Just Another JET Blog

Four minutes after meeting Greg, it felt like the 8 months apart were gone. The time had melted away over the hot starbucks coffee. Our drinks were repeated like an ancient incantation: coffee, water, beer, water, coffee, water, beer, water, on and on it went as we talked about past, present, future, past, present, future. Japan and Korea were compared and judged, Canada and the U.S. were weighed and discussed as Manitoba and Texas merged into one place and then became different again.

Beers by the river turned into a live rock show featuring CCR covers. Friendly gang members showed us an Internet cafe where we could sleep. A hike to the beach was rewarded with cola from the big yellow joint. A late train to Nagasaki resulted in a war memorial seen on a dark rainy night. No room at the inn, no room at the internet cafe, no room at the onsen, no sleep that night.

Returned to Fukuoka by the very first train, and we were reenergized by the onsen. Every hotel in town is called and reservations made. Greg’s old friend is met and a pub crawl began at 3pm and ends at midnight. A proper bed means a ten hour coma.

A ten hour coma ends and a city explored. Two copters and one firetruck is an emergancy rescue team. Twenty men called to rescue one. ‘”The water is still too cold to swim in” is the lesson the man learned. Mentai pizza at the big yellow joint. Stuffed crust pizza at Domino’s. It turns out that any distance can be walked if you have the time. Sleep like the dead. Feet feel dead. Morning is met and ways parted over starbucks coffee. The time had melted away.

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Time for an update!

I got everything ready and can now say that I will be arriving back in Canada on Dec. 20^th and staying there until Jan. 4^th. I’m hoping a lot of people will be around the Winkler-Winnipeg area at that time so I can see you before I head off again.

Really, that’s about all I have to say… nothing much has changed here in Japan. I’m now dating a new girl named Eriko who lives in the next town over. She works at a high-class tourist hotel, so her English is really good. She also majored in it when she was in university.

My second year students are all preparing for their speech test. If anything particularly interesting comes up I’ll be sure to pass it on. There’s one girl who takes my assignments like this and aims to impress me to no end. I still remember one of her haiku’s from the “make your own English haiku” class:

We watched fireworks

I knew your real intentions

But you said nothing.

Wow! Poetic in another language! I swear she’s a genius, but she hates studying. Why is that always the way it is?

I’ve signed up for a Japanese test, so I’ve been spending a lot of my free time studying for that. I’ve actually found myself enjoying studying this time around. I have absolutely no intention of returning to Canada monolingual. Living abroad has taught me that everyone should have at least two languages (and one of them should be English! Hahaha).

Thing I love most about Japan: Black Toyama Ramen

Thing I miss most about Canada: Good election conversations.

Current Kanji count: 1346

Well, I should apologize to my mom. It’s been a month before I updated again. In my defense, I have been really busy. With what? Glad you asked.

…oh, it’s gonna be a long one….

Korea!

Yup. I went to South Korea. I didn’t really go sightseeing, I just hung out with a bunch of my friends there, and made a bunch of new ones too! It was a coffee shop, restaurant, mall and bar tour from one end of the week to the other. I came back absolutely exhausted and in great spirits. I’m seriously considering teaching English in Korea next year.

I took a hydrofoil boat from Fukuoka to Busan. This is essentially a boat that moves as fast as a plane. I was curious, so I went way out of my way to take it. It was cool, but I think next time I’ll take a plane. The best part was definitely seeing Busan and Fukuoka from the sea side.

Jun picked me up from Busan and took me to his town (Goseong). We hung out, had Korean BBQ and caught up. The next day, in the afternoon, I took a bus up to Seoul where Hee Young and Tyler met me at the bus station. We actually misunderstood where I would end up, and I had to end up asking a random Korean lady for help. I, speaking no Korean, finally knew what it was like to be in a country where you have absolutely NO grasp of the language. Luckily, most other people spoke a little of one of the two languages I do know. However, there was a lot of pointing and gesturing at times.

I then spent the next 5 nights at Hee Young’s parents place, who were SO nice to me. Every morning Hee Young’s mom made me a traditional Korean breakfast (one morning it was sushi!!). A great way to start the day. She even did my laundry about mid-way through the week. Her father was nice too, and took me out to eat dog with him one day for lunch. Yup, it tastes good. I also spent a lot of time (when I was at the house) playing with Yona, Hee Young’s miniature schnauzer. Having now seen schnauzer’s in Canada, Korea and Japan I’ve come to the conclusion that they all act almost exactly the same way.

During the day Hee Young often had to work, so I hung out with her friend (and my new friend) Mi Young. Mi Young is a math teacher and was on summer holidays at the time, so she was usually free during the day. She’s also incredibly fun and speaks great English. And beautiful too!

I spent almost all of my time for the 5 days with one of the two (Mi Young and Hee Young) of them and sometimes both. To be honest, it was awesome. I also spent a lot of time with other friends of theirs: Tyler (Hee Young’s boyfriend), Cain (Tyler’s friend), Kinoko (Hee Young’s friend), and Hyewon (Mi Young’s friend). I learned an important lesson from the experience. When you go to visit a country… don’t go see the sights! Meet THE PEOPLE!! It’s sooo much better!

Hee Young and Tyler drove me back down south to Jun’s town, but not before stopping off at Tyler’s family’s cranberry farm. I met more people then my memory can do justice to right now. More good times! My last night was then spent with Jun again, who drove me back to Busan the next day. It was another late night of catching up on life since we were both last in Canada. Jun claims were good friends because we were friends in a past life. I’m almost willing to believe it.

Anyways, I eventually got back to Japan and guess what happens! My old buddy Kurt shows up!

Picking up Kurt from Narita airport was SUPPOSE to be easy. But that day had several trains in Tokyo canceled because of a thunderstorm, and another few because of some kind of accident. So, I transferred 100 times as I avoided various catastrophes, but I ended up at the airport right on time for when Kurt was coming out of the gate. What a strange moment. I actually couldn’t believe he was there in front of me for the first hour or so. We checked into the ever-fantastic Sakura hostel, my little home in Tokyo, and had a sushi supper (at what became Kurt’s favorite sushi bar: Sushi Yasu (literally: cheap sushi)) before calling it quits for the night. Tomorrow would be busy.

Next day started bright and early as we toured the sights of Tokyo. Our hostel was located in Asakusa, so after checking out Sensoji Temple we moved on. Akihabara, Electric Playground amused us both for a large portion of the morning and afternoon. We discovered stores that were almost overflowing with Japanese versions of games from our youth. We also found an arcade where you get to be inside a giant robot and fight others. Very Japanese. Next was Shibuya, to see the fashionable side of Tokyo. Designer brands everywhere and enough stores to even make my mother collapse from exhaustion. We picked up a few choice items before moving on to beautiful Aoyama and then the famous Roppongi Hills Tower in Roppongi. I think I need to go to Roppongi Hills Tower everytime I go to Tokyo. Staring out at the Tokyo skyline from the top of the tower always has the exact same effect on me. The closest I can describe it is feeling somehow supercharged. It’s my favorite place in all of Tokyo. It was a long day with a lot of walking in some intense heat, and we rode the subway back to the hostel (my other favorite place in Tokyo!).

The next day we met up with my Korean friend (Kinoko, mentioned earlier) and went to Disneyland Tokyo. In the evening, we met up with Kinoko’s friend and watched an hour long fireworks display in Aoyama. More good times.

Friday was just a lot more of seeing various parts of Tokyo already mentioned and ended in a short tour of Shinjuku before getting on a bus to Hirayu. And from Hirayu I drove us to my apartment. Exausted again, it was time to crash.

We spent about a week around Hida, meeting various Japanese people that I knew (and a few that I didn’t even know before) going to ALT get togethers and just plain hanging out in my place like we used to back in Canada. It was festival time in my town, so I got to parade my friend around in front of my students, who looked on curiously. I even got a few English self-introductions out of some of them. Another afternoon was spent swimming in Kamioka’s river. I have no doubt the highlight of Kurt’s trip was the trip down to Seki, an ancient swordsmith city (now famous for its cutlery) where he picked up a katana and a knife. On the way there I even managed to put a big old dent in my car by taking a corner to sharp! Another highlight of his was probably that he got to spend a day with two Japanese kendo and iyado masters. We never did end up fishing or mountain climbing like we planned…. as it turned out two weeks wasn’t actually enough time to do everything that was in the original plan. We ended up going back to Tokyo a day early so that we could catch a Giants game. We sadly separated ways in Asakusa station. Kurt, now Japanese-ized, had now become capable of changing his own trains to Narita so that I could catch my bus back to Hirayu. I was happily surprised with how quickly he picked up the language and he was actually self-reliant by the end of the trip. Good times. He promised several people that he would be back. I intend to hold him to it!

Oh, and my hockey stick finally arrived! After 3 attempts at ordering it, it finally came!

Thing I love most about Japan today: My new hockey stick?

Thing I miss most about Canada: Having hockey sticks readily available for purchase.

Well! It’s been so long since I updated that I actually forgot where I kept the file where I usually write these things. Don’t worry, I just found it now.

Last weekend I went to a Japanese wedding. You get to hear about it! Everyone shows up in there super formal wear (men in black suits / white tie (like grad) and women in kimonos or formal dresses. It doesn’t matter that it’s 35 degrees, sunny and humid… the first thing we do in our full formal wear is walk around a shrine area before going inside. It’s sort of like a parade, with people lining up behind the bride and groom. When you get to the shrine, you go inside and select people are given a chance to watch the ceremony. This is the actual wedding, I guess. 4 people sit on each side (4 from the bride’s side and 4 from the groom’s) (I was one of the 4 for the groom (it was my adult student’s son’s wedding)). And about 50 people sit in the back watching. Everyone else has to stay outside in the heat. In the middle is the bride and groom, looking stiff and scared. In front are two shrine maidens on the girls side and two Shinto priests on the right. There’s various ceremonies, the most interesting being when the bride drinks from the grooms cup, the groom drinks from the bride’s cup. When they raise the cups up to drink they have to raise it 3 times and then drink (late, all of us drink together (turns out it’s sake!)). Also, the father of each of them has to bring a tree branch to the middle of the shrine. They exchange rings. A priest also waves a branch on people. And then at some point it’s over, and its picture time. The bride is at this point in outfit #1, which is a white kimono and big hat.

Then we all take off to the hotel for photo session #2, big group shot. Bride is in outfit #2, same kimono but a different hat. This hat is interwoven with their hair in a complicated way. Then we all head down to relax to the reception. Bride and groom enter to the song “Beauty and the Beast” in English. I’m not making this up. “A Whole New World” was saved for later in the reception. Bride now has outfit #3 which is a complete new hair style and some fancy new stuff sticking out of it. Very cool. We also get to eat French-Japanese food at this point. A strange combination of cultural foods that turn out to taste really well together! There’s various speeches, people cry a lot, people laugh a lot, and a lot of people get pretty drunk. The bride and groom leave at some point and re-enter in new outfits, this time completely western style wedding dress (and a new hairdo (#4 for those keeping track at home)). There’s cake cutting, lighting candles together, pouring two drinks together into one cup that turns into a glowing liquid when the two drinks mix. In case you hadn’t caught the idea yet, two are becoming one here.

And my most memorable moment of it? In the bathroom. There I was, washing my hands, when a big Japanese man in MIB style suit shows up, looks at me and speaks into his microphone <He’s here (in Japanese)>. Then says to me (in English), “You. Speech”.

Oh

Yup, he led me back to the reception where I got to stumble over a speech… something about how great Japanese weddings are and the symbols are beautiful. Afterwards the guy next to me told me it was nice. He was lying. I told him so, and he just laughed. At least from that point on our conversation wasn’t as stiff as it was before, since my terrible speech had broken down any formal walls between us. That’s the good news, I guess. The groom’s mother came up to me after the speech and told me to go talk to the bridesmaids. I told her that I couldn’t because they were following the bride around everywhere taking pictures. The guy to my then said my new favorite phrase, “No good. This is not NANPA place.” Nanpa means to hit on, or flirt. I nodded my head vigorously in agreement. After that, the wedding was over and I escaped to an ALT karaoke party.

Yesterday I got up early and rode a bus with my school’s students to be part of the cheering party (ouendan) for my school’s baseball team. It was absolutely amazing. If EVER, anyone EVER offers you to be part of an ouendan, take it. It means you get to sing and scream at the top of your lungs for 9 innings of an intense baseball game. Like everything else, Japanese people take cheering seriously. It’s a full work-out, all under that hot Gifu sun. Unfortunately, our team lost… but I felt like there was some sort of spiritual victory for me as I watched almost every student in my entire school (almost all 250 of them and most of the teachers!!) cheer their hearts out. It was beautiful and moving. I love this country.

I suppose this is my last post before I head off to Korea for a week. When I come back, Will, the other ALT here in Kamioka, will have already left. It’s strange for me to think about that. Some new stranger will be living in my friend’s place. Both figuratively and literally, since this new person will be taking over everything from Will. Job, phone, apartment, car… all the same. Only the person will change. Being a JET is a bit of a strange thing. At least the constant changes promise that things never get old, I suppose. For my own sake, I find myself wishing that Will would stay another year just so I could keep hanging out with him. But, his experience in Japan has been different from my own, and going back is definitely the right choice for him. All I can say is that I’ll miss him and wish him luck from here on out.

He has his own blog, by the way, and reading about his life out here in Japan can give you another perspective about Kamioka, JET, and Japan. It’s really well written, so I recommend a look at it.

http://lethain.com/life/

And I guess I’ll update next after Korea!

Peace!

Thing I love most about Japan today: Japanese cheering parties!

Thing I miss most about Canada: cheap hot dogs.

Today was Christmas in rainy season! (By the by, rainy season hasn’t been so rainy so far! Just a bit cloudy.) A big old care package arrived from my mom on the same day that I got two “What’s new in Winkler” postcards from Nathan! Hooray!!

So, in light of this new holiday (which I guess comes on June 9^th every year) I’m going to break my usual blog rules of simply telling you what happened in my life and reflect on what came to me today in the care package (and what that says about me). For any new JETs out there simply interested in what JETs DO in Japan, feel free to skip this entry.

Care package contents:

John Grisham’s “The Innocent Man”. Matt Braun’s “El Paso” and “The Wild Ones”. Michael Walzer’s “Just and Unjust Wars”. Seinfeld Season 9. Two new pairs of shoes. 5 T-shirts (special note for a brown and yellow “Corona Extra” shirt). Canadian omiyage for my students (including, pens, tatoos, hot chocolate mixes and balls). Kraft Dinner (15 boxes). 4 packages of Sidekicks. One big bag of fuzzy peaches. One bag of small boxes of Nerds (for my students…? Maybe I’ll eat ‘em!) A box of Chewy Dips, a box of fudge Wagon Wheels, a box of tissues, two packs of Uncle Ben’s Bistro Express, one bag of M&Ms (Indiana Jones version!), a big box of Rice Krispies, one note… and one milk bone apparently from Jak, the family dog.

Some of these items are of special note. First of all, I doubt very much that Jak would ever willingly give up a milk bone since I’ve seen how fast he eats anything put in front of him, but I appreciate the thought. I’ll have to find a dog to give it to here in Japan…

Those who know me well shouldn’t be surprised by the food found in the box. I essentially lived off of Kraft Dinner, Sidekicks and Bisto Expresses while in university (with a Chewy Dip bar everyday for breakfast!)

The books should say a lot about me, and they do. Matt Braun was a favorite author of my grandfather’s. Every word of this book will be a reminder of everything that my grandfather loved.

Grisham was my favorite author all through highschool. Another nostalgic book. Walzer’s “Just Wars” on the other hand, is a book I’ve read only in pieces for my third year English class and forever regretted not reading it in its entirety. It’s thick, juicy, non-fiction and all about political ethics. I will be literally sucking every intelligent word out of it and bothering my fellow ALTs with discussions on the topic. I should probably apologize to Will in advance.

One pair of the shoes are the exact same model that I had on my feet the day I left Winnipeg for Japan. Seeing them next to my old beat up ones (that have literally walked all over Japan and Australia) I don’t know what to think. I can’t bring myself to throw the old ones away. At least not yet. The old shoes have been unwearable for two months (and haven’t actually been worn in a month) but they make me think of those first two months in Japan when I walked EVERYWHERE and wore them out until my feet could touch the ground under the soles.

The other pair of shoes are slip ons. Never-endingly useful in this country!

A shirt with a beer brand on it (Corona). It’s true, I like beer and am more than willing to show it. Although, I still overheard two of my students debating weather I drink or not in Japanese today.

Seinfeld Season 9. I have waited so long for this day. My heart nearly exploded with joy when I finally saw it near the bottom of the box!

I guess the conclusion is that my mother knows me well. Thanks Mom!

I should also mention that a few important events have happened recently. My computer’s ram broke and has now been replaced, resulting in me discovering a fantastic computer shop in Toyama. Kaiten-sushi is now happening regularly once a week. And! AND! A new Japanese friend showed me a fantastic foreign liqueur store / bar where they have a different brew on tap every time (and dozens of interesting kinds of beer and wine to try!) AND THEY’RE ALL REALLY GOOD. This isn’t like that crappy import stuff I used to occasionally try from the local LC, every drop of every liquid (wine and beer) that I’ve had there has been amazing. I’m going back on the 20^th for a wine tasting event. Hooray! The food? GERMAN! Sausages, cheeses and some real bread!. Oh yeah.

Thing I love most about Japan today: Kuguno’s foreign liqueur shop!

Thing I miss most about Canada: Fort Garry Dark Ale.

My friend Hee-Young was in Japan for a few days and we decided to meet up in Kobe for two days to see each other (and Kobe). This meant that I finally learned how to look up and understand train schedules on my own. I also got to use the shinkansen (bullet train) for the first time since I first came to this country. The shinkansen is as awesome as I remember. Turns out that 200kmph is pretty fast.

The Board of Education was kind enough to pay for half of my trip out there because I was required to have a meeting out in Gifu on the Friday. Thanks Board! Hee Young and I only met up at 4:00 on Saturday so I spent most of that day wandering around Kobe Hyogo looking at shrines and a giant Daibutsu (Giant Budha).

On the way back from the Daibutsu I saw a little girl staring at me on the train. I did my usual maneuver, which is to send her a smile, which she returned. Then she whispered something to her mother, who whispered something back. A new word is learned and she says to me shyly, “hello”. I say “hello” back. This is all normal so far, but this is where things change. Then her mother turns to me, and in perfect English asks me where I’m from, what I’m doing in Kobe and other small talk. The pair of them are from Hokkaido, and we talk for 2 minutes before the train arrives at the station and we part ways. The girl waves goodbye to me and I wave back. I walk down the stairs… the girl races down a different set of stairs so that she gets to the bottom first and waves goodbye to me again. I wave again. I turn the corner. She runs ahead to the exit. Waves goodbye again. I wave goodbye again. I leave the train station, but then remember that I wanted to go out the other exit. I turn around and there she is. She runs up and hugs my legs. Another day in Japan.

This is the second time I’ve met someone from Hokkaido and they’re two for two for being the most pleasant people to meet. Much later on, when I got back to Takayama I’d meet another while eating a hamburger at Center 4. We chatted for about an hour in Japanese and English and we agreed to shoot some pool on Friday. So, I guess they’re three for three now. I want to go to Hokkaido.

Anyways, Hee Young got a little a little lost on the way to Kobe and ended up at Sannomiya station a bit late. I had reserved her a room at the same hotel I was at, so we checked her in (although I got lost once on the way to hotel) and admitted to each other that we were very very hungry. I also admitted to her that when I was telling Japanese friends that she was coming to Japan I accidentally used the word for “Prison” instead of “Korea” (Prison = Kangoku. Korea = Kankoku). A note to other people learning Japanese out there that this is an important difference.

Kobe is famous for its beef, so we wandered around. Looking for a restaurant but found that the prices for one piece of it were from 50 to 100 dollars. We eventually gave up and asked a group of young people for a restaurant recommendation. They were DELIGHTED to help us. Suddenly taxis are being summoned and they walk us to a busy road where 7 different taxis are called for us until one of the drivers knows the restaurant. Hee Young thought they were drunk, and she might be right, but they were also incredibly good natured. They also were all dressed up like they came from a wedding. The restaurant? When we got there it was completely full and no wait time was available. We ended up at just a regular Japanese restaurant after all. I did get to eat some pretty good udon curry.

After eating we took a train to the popular Kobe Harbor Land. We took a ride on a ferris wheel there to see the sights of the city (pictures will be going up on facebook). It was beautiful. A different beauty than Tokyo at night, but beautiful all the same. After a quick beer (and lots of picture taking) the day was over.

On Sunday we got up early and went to the foreign houses section of Kobe. It’s an area of Kobe that many former ambassadors and consulates used to live in. It features various styles of European housing in a very small area, like a miniature theme park. I got to try some nice strong tasting Austrian ale at the Austrian house while Hee Young drank Austrian strawberry wine. After that, we went to the Dutch house where I was convinced to put on some Dutch clothing with Hee Young to have our pictures taken together. Wooden shoes hurt a lot, especially if they’re too small for you. While posing together like the lovely Dutch couple we looked like we were various passerbys snapped pictures of us too. So now there are more pictures of me in silly outfits out there for the world to view.

After checking out the houses we went back to Harbour Land for lunch and then parted ways. I walked back up to Shin-Kobe, and was only a shinkansen and two bus rides away from home. I wish Canada had public transit as good as Japan!

One final note. I arrived at school today and found out that all the students seemed to know about my Tokyo trip a few weeks ago (through various students spotting me at various times) as well as the fact that I went to a bar on Thursday. I wonder what they all know sometimes….

Thing I love most about Japan today: Kobe, Hokkaidoians(?), and shinkansen.

Thing I miss most about Canada: Everyone not knowing everything about me.

May 12^th.

Well, it’s been almost exactly a month since I last told you all what I was up to. Looking back on my last post… I was even still cheering for the Senators… which shows just how long it has really been. There have been at least four major events since we last talked:

First one’s a quickie. For those of you who didn’t read it on facebook, Aiko and I broke up but remain on good terms as friends.

Second one is the legendary Furukawa festival! I attended and witnessed as nearly naked men climb on up giant poles, balance themselves on their stomaches at the top, and twirl around on it as their drunken friends swayed the pole back and forth. No casualties that I know of. There was also a massive blitz for a drum as about a dozen teams of Japanese men competed to touch? a drum that was being carried by some others. That’s the best I can do to explain it because that’s the best that I understand it.

The Gurukawa festival also featured several of my students apparently doing shishi (lion?) dances and getting drunk. Although I only saw them sober and have only heard second hand from teachers about the other part.

Moving on to the probable candidate for highlight of the last month would be my involvement in the Kamioka festival. I basically just had to drink a bunch of sake and eat food. Then, put on some white clothes and push a float filled with JR. High School girls for a while. And then I drank more sake. Easy enough right? Well, my involvement was noteworthy enough to get my picture in the paper (twice actually!) and have a nice write up about me which included a few lies. They rounded my 193 cm height up to a full two meters to make me seem even taller. Apparently my clothing and shoes were also specially made for a sumo wrestler in the past. I don’t know if that part is true or not to be honest, since they just gave it to me on that day. I did have to special order in my own “tabi” (Japanese style socks) to fit my 29 cm feet. The festival was 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I still have people showing me my picture in the newspaper. People were friendly before… but now everyone comes up and talks to me everywhere in Kamioka it seems. George and Erin even came out to cheer me on at the festival. Thanks guys!

Later that night, Will, Dan, and I checked out the night portion of the festival. This featured “drunken” (or possibly just acting drunk) Japanese men carrying a very expensive portable shrine which held their Shinto god.

A third and truly exciting event was that two weeks ago was Golden Week (or Green week as they now like to call it) in Japan which means a 4 day holiday for everyone (including ATM machines). I was in Tokyo with George, Carol, Fiona, Alex (a friend of Carol’s), Becky and Alison (both friends of George’s out from England). Highlights? Roppongi hills tower at night. An absolutely jaw-dropping view of Tokyo. Me, without a camera. The tower also featured a collection of previous winners of the Turner prize (art). The art in no way could compete with Tokyo at night. I went into the tower exhausted and a little tired of Tokyo… but came out supercharged to stay in Tokyo for years. Rent for an apartment with a view like that everyday costs about as much a month as I get paid a year. It’s filled with all the greatest stars in Japan (apparently). But I know what I want now. I want an apartment with that view.

Other notable points of the trip was a visit to Firehouse, where Gaku from Center 4 Hamburgers learned how to cook hamburgers. There was also a trip to Akehabara, which was so overflowing with Otaku-ness (geek-ness) that I couldn’t stand being there for more than 10 minutes. We also took a ride on the roller coaster that goes through Tokyo Dome (only a 90 minute wait!). In one of the parks we found two neo-nazis posing for pictures with kids (don’t ask). In Roppongi we were harassed to go into bars by some huge Nigerian bouncers, whose job it is to apparently scare people into the bars that employee them (didn’t work on us). Shibuya was cool, and I found a new pair of shoes in my size. Turns out I can get whatever I want in Tokyo. We also stayed at the Sakura Youth Hostel, which was fantastic. At 30 dollars a night, it cut the cost of our trip exponentially. It also has cheap beer, cheap food, free Dominoes delivery (ALRIGHT!!), and a staff that is entirely fluent in English! It’s in Asakusa and just a stone’s throw away from Senso-ji temple! However, Japan also proved that it ain’t really all that big since any number of my students saw me throughout the Tokyo adventure.

One final note is that I got my haircut at a new place today and I believe it’s the greatest I’ve ever received. It was also the first time that a guy cut my hair since I was 8 years old.

One final final note is that a place in Takayama has been discovered that plays LIVE music EVERY SATURDAY! I’ve gone twice so far. Mind was blown both times. This last time featured a dude from Nagoya who did a BETTER THAN CLAPTON Clapton cover. Perfect English (at least when he was singing. When we talked to him later his English went down a few steps from what we thought). And I’ve never seen such great footwork while playing guitar… while sitting. Another band was like a Japanese Dire Straits. The lead singer was out of control, cussing out his band and the audience. His hit song is the Japanese word for “Prostitute”. He saw us in the bar and asked us if we knew what it meant.

One last last thing. I’ve been rededicating myself to studying Japanese with all the success I’ve experienced recently with my little knowledge of it. I’ve also been toying with moving to Tokyo for a 3^rd year in Japan. Don’t get angry Mom! I haven’t decided to do it yet! (and Happy Mother’s Day yesterday).

Thing I love most about Japan today: Tokyo at night. Live music. Awesome haircuts! Everything!!

Thing I miss most about Canada: Big open basements, and bars that are bigger than apartments.

April 15^th.

Something new! I’ve been really busy at work lately. It ’s a new school year and I teach the exact same classes, but the students have changed (as well as my teaching style). Since the year began I have taught half the classes without a JTE (Japanese teacher) since they’ve had various meetings and pseudo-meetings. But that’s okay because I teach my students like they’re dogs now. I’m just barely kidding. The best part is that they seem to like it. Commands are given. Orders are followed. Treats are dispensed for a job well done. It’s a slap on the nose if they make a mess in the classroom (joking! They came to me already house trained). One of them actually started shaking her entire desk in anticipation for the possible candy for winning the little English game I invented (she won the 4^th round of it later). Her English isn’t the best I’ve seen out of any of my students… but she is the most eager I’ve ever seen. You’re not suppose to have favorite students but… sometimes a few students just make themselves much more likable than the others.

My Japanese is definitely better than last year (although still pretty awful) and now I no longer need to use it in the classroom. In fact I refuse to. Japanese questions are answered with English and gestures. For some reason I lacked the confidence to do that with less Japanese ability… or maybe because it was my first year as an ALT. Either way, the results are good. No longer does everything just get explained in English and then Japanese. Although I worry that we will start do that again when the assignments get more difficult at the end of the year.

Today while I was walking down the hallway a student shouted out at me (in Japanese) “Will! Will! … Will’s friend!!” I’m not sure why this was so shocking for me. The only ALT I’ve ever heard my students mention before was Thomas (my predecessor), and that was usually when they forgot my name. But I now have a whole new label from students who came from Kamioka’s JR high. I’ll take it as an improvement over being called by my predecessor’s name.

One more thing. A bunch of new teachers got transferred in and a few transferred out. All in all, my school seems to have somehow traded up. I lost an awesome English teacher and Kyoto-sensei (as well as some others)… but gained two new English teachers who are teaching for their first time ever (age’s 28 and 30, I believe). One spent a year in Canada and the other lived in England for a year. Both want to go back. Most importantly though, the 28 year old (previously in England) fella is named Ito-sensei and seems like an awesome guy. The only problem is that the school baseball team is devouring all the poor guy’s time. I don’t even know if he likes baseball… Whatever the case may be, we’re hitting up the local bar together on Friday.

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Being able to talk to students about more than just superficial things. (And watching hockey games live!! Go Canadiens, Flames, Wild, Rangers, and Sens (if you’re capable)!)

Thing I miss most about Australia today: Traveling around and living out of one backpack!

Thing I love most about Japan today: My new energetic students! It’s like someone supercharged them!

I have returned from Australia! Here’s what happened:

March 28th
Woke up late, so I rushed out of the house (having luckily packed my bag the day before). While speeding down the highway I realized that, in fact I wasn’t late at all… and slowed myself down to a regular pace. I even stopped by a store to pick up my new “beginner’s marks” for my car (by the way, Aiko claims these are actually a blessing because it means people will always give me the right of way!). I parked my car at George apartment (thanks again!) and took a bus from Takayama to Nagoya train station. Once there I questioned my way to the proper train line to the airport and jumped on board.

Nagoya airport is brilliant. It’s new, and amazing. I came really early because I always give myself “screw up time” for when I do new things in this country. So, I had lots of time to relax around the airport, which featured some really good restaurants and a great deck where you can watch the planes depart and arrive from. I also exchanged some money and bought travel insurance. I only had to use a little Japanese because airports are magical places where everyone speaks some pretty good English. I waited to have supper until after I was past security (because I remembered there being lots of restaurants near the gates back in Vancouver). This was, unfortunately, a mistake. There was only one restaurant and it was the single most mediocre meal I’ve ever had in Japan. Oh well. Got on the plane and headed for Australia.

March 29th.
Didn’t manage to sleep at all during the flight, but I brought an audio book to listen to so I could close my eyes and at least rest them. I mention this because it was absolutely brilliant and I recommend it to everyone else who is going to take a long flight.

I arrived at the airport and immediately missed Japan, feeling almost sick because I was away from it. I couldn’t possibly tell you why, but that’s the feeling that I felt. It soon passed, but the memory of that strange feeling stayed. At the airport I picked up the necessities that I couldn’t bring on the plane with me (toothpaste, deodorant, razor, shaving cream). I then took a train to Sydney’s town hall and met up with Aiko. We spent most of that day at the Australian zoo, where I could get my fill of strange Australian animals. It was shockingly interactive as they actually let you walk around with some of the animals like the kangaroos. Lunch was Chinese and supper was African. Both were delicious. We also went to a lively bar where I got to have pizza (hooray)!

March 30th
We checked out “The Rocks”, which is like “The Forks” in Winnipeg. Lively and touristy. My favorite item that they had for sale was Kangaroo’s testicles bottle opener. I would have bought one if I thought I could bring it back on the plane with me. We also saw the Sydney opera house and took a ferry to the edge of Sydney to see the cliffs along the ocean. In the evening we went to Aiko’s friends’ place for home-made Italian-Greek style pizza. The friends were a couple, the girl being Canadian-Greek-Australian… having received her citizenship in those countries in that order. The guy was just Greek-Australian, but he cooked up some mean pizzas.

March 31st
Took a plane to Ayer’s Rock (Uluru). We stayed in a dorm room with another couple (they were from around Montreal) and I began to become aware of the fact that the people around me were mostly Australian and Canadian, with only one American exception. I didn’t realize what a popular vacation spot Australia is for Canadians! We hung around the resort for the remainder of the day, enjoying the pool and cooking our own store-bought hamburgers so that we could save a few dollars. (Speaking of Australian money, the 50 cent pieces are ridiculously huge. And the one dollar coins have a kangaroo on them… making me want to call them “roonies” for the entire time I was there (I restrained myself))

April 1st
We woke up at 4:30 to catch the 5:00 bus to King’s Canyon. On the way there we stopped at a fantastic little breakfast place that served mostly locals and had a real Australian outback breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast… and I got to try Vegemite (tastes like salty beer)!) After that we drove a little further out (almost killing several red kangaroos that tried to jump in front of the car!) and arrived at King’s Canyon. We walked up to the top of it, then halfway around the rim, finally dipping into the oasis before climbing back up and finishing the walk around the rim. It was hot, dry and beautiful. Pictures will be up on facebook to prove it. After the walk we had lunch at a restaurant, where a wild dingo walked around like it owned the place. We then took the bus to nearby Mt. Connor and saw a salt lake before going back to the resort.

April 2nd
Woke up at 5 to catch the 5:30 bus to Ayer’s Rock (Uluru) itself. We sat in front of the rock waiting for the sunrise so we could see it when it turns it’s famous bright orange color. It was a little cloudy that morning and we almost missed the sight of it because of the clouds. Then, the bus drove around the rock, showing us it from all the different sides. At a few points the guide got out and showed us some of the finer and more interesting points. This was all concluded with a visit to the cultural center, which showcased aboriginal culture in the area. Finally we took a plane back to Sydney and stayed at the youth hostel there for the night.

April 3rd
Jumped onto the 8 o’clock bus to Port Stephens. There we had splurged on getting a real hotel room at a really nice hotel because things were actually reasonably priced for once. That day we went to the beach for the afternoon. At the beach I tried to swim out to where the dolphins were jumping, but was unable to get there fast enough. For supper we had Malaysian food… and I now want to go to Malaysia. The food was absolutely brilliant. I think Malaysia is a cheap trip, so, we’ll see if I can find the time and funds for it.

April 4th.
Fishing day. Took a taxi to the public wharf so that we could begin fishing at 6 am. I saw my 3rd sunrise in 4 days, this one on the ocean. Dolphins continually jumped around our boat as we drove around looking for the fishing spot. Unfortunately, the ocean was rough that morning and everyone started to feel a little sea sick. On board the boat with us were 3 other couples and one guy, along with the captain and his deckhand. All the girls got sick except for a 40 year old woman and spent most of the morning either staring intently downward at the ocean (and the remainders of breakfast) or lying down with their heads covered in misery. One of the guys occasionally joined their number as well. I’m proud to say that Aiko, trooper that she is, never lost her breakfast and even ate lunch on the ship. The deckhand was hilarious. The captain couldn’t make one sentence without the deckhand giving his two bits immediately afterwards. It was precisely what every movie and book had promised me the deckhand would be like on a ship like this. The fishing itself was fun, but I caught mostly pike (which are junk fish apparently) as well as some others who’s names I forget. After lunch Aiko felt better and we worked as a team on one rod with her reeling the fish in. We caught a really nice red snapper (?) this way, but that was about it as the afternoon was less productive than the morning.

The fishing trip ended in the early afternoon and we spent the rest of the day looking around Port Stephens and in the hotel’s pool and hot tub.

April 5th
Caught the 9 O’clock bus back to Sydney. Spent the afternoon around the beach and wandering around the city. In the evening I met Aiko’s whole host family. Four children, age 1, 3, 6 and 7… if I remember right. Paul (the host father) BBQed up some food for us and I spent most of the evening in an outrageously long game of hide and go seek. When the children had gone to bed, Paul explained the differences between the two rugby leagues and Australian football to me. All 3 are absolutely brilliant and several times more interesting to watch than American or Canadian football since the game keeps moving. National Rugby League (NRL) games were on constantly at places we went to and on our own TV at the hotels went to, so I got to watch a good bit of it over the course of my week in Australia.

April 6th.
4:30 wake up call, again. Aiko joined me in a taxi to the international airport. Once there, we realized that since I had to switch planes in Cairns I needed to be at the domestic airport. So, another taxi ride found us at the right airport. We still managed to get to the airport early and after I checked in we parted ways. Once on the plane I got to wait for an hour because of mechanical troubles… with me sweating the entire time over whether I would catch my next flight or not. But it wasn’t a problem and I easily had enough time in Cairns because my flight there turned out to be delayed too. Actually, in the whole course of things… I’m not sure even one of my planes boarded or departed on time. On my way through Australian customs the man cleverly called Winnipeg “Winter-peg”, having spent some time there in the past. He then laughed it off and said that the only other country he’d want to live in would be Canada. He wished me a safe trip back to it… ignoring the fact that on my form I’d written that I was going to Japan. I always wondered how carefully airport people looked at the forms they make me fill out. Now I know.

Eventually the plane left, I was surprised to find myself among about only 10 other foreigners on the flight. During the flight I watched Golden Compass (awful), Juno (good), and about 2/3rds of Sweeny Tod (so-so). I also spoke intermittently with the Japanese old man next to me. The conversations always went like this. First he’d say something using really easy Japanese. I would easily answer. Then, thinking my Japanese was perfect, he would say something long, fast and difficult. I would apologize and tell him I didn’t understand. Then he would say something easy again. I would respond again. Then he’d go back to complicated. Repeat and repeat again. He went back and forth from being convinced my Japanese was horrible to thinking it was awesome. It is, of course, somewhere in between… but probably closer to horrible.

Arrived in Nagoya… and waited for just over an hour in immigration. Fantastic. This caused me to miss my last bus back to Takayama (by only 20 minutes!), but I had asked for the next day off because I had expected this to happen. So, I took a walk around Nagoya station…. and it felt brilliant. I don’t why, but Nagoya always makes me feel good. Like I’m more alive and energized. It was late, so I picked up a hamburger from McDonald’s and went to my hotel room. The hotel clerk greeted me like I had arrived home. Big friendly Japanese smiles from everyone I met… it felt good to be back.

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Clever phrases like “Winter”peg. hahaha.
Thing I love most about Japan today: Friendly hotel clerks!

March 24 (Monday)

Thursday is what promises to be my final and most dramatic encounter with getting my Driver’s License. An 8:30 meeting has been planned. In order to get there for this cursed hour I must leave Kamioka at 4:30. Which means waking up at 3:45 in the morning. I will be prepared for it though. I come armed with a mountain worth of identification, completed paperwork and photocopies. I also added a new member to my adventuring party with Will, a level 22 rogue-class character who’s Japanese skills far outweigh my own. I also have a cell phone, prepped to call my school clerk should translation fail both of us. I’ve been level-grinding myself, practicing against smaller amounts of paperwork that are brought to me daily at school. A book has also been brought (the three musketeers!), since I was warned that I will be kept waiting until at least 11:30. All I actually have to DO is an eye exam and fill out some more papers. It is my final quest in the Driver’s License side-story and the last problem standing between me and a trip to Australia. Gaia help us.

March 27 (Thursday)

A successful sortie into Gifu-city has left me filled with joy and in possession of my own personal Japanese Driver’s License. Will and I left Kamioka at 4:30, but we missed the turn-off to the Gifu Expressway dramatically twice (costing us half an hour). Once upon the Expressway I opened my engine up to previously unheard of speeds in Japan. I doubt any have ever traveled as fast before. We managed to arrive at the destination a full half hour early. Once there I proceeded to fill out some paperwork and then have an eye exam. The time was now 8:30. As promised, we were told to wait until 11:00 or so for me to get the license. Bureaucracy at its finest. By 12:00 I had my license in hand, but was warned that my international driver’s was no longer usable in Japan because of it. That’s fine… or so you’d think. Turns out I now have all kinds of more horrible penalties for if I get into an accident or anything. I also have to have a “beginner’s mark” on my car so that everyone knows I’m driving for my first year in Japan… even though I’ve already been driving for months. Awesome. Time to go to Australia!

Thing I miss most about Canada today: Not having to have a “beginner’s mark” on my car. Embarrassing!!

Thing I love most about Japan today: How many times people warn me to be careful when driving because the roads here are more narrow than in Canada. Your concern for my safety is never ending!