This is Life

Introducing an Introduction to Sumo

2008-10-04T22:22:00.004+09:00

You know, every time I make a post to my blog I tell myself, "Dean, you need to make posts more often". I even say it out loud, sometimes with an accent for effect. Anyway, the real reason that I don`t post often these days is that well, there just isn`t much to report. No longer am I living the cozy life of a JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme) in rural Japan. Noooope, I gots me a real job with real hours. Not that I don`t think being a JET was a real job ... OK, I don`t think it was a real job. I often tell people it was a working holiday in the most sincere sense of the word. I mean, come on, 35 hours a week, which includes finishing at 11:30 every Friday, a default long weekend, EVERY weekend! Wait, does that make me a French expat?

So, what I am trying to say is that I miss it terribly and strongly encourage any recent university grads to apply. Experience of a lifetime. Did I mention the 20 days paid vacation every year, on top of national holidays and school holidays?

Ok, so there are some good things about my new job. For one, it is challenging and I have learned a lot. I have also been on national TV in Japan, albeit unintentionally. I work in financial PR in Tokyo and some of our clients are doing pretty big things so it is exciting. It is pretty neat to be behind the scenes, helping shape the news. Living in Tokyo can be pretty interesting too so let`s just leave it at that and not talk about having to pay $60+ for a decent brunch. Nope, let`s not talk about it.

Recently, I haven't done too much traveling, but I will post a few pictures. There is one thing in Japan, however, that I have become obsessed with. I often tell people that every foreigner in Japan has at least one aspect of Japanese culture that they latch onto. For some it is history, or traditional arts (Kabuki, Noh, Taiko, Bunraku, Tea Ceremony, Ikebana, etc.). Pop culture is probably the most common (manga, anime, pop art, music, etc.). Surely no one is interested in Japanese TV dramas (words can never explain just how awful they are). And of course there are the martial arts (karate, judo, aikido, ninjutsu, kendo, etc.). In my case, it is watching fat men in loincloths dance, clap, throw salt and finally, wrestle. Methinks Deano has some 'splaining to do.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about sumo, one of the oldest Japanese martial arts, dating back some 1500 years. Just fat dudes wrestling in their underwear was my first impression of sumo and admittedly, on the surface that is pretty much what it looks like. However, as with most things in Japan, the joy of sumo hides beneath the surface. Japan is a country where its greatest treasures, figuratively and literally, are draped in layers of history, ritual, and even misdirection and one needs to put in some effort to fully appreciate everything it has to offer.

First, let`s look at some facts about sumo that you probably didn`t know:

The average sumo wrestler has a lower body fat percentage than the average Japanese businessman (probably than you too, no offense). In fact, former Yokozuna (Grand Champion) Chiyonofuji had the same body fat ratio as Olympic marathon runners
There are six sumo tournaments held each year, every two months, with each lasting for 15 days (three in Tokyo, one each in Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka)
82 officially recognized kimarite (winning techniques)
The first officially recorded sumo match was performed for visiting Korean dignitaries in the 7th century

Personally, I became a fan of sumo about six months after arriving in Japan, upon seeing my first tournament live in Tokyo. After that first experience, I have returned to Tokyo for every major tournament save one, having now been over ten times. In truth, ten times is not that impressive a number, but bear in mind that the first seven times I was not living in Tokyo and had to travel 200-300 kilometers for the pleasure.

My obsession with sumo has gotten to the point that I now tell people that my dream job is being a color commentator for the english broadcasts of sumo on the NHK (Japan`s national public broadcaster). They always laugh and I laugh too. Then I say, "No, seriously". People in Japan are always surprised, if not shocked, at my interest in the sport. Unfortunately, the truth is that the sport is dying in Japan. Despite its global fame and deep association with Japan, sumo has an increasingly limited following and has yielded its place in Japanese hearts to baseball, which itself is giving way to football (a.k.a. soccer). My estimate is that less than 5% of the population actually follow it these days, most of which are retired or, oddly enough, other foreigners. To see Japanese teeneagers at a sumo event is more rare than licorice-flavored carrots (I`ve never had any, have you?).

Anyway, I have a semi-rehearsed diatribe that I "offer" to pretty much any Japanese person that supporting sumo is as much about preserving the culture as it is about the sport. I try to explain what outsiders' (what foreigners are referred to in Japan) impressions are of Japan and Japanese culture. To illustrate my point, let's play a word association gave. I will say a word and you need to write down the first five words that come into your head. For example, if I said "genius" the first five things you might have thought of could be Einstein, Newton, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci and Mario Cart. Understand? Ok, here we go. What are the first three things you think of when I say "Japan"?

Done?

I imagine you said at least two, if not three, of the following - Sushi, Sumo, Samurai, Geisha, or Manga/Anime. Sushi has never been more popular, but give it time. There are only so many fish out there. Manga/Anime also on the up and up. Sumo, as you are learning is not doing so well. In the 1920s there were over 80,000 Geisha in Japan. Now there are between 1000-2000. And unless you count the millions of Japanese businessmen, the samurai class was abolished during the Meiji Restoration in the late 1860s.

What Japanese people don`t realize is how important these things are as cultural treasures. These are the things that make Japan so unique and they are being disrespectfully neglected and pushed into a side column on page 6 of the sports section. I worry that soon it will be too late, if it isn't already, to save sumo. As a Canadian, I only wish I had something about my culture that is globally famous (for those Canadians that don`t already know, truth is, people only know us for our maple syrup).

So, I hope that my passion for the sport, and for the culture, somehow makes the Japanese I meet think about issues that they might otherwise not and reconsider their position on not only sumo, but on a neglected culture. I also hope to initiate people outside of Japan, yanking them beyond their pre/mis-conceptions, and helping them understand a little about the great sport of "Grand Sumo".

Let`s get started (was all of the above an introduction?). Forget it. I will talk about sumo next time. Hopefully it won't take so long.

To be continued...

Big Trouble in Little Tokyo

2007-11-15T12:09:00.000+09:00

It has been so long since my last update that I actually had to go and read it so I could remember where I was. WOW that was a long time ago – 4 months, in fact! Anyway, a LOT has happened since then so guess I should catch you up.

After recovering from the devastation resulting from a nearly 7.0 earthquake in my town, I decided I needed a change. With that, I embarked on a journey, with nothing but my cargo pants (complete with those zippers near the knee that lets you remove the bottom, thereby converting pants into shorts – brilliant!), my England soccer jersey, and a backpack (ok, so there was some stuff in the backpack too).

My first stop took me to the far north of Japan. It was stunning and one of the true frontiers of this remarkably naturally beautiful country. When I got there, I found that I could actually see the Sakhalin islands, which are themselves just a stone’s throw from Russia. So, what did I do? I did what any noble sojourner would do – stowed away in the cargo hold of a Russian crabbing ship for 3 days. Luckily, we arrived back on Russian soil and I set out on the second leg of my adventure (truth is, they found me, but the only thing I could thing of saying in Russian was, “Excuse me, could you tell me where Red Square is?” so instead I just kept saying “I love Tretiak. I love Tretiak.” They thought I was crazy so they let me go).

Next, I caught a ride on the Trans-Siberian railway and was excited by my 8-day journey to Moscow. My excitement soon faded as we were ambushed by some Mongolian raiders. They took me prisoner, but I don`t know what for. Thankfully, I speak perfect Mongolian and they treated me as one of their own. The best part was they were not only nomadic herders, but also explorers. In fact, they had an expedition to the North Pole planned for the next Tuesday and invited me along. Keeping in mind that my ultimate goal was to return to Calgary for my scheduled knee surgery on August 21, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by going over the top. Boy, was I right! So, long story short, I arrived back in Calgary and with one or two stories to boot.
*the above may or may not be completely fictional

So, yeah, I did end up back in Calgary and had surgery to reconstruct my ACL and remove half of the cartilage in my knee. Both had been torn up pretty badly when I was planning in the quarterfinals of the Bayern Eunuchs triumphant march to Calgary Christian Soccer League glory in 2004. The surgery was mostly a success, but I am a little confused what is considered a success and what isn’t. It still hurts. Um, it also got infected 3 days after surgery and I have never been in more pain (see: agony) in my life, despite the fact I was using some extremely strong drugs. Because of the infection, I was also on IV antibiotics for 12 days, which required me to get some 30-40 needles (maybe up to 100) in that time. I hate needles. Anyway, currently I am rehabbing and should be ready to resume my meteoric rise to the top of the sumo world by March of 2008.

Seriously though, being at home was nice. My little brother got engaged. I got fat. What more could you ask for? I also realized that my dad would have made a terrific nurse. He really took care of me well and I am just glad I could bath myself because that would have been weird … going without a bath for 6 weeks, that is.

You might have guessed by now that I am not at home anymore. Nooope, I am now in Tokyo. For one reason or another, the Good Lord decided he was going to provide a real job for me in Tokyo. I am now working for Japan’s largest public relations firm and am one of only three foreigners out of 230+ employees, and of those three foreigners, I am the only one who hasn’t lived here at least 18 years. Needless to say, my Japanese is not quite up to snuff. Anyway, it’s a good job with a good company and I have a great boss (an Aussie) who for some strange reason sees “something” in me. I still haven’t decided if this is where I want to be and I gotta tell you, right now, the idea of living among lush, green mountains and having an easy (see: extremely easy) job as an assistant language teacher in the Japanese public education system is pretty appealing. Working until 8 or 9 or later is getting to me a bit. But hey, who knows what will happen. Great experience, in any case.

As for my living situation, well, the way I look at it I am still living 300 kilometers away in Niigata City, with my girlfriend’s family. Sure, I sleep and eat in Tokyo during the weekdays, but don’t do much else. Almost every Friday night it is off to Niigata by bullet train and back on Sunday night. It’s nice to relax, but at $200 per round trip it is adding up. Oh well, worth it if you ask me.

Now, here is where I get to lay some numbers out for you. My new digs are a 10 square meter room in a guesthouse. I share the second floor with 6 other people. The shower, toilet, and kitchen are communal. This costs me $800 a month. Last year, I had a house with no rent, no one to share it with, and it was probably 15-20 times larger than my room now. Guess the good thing about sharing is that it is a great opportunity to meet other people. Currently, my roommates include 2 Italians, a Swiss, a Korean, and Irish, and a Taiwanese. It seems like the language of choice is Italian so I pretend I can speak it by using lots of hand gestures and facial expressions. They seem to understand.

One of the perks about this new job is that I have virtually no holidays. Wait, that is not a perk - that sucks. This is the best time to be in Japan, when the country is on fire with autumn colors. It’s absolutely breathtaking. Hopefully I will get a chance to take some pictures on the weekend so I can have something to post on FLICKR or Facebook. Send me a message if you are up for it.

An Earthquake I Didn't Sleep Through

2007-07-19T19:26:00.000+09:00

As you may already be aware, on the morning of July 16, 2007, Japan was hit with a massive earthquake that measured 6.8 on the Richter Scale (for reference, it was about the same as the '94 Northridge (LA) earthquake and the '89 San Francisco earthquake). So yeah, it was big. You may remember that I live near the world's largest nuclear powerplant, which is located in the town of Kariwa/Kashiwazaki in Niigata prefecture. Now, if you have been reading the news you may have noticed them referring to a certain "world's largest nuclear powerplant" having some public safety issues, namely spilling radioactive cooling water into the ocean, having 400 barrels of low-grade nuclear waste tip over (the contents of 40 spilled out), or having an oil tank catch on fire. Actually, none of these problems pose much threat to the public's safety, but since the company that owns the reactors have been less than forthcoming with "true" information it makes it a bit difficult to trust them. OK, so, if you were able to put two and two together, you should have figured out that my house lies pretty darn close to the epicenter of this earthquake. To be exact, I think my house is about 18 kilometers from the epicenter. By the way, this is not a good thing.

So, now that you have some scope of the situation, I should point out that I am not complaining. In fact, I thank God that I was not home when the earthquake struck. I was in a town about 70 kilometers away and the temblor was reduced to about a 5+ strength there, which was more than enough for me to call it "spooky". I returned home the next morning and had been briefed on what I would see from the vast news coverage, but it was much more devastating when I saw it in person. Let me tell you, 3-d is the technology of the future because if you could see the things I have seen you would all be moved to tears and catch the nearest flight here to help. What makes it all the more difficult is the fact that many of the families that have lost everything (their homes, cars, valuables) have children that are my students. Just imagine that for a second, losing your home. I wouldn't wish it on anyone so when it happens to not one, but dozens of people that you care about, well, to call it heartbreaking just doesn't do it justice. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that somehow these kids still are able to smile and have fun playing with each other to pass the time. The spirit of the Japanese people continues to amaze me and their resilience is astonishing.

Anyway, as for the details, I believe there have been 10 deaths reported (mostly from people being crushed by collapsed buildings), 1 person still missing, over 1000 people injured and about 10,000 people homeless. To give you an idea, the population of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa area is about 100,000. As for me, as expected, most of the stuff in my house that could break broke (dishes, glasses, etc.). My power was restored within 3 days, although water is still a week away and gas may be even longer.

There is one thing I am a little conflicted about, but I haven't really been talking about it because it seems so insignificant at this point. My contract ends on July 24th. This was to be my week to say goodbye to a town that has taken me in as their own and treated me better than I could ever have expected. I love this town and I am loved by this town. It is a small, close-knit community and everyone pretty much knows everyone (the population is just 5000). Now, because of the earthquake, I will not be able to say goodbye to this town the way I would like. I want to tell them how much they mean to me, but I know my message will be lost under the weight of the earthquake, and understandably so. I know it is somewhat selfish, but I want these people to know what they mean to me. It is so strange to leave them at this time as I feel like I should stay and help.

Guess that brings me to my latest piece of news, which is that I am leaving the best job I have ever had. I am currently looking for a new job here in Japan, but not as an English teacher. I am looking for something in the business world and I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I embarked on my newest journey. Who would have thunk it - that I need to actually speak Japanese to work in Japanese business. Anyway, we will see what happens.

I guess that is all for now. Your comments are always appreciated, but maybe now moreso than ever, considering the circumstances.

God bless.

Never Too Late

2007-04-16T13:49:00.000+09:00

So, now that I have my decision behind me I have had no trouble putting the weight back on. Actually, I am not sure if I ever did slim down at all from that very stressful February, but my diet is really struggling now. Besides that, the hockey season is now over so my one legitimate excuse for being on a diet is gone. I may actually have to go back to eating the junior high school lunch, whale soup and all. Speaking of which, a buddy of mine was invited to a sushi bar by a friend of his. His Japanese friend challenged him to eat some raw horse (tastes like beef, by the way) and after he downed it he was informed that it was, in fact, whale heart. Apparently, it tasted like any other strange, chewy, red meat. No thanks.

No, as for what I have been up to, well, it seems like every single weekend there is something on the go. I think I have been averaging at least 300 kms on my car every weekend and that is no small feat when you consider how long it takes to get 300 kms in Japan. You are looking at twice the time that it would take in Canada.

I went to a doll festival. Moving on.

I went to a Japanese prostitute festival. Moving on.

Now that I think about it, perhaps some information is in order. The doll festival was held in a town famous for them (naturally) and the dolls themselves are quite unique. Many of them are over 100 years old and can cost considerable amounts of money due to the elaborate costumes they wear and the details the craftsmen gives them. The town is also famous for its salmon so many of the buildings displaying the dolls also house rafters full of salmon that are hung up to dry. It is really creepy. Oddly enough, it smells like fish. All said, the festival was very interesting ... if you like that sort of thing. I found it pretty boring, but had a good time because we went to a nice hot spring and I met one of my girlfriend`s best friends, which was nice.

As for the Japanese prostitute parade, well, it is just that, except the women are basically re-enacting something you may have seen over 100 years ago. You have heard of geisha, no doubt, well these women are called "Oiran". On the surface, Oiran and Geisha may appear to be the same, but geisha are distinguished in that their role was not sexual, while the Oiran were most definitely prostitutes, albeit it very, very high-class prostitutes. There are also some visual hints as to which is which, but you can check out this article if you are interested. Anyway, what makes this an interesting event is that these women are the peacocks of Japanese culture. Their costumes are so elaborate and their unique style of walking (on 6-inch platforms) make this a very unique event. It should be pointed out that the women are not actual Oiran, but rather they are women from the town chosen to reinact the event and trained in the artforms. If you are interested in learning more about geisha then have a look at this site. It is really interesting. I`ve decided to try to do my part in educating the public that Geisha were NOT prostitutes.

Ok, really moving on this time. On March 31st I went to Tokyo to meet my dad and little brother Ethan at the airport. They came to visit me for 9 days and we had a blast. Let me give you a rundown of what we did. First, we went straight to the closet we rented and slept through the night. Actually, it wasn`t so bad, but it was a tight fit with 2.5 beds. The next morning we decided to get up nice and early and go see the chaos and wonder of the world`s largest fish market, Tsukiji market (click here for photo essay). I think it would have been really interesting had there been a single soul there. I guess Japan doesn`t need fresh fish on Sunday or someone was playing a great practical joke on us, but we were pretty disappointed no one was there. We thought about going to see the sumo district, but I was pretty sure nothing would be happening there on a Sunday morning either. Our back up plan was Starbucks, but who would have guessed, it too was closed. It was 9:00 in the morning and Starbucks wasn`t open yet!? Doesn`t that break some sort of franchising rule? Anyway, thankfully it was a beautiful day so we went to Shinjuku Gyoen (royal garden) to view the cherry blossoms. We were very blessed throughout our vacation to see much of Japan during the notoriously difficult to predict cherry blossom season. While the blossoms were not quite full everywhere we went, they were pretty close so we consider ourselves very fortunate. As far as I am concerned, aside from the Aurora, cherry blossoms are the most beautiful (and contemplative) occurrence in God`s creation. Finally, we were able to go to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo before catching our bullet train to Hiroshima at 2 pm. Quite a full, yet relaxing morning, if I remember right.

On our way to Hiroshima we passed by Mt. Fuji and despite it being overcast were were afforded quite a nice view. As famous as Fuji-san is, few people actually see it because it is always shrouded in cloud, haze, or a giant tutu. After an 850km bullet train trip (only took 5 hours and that wasn`t the fastest train either), we arrived in Hiroshima around 7, managed to find our hotel, and before I knew it my jet-lagged companions were fast asleep. I watched an Angela Aki (the Japanese Sarah Mclachlin) concert on tv to pass some time. I also checked out the tide schedule and am happy to use this brilliant segue to talk about our next day. Next to Hiroshima is a island called Miyajima. The image of Miyajima`s famous floating shinto gates is famous in Japan, as well as abroad, and this island turned out to be one of the most pleasant places we visited. After spending the morning there we headed back to Hiroshima to visit one place that everyone should have to visit. It was not a pleasant experience to go to the Peace Memorial Park and the museum, but it was the most important place we saw. The museum is very informative and graphic and it is a vital reminder of the cruelty that humans can put each other true. I am not going to weigh in on whether it was justified or not, but the sheer power of the atomic bomb is horrifying. The fact that those bombs are mere firecrackers compared to what the superpowers currently possess is not a comforting thought. I hate to sound cynical, but it is not a matter of if, but when.

Now that I you are thoroughly depressed, let`s talk about castles. The morning after Hiroshima - which I would like to add, is one of the most beautiful and spacious cities in Japan - we hopped on a bullet train to Himeji, home to Japan`s most famous castle. Now, I had been to Japan`s second most famous castle last year when I visited Matsumoto (see the archives) and I was thoroughly impressed, but Himeji makes Matsumoto look like a doll house. This castle is just massive and it would take days to explore all of its hidden treasures. Combine this with the fact that the cherry blossoms were looking fine and you have one cool place. It turned out to be Ethan`s favorite spot in Japan (I will qualify that statement later). From there we went to Osaka and visited what is widely considered the best aquarium in Japan, a land that loves aquariums. The Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium is impressive, but the people who think it is the best have clearly not been to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, which houses not one, but three whale sharks behind the world`s largest acrylic panel. That, was an impressive aquarium. It is also the second largest in the world. Osaka is in the top 5, I think. Anyway, Osaka`s jellyfish area was cool. Since we didn`t take nearly as long as expected to view the aquarium, we decided to go to an imax 3d film at the neighboring theatre. Guess we couldn`t get enough sea creatures because the film was also set underwater. By the way, if you have never been to an Imax 3d you really should - awesome technology! In the evening we tried to find a nice restaurant to take my pops for his 80th - I mean, 60th - birthday (couldn`t resist). We found a nice Indian restaurant and I think my dad was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. And here I would also like to announce perhaps the biggest success of out trip, my little brother actually discovered a new food that he will eat. Thank you Curry Man for tingling his taste buds just the right way. You are part of a very, very ... very exclusive club (love ya, bro). Happy Birthday, dad. One interesting thing we noticed is that both my mom and dad have been in Japan to celebrate their birthdays this past year. My mom in November and my dad in April. Kind of cool, if you ask me.

The next day (Wednesday, April 4th for those who are counting) was another early-riser. We wanted to beat the crowds at Universal Studios Japan and once we got there we realized that was never going to happen. It being spring break in Japan and all, I suppose that crowds were inevitable. Thankfully, we never had to wait too long (only once did we wait more than an hour - for Back to the Future) so it wasn`t so bad. Unfortunately, much like my experience at Tokyo DisneySea, it was bleedin` windy, which was enough to convince the three of us to pack it in sometime around 3PM. Considering it cost $60 per person I suppose we could have toughed it out, but we had hit most of the rides by then and were ready to go anyway. By the way, the Spiderman ride was pretty cool and so was the Shrek 4d experience. Nothing like getting sneezed on by donkey and actually feeling it. It was nice to finish this day with a fine steak dinner. Thing is, we were staying in the young, trendy, bizarre area of Osaka and the local cuisine is a must-try, but my dad and bro weren`t up for okonomiyaki (a sort of egg, cabbage, everything else you can imagine omelet) or takoyaki (grilled octopus balls ... no, David Yang, not octopus testicles). They are both quite good.

Thursday we (I) decided to go to Kyoto (my favorite city in Japan) to see some of Japan`s most famous sites and in particular, the cherry blossoms. We were lucky enough to be in Kyoto during one of the only times of the year that the Imperial Palace is open to the public. This is where the Imperial Family lived for 700 years or so before the capital was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. Next we went to the Golden Pavillion (Kinkakuji) to see what is probably Japan`s most famous site, a temple covered in gold. It is much nicer than my Toyota Corolla, but maybe that is a completely irrelevant comparison ... or is it? Around noon we went to the Philosopher`s Path, which would be one of the most romantic places in Japan, were it not for the utter and complete lack of privacy. Yeah, there are throngs of people. It is a wonder more don`t fall into the stream. Nevertheless, it is truly breathtaking and I am so glad that I have been able to visit it twice during the fall colors season and now once during the cherry blossoms. It is impossible to pick which is best. After that, it was back to Osaka for one last night in the hotel that smelled like smoke in the lobby, something bizarre in the hallway, fine in the room, but reeked of kerosene in the bathroom. Oh well, great location and decent price. Can`t complain.

Our next destination was Muikamachi, which is the town I lived in last year and is in Niigata, on the opposite coast of Japan as Osaka and a good bit north. I think it is about 550kms or so, but the bullet trains don`t run on that side of Japan yet so we had to use an express train instead. They are almost as comfortable, but much cheaper (a little slower). We had a ten-minute stopover/transfer about halfway and that is usually plenty of time because the trains in Japan are always on time. Except this time. I assume that someone attempted suicide (probably successfully) somewhere between Osaka and Kyoto because that is where we were delayed. This caused us to miss our connection and we ended up being 2 hours late. Oh well. Made for a long day though.

On Saturday I had a hockey tournament in a town about 2 hours away. I scored the winner in a shutout in the first game and then my increasingly fragile body (is it because I don`t eat enough vegetables?) sustained a back injury in the second game. I finished that game, but could barely walk the next day so I elected not to play. They were able to pull it out without me and finished third, which I think everyone would admit was beyond our expectations. Seriously though, I gotta get this body back into shape. First things first, surgery on the knee in the summer. Then rebuild the body. I am just talking to myself right now.

Anyway, it turned out to be a nice final weekend with minimal stress. We were able to go to a really good Italian restaurant (a rarity in Japan) twice and even got some more cherry blossom viewing in. The best part was that Aya was able to spend more time with my family and she even took Ethan to the arcade and they had a great time. Back to my previous statement about Ethan`s favorite place being Himeji Castle, well, the truth is that his favorite place was Universal Studios. Since that isn`t really Japanese I am not counting it. I am pretty sure that his favorite place was actually the arcade and since he was with Aya I will count it.

The next day was Monday, departure day, and I had to be at work by 8 so we had a taxi come and pick them up and take them directly to the airport ... on the other side of the country. I am not sure how many kms it was, but apparently it wasn`t too bad. It only cost $110 per person, which is a great deal in Japan and the fact that it was stress free easily offsets the extra cost. So, for all of you that are coming to visit me before August, that is my recommendation.

By the way, I realize that this is a really long and at times tedious post with very little originality, but I wanted to get things up to date and it was important that I recounted the trip purely for journal purposes. Congrats on getting this far. Now, go see the pics.

I am the Jenga King

2007-02-22T14:18:00.000+09:00

I don't know what I should address first - the Jenga issue or the real meat and potatoes of this post. I suppose, in order to keep the subject matter light, at least for a little while, let's talk about Jenga. Since I returned to Japan after Christmas it seems like everywhere I go someone starts up a good ol round o Jenga. Previously, I have never heralded this game as anything more than ordinary, but the truth is, this game could change the world. I mean, its just plain fun. The way I see it, if you had good old George W. in a room with the insane Iranian, the more insane Kim Jong Il, and heck, why not invite Chavez for good measure, you might have a pretty intense situation. You have two options to break the tension. One would be to get Russell Peters to come in and do a short routine. If, per chance, Russell isn't available, then you bring out the Jenga. These boys would be having some good times in no time and before you know it ... world peace. Anyway, just a thought. I have been enjoying it and have crowned myself Jenga King. My buddy Andy was the self-proclaimed Kashiwazaki (my town) Jenga King, but then he had one too many drinks and promptly lost the game pathetically early. I, on the other hand, have gone on not losing. Generally speaking, the object of Jenga is to not lose. So, that's what I have done ... not lose ... consistently. One such non-loss convinced me that I am the Jenga King. The tower was over double original height, wobbling like a new born wildebeest (nice metaphor, huh?), yet somehow I managed to pull out (pun fully intended) the miraculous non-loss. It almost feels as good as being the 2002 World Champion Adidas Internet Soccer Game guy. Actually, that was pretty cool.

On a more serious note, in the past 4 weeks I have probably experienced some of the worst times of my life. I have never felt so down and so helpless. The reason for this is that I have had to decide whether or not to leave Japan and return to Canada in the summer. Initially, I tried to have my contracting organization decide for me. I told them that I needed to go back to Canada for all of August to have knee surgery. I was thinking that they would find this unreasonable, but they said it would be no problem. Then I went to family and friends for advice, which I received, but I still had no answer. Ultimately, this was a decision I was going to have to make on my own. In the end, I decided that I will be returning to Canada in the summer.

You may not understand why this decision was so hard so I will try and explain it. First of all, the job is very cushy. I get paid for 35 hours per week of work, maybe a third of which is actually in class teaching. I live alone in a big house in the richest town in Japan and I don't have to pay rent. I have lots of holiday time I can use for traveling. My job is usually quite fun and seeing the kids with smiling faces is very rewarding. I am enjoying learning the language. I enjoy living here and the people I have met here. I have relationships that I do not want to see end. On the down side, my job is not challenging and often boring because of all the down time. Also, another year here would not really help me prepare for my future. Ultimately, I chose to leave because I know that if God wants me here in the future then He will make it happen. Somehow I see myself connected to Japan for the rest of my life so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Anyway, I am not one to get stressed out, but I was literally nauseous and could not eat. I had been given four extensions from when I was originally supposed to decide what I would do. Finally, I had to put this situation in God's hands, something I thought I had already done. To be honest, I don't really want to leave. I could probably live in Japan the rest of my life if I had to (don't get me wrong, I like Canada better), but I need to find a career.
So, if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know. For the praying folk out there reading this, I could really use your prayers. God bless.

Now, back to the purpose of this blog ... travel. As I said in the last entry, I would be visiting some cool, old-fashioned Japanese farmhouses. First, we went to a town called Takayama, which literally means High Mountain. This town was full of really interesting sights, including a very well preserved old town. The houses and buildings in this area look the same as they did before electricity was commonplace and it is a very charming area. Takayama is also famous for its unique culture, which developed due to its isolation and climate. The region is well known for immense amounts of snow and the traditional architecture reflects that. In Takayama there is a fantastic open air museum that recreates a village as it would have existed in the not too distant past. All of the buildings are originals that have been transported from other areas within the region. It was really interesting to see all the different styles of farmhouses and how the people adapted to these harsh conditions.

All around the town I kept noticing these strange red dolls. They looked liked little devils to me, but who knew, they were really supposed to be monkeys. I was way off. In fact, it seemed to me that these were a provincial mascot. One of the interesting characteristics about Japan is every region has something uniquely marketable. Due to the Japanese custom of always bringing souvenirs back to your coworkers, friends and family there are countless souvenir shops around the country. So, with every region having something unique to market they are pretty much guaranteed to sell, no matter how ugly or bizarre the trinket is. Ah, Japan.

Anyway, this post is long enough. To summarize, I will say that Takayama and Shirakawa of Gifu prefecture are two of the most charming and interesting places I have been to in Japan. If you get a chance, I highly recommend it. Check out the pictures.

Next up ... Tokyo DisneySea and Yokohama.

At Least My Toilet Didn`t Freeze

2007-01-18T16:19:00.000+09:00

Well, first update since returning from Canada and I suppose there is not too much to tell. Went out for my first session of snowboarding last weekend and had some good times. Probably going out every weekend for at least the next couple of months. Please refer to last year`s pictures if you really need to know why I need to be boarding so often.

Anyway, Canada was a great time and I have to admit that I really wasn`t looking forward to going to Hawaii. The way I saw it was that I was losing a couple days with friends and family in Canada or having less time to spend with friends in Japan before heading back to work. It was looking like I made a mistake in asking for a stoppover there. I would be arriving at the hostel at 10 pm on Tuesday night and leaving for the airport at 7 am on Friday morning. That gave me only two days and that was if everything went according to plan. Naturally, it didn`t go down like that. My flight was delayed leaving Seattle and I arrived after 1 am in Honolulu. I was anticipating having to sleep at the airport because it was too late to check into my hostel at that time. Then the oddest thing happened. I saw my friend`s mom waiting at the baggage carousel. I thought, this is the strangest coincidence that she was on the same flight as me. Then I remembered that she lived there and it was more likely that my dad and/or buddy had contacted her to come to my rescue. That was indeed the case.

So, this is an example of expect the worst and hope for the best. Also, it is good to know that the Big Guy upstairs has my back. Anyway, I spent most of the next day just wandering around Waikiki. In case you haven`t been there, you may have never seen and ABC store. Well, they are more numerous that fire hydrants. Literally, in Waikiki there are probably 4 on every square block - maybe more! Good store, though. Its got lots of good stuff, although I was pretty surprised at the price of fruit. So, didn`t do much that day, aside from browsing the shops. I bought a few souvenirs and then I came upon what could be the greatest kitchen appliance in the entire world. This is number one on my wedding gift list (if that ever happens), but maybe a few (or a few dozen) of you will have to split the cost. This particular item was found at Williams Sonoma and I also learned that it is a limited edition item - 4 per store over the entire chain. This particular item is a Kithenaid Professional Stand Mixer in brushed copper. I can`t remember what they were asking, but it could be around the $899.99 US dollar range. Me wants.

Ok, so didn`t do too much that first day, but it was still enjoyable. The next day was great too. My friend`s mom let me use her car for the day and I toured up the east-north side of the island. It was great having the freedom to stop wherever I wanted. Problem was that it was one of those Saturns that have the automatic seatbelts that drive me crazy. Having said that, I was extremely grateful to have a car to use and I can forgive Saturn for trying, unsuccessfully, to make our lives easier. Anyway, my main goal was to make it up to the famed north shore to see some of the world`s best surfers at play. Two weeks earlier we were looking at waves so high they were nearly unrideable. Well, they were definitely rideable when I was there and really didn`t pose a challenge to any famous surfers. They were only about 2 meters so it was basically just me and the other disappointed tourists. Still, I had a great time boogie boarding the two meter waves, which is plenty of wave to seriously hurt me. Oh, and while I wasn`t actually riding a wave I was busy thinking about how badly the Hawaiian sun loves to punish me (no sunscreen on this day, but also no sun-intensifier ;) and watching my bag. Living in Japan, which is generally and extremely safe and honest country, has left me with a decided paranoia towards Americans. I think they want to steal everything so if I stay in hostels or am in public places I am always watching them. Not fair, I know, but what can you do?

Towards the end of the day I went to a copy of a famous Japanese temple. I wanted to see it because I had it on one of my screensavers and it looked spectacular. It was. My one disappointment was that it did rain quite a lot in the two days I was there. Who cares? It bleedin` Hawaii I tell you. Did you know that I am moving there? Not Oahu, but Maui. It won`t be for a while - at least until I make my fortune, but it is going to happen.

Ok, next adventure is in February. More super-cool traditional Japanese experiences. Rookingu ... forwardo ... to ... itto (please excuse my accent).

My third continent with U2

2006-12-04T13:40:00.000+09:00

Well, I guess I am not as accomplished as some of the truly well-traveled peers I met when I saw U2 in Tokyo On November 30th, but to be able to say I have now seen U2 on 3 different continents is kind of neat - at least for me. I talked to one guy from California that had already been to 12 shows on this tour alone. I mean, he literally uses all of his holiday time and a good bit of his income to travel the world following U2. Now, in all likelihood I am a bigger U2 fan than you are, but I gotta say that that is a little sad to me. But who am I to judge?

Anyway, one thing I discovered in the only other previous concert I had been to in Japan was that Japanese fans are much less aggressive than anywhere else I have been. Politeness generally wins the day. So, when I saw Coldplay during my first weekend in Japan in the summer of `05 I learned that I could get pretty much as close to the stage as I pleased. That saw me standing about 2 or 3 meters from the front of the stage and within one meter of the barrier that divides the stage and the crowd.

It was pretty darn close and pretty darn cool. With the U2 concert my expectations were a little lower, mainly because I anticipated there to be a lot more foreigners there who wouldn`t be so accommodating. True, there were a lot of foreigners, including what seemed to be ever single Brazilian that currently resides in Japan, but I was still able to secure some prime real estate. In fact, I was standing about 1 meter behind the barrier again and this time right at the tip of the runway that juts out into the audience. This runway soon became the domain of The Edge and we had some real bonding moments, the two of us. In fact, the band asked me to come out for drinks with them afterwards, but I already had plans. I was pretty tired so that last part may or may not have happened.

Anyway, after the concert I had to hop in my car and drive half way back from Tokyo to Niigata (by the way, I DO NOT recommend driving around Tokyo). At which point I thought it would be a good idea to stop and sleep in my car. See, it was 1am at this point and I had an early golf appointment so I figured I couldn`t bother with getting a hotel. Bring a couple blankets, slap on half a dozen warmers (you know, the ones with sand or something in them and when you shake them they get warm) and I would be good to good. That had to be high on the growing list of the dumbest things I have ever done. I am really hoping I never top my brilliant "sun-intensifier in Hawaii" incident. Anyway, needless to say, I didn`t get much sleep and spent most of the time contemplating what life without my nose and my toes would be like. Poor balance to say the least.

Long story short, turned the car on around 6am to thaw my appendages and then going completely on muscle memory, rather than actually feeling, I drove myself to the golf course that I was meeting my former high school's PE teachers for a round to celebrate the end of the year. They actually all had a party the night before, but, as you have read, I was a little preoccupied. On the other hand, they also had a better nights sleep than I did so if nothing else I was equipped with yet another excuse.

And boy did I need all of my excuses when the scores were tallied. My only other round of the year I shot an 84 at Greywolf Panorama. Not an easy course so I was mighty surprised. Well, first I'll tell you that my yearly average worked out to be 98. The really quick ones will have figured out that I shot a 112 this time around. On the bright side, that is my best ever score on a par 72, full length course in Japan. So, the excuses are that I was using a borrowed set of clubs, no 3 or 4 iron and no 3 wood. Also, I believe they were made of melted paper clips, or at least they felt that cheap. Second, no sleep. Third, no practice. Fourth, just had a bad day. I realize that if I really were a good golfer that I wouldn't need excuses. Like I said, I really need my excuses.

Other than that, it was a very pleasant day. This was a very pretty course and was actually quite a bargain ($70 CDN, including cart and all you can eat lunch buffet, plus use of the hot tub and facilities). The cart was a bit of a pain, though, because it was actually auto-driven. This means that the cart will follow the path no matter what. You press a button and it will just drive itself. Unfortunately, the person that programmed it was clearly Miss Daisy because you can practically walk faster than it. It is kind of neat, however, and it will automatically stop itself if it gets too far from you or there is something, such as a small child, lying in the middle of the path. You can also control it remotely, which needless to say, can make for a lot of fun. Oh, the other neat thing the course had was conveyor belts. After you finish on the 9th green, you press the button and watch your car drive off the the club house to be cleaned, while you hop on the uphill conveyor belt to whisk you off to the clubhouse. If it seems completely unnecessary, well, it is, but that's not the point. Its Cool! Anyway, then you have a half hour or so break to have lunch and then you resume your round afterwards. Odd, isn't it? It was a good time though, despite my playing partners not knowing English. Good lads though, them PE teachers.

After the golf I had to drive a few hundred kilometers to get back to my neck of the woods for the International Committee's year-end dinner party. And that was my weekend. I was also scheduled to drive another couple hundred kms on the Sunday morning to write a test at 8:30 am, but figured it was just too much and I deserved a break. Besides, I hadn't really studied so there was pretty much no point in taking the test anyway, other than seeing the scenery along the drive.

10 more days and I am on a plane (December 20th).

Mom and Pops and Maples and Moss

2006-11-29T11:07:00.000+09:00

So, November 18th through 26th saw the much anticipated arrival, tour, and departure of my beloved parents, Keith and Carolyn - or, as my mom would introduce herself as, Mable. People in Canada find it weird when she does that. People in Japan just plain don`t get it. Anyway, my mom is always a good ice breaker, but I had to fit my dad with a retro, samurai-styled wig for his important introductions. He pulled it off better than Ken Watanabe ever could.

Now, you`ll have to ask them, but I am pretty sure that my parents had a great time in Japan and left with a very good impression. We saw many beautiful sights, but it was the Japanese people that stole the show. Maybe that is because there are so many of them in such a small place that they demand the attention, but I think the main reason was because of their incredible hospitality and overwhelming generosity. They really humble us in this area and it makes me a little ashamed to think of how poor of a host I have been in the past when people have come to visit. You think you are doing pretty good and then you see what truly great hospitality is like and you realize you have a long way to go. Anyway, I think my parents were truly touched by the generosity that was bestowed upon them by our various hosts that I can probably convince them to come back in the not too distant future.

So, what did we do? Well, when you think of Japan you probably think of temples, moss, and gardens (and hopefully stupid amounts of snow, based of course on my reports from last year). Yeah, that`s here and we saw that, but there`s nothing too interesting to report on that front. I mean, I could list all the places that we went to and then you would think, "Oh, there! Yeah, I have no idea how to even say it, let alone know where it is." In short, we visited the Tokyo area and the Kyoto area, making a brief stop in my home prefecture (state) of Niigata.

Kyoto as beautiful and entrancing, as always, but the highlight for me was taking my parents to my former high school to meet the teachers and students. While I don`t teach there anymore I still consider this school my home. Every Friday I finish work around noon and then drive 90 minutes each way to volunteer at that high school. It is just fun to be there and the students and staff are amazing. Anyway, it was nice to give my parents some first-hand insight into what my life has been like in the past year and to get some feedback on how I have influenced the students and how they have influenced me. Almost a couple of teary-eyed moments there.

We were petty rushed that day, but we also had a chance to stay at my mansion - I mean, house - and have a nice dinner. The best part of that being mom reorganizing my kitchen. It was also fun to see how my parents managed staying in a typical Japanese home - that being one without central heating, of course.

After that we went to Kyoto, my favorite place in Japan, despite the throngs of tourists, particularly with that week being the peak of fall colours season. Nevertheless, the unique atmosphere of this city is truly special and infectious. The city just has class. In order to save yours truly a little money, we ended up staying in a hostel. Now, I know what you are thinking, but I wouldn`t put my parents up in a hostel if I didn`t know it was quality. This one has been voted the best hostel in Asia and is cleaned more thoroughly than a sumo wrestler`s rice bowl. Plus, they had a private room. Seriously though, this hostel and its staff are amazing and I have never stayed at any hostel that comes close to comparing to this one. Good times.

But eventually we had to part ways. Mom and pop got stuck in Vancouver with the snow, while I had to stand on a very expensive train for a few hours and then got delayed for another couple hours on my return leg back to Niigata. Nevertheless, we both made it ok.

It was great having them and I am looking forward to them coming back in April with my little bro, Ethan. I am already planning the trip to Universal Studios Osaka.

Now, the best part ... pictures! I took over 1GB of photos on the trip and after sorting, deleting, and a wee bit of tweaking I will post them on flickr. Have a looksee. Some of the best pictures I have ever seen of my mom and dad together. Enjoy!

By the way, I am going to be in Calgary from December 20th to January 2nd. Looking forward to seeing the Canadians so be sure to let me know if you`ll be around and available. Mark it in your calendars.

You Know You Are In Japan When ...

2006-10-31T21:22:00.000+09:00

It seems every foreigner that lives in Japan notices a few things that either mystify, defy common sense or are just really interesting. So, in case you ever wake up and have no idea where you are, well, you know you are in Japan when ...

... you see ceramic, badger-like mascots with outrageously large testicals greeting you at the entrance to noodle shops
... one of the most popular drinks is called Calpis
... the women give birth after 10 months (according to them)
... people are convinced that the green traffic lights are actually blue
... an entire region of the country is known as the kinki region
... most of the women intentionally walk pigeon-toed
... Ronald MacDonald is called Donald MacDonald
... you see police cars and ambulances waiting at traffic signals, even though their lights are flashing
... the drivers will almost always reverse into a parking spot, even if it is an angle parking spot, which completely defeats the purpose of angle parking
... there is one vending machine for every 23 people and you may see them selling anything from rhinocerous beetles (sold as pets) to used underwear (don't even ask) - this is not an exaggeration.
... everything will be relatively clean, yet it is nearly impossible to find a garbage can.

Ok, that is all for now. I will try and add things to this as I recall them. I`ve had this blog in the pipeline for nearly a month now, but due to the overwhelming pressure I`ve had from my adoring public (I`ve had 2 comments about it, which is enough to consider at minimum whlelming, if not, in fact, overwhelming) I am submitting this post. Feel free to make suggestions for some of the countless entries I missed.

Anyway, the folks are coming from the 18th-26th of November so I am sure to have lots of international incidents resulting from my mom hugging too many people she doesn`t know. It should be fun.

A Princess, A Shark`s Fin and A Bird`s Nest

2006-09-14T14:43:00.000+09:00

Well, the day started out normal enough. I was headed to Tokyo to see the first day of the fall sumo tournament. Being a big fan of this most traditional of Japanese sports, I was quite excited, although this was one experience that would not be a first for me, having already gone twice to see Sumo live in Tokyo in the past year. However, what made this instance unique was that I would be sitting in a box near ringside.

I tutor for a family in a nearby town and their family has owned a Japanese-style hotel there for many years. Because of this, they have had many important guests stay at their hotel over the years. One of which happens to be the gentleman who owns the afformentioned box seats at Tokyo`s sumo stadium, Kokugikan. He is now about 73 years old and has recently come out of a battle with stomach cancer, but he still managaes to look 10 years young. Before he retired he was a junior high school soccer coach at one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. It is basically where all the really rich politicians and celebrities (including Yakuza - Japanese mafia) send their kids to school. So, in Japan, and ordinary job like being a junior high school sports coach can somehow afford you a $60,000 a year box. Hmm, interesting. Did I mention that he has an uncanny resemblance to a stereotypical yakuza member? Anyway, my clients (the family I teach for) has become good friends with him because every summer his school would send the team he coached to a camp in their town. Every year for 30 years they would stay at this hotel. I guess the rest is history.

Now, as for the actual sumo night, well you can see pictures of it on my photo blog (link is on the right side of the page). It was cool being in what are supposed to be in the best seats in the house. He was in a different box before, but was apparently waiting for 50 years to be moved to this spot. Patient is an understatement. There are closer seats, which we were directly behind, but they aren`t allowed food, which is a big deal since the box seats are each given a stupid, and I mean completely ridiculous, amount of food. At first we were given a bag about 15cms wide by 40cms long and 40cms high. It was filled to the top with box upon box of Japanese delicacies. There was also 5 liters of beer thrown in, but that is irrelevant since both the food and the drinks were unlimited. Also, at the end of the night as we left we each were given one of these bags for our very own. I assumed that they wanted me to donate all of this food to a few hundred starving children, but apparently it was just for me. I did the next best thing in donating it to starving hostel dwellers and my hostel.

Anyway, back to sumo. My one complaint was how cramped the actual box was. Being Japan, you do in fact have to sit on you butt (on a small cushion, mind you) and this can be achieved if you are even slightly flexible in you lower body. I, unfortunately, am not. So, it hurt, and even for my Japanese companions it was a little cramped. My theory is that the Japanese used to be the size of oompa-loompas back in the day, but as their diet has gradually improved, they have doubled or even tripled in size. Nonetheless, the sumo boxes remain unchanged. It was small, but I would go again in a heartbeat if I was asked.

What happened next was astounding, but unless you want the details of 300-400 pound men smashing into each other and throwing each other to the grown whilst trying to give a throughly sterilizing wedgie then I will spare you the details. I thought it was pretty interesting. Ok, but other than that was the appearance of the royal family - the crown prince and his wife, plus his eldest daughter, the teenage princess. It was apparently quite rare for them to come and it was the first time for any of my campanions to see the royal family in person so they were pretty excited. They even waved and smiled in my general westwardly direction. I felt like they really cared about me, as a person ... or maybe just my salt flavored ice cream sandwich ... or maybe the other 10,000 people in the vicinity of where our box was.

Speaking of that ice cream, which isn`t as bad or as salty as it sounds, it was that item that convinced me that I am indeed a recognizable celebrity in this country. Well, at least one family recognized me. After campaigning for a week or so trying to tell everyone I know that I would be on TV during the sumo tournament so they better watch (despite the fact that I knew quite well that the odds of being on TV were very slim since the guy who owned the box specifically didn`t want one that would be on TV - still think he was only a soccer coach?) , it turns out that my friend that lives near Yokohama spotted me at least three times. I didn`t believe her so I asked what I was wearing. She said I was wearing a blue shirt and eating ice cream. Amazing! The truth is that my shirt was sky blue and she didn`t specify the flavour of ice cream, but I figured it was close enough. So, yeah, pretty much everyone in Japan recongizes me. Ok, almost everyone. Actually, the truth is that 90% of the people I ask don`t like sumo and the only people it seems that do are the senior citizens. So, it is a good thing that over 20% of the population in over the age of 65 now isn`t it? Haha, I win!

Ok, now there are a couple more things in the title of this entry that you may be wondering about. Well, our next stop was a really expensive Chinese restaurant in a really expensive district of Tokyo. They all ordered beer or cocktails and told me to get whatever I wanted, so naturally, I ordered a glass of the house wine. It turned out to be $25 ... for a glass! Next up was the Shark Fin Soup. It was actually pretty good, but I think it had more to do with sauce. It was also surprisingly large at about the same size as my hand. Couldn`t help feel a bit bad for the shark though. Sorry about that. Oh, and just before that we had jellyfish. It was fantastic...ally bad. Really not much flavour and the texture was like a rubber band. The difference being that a rubber band has better flavour. Anyway, another exotic first to check of the list. Finally the really bizarre one - swallow`s nest soup. I was a bit scared about this because I watched a cooking show once where the host traveled around the world and tasted all of the really strange things other cultures considered delicacies (sheep`s eyes, guinea pigs, anything else you might see on Fear Factor). The show had a time lapse video of how the host slept and he got up and went to the bathroom no less than 30 times. So yeah, wasn`t really looking forward to this one. Despite my fears and to my utter astonishment, it turned out to be pretty good. It is amazing what a good soup or sauce can do to even the strangest food, such as, um, well, a bird`s nest.

Other than that, I guess I do have another story, which I think has the potential to be as funny as a great knock-knock joke, so I think I will leave that until next time. I am also gearing up to do lots of traveling as Japan heads into it most beautiful time of the year. So there should be lots of colourful pics in the next while. Oh, and I have uploaded the clips from my helicopter ride. I didn`t send an email out about that so have a looksee at the last entry for more information.

One month on

2006-08-23T14:46:00.000+09:00

So, the past month has been busy, to say the least. After taking 6 trips back to my old town, covering over 1000kms and 15 hours of driving time, I finally completed my move into my new house at the beginning of the month. Actually, I had to make an additional trip later on, so you can add 120kms and 3 hours to those totals. So, now if only someone can tell me what to do with my 3 microwaves, 2 washing machines, 2 toaster ovens, 2 rice makers, 4 beds, a dozen futons, and the rest of my wares it would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway, as I have said repeatedly, my house is big - too big! I am dreading the day when I see my air conditioning bill or my heating bill in the winter, for that matter. I actually don`t pay rent, but my predecessor told me that those bills will more than make up for it. I live in the house alone, but I do have many uninvited guests, namely cockroaches. They are here and there so I simply set up a bunch of poison traps so I end up finding the suckers on their back, still twitching. I think I am going to have to start paying some of my students to put them in the garbage every time I find one. I hate cockroaches, but thankfully they aren`t the size of the man-eaters I saw in Australia.

Other than that, since school is out my work has mostly consisted of playing with the local 1-3 graders during their summer camp. In my downtime I just lick my wounds and complain to everyone that I keep getting beaten up by over-excited mobs of Japanese children. It is a lot of fun though.

For the second year running I went to one of the best and biggest fireworks displays in Japan. Seriously, they know how to do fireworks. The shows go for 2 hours and some 200-300,000 people turn up each night. There is a real festive atmosphere and it was a lot of fun again this year. I also visited Sado, an large island just of the coast, to see Kodo, Japan`s most famous Japanese drum team. Truly spectacular what they can do. For more info on both of these events see my blog entries from last August.

Oh, and speaking of festivals, my new town had one this past week. Since they are the richest town in Japan they get to do things that other Japanese towns don`t ... such as helicopter rides. yep, it only cost $10 for 10 minutes. I even got to fly it. Actually, I didn`t, but I imagined I did and that is basically the same. Anyway, it was so cool and felt like we were in the movies. The chopper soared up, turned on its side, nosed-dived, and then flew just above the trees and down along the river. I will post the videos on you-tube.

I have also been visiting my old high school once a week. I really miss them, although I am kind of glad not to be there in summer because there is no air conditioning and too say that it feels like you are living in Hell`s attic might fit the bill. Maybe a little steamier (more steamy?).

Anyway, school starts next Friday (Sept.1) so I need to plan my speech (Japanese, of course). I am going to be so much busier this year as it appears I teach 20 classes a week (plus 2 more as a volunteer at my old high school), rather than 12 when I was teaching at the high school last year. Nevertheless, I have lots of traveling planned. First up is two visits to Tokyo to see Sumo, one of which will see me seated in a private box at ringside. Look for me on TV if you happen to get the Sumo channel. Later on I have a bunch of weekend trips around Japan planned and maybe a trip to China. Finally, I think I`ll be back in Canada around Christmas for a consultation with a knee surgeon.

So, I think you are up to date. This has been a thoroughly fascinating entry into the life of Dean blog, so I hope you are still awake. This entry has been brought to you by the letter W, the number 3, and the deep thought, "A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. "Hear that?" you say. "That's dynamite, baby." Randomness at its best, don`t you think?

Oh, by the way, I do have some interesting news, but don`t really feel like puting it on the blog. Send me an email if you want to find out. And no, I am not pregnant.

My Children Will Glow

2006-07-26T13:56:00.000+09:00

Ok everybody, here is what you have all been waiting for ... my new address, of course! So, you can send all of your donations to The Dean Foundation at 新潟県刈羽郡刈羽村大字刈羽 1411-9. Good luck with that.

Anyway, today was my second day at my new job and I am trying not to fall asleep. You see, here is how things have progressed to this point. On second thought, its really not that interesting so I won`t get into it. Basically, I have had no time to move from my previous job to my new one so I am all over the place at the moment. Within the next week, however, I should be settled in my new town of Kariwa, which also happens to be home to the world`s largest nuclear powerplant. Personally, I`d prefer if it were famous for a waterslide than a nuclear powerplant, but I guess that is better than if it was famous for being home to the world`s largest stockpile of sulphur, because that would be unpleasant. I could also be in Edmonton so I will just count my blessings.

As I was saying, today was my second day, but it was my first day to meet some of the elementary students that I will be teaching. Not sure exactly where they pick this habit up, but they sure do like touching foreigner`s private parts. Oh, and my particular favorite requires some participation. Put your palms together and lock your fingers, leaving only your thumbs and forefingers pointed. At this point you should be able to successfully stick up and bank where all the employees are complete idiots because you hands should look like a gun. Ok, now I want you to go find someone that is standing up. Did you find someone? Ok, good. Now, sneak up behind them and try to poke them in the anus. Now wasn`t that fun for everyone? Seriously, who starts this stuff? I mean, this is a pasttime for every kid in the country. Why can`t they just pick their nose or something? Wait, they do that too. But in all honesty, it was a lot of fun to play with the kids. I am sure I will enjoy my new role (junior high 3 days a week; elementary 1 day a week; kindergarten 2 days a month), but I still miss high school. Oh, I should probably say that I would prefer that I am not named as a co-defendent in any sexual harassment lawsuits that are brought against you in the unlikely event that someone didn`t appreciate the finger-up-the-butt-poke.

Other than that, well, as I said before, there is lots going on, but it is not particularly newsworthy so I will spare you. School is now out until September so aside from a few festivals and amazing fireworks shows I don`t think I will be getting up to too much. I`ll try get some picks of my new, massive house that I pay no rent on and live in by myself as soon as possible, as well as some videos. Now that I mention it, I had a teacher record my farewell speech during the summer closing ceremony at my high school so you might find that interesting - Dean speaking in very poor Japanese!

Finally, I just realized that you can send me any donations to the address I listed because I didn`t tell you the postal code. That, and the fact that most of your computers can`t read Japanese characters so it probably just looks like a jumble of weird symbols anyway. So, here is the actual address that you should be able to read.

945-0307 (postal code, not the phone number)
Niigata-ken
Kariwa-gun
Kariwa-mura
Ooaza Kariwa 1411-9

More bits and pieces

2006-07-02T21:01:00.000+09:00

Ok, so other than that watching world cup and ranting about it, what else have I been up to. Well, did some more bumming around Tokyo, which is always cool. However, as astonishingly vast as it is, I have seen a lot of it and am now trying to find more of the "Of the beaten bath" type of spots. So, the picture you see is that of the Tokyo Internation Forum. I think it is an exhibition grounds and the architecture is absolutely breathtaking. At times I think that maybe, just maybe the beauty of some of the buildings in Tokyo makes up for the overwhelming dearth concrete and powerlines in everywhere but the major centres of the largest cities, but then I say that no, it does not even come close to compensating. There are some pretty buildings though.

I have also begun the countdown to the big move. At the end of July my contract finishes with my high school and from August I will be moving on to the greener pastures of the town that is basically owned by the world's largest nuclear powerplant. The pastures are pretty green where I am at so it is tough to see how it could get better, but I did go and visit my new place just the other day and well, at least the house is better. I am now in an apartment that while small, is still cozy and I am glad to call it home. My new place is a full-on house, complete with everything and is pretty nice. I'll send pics next month. I will also be teaching junior high, elementary, and yes, even kindergarten and I am absolutely petrified. I have some pretty big shoes to fill also, so hopefully I'll rise to the ocassion. I love my job right now and I am going to miss it, but I also look forward to new opportunities so we'll see how it goes. Still, kindergarten?!?!

Bits and Pieces

2006-07-02T16:52:00.000+09:00

The main purpose of this entry is to get you up to speed on the past couple of months. Naturally, it will be all over the place.

I suppose the most important thing that has happened is that I became an uncle for the second time in 6 months. I went back to Calgary from June 9-16th, hoping to time it right for the birth of my brother Devon and his wife Erin's first child. I think Erin's due date was June 7th give or take a day so I didn't think it would be a problem seeing the baby. Well, as it turned out, the baby was 12 days overdue and arrived the day I got back in Tokyo. Come on! What are the odds of that? I suppose I was lucky in January when Janna had her baby because she was about 10 days or so early and the baby popped out the day before I returned to Japan, so I guess you can't win 'em all. Anyway, I am now the proud uncle of Rhys (Reece) Darin Kirkness. I think that is spelled correctly.

Obviously, I haven't met the lad yet, but I predict he will be a great General one day because he is destined to be a master in the art of war. You see, his father is a true and loyal fan of the Calgary Flames hockey team, while his mother is a misguided, yet sincere follower of the Flames' most bitter and hated rival, the Edmonton Oilers. So, the battles are sure to be heated in this household. Will Rhys follow all that is noble and good in the Calgary Flames or will he fall under the influence of the dark side, the Oilers. This, my friends, is a spiritual battle so please pray that Rhys will see the light - and that the Flames will continue to dominate the Oilers. One other thing worth noting is that Rhys will be growing up in the Oilers' stronghold of Innisfail, Alberta. This doesn't help the Flames' cause, but at least he should be a decent golfer and wakeboarder.

Now, while we are on the subject of sports, I must rant about the recent World Cup. For the most part, the football has been really exciting and great entertainment, but there has been one notable exception - England. Last night I watched soccer from midnight until 6 am only to witness not one, but two of my top teams get knocked out of the tournament. First, on paper, England has easily got one of the most talented lineups. Why they can't score is beyond me, but I lay a large share of the blame on Sven-Goran Erikson's head. When you have a team good and are the highest paid coach in you profession (over $10 million CDN per year) you should be winning and winning impressively on a regular basis. England only has themselves to blame and it looks like they are eager to repeat this performance next time around, as they have named Steve McClaren as the incumbent manager. Granted, he is a good coach, but not a manager skilled enough to produce success at this level. They need to stop taking shortcuts and just high someone with a proven record on the world stage (ie. Scolari or Hiddink). Sometimes I just wish I wasn't so darn loyal. England have the players to win in 2010, but this was as good a chance as any. Oh, I suppose the only positive I took from England's performance was that of Canadian (and Calgarian, I might add) Owen Hargreaves' performances, particularly in the Portugal game. The man was a machine in the midfield and was indisputably England's best player for that game. He was also the only "Englishman" to score in the penalty shootout. Speaking of which, for all those teams out there who will play England in the future, the key to beating them is just to get the game to penalties because England will always, always choke.

As for Brazil, well, they are the perennial favorites anyway and are a virtual factory in producing world class players. I am sad they lost, but not angry like I am with England. Besides, I am a big fan of Zidane and his recent performances have been virtuoso and show that he still has what made him the best player in the world a few years back. If you want to see a complete footballer then he is your man. Absolutely brilliant stuff. Anyway, he is retiring at the end of the tournament so every victory for France prolongs his career by one game. While I would almost never cheer for France under normal circumstances, Zidane makes them the sentimental favorite. Nevertheless, I think Germany is going to win because they are playing at home. I can't stand any of their players, but I like their coach Klinsmann because he is enthusiastic about the game and tries new things. He also really seems to care for his players and I respect him ... but I still want them to lose. Forze Italia (although they usually choke)!

Okinawa

2006-05-16T15:22:00.000+09:00

So, recently I went to Okinawa for a nice little vacation. I spent 7 days in Okinawa and had a weekend on either end to enjoy Tokyo, so it was a good time. Every year in Japan at the beginning of May is a holiday period affectionately known as Golden Week. With a name like that you know it has to be amazing. I mean, if it was called Brass Week or Bronze Week it just wouldn`t feel the same. Even if they tried to improve it by calling it Platinum Week most people wouldn`t be able to tell the difference if you told them it was Platinum Week, but in reality it was really White Gold Week or even Brushed Aluminum Week. Yep, the Japanese holiday makers have definitely got this figured out. In case you were wondering, Golden Week is basically a bunch of consecutive national holidays within a 7-day period. These holidays are the Constitution Memorial Day, Children`s Day, Green Day, and another holiday called "National Holiday." I like the creativity on the last one`s name. Oh, about Green Day, everyone has to listen to each Green Day album twice within a 24-hour period because they are really popular these days. At least I think that is what happens, but what do I know. I did hear a rumour that next year there will be no Green Day, but instead it will be replaced by the name of an even more popular Japanese band called Bump of Chicken. You read that correctly ... Bump of Chicken. Personally, I think they should have gone with Chicken Blister, but then that would have been silly, don`t you think. Yeah, one of the things I have noticed about Japan is that the more random an English name you can think of for your band, the more success you will have. Some other examples of popular acts here are "Orange Range", "OOIOO", "Seagull Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her", and "Mr. Children." Mr. Children is actually not so bad, but I still hope he is being investigated for, shall we say, unseemly activites.

So, about my Okinawa trip, well, as I said, it was good. Okinawa is basically Japan`s version of Hawaii, although if you have ever been to Honolulu you may feel that Honolulu is Japan`s version of Hawaii. There are actually stores there that are solely for Japanese customers. Souvenirs are big, big business in this country so I am sure they are doing very well catering to the Japanese client in Honolulu. I digress. Okinawa is also famous as being the site of the last battle of WWII. This was a brutal battle and deeply affected the Okinawan people. The Okinawan people (as well as the Japanese people as a whole) had been brainwashed into thinking that the Allies, particularly the Americans, were monsters who killed babies and raped women. Running low on manpower, the Japanese military recruited the Okinawan people to help fight in the battle, women and children included. They were massacred and many committed suicide rather that falling into the hands of the supposedly barbaric Americans. Aside from this, Okinawa (aka Ryukyu Islands) is in a crossroads between Korea, Japan, and China and their ownership has long been disputed between these regional rivals. When Japan gained control over them in the late 1800s (I think) they quickly applied a policy of assimilation in an effort to erase the cultural ties of the native Ryukyu people. This policy was affective in many ways, although the Ryukyuans have managed to hold on to many of their traditions. Unfortunately, this is not as evident in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, where the Ainu, the indigenous inhabitants, have nearly lost all of their culture and langauge. Their ties to their past are nearly completely severed and are only holding on by a few small threads. Another tragedy.

Anyway, Okinawa`s militaristic character is still strongly evident as 30,000 Americans soldiers occupy approximately 20% of the land. Fortunately, there are several very good museums that are must-sees on any trip to Okinawa. One is the Underground Naval Headquarters of the Japanese during the war. This is a series of tunnels where thousands of soldiers and commanders lived and carried out the war. It was a secret from the Americans until right near the end. Tragically, over 4000 Japanese soldiers killed themselves by seppuku (ritual disembowelment) or by hand granade rather than being caught alive by the Americans. It was a pretty sombre tour, but an important one. The other museum we visited was the Peace Memorial Park. This one does a very good job documenting the buildup of the war, the major Battles in Okinawa, and the hardships faced by the Okinawan people in the war years and the in the post-war years during the American occupation that lasted until the 1970s. Okinawa wasn`t officially handed back to Japanese control until 1972, I believe. While the museums were very good, they still fail to effectively acknowledge Japan`s atrocities and wrongdoings, which the Japanese public largely remain ignorant of.

Oh, I have to tell you about one of our taxi drivers. He actually makes an appearance in my photo blog if you want to have a look. Anyway, he picked us up in town and took us to the Underground Naval Headquarters about 10 minutes away. He told us he`d wait for us there and that we only needed 30-40 minutes to see the entire museum. We told him we couldn`t pay for him to wait for us, but he said he wouldn`t charge. At least that is what we thought he said because he could only speak Japanese and, well, our Japanese is limited, at best. Anyway, we spent our 40 minutes in the museum and when we came out, sure enough, he was right there waiting for us, no charge. Next, he drove us to Okinawa World, which is a giant complex that contains the second longest cave in Japan, a snake museum, and a bunch of traditional Okinawa handicraft exhibits and shops, including glass making. He said we needed 2.5 to 3 hours to see everything. He also said he would wait for us. Now, 30-40 minutes I can understand, but 3 hourswith no charge? The guy had to be nuts. I asked him what he was going to do to kill time and he said he would have cola and coffee (that`s two drinks, not one) with his taxi driving buddies. At this point I glanced to my left and saw a dozen or more cabs waiting next to us. Next, he took us right down to the entrance and got us special English-only maps from the main office and then offered to take pictures for us. The guy went so far out of his way for us I thought he would get lost. Anyway, 3 hours later we came out and there he was. He`d had a nice refreshment and chat with his buddies and was ready to take us back to town. He dropped us of at the giant treehouse restaurant that serves better food to people who can read Japanese than to people that can only read English (the Japanese menu had way more items and better ones at that). All told, the driver was with us for 5 hours and the total charge was maybe $60, but that is a high-end estimate. Tips aren`t expected in Japan (often they are refused), but we insisted he take something. It wasn`t a lot (maybe $5 total), but he definitely earned every bit. Seriously though, I have no idea how the taxi drivers get paid in Okinawa, but something seems a bit off.

As you might expect, I was able to spend some time on the beach, though not as much as I would have liked. The weather didn`t cooperate for a couple of days, which, oddly enough, happened to be the days that we camped on one of the nearby islands, Zamami. We had to postpone and then cancel a sea kayaking/snorkeling day because of the weather, so that was a bit of a bummer. Guess you can`t complain if you are only spending $3 a night on accomodations. Nevertheless, I was able to enjoy the azure beauty of the sea, which might be the most beautiful I have ever seen. We went snorkeling a couple of times, but the reefs were pretty brown and don`t hold a candle to the vibrant and brilliantly coloured reefs of Maui, my paradise. They were ok though.

In our final two days we rented a car and drove 80 kms up to coast to a town that is home to the world`s second largest aquarium. The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium has a tank that that has a capacity of 10,000 gallons. That probably means as little to you as it does to me, but to give you an idea of how big that is, there is enough room for 3 whale sharks (the world`s largest fish), 4 manta rays, and about 30 different species of other fish and rays. There are over 5,000 individual fish in the tank. I am actually pulling most of those numbers out of nowhere, but the point is that it is big. I took lots of nice pictures there and was going to tell you that they were from scuba diving (I was careful not to get any walls, reflections, or other people in the pictures), but I suppose your reward for reading this far is knowing that I am not a daring underwater adventurer/photographer, because I am sure that is what you were thinking. We also stopped by Pineapple Park, which featured a short drive through a pineapple plantation by way of a driverless, pineapple-shaped golf cart, which was accompanied by an audio track explaining eveything we were seeing (fascinating stuff such as there being over 1000 varieties of pineapple). Most people get the commentary in Japanese, but since we don`t speak it, they switched the track on the on-board minidisc player to the English track. It was done by an American girl who couldn`t really pronounce a single Japanese word properly, but she did great with the English words. After the pineapple go-cart, we went in and sampled a variety of different pineapple wines, pineapples, and pineapple-flavoured sweets. I had such high expecations for the place because for some inexplicable reason they thought Pineapple Park should be a giant Bavaria-style castle, but I must say that I was a little disappointed. Maybe I will skip it next time I go back. Besides, I hear there is a great Cucumber Kingdom theme park nearby. Finally, we also visited Nagakusuku Castle ruins, Nakamura House (a traditional Ryukyu-style house), and Shuri Castle.

In my short time in Okinawa I was able to draw some important conclusions. First, that the Okinawan people are much more friendly and open than people on the Japanese mainland. This is not to say that the Japanese are not friendly, but Okinawans have a little more of a Pacific Islander`s mindset, which includes brilliant hospitality and very little emphasis on punctuality. I was constantly trying to decide if Okinawans should be classified as Japanese or Islanders, but I couldn`t settle it. The ubiquitous Hawaiian shirts just may tip the scale toward the islanders. Second, that I still prefer Maui. Okinawa is gorgeous, but it gets bloody hot in the summer and also is plagued with some of the same maladies as the mainland. Namely, powerlines and haze dominating the skyline. There were very few clouds in the sky for most of our stay, but the humidity causes a haze so that there is almost never a crystal blue sky. Have a look at my pictures from Shuri Castle as evidence of this. There wasn`t a cloud in the sky, but it still appears white in the photos because of the haze. Too bad, I say. Still, Hawaii in general is more epic and has a much higher frequency of breathtaking vistas. Finally, coconut beer is really good. I am not a beer fan, but coconut beer may be the best I have ever had. It is basically just beer laced with coconut flavour. Who would have thought? Anyway, Kampai (cheers) to a great Golden Week.

Land of Contradictions

2006-05-09T14:42:00.000+09:00

The past month I have witnessed the most dramatic changing of seasons of my life. Spring in Japan is anually carried in on the winds that strip the cherry trees of their astonishingly beautiful blossoms. Beginning in late January in the far southern islands of the Japanese archipelago and culminating in late May in Hokkaido, the blossoms are a signal to the Japanese that Spring has arrived. Each year, families and colleagues alike gather under the shade of the sakura tree for hanami (flower viewing) parties. It is a truly festive atmosphere and a lot of fun, but the cherry blossoms themselves very much stand alone as the stars. I don`t think I know of anything that so easily lends itself to poetry. Every blossoming tree I saw captured and held my attention. It is truly spectacular. I am glad spring is here, but unfortunately, it won`t last long and I will soon be at the mercy of the Japanese summer. Oddly enough, we still have some snow on the ground (try and remember how much there was to begin with).

You might get the impression that Japan is the most beautiful country on earth. Indeed, the sub-tropical islands of Okinawa are stunning and the wilds of Hokkaido are not unlike the mountains of British Columbia, while the charm and cultural wealth of cities like Kyoto are immensely enjoyable. All things being equal, I am confident that Japan could give any place on earth a run as the most beautiful country on earth. Having said that, Japan may very well be the ugliest place I have ever been and is most certainly the ugliest place I have ever lived. The problem is that Japan has destroyed itself.

Blessed with remarkable natural beauty, the landscapes of 150 years past must have been breathtaking. Since then, however, this land has undergone constant transformation and those that were responsible for planning clearly never had time to step back and look at what was truly happening. Sure, Japan embraced the modern age and metamorphosed from an archaic, backwater nation into the second largest economy in the world (China will overtake them any day now), but what has been the price?

The countryside is at times more concrete than coniferous and even the conifers are ones that have been planted by man in neat rows and have supplanted much of the natural vegetation. The hillsides are covered in fences, rails, retaining walls, and the bane of everyone who has ever taken a picture in Japan - powerlines. In fact, Japan is the only industrialized nation that does not bury its powerlines and consequently, the are completely ubiquitous on the Japanese skyline. Many films that are set in Japan are actually filmed in countries like New Zealand because it is nearly impossible to find a panorama that is free of powerlines, particularly on the mountain ridges, where it can be seen from everywhere. Other countries will at least put the powerline below the ridgeline or paint them green to reduce their visibility, but not Japan. One of the most shocking statistics I have ever seen is one that was published in 1991, so it may have changed since then (not for the better, I imagine). The statistic is that of the 30,000 rivers and streams that there are in Japan, only 3 of them are not damned. That is not to say that they are completely unincumbered by concrete irrigation walls because no river in Japan is immune to this, but only 3 do not have a damn. That is .01%. That is shocking!

Now, I am not one to go on a big environmentalist rant because I do not consider myself an environmentalist, but as someone who loves the beauty of nature I had to say something about it. Before I came to Japan I had the impression that many of you do. That is, that Japan looks like it does in the pictures - peaceful, natural, and beautiful (and usually covered in a plush carpet of moss). Well, there are a couple places like that, but I imagine it is also less than 0.01%. Unfortunately, I think I have perpetuated this myth with my photographs. I take great care with which photos I choose to post on my photo site and I must admit that it is not in the least an honest reflection of what Japan really looks like. I have learned to live amidst pretty ugly surroundings (even though I am in an area generally considered to be quite beautiful) and this is how I choose to represent Japan to you. I guess it is a cup half full mentality, but I try to only allow myself to see the beautiful things.

One other thing I would like to address before I am finished is Japanese architecture. When I first came to Japan for the World Cup in 2002 I was witness to what seemed like an endless number of attractive and innovative buildings. Granted, I was in Tokyo and saw only the best of what Japan had to offer, but I left with a great impression of Japanese architecture. When I came here last year it took me about 5 minutes before I realized that all was not as it appeared. Japanese residential architecture can best be described as functional hideousness, although I am not yet convinced of its functionality (please see the January blog entry about my toilet freezing solid). The traditional wooden buildings that you have seen in the movies are virtually nonexistent. These buildings had a habit of burning down (funny how wood does that) or being torn down, in favour of cheaper, yet monstrously ugly housing complexes. There is rust everywhere. There is concrete everywhere. Everything looks and feels like a rusty, concrete, institutional building.

In the senses I have described above, I am deeply saddening by what this country has become. It is a true shame. It is easy for me to say these things, but I do understand some of the reasons behind Japan`s current appearance. First, they industrialized much more rapidly than did Europe or North America and needed to take some shortcuts in order to catch up. Second, Japan is a land frought with many natural disasters, including flooding, so measures to control nature are inevitable. Third, Japan is not blessed with the natural resources that we take for granted so it has done what it can to get energy from the land. So, I understand, at least a little. Nevertheless, I have little hope that it can or will change for the better.

On another more disturbing note, there is a growing undercurrent of racism and discrimination. A comic book that discriminates against Koreans sold over 300,000 copies last year and this is just one example. The recent Prime Ministers have gone on anual pilgrimages to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which enshrines Japanese war dead since 1850 (I think), but its most infamous dead are the convicted war criminals who are also enshrined there. It is extremely controversial here in Japan and despite the fact that between 70-80% of the Japanese public disapprove of these visits, the PMs still go. This single issue has ground Japan`s relations with its neighbours to a halt (particularly with China). Personally, I am thinking that you don`t want to be pissing China off. The Asian concept of saving face is a big factor and pride is also, although the two concepts are most definitely not mutually exclusive. Japan needs to show its neighbours that it is still a power and doesn`t have to bow to anyone else`s wishes. Sounds pretty childish if you ask me. I don`t like where things are headed.

Having said that, I have been greeted with almost universal kindness since my arrival over 9 months ago and haven`t even seen a hint of the bigotry that I just discussed. It is here is this country somewhere, but I am just thankful that I have not see it here in my corner of Japan. In fact, what gives me hope in the future of this country is its people. My students fill me with joy everyday and I don`t need to be away for long before I begin to miss them. My colleagues are among the best I have ever worked with, depsite the language barrier and cultural differences. My Japanese friends are fantastic and everyone exudes warmth. Perhaps my situation is unique. I think it may be to some degree, but at least it has given me some hope in Japan`s future.

Victory

2006-04-03T22:28:00.001+09:00

So, its been far too long since my last post, but I noticed that I apologize too often for only posting periodically, so this time I will just thank you for your patience. So, thank you for your patience. Sometimes I have things to say, but then I realize that I don't have any good pictures to support my ramblings (ramblings need pictorial support - just ask mother goose).

So, what have I been up to in the past 7 weeks since finding out that my job has been terminated and that I am being forced to move to a town that is home to the largest nuclear powerplant in the world. Well, aside from accepting that my children will probably have three eyes and only one ear, I did learn that I have a pretty darn cushy setup next year. I'll be moving into my own house, which has 6 rooms or something stupid like that and a couple of bathrooms. Oh, and all the rooms are nice, unlike my current apartment (although I am not necessarilty complaining about my current setup). The house is really for a family, so I may try to adopt one that will move in with me, but then they'd have to live with me hanging up sweaty hockey equipment, so it probably wouldn't work out. My predecessor (the guy who lives there now and will be leaving at the beginning of August when I replace him) says that this is the wealthiest town in all of Japan. Because of the powerplant, the government just pours money into the town. It is actually completely surrounded by another municipality, but it refuses to be assimilated because that means it would have to share the wealth. The best news is that they buy a new, fancy appliance every year. Last year was a giant fridge and speculation has it that this year will be a new TV. Its not needed, but they need to buy an appliance and they already have one of everything else so I guess they are thinking they might as well buy a new TV. Do you think they'd consider a car an appliance? Oh, did I mention that this house is rent free. These are all things that help soothe the bitterness I have about having to move.

And then I found out that next year there will in fact be a position at my current school after all. Ok, let me explain. I am in Japan with the JET programme. This means I was hired by the government and get paid a lot for an extremely rewarding job with pretty good benefits, lots of vacation time, and great working conditions. There are 40 high school ALT positions now, but that has been cut to 10 for next year (from August onward). I have been shifted to junior high, as well as a day per week at elementary and a day per week at nursery school. I can live with that. But the thing that bugs me is that after I was told that my position was not available for next year and I signed a contract for another school (thereby committing myself), the local government decides that they will create 13 new positions (to cover for the 30 that were cut), but that these positions will be 'private' positions and not JET programme positions. This means the government will save money because we JETs don't come cheap. Having said that, if I was offered this private position, albeit at a reduced salary of around 20% less, I would still have chosen this over the setup I will have next year, as nice as that will be. This is my home in Japan and these are my students. It is a bit frustrating to now know that there will actually be a position there. This is a perfect example of Japan's infamous bureaucracy. The inefficiency has caused so many problems and saved a lot less money than it could have otherwise. For the record, Japan is very efficient at making cars, but making decisions ... not so much.

Ok, moving on. Spring is officially here in Japan and it has reminded my about one of the things I really appreciate about this country - the changing of the seasons. All of the seasons here are really distinct. Fall is colouful and the weather is great. Winter is an adventure and not too cold to really bother you too much. Spring is green and opens along with the stunning blossoms of the cherry trees. Summer is just disgusting and they should get rid of it.

Anyway, this has motivated me to go to a couple of famous spots over the next couple of weekends to see the cherry blossoms (see the above picture). It is a really big deal here and they even have a cherry blossoms forecast that people follow religiously. There is a whole dimension to Japanese culture that is devoted to cherry blossoms and cherry blossom viewing parties so I figure I need to take it in while I can. Once they blossom they only last about a week. So, I should get some good pics out of it.

In other news, the prefectural (provincial) hockey team I play for just one the regional championship. I guess it would be the equivalent of winning a Western Canada championship. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I think it is the first time we have ever won this championship so it feels pretty good. The final game was pretty wild too, as there were five or six lead changes, most of which came in the last period, but we pulled out a 9-7 win over the perennial favorite, Nagano. I wish I could say that this Canadian was the main reason we won, but it just wouldn't be true. I contributed (one of my goals was a particularly nice bank shot off the goalie from behind the net, of which I am particularly proud), but there are a couple of seriously talented Japanese lads on this team that we couldn't have won without. There is also a good guy from Regina who had a brilliant final shift to score the winner and an empty-netter to seal the victory in the final couple of minutes.

Oh, about the Naked Man Festival I mentioned in the last entry, well, as I said before, they weren't naked ... thankfully. It was interesting and involved a lot of sake (alcohol, that is), but I have no idea what was actually going on. I usually never do, but I am fairly certain that no one else knows what is going on either. People go for the food, the entertainment, and for the morbid curiosity of the spectacle (although no one dies, so it wouldn't really be morbid, now would it?).

Anyway, to be honest, this is kind of a filler post. The pictures at the top aren't actually mine. I will be visiting the same spots this weekend though so hopefully I get similar weather. That is your reward for actually reading the entire post. Everyone who just comes for the pics will just think I am a brilliant photographer, when indeed I am a fraud. Mind you, the rest of the pictures on my blog are mine, I just didn't have any ready this time around. Actually, I probably do, but don't really feeling like sorting through them all right now.

Ok, its bed-time for Dean, but I want to remind you to keep your head up and keep your stick on the ice. Go FLAMES !!!

I Lost My Job

2006-02-15T20:37:00.000+09:00

So, its been about a month since my last update and, as you can tell from the title, a lot has happened. However, you will have to read on to see how I lost my job. Maybe I will hide those details somewhere in the middle just to annoy the people who skip right to the end to see if the details are there.

Alright, well, what else have I been up to. After coming back to the shock of not only the most snow of anywhere in the world as well as completely frozen pipes and toilet to boot (which has subsequently happened a second time), I have managed to have a few adventures along the way.

On the weekend of January 20-22 I travelled back to Tokyo to meet a friend of a friend that I had been chatting to on msn, but had never actually met. Turns out, she is a lovely girl and her and her family were very gracious to let me stay at their place near Yokohama. It really is nice having a local to hang out with, especially around a crazy city like Tokyo. Anyway, the main purpose of my visit was to see a Sumo tournament. These are only held 6 times a year in Japan, only 3 of which are in Tokyo. I had been watching some of the past tournaments (which last for 15 days, by the way) and actually found it quite fascinating. Naturally, I was excited to see 300+ pound men wearing essentially nothing but diapers (and a lovely hairpin) give each other weggies and try and knock each other over. Sounds like something the boys back home might do to my good friend Curtis (make sure you get it on video if you do). Anyway, the sumo spectacle was a blast and I am hoping to get back to see another in May. I was comtemplating becoming a sumo because it turns out I had eaten a little too much when I was home for Christmas and I figured I could easily pack on some more pounds if I needed to. Then I found out that these guys are actually amazing athletes who can lift cars, do the splits, have to wake up really early in the morning, and only get one meal a day (albeit a very, very big one). So, maybe I`ll try badminton instead.

Speaking of sports, I have actually joined a hockey club in a nearby city (nearby being 90 minutes drive each way). Anyway, I am by far the best white player on the team (you don`t need to know how many white guys are on the team). In fact, I am probably one of the top two caucasian players in the entire prefecture (province). Actually, the skill levels vary quite widely. There are a couple of guys around my age who actually started playing hockey before I did. They are definitely better than I am now. Maybe in my prime I would have given them a run for their money, but definitely not now. The thing I got, however, is instinct and that is something you just can`t teach. Anyway, the big tournament is this weekend and while I am pretty sure we will get slaughtered (I practiced with the top team in the prefecture and, let`s just say, they are better), I think we will finish top 5 (again, number of teams irrelevant). I am having fun with it, but you know what the best part about sports in Japan is ... the trainers. Every sports team (yes, even the badminton team, lawn bowling team, and speed-walking team) have trainers who basically are your slaves. They are usually really sweet girls so I feel a little bad about it, but that doesn`t mean I won`t take advantage of it while I am here. Besides, a guy needs a clean towel and a massage between every shift. And don`t forget about the mineral water chilled to 3 degrees and having my skates polished at least once a period. I don`t know how I will ever go back to the real world.

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago I went to Nagano, which isn`t actually that far from here. It about a 3.5 hour drive to get to our hostel, but an avalanche bumped that up to 6.5 hours. Man, that sucked. The hostel was pretty amazing though. Brand new and run by the same people I stayed with in Kyoto. I`ll recommend them when you come visit. Anyway, we went snowboarding on one of the hills that held many of the Olympic events from Nagano`98. It was a bleedin` waste of time and money. The weather was fine and all, but I have never seen so many people on a ski hill in my life. The whole thing becomes an obstacle course and all you can think of is avoiding everyone else. This is made all the more difficult by the phenomenon I have observed in Japan whereby it appears everyone else is trying to hit you (this applies on the roads particularly parking lots, as well as on ski hills). Nevertheless, Nagano (the prefecture) was not a complete waste. The next day we traveled 50 kms south to the castle town of Matsumoto. The strangest thing was that there was not a trace of snow to be found. We were less than 50kms from an area with maybe 3 meters of snow, yet here there was absolutely none. Odd. Anyway, this was my first experience with a Japanese castle and I loved it. Simple, elegant, beautiful. I actually wanted to see this in the winter because it is a black castle. I figured that it would contrast well against the snow, but since there was none, well, it didn`t contrast against the snow. It was a gorgeous day, however, so I got some nice pics. The inside of the castle was cool, too, but I don`t want to write anymore right now.

However, since I haven`t finished my story, I guess I have to write some more. The next stop was the famous snow monkey onsen. This is where Japanese Macaques hang out in this one very specific national park and just enjoy the hotsprings (onsen). It was pretty neat and there were virtually only a handful of other tourists. I am finding that unless it is man-made the Japanese generally avoid the place. Strange and sad at the same time, methinks. So, we were in a bit of a hurry so we only spend about an hour taking pictures and vids of the monkeys enjoying themselves, completely oblivious to our presence. They totally don`t pay any attention to you, but you aren`t supposed to touch them. I don`t know what would happen if you did, but they seem to have pretty bad tempers so I think they would probably eat you. There was snow on the ground and the monkeys were busy eating snowballs, but my guess is that there were lots of bones under the snow and the snow tasted like people. I didn`t try it and I am not a macaqueologist, but this is my best guess. Why else would they tell you not to touch the monkeys?

Oh, and the other thing I went to was the fire festival in a town in northern Nagano. It was interesting because there was a big fire, but it wasn`t too much different than the summer festivals. Both seasons see men, who get absolutely hammered on sake and beer, find ways of beating each other up in the name of a festival. They wouldn`t remember who did what to who anyway so you might as well get a couple of good shots in.

Oh, now about that little detail about losing my job. I didn`t lose it, per se. I know exactly where it has gone. In October 2004, my prefecture was the victim of a pretty bad earthquake. The epicentre was pretty close by and lots of people died or were injured (though not as many as were killed or injured by the crazy snow, which killed 80 or so in January). Anyway, last year the prefecture threatened to cut many of the Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) positions and they probably would have, but the federal government stepped in a bailed them out. So, everyone still had jobs (I wasn`t here to partake in that goodwill). This year, it appears the federal government doesn`t pity Niigata prefecture as much and since the prefectural government still has no money, well, something had to give. It turns out that "something" was the high school ALT positions. There are about 150-170 positions in this prefecture, 40 of which are high school positions. Well, next year there are only 10 positions and mine is one of the casualties.

I am actually pretty devastated that I have to leave, mainly because I have a bond with many of the students and teachers and come August, that will pretty much be severed and there is nothing I can do about it. I also think I have a pretty good set-up here and I think that I am very fortunate because not everyone has it as good as I do. Having said that, well, every cloud has a silver lining, I suppose. I have been offered a job as a municipal ALT in a town about 2 hours from here. It turns out that this town is pretty wealthy so my situation will improve in some ways. First, I get my own house, instead of just a small apartment with a tiny kitchen and a toilet that tends to freeze. It is also rent-free, if you can believe that. The thing is, this town is well of because there is an important energy-plant there that the government pumps lots of money into. It turns out that this energy plant is a nuclear powerplant and is no less than the largest of its kind in the world. I guess the good thing is that I will be closer to the ice hockey rink and larger urban centres. Nevertheless, I am pretty sure this is one of the ugliest cities on the planet so I am not really looking forward to that.

Anyway, this thing is long enough for now. The next update should feature highlights from the hockey tournament, the "second most famous" snow festival in Japan, as well as some sure to be fascinating stories and photos from the Naked Man Festival (don`t worry, its just oversized diapers again).

Absolutely Unbelievable

2006-01-17T14:53:00.000+09:00

First of all, I would like to congratulate myself on becoming an uncle again. My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Taiya (pronounced Teya) on January 8th, the day before I returned to Japan. Thanks for popping her out a few days early, sis.

Anyway, the snow level here in Japan before I left was about 2 meters. This was by far the most snow I had ever seen in my life so you can imagine how amazing it was for me to see over 4 meters of the stuff piled up by the time I returned. Perhaps, you didn`t hear me ... I said 4 METERS!!! That is almost 1.5 stories or the height of some street lamps. The build the road signs extra high here, but they are still not high enough. Does that mean that I have license to speed because I can`t see the speed limit signs ... or the stop signs, or yield signs, or even around any corners. Driving here is a bit like being in a waterslide. You can`t see around the corners or over the edge to your sides, it is extremely slippery, and you are pretty much powerless to go anywhere but where the ruts in the road choose to take you. In that sense, I suppose it is also a lot like those annoying, boring rides at cheap amusement parks that put you in a car, which is fixed on a track and you just do a big loop until you are back at the start. I mean, I can honk the horn and pretend like I am steering or braking, but it really is just for show. So that has been interesting.

Hmm, what else? Well, I suppose I could tell you about the time I returned to my apartment only to find all of the water therin completely frozen. I am sure you have guessed that I am refering to the plumbling. I should remind you that I am also refering to the toilet. Frozen solid as a block, it was. My first instinct was to melt snow over the stove, but that doesn`t work so well if your gas has also stopped working.

I had no solution to the gas problem, but I did have a remedy for the frozen plumbing. I have an entry way, which includes my kitchen and bathroom, and it can be sealed of from the rest of the apartment by a set of sliding doors. My plan was to put my kerosene heater in there and leave it on all night. I had previously left the heater on in the entire apartment for 24 hours, but this hadn`t worked, hence the more direct measure. Anyway, after turning the heater on at midnight and then quickly falling asleep I was satisfied my remedy would work. And work it did! I awoke at 4am to hear to sweet sound of dripping coming from my front room. I was so releaved to hear this and I nearly drifted back to sleep. Before I lost all touch with reality the thought occured to me that maybe I heard too much water dripping. So, I climbed out of bed and investigated. What I found was quite interesting. It turns out that my entire front entry, kitchen, and bathroom was under at least an inch of water. It was pretty funny. Thankfully, the electric rug that lies in that room soaked up a good bit of the water, but it took about 15 towels and innummerable rings of said towels to actually get the room to very moist, rather than water-logged. Oh, by the way, the electric rug wasn`t turned on at the time, otherwise I`d be dead.

How did this happen, you ask? Well, it turns out that when I said the plumbing was frozen I meant it. The drains were also frozen so there wasn`t a single drop getting out. Ah, the joys of living in a country with no central heating.

There was a pretty big buzz about the snow in these parts because we have been on the news all around the world (CNN, BBC, etc.). I am told it is the most snow in 70 years, but I think it is the most snow since 1945, when they had 7 meters of snow. I can`t even imagine that, but in reality we are not so far from getting there. January and February are the snowiest months in these parts.

In terms of more local news, well, a guy did fall off the roof at my school yesterday. That`s right, fell off the roof. To tell you the truth, I have been pretty tempted to jump off the third floor of my school recently, but that is only because there is so much snow you can`t imagine getting hurt by the fall. In fact, maybe I will test my theory on a few students. Maybe not. Anyway, the guy was ok and I guess he didn`t actually make it all the way to the ground. He was left dangling by a rope until the fire department came to the rescue. Pretty cool, actually, unless he got hurt. Then it just sucks.

Oh, as for what he was doing on the roof, well, he was shovelling snow, of course. You see, even though they have removed the snow periodically as it has piled up, we still had 2-3 meters of it on the roof. As I mentioned in the previous entry, this stuff is not really snow, but white cement. A cubic meter weighs about 300kgs (650 pounds) so it puts tremendous pressure on the buildings (I didn`t actually measure how much it weighs, but it sounds about right*). On the first floor they put 2x6 wooden boards up in front of the windows to reduce the pressure. When I first saw them putting them up I thought that it was a bit rediculous and excessive, but in reality, it is not enough. Many of the windows have cracked because the snow has pushed the boards in against the windows.

So, what is the good of all of this snow? Well, it does provide the region with amazingly pure water and this is why it produces the world`s best rice and best sake, which are what the region is famous for. It is perhaps more famous, however, for the skiing. There are 19 ski hills within a 20 minute drive of me and I got a pass to all of them for under $150 CDN. There are also dozens more within an hour, but I`d have to pay about $40-50 for those. Most of the hills also are lit up at night so I can go after work. Now that you mention it, I am actually going snowboarding today after work.

Things to look forward to are the sumo tournament I am going to watch this weekend and the weekend I will be spending in Nagano a couple weeks from now. I will also try and write a bit about the Fire Festival that saw extremely inebriated villagers beating each other with flaming torches and pine branches, whilst simultaneously trying to ignite a giant wooden statue/structure-thing on fire. Oh, and I forgot to talk about the interesting experience I had at a slightly more traditional hotspring. Check back often and have a look-see at the pictures.

* Seriously, I did read this somewhere

See the pictures

The Sky Is Falling

2005-12-12T14:45:00.000+09:00

Normally, I would say it is just plain silly to say something like "the sky is falling" because we all know that that could never happen. Sometimes people say this when it is snowing or raining really hard, but like I said, that`s just plain silly.

In my case, however, it is the only way to describe it. Some people around here say, "Ooh, it is snowing really hard, isn`t it?" I just give them a weird look like they are crazy because this stuff they call snow is obviously not. Nope, I know it as "white cement." It probably isn`t actually cement, per se, but my theory is that it is Elmer`s white glue mixed with a little bit of water and maybe some cornstarch.

It is so heavy that several people in my town were killed by stray "snowballs" that weren`t thrown by me (that`s my story and I`m sticking to it). Another time, I saw a few "snowflakes" land on the ground and they actually made craters (it was dark, but I think that is what happened). And another time I saw a snowplow pass by and it threw up a pile of "snow" and it burried and entire village. I am telling you, this stuff is heavy. It is no wonder that half of the old people around here are hunched over. In the summer they are working in the rice fields and in the winter they are trying to shovel this white cement. Half of the people here own bulldozers, I am pretty sure.

Anyway, it is nice driving around in my 4-wheel drive Toyota Echo. It is called a Vitz here and as a definite sign that I am not in Kansas anymore, it turns out that this car is actually considered cool (in some circles). Mine is red and is an RS version. It even has a red steering wheel and red-trimmed interior. Now, as for the all-road aspect of it, well, I don`t know about that. I will be completely ashamed if I ever get stuck or spin out here. A Canadian boy who has been driving in winter conditions all his life should never let this happen. Nevertheless, this white cement "snow" is pretty ominous. The good thing is that they now have bumpers on all of the roads. They aren`t actually rubber bumpers though. What I am referring to is the wall of snow on each side of the road. You can just take your hands of the steering wheel and just trust that the wall of snow will keep you on the road. I`m not actually going to try that, but I will recommend it to everyone I know.

Oh, and the other great aspect of driving in Japan in the winter is the free car washes. Since it doesn`t get too much colder than they just have hot sprinklers going all day. Running up the centre of the road is basically a long strip of mini-sprinklers. It is so strange when you first see them because you think the road has sprung numerous leaks, but no, they are just sprinklers. This keeps the snow from piling up on the roads and unfortunately, they aren`t on every road, just the major ones.

Now, before I forget the very best aspect of winter in Japan, well, let me tell you now (not that I was actually going to forget this). The best part of winter in Japan is that you get to pretend you are a fisherman everyday. What I mean is that you have to wear hip-weighters everywhere you go. On account of the mild temperatures, the heaps of "snow" and the incessant sprinklers you constantly find yourself getting soaked. In truth, they are really just rubber boots, but I have so far been too proud to wear them. Instead, I like to show up to wherever I am going half soaked (only my bottom half). I am hoping it will be one of those trends that will catch on, but maybe this one is already dead in the water (please excuse the pun). Now of course since we are in Japan, after all, there is something strange that you would expect to see. It may not be strange for you, but when I saw Kappa rubber boots I had to laugh. Why is one of the most well-respected Italian soccer equipment manufacturers producing rubber boots, which are likely solely for Japanese consumption? That is like Boeing making cheese knives for Calcutta street kids (maybe I exagerate a wee bit, but you get the point). I had to laugh.

Okidoki, gotta get back to doing pretty much nothing (just for the rest of today). Don`t forget that I`ll be back in Calgary from December 21st to January 8th. Please come and visit me and buy me pizza and slurpees.

Oh Happy Day

2005-12-09T23:14:00.000+09:00

I am going to break from the usual "travel" narrative and tell you about one of the more interesting experiences I have had since I have been in Japan. Being a Christian, when I came to Japan I had high hopes for a revival. Having said that, I don't think I ever expected to see every student in my high school, as well as most of the teachers to be singing and dancing to Jesus Loves Me, Amazing Grace, Oh Happy Day and a handful of other classic gospel favorites, but that is exactly what I saw today. Today, my school hosted a gospel group named the Gospel Messengers that consisted of 6 ladies from Tokyo, I believe. Admittedly, I was skeptical, but after hearing the first song I could tell that these ladies were the real deal (meaning they know what they are singing about and believe it full-on). It was so strange, but it felt like being in the Bible Belt in the States and stopping in at a southern Baptist church on a Sunday morning. It really was the last thing I expected from 6 Japanese ladies from Tokyo, but God moves in mysterious ways, doesn't He? Anyway, one of the things I have really missed over here is having a church to go to so it was really refreshing to be at this concert. It was kind of like a recharge of the batteries and was also a pretty emotional epxerience seeing these kids singing those songs, having a blast a wearing a giant smile. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time, but was almost tearing up too. The most common question I had after that was, "What does Hallelujah mean?" It means Praise The Lord!

You gotta go to Kyoto

2005-11-28T10:06:00.000+09:00

Kyoto slideshow (part 1)
Kyoto slideshow (part 2)

This past week I was fortunate enough to have made a journey to one of the world`s most historic and remarkably intact cities - Kyoto. It was a trip that I will never forget and that city made quite an impression on me. From the grandeur of the ultramodern Kyoto Station to the understated beauty of the ancient temples and from the stunningly landscaped gardens to the class and style of the people of Kyoto ... I was impressed. From top to bottom, I was impressed.

I think that for the first time I realized that it might actually be possible for me to live here. I know it is wildly premature to make such a statement, but at least know it is an option. In my eyes, this city is the Asian equivalent of Florence in Italy. While I still call Calgary home, I wouldn`t have that much of a problem living in Tuscany, Hawaii, and now, maybe even Kyoto. I am at the stage where I feel that the language barrier is finally starting to crumble, slowly as it may be.

So, let me begin to tell you about my time in Kyoto. First, I must concede that this may sound something like a travel brochure, but I am fine with that. Anyway, I arrived here at 2PM on Wednesday and was greeted by Allison, a friend of mine that I met under the most extraordinary circumstances while at the airport in Calgary, en route to Tokyo (but that is another story). She is also an English teacher here with the JET Programme and she came from the southern island of Kyushu to meet me in Kyoto, which is about half way between us. Anyway, she`s a lovely gal and was a great companion, although I think she must have gotten more than a little tired of my incessant picture-taking.

You see, at the mid-end of November, Kyoto is in Koyo season (which basically means fall colours). I was really looking forward to it and I must say that it is the most beautiful autumn foliage you could ever seen. I do me YOU because unless you have been here you have never seen anything like it. I know Eastern Canada is nice, but its nothing like this. Its a bold statement, I know, but you`ll believe me when you see the pictures. Ok, well, that is the setting. Combine it with perfect weather, more spectaular history, artifacts, and architecture than you can imagine and the classiest people and culture this side of Italy and you have Kyoto.

Ok, since Japan doesn`t believe in daylights savings time the days here can be a bit short, so by 5:30PM, at best, you don`t really have enough light to see many of the temples (although some are lit up at night). So, the first day was a pretty casual stroll through Gion (the geisha district) Pontocho Alley, Yasaka Shrine, Maruyama Park, and the surrounding area. Now, despite what you may have heard, geishas aren`t anything like prostitutes. I could go into it, but you can look it up yourself by clicking the link if you are interested. They are also very rare and there are only about 180-200 giesha and maiko (apprentice geisha) in all of Kyoto. In fact, here are only about 1000 left in all of Japan, so when you see one you feel really honoured and it is a bit like seeing a celebrity. The first night we were lucky enough to see three or four and the next day we saw a couple. I was hoping to just see one, but we got really lucky. There is a special atmosphere that you could feel and I kept imagining myself there 150 or even 500 years earlier walking down those same streets. I don`t think there is anywhere else where ancient and modern are so seamlessly blended. Kyoto`s charm was starting to take hold.

The next day was going to be a long day, hitting as many sites as possible. The first one we went to (Fushimi-Inari shrine) is famous for its paths, which are lined with thousands of gates. It creates a really interesting effect and you really feel like you are a hundred miles from the city, when in fact you are right in the middle of it. That would be a defining characteristic of Kyoto for me. Tokyo is an amazing place too, but for different reasons. In Tokyo you never feel like you are out of the city, whereas this freedom easy to achieve in Kyoto. Anyway, the next stop we made was our first real taste of Koyo. The temple was called Tofukuji and the colours were breathtaking. I didn`t think they could get better, but at every turn I found myself taking more and more pictures, no matter where I was. I suppose I do regret not taking more human photos, but I was completely distracted by the reds, oranges, yellow, and greens.

Now, as for the people, well, everyone I met was unjustifiably friendly and helpful and just a pleasure to talk to. They are also noticably well dressed (even the children) and do seem to be enjoying life more than most other Japanese. I also felt that Kyoto could be the most romantic city I have ever been to, maybe even moreso than Florence, and I even surprise myself by saying that. I don`t know, maybe it was just the season, but there were couples everywhere and it just seemed that love was in the air, as cheesy as that sounds. I decided I am not going back until I have a girlfriend (or at least someone that will pretend to be for a few days).

And then there is the shopping. You see, I do enjoy a good shopping trip now and then, but I really had to restrain myself. As I said, they are good dressers in Kyoto and consequently, there is not shortage of nice stuff to buy. All in all, the damage was fairly minimal, but I did need to find myself a "genuine" Japanese souvenir. I am not a big fan of cheesy and cheap souvenirs that make the rest of your house look pretty gaudy when you put them up so it was a bit tough to find something suitable, but I was not going to leave Kyoto without buying a kitana (samurai sword). The shop I bought it at had a slightly older model (made before 1470, in fact) and it was going for about $45,000 CDN. I didn`t bother ask if they accepted coupons. Mine wasn`t quite that much and hasn`t killed anybody before, but I like it. It was a pretty cool shop because it is the only sword shop in Kyoto and it lies in the shadow of Nijo Castle. The other thing I picked up were a couple of bonsai trees. These are those miniature trees that look like full-sized trees, but are about 1% the size. I went to an exhibition on them and some were over 700 years old, which is just plain unbelievable. It is pretty overwhelming when you see something in front of you that is alive that has lived through so many important events throughout history. I mean, think about it, some of these trees were already 200 years old before North America was settled by Europeans. When you have that all within your field of view it is a bit difficult to comprehend. While mine aren`t quite so old, they do look pretty darn cool and I just hope I don`t kill them (see pictures).

Anyway, I could go into more detail about all of the sites we saw, but unless you have some scope of Japanese history it may seem irrelevent to you. The truth is that you have probably seen pictures of many of the places I visited, but as they say, pictures speak a thousand words, so I will post a million or so words for you to have a look at (maybe not quite so many for those of you who actuall did the calculation). Nevertheless, here is a short list of the places I made it to. Click on the links for more information ... Honganji, Nishiki Market, Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizudera, Kodaiji, Chionin, Heian Shrine, Nanzenji, the Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji (the Silver Pavilion), Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion) and Eikando (temple of the maple leaves).

Kyoto slideshow (part 1)
Kyoto slideshow (part 2)

EARTHQUAKE !!!

2005-11-08T09:28:00.000+09:00

I wanted to let you know that I am going through a very difficult time in life. I mean, sure, I have lots of things to be grateful for, but the truth is that when you are in last place in your hockey pool everything else seems pretty insignificant. This has never happened to me before so hopefully my team will recover, but it will be a long road back.

Other than that, things are going great here in Snow Country, Japan. It hasn`t actually started snowing yet and probably won`t for another month or so - in fact, it is about 19 degrees today - but they are definitely preparing this area for a lot of snow. My first sign was the teepees they build over all of their manicured trees. I guess the snow gets so heavy here that is breaks the branches. Another thing they do is put 2"x6" board up at the front of some buildings. I`m told that when the snow comes off the roof it piles up so high that the boards help the snow form a wall of sorts. I suppose we`ll see how it all goes down, but I`ll try and get some pictures up in the meantime.

Speaking of pictures, I have finally posted a bunch on my spiffy new photo site so please go and view them soon because they will be gone in a couple of weeks and replaced by new pictures from Kyoto!!! Anyway, the slideshow feature is pretty cool, but I have captioned all of the photos so you might just want to flip through them manually so you can read the captions. The pictures are from when I first arrived here at the end of July up until last week, when I travelled to Nikko ...

... which, funny enough, brings me to Nikko. Nikko is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and this usually means it is old, important, and cool, but sometimes means it is old and boring. In this case, it was pretty cool. Nikko is a sprawling complex of temples and it is set in a cedar forest, which also happens to have trees that aren`t only cedars. Japan is really pretty right now because the leaves are changing colours and it is very impressive. To tell you the truth, the reason you didn`t hear from me in October is because I tried not to do anything so I could save money for November when everything looks like a postcard. Oh, and I am also getting a new car in two weeks that I am really excited about. My new car is basically a Toyota Ecco and it is scary to think that I am excited about that, but trust me, it is a big improvement. I have also come to the realization that "cool" is most definitely a relative term.

Anyway, Nikko was a pretty cool place and it was definitely old, but it helps if you know some of the history and since most of you don`t care I am not even going to try to explain it. You`re welcome. I would like to go back and take a more thorough tour of the place, but it really is a pain to get to. If you are lucky, it is a 3-hour drive from where I live (each way). If you are the average person it is a 4.5-hour drive each way. If you are a really unfortunate chap then you are looking at 5-hours and up each way and you might as well get a hotel room because that, my friends, is not a fun day-trip. Fortunately, we were mostly lucky and had 3 hours there and 5 hours back. There is a hill you have to climb which took us 1.5 hours. That sucked. It is two lanes each way, but it is literally just switchbacks the entire way up and it is about a 500 meter rise in elevation, which takes some time in a car. Indeed, you are much better to walk. How do I know? I know because there was a guy who walked past our car at the bottom and then again on his way back from the top. That was a bit hard to take.

So, after that we decided that the best way to sooth our sore muscles was to take a dip in an onsen (hot spring), which are pretty much everywhere in Japan. Seriously, if you see a mountain then you can assume there will be at least one onsen nearby. My first experience with nude bathing was not as awkward as I expected, but thank goodness it was not mixed. A minority of the onsens here are mixed. Can you imagine how awkward that would be? Anyway, about the onsen we went to, well, it smelled a little. This town on the way back from Nikko has the oldest onsen in Japan (dating from somewhere around the 8th century) so we were keen to try it. The problem was that is was a bit sulphuric for our tastes, if you know what I mean. I sure some worse things exist, but having three people in a car smelling of rotten eggs has got to be up there. Next time I will be a little more selective with my onsens.

After that we went to a curry restaurant. It was quite unique in that it had a scale that rated how hot your curry could be. I accidentally ordered level 2 (out of ten) because I thought it was normal. In fact, normal was level zero. Level 2 offered a little extra stimulation, if I remember the description correctly. I guess you could say stimulation, but I prefer to say that it was really bleeding hot. The best part of the rating system was that you weren`t actually allowed to order anything above level 5 unless you had already been there and proven that you can handle level 5. I guess it is their way of certifying you or maybe it is a fire prevention strategy.

Ok, so that was a fun day and a nice way to start my November. As for October, well, one thing I can update you on is how things are going with me and my fiancee. I still haven`t quite sorted out her name and she hasn`t actually talked to me since then, but other than that things are great. Actually, I am beginning to think that she has completely forgotten that we ever even got engaged. I joke, but this is a point of Japanese culture worth discussing. At these things called "enkais" the Japanese go drinking with their colleagues and get really drunk. They completely lower the Japanese facade of etiquette and are basically given a free pass to say and do anything they like. It is a bit scary to think about and it is really odd. One night you are best friends with someone and then the next time you see them it was like nothing ever happened. I find it extremely amusing (and annoying).

Alright, with that I don`t have too much more to say. I should have another update up by the end of November and unless something goes disastrously wrong I should have some great photos. Remember, you`re comments are not only appreciated, but are also expected because I need someone to keep me company. Thanks.

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Ok, this part was added after the fact, but I thought I should address the title of this entry. It was previously called something lame like, "News, News, News," but the truth was that I didn't have any earth-shattering news ... or did I? Well, apparently I did, but you can probably forgive me for forgetting it. You see, last week I experienced my first earthquake. Don't worry about me, I'm alright. The truth is that I slept trough it. I remember that sleep well, but no earthquake. I remember that my brother tried to instant message me on skype because I heard the barely audible beep, but noooo, not the earthquake. I am the lightest sleeper in the world - how could this happen. In case you can't tell, I am more than a little annoyed that I slept through my first earthquake because you only get so many practice runs. Everyone else here was asking me the next day, "Are you OK?" and "Did you feel the earthquake" and my only reply was, "What are you talking about?" Anyway, I am told it was not huge, but most definitely big enough to check for damage in buildings and at the very least, big enough to wake people up. Such is life, I suppose.

My Engagement

2005-09-28T18:09:00.000+09:00

Perhaps the most intriguing novelty of living in a relatively small town in rural Japan is the fact that I am a celebrity. Every where I go people notice the white guy and with the exception of three people (one lady at the grocery store, one guy at the 8th station of Mt. Fuji and a guy at the base of Fuji) everyone in Japan is very nice. Well, I am sure there are a few more not so friendly Japanese people I am yet to meet, but for now we won't worry about that.

I defnitely take for granted my newfound noteriety and it is not until I go to Tokyo for a weekend that I realize how good I have it in my town of Muikamachi. You see, in Tokyo there are more than just a handfull of foreigners and well, I guess I don't stick out so much in the big city. A smile in Tokyo doesn't elicit the same giggly response that I have grown to love in my town and each time I go to the big city it is not long before I yearn for the attention I get back home (home being Muikamachi for future reference).

Now, if I may, I would like to relate to you a story of what happened to me last week and perhaps I can shed some light on the title of this blog, which I am sure has piqued the interest of one or two of my faithful readers (thanks to both of you for your support, by the way). Last week was the week of the school marathon. In fact, Thursday of last week was the actual day of the marathon. I shouldn't have to point out to you the significance of that date as last Thursday was September 22. Actually, now that I think about it that date really has no significance that I can think of, however, it did mark the day that I ran my first significant distance in probably 10 years. That may sound sad, but I truly despise cross country running so I avoid it at all costs. I would rather be doing practically any other activity to build up my cardio (usually riding the bike or playing some sport), but please, please don't make me run. Anyway, the PE teachers at my school thought it would be a good idea for me to run so I incomprehensibly agreed. I was under the impression that all the staff members would be running. After all, all of the students were required to run so naturally the staff would run too, right? Ah, Dean, so naive. In fact, I was the only member of the staff that ran and I still believe that I was the victim of a practical joke. Yeah, well I'd show them. Wait until they saw how I ran. I would earn their laughs, yes, but then I would earn their pity and then I would have the upper hand (does this logic sound as strange to you as it does to me?).

Anyway, I know I said marathon, but it was really only 5.5 kms. There were some pretty good athletes there and the top time for the boys was 16 minutes, 40 seconds. My time was about 17 minutes 30 seconds (give or take 10 minutes). Actually, I am pretty happy with my showing and I guess it is true that raw talent really shines through when given the chance. Oh, despite the fact that I didn't completely embarass myself I can promise you I won't be doing anymore stupid long-distance races in the foreseeable future. Give me a rowing machine or something - anything but running.

Ok, ok, I will get to the good part. It is customary in Japan for teachers to celebrate a momentous event such as a marathon with a drinking party. This wasn't a full-staff party, but was more for the PE staff and a couple others. By motive of pity or for entertainment they invited the white guy to the party (I am the white guy, in case you didn't get that). So, there were 15 of us and we were honoured enough to have the principal and vice principle join us for the party. That was cool, even though I didn't talk to them by virtue of a certain language barrier, but it was nice that they decided to come. Anyway, the boys sat on one side of the table and the ladies on the other. I had met most of the teachers before, but I remembered well below half of their names so they all had to be reintroduced to me (and I promptly forgot their names again ... whoops). The thing that was interesting about the introduction was that they made it very clear to me which of the women were single. It was like, "Dean this is so-and-so-san and she is single!" That was amusing.

Anyway, after that the emphasis was on drinking. No, I am not talking about drinking milshakes and soda-pop. This was more drinking-drinking, like they do in the western movies. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I heard and it was mostly just beer. I don't mind having the odd drink, even though I have a strong distaste for alcohol, aside from the occassional glass of wine, but the big issue for me at this meal was the food. Upon my arrival, I sat down and was promptly served raw snails (which you had to fish out of their shell with a toothpick and then spit out the "foot") as well as raw squid in an squid ink bath. Fortunately, I knew what I type of restaurant I was going to and ate the biggest plate of spaghetti I had ever had in my life immediately before going to the restaurant. My excuse: "I thought it was just a drinking party, not a drinking & eating party ... whoops." I am sure it will catch up with me, but honestly, they did not want to see partially digested spaghetti all over the place. I was looking out for their best interests by not eating.

So, later in the evening one of the PE teachers informed me that one of the Social Welfare teachers wanted to talk to me. I must admit that she is the cutest teacher in the school so I obliged and she came to sit next to me. In all honesty, I have no idea if she wanted to talk to me or not, but the PE teacher didn't really give her a choice - he was determined to hook me up with one of the Japanese teachers. I decided to play along. Anyway, after about 5 minutes of strained communictation (to say it was broken English and broken Japanese would be very flattering) some of the PE teachers who knew a word or two of English (I think 10 at most) asked the social welfare teacher if she would marry me. I was somewhat surprised to hear her say yes so when they asked me the same question, I just blushed and said, "Aw shucks, why not?" So, I am engaged. All I know at this point is that we are looking long term and probably won't be making it official for a couple years. I also made her commit to getting married on a Saturday. So there you have it, me and the cute social welfare teacher are getting married on a Saturday in 2 years. I keep calling her the social welfare teacher because, um, I don't actually know my fiancee's name. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her at school this week and I am starting to think that she may have no recollection of what she comitted to that unforgettable night of the marathon. I will be devastated as I have already cleared my schedule for all the Saturdays in roughly two years time.

Oh well, if that doesn't work out I still have the weekly proposals from my female students to consider. Actually, I don't consider them, but it is nice to know you are appreciated. It is pretty strange having girls say to me, "Dean, I love you." I mean, sure I have a fan club at home, but the only thing that both of the members say to me is "Dean, when are you going to pay us for joining your fanclub?" Ungrateful swine they are. Alas, I digress. Anyway, the fact that the Japanese think most white people look the same (how ironic is that) has really helped me in convincing them that I look just like Tom Cruise. Mwahahaha ... suckers!

There is one more thing that I wanted to mention. I am trying to adopt a little girl that I met whilst at the drinking party (being 3 years old she was not allowed to consume any alcohol and was, in fact, not part of the drinking party). You see, at this restaurant each party gets their own little room. There is also a room where children can go and play and this room happened to be visible from our room. I was also seated next to the door so it did not take long for the kids and I to notice each other and to start making faces (which I am convinced is the best way to start a relationship). Before too long the children were bringing us gifts, mostly stuffed Winnie the Pooh bears (he is called Pooh-san here and has achieved a staggering level of popularity in this country). Anyway, the three year old girl had brought me 4 pooh-san dolls and I jokingly asked for one more. Within minutes I had a collection of 15 pooh-san dolls and was nearly suffocating under the weight of them all. After the little girl lost me under the pile she proceeded to redistribute the dolls to each of my dining companions and it was a very sweet scene. Despite this apparent rejection, I was still her favorite and I have decided to adopt her. I don't know what her parents think of it, but I am sure it won't be a big deal. I'll let them babysit from time to time if they really want to.

Anyway, that is all for now. Please feel free to leave comments (actually, you should feel obliged to leave comments because you haven't done so before - no more of this feeling free garbage). Seriously, while I do keep up on some of the important things back home, namely the NHL, I really need to hear from you. I am also fishing for reasons to keep writing these punishingly long blogs (punishing for you, that is).

Ciao

Oh, I would also like to point out that I am indeed wearing a courderoy blazer in the picture and I am desperately searching for some leather to patch up those elbows. Even if I am not a real teacher I can sure pretend to be one.

View From The Top Of The World

2005-09-12T10:30:00.000+09:00

For most of today and yesterday (heck, we might as well throw in the day before) I have been been enjoying the benefitd of my latest adventure - climbing Mt. Fuji. Yes, yes, of course I am talking about the wonderful memories, but more importantly and definitely more consistently am I reminded of how much pain I am in. I can say with great confidence that I ache in every part of my body. But I did it for the memories and the experience, right? Well, at this point I would like to share with you an ancient Japanese proverb ... "He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool." I am not yet convinced about the first part, but the second half must definitely be true. I will never climb that rock again.

Perhaps I am being a little to harsh on Fujisan. Indeed, it was a difficult journey, but I don`t think it can really be considered mountain climbing. At 3776 m it isn`t too much higher than some of the mountains I have skied on so the elevation wasn`t an issue. In fact, it isn`t unheard of for old ladies and young kids to make the climb (granted, I am fairly sure they stop to rest at the 8th station (3400m) before completed the final ascent. Nevertheless, with a base at only 300 meters, the remaining 3470+ meters (11,300 feet) of the mountain sit there in beautiful exposure for the eye of the beholder. On this measurement basis (base-to-summit) Fuji is more than twice the net vertical height of any mountain in the Rockies.By the way, no one actually starts at the bottom either. Nearly everyone starts at the 5th station, which is as high as the busses go, or in our case, as high as our $100 USD cab ride could take us. Anyway, it appears as though I was the problem. I don`t think it would be unreasonable to say that I am in the absolute worst physical condition of my life. Because of my knee injury I haven`t really been able to do much in the way of cardiovascular activity and it showed. No, I wasn`t panting and puffing with every step, but I was most definitely "feeling the burn," as they say. Why, exactly, I thought that climbing this mountain was a good idea I cannot say, but I am very glad I did it.

After leaving Muikamachi by bus at 2 PM, we (my colleages, Patrick and Cindy, and I) arrived in Tokyo around 6 PM. We then had to do a transfer here and there and make our way by another bus to a town at the base of Fuji called Yamaguchiko (which literally means "mouth of the mountain lake"). It was there that we discovered that the last bus had already left for the 5th station two hours prior to our arrival. Crap! So, our only alternative was to hire a cab to take us a quarter of the way around the volcano and then up to the 5th station. I had actually been warned of this eventuality, but at this point we had no other choice - we had to get to the 5th station somehow. Oh, by the way, there are 5 different routes that you can take up Mt.Fuji. As it turns out, we were taken to the route that starts at the lowest point, by far, at only 1400 meters above sea level. By comparison, the highest starting point is 2400 meters.

So, we finally got there and I think we started climbing at around 10-11 PM. The idea is to climb overnight and then get to the summit to watch the sunrise. Well, after about 30 minutes of hiking we came upon a lovely little sign that thought it would be good to point out that we were only 6.5 hours from the top. That meant that we had to be quick if we were to make it there for the sunrise. I was already starting to get tired and say ask myself what I had gotten myself into. Nevertheless, the thought of not completing this journey never even crossed my mind. If I had known how frustrating the hike down was going to be then maybe I would have been a little less decisive.

But on we went, for 4 hours in fact, before we arrived at the 8th station (3400m). Now, the eighth station is one of those places that could literally charge any price it wanted for a really bad cup of hot chocolate and people would gladly pay for it AND enjoy it, I might add. In my case, it was about $4 for that and $3 for a snickers bar, which I promptly lost and undoubtedly and inadvertently blessed some extremely fortunate pilgrim. Anyway, the hike between the 7th and 8th station could best be described as agony. It just didn`t end. At each of the stations there is some 1/2-star accomodation for people who have paid between $60-80 for a wooden plank to sleep on inside a building constructed of wooden planks and tape, or at least this is how it appeared to me. The problem is that there are handful of mini stations scattered in between the real stations and they only serve to provide the illusion that you are getting closer to your goal. Anyway, if you ever climb Mt. Fuji and can think of a way to skip the climb between station 7 and station 8 then I highly recommend you take this option. After station 8 there is only another 2-2.5 hours and 376 meters of elevation to cover so at least this final leg has hope.

But aside from the actual climb itself we were blessed with a variety of wonders to behold. The first thing we noticed was the crystal clear night sky that periodically filtered out the fiery meteors that attempted to make earth home. Before long we were far above the clouds and all we could see below us was a blanket of cloud that glowed in every spot where a town slept below it. It was like a sublit pool at night and was quite surreal. These sights kept us company all the way up until the sun began to peel away our night theatre and paint a scene of its own. While my pictures don`t justify it, at one point I remember seeing every colour of the rainbow in this sunrise. I didn`t even know that was possible and maybe the think air was causing me to see things, but it was absolutely spectacular.

At around 5 am we were at the summit and we had arrived literally minutes before the sun broke the horizon. I don`t know what my thoughts were at the moment (well, other than that I was really cold), but I was pretty impressed, to say the least. We took in the view from the top for 30 minutes or so before finally beginning the long descent. Oh, how I rue that descent. It was torture. At least on the way up you can stop at the stations for a break, but on the way down it is a seemingly endless series of switchbacks and steep slopes that have you locked constant battle to maintain control. The worst part was that by virtue of being on a decline for several hours on end, you toes get mashed into the front of your shoes the entire time and are screaming for relief by the end of the trip. Anyway, it sucked, but me and my toes did finally make it.

So, the final tally was 6.5 hours up and 2.5 hours down (which is quite quick, I am told - estimates say the ascent should take 7-10 and the descent 3-6 ... suckers!). No, it wasn`t the most pleasant or enjoyable experience of my life, but I am pretty sure that people don`t climb mountains to say, "hey, that sounds like it will be a great way to relax." People climb mountains because it is an accomplishment. It is something I will be able to tell my grandkids about (as they say) and it feels pretty cool to be able to say "I climbed Mt. Fuji ... once!"

See the pictures ... http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/deanusmaximus/my_photos

One Month Down

2005-08-28T16:27:00.000+09:00

So, I have now been in Japan for just over one month and have seen and done so much stuff already that I am making myself jealous. I was actually supposed to climb Fujisan this weekend, which translates to Mr. Fuji, but is just a nickname for Mt. Fuji. So, no, I wasn't going to climb a man named Mr. Fuji, but rather the famous volcano that you think of when you think of Japan. The trip got cancelled this weekend because a typhoon had just passed by and the winds would still have been strong. Just so you know, a typhoon is not the same thing as a hurricane. It is actually a tropical storm, but these can be pretty bad. I am lucky I survived because this one was packing winds that may have reached 5mph and it rained for at least 10 minutes at one point. Yep, it was a rough one.

Actually, I probably shouldn't be making fun of the natural disasters because there have been 2 earthquakes in the last couple of weekends. They were just small ones (5.0), but I was in a different area of Japan each time they hit so I haven't actually felt one yet. I'm kind of bummed about that, but I am sure I'll get my turn. I just hope it is a baby earthquake when it does come because I need some practice before a big one.

Anyway, I should be hitting Fuji in a couple weeks, but I have had back luck with climbing volcanoes. I probably tried 3 or 4 times to climb Mt. Etna when I was in Sicily, but those plans always fell through. Now, I am 0/1 here in Japan so I'll keepp my fingers crossed, I suppose.

Other than that, I start school this week and I am pretty excited about it. I have still been going to school every day, as most teachers here work throughout the summer, but most of the students are on their summer vacation so I haven't met many yet. I have been asked to make a speech to the school in Japanese for the opening ceremony. I think I will just memorize a Japanese detergent commercial and hope it sends the right message to the kids about living a clean life. I don't know enough Japanese so my options are limited.

Anyway, here is a sample of what I have been up to.

Last Friday a few of the boys and I knew we were going to be in tough to get to the ferry in time. We knew the ferry left at 1:50 and that it took 90 minutes to get there (I assume this applies to people that have done this before). I was off at 11:30 and then I had to bolt to a town 20 minutes from here to pick up the boys so we could head off. So, we left at 12:00 and had 110 minutes to get to the ferry and it now took 110 minutes to get there (because of the extra 20 minutes distance). Like I said, it was going to be close. So, after a hair-raising, yet beautiful turn-filled drive to the port we made it just in time ... 1:50 exactly. They even held the ferry for us so we could get on. They actually held a 300 foot long boat for 3 foreigners. How about that? The problem was that I still had to park. So, I tried and when I realized it would cost 8000 yen (~$80) to park near the ferry I opted out and we didn`t get on the ferry. Fortunately, there was another ferry at 4:10, but that meant we wouldn`t get to Sado until 6:40 and the concert was at 7:00. You see, we hadn`t bought or reserved tickets yet so we were plenty worried. It turns out that our fears were unfounded and we had plenty of time and there were still plenty of tickets to the concert.

As for the concert itself, it was set atop this hill near the port and was an open air concert. The atmosphere was great and the only downside was that my butt hurt from sitting on the ground. Not a big deal. There was also a Japanese family there with their baby girl who I think was about 12 months and we became fast friends. I had as good a time playing with her as I did watching the show. But the show!!! WOW! It was amazing. If you ever have the chance to see Kodo or any other Taiko drumming then I highly recommend it. It is really cool and it is actually a lot of fun to play too. So that was the Friday concert and it cost 5000 (~$50). The concert on Saturday was a guy named Carlos Nunez and he is a Spanish bagpipe player. Yeah, I didn`t know the Spanish played bagpipes either, but apparently there is a large Celtic area in Northen Spain. He was also joined by 8 members of Kodo. On the final night, the best night, the entire Kodo troupe (30+) played with Nunez and I wish I could have gone because I am told it was unreal.

Other than the concerts though, Sado was a really interesting place. I ended up taking my car on that second ferry we came on and I was really glad I did (although it cost about 10,000 (~$110) per person). It is a pretty big island, but we saw lots of stuff. They have these fisherman that use round, flat-bottomed boats and only one oar. It is by far the dumbest engineering I have ever seen, but they have been using them for hundreds of years so I am probably missing something. I think they have glass bottoms so they can see the shellfish they are picking off the rocks. I`ll post pics of everything as soon as I get a chance.

Having a car gave us a chance to see lots of things no one else got to and to see some of the very traditional fishing villages. There was actually a lot of very, very small shacks that people lived in and I`d say it borders on poverty. You just don`t see that everywhere.

Ok, now for the one thing I want to warn you against if you ever come to Japan. Remember these catch-phrases: "Just so NO to NOH" or "NOH is a NO-NO" or "NOH is a NO-GO" or "NOH BLOWS!" To be fair, some people actually like Noh plays, but in my opinion (and the opinion of countless others), Noh is really, really boring. I guess it is another Japanese experience I have had, but I have talked to lots of Japanese people and very few of them have ever seen Noh. There is a comedy version of Noh, called Kyogen, and I`ve heard that is better, but wow, I was bored to tears. Basically, Noh is a traditional Japanese dramatic play which uses traditional Japanese (which is incomprehensible to most Japanese and is often translated for them into modern Japanese) and often runs for 8 hours. In fact, I once read that it is acceptable to fall asleep during the play. Thankfully, our play was in modern Japanese and was only 2 hours and it was still unbearable. You know, I love trying all this Japanese stuff, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. There were 5 of us that went and 3 of the guys really enjoyed it. They pretended to know what was happening, but I am pretty sure they were talking out of their behinds, if you know what I’m saying. Sounds like something I would do. Wait, I did pretend that I knew what the play was about. In truth, I went and hit balls at the driving range during the middle part of the show. That was the best move I made all night.

Oh, you might be interested to know that we only went to the Noh play because I wanted to go. I thought it would be great and I told everyone all about it. It wasn’t until I got there that I realized what know actually was. You see, I somehow got Noh confused with Bunraku, which is a traditional form of Japanese puppetry and it is actually really interesting (although it may not sound like it, I know). So, that was disappointing, to say the least. On the bright side, we had a really nice meal that night.

So, Sado is known around Japan as being the home of Kodo and of Noh. It is also famous for its hippies. I gotta tell you that hippies are the same everywhere. I mean, I hate to stereotype, but Japanese hippies are the same as American hippies and European hippies except that they are Japanese. There was lots of peace signs, rainbows, dreads, long hair, hemp clothing, environmental groups, etc. Anyway, they were all lots of fun and really amusing.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the ferry ride. Ours was like the Titanic, except no movie stars and it didn't sink and it was a ferry and it had an arcade - well, it was kind of like the Titanic). It was so strange to come up from the carpark and see this magnificent staircase in front of you. It was flanked by a concierge and spa (I think) and was amazing. But we just went to the arcade instead. They had a bunch of classic Nintendos hooked up so it was nice to relive our childhood for a few moments. There was also a series of three identical video game machines. It was like a baby-bear, mommy-bear, and poppa-bear setup, not in their looks, but in the games they offered. The one on the left was a cute kid’s game. The one in the middle was mahjong. And finally, the one on the left was a porn game that involved naughty nurses or something like that. It was a really bizarre sight.

Oh yeah, as for our accommodations, well, I just bought a device the other day from 100yen (dollar store) to somehow fix my back. I am never camping on the beach again. I was fine the first night (other than sand being everywhere and it was 30 degrees by 8 am (no joke)), but the second night we decided to make a fire. Not just any fire would do ... we were going to have to biggest fire this beach had seen in a long time. So, as we drove around that day we picked up as much wood as we could find lying around the island and sure enough, we created a mighty big fire. Unfortunately, we created said fire a little too close to the tent. No problem, we’ll move the tent, I said. We moved the tent back ten feet, but we forgot to clear the ground under where we moved it too so we were sleeping on uneven sand with the odd jacked rock sticking up into our bodies. Not so nice and the reason for my current agony. But back to the fire. It turns out that we were still to close. Well, we’d moved the tent as far as we could and so our only choice was to move the fire. Tell me my friends, how do you move a live bonfire? One piece at a time and screaming like a little girl, that’s how. Somehow we did it, but I think it was because only because some of the boys were drinking that they even considered it. I kind of just sat there and watched the train wreck. Anyway, it was cool having the biggest fire, but likes moths to a flame so are hippies attracted to bonfires on beaches. So, out came the instruments (mostly drums and the odd flute or two) and the party went on all night. Thankfully my experience as a camp counselor taught me that I should never be without a pair of earplugs. So, I had no problem drowning them out.

Ok, story done. Next up should be about my first few weeks of school and a trip to Tokyo and Fujisan.

Hana-bi (Fireworks!!!)

2005-08-03T01:03:00.000+09:00

First of all, I have never felt so completely disgusting in my entire life. You know something is not right if you have had 2 or 3 litres of fluids to drink and have absolutely no need to go to the washroom. I am sweating through pores I never knew I had. The temperature is around 3o-35 degrees C every day, but the best part is the 300% humidity levels. How is this possible, you ask? Well, it isn't, but I am trying to make a point. I hope you were able to figure that out yourself. Anyway, be glad for the mild weather you have in Canada and the central heating you have in the winter. I think only my friends in Sicily can understand how I feel.

Anyway, I'd like to draw your attention to the title of this entry. Hana-bi means flower-something. I don't know the second part, but it probably means boom or pop or pow. So, maybe flower-boom is what it means. In English we call them fireworks and today I had the pleasure of seeing the world's largest fireworks. Every August 2 and 3 in the city of Nagaoka, Japan is held a giant fireworks festival. I was really looking forward to it because it is fairly close to where I live.

Naturally, I researched the festival on the internet and then my enthusiasm hit a bit of a wall when I read that about 600,000 people come to see the show. Yeah, that wasn't so nice to hear, but I love the flower-booms so I was undeterred. Unfortunately, I also read that if you wanted to get a good viewing area you need to arrive by 3 PM (the show was scheduled to start at 8:30). Well, I didn't get there until about 4:30, but luckily there was still a few spots near the river to sit (this is the best area). The fact that we were on a slope that was near vertical didn't matter to my friend and I - we were there and that was all that mattered (incidentally, using the rail system in a country where you can't read, write, or speak the language and there is no one who speaks English can be interesting, to say the least ... I'm sure I will write about this sooner or later).

I guess it was our lucky day because the show started about an hour early and it didn't stop for 2 hours. The interesting thing was that for a few minutes they would explain each series of upcoming fireworks and then they would set them off. They did this almost 50 times, if I remember correctly. The stuff they were saying sounded so cool. I mean, it literally "sounded" cool, but it could have been complete rubbish for all I know - it was Japanese! I have no idea what the lady said, but she did seem really nice.

Anyway, the big deal about this festival is that there are a couple fireworks that are beyond large. I would say a firework that weighs 300 kgs, goes 600m in the air and has a breadth of 600m is a little unnecessary, wouldn't you? It was pretty sweet though.

I could go on and on about fireworks, but that was the least interesting part, if you ask me. For me, the nuances of the Japanese culture are quite intriguing. As I said, there were anywhere between 300-600,000 people watching this show. There is a relatively small train station to handle a large portion of this sprawling mass of humanity. I was absolutely dreading the train ride home, but somehow the crowds seemed to dissolve into the night air. I mean, I saw everyone move into the train station, but the chaos was so well organized and everyone cooperated so well that the crowds were a complete non-issue. It was truly remarkable and I never seen such efficiency. Oh, and another thing that I noticed was that all Japanese people must have been boy scouts at one point. They are prepared for EVERYTHING! There were families everywhere with coolers, tables, and I think I even saw a spa or two, all of which seemingly could be folded up and put in your pocket. The other great thing was that if you showed up early enough and laid out your tarp over a certain patch of grass, it would still be there, untouched, if you left it for six hours and returned later in the day. It reminded me a little of central park. There were just masses of people covering everything, but you would still have these blue-tarp oases waiting for their rightful owners to return to them. Tell me; where else in the world could you do this? Nowhere, I tell you. NOWHERE!

One final thing I would like to mention that was really neat was what everyone did at the end of the show. There were crowds lining both banks of the river and once the show was over everyone took out their mobile phones and waved at the people sitting across the river. All you could see was thousands of glowing phones flickering in the distance. It was quite a sight, my friends; quite a sight, indeed.

At Fuji Rock festival I saw Coldplay

2005-07-29T23:43:00.000+09:00

Well, the shinkansen (bullet train) ride was pretty short actually. I am only 75 minutes to Tokyo from here by shink so that is great. I am really surprised by my situation, but I am probably in one of the areas closest to Tokyo. Niigata prefecture is really long and I am at the south end and am almost as far from Niigata city as I am from Tokyo. So, I think I'll be making plenty of trips to Tokyo. I am really, really, really happy about my location. It it so picturesque and looks a lot like the Swiss Alps, methinks. The thing is, we get a lot of snow here. We really aren't that far north, but for some reason we get as much snow as Hokkaido here. Go figure, I guess. Other than that, I haven't been able to explore my town too much yet, but I'll be getting my predecessor's car when she leaves.

Ok, so what's next? Oh yeah ... work. Um, well, the office is pretty boring and quiet at the moment because of summer break. I am actually looking forward to a little more chaos (I am sure I won`t be saying that for long). When I got picked up from the shink station we went straight to the school and I met some people, but most of the teachers are away right now. I have also been out to dinner with them a couple times and I have eaten Italian twice (I will try my third different Italian restaurant tonight, I hope). I have also gone to a soba restaurant. Cold noodles ... interesting. Actually, it wasn't bad and we had tempura too. This is pretty much Japanese junk food, but I'm not complaining. I have also met a handful of my students and have marked some of their essays. These kids are so sweet and funny and I am really looking forward to interacting with them. Oh, and a bunch of them wrote me letters welcoming me to Muikamachi and the high school. It was great.

I have also discovered the 100 yen shop (dollar store) or "Heaven on a stick" as my predecessor is fond of saying. They really are all they are cracked up to be. They actually have good stuff for a dollar as apposed to the junk they sell in N.America. Seriously, I think I could find a high-end hot-tub there if I keep my eyes open. And I have a Jusco here, which is basically like a Japanese walmart and so far it seems they have everything I could need (I'm sure I will find that this statement is not totally accurate eventually). Actually, now that I think about it, they don't have crushed tomatoes. They have canned tomatoes, but I can be a bit particular when it comes to ingredients. Anyway, it is nothing that a little food processing won't solve. They even have maple syrup. Italy didn't have maple syrup.

Oh, one other cool thing I got is my seal (stamp - don't know the name in Japanese ... maybe Hankou). My last name is now pronounced Ka-a-ku-ne-su and we (the teachers and I) were actually able to find some Kanji to go with my name and it kind of makes sense. I can't remember it exactly, but the 4 kanji represent flower-temple-mountain-river which can be fairly flexible in its meaning. You see, my last name literally means "church on a promintory." A promintory is a hillside that juts out into the sea, so it is surrounded by water. Anyway, it is a bit tough to explain the total significance without actually drawing it for you, but you 'll see it eventually somehow.

Ok, I could go on and on, but I must tell you about yesterday. Yesterday, July 29, was a very special day. On this day I went to the Fuji Rock festival and saw Coldplay. I was so bummed to not be able to see them in N.America because I would be in Japan and now I got to see them in Japan, and only 45 minutes from my town, nonetheless. The town the festival was in, Naebe, is kind of like Banff, but a lot smaller and less significant. It has a big ski hill (small by our standards) so that is the draw. Anyway, the event was on the ski hill and there were so many great bands here. I could not believe the lineup when I saw it. Go to http://www.smash-uk.com/frf05/ and check out the lineup and maybe a map. Seriously, have a good look up and down the lineup and you will for sure see a bunch of bands that you'd want to see ... if not, you are crazy

I only had a pass for Friday (which cost 12,000 yen - regular price was 16 or 18,000 yen) so we got there around 2 and watched Cake, then Kaiser Chiefs, then The Music, then COLDLAY, then Foo Fighters. I don't mind Foo Fighters, but I gotta say that Dave Grohl (lead singer as well as former drummer for Nirvana) is absolutely hilarious. I won't bother go into detail, but if you ever get a chance to see them it is worth it. He was really funny. As for Coldplay, well, it would have been better if I could have gotten closer. I mean, I had to have at least 3 or 4 people in front of me so I was pretty far from the stage ... if you think 10 feet is far!!! That's right, I was right up front. There was a security guard who was being a pain about me not using my camera, but I guess that's his job. Unfortunately, my job was to get some good pics and videos. I tried, but haven't yet looked to see if they were any good. Oh, and during the show they did a 2-song acoustic set in the walking area in front of the stage. So, the entire band was literally right in front of us. Since the Japanese were a bit quiet I was actually able to yell out what songs they should play next. It was cool, but they didn't actually play the song I suggested. I guess that means it wasn't so cool, but I don't care, I was giddy as a school boy after his first kiss. We went up to the mountainside to watch Foo Fighters close and like I already said, they were good, but Coldplay was awesome.

To the uninformed

2005-07-28T13:42:00.000+09:00

Hey everyone, this is the first of many (undoubtedly, too many) blogs that I will be posting. I hope you check back often and I will do my best to paint the adventures of Dean with as colourful a palate as I am able.

So, where do I begin (again)? I am sure it will come as a mild shock to some of you to learn that I am currently in the beautiful countryside of Japan. The town of Muikamachi is my new home for at least the next year as I have signed a contract as an Assistant Language Teacher (hereafter referred to as ALT) with the Japanese government. Now, the way I understand it is that I get paid a rediculous amount of money to teach English - correction ... to "team-teach" English with a Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) - and to help internationalize Japan. I have been in Japan since July 24 and it has been nothing if not interesting to this point. I will try to elaborate in a moment, but I think I should tie up some loose ends first.

The last that some of you heard from me would have been while I was still writing about my time in Rome. You see, I wrote a great deal about Rome and I had planned on spreading it all out over 3 or 4 installments. Unfortunately, I never did quite get around to sending the last one, but maybe I will eventually. I suppose it has somewhat lost its relevance though since that was almost 3 months ago. Anyway, after a very stressful decision making process, I decided that I would live the beautiful island of Sicily for the greener pastures of Japan. In truth, it is much greener here, but I truly loved living in Sicily and the people I met there are world-class and are unforgettable. They deeply affected me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to learn much from my work situation in Italy and wasn't being challenged by it and this situation largely prompted my decision. Fortunately, my employer understood where I was coming from and although he would have preffered me to stay until September (apparently, he saw saw value in the work I was doing, which is nice), he allowed me to go with his blessing.

Now, hopefully that explains things clearly enough. The truth is that the last 6 weeks since I left have been unbareably emotional and are something of a blur. I haven't had a moment to just sit back and reflect on the past 5 months. My life of laste has been full of amazing experiences and I just want to be able to put them all into perspective. I don't see this happening in the near future either because the next few weeks will be full of new adventures and misadventures as I embark on my Japanese journey. My current state of mind sees me living in Japan for only a year, but I am not so naive that I don't realize that most people that come here only intend on staying that long. Quite often they end up staying here. While I don't see that happening in my case I guess you never know.

So, with that I thank you for reading and please feel free to leave comments because I love to and need to hear from you. Oh, and just so you know, the next few entries will bring you up to date on my first week in Japan.

God bless, my friends.

Ciao regazzi