist trap "The Nine Hells" or whatever. De rigeur, but it was really a chance to walk around a small town. What better way to relax? Why an onsen of course! We found a pretty nice, large onsen and partook. I forget the name, but it featured this awesome "waterfall" bath, more a wading pool with several pipes high up on a wall hurling water down at you. If it sounds corny, it isn't. Let me tell you, this was one of the most relaxing experiences I have ever had. Like some sort of masseuse, kneading away at all the tension built up from the Shinkansen ride home. A note on the bullet train...never again! Next time I go to Tokyo, its airplane or bust.
Our trip home was eventful. We walked around for some 40 minutes or so, getting ourselves lost before we flagged down a taxi (AFAIK not normally done, but I'll attribute our ease to the presence of my friend) and headed back to the local station. Our longish trip back as interrupted a few stops away from home by some sort of Event at Hakata Station (notice the capital "E"). To this day I do not know what happened, but whatever it was, it caused our train to ride delay getting into Kokura (Kitakyushu City JR hub) by an hour, then an at least as long stop at Akama Station. Well enough of this shit, we decided. Jumping on a cab, we arrived home 2 hours and 20 minutes late and about $40 poorer. Oh well, at least we were home.
The next day, Ian was off to Kyoto and environs, which gave me some time to do some much needed housework. Ian returned 2 days later, and one last night in Fukuoka, with our last meal as an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, we capped off a very successful spring break.
Oh, last minute shenanigans. Ian almost missed his flight! My fault, as I underestimated how busy check in would be. Ian was through the security gate with some 5 minutes to spare :P
OK, so reflections? On Tokyo, I need to stop visiting and revisiting Akiba. But it's just so much damned fun, and it rekindled my interest in drawing. Beppu? Hmm, ok, onsens = really bad eczema. I had a month of hell after that, so no more for me.
Guess that wraps that up. As always, my photos.
4/02/2007
More culture than you can shake a stick at!
As always, pics at the bottom of the post.
Day three we were up bright and early...relatively speaking. We were out the door by about 10AM. By now, I was pretty confident about navigating the Tokyo Metro system, so we made our way down to Tokyo Tower. We did the whole tour, up to the Observation Platforms 1 and 2, and I snapped the requisite pics. Honestly, it was more of a tourist thing, de rigeur as a "tourist". Though the grandparents with all their grandkids in tow made the appropriate oohs and ahhs, Tokyo Tower, a copy of the Eiffel Tower, has nothing on good ol' CN. Still, I got an appreciative chuckle from my elevator mates when the elevator cable went ka-thunk. It's completely normal, or so the helpful recording told us. Oddly enough, when I cried out in mock dismay, "Oh no, we're all gonna die!", it was in English. I guess that "Oh shit!" moment is universal regardless of language.
While at the tower, I had been playing email tag with my cousin. Thanks to an early-ending workday, she volunteered to be a tour-guide for the rest of the day. Noon-time was fast approaching, but we had both decided the day before to head back to Akihabara to search for that mysterious souvenier which would represent our time there. In retrospect, we should have checked out another district of Tokyo. Oh well. There's comfort for me in the familiar, and we were getting pretty cozy with the district.
We lunched at Go Go Curry. Despite the name, the mascot featured a gorilla. Go Go Curry caters to rushed Tokyo salarymen-types, but for the 750 yen I paid, I got a helluva good chicken-cutlet curry. The food-ticket vending machine however said it was econo-sized, so I'm scared to see what a jumbo-size looked like. It's odd, because I remember laughing when Ian told me that his friends had egged him on about how little he would eat here in Japan. If that was true, I'd be a twig by now.
We had about an hour and a half in Akihabara, where I managed to find one of the things I had come to Tokyo to find: a spare mag for my Marushin 1911 TRP. Ian managed to fill out some more of his list of things to find, but soon it was time to meet up with my cousin.
We headed out to Ryogoku Station. There, even from the platform, we were able to spy the gigantic Tokyo Edo Museum. Linking up with my cousin, we toured the museum. Though I had been skeptical about it, the museum was a lot of fun, and it was here that I would take the bulk of my pictures. I think it must have been all the interactive displays, as well as the overall environment, a welcome cry from the more sterile, and hence boring, Kyushu National Museum. We were there for a couple of hours, and in the end we visited the souvenier shop, where I got my omiyage (souveniers I am essentially required by Japanese custom to buy for the staff at school), as well as 3 prints which I would turn into a pseudo-triptych now adorning my wall at home.
With the sun starting its decline, the museum closing up, and us all sort of shopped out, what were we to do? My cousin suggested Ueno Park, to sit amongst the cherry trees, watching the blossoms and drinking some sake. It sounded wonderful to us, so off we went.
Ueno Park was a sort of urban oasis. The cherry blossoms, which down in Fukuoka were only starting to bloom thanks to the messed up weather we've been having (normally, they follow the jetstream and bloom south to north in orderly progression), covered nearly every tree. As the sun began to set the red lanterns came on, and we sat in a rosey-orange sea of cherry-viewing parties, with cups of heated sake to warm our hands.
It was soon dark, and despite this, the park was getting more crowded. We decided to duck out and find a place to eat. The last things on our itinerary were some sort of traditional Japanese dinner, then some karaoke. Having no real idea what that traditional dinner would be, we started to walk through the famous Ameyayakocho Market. I was delighted to find a donair vendor, the closest I think I may come to in Japan for Mediterranean food. Yet we were unable to think of anything to eat otherwise. Leaving the Market, we came out to one of the main roads, where we spied an okonomiyaki restaurant. OK, so it wasn't authentic Tokyo cuisine, but it was Japanese. We were treated to what was honestly a mediochre dining experience, and it wasn't until we were at the karaoke pub that we realized we should have just grabbed food there.
Oh well, on to singing. Karaoke was a mixed bag, mostly because our tastes in music varied so much. My cousin and I were a little closer matched, but she knows songs more popular in recent years, which I am only just beginning to discover. Ian on the other hand seemed to prefer oldies and classic rock, which I have little knowledge of. I stuck to my usual repertoire, so in the end we were just singing our own tunes.
It was a sort of a melancholy way to end the evening, but in the balance it was oddly fitting. Tomorrow we would be leaving busy Tokyo, so for now, it was time to get back to the hotel.
Pics here.
Day three we were up bright and early...relatively speaking. We were out the door by about 10AM. By now, I was pretty confident about navigating the Tokyo Metro system, so we made our way down to Tokyo Tower. We did the whole tour, up to the Observation Platforms 1 and 2, and I snapped the requisite pics. Honestly, it was more of a tourist thing, de rigeur as a "tourist". Though the grandparents with all their grandkids in tow made the appropriate oohs and ahhs, Tokyo Tower, a copy of the Eiffel Tower, has nothing on good ol' CN. Still, I got an appreciative chuckle from my elevator mates when the elevator cable went ka-thunk. It's completely normal, or so the helpful recording told us. Oddly enough, when I cried out in mock dismay, "Oh no, we're all gonna die!", it was in English. I guess that "Oh shit!" moment is universal regardless of language.
While at the tower, I had been playing email tag with my cousin. Thanks to an early-ending workday, she volunteered to be a tour-guide for the rest of the day. Noon-time was fast approaching, but we had both decided the day before to head back to Akihabara to search for that mysterious souvenier which would represent our time there. In retrospect, we should have checked out another district of Tokyo. Oh well. There's comfort for me in the familiar, and we were getting pretty cozy with the district.
We lunched at Go Go Curry. Despite the name, the mascot featured a gorilla. Go Go Curry caters to rushed Tokyo salarymen-types, but for the 750 yen I paid, I got a helluva good chicken-cutlet curry. The food-ticket vending machine however said it was econo-sized, so I'm scared to see what a jumbo-size looked like. It's odd, because I remember laughing when Ian told me that his friends had egged him on about how little he would eat here in Japan. If that was true, I'd be a twig by now.
We had about an hour and a half in Akihabara, where I managed to find one of the things I had come to Tokyo to find: a spare mag for my Marushin 1911 TRP. Ian managed to fill out some more of his list of things to find, but soon it was time to meet up with my cousin.
We headed out to Ryogoku Station. There, even from the platform, we were able to spy the gigantic Tokyo Edo Museum. Linking up with my cousin, we toured the museum. Though I had been skeptical about it, the museum was a lot of fun, and it was here that I would take the bulk of my pictures. I think it must have been all the interactive displays, as well as the overall environment, a welcome cry from the more sterile, and hence boring, Kyushu National Museum. We were there for a couple of hours, and in the end we visited the souvenier shop, where I got my omiyage (souveniers I am essentially required by Japanese custom to buy for the staff at school), as well as 3 prints which I would turn into a pseudo-triptych now adorning my wall at home.
With the sun starting its decline, the museum closing up, and us all sort of shopped out, what were we to do? My cousin suggested Ueno Park, to sit amongst the cherry trees, watching the blossoms and drinking some sake. It sounded wonderful to us, so off we went.
Ueno Park was a sort of urban oasis. The cherry blossoms, which down in Fukuoka were only starting to bloom thanks to the messed up weather we've been having (normally, they follow the jetstream and bloom south to north in orderly progression), covered nearly every tree. As the sun began to set the red lanterns came on, and we sat in a rosey-orange sea of cherry-viewing parties, with cups of heated sake to warm our hands.
It was soon dark, and despite this, the park was getting more crowded. We decided to duck out and find a place to eat. The last things on our itinerary were some sort of traditional Japanese dinner, then some karaoke. Having no real idea what that traditional dinner would be, we started to walk through the famous Ameyayakocho Market. I was delighted to find a donair vendor, the closest I think I may come to in Japan for Mediterranean food. Yet we were unable to think of anything to eat otherwise. Leaving the Market, we came out to one of the main roads, where we spied an okonomiyaki restaurant. OK, so it wasn't authentic Tokyo cuisine, but it was Japanese. We were treated to what was honestly a mediochre dining experience, and it wasn't until we were at the karaoke pub that we realized we should have just grabbed food there.
Oh well, on to singing. Karaoke was a mixed bag, mostly because our tastes in music varied so much. My cousin and I were a little closer matched, but she knows songs more popular in recent years, which I am only just beginning to discover. Ian on the other hand seemed to prefer oldies and classic rock, which I have little knowledge of. I stuck to my usual repertoire, so in the end we were just singing our own tunes.
It was a sort of a melancholy way to end the evening, but in the balance it was oddly fitting. Tomorrow we would be leaving busy Tokyo, so for now, it was time to get back to the hotel.
Pics here.
4/01/2007
Akihabara Redux
Links once again to the pics I snapped at the bottom of this post. Pics now sorted by day.
The next morning we were up at the crack of noon. Thanks to a combination of the heat and the down duvet supplied to each bed, I managed to only get about 4 hours of shuteye. Waking up bleary-eyed, we decided to head out to the Imperial Palace, nominally a 10 minute walk from our hotel, but in reality a trip that took us 25 minutes as I searched for a convenient store for a cell-phone recharger that uses standard AAs. With my phone back up and being charged (albeit slowly), we headed into the Palace grounds proper.
The Imperial Palace grounds are huge. While I don't know the exact size, it was certainly enough to be a district of Tokyo in and of its own. A 10x10 city block area might be an exaggeration, but not by much. There wasn't a whole lot to see though, other than your usual tourist trappings. Beautiful trees, interesting looking buildings, the massive walls and ramparts, and the ruins of the old Edo donjon. OK, but only fun in the sense that playing tourist is fun. It was a good wind-down to our previous night, and walking around was a relaxing experience.
Things picked up when Jon and his buddies showed up, as things inevitably do when a bunch of young guys go anywhere. We revisited some of the places Ian and I had gone to, but soon we were off, back to Akihabara.
Despite my initial impressions, I was keen to head back there. After all, there is nary the geek or otaku that can resist the call of such a place, and I qualify under both columns. Our intention was to find one the shrines of otakudom, the maid cafe, and armed with fliers and maps in hand, we set off. The first place we checked (porn-shops not-withstanding), was an over-heated bust. Our next stop seemed more promising, but it was small and we would have needed to break our group up, and still wait for a while for seating. We left our names and decided to check elsewhere. We, or at least 4 out of the 6 of us, ended up at a place call Cos-cha. I enjoyed it on a sort of basic level as an experience in Akihabara, but I as foreigners, the maid/waitresses were a little intimidated. Add to that our complete inexperience with the whole thing, we ultimately were a little disappointed...until the show.
While all we did was sit and have some drinks and oggle a couple of the maids, some of the more experienced Otaku (note the capital "O", for they were very obviously uber-otakus, made up from parts of lesser otaku like myself) decided to partake of the pancake eating game. This attracted the attention of all the cafe. The rules were simple. One of the maids and the customer face off in a pancake eating contest. If the customer can eat 2 pancakes faster than the maid can eat one, then the customer wins and gets something (I missed what the actual prize was), and the other patrons of the cafe can get a picture with the losing maid, a priviledge normally paid for. However, if the maid wins, the customer is punished. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy, right?
WRONG!
Admittedly, the guy tried hard. He lost by one or two bites, but when he got up, his cheeks were definitely channeling some chipmunk. The maid on the other hand, somehow managed to combine pancake-gorging with dainty elegance. Must be a maid secret power. By this time, we had recieved a call from the other cafe, and we were settling up. Most of us were looking back at the antics going on with the losing customer and the maid with sort of casual interest, mostly because there were making some noise. Suddenly, we were treated to perhaps the funniest sight of my Tokyo experience:
As punishment for losing the pancake game, the maid got to BITCH-SLAP the customer!!!
That got a rise out of the rest of the customers, as well as the gaijin about to leave. I don't know if there was some pent-up aggression behind that slap, but it was loud.
We headed around the corner to the other maid cafe, Mefle. By this time, Jon and crew had to jet, so it was up to Ian and I to troop on. Ian was a bit reluctant, but I was determined to try at least one more place. We made out way to the cafe, and were treated to a much more authentic experience. At the risk of sounding too lecherous, I enjoyed myself and have pics to prove it.
Afterwards, having completed that holiest of rituals, we started to explore Akihabara with renewed vigour. For me, that meant hitting up some of the local hobby stores. While I didn't find what I had come to look for, I ended up with some neat stuff to make my Marui M4 more "tacticool", while Ian managed to flesh out his soundtrack collection even more. As night fell, we headed back to the hotel.
It was not for sleep though, at least not yet. Tired as we were, the night was still young. So after a brief rest at the hotel, we searched out a local izakaya (bar). After 2 jumbo-sized beers, and some good izakaya-chow, we ended the night full and slightly sauced. I'll admit that the otaku in me was still ultimately unsatisfied with my foray in Akihabara, and the beer allowed me to voice my conviction to return there and buy something outstandly geeky, a souveneir par excellence of my time in otaku-Mecca. For now though, we called it a night relativly early, determined to get the most out of our last day...
Pictures Here.
The next morning we were up at the crack of noon. Thanks to a combination of the heat and the down duvet supplied to each bed, I managed to only get about 4 hours of shuteye. Waking up bleary-eyed, we decided to head out to the Imperial Palace, nominally a 10 minute walk from our hotel, but in reality a trip that took us 25 minutes as I searched for a convenient store for a cell-phone recharger that uses standard AAs. With my phone back up and being charged (albeit slowly), we headed into the Palace grounds proper.
The Imperial Palace grounds are huge. While I don't know the exact size, it was certainly enough to be a district of Tokyo in and of its own. A 10x10 city block area might be an exaggeration, but not by much. There wasn't a whole lot to see though, other than your usual tourist trappings. Beautiful trees, interesting looking buildings, the massive walls and ramparts, and the ruins of the old Edo donjon. OK, but only fun in the sense that playing tourist is fun. It was a good wind-down to our previous night, and walking around was a relaxing experience.
Things picked up when Jon and his buddies showed up, as things inevitably do when a bunch of young guys go anywhere. We revisited some of the places Ian and I had gone to, but soon we were off, back to Akihabara.
Despite my initial impressions, I was keen to head back there. After all, there is nary the geek or otaku that can resist the call of such a place, and I qualify under both columns. Our intention was to find one the shrines of otakudom, the maid cafe, and armed with fliers and maps in hand, we set off. The first place we checked (porn-shops not-withstanding), was an over-heated bust. Our next stop seemed more promising, but it was small and we would have needed to break our group up, and still wait for a while for seating. We left our names and decided to check elsewhere. We, or at least 4 out of the 6 of us, ended up at a place call Cos-cha. I enjoyed it on a sort of basic level as an experience in Akihabara, but I as foreigners, the maid/waitresses were a little intimidated. Add to that our complete inexperience with the whole thing, we ultimately were a little disappointed...until the show.
While all we did was sit and have some drinks and oggle a couple of the maids, some of the more experienced Otaku (note the capital "O", for they were very obviously uber-otakus, made up from parts of lesser otaku like myself) decided to partake of the pancake eating game. This attracted the attention of all the cafe. The rules were simple. One of the maids and the customer face off in a pancake eating contest. If the customer can eat 2 pancakes faster than the maid can eat one, then the customer wins and gets something (I missed what the actual prize was), and the other patrons of the cafe can get a picture with the losing maid, a priviledge normally paid for. However, if the maid wins, the customer is punished. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy, right?
WRONG!
Admittedly, the guy tried hard. He lost by one or two bites, but when he got up, his cheeks were definitely channeling some chipmunk. The maid on the other hand, somehow managed to combine pancake-gorging with dainty elegance. Must be a maid secret power. By this time, we had recieved a call from the other cafe, and we were settling up. Most of us were looking back at the antics going on with the losing customer and the maid with sort of casual interest, mostly because there were making some noise. Suddenly, we were treated to perhaps the funniest sight of my Tokyo experience:
As punishment for losing the pancake game, the maid got to BITCH-SLAP the customer!!!
That got a rise out of the rest of the customers, as well as the gaijin about to leave. I don't know if there was some pent-up aggression behind that slap, but it was loud.
We headed around the corner to the other maid cafe, Mefle. By this time, Jon and crew had to jet, so it was up to Ian and I to troop on. Ian was a bit reluctant, but I was determined to try at least one more place. We made out way to the cafe, and were treated to a much more authentic experience. At the risk of sounding too lecherous, I enjoyed myself and have pics to prove it.
Afterwards, having completed that holiest of rituals, we started to explore Akihabara with renewed vigour. For me, that meant hitting up some of the local hobby stores. While I didn't find what I had come to look for, I ended up with some neat stuff to make my Marui M4 more "tacticool", while Ian managed to flesh out his soundtrack collection even more. As night fell, we headed back to the hotel.
It was not for sleep though, at least not yet. Tired as we were, the night was still young. So after a brief rest at the hotel, we searched out a local izakaya (bar). After 2 jumbo-sized beers, and some good izakaya-chow, we ended the night full and slightly sauced. I'll admit that the otaku in me was still ultimately unsatisfied with my foray in Akihabara, and the beer allowed me to voice my conviction to return there and buy something outstandly geeky, a souveneir par excellence of my time in otaku-Mecca. For now though, we called it a night relativly early, determined to get the most out of our last day...
Pictures Here.
3/30/2007
Tokyo the Mad...
A link to the pics I snapped is at the bottom of the post.
We set out Monday morning bright and early. The weather was beautiful, and laden with our packs, we headed into the city. Soon we were off on our way to Tokyo via the Hikari Railstar, the not quite fastest Shinkansen Bullet Train. I sorely underestimated how tiring rail travel would be, and soon the novelty of the train wore off. We got off at Shin-Osaka, transfering trains for the second leg of our trip to Tokyo. After a grueling 6 hours, we arrived ready to get to our hotel and start exploring the city. Only as we watched mile after mile of city pass by our window did we truly start to grasp just how big Tokyo really is.
Tired, but excited, we left the train to the hell that is Tokyo Station. I imagine that a near-future Distopian world would closely approximate Tokyo Station. Not the nice, orderly, fascist world inhabited by clone-like baldies in hospital whites eating Soylent Green day-in and out, but rather the underworld where the underclass live. Tokyo Station was a multi-story building sprawling out in all directions, with people from all over the place hurrying about in some sort of Brownian-model chaos. Perhaps it was sheer stubbornness, but I was determined to find my way out. Sadly, after 40 minutes I was defeated, and asked an information booth how to get to the subway station near our hotel.
While the subway was another adventure that would take a few trips on for us to get used to, we managed to arrive at the Sakura Hotel with little fanfare. Checking in, we were greeted with a fairly nice place, decidedly budget but well worth what we were paying. At $40 a night per person, we had a clean, air-conditioned, and surprisingly roomly place to bunk down for the night. But it was still only about 4pm, and so after a consultation with my friend Jon, also by coincidence in Tokyo with his friends, as well my cousin Miwa, a 10-year resident of the megalopolis, we decided to head to Akihabara, Mecca of geeks and otaku the world over.
My first impression was that of being underwhelmed. Somehow, I imagined a more densely packed, almost European-style street market (local Toronto readers think: Kensington Market) filled with all manner of maid and cosplayers, reeking of geek-sweat and ionized air from all the electricity. Instead, what awaited us was what was at first-glance a built-up shopping area that
catered to the anime-oriented. After a while, we headed for trendy Shibuya, to meet up with my cousin and Jon.
Exiting Shibuya station at the famous Hachiko exit, we were greeted by a throng of young Tokyo-ites, all doing the same as us and using the famous dog-statue of Hachiko as a meeting place. The story of the dog goes that the dog would always wait at the train station exit for her master. One day, here master didn't return (I don't recall the reason why, but war seems likely). Hachiko waited and waited, every day, eventually dying from old age. This story is the basis of one of the more touching Futurama episodes.
After we all managed to meet up, we headed for Tucanos, a Brazilian eatery researched by Jon. There, I ate more meat than I thought possible. Vegitarians, Vegans, Jainites, and Animal Activists may want to skip looking at the picture I took of one side of beef. All others who enjoy the consumption of rump-roast, tenderloin, top sirloin, ribs, sausages, wings, and other parts of the meat portion of the food pyramids should make way to Tucanos to indulge their carnivorous habits.
After dinner, we headed to a bowling alley. An awesome place lit with black-light, I played my first ever game of 10-pin. Fun times were had by all, but soon exhaustion caught up with us at we called it a night. Travel back to the hotel was interesting, with drunk salarymen abound. We arrived back at the hotel just after 1am, and fell into fitful sleep thanks to my inadvertently turning on the heat.
Pictures here.
We set out Monday morning bright and early. The weather was beautiful, and laden with our packs, we headed into the city. Soon we were off on our way to Tokyo via the Hikari Railstar, the not quite fastest Shinkansen Bullet Train. I sorely underestimated how tiring rail travel would be, and soon the novelty of the train wore off. We got off at Shin-Osaka, transfering trains for the second leg of our trip to Tokyo. After a grueling 6 hours, we arrived ready to get to our hotel and start exploring the city. Only as we watched mile after mile of city pass by our window did we truly start to grasp just how big Tokyo really is.
Tired, but excited, we left the train to the hell that is Tokyo Station. I imagine that a near-future Distopian world would closely approximate Tokyo Station. Not the nice, orderly, fascist world inhabited by clone-like baldies in hospital whites eating Soylent Green day-in and out, but rather the underworld where the underclass live. Tokyo Station was a multi-story building sprawling out in all directions, with people from all over the place hurrying about in some sort of Brownian-model chaos. Perhaps it was sheer stubbornness, but I was determined to find my way out. Sadly, after 40 minutes I was defeated, and asked an information booth how to get to the subway station near our hotel.
While the subway was another adventure that would take a few trips on for us to get used to, we managed to arrive at the Sakura Hotel with little fanfare. Checking in, we were greeted with a fairly nice place, decidedly budget but well worth what we were paying. At $40 a night per person, we had a clean, air-conditioned, and surprisingly roomly place to bunk down for the night. But it was still only about 4pm, and so after a consultation with my friend Jon, also by coincidence in Tokyo with his friends, as well my cousin Miwa, a 10-year resident of the megalopolis, we decided to head to Akihabara, Mecca of geeks and otaku the world over.
My first impression was that of being underwhelmed. Somehow, I imagined a more densely packed, almost European-style street market (local Toronto readers think: Kensington Market) filled with all manner of maid and cosplayers, reeking of geek-sweat and ionized air from all the electricity. Instead, what awaited us was what was at first-glance a built-up shopping area that
catered to the anime-oriented. After a while, we headed for trendy Shibuya, to meet up with my cousin and Jon.
Exiting Shibuya station at the famous Hachiko exit, we were greeted by a throng of young Tokyo-ites, all doing the same as us and using the famous dog-statue of Hachiko as a meeting place. The story of the dog goes that the dog would always wait at the train station exit for her master. One day, here master didn't return (I don't recall the reason why, but war seems likely). Hachiko waited and waited, every day, eventually dying from old age. This story is the basis of one of the more touching Futurama episodes.
After we all managed to meet up, we headed for Tucanos, a Brazilian eatery researched by Jon. There, I ate more meat than I thought possible. Vegitarians, Vegans, Jainites, and Animal Activists may want to skip looking at the picture I took of one side of beef. All others who enjoy the consumption of rump-roast, tenderloin, top sirloin, ribs, sausages, wings, and other parts of the meat portion of the food pyramids should make way to Tucanos to indulge their carnivorous habits.
After dinner, we headed to a bowling alley. An awesome place lit with black-light, I played my first ever game of 10-pin. Fun times were had by all, but soon exhaustion caught up with us at we called it a night. Travel back to the hotel was interesting, with drunk salarymen abound. We arrived back at the hotel just after 1am, and fell into fitful sleep thanks to my inadvertently turning on the heat.
Pictures here.
3/25/2007
Spring Break Report 2: Tenjin
Unlike yesterday, the weather was cooperating beautifully today. Sunny, almost hot without the breeze, it was a perfect day for exploring Fukuoka's Central Ward. After a very early delivery by Kuroneko Yamato, delivering a care package brought from Canada by my dad, and sent to me from my mother, I was delighted to recieve 3 new dress shirts, 2 new ties, a new hoodie, an old hoodie, and other sundry items. So very wicked.
We didn't actually leave until about 11am. Arriving in Tenjin, we first checked out Rainbow Plaza, a tourism office made especially for foreigners, grabbing a couple of brochures before grabbing some lunch. Then it was off to the ruins of old Fukuoka Castle. We walked there, a good 25 minutes or so. At first, we were underwhelmed, as all that we could see was 2 walls, shelter two a couple of bums. Concluding that there must be more, we wandered around until we found a gallery housing the excavation site of the Korokan, where Japanese lords parlayed with foreign emissaries.
By then we realized that there was far more to the ruins of Fukuoka Castle. The terraced walls rose just beyond the Korokan. We braved dangerous steps to reach the top, which rewarded us with a fantastic view of the city, which I captured on my phone, and a fantastic view of a pair of fine asses, which I leave to readers imagination.
The view, not the asses.
We then headed back to Tenjin, another long trek. We stopped first by SWAT, the local airsoft gun store, then to a variety of stores in Tenjin. We ended the evening with at Ippudou, one the more famous ramen restaurants in Fukuoka, where we filled ourselves with one of Hakata's finest cuisines.
By the time we got home, we where knackered. Packing is complete, and we have a 6am wake-up for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow. Can't wait.
We didn't actually leave until about 11am. Arriving in Tenjin, we first checked out Rainbow Plaza, a tourism office made especially for foreigners, grabbing a couple of brochures before grabbing some lunch. Then it was off to the ruins of old Fukuoka Castle. We walked there, a good 25 minutes or so. At first, we were underwhelmed, as all that we could see was 2 walls, shelter two a couple of bums. Concluding that there must be more, we wandered around until we found a gallery housing the excavation site of the Korokan, where Japanese lords parlayed with foreign emissaries.
By then we realized that there was far more to the ruins of Fukuoka Castle. The terraced walls rose just beyond the Korokan. We braved dangerous steps to reach the top, which rewarded us with a fantastic view of the city, which I captured on my phone, and a fantastic view of a pair of fine asses, which I leave to readers imagination.
The view, not the asses.
We then headed back to Tenjin, another long trek. We stopped first by SWAT, the local airsoft gun store, then to a variety of stores in Tenjin. We ended the evening with at Ippudou, one the more famous ramen restaurants in Fukuoka, where we filled ourselves with one of Hakata's finest cuisines.
By the time we got home, we where knackered. Packing is complete, and we have a 6am wake-up for our trip to Tokyo tomorrow. Can't wait.
3/24/2007
Spring Break Report 1: Cultural Fukuoka
As some of my readers may know, Ian made the trip across the pond to visit me in J-Land. And so marks the beginning of our 2-week long oddyssey.
Despite horridly uncooperative weather, and despite our best efforts, we managed to get in quite a bit of culture today. The day started off at good ol' Hakata Station, where I met my dad, also coincidentally in Japan. We secured Ian's Rail Pass, and our tickets to Tokyo for Monday, and then sat down to a hearty brunch.
Next stop: Yodobashi Camera. Long-time readers will recognize this name from many moons ago, from my previous trip to Japan 3 years ago. While we didn't pick anything of significance up, we did spend some time goofing off at the game center on the top floor. But enough of that. Off for some culture.
We travelled by subway to Hakozaki Shrine, one of the big three in Fukuoka Prefecture along with Dazaifu and Miyajidake. It was interesting, for me mostly because I was able to update my charm. Unfortunately, the facade of the shrine seems to be undergoing restoration. So today, it was shrouded in some sort of cloth, precluding any nice pictures. The weather was cooperative during out visit to the shrine, as well as our visit to the nearby Buddhist Temple, but as we left the temple, the rain picked up pace. We hurried back to the subway station, stubbornly refusing to put our hoods up.
We encountered this strange stone, inscribed with lyrics. Didn't check the lyrics, but it's kinda cool...
Next stop, Dazaifu, home of the Kyushu National Museum. By the time we got out of the station, the rain was a steady downpour. Leaving Dazaifu Station places you almost directly next to the shrine grounds, which is itself located next to the museum. After wandering around the shrine, we finally found the museum.
Then long hallway leading to the museum proper, with the occasionally pulsing light which made me feel like I should launch from a Viper MkII...
It is hard to explain just how large the museum is. Though I have never been inside a airplane hangar, this was the immediate impression I got. The museum is effectively one big room, which houses all the exhibits. Being shown now is an archeological history of Japan. As Ian smartly pointed out, it's almost inconceivable to comprehend numbers like 1500 BC, except on an academic level. For a country like Canada, with a history measured in centuries, it's humbling to see artifacts from as old as 90,000 years ago (a tree stump discovered and dated, burned by a pyroclastic flow that incinerated the Dazaifu area up to almost Hakata Bay 90,000 years ago).
The roof of the museum must be at least 6 stories high, enough to contain the 5-story high building pictured here...
By the time we got out, it was about 4pm, and raining very hard. We trekked back to the station, our shoes and pants soaked from the knees down. Thankfully, we caught the special express, which bypasses all but 1 station on the way back to downtown Fukuoka. From there, it was a taxi ride to fabulous Canal City.
While not particularly "cultural", at least not in the traditional sense, it was fruitful for me as I got to update my wallet. I bought a new Porter wallet, fairly similar to my old one, but a but smaller.
The store I bought it from however had an unfortunate Engrish name...
We wandered the mall a bit before heading back home. Dinner was order-in pizza, my first time since arriving in Japan.
Tomorrow: Tenjin.
Despite horridly uncooperative weather, and despite our best efforts, we managed to get in quite a bit of culture today. The day started off at good ol' Hakata Station, where I met my dad, also coincidentally in Japan. We secured Ian's Rail Pass, and our tickets to Tokyo for Monday, and then sat down to a hearty brunch.
Next stop: Yodobashi Camera. Long-time readers will recognize this name from many moons ago, from my previous trip to Japan 3 years ago. While we didn't pick anything of significance up, we did spend some time goofing off at the game center on the top floor. But enough of that. Off for some culture.
We travelled by subway to Hakozaki Shrine, one of the big three in Fukuoka Prefecture along with Dazaifu and Miyajidake. It was interesting, for me mostly because I was able to update my charm. Unfortunately, the facade of the shrine seems to be undergoing restoration. So today, it was shrouded in some sort of cloth, precluding any nice pictures. The weather was cooperative during out visit to the shrine, as well as our visit to the nearby Buddhist Temple, but as we left the temple, the rain picked up pace. We hurried back to the subway station, stubbornly refusing to put our hoods up.
We encountered this strange stone, inscribed with lyrics. Didn't check the lyrics, but it's kinda cool...
Next stop, Dazaifu, home of the Kyushu National Museum. By the time we got out of the station, the rain was a steady downpour. Leaving Dazaifu Station places you almost directly next to the shrine grounds, which is itself located next to the museum. After wandering around the shrine, we finally found the museum.
Then long hallway leading to the museum proper, with the occasionally pulsing light which made me feel like I should launch from a Viper MkII...
It is hard to explain just how large the museum is. Though I have never been inside a airplane hangar, this was the immediate impression I got. The museum is effectively one big room, which houses all the exhibits. Being shown now is an archeological history of Japan. As Ian smartly pointed out, it's almost inconceivable to comprehend numbers like 1500 BC, except on an academic level. For a country like Canada, with a history measured in centuries, it's humbling to see artifacts from as old as 90,000 years ago (a tree stump discovered and dated, burned by a pyroclastic flow that incinerated the Dazaifu area up to almost Hakata Bay 90,000 years ago).
The roof of the museum must be at least 6 stories high, enough to contain the 5-story high building pictured here...
By the time we got out, it was about 4pm, and raining very hard. We trekked back to the station, our shoes and pants soaked from the knees down. Thankfully, we caught the special express, which bypasses all but 1 station on the way back to downtown Fukuoka. From there, it was a taxi ride to fabulous Canal City.
While not particularly "cultural", at least not in the traditional sense, it was fruitful for me as I got to update my wallet. I bought a new Porter wallet, fairly similar to my old one, but a but smaller.
The store I bought it from however had an unfortunate Engrish name...
We wandered the mall a bit before heading back home. Dinner was order-in pizza, my first time since arriving in Japan.
Tomorrow: Tenjin.
3/21/2007
The end of the year
Well, March 20th has come and gone, and so has the end of my first school year here. Lets rewind a bit, because I've been lazy, to March 1st, when the 3rd years graduated. I had dim recollections of my own graduations, first from Japanese school and second from high school, but I don't think they were as initially boring as this one was.
Japanese ceremonies seem to all be made of standing, bowing, sitting, speech-making, all in that order repeated ad nauseum. Add to that the fact that the gymnasium isn't heated. It's a wonder everyone wasn't falling asleep. Still, the latter half was as emotionally charged as a graduation ought to be. I was a little misty-eyed, but I'll be honest and say I almost lost it when the 3rd Year rep broke down in tears during her thank you speech. In the aftermath, I think it was a pretty touching ceremony.
Fast-forward to last week. Class match, where the kids from each class squared-off against each other in various sports. Sadly, the weather was uncooperative, and it was raining all day. It was truly cold and miserably, and in the end all the sports were cancelled and replaced with table-tennis. In the end, I think the kids enjoyed it, or at least, enjoyed not being out in the rain. Some of them I'm sure had rebounds of colds or influenza, which has been kicking the shit out of the students for at least 3 weeks now.
Yesterday was the last day of school, coupled with the revealing of who got in and who didn't to Genkai High School. A little bit of explanation here is in order. First, entrance into high school, any high school in Japan, rests on an entrance exam. It is this exam that kids spend at least a year, and for some the entire 3 years of Junior High School, preparing for.
Students can take 2 exams. The first is for a private high school, which is less desirable as the tuition costs are higher and are thought to offer a lower level of education. Which this is not true, it's hard to break out of that preconception. All of these private school exams take place on the same day, and are usually fairly easy, so as to almost ensure success. The reason for this is the other exam.
Prefectural (or public) high schools are the other exam. Thought to be more prestigious and offer a higher level of education, the primary consideration is it's lower tuition costs. These too are held all on the same day (but on a different, later day than the private school exams), and are intentionally harder to weed out the students.
Of course all students know this, so virtually all students study like maniacs in their last year to prepare for this. All schools offer a limited number of spots (for Genkai, for example, we had 320 regular spots open, and 40 International Culture Course spots open), so competition is fierce. The private school exams are held before so as to shift expectations, so that if you do well or poorly on that exam, you can adjust which public school exam you can go. Genkai is a mid-academic school, where as some place like Fukuoka high school is a high academic, and the exams given reflect this.
This year, we had 595 regular course applicants, and 49 ICC applicants. Around 9am, most of the students converged on the signboards displaying the student numbers of those who succeeded. Screams of joy abounded, as well as I'm sure shocked kids who slinked away in tears. What happened to them? Were they the stupid kids? Just unlucky that day? Somehow I don't think so. It's a tragedy inherent in the Japanese education system that puts 15 year old kids through a pressure cooker. Those kids that didn't make it failed to get in because they might have lost a single point somewhere on their exam, or scored the same but failed the interview portion because they didn't participate in club activities in JHS, perhaps ironically because they were preparing to get into high school. Most of the more forward thinking teachers seem to feel that this is something that needs to be addressed, but ultimately, save for a complete revamping of the system, any changes would be merely cosmetic. Still, this is something that all Japanese kids know and understand, and oddly, I think any other system would feel strange to them.
Back to the last day of school, the closing ceremony had it's requisite bows, but was over pretty quickly. The rest of the day was a sort of dreamy day, as those teachers getting transfered or leaving the profession cleared out their desks. It was a good chance for me to do a little spring cleaning on my desk.
Later than night, we had our 2nd Year Teachers End of the Year Enkai. It was, as always loads of fun, but ended badly for me when I discovered I had left my wallet somewhere. I knew were I had left it, checkout register #4 at the Kinokuniya bookstore nearby. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Oddly, knowing that I had left it there, I wasn't really flapping or anything. The most dominant feeling in my gut was that I didn't want to have to bother coming all the way back to Hakata to get my wallet. Luckily, an employee checking the doors came by. I knocked hard, probably scaring him, and he told us (my supervisor, bless his heart, was with me) that the wallet had been taken to the building security office. We went down, talked to the security guards, identified my wallet and left a happy man.
Nothing like a little bit of drama on a Tuesday night.
Japanese ceremonies seem to all be made of standing, bowing, sitting, speech-making, all in that order repeated ad nauseum. Add to that the fact that the gymnasium isn't heated. It's a wonder everyone wasn't falling asleep. Still, the latter half was as emotionally charged as a graduation ought to be. I was a little misty-eyed, but I'll be honest and say I almost lost it when the 3rd Year rep broke down in tears during her thank you speech. In the aftermath, I think it was a pretty touching ceremony.
Fast-forward to last week. Class match, where the kids from each class squared-off against each other in various sports. Sadly, the weather was uncooperative, and it was raining all day. It was truly cold and miserably, and in the end all the sports were cancelled and replaced with table-tennis. In the end, I think the kids enjoyed it, or at least, enjoyed not being out in the rain. Some of them I'm sure had rebounds of colds or influenza, which has been kicking the shit out of the students for at least 3 weeks now.
Yesterday was the last day of school, coupled with the revealing of who got in and who didn't to Genkai High School. A little bit of explanation here is in order. First, entrance into high school, any high school in Japan, rests on an entrance exam. It is this exam that kids spend at least a year, and for some the entire 3 years of Junior High School, preparing for.
Students can take 2 exams. The first is for a private high school, which is less desirable as the tuition costs are higher and are thought to offer a lower level of education. Which this is not true, it's hard to break out of that preconception. All of these private school exams take place on the same day, and are usually fairly easy, so as to almost ensure success. The reason for this is the other exam.
Prefectural (or public) high schools are the other exam. Thought to be more prestigious and offer a higher level of education, the primary consideration is it's lower tuition costs. These too are held all on the same day (but on a different, later day than the private school exams), and are intentionally harder to weed out the students.
Of course all students know this, so virtually all students study like maniacs in their last year to prepare for this. All schools offer a limited number of spots (for Genkai, for example, we had 320 regular spots open, and 40 International Culture Course spots open), so competition is fierce. The private school exams are held before so as to shift expectations, so that if you do well or poorly on that exam, you can adjust which public school exam you can go. Genkai is a mid-academic school, where as some place like Fukuoka high school is a high academic, and the exams given reflect this.
This year, we had 595 regular course applicants, and 49 ICC applicants. Around 9am, most of the students converged on the signboards displaying the student numbers of those who succeeded. Screams of joy abounded, as well as I'm sure shocked kids who slinked away in tears. What happened to them? Were they the stupid kids? Just unlucky that day? Somehow I don't think so. It's a tragedy inherent in the Japanese education system that puts 15 year old kids through a pressure cooker. Those kids that didn't make it failed to get in because they might have lost a single point somewhere on their exam, or scored the same but failed the interview portion because they didn't participate in club activities in JHS, perhaps ironically because they were preparing to get into high school. Most of the more forward thinking teachers seem to feel that this is something that needs to be addressed, but ultimately, save for a complete revamping of the system, any changes would be merely cosmetic. Still, this is something that all Japanese kids know and understand, and oddly, I think any other system would feel strange to them.
Back to the last day of school, the closing ceremony had it's requisite bows, but was over pretty quickly. The rest of the day was a sort of dreamy day, as those teachers getting transfered or leaving the profession cleared out their desks. It was a good chance for me to do a little spring cleaning on my desk.
Later than night, we had our 2nd Year Teachers End of the Year Enkai. It was, as always loads of fun, but ended badly for me when I discovered I had left my wallet somewhere. I knew were I had left it, checkout register #4 at the Kinokuniya bookstore nearby. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Oddly, knowing that I had left it there, I wasn't really flapping or anything. The most dominant feeling in my gut was that I didn't want to have to bother coming all the way back to Hakata to get my wallet. Luckily, an employee checking the doors came by. I knocked hard, probably scaring him, and he told us (my supervisor, bless his heart, was with me) that the wallet had been taken to the building security office. We went down, talked to the security guards, identified my wallet and left a happy man.
Nothing like a little bit of drama on a Tuesday night.
3/13/2007
2/19/2007
Mike's Excellent Seoul Adventure
Walking. Eating. Shopping.
That, in a nutshell, is what I did for 2 days and 2 nights in Seoul. Last weekend, my mother, her cousin, and I went to Korea. With only 2 days, we were only able to explore the Myong-dong district, a hip, young shopping area peopled by as many foreigners as natives.
Seoul is only an hour away by plane from Fukuoka, but being an international flight, we were still treated to an airline dinner. I was asleep going, and judging by the meal coming back, I didn't miss much. Besides, food in-country is what I was looking forward to.
We landed in Korea at what seemed like the other side of Incheon International, and we were rolling at least 15 minutes on the ground. Impressive if you consider that taxiing to and from runways made up at least 20% of the time we were planed.
Arrival, otherwise proceeded smoothly and soon we were on our way to the Westin via shuttlebus. I noticed 3 things almost immediately. First, people drive on the right side of the road, figuratively and literally. Second, the highways and streets are wide and spacious, an almost welcome sight compared to the narrow deathtraps that are Japanese streets. Last, there were an inordinate number of cars parked on the shoulders of the highway. For what reason I couldn't fathom, but I saw one car virtually blocking an offramp. At one point, I'm sure I saw a food stand, doing business on the side of the elevated highway. All of this seemed foolish to me, but in Seoul it was business as usual.
The Westin was very posh, and the room we were in a very nice reminder of the Canadian essentials I miss in Japan; faucets that run hot water, stand-up showers, central heating, and wall insulation. Sadly, Seoul was pretty warm (about 3-10 degrees C), so I couldn't enjoy the benefits of modern construction techniques. Instead, we actually ended up sleeping with the windows open a crack and the heating turned down to 15 degrees.
Dinner that night was at a ma & pa joint, with wickedly delicious kalbee, fried-pork, and seafood-nabe (hot pot). Even my mother, normally adverse to meat, got in to a little kalbee action. The walls of the restaurant were covered in polariods of other satisfied customers, and we gladly added our own mugs to their collection. It will be fun to go back one day and find that picture.
We wandered around, soaking in the atmosphere. Being Lunar New Years Eve, many stores were closing up early, but we managed to snag a small truck selling little golden pigs, famous in Korea and those in the know for bringing good luck.
After we returned to our hotel, filled with ice-cream and kim-chee (not in that order), we ended up collapsing into sleep at about 2am. We'd be up in about 5 hours.
Despite the short sleep time, I felt pretty good for someone more-or-less constantly on the go for the last 2 weeks. Brekkie was at the hotel's Executive Lounge (thanks dad, for booking us as Exec club members), and soon enough we were out on the streets of Myong-dong again. First stop was the Lotte duty free shop next door, where I managed to get a fair chunk of my souveneir shopping done. You couldn't turn around without smacking into a Japanese person there.
After Lotte was Myong-dong proper, and I was surprised to see so many American chains there. Smoothie King (is this American?), Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and my personal slice of heaven, Burger King. I indulged my Whopper cravings later that night (and the next day), but for now it was off to find lunch.
Lunch was a bit of an ordeal, as we got ourselves a little lost and overshot the restaurant by about 6 blocks. A quick consultation of the map had us back on track, but by then my mother, no longer quite the spring chicken, was pretty close to collapse. Part of the wonder of Seoul is the seeming lack of crosswalks. I'm not sure if this is a phenomenon restricted just to just the Myong-dong district, or whether Korea is a nation of anti-crosswalk-ites, but crossing the street involved going downstairs to subway level, to a pathway lined with shops, and climbing back up. It seemed that many, if not all, the underground passage ways were interconnected, creating a large super network of underground passages. I can only think of two possibilities for this odd construction. One is the fact that Seoul is a sort of winter city. No snow when we were there, but perhaps on colder days people just stay underground. The other possibility is that they are ad hoc bunkers, in case ol' Kim Jong Il decides to start lobbing in arty. I seem to recall reading that Seoul is within range of North Korea's artillery.
We finally found our restaurant, and we were treated to a sort of chicken stew/gruel. I forget what it was called, (something like samgeta, but I'm working off a Japanese translation) but it was very tasty. I think, however, we enjoyed the simple act of sitting after our long trek more than anything else.
Following lunch, we wandered past a famous eyeglass store, and on a lark we decided to all make new glasses. I am pleased to say that my new glasses suit me very well, better in fact than my old ones. I am sadly to say that they also cost about 1/8 of my old glasses. At least I've got a REALLY nice set of back ups.
After we made our glasses, it was to the nearest department store, Shingekai. It was a very nice store, and while I was there I picked up a small North Face duffelbag, and a pair of Timberland loafers. After about an hour we headed back for our glasses (20 minutes a pop to make), and then wandered the streets of Myong-dong again, stopping in a variety of shops. A lot of the time was spent trying to find Krispy Kreme, which took some awesome 40 minutes or so due to us not knowing were to go, and by the time we got there, we just had the free donuts and just bought coffee before heading back to the hotel.
After a bit of rest, we headed out again, this time to a nearby restaurant that specialized in chi-gu. What that is I'm not sure, but it basically seems like a variation on rice-gruel. Good food, though we were confused at first on how to eat it.
Tired as hell, we headed back after dinner to turn in early, and all of us lay sort of comatose at one point or another before mustering the energy to bath. Our early night saw us asleep by 11pm.
The next day I felt the tiredness overwhelm me, and I was asleep until about 10am. By then, my mother and her cousin had had breakfast, and I woke up soon after and got ready to check out and go for lunch. Thanks to my new duffel I got rid of my boots and switch to my infitely more comfortably new loafers, and we wandered around a quiet, Japanese tourist filled Myong-dong. Most of the stores were closed, and would be until 11 or 12, but we managed to scope out a likely lunch venue. We then hurried back, checked out and settled our bill, and headed back for lunch. Lunch was delicious bulgogi, but a bit rushed as were on the clock for the airport limosine bus. We hurried back, me with a Whopper in hand, and made it back with about 7 minutes to spare.
The bus ride back to Incheon, about an hour, was quiet and a nice chance for us to unwind. There was however, one last drama for us to overcome. While my mother's cousin, of course a Japanese citizen, and myself, a non-permanent resident of Japan, had no problems procuring our boarding passes, my mother, who is neither of these couldn't be issued one until she presented proof that she had a flight out of Japan.
Everyone was very nice, and the delay only took up the time required to explain the situation, cross the terminal to the Air Canada check-in counter, and then pick up a reprint of the e-ticket itinerary at their office in the same building, but it was still a big relief when my mother got her boarding pass.
So in the end, how do I feel about the whole trip? It was certainly a learning experience, in that I got to finally understand what most JETs probably feel when they arrive in Narita for the first time. I arrived in Seoul, a modern Asian city, surrounded by language I don't understand. I also felt that Korea is a city trying to play catch up. It is a vibrant mix of Japan, China, and America, yet it doesn't seem to have it's own niche just yet. Every where I looked, I saw the glitz and glamour of down-town Japan, but in the morning light, the litter on the streets, the greasy stains on the kerb, and the buckets of organic food waste waiting for pick up reminded me of Chinatown. Ultimately, Korea left me intrigued and wanting a bit more. But in a sense, I'm also glad to be back home in Japan.
Pics to come when I have some free time this week.
That, in a nutshell, is what I did for 2 days and 2 nights in Seoul. Last weekend, my mother, her cousin, and I went to Korea. With only 2 days, we were only able to explore the Myong-dong district, a hip, young shopping area peopled by as many foreigners as natives.
Seoul is only an hour away by plane from Fukuoka, but being an international flight, we were still treated to an airline dinner. I was asleep going, and judging by the meal coming back, I didn't miss much. Besides, food in-country is what I was looking forward to.
We landed in Korea at what seemed like the other side of Incheon International, and we were rolling at least 15 minutes on the ground. Impressive if you consider that taxiing to and from runways made up at least 20% of the time we were planed.
Arrival, otherwise proceeded smoothly and soon we were on our way to the Westin via shuttlebus. I noticed 3 things almost immediately. First, people drive on the right side of the road, figuratively and literally. Second, the highways and streets are wide and spacious, an almost welcome sight compared to the narrow deathtraps that are Japanese streets. Last, there were an inordinate number of cars parked on the shoulders of the highway. For what reason I couldn't fathom, but I saw one car virtually blocking an offramp. At one point, I'm sure I saw a food stand, doing business on the side of the elevated highway. All of this seemed foolish to me, but in Seoul it was business as usual.
The Westin was very posh, and the room we were in a very nice reminder of the Canadian essentials I miss in Japan; faucets that run hot water, stand-up showers, central heating, and wall insulation. Sadly, Seoul was pretty warm (about 3-10 degrees C), so I couldn't enjoy the benefits of modern construction techniques. Instead, we actually ended up sleeping with the windows open a crack and the heating turned down to 15 degrees.
Dinner that night was at a ma & pa joint, with wickedly delicious kalbee, fried-pork, and seafood-nabe (hot pot). Even my mother, normally adverse to meat, got in to a little kalbee action. The walls of the restaurant were covered in polariods of other satisfied customers, and we gladly added our own mugs to their collection. It will be fun to go back one day and find that picture.
We wandered around, soaking in the atmosphere. Being Lunar New Years Eve, many stores were closing up early, but we managed to snag a small truck selling little golden pigs, famous in Korea and those in the know for bringing good luck.
After we returned to our hotel, filled with ice-cream and kim-chee (not in that order), we ended up collapsing into sleep at about 2am. We'd be up in about 5 hours.
Despite the short sleep time, I felt pretty good for someone more-or-less constantly on the go for the last 2 weeks. Brekkie was at the hotel's Executive Lounge (thanks dad, for booking us as Exec club members), and soon enough we were out on the streets of Myong-dong again. First stop was the Lotte duty free shop next door, where I managed to get a fair chunk of my souveneir shopping done. You couldn't turn around without smacking into a Japanese person there.
After Lotte was Myong-dong proper, and I was surprised to see so many American chains there. Smoothie King (is this American?), Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and my personal slice of heaven, Burger King. I indulged my Whopper cravings later that night (and the next day), but for now it was off to find lunch.
Lunch was a bit of an ordeal, as we got ourselves a little lost and overshot the restaurant by about 6 blocks. A quick consultation of the map had us back on track, but by then my mother, no longer quite the spring chicken, was pretty close to collapse. Part of the wonder of Seoul is the seeming lack of crosswalks. I'm not sure if this is a phenomenon restricted just to just the Myong-dong district, or whether Korea is a nation of anti-crosswalk-ites, but crossing the street involved going downstairs to subway level, to a pathway lined with shops, and climbing back up. It seemed that many, if not all, the underground passage ways were interconnected, creating a large super network of underground passages. I can only think of two possibilities for this odd construction. One is the fact that Seoul is a sort of winter city. No snow when we were there, but perhaps on colder days people just stay underground. The other possibility is that they are ad hoc bunkers, in case ol' Kim Jong Il decides to start lobbing in arty. I seem to recall reading that Seoul is within range of North Korea's artillery.
We finally found our restaurant, and we were treated to a sort of chicken stew/gruel. I forget what it was called, (something like samgeta, but I'm working off a Japanese translation) but it was very tasty. I think, however, we enjoyed the simple act of sitting after our long trek more than anything else.
Following lunch, we wandered past a famous eyeglass store, and on a lark we decided to all make new glasses. I am pleased to say that my new glasses suit me very well, better in fact than my old ones. I am sadly to say that they also cost about 1/8 of my old glasses. At least I've got a REALLY nice set of back ups.
After we made our glasses, it was to the nearest department store, Shingekai. It was a very nice store, and while I was there I picked up a small North Face duffelbag, and a pair of Timberland loafers. After about an hour we headed back for our glasses (20 minutes a pop to make), and then wandered the streets of Myong-dong again, stopping in a variety of shops. A lot of the time was spent trying to find Krispy Kreme, which took some awesome 40 minutes or so due to us not knowing were to go, and by the time we got there, we just had the free donuts and just bought coffee before heading back to the hotel.
After a bit of rest, we headed out again, this time to a nearby restaurant that specialized in chi-gu. What that is I'm not sure, but it basically seems like a variation on rice-gruel. Good food, though we were confused at first on how to eat it.
Tired as hell, we headed back after dinner to turn in early, and all of us lay sort of comatose at one point or another before mustering the energy to bath. Our early night saw us asleep by 11pm.
The next day I felt the tiredness overwhelm me, and I was asleep until about 10am. By then, my mother and her cousin had had breakfast, and I woke up soon after and got ready to check out and go for lunch. Thanks to my new duffel I got rid of my boots and switch to my infitely more comfortably new loafers, and we wandered around a quiet, Japanese tourist filled Myong-dong. Most of the stores were closed, and would be until 11 or 12, but we managed to scope out a likely lunch venue. We then hurried back, checked out and settled our bill, and headed back for lunch. Lunch was delicious bulgogi, but a bit rushed as were on the clock for the airport limosine bus. We hurried back, me with a Whopper in hand, and made it back with about 7 minutes to spare.
The bus ride back to Incheon, about an hour, was quiet and a nice chance for us to unwind. There was however, one last drama for us to overcome. While my mother's cousin, of course a Japanese citizen, and myself, a non-permanent resident of Japan, had no problems procuring our boarding passes, my mother, who is neither of these couldn't be issued one until she presented proof that she had a flight out of Japan.
Everyone was very nice, and the delay only took up the time required to explain the situation, cross the terminal to the Air Canada check-in counter, and then pick up a reprint of the e-ticket itinerary at their office in the same building, but it was still a big relief when my mother got her boarding pass.
So in the end, how do I feel about the whole trip? It was certainly a learning experience, in that I got to finally understand what most JETs probably feel when they arrive in Narita for the first time. I arrived in Seoul, a modern Asian city, surrounded by language I don't understand. I also felt that Korea is a city trying to play catch up. It is a vibrant mix of Japan, China, and America, yet it doesn't seem to have it's own niche just yet. Every where I looked, I saw the glitz and glamour of down-town Japan, but in the morning light, the litter on the streets, the greasy stains on the kerb, and the buckets of organic food waste waiting for pick up reminded me of Chinatown. Ultimately, Korea left me intrigued and wanting a bit more. But in a sense, I'm also glad to be back home in Japan.
Pics to come when I have some free time this week.
1/31/2007
Class 3-1, secure from Computer LL
Eventful week for me. In the wake of my recontracting news, I got my copy of WoW: Burning Crusade, and this week, so far, has been sorta busy with my Monday schedule being (my heaviest) being repeated today. Being the last day of January, it was also the last day of classes for the 3rd Years.
Really, classes for them essentially ended in December. With only a month left, and no more testing save for their various entrance exams, we did mostly make-work...or did we? When I look at the things I did for 3-1 when I got here, and what I got accomplished with them from mid-November till today, the latter half was much more unified and cohesive. Part of it of course is that I had better, goal-oriented activities, a result of the on-the-job training during my first few months. I think as well that it was during this time the class finally warmed up to me, and me to them. The last week of classes I had with them were essentially student-run, in that they decided what they wanted to do, and I facilitated. While it was a lot of work (preping 2 days of Jeopardy games is labour intensive), it was worthwhile.
Today, however, was the last day, and that warranted a special treat. While I like spoiling my kids silly, I think this was a great way to end the class. I played music, a mix CD that I made (which now all the kids want copies of), and the main activity was Bingo. Not English bingo, or vocab bingo, or any of the other activities that ALTs all over Japan use, but plain ol' vanilla bingo. The bingo-ball dispenser I bought from a store down-town, along with the prizes. First prize was the Right/Wrong Buzzer I've used so often in class. Second was a Nightmare Before Christmas card wallet, and 3 third prizes of giant Disney-themed pocky.
Of course it was a hit, and I had a blast doing it. They are a truly great bunch of kids, and I'll miss them. Of course, the flip side is that I don't have any more 3rd year classes, and I have my Thursdays completely free. Good thing I bought some DS Kanji training software.
Really, classes for them essentially ended in December. With only a month left, and no more testing save for their various entrance exams, we did mostly make-work...or did we? When I look at the things I did for 3-1 when I got here, and what I got accomplished with them from mid-November till today, the latter half was much more unified and cohesive. Part of it of course is that I had better, goal-oriented activities, a result of the on-the-job training during my first few months. I think as well that it was during this time the class finally warmed up to me, and me to them. The last week of classes I had with them were essentially student-run, in that they decided what they wanted to do, and I facilitated. While it was a lot of work (preping 2 days of Jeopardy games is labour intensive), it was worthwhile.
Today, however, was the last day, and that warranted a special treat. While I like spoiling my kids silly, I think this was a great way to end the class. I played music, a mix CD that I made (which now all the kids want copies of), and the main activity was Bingo. Not English bingo, or vocab bingo, or any of the other activities that ALTs all over Japan use, but plain ol' vanilla bingo. The bingo-ball dispenser I bought from a store down-town, along with the prizes. First prize was the Right/Wrong Buzzer I've used so often in class. Second was a Nightmare Before Christmas card wallet, and 3 third prizes of giant Disney-themed pocky.
Of course it was a hit, and I had a blast doing it. They are a truly great bunch of kids, and I'll miss them. Of course, the flip side is that I don't have any more 3rd year classes, and I have my Thursdays completely free. Good thing I bought some DS Kanji training software.
1/26/2007
It's Official 2: Back in the Orient
Just got word in the form of a neatly typed and stamped paper. My request for recontract has been accepted, and so I'm here in Japan for another year.
OK OK, so recontracting, unless you're a total fuck up, or did some bad shit, is pretty much guaranteed. But it's another weight off of my shoulders. My income is secure for the next 18 months or so, perhaps longer if/when I recontract again. While nothing in life is certain, I think I can be confident that at least my JET job is reliable. If nothing else, 20 years of the JET Programme has resulted in exactly NO increases in salary.
Lol, no bitching from me, other than the vague sense of dim outrage at this percieved injustice. For me, JET life is a sweet ride.
OK OK, so recontracting, unless you're a total fuck up, or did some bad shit, is pretty much guaranteed. But it's another weight off of my shoulders. My income is secure for the next 18 months or so, perhaps longer if/when I recontract again. While nothing in life is certain, I think I can be confident that at least my JET job is reliable. If nothing else, 20 years of the JET Programme has resulted in exactly NO increases in salary.
Lol, no bitching from me, other than the vague sense of dim outrage at this percieved injustice. For me, JET life is a sweet ride.
1/06/2007
Sky PerfecTV
Happy New Year 2007. World of Warcraft is back on my time-stealing list of activities, but oh, how that list has grown. Until now, most of my time was spent watching the same 4 channels on TV, watching shows and anime I downloaded, surfing the internet, plinking with my M4 and Colt, and occasionally playing a game or two on my PS2. Of course, many JETs feel an excessive need to "explore all the rich culture of Japan". On some internet forums, this excessiveness is called "green tea and onsens" as in "I came to Japan for the green tea and onsens."
Now I'm in a slightly different boat. I'm already well acquainted with the culture, and many of these "tea and onsen" experiences I had as a child. In truth, there's a certain sense of familiarity setting in for me here (that whole routine thing I keep talking about), so I'm reacting accordingly, and filling my life with the things that make me comfortable. Namely, that involves expanding on the list above.
I'll handle how I've done so in backwards order.
I spent a pretty traditional New Years Eve and Day with my relatives. This involved end-of-the-year noodles, osechi-ryouri (traditional Japanese food on New Years), and visits to two shrines to pray for good fortune in the next year. I also got some shopping in at the fashionably Canal City shopping mall. But most memorable was the 3 cold, cold hours I spent with my cousin, waiting in line at Toys R Us to buy a DS Lite.
There were some 200 units of various colours coming in, along with some PS3 and Wiis. When we got there at 7am, there were about a 100 people already in line, and at least 60 of them were Chinese. They were in line to get Wiis, not for personal enjoyment, but to put them in the back of a van, which no doubt is destined for a shipping crate to Hong Kong or China. I'm not sure if I should really be annoyed at this or not, but the gamer in me feels that those Wiis should have gone to locals who wanted it. Ultimately they will go to people who want them, but I doubt it's legal to sell Japanese market units outside of Japan. Of course, I'm hardly in a position to accuse anyone of piracy.
The first game I picked up was Final Fantasy III, and man, they do NOT make RPGs like this anymore. As FF XII only held my interest for about 6 hours before the style-over-substance brand of boredom set in, I'm happy to report that I've racked up 9+ hours on FF III with no end in sight. Other games I'm looking forward to: Super Mario Bros., a Kanji Dictionary, and a DS Cookbook. Nintendo is truly genius in making a gaming device marketable to all ages.
About 2 weeks ago, I made a trip into the city and picked up a new BB gun. It's an H&K USP from Tanaka Works. Well made, it's quite heavy. Sadly, as there's no hop on it, it's shoots pretty poorly, and the slide sort of sticks. About 1 week ago, I saw Casino Royale. Let me first say that Dan Craig makes a superlative Bond, and I can say that he's the best Bond since Connery. All the P99 action however caused an impulse purchase of a Maruzen P99, used from my local airsoft shop, with upgraded barrel, return spring, silencer, and optional mounting rail. Of all my guns so far, this is my favourite plinker. It's just fun as hell. I'm going to be adding a wire-mesh rack soon so I can hang my various BB guns like some sort of armory. Sick? Yes. Twisted? Yes. Fun? Most definitely!
To aid my computing, I bought a stand and keyboard for my laptop. What was once an awkward hunching experience is now something that approaches a normal desktop. Of course, that also means I have since been lured back into the World of Warcraft. With the surplus of time I had I made more progress in a week than I had in 4 months. Danarhys is, as of this post, 1 bar away from 46. A week or so ago, I was at 37.
So that's gaming, plinking, and computers covered. The last thing is TV watching (I'm rolling downloaded stuff into this as well, as it's effectively the same thing). Just before New Years, I picked up a Sky PerfecTV tuner and satellite dish. I couldn't get it installed until today, but I am so glad it's up and running. For about $55 a month, I get 70 channels, running the gamut from News to sports, movies, drama, variety, shopping, anime, documentaries, music, and about 50 stations worth of satellite radio. If that weren't enough, it's these things which make me happiest. Included in the channels are Discovery, History, National Geographic, and Fox, which need to real explanation. Add to these two channels that show all anime all the time (Animax and AT-X), as well as AXN, which shows hit dramas from the States (among them Lost and CSI:Miami), and I might as well just give up and never leave my house. All the shows are generally shown without commercial breaks, and most of the ads that come in a 8 or 16 minute block after the show are generally previews or ads for other shows on that channel. Terribly, terribly addictive.
Well, guess that's from my end. Back to rotting my brain silly as I watch animated dramas while I shoot my gun and kill online monsters. I live a blessed life.
Now I'm in a slightly different boat. I'm already well acquainted with the culture, and many of these "tea and onsen" experiences I had as a child. In truth, there's a certain sense of familiarity setting in for me here (that whole routine thing I keep talking about), so I'm reacting accordingly, and filling my life with the things that make me comfortable. Namely, that involves expanding on the list above.
I'll handle how I've done so in backwards order.
I spent a pretty traditional New Years Eve and Day with my relatives. This involved end-of-the-year noodles, osechi-ryouri (traditional Japanese food on New Years), and visits to two shrines to pray for good fortune in the next year. I also got some shopping in at the fashionably Canal City shopping mall. But most memorable was the 3 cold, cold hours I spent with my cousin, waiting in line at Toys R Us to buy a DS Lite.
There were some 200 units of various colours coming in, along with some PS3 and Wiis. When we got there at 7am, there were about a 100 people already in line, and at least 60 of them were Chinese. They were in line to get Wiis, not for personal enjoyment, but to put them in the back of a van, which no doubt is destined for a shipping crate to Hong Kong or China. I'm not sure if I should really be annoyed at this or not, but the gamer in me feels that those Wiis should have gone to locals who wanted it. Ultimately they will go to people who want them, but I doubt it's legal to sell Japanese market units outside of Japan. Of course, I'm hardly in a position to accuse anyone of piracy.
The first game I picked up was Final Fantasy III, and man, they do NOT make RPGs like this anymore. As FF XII only held my interest for about 6 hours before the style-over-substance brand of boredom set in, I'm happy to report that I've racked up 9+ hours on FF III with no end in sight. Other games I'm looking forward to: Super Mario Bros., a Kanji Dictionary, and a DS Cookbook. Nintendo is truly genius in making a gaming device marketable to all ages.
About 2 weeks ago, I made a trip into the city and picked up a new BB gun. It's an H&K USP from Tanaka Works. Well made, it's quite heavy. Sadly, as there's no hop on it, it's shoots pretty poorly, and the slide sort of sticks. About 1 week ago, I saw Casino Royale. Let me first say that Dan Craig makes a superlative Bond, and I can say that he's the best Bond since Connery. All the P99 action however caused an impulse purchase of a Maruzen P99, used from my local airsoft shop, with upgraded barrel, return spring, silencer, and optional mounting rail. Of all my guns so far, this is my favourite plinker. It's just fun as hell. I'm going to be adding a wire-mesh rack soon so I can hang my various BB guns like some sort of armory. Sick? Yes. Twisted? Yes. Fun? Most definitely!
To aid my computing, I bought a stand and keyboard for my laptop. What was once an awkward hunching experience is now something that approaches a normal desktop. Of course, that also means I have since been lured back into the World of Warcraft. With the surplus of time I had I made more progress in a week than I had in 4 months. Danarhys is, as of this post, 1 bar away from 46. A week or so ago, I was at 37.
So that's gaming, plinking, and computers covered. The last thing is TV watching (I'm rolling downloaded stuff into this as well, as it's effectively the same thing). Just before New Years, I picked up a Sky PerfecTV tuner and satellite dish. I couldn't get it installed until today, but I am so glad it's up and running. For about $55 a month, I get 70 channels, running the gamut from News to sports, movies, drama, variety, shopping, anime, documentaries, music, and about 50 stations worth of satellite radio. If that weren't enough, it's these things which make me happiest. Included in the channels are Discovery, History, National Geographic, and Fox, which need to real explanation. Add to these two channels that show all anime all the time (Animax and AT-X), as well as AXN, which shows hit dramas from the States (among them Lost and CSI:Miami), and I might as well just give up and never leave my house. All the shows are generally shown without commercial breaks, and most of the ads that come in a 8 or 16 minute block after the show are generally previews or ads for other shows on that channel. Terribly, terribly addictive.
Well, guess that's from my end. Back to rotting my brain silly as I watch animated dramas while I shoot my gun and kill online monsters. I live a blessed life.
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