Kitsune Zombie

Spring Day

2009-05-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

Shima High School lays at the end of a block adjacent to the Jr. Highschool, of which is located next to the elementary school. I don't know if clustering school buildings together like this is customary or not in Japan but all three of them are at the top of a semi-large hill. As a result, every day I get to hike this giant walking here. Anyways, here in Japan the main bulk of cleaning is done by the students. There is a full-time custodian here but, he only does the major things like, paintin' where paintin' is needed, fixin' where fixin' is needing and more often than not can be found outside burning weeds with a propaine fueled flame thrower. Well, every day when the adjacent Junior High does its cleaning they play loud pop music through the school P.A. system and as I write this post, I am hearing that.

With school having had started one of the changes with occoured with it was the arranging of seats in the teachers office. I went from a lonely at the entrance to a nice seat near the window. Now I can open the window and feel a nice breeze while I bask in the spring sunlight.

Tuesday night we had our English conversation class. The year went from May through March with a two month break between March-May. We have had about 15 regular students who come on and off but, this past Tuesday we had 17 new students! That doubled the number of people coming to the class. I think someone has been spreading mistaken publicity about our classes. It should be fun, and I am looking forward to teaching it but, a little overwhelmed by the numbers. Oh well!

Dusting off the Website

2009-05-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot that this blog existed. Sorry nothing has been posted on it for the past few months. It is not that nothing is going on but, in the event that there is something to write about I usually never find time to do it. Anyways, I'll take a few minutes tonight and write a few thoughts.

Things have been going quite nicely. The previous school year ended the first week of April and after a two week vacation (for the kids, not the teacher) we started again with the 2009 school year. This year I tend to be less busy at both my schools which is rather nice. It gives me more time to take time on my lessons. This year at Shima, I teach an Oral Communication class two times a week to this years newly come sophomores. I also teach a reading class maybe once a month, and a class on internationalism and different cultures(???) three times a week. That class is only nine students and we have a great time. Next week we are going to make pinatas with paper-mache. As with all my classes, I teach that one with a Japanese teacher and so far we have really enjoyed it. One thing we have started doing at all our classes is starting out the lesson by giving the students an easy English riddle. I'll write the riddle on the board, read it out loud and then the teacher will go over the vocabulary and explain any difficult words that the students don't understand. An example of the type of riddles would be something like, "What goes up when the rain comes down?" The answer being an umbrella. The students really seem to enjoy it. At Suisan I teach three Oral Communication classes twice a week to the first years and that is all that I do there. I am only a month into this scheduel but so far I am enjoying it.

A few months ago, at a karaoke party with some of my community English class students jokingly I mentioned that we should all run the upcoming half-marathon. I didn't think they would take me seriously but, the next time I saw them both, about two weeks later, they both had told me they had signed up. I reluctantly did the same thing a few days later. I have been running on and off the whole time I have been here. Deep inside I had wanted to sign up and this officially gave me a reason to do so. I signed up, upped my training and on the day of the half-marathon completed the run in 2 hours 1 minute and 59 seconds. I think I did great. Since about the week leading up to the marathon I am running about 5-6 miles a day, four to five times a week and loving it. Here is another picture of the big event.

You can only see half my face but the guy giving the peace sign is one of my students. We left the third guy in the dust miles before that! Really enjoyed it and this was an opportunity to level up my fitness. Recently too I have been following a program that in six weeks will have me doing 200+ sit ups and 100+ push-ups in one shot. Why you may ask? Why not, I say, why not? Actually, gives me something to do while the Mrs. is off at work. We'll see if I can keep it up.

In the Hall of The Mountain king

2009-01-12T00:20:00.000-08:00

Making Pots

One of the cool things about living in the sticks is although not a lot is going on, when something does happen it is usually pretty cool. Over the course of the past year and a half I have made a lot of friends that are my senior by about 20+ years. Well, a few weeks ago Ayumi and I were invited to go with one of my English students to a friend of her's secluded mountain hideout where she and her husband hand throw pots and bowls. We were able to play around for a few hours and ended up making a flower vase and two mugs. Although they weren't much to look at being able to use something we made will be pretty cool when we get finally get them.

Friday afternoon they started the fire and Saturday night they invited us to come along and spend the evening with them adding wood to the fire, eating good foods and chatting. We left the house around 5 pm and ended up staying until about 1 AM. We intended on staying all night but, being the weekend a lot of people showed up to participate and although we were invited to stay our ride was wanting to head home and although fun that late in the night our own futons sounded like heaven.

Pretty much what goes on is they have this giant oven which they built about ten years ago. Over the course of three days they slowly raise the temperature inside of this kiln to 1200 Celsius (2192 Fahrenheit) where once the temp is reached they keep at a constant for a whole day. Everyone just talks around this oven watching a thermometer and adding fire every 5-10 minutes while we feast on seafood and Japanese deliciacies. Although outside is freezing cold the oven is encased in a barn which heated things up pretty nice where we weren't cold at all. I can't begin to explain the colors inside that furnace I saw but, tried to snag a few photos which turned out pretty cool.

At a point they reached into the fire and pulled out a few mugs with giant tongs. Immersing this in water (if it doesn't shatter) gives the pottery a rare color. I have a picture of that as well. Not a lot more to tell other than a good time was had by all, I singed the hair on my left hand and wish I had more opportunity to do fun things like this!

Peeze out!

Home made Root Beer!

2008-12-27T00:17:00.000-08:00

So after two prior failed attempts, last night I tried again to make a batch of homemade root beer. I don't know why I have been having such a hard time getting this stuff to work, I mean this stuff practically flows through my blood but, last night I think I nailed it. The good thing is if it works, I should be sippin' the good stuff within the week! The downside of it is, this was a brand and method I have never ever followed so, even if successful not sure if I can call it "Allred Rootbeer". Nevertheless, we are in for a treat.

So traditionally when we make this stuff with grandpa, we fill a big five gallon jug up with warm water. I think the problem with my first batch was no 5 gallon container. A few months after first getting to Japan I borrowed the biggest pot from the school kitchen taking it home only to find it was too small. I decided having had gone through all the trouble I would still go through with making it but only making half a batch. Somewhere in the process I guess I miscalculated the proportioning because in the end I think my rootbeer tasted more like yeasty water with a hint of rootbeer and not the rootbeer with a hint of yeast I was aiming for. Well, that batch went down the drain and thinking about it now, probably still have a half a container of extract in my cupboard somewhere!

My wife's dad loves root beer and in fact, whenever we are lucky enough to find it at an import shop usually buy a can or two just for him. Anyways, last summer (attempt 2) I told him I had the materials to make it and next time I went to visit him we would try to make a batch together. I don't do math but, he is pretty smart so I knew as far as calculating we would have no problems. We went out and bought a large bucket (I think the kind used to pickle vegetables). I think once we had all the ingredients in we were like an inch from the top. If my memory serves me correctly, to the best of my knowledge we followed the recipe exactly, no needing to cut back portions or anything however in the end, this batch too was missing something. I ended up finally getting to taste an unopened bottle about three weeks after making it (usually where it has the greatest kick). I don't remember much but, know it wasn't the action packed flavorful soda I was hoping it would be.

Well, last night was attempt three. This recipe came in a kit I got from my brother included in the family Christmas package. Without having to dig through my parents boxI could smell root beer somewhere from within the contents. This recipe was pretty straight forward however different from the stuff I am used to making. For example, this batch has a mysterious package containing "flavor crystals" (no idea what that is about) added at the same time as the extract. It also requires brown sugar where I have only used white and also required 45 minutes of sterilizing the containers and instruments we would be using in the procedure.

This recipe was used to make 1 gallon. We don't have gallons here in Japan and our biggest pot mysteriously burned our dinner the other night and now we can't get the crusty stuff off from the inside (we think the pot is done for). I got online and found that 1 US gallon is about 4 liters so, I used two old two liter water jugs. I was a little nervous because again I was afraid I would screw the portioning up but, this recipe had you mix the root beer extract, sugar, yeast etc. in a separate bowl and then add it to a half full container so, in spite of not having a gallon jug think it still worked out just fine- easy to say visually, I will have to update this blog after I have tasted the stuff.

Well, here I am 24 hours later, feeling the firmness of the jugs every few hours but, know they're still not ready. However, I am very anxious to see if this batch works. I can occasionally find root beer here (not in Isobe but, in big cities) but alas, nothing can compare with good old home brewed root beer.

Cheers to good root beer!

5:56 AM

2008-12-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

So Hershey did what she does best and woke me up in the wee hours of the morning for food. I had a pretty early night last night so, in addition to being awoken at five this morning I couldn't fall back asleep so, I guess this is it. Last night was the year-end party for Suisan highschool. In addition to the the regular staff at school they had the entire ship crew there which alone is 22 crewmen. It was fun, I saw some crazy drunken sailors, ate sea creatures that I didn't particularly care eating and had a pretty good shot at wining a Japanese lottery ticket in bingo until I was distracted by a teacher I had never seen before decided to come and speak English with me. Its OK though. I figure the odds of me winning that bingo was like 1/85 then on top of that, the odds of me winning the lotto was like 1/1,000,000,000 so I am not too put off but, if I catch wind that one of those tickets won, I'll probably go hang myself.

Well, its Christmas time again. Last year I had to work and, surprise surprise, this year I do too. Its understandable though that a nation predominately Buddhist doesn't care to recognize a mainly Christian holiday. I didn't throw any fits in America when we weren't celebrating the Festival of Floating Bowls so why should it be any different now? Anyways, I do get today off for the Emperors birthday- a day which I will use to... now that I am awake my whole plan is off so, nuts to that. But, I am not going to pass up a free day off so, yay!

For New Years this year we are again going to be going to Gifu to spend it with my wife's family. Her little sister is home from college and with me there, will be the first time in five years that everyone will be there. I just hope I don't feel too much like, as my coworker phrased it the other day, the 500 pound gorilla in the room. Looking forward to going though.

Fauxhawk

2008-12-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

So it has been a week since I first dabbled my toe into the big lake which we call HTML design. In the course of seven days, I really havn't done much. Well, I did a lot the first few days and then having nothing to make kind of stopped for a little while. It is test week at school so, a lot of time went towards making that.

Our tests here at Shima are pretty straight-forward. Each test is worth 100 points. 50 from reading/writing and 50 in the form of a listening test. This past semester we learned lessons on describing people (the tall man with long hair, etc.), weather, disasters, and a few others which I cannot remember. Well, we recorded a twenty minute disc with us going back and forth in conversations about the things we have learned about. Shouldn't be too hard- at least I wouldn't have any problem doing it.

On Saturday night we have our annual end of the year party with the English club. That should be pretty fun. We are doing white elephant gifts and then some karaoke. Also, that morning I am going to go out and chop my locks. My hair is pretty shaggy right now and after trying for a year and a half have decided that my bangs just don't grow so, maybe back to the fauxhawk? Only time will tell. I am pretty excited for the weekend though.

HTM-Hell

2008-11-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

So back in the day, when I was a feshman in college. With my then fiance Ayumi I enrolled in a website design class at the University. Over the course of a semester Ayumi and I hammered out simple little websites which although fun were really hard to make. Well, the class ended and I had never though about nor hadn't had any interest in website design since then. The other night I downloaded a 30 day trial of Adobe Flash and following a tutorial started goofing around with that program and made some fun flash animations. That got me thinking back to my class and in my spare time I thought I would give another go at building a website.

After two days of tinkering around with HTML, ladies and gentlemen I present to you the one and only
www.kzombie.com- more zombie than you can shake a stick at. It's not much now but, over the next few days hopefully I will be able to add some fun things to it. Right now I invite you to enjoy the December 2008 calendar, look at my header and even follow a link to a current favorite website I have been frequently perusing.

I have a good friend here in Isobe who professionally designes websites and calling him up Wednesday night he came over for a few hours and helped jog my memory about how to do all this stuff. After a few minutes, I was able to piece things together. My only problem now is, what to put on that page.

Check back here and there for updates!

ABBA

2008-11-21T04:09:00.001-08:00

It's 9:09 Friday night. I have absolutely nothing to do. I have looked at all my regular websites, I have played all my games, just not in much of a mood to do anything. I currently have ABBA Gold playing thus the name for this post. Things have been going pretty well lately. It is cold, and as a result I have pulled out my big thick winter jacket and wore it to school today. Upon entering the office today, the Vice Principal came over to me and (I think I caught a bit of sarcasm in his comment) you sure look warm. I had my big snowboarding jacket, a scarf and some fingerless gloves. Yes I was warm, yes I was comfortable and no I didn't feel dumb.

It is that time of the year. Our apartment must not have been made very well because in the summertime it gets uncomfortably hot and in the winter it gets uncomfortably cold. Actually I think a lot of that has to do with the lack of central heating/cooling in structures in this country. Our Summer/Winter ritual consists of heating/cooling the computer room and lounging in there only leaving to answer the call of nature, raid the fridge or get the door. Hershey loves winter because she gets to curl up next to the portable heater and steal a large percentage from ever reaching us. She just lays there for hours on end alternating every now and then from belly to back only getting up to use the bathroom and/or eat. Wait, that's what we do.

So in Japan the recycling laws are pretty strict. I have gotten used to them and since doing so see that they kind of make sense (like not wearing shoes in the house, showering before getting in the bathtub and washing hands after using the bathroom). Our little town has us separating our garbage I think into six different groups. On top of this after separation, you have to put the corresponding garbage into an appropriate bag and leave it down on the street the day of to be picked up. You are not suppose to put garbage down there any earlier and of course, if too late not picked up. Well the past six months or so, somebody has been totally ignoring this rule. It is not like one or two items but, things like couches, bikes, toys and most recently about twenty big bags of mixed garbage. When the garbage is picked up all this garbage is left aside with a note stuck on it reading, "we will not pick up this garbage." and states the recycling rules. I mean garbage is garbage but, when you've got and are used to a nice little organized system and a small, clean garbage disposal area you kind of get upset when the rules are not obeyed. I have included photos. The white bags do not belong.

November

2008-11-09T01:54:00.001-08:00

So, a lot has happened in the past two and a half months since my last update. With the in frequencies of my writings I don't know if calling them updates is quite the appropriate terminology. Maybe I should refer to them as quarterly ramblings or something along those lines. Looking back at it all, not a lot really has happened out of the ordinary but, I will fill you all in nevertheless.

September brought about the return to school. I know I posted something during that month but, only commented on my current ailments at the time- which a lot like you read on this blog was me complaining about being sick. This season a funny cold seems to be going around. It starts with a scratch in your throat followed by runny/stuffy nose and a fever all ending up with a persistent cough that I have seen last for up to three weeks. In my case I think I had it all done and finished in about a week. Ayumi had it worse with a fever and sore throat for about two days. When we get sick, we tend to put on our warm pajamas and try to sweat the illness. Not rocket science but, even if it isn't doing us any good we sure are comfy.

The first week of October we had our school festival at Shima Highschool. For the past few months, about one time a week I had been meeting with my Vice Principal practicing some songs we intended to perform there. With the help of two additional teachers (one on drums and another on bass) we sang a total of five songs in front of all the students. We sang the Beatles' songs "Something", "Let It Be", The Mommas and the Poppas "California Dreaming", The Eagles "Hotel California" and another called "sora mo toberu hazu" by a Japanese band called Spitz. I have a DVD copy of the show but so far have been unable to rip it down to a format that I can send/post on the internet. I am going to see if I can track down the originals off the camera and send them in that format.

It was actually really fun and I think turned out great. The students had a great time and even sang along on some of the song parts they knew. Some kids at Suisan saw a copy of the video (via students in another band that played during the same festival) and word spread there that I have the voice of an angel. I don't know about that but, I have kids there that want to see the DVD. We'll see if we can arrange something.

Halloween came and went. For that we did a fun Halloween lesson where we watched a few Disney videos, learned about the holiday and got a special treat. For that we decorated up our classroom at school with some cheap things we bought at the dollar store and some great things Ayumi had made for her class. Tomorrow at school I will see if I can track down the video footage I made of that and post some of it here on the blog.

2008-09-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

You know when you get sick and you just don't want to do anything? Today is one of those days. I am feeling pretty ill. So ill in fact that I called in to work today and took the day off. After hitting the snooze four times and dragging myself out of bed and into the shower I got ready. I was actually ready to go, and had even taken the garbage down to the street. I had the worse sore throat, it was so low and raspy that Barry White would have rolled in his grave had he heard it. I just knew I had to crawl back into bed so, calling the school and getting permission from my best friend the Vice Principal was soon snuggled next to Ayumi where I slept for the four hours.

Waking up, I still felt pretty crappy. My head pounded, my throat was parched and sore, my whole body throbbed but, somehow I managed to pull myself out of bed where now for the past six hours I honestly have no idea what I have been doing. I should study but, no energy nor will to do it. I could go back to bed... no interest. I don't even want to play video games. In fact, I jumped on this blog intent on writing a wonderful entry about a wizard and a unicorn but, even that sounds just too much for this frail boy. So for now, good bye and goodbye.

Well That Was a Bad Idea

2008-08-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Looking at the date of my last post, it has nearly been a week since I updated this thing. Comparatively speaking to how it has been in the past, I really am in no position to complain so, I will stop there. My reason for not writing however is two fold- both of which I will now explain.

Reason One- Last week, Ayumi and I had such a fun time at the beach with her family that we decided last Friday to head out again. Just she and I. I took the day off of work and the two of us left by bike around eight thirty. We knew before-hand that it would take about forty-five minutes to get there so, ended up getting to the beach somewhere between nine-thirty and ten. We had stopped by at the convenience store which is about the half-way marker, filling up our bag with goodies. Well, it was a wonderful day at the beach. We were there until about maybe one-thirty. The time spent running between our giant umbrella and the water. Realizing that whatever amount of sunscreen I had put on was probably not enough, it seems like most of the afternoon was spent constantly applying it only to have it be washed off every time we went into the water.

Now the beach is a pretty cool place. Not cool as in spiffy but, cool as in temperature. Sure the sand is hot but, being a beach there is a constant, cool wind blowing in from the sea. As a result, you really don't get too hot. When we got bored, and started thinking about the bike trip back (and the unforgiving sun over our head) we packed up and spent the bike ride home scrambling from shady spot to shady spot. I could literally feel my skin burning. Well, as is normal any time you get a sunburn, you don't realize the severity until the next day. We both woke up Saturday morning reed at beets. (Although my face, legs and arms are a delightful dark-brown hue :P ) In addition to being red, it seemed like the skin underneath was swollen. We spent the day indoors, trying not to move applying ointment to each other while moaning at the same time. It is now Tuesday and in spite of my belly and back being really itchy, today is pretty bearable.

That was reason one.

Reason Two- I am attempting to do the impossible. I am going to try and take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 1 (1 as in being the hardest). I am not hesitant to state that I am in no way prepared for this test, in any way, shape or form but heck, if that overrated swimmer can win 8 gold medals, why can't I do this? Well, I am sure he actually practices swimming but, that's besides the point. I have spent the last two (count 'em 1..2..) days, studying, and boy is my brain sore. Problem is though, the more I study the more I realize just how crappy my Japanese really is. I can hold up a conversation pretty well but, my reading/writing is pretty far off so, that is my goal between now and mid-December. Wish me luck.

I know you are asking yourselves, "So AJ, with such a tight schedule, how on earth is he finding the time to write in your blog?" The answer to which is... I'm taking a break so leave me alone!

I really want to watch Seinfield.

Son of a Beach

2008-08-13T21:50:00.001-07:00

So, yesterday afternoon after writing in my blog I thought I would sit down and read some comics in Japanese. Well, I didn't get very far due to the fact that a)the batteries on my kanji dictionary ran out and, b)I was falling asleep on the big comfy couch we have in the school library. Ayumi who had told me earlier in the day that she was coming with her family who decided to drive her the whole way so, throughout the aftrernoon I kept texting her to find out where they were. Come three o'clock, they were just outside of town so, I took off the rest of the afternoon and met them on the way home.

We stopped by the apartment so Ayumi could drop off her things, I could change my clothes, potty break, etc. and before too long we were all in the car headed for the beach (which is where we were last Saturday). After spending about a half hour there, wading in the water, trying not to get too soaked we all got back into the car and headed home.

One the way, Ayumi's little sister and I were both pretty munchy so, we were taken to the largest supermarket in the area to get something to eat. There I also bought a couple of band-aids to put on my finger. I still have stitches in my finger (and no idea when or how I am going to get them out) but, no longer (feel like I) need to wrap it in the gauze that the doctor originally gave me so, I have moved onto something a little bit more comfortable. I wrap it in a band-aid and then have a finger sock I am putting over that. Looks pretty cool, like I am starting a new fashion or something.

Anyways... that was yesterday.

Marooned

2008-08-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, I ran my burglar story through a couple of Japanese last night, just before I ran them through with my sword. Not really but, last night I taught my (now bi-) monthly English conversation class and after using my story as a listening activity the students there too thought the details of my experience were a bit odd and the vagrant most likely was not there just to be a "prospective" renter. I still feel a bit bad, but it is just the good AJ inside being a wimp. The evil AJ is still telling me I should have struck her down, kicked her a few times and then dragged her by her hair to the police station. Everyone I talk to seems to agrees with me.

I named the title of this post marooned. In fact, I just thought I would name it that as I started this paragraph. I have always like the idea of being marooned as long as it is a deserted island or a new planet, none of that leaving me in the parking lot of Walmart, forcing me to walk home crap. Just the idea of being alone, having to rely on yourself, building huts and finding your own food sounds fun. That is regarding the deserted island. For the foreign planet... don't know but, have read enough sci-fi to know what to do; being shoot first and ask questions later.

I once read a book by Ray Bradbury called the Martian Chronicles about man reaching and settling on Mars. Anyways, there are a few short stories in there about desolation on the planet which made the whole prospect sound pretty excitin'. Cool picture don't you think?

Can you tell I am bored?

So in December is the Japanese proficiency test which I would like to take again. Last year I took the level two test and this year I am going to aim for the level one. If I can pass the level one I can probably secure a good job here in this country if that so beith my wish- and start playing video games in English again.

Ayumi is on her way home today and as a little suprise decided to bring her whole family. I guess they want to see the beach (and I do too). No problem but, I can't honestly say that I left the house in "Lets bring over guests" condition. Both days I was alone, I was gone most of the day only to come home and park it in front of the computer. All I ate was two peaches and some toast so, I really don't think it is that bad. Not dirty but, messy. I guess you'll find out in tomorrows blog.

Nekkid Fireworks

2008-08-11T18:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was an interesting day, but started out as normal as ever. Ayumi went to Gifu to spend some time with her little sister who is home for the week. I would have gone too but, was there two weeks ago. Not that I don't like going to Gifu or anything but, while there it was super-dooper hot, I was super-dooper bored and on top of that didn't want to put our cat through the trauma of going to and being there.

Ayumi's folks have a big dog. Neither the dog nor Hershey have any interest in becoming friend with each other so while they are in the same room it is just a staring contest between the two of them. During the cooler months Hershey is content staying upstairs and being by herself however, summer gets too hot so we need to put her in the air conditioned room with us- which happens to be the dogs favorite space. Well, when we do this, the dog cowers in the corner while Hershey stays in the other and hisses across the room. I am sure stressful to both.

Anyways, so Ayumi took off to Gifu yesterday morning and I went to school as usual. Around ten-ish I get a telephone call from a lady whose house we went to the other night for a party with our Vice Principal. She kind of cornered me into coming over and hanging out over there after school which kind of ruined my plans. When speaking Japanese I panic and can't say no. Anyways, originally I was planning on biking to the beach and seeing how long it would take on bike not dilly-dalling along the way.

With the afternoon now decided for me, four-fifteen came around and I found myself walking to the store to get cat food and then home. Being hot and humid I am usually soaked to the bone by the time I get inside any building after being outside. Well, after feeding the cat I decided to change my clothes before heading out and went into our room which faces the front of the apartment, which is where we keep our wardrobe. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see someone outside messing with our front window.

Now over the front windows on all the apartments is a metal railing which prevents anyone from getting in and out. Well, I don't know what this lady was trying to do but, she was pulling back the screen through the bars and reaching in. After watching for about ten seconds I call out to her asking if she needed help with anything. She immediately apologizes and makes a bee-line straight for the stairs. Very quickly I throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and start to pursue her.

At this point I would like to note that we live on the fourth of six floors. By the time I got to her, she was just rounding the last flight and headed to the exit of the building. "Excuse me!" I yelled, she turned around and I asked "Why were you looking into my apartment?" She looked a little panicked and told me that she wanted to move into this complex and was wondering what the inside of the rooms looked like. I then told her where the managers apartment was and together we went over there and knocked on the door. While waiting, I asked her why she was up on the fourth floor and she told me that she had started on the top floor and was seeing if any rooms were open to look at. I wanted to believe her but, her clothes were really dirty and she looked more like a homeless person than someone searching for an apartment. I then asked her if she lived around here to which she replied she was living with a friend. I then asked her if her friend lived around here and she told me her friend was living near the mountains... which there aren't too many of around here.

I was pretty surprised and as you can guess had a little bit of adrenaline running through my blood- I kept my cool though and used the politest Japanese I could. I then told her in my country if a stranger starts opening your windows and reaching into your house that, that is pretty scary and normally you call the police. She told me not to call the police. I then asked her if she didn't think this situation wasn't a little funny which she shook her head yes. The whole time thought I thought she was acting funny and really felt like she was fibbing to me. After nobody came to the managers door she was like well, I am going to leave. I asked her for her name which she wouldn't give then asked me for mine. I refused as well (don't know if that was rude or not). Walking away she said something along the lines of "Well, I will see you if I can move here in September." To which I replied, "Please come and visit me..." where then if this is legit, I will apologize and give her a cookie.

Immediately after this happened I called Ayumi and told her what had happened. In fear that I had handled the situation wrong. Not only did she agree with me, after my phone call she called up the apartment managing company, relayed the story and they also thought it sounded a little weird. This week is a national holiday in Japan with a lot of people leaving home so, maybe if this lady was indeed a thief, she was checking out the place to see who was home.

So, the question I ask myself, "Should I have called the police?" the answer I have for myself is, this: If I wasn't a foreigner, probably. The whole story still stinks and maybe she was sincere in wanting to move in but, the situation was a bit weird.

That part ends there but, my day just kept going on!

Well, this whole epilogue took about ten minutes and looking at the clock I realized that I needed to go. I went back inside and (only after consulting Ayumi did I think to) closed and locked the windows. I hopped on my bike and suprisingly riding through the streets, I passed my burglar. She gave me the eye from under her black umbrella but, I just kept-on-a-riding. I arrived at my host's house and was welcomed into the living room where I met her kids. After sitting for a few minutes I was invited to stay for dinner which having nothing better to do- nor any way to decline accepted and was served a feast of fish, deer jerky and vegetables.

After we had eaten and talked for about an hour I was invited to go to the public bath with the older brother who had eaten with us. I tried to decline but, again they wouldn't take no for an answer. I tried to use the fact that "I have stitches in my finger and can't get it wet" as my excuse, only to have the old grandma pull out from a drawer a new surgical glove. It was only six-thirty so I couldn't use time as an excuse. Well, long story short me and this guy went to the public bath, which was actually quite nice. If the fact that I was white didn't make me stand out, it was the white surgical glove I wore on my left hand clinched shut with a rubber band around my wrist.

During the summer, each night at five to eight the amusement park does a short firework show. The outside bath apparently has a spectacular view being that this public bath is at a hotel ajacent to the park. Well, the fireworks start, and before you know it, I am standing naked in a mid-thigh deep bath tub silently watching these fireworks with about five other naked men. Kind of creepy, but the fireworks were nice.

This Tops Wearing my Heart on my Sleeve

2008-08-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

One thing I hate is how quickly time passes. I can't believe how far into the month (and my summer vacation) it already is. I honestly feel like I just turned 27 the other day yet, that was nearly a month and a half ago. Before you know it I'll need to figure out what I am going to do with the rest of my life. I guess the good thing though is with this kind of attitude retirement really doesn't seem like its that far away.

Saturday Ayumi and I found ourselves at the beach... didn't take any pictures though. Having had a new group of English language teachers hit the area there was a big party on a local beach. By the time we had gone to the store, bought a giant umbrella to sit under and walked along the beach to find the party it was already 2:30, and the party had already started to wind down- which we were both fine with. Ayumi and I waded out to the water and spoke to people as they would mosey on out to us. People started to head out of there around five, and Ayumi and I caught the bus and then train getting us home around six-thirty.

Around seven, I received a text message on my phone from our good friends (the Sukeda family) telling us that a local store was having a killer sale and open until midnight. There I found this cool shirt that for about $2.65 I couldn't pass us.

and thus, the title of my blog. Note the bandage on my left hand... can't wait to take it off.

Ayumi took off for Gifu today to spend some time with her little sister in town for the week from college. Lets hope I am alive by the time she gets back!

Friday

2008-08-07T18:38:00.001-07:00

So, I am zoning out here at school. It has been nearly three weeks since school ended and we have about three weeks still before it begins again. I am not anticipating it starting again by any means but, am a little tired of the ennui of being at school with nothing to do. Earlier this week I was really gung-ho to study a lot of Japanese but, injuring my finger has kind of put me off to wanting to do anything other than stare at the computer screen while absorbing the cool air from the conditioner.

Its funny how when its like 70 degrees outside you think about how hot and hellish 85 degrees is however, once the weather hits mid 90s setting the temp to 85 is quite heavenly. Just thinking out loud... not really but, how can I apply that saying to writing about it on a blog. Just thinking with my fingers? Just thinking with my eyes? Well, when I get it down I'll be sure to let everyone know it was me who coined the phrase.

I have no idea what to do the next six hours of today... Maybe I'll give studying another chance.

Mr. Picker in his Birthday Suit

2008-08-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

This morning washing my face I forgot that I had an additional 1 inch of cotton appendage hooked onto the end of my finger and accidentally dragged it through the stream of flowing water. Yesterday the doctor forbade me from getting this finger wet so, I debated for a few minutes and tried to take the bandages off. They were not soaked but, wet enough that if kept on would probably add un-needed moisture to the suture.

I started taking off the layers of bandages (with the intent to have the school nurse re wrap them as soon as I got to school). First glance at the stitched finger tip made me queasy to the extent that I thought I was going to either pass out or puke... possibly both. I layed down for a minute until it passed. However, in my fading grasp of consciousness did manage to count six knots interweaving themselves in and out of my poor finger.

What caused the most trauma is trying to remove the last bit of gauze I found that it was stuck to one of the stitches (either by dried blood or just a snag) and not wanting to mess it up any more just decided to stick my finger under a hair dryer. Well, I wrapped my finger in a face towel and headed off to school. Getting here I met the school nurse in the hall who took me to the nurse station and re-dressed my finger. She asked me if the stitches were of the dissolving type. Looking back at yesterday, I can't remember anyone saying anything about stitch removal. Other than telling me not to get my finger wet the only other thing I can recall is that from today the entire office is on a two week vacation. Great timing to think of this eh?

Well, I know I need these stitches in my finger for at least a week or so, so feeling no rush to remove them am fine waiting. On Tuesday Ayumi and I were invited by the vice principal to go and have a barbecue with some of his friends tonight. I think his main goal was to get us there to sing Beatles songs and relax with his band. After cutting my finger (rendering myself unable to play) I was afraid to tell the v.p., afraid I would suddenly find myself uninvited. He saw me and first thing he said was, "I hear you cut your finger. I guess you can't play the guitar now."
"Yea, I'm really sorry and don't think I can play guitar at your party".
"It's OK, there are going to be like six of us there with guitars so, as long as you can sing Beatles songs, you should be OK." What a relief, tonight Ayumi and I are going to be treated to a feast (meat and sea-food BBQ) all in exchange of me singing a few Beatles tunes with experienced musicians. That is the life.

A few weeks ago, when my wife and I visited him in his home (click here for link) he was really excited that not only could I sing harmonies but could pronounce the lyrics too. He has told me a few times how much he liked singing with me. Well, I think he told his friends and I saw that he prepared a folder full of Beatles songs to sing tonight. Problem is, I know most of the Beatles songs (thanks to my upbringing) however, they want to sing a lot of ones I am not too familiar with, stuff like Dear Prudence, Mother Nature's Son, etc. Beatles' songs are short so, maybe I can cram some albums tonight when I get home before taking off. I'd hate for them to think they've wasted thier food on me.

I am sitting in the school library, typing with all 9 of my working fingers watching the school girls volley-ball team write thier yearlong goals on a giant flag. I have been here for about fourty-five minutes and more than anything have just seen a lot of goofing off. Its fun, as long as there is air conditioning.

Mr. Picker and the Future Gnarly Scar

2008-08-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

Sounds like the title of an awesome book. Well, you'll soon find out that it is anything but that. Today I thought I would be crafty and using a box cutter, slice about twenty pages out of an old notebook I had lying in my drawer. Well, I set the everything up, laid the ruler down on the page to get a straight line to follow and then applied a little force. Before I knew it, the blade had missed the ruler and was now cutting a nice strip of my left index finger. I started screaming and just kept cutting, just like they do in the movies. Not really but, carved a nice strip about an inch long.

I am surprised how well I held myself together after this happened due to the fact that I don't like blood, let alone my own blood. I tucked the finger into my palm and calmly stood up telling my coworker I just sliced my finger and was going to the nurse. I don't think I freaked out or anything and, actually remember checking my hair in the mirror on the way down so, must not have been too shocked. By the time I reached the nurses office, I had a nice pool of blood in my palm which spilt out onto the floor as soon as I entered. I stuck my head in and probably pale-faced said, "Its been a while!" After telling them what I had done, I washed the wound and was told while applying pressure with the right hand to keep my hand held above my head.

After about thirty seconds, the phone in the nurses' office rang and in spite of her trying to end the conversation numerous times whoever she was talking to (concerned parent) wouldn't let her go for ten minutes. When she finally got off the phone and back to me, my arm was sorer than any puncture wound could have ever made it. In spite of having it had been raised it was still bleeding. She told me because of the depth of the wound and that it was still bleeding, I ought to head to the clinic.

Nobody was in the office that could drive me and this is a pretty small town, so I just decided to keep my finger above my heart and walk. I ran to the bank to get some cash and after a few minutes was on my way and in the clinic. As a side note it is 86 degrees (weather channel tells me it feels like 96 degrees and believe me it knows) with 74% humidity. I get to the clinic around eleven this morning, about an hour since I had cut it.

I had the doctor look at it, and in English he asked me what I had done, if it was hurting and your typical doctor-patient questions. He told me it was pretty deep and would need stitches. I kind of figured this due to the fact that after an hour it was still gushing blood. He gave me a few shots (most painful thing I had felt all day) and sutured me with what I am guessing was about 4-5 stitches. On top of that he hooked me up with some antibiotics and some pain killers and sent me on my merry way.

Well, here I am now three hours since the incision and my finger is really starting to throb. On the plus side, had this not had happened I wouldn't be able to say suture in Japanese nor that my finger hurts with the beating of my heart... sounds more like a love lyric than an actual symptom but, fun none-the-less.

Other than this blunder today, we have been busy in the past few weeks. For one my previous coworker from New Zealand has gone home and in her stead comes Nikki from Chicago. Last Saturday, we had a town festival where my band(?) which had been named "AJ and his Nutty Friends" played a 45 minute set. As the encore, we played Hotel California and my vice principal who had come along to watch us play came and played a guest guitar solo. Really turned out well and the 75 kids under ten along with their parents we were playing for had a fun time too. I knew we were a hit when I could see the wheelchair bound grandpa on the front row shaking his booty!

We have gone to Osaka, which I think Ayumi has maybe blogged on her site. We've been to Gifu which the entire trip can be summed up in one word; sweaty. I don't think we took any pictures but, if so and if OK magazine doesn't give me the $4,000,000 I asked for, you'll see them here first. My finger is throbbing so I am going to sign off but, maybe I'll update this blog with a picture of my finger.

In-and-Out of Retirement

2008-07-15T02:04:00.000-07:00

So, in an e-mail to my mother the other day, I told her I was toying with the thought of retiring this blog. Well mom, if you are reading this now... I guess I can toy with this thing a little bit longer. Ladies and gentlemen, I am back... can't promise anything is going to change though. :)

So, school is officially, unofficially out for the summer. Come Friday, we have the closing ceremonies in both of my schools. Because Friday is typically a Suisan day and, because that night Ayumi and I are going to a party with some of the teachers there, I will head to that school. Pretty much, what goes on is all the students gather into the gymnasium where (this is what I imagine will happen) the vice principal will tell them the principal has an announcement. Next the principal will sit and tell them to have a good summer, use the time to relax and enjoy the time off... kind of weird because even though they don't have class 3/4 of the students will be at school doing their club activities and the mandatory homework assignments.

After the principal gets done, one teacher from the Japanese equivalent of the detention center will probably tell the kids not to screw around, not smoke cigarettes and how if any of them are caught he will insure to make whatever is left of their vacation a living hell! I am serious. The guy is really cool to me but, if I were a student, I would turn around and run if I saw him walking down the hall. I learned from a fellow teacher yesterday that he used to teach English long ago. He teaches something else now but, has a pretty good control of the English language.

So, I have been jamming with my vice-principal after school for the past few weeks. Someone in the community contacted the school looking for a school band to play at a local festival. Well, there is no school band right now so, the V.P. told this person that the English teacher was in a band and that we would maybe perform. Well, I was contacted, and yes I do kind of have a band so, we are going to perform at this festival on the second of August. The size of the participants is said to be around maybe four-hundred people... most of which will probably be little kids and their parents. Sounds fun none-the-less. If possible, will try to get some footage for the blog.

Ayumi and I decided to do some things to our blogs tonight so, I will see if I can find some things to spunk up this page.

A Little 'bit of Buttah

2008-06-29T21:56:00.001-07:00

I don't know about you but, I think this blog needs a little bit of buttering up. To be honest, a blog this established deserves some serious TLC. I have over 1500 hits (Thanks mom!)

Video of the Preschool

2008-06-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

Back to Preschool

2008-06-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

This past week, Shelley and I had the opportunity to go and be special guests at the local preschool's international day- and by international day I mean the day every year where they have the two foreign English teachers from the high school come and play with the kids.

There were about fifty little kids and the teachers wanted us to take five minutes each and tell a little about ourselves and then dance with the kids for a little while. Well, about thirty seconds into my interview I told the kids my favorite color was blue and the next three minutes were all the little kids yelling to me thier favorite colors. I was impressed how many colors they knew in English.

Well, not much to tell about this place but enjoy some pictures.

Oh lately its so quiet!

2008-05-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

It has started to rain a majority of the days the past few weeks. I have been told that the typhoon season starts around now and so, I suppose this is what we are to expect more often than not. I have always enjoyed the rain favorite weather is actually those overcast, windy days. Not having a car though kind of makes it a bummer where at times the rain acts as a prison warden trapping me in the house. Its not like I have anywhere to go anyways. I have been in the house the past two days and that attitude is probably coming out in this first paragraph.

With the summer approaching, the weather has started to change (for the worse). Although not the sweltering heat we had when I first got here last August, I have started feeling the heat and humidity in the mornings when I walk to school. The mornings are still cool but, I have a sweat on my brow upon arriving at school. I attribute this to the humidity- which will only get worse.

Since my last post, quite a few things have happened blog worthy however, I think photos of those events will probably appear on our sister site. Pictures of us at Spain Mura (the local amusement park) and shots of us in Gifu and all the adventures that always go hand-and-hand when that happens. No announcements yet but, either here or there, look for an update.

So right now I am finishing up the last book of the Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King. There is a character in the story named Legolas; a character who after hearing the cries of the seagulls becomes obsessed with traveling to the sea (which he has never seen) and kind of adopts the idea as his destiny. Not that that has anything to do with anything but, for the past few weeks, as the weather has become more and more appropriate, I have felt this strong urge to head to the beach. I am in a bad spot because the beach is close enough where I could and should be going to it however, it is far enough away that without a car, it is too hard to get to. It just sits there, day after day, calling me. Remember the pictures of the beaches that I posted at the beginning of my blog (which turns 1 next month)? It beckons to me.

I feel like I need to go on some kind of adventure. Maybe go hiking or something. Something big, I feel like I have been stagnant for a long time and need to do something exciting. Not to say I haven't done fun things or enjoyed myself but, I feel like I need a challenge or something to take my breath away. Sorry, I think I am just typing out my thoughts.

For about the past two months, I have been playing guitar pretty seriously. Although I am probably not much better than I was before I left, I can actually play a few fun songs. I meet once (sometimes twice) a week with some great friends I met through the community English class I help teach once a month who I meet with on Wednesday nights just to play guitar. I am by far the worse of the group however in spite of that, we manage to all have a good time. We are practicing a few Japanese folk songs from the 70's, and although I don't sing I thoroughly enjoy playing and singing the occasional harmony. I was lent a guitar last November and just recently Ayumi was lent a bass which she has been coming and playing bass for the songs which we are practicing.

My vice principal at my school is quite the musician as well. Through a conversation with him a few months ago, I learned that he was quite the Beatles fan and told me he could play all their songs. A few days later at school, he pulled me aside and asked if I had a few minutes. I told him yes and was led to a teachers lounge where he showed me he had two electric guitars and a bass (which apparently have always been there). There he sat and played guitar for me for about thirty minutes and not only did he know the Beatles, but could play them perfectly. He then went on the play some classic rock and blew my mind! Honestly the best guitar play that I have ever met.

About a week ago, he pulled me aside again and asked if I had some time. I told him yes; he got the two guitars, the bass and proceed to walk to the counseling center where he passed the bass to another teacher and led us to a small building on campus. In this old dusty room was two drum sets, four amps, two keyboards and a set of microphones. He had printed out some chord sheets and while me and this teacher followed them along, he sat and played the blues, jazz and some classic rock. The last song he wanted us to play the chords to was Hotel California which upon playing revealed that he knew the guitar solo at the end. We all sat there and jammed for about an hour and promised to meet again and practice something to play at the school festival in September. He and I have met two times since then, after school to practice Hotel California, and I am excited to see what we can muster up between now and September.

My one year mark is quickly approaching and with it, although still aways away, I need to start thinking about life after this job. I don't know what I am going to do but, one thing for sure, I need to get my Japanese up. I have had fun, and have been able to shoot the breeze no problem here but, I really need to get serious and get some real power in my speaking ability. Maybe I will spend the afternoon setting some goals- also need to find a way to get to the beach!

Raccoon Village

2008-04-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

Today we took a school trip to a Raccoon Village. Look at the pictures for some explanations.

Why, what is this?

All this and I slept in until 10:30!

2008-04-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

So, Saturday is usually my big lay around and do nothing day but today was something different. Let me start with last night. Every few months, the teachers at my school get together and have a big drinking party (as you have seen in a few of my other posts) well last night was yet another one of those big functions. They are a pain to go to but, in the end I always end up having a great time whenever I go. The school season in Japan ends in March and starts in April. As a result, as with any school anywhere I suppose, you lose some teachers and you gain some teachers. Well, what happened last night was they had all the teachers who had left, and all those new teachers gather with everyone else and well... to make a long story short, a lot of boring speeches. They sat us all down in front of a lot of really good looking sea food and passed the mic around. 46 minutes later (I timed it) we all tipped our wine glasses to the sky and toasted something... I quit paying attention on like the 11th teachers speech. Kind of weird raising an empty glass but, I wasn't alone.

Well, as the night goes on, and everyone has had a few minutes to drink what you do is you take a beer bottle over to someone you want to talk to and sit in front of them and talk, filling up their glass whenever it gets low. Kind of fun, kind of obligatory and kind of tiring at the same time too. Well, one such instance I decided to speak to my vice principal, who I thought was a pretty cool guy already. Come to find out, he plays guitar and bass, and has been doing so since about 17 yrs old. He is getting up there so, I guesstimate he has been playing the guitar for around 40 years? Well, anyways for the past 20, he has been getting together playing with a band he started every week which plays big band hits like Glen Miller and things like Sinatra and, Armstrong, Brubeck. Just a whole lot of fun, jazzy things. Well, we spoke for a while and then the party was moved to another room, the karaoke room. Well, he and I decided to do a duet so we set up a little Elvis and knocked it way out of the stadium. All I can say is I am glad I have a pretty fun personality and not afraid to meet to and talk to new people!

So, starting in Isobe there is a bike trail which if you follow, takes you along the beach, in the middle of nowhere and after a few hours you end up at a lighthouse which is pretty famous in this region. Well, we hopped on our bikes at around half past noon, thinking we would hit this place in like an hour... at least I did. It was a really warm day, warmest we have had all year so putting on light jackets we headed out armed only with our bikes, wallets and cellphones. After about forty five minutes on the road we stopped by a convienant store where we bought a few snacks and headed out onto the road again. Well, as it turns out, we arrived at this lighthouse about three hours after leaving home. It wasn't too bad of a trip but, just a lot of up and down, up and down. The weather was favorable and upon reaching our destination, a quick climb to the top provided a few choice shots. Too bad the quality is cell-phone quality but, not bad none-the-less. Well, at the end of the day, we found ourselves in a city we frequent often but, having our bikes gave us a reason to do a little bit of shopping. We went to lunch, bought a bunch of stuff for the house and for my class and finally made it home. Looking at the map below, you can see the route we followed. Ended up being around 35-40 kilometers. It was a really, really, really fun day.

Why... what is this?

Why, what is this?

2008-04-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

Nothing special but, just playing around with my phone and computer.

Today I am at Suisan

2008-03-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today I am at Suisan Highschool. The semester and school year are pretty much done and after a few weeks of school being off we will start again the second week of April. It has finally started warming up here and just as quickly as it had become cold in the fall, the same kind of transaction has happened here for spring; one day freezing cold, the next incredably warm. It has been pretty constant too. This week we have seen quite a lot of rain and wind. Yesterday, while walking home from the train station, the wind took my umbrella and turned the thing completly inside out. I knew it was bad when I heard snapping aluminum. The thing was shot, no chance of fixing it. I guess that is what you get when you pay around $2.50 for an umbrella.

Ayumi is in Gifu for the weekend. Her mom wanted some help learning how to use Microsoft Powerpoint and with her little sister being home for a few days from college she thought this would be a good time to go. I am home cat-sitting.

Our cat Hershey has started with the most obnoxious hobby lately. She likes to sleep and be lazy all day long but, as soon as it gets dark and we start winding down for bed she thinks she needs to run around and play. It wouldn't be so bad if we lived on the bottom floor but, I can only imagine the poor person benieth us. I am sure she is awoken by Hershey jumping off her kitty-condo and then chasing the mouse on the wooden floor. We shut her up as quickly as we can but, I guess we are lucky whoever is beneith us is really patient... or just deaf.

I went to the gym on Tuesday and my chest and arms still hurt. I guess that happens when you exercise only once every three months. :P

Raw Lobster

2008-03-09T21:23:00.001-07:00

This blog is long overdue for a makeover. For the first time in a long time this past weekend I thought about my blog and the serious lack of anything going on with it. Winter has come and gone and with that being said, I can probably get rid of that 'winter button' I have on here. Pictures are a little out of date too.

This month marks the beginning of my eighth month here in Isobe. I got here in the middle of a humid summer and with Spring now just beginning, before too long will have experienced all four seasons. Ayumi has been working at a English school three times a week since the beginning of November which ends at the end of this month. We are both excited to have her home in the evenings but, now the inexcapable feeling of her needed to find something else comes back to haunt us. The extra money is nice but, with student loans and rent due every month, in spite of her working leaves us little to play with anyways.

This past Friday I had a company party which I attended. It was at an inn in a nearby town. We were given the choice to stay the night or just go for the food. I chose not to stay the night (price is a lot more expensive than I was willing to pay). It was pretty much all you can eat seafood and drink expensive alcohol. Me not being a drinker indulged myself in watching everyone get trashed, and knowing I was helping to pay for it in the end. Funny how alcohol brings out a different side of people you don't usually get to see.

One particular thing we ate which I thought was interesting was fresh lobster. We each had our own plate. So fresh indeed that it was still moving around when they brought it out. From what I could tell they had done was they had cut the lobster in half width-wise, they turned the now disembodied tail over, split it in two and pulled out all the meat and displayed it now in the split open tail. They threw all this back on the plate, both halves of the lobster, and brought it to me to eat raw. I get this lobster on my plate and can see all its legs are still moving, his eyeballs are still rolling around, his antlers are still feeling around. He wasn't going anywhere, probally due to the fact that his guts were being chewed in my mouth at that very moment. Well, I am not sure if he was dead or dying but, he sure tasted good- raw lobster!

So last week at school we had the all the students taking tests. With that all done and out of the way, we now have a few weeks of abolutley nothing going on at school. I could start to plan lessons but, don't know what I am facing for next year so until I do, am just making general use games.

I will try to spice up this blog!

Ayumi's new blog

2008-02-18T05:13:00.001-08:00

http://www.iroha-123.blogspot.com/

Fotos From my Fone

2008-02-05T04:28:00.000-08:00

So, I have some photos from my phone that I decided tonight is as good as any to upload to my blog. We were in Hokkaido last week for the wedding of Ayumi's cousin and because we didn't have a camera our father in law took lots of pictures for us. Until I get those uploaded, enjoy these random shots from my phone.

The International Interaction Society of Shima-Isobe

2008-01-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago I was invited by a teacher who I work with at Suisan Highschool to teach a traditional American dish at an upcoming cooking seminar the above mentioned society was holding. With a little brainstorming Ayumi and I thought it would be fun to do Hawaiian Haystacks, Potato Salad and my mom's famous Jello with bananas and whipped cream. Here are a few photos of the activity! Enjoy!

Wednesday Night

2008-01-09T03:31:00.000-08:00

So, I thought I was off to a great start with those two entries, and then logging on today to write a little something I find that it has been a week since I last wrote. Anyways, New Years has come and gone and come to think of it, right now is the first time that I think I have written the numbers 2008. What is weird is that I can remember it turning 1990 and thinking to myself, "Wow, only ten more years until 2000", that was 18 years ago. I can remember New Years 1998 being at my good friend Joey's house and playing Prince's 1999 on his Jukebox... actually, I don't know if I remember that or not and am just thinking it happened. Anyways, time flies.

So here we are back in Shima. Ayumi is off at work tonight leaving me alone and instead of coming home to an empty house (which indoubtadbly happens anyway) I decided to hang around school a bit longer and go watch some of the school clubs practicing. After that got old, and I got cold, I decided to head home. I got home around five and after checking my e-mail decided to go jogging and look for the local gym. I got my running clothes on and headed out. I had been to the gym once on my own (I have been driven there a few times for tennis) and that one time was in the day, on my bike and was the difficult, straight up hill route. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I found that the gym had a back entrance which a less threatning road lead up to. Finding that road, and ultimatley the gym was my goal. Well, I took off and fifteen minutes later I arrived, sweat soaked and probally pretty stinky. All it costs to use the exercise facilities here is about a dollar. There were a few nice guys that I chatted with for a while and the gave me some pointers on how to use the machines thay had. Well, I ran home and am determined to try and be a little more fit this year so, lets see what happens.

Happy New Years II

2008-01-01T23:04:00.000-08:00

So, here I am on Jan 2nd, writing my second post of the year. So far, so good. I wonder how many blogs are starting with something like that today... Anyways, we are home now in Shima, it was a nice week in Gifu with the in-laws but, as always nice to be home. While there we bought a few things much needed here at home. Up until now we haven't had an oven. In Japan, ovens like those we are accustomed to in the states are pretty expensive. Hard to find and even harder to find the space in your place to put one. We bought a microwave/oven unit about 1 1/2 times bigger than a standard microwave. We are excited to be able to bake cookies, cakes and other delicacies we have done without for the past few months.

Both a little tired so, I will do only this for today but, will write tomorrow!

-Thanks to all who read this!

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T00:35:00.000-08:00

Another year has come and gone (I wonder how many blogs are going to start with something like that today) and it is hard to believe that I spent the latter part of this year over here in Japan. Time is flying but, we are enjoying every minute of it. We are at Ayumi's parents place for the holiday with plans of returning tomorrow afternoon. It has been nice to be able to step away from our life in Shima and be with family and able to relax with them. Although I don't have to be at work until next Monday we will be home for a few days where we can get a bit of New Years cleaning done and relax there before having to start the school rush again.

At the end of next month we will be heading up to Hokkaido for a few days for a wedding of Ayumi's cousin. I am excited to go up there and see my little sister-in-law whom I haven't seen in and to go and sight see up there. I really like Hokkaido mostly because it is where I served for two years as a missionary from 2000-2002. It has been over five years since I have been up there and leaving I honestly didn't think I would ever go back but, luck have it I married into this culture and am actually going back. Ayumi's little sister is in med-school in a city named Asahikawa which is relatively close to two cities I lived in combined for over a year (Takikawa and Iwamizawa). They are close enough that I think I will go and stick my heads in them and take a look around. Only been five years but, when I'm only twenty-six, it is like 1/5 of my life ago :). Hopefully I will be writing in my blog a little bit more earnestly then and will include pictures and updates when I get back... don't plan on taking my computer up there.

So New Years in Japan; its not like what I am used to back in the states, or at least what I saw on TV last night wasn't. They start a variety show on television from about six-thirty where they have music acts lined up back-to-back with a little bit of commentary until about eleven-thirty. Mostly Japanese pop (which mostly I don't care for) and Japanese traditional singing style named Enka. I would maybe compare it with something like Frank Sinatra or Country music. For an example click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTa2QIMKq64
Beleive it or not, I actually have sung this song at karaoke. Well, at eleven-thirty they then do this Buddhist/Shinto (don't know which) where they ring these bells at temples 108 times. Apparently what it is is, for each ring you hear you are suppose to forget a bad thing you've done or ask for forgiveness or something like that. Well, from eleven-thirty to midnight, it just had all these live shots of all these old temples around Japan and the monks ringing the bells. People wait in line from who knows when until midnight waiting to be allowed to go ring a bell and pray to the gods. Interesting to note though, where in the States if it showed a bunch of people on New Years waiting for the countdown as soon as the camera was on them they would start to scream and yell yet, in Japan everyone was quiet and reserved waiting for the time to turn midnight. As soon as it did, people would go and pray at the shrine. Surprisingly the only people who did make silly faces and yell on the camera were foreigners who happened to be crowds they were filming.

I will write more tomorrow...

Happy New Year

A little late...

2007-12-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

So, I know it is a little late to be posting this but, I took a few photos of our apartment. The downside is they're all taken with my cell phone so the quality of the shots are a little crummy.

I also have a few pictures of some school lunches I eat and a pizza we ordered the other day.

Kyoto 3

2007-11-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

Now if there are any learned people on Buddhism reading this blog and know better than I do, I appologize if the information I am giving is wrong. Now, as I have been told there are certain things that people need to go to do in thier lifetime at these Buddhist temples/shrines maybe to make it to the other side or something like that. As with any culture, back in the day it wasn't too uncommon in Japan for small children to die before they got very old. As a precaution to this, I guess the Japanese take thier young girls to these shrines around the ages of 7-10(?) where they dress them up in pretty kimonos and have them recite some type of prayer or something or get something like a blessing from a Buddhist priest. Well, unfortunatley I don't have any pictures of these little girls that we saw at the shrine but, there were a handfull of little girls all dressed up. I do have a picture of Ayumi when she was little doing this though and it is dang cute! Anyways, this was one of the things we witnessed at this temple.

Now somewhere in the pictures I have a shot of a few little trees covered with paper. I think these are maybe prayers that people are petitioning the Buddah with and somehow tieing them to a tree works in this cause. Pretty neat looking none-the-less. This place is also known for housing one of the biggest (if not the biggest tori (Buddhist gate) in Japan. I do have a shot of that, you'll see strattling the road. ***This just in! I have been told by some students that people go to these temples and write thier sins and weakpoints on these little papers and by fastening them to the tree, receive forgiveness or are able to forget them. Anyways, enjoy the pictures. Onto the next place.

A few years ago in college I read a book named entitled The Tale of Genji about a young aristocratic playboy written a thousand + years ago. I think it is credited with being one of the worlds oldest novels. Well, our journey in Kyoto took us that a temple named Rozonji where the author Murasaki Shikibu is said to have probably written part of it. While at the temple, on display are old authentic copies of the novel. I don't think any originals exist but, pretty old copies. This place is where the photos of the Japanese garden were taken.

The final place we visited this trip was a place called the Abe shrine. This is the picture of the star fountain and the one with Ayumi standing by a gate. Japan is a pretty superstitious country. A thousand years ago a guy name Abe no Seimei was famed for being a demon slayer of sorts. Apparently he was able to remove possessing demons from people and did all sorts of healings. Well, this shrine was build shortly after his death and then, redone a few years ago after a successful release of a movie based on his life. Too bad because the shrine now feels like a cheap advertisement for the franchise and not the cool, creepy superstitious atmosphere that you think the place would have. It was fun to go and see it though. There you can pay to have priests assess your person and maybe remove spirits.

Well, that was all we had time for this last trip. It was fun but, as you can imagine walking from place to place was a bit tiring. Kyoto is beautiful but, too big to hit in one day walking. I'll try and update this blog a little more often!

Kyoto Part II

2007-11-13T05:21:00.001-08:00

So, here we are at the temple. As you can see in the pictures it is very beautiful but, a little crowded. Aside from the views, the thing that drives the crowds to this temple is its water. I think the name Kiyomizu comes from the words kiyomeru which means cleanse, purify and mizu which means water. At a particular part of this temple there are three streams of falling water which each grant an attribute to the drinker upon consumption. I think one stream is wisdom, one is health and the other for physical beauty or happiness... something along those lines. There was a long line to get to it plus, I wasn't to interested in pressing my lips against a cup which has probally seen more milage than Paris Hilton. Well, enjoy the pictures of that.

After having our fill of that place, we decided to start back down the streets and back on our self guided tour of Kyoto. At the base of the temple I was suprised to see three monks standing there chanting while begging for money. Thier way of chanting is probally the coolest thing I have ever heard. I had heard recordings of it but, this was the first time I had seen it live. They have these sutras which are written in old Japanese which they speak from memorization all in a low voice at the exact time. It is hard to explain but, I will see if I can find an audio copy of it and post it on the blog somewhere. As soon as I had left the temple, I was a little upset with myself that I hadn't used the camcorder function on our camera. Well, away from the monks and down the tourist streets.

We next headed for an area in Kyoto named Gion which is famous for its Geishas. I imagine that had we been there closer to dusk it would have been a bit more lively but, apparently come night this place is full of Geishas with thier clients going in and out of bars, taxis etc. The only photo I have is of somones backside which has been included in the slideshow.

Next we started to walk to another famous place in Kyoto, the Heian shrine. Heian is the name of a time period in Japanese history. I find this period most fascinating but, not too many people know of it because it was a few hundred years before the Samurai/Ninja time periods Japan is famous for. Here is what I have dug up on the place from the net:

The Heian Jingū (平安神宮) is a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. The torii before the main gate is one of the largest in Japan, and the main building, or shaden (社殿), is designed to imitate the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

The Heian Jingū was built in 1895 for the 1,100th anniversary of the establishment of Heiankyō (the old name of Kyoto). The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Kanmu and Emperor Kōmei. The former moved the capital to Heiankyō, and the latter was the last before Emperor Meiji, who moved the capital to Tokyo.

The Heian Jingū hosts the Jidai Matsuri, one of the three most important festivals of Kyoto. The procession of this festival begins at the old Imperial palace, and includes carrying the mikoshi (portable shrines) of Emperors Kanmu and Kōmei to the Heian Jingū.

Now don't that just sound interistin'?

I'll have more pictures and explantions tomorrow.

Kyoto I

2007-11-12T07:18:00.001-08:00

When I was a little boy, I can remember seeing on TV the blockbuster hit that had all the kids in school talking, Big Bird Goes to Japan. You know the one where he out bows the old lady? Anyways, in that movie he ends up in Kyoto where he meets some little girl who ends up being some princess from the moon (not to be confused with the life size, creepy, dancing monkey... that was Big Bird Goes to China. Well ever since watching that movie, I had always wanted to go to Kyoto; which is probably one of the biggest national/international tourist spots in this country. This past Saturday, we made the trek.

I don't want to explain all the history of the city, nor do I think anyone would care but, will include for starters this little snippet from the Internet on the city.

Kyoto was the capital of Japan and the residence of the Emperor from 794 until the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the capital was moved to Tokyo. During its millennium at the center of Japanese power, culture, tradition, and religion, it accumulated an unparalleled collection of palaces, temples and shrines, built for emperors, shoguns, and monks.

Whenever you are looking at a book on Japan and it shows those old stereotypical Japanese pagodas and wooden buildings more likely than not, those pictures were taken in Kyoto. Anyways, as the article says, this place was the center of Japan until America forced Japan to open its doors to western trade and the capital was changed to where it is now. With that being said, you can imagine that there is a lot of culture and architecture to be had there. Because we are so far from anything, we had to wake up pretty early in time to get there in time to have any time to see anything. Try saying that three times fast. We got up Saturday morning around four, so we could leave the house and be at the train station by five-fifteen. As you can see in the pictures, the station looked pretty busy. Well, three transfers and three hours later we found ourself pulling into Kyoto around nine in the morning.

After a few minutes of getting settled and finding our bearings we took off to a place called the Sanjusangen-do which is famous for having over a thousand of the same statue in this building all surrounding an even bigger, exact same statue... only bigger. All made of wood and all (once) covered with gold leaf. Very cool and very interesting. Taking pictures inside is forbidden but, here are some snaps I stole from the net.

As can be said with any photo taken, these don't do the site any justice. I am not quite sure the tie but, somehow Buddhism has a relation with Hinduism and some of the statues in this building are Hindu gods adopted into the Buddhist teachings. Maybe like how when the Romans took over the Greeks they merged their religion with the Greeks, or something along those lines. A place I would have loved to had taken pictures but, I guess in my memory will have to suffice for now.

Next we took a little walk to a famous place called the Kiyomizu temple. For lack of being able to write anything creative about it I will copy and paste an entry of the place from wikitravel and then write my comments underneath.

Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺). This temple complex, with a spectacular location overlooking the city, is a deservedly popular attraction, approached by either of two tourist-filled souvenir-shop-lined streets. Highlights of the temple complex include;

* The main hall's wooden veranda, supported by hundreds of pillars and offering incredible views over the city.

* Jishu-jinja, the love-themed shrine selling countless charms to help you snag the one you love, and featuring two "love stones" positioned around 18m apart which the lovelorn must walk between with eyes closed to confirm their loved one's affection.

* Otowa-no-taki the temple's waterfall, which gives it its name (Kiyomizu literally means 'pure water'). Visitors stand beneath the waterfall, and collect water to drink by holding out little tin cups.

Anyways, I have a few pictures of this place in the slide show at the top but, still have a lot of pictures to be added so, don't think that those are it, because they aren't. Anyways, got to run to class. Will write more later.

Tennis

2007-11-08T04:31:00.000-08:00

I think I have mentioned it a time or two in this blog but, monthly I teach an adult English class at the local community center with Shelley, the other JET here in Isobe. These members get together every Wednesday at a city run sports park and play tennis, and from what I hear have been doing it for a few years. Well, I was invited to attend with them a few weeks ago and being constantly sick was always unable to make it. Although I still have a bit of a scratchy throat, cough and a stuffy nose, last night I went along, which I regret to say is probably the first decent bit of exercise I have gotten since coming here.

The event went from seven-thirty through nine-thirty and in spite of being a bit chilly went quite well. I didn't have any cold weather exercise clothes so I wore some sporty pajamas and I don't think anyone knew. Tennis was rather fun and having only played a hand full of times in my life did pretty good. I warned everyone before starting that I was really inexperienced but, was able to catch on quickly. I think a lot of it had to do with all the Wii tennis matches against dad and my brothers. It was a fun time and I think I will go again.

Japanese Schools

2007-10-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be interesting to write a little bit about Japanese schools because they are a little different than what those of us in the States are accusomed to. I think the first thing that strikes people with being different is the school uniforms that the students are requied to wear. This starts from Jr. High school and goes up through graduation. I'll try and find some pictures to accompany this post but, in the event that I don't I'll briefly try and describe what they wear. I teach at two schools and both have differnt uniforms but, for the most part, the boys are in navy slacks and white collar shirt at Suisan and charcol-plaid with white collar for Shima. Now that it is cold, the students are required to wear thier jackets which for Shima make them look like the stereotypical ivy-league college student we see in movies with thier slacks, jacket and school insignia on the front. The Suisan jackets are dark navy to match thier pants and looks more like a military uniform than slacks and blazer. The girls at both schools are required to wear a uniform skirt; colors matching the boys' colors. The top being a white collar shirt. I once heard someone describe the Japanese schoolgirl uniform as having been designed by someone with a fetish for little school girls- which is how the uniforms make them look. It is hard to describe these uniforms but, hopefully looking at a picture you'll be able to make sense of these words.
In the States, students have seven periods with lockers to store thier stuff inbetween classes as they go from here-to-there. In Japan, students stay in the class where it is the teacher who changes each period. You still take all your classes with the entire class (there are some students that do go to other classes for some periods my observations show that this is not very common... at least at where I am teaching.) In the states, where it is the students that come to the teachers room, the teacher has a little bit of freedom/motivation to decorate the room to make it warm, comfortable and applicable to the content of the class. Because here, the students are the ones staying... the room has an atmosphere of a prison more than a classroom. Note that this comment is bias because having grown up where decorated rooms is the norm to me that is normal making this seem odd.
Another intersting thing that happens here is at the beginning of class, the class leader will yell out (in Japanese) "Stand" upon which all students stand up. Next he/she yells "Bow" to which all students bow to the teacher and the teacher bows back in return... then class starts.
Back in the day students would go to school on Saturday, with school being the only day off. Back in the day wasn't too long ago either being that I think Ayumi was required to go when she was in school too. School here has six periods as opposed to the seven I grew up with. After lunch or after school, there are about twenty minutes in which the students are required to clean the school. They sweep the halls, haul out garbage, erase the chalkboards, etc. This is done daily at Shima and Suisan I don't ever see. Still figuring it out.
Students here in Japan are not allowed to have color in thier hair nor any piercings while in class. The are forbidden from using hair wax/gel in thier hair. I think makeup is off limits but, I still see students doing it... I don't this this is enforced too strictly.
School starts at 8:45 and goes until around 3:30. Immediatley following school starts clubs which go until around 6:00-6:30 where the kids will either go home or go to a cram school to learn more stuff. Japan is strict and all I can say is I really had it good when I was growing up!

Darn that cosmic force!

2007-10-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

It seems like I always have something going on in my life since getting here worth writing about yet... never find the time to do it. Last week I've got a story to bring a tear to your eye. It all takes place last week; last Tuesday to be exact. Normally on Tuesday and Friday mornings I take off here around twenty to eight to head over to the station to catch the train and then the boat to get down to my school. I don't know what it was but, some cosmic force interrupted the flow of my life to the extent that I found myself leaving the house like seven minutes late; and by cosmic force I mean laziness- sleeping in. Anyways, if i miss this train, I miss the ferry and the next one doesn't come for another hour-forty minutes so I dare not be late.

Well, so here I am at seven forty-seven with four minutes to catch the train. I sprint to the train station darting up the stairs where I meet a student I teach at Shima high school. He tries to talk to me and I tell him I am sorry and must run to catch the train. I purchase my ticket and can hear the sound of my train arriving at the platform, meaning I have only a few seconds before it leaves. Little did I know these next few seconds would be some very short life altering seconds. Well, I grab my ticked and head down the stairs. I don't know what it was but, guessing it was that same cosmic force which held me in bed long past my due time. I could feel the wind blowing through my recently cut hair when suddenly I feel my feet go out from under me. Thankfully I was alone on the stairs and, as far as I am aware the only witness to this blunder. Well, I suddenly found myself flying forward and instinctively rolled into that fetal position my mother had trained me to use so many years ago. Well, I don't know much of what happened but, somehow in the course of about four or five stairs I had somersaulted and landed back on my feet. I'm not aware that I had made any noise during the scuffle but, apparently did because at the bottom of the stairs were two of my students who said they had heard something but didn't know what. I decided to keep my cool and act like nothing had happened. I checked my clothes for holes and jumped onto the train (amazingly I made it!)

I sat on the train processing the happenings of the last few moments when I saw the old lady across from me was staring at my hands. It was at this time that I realized that all the knuckles on my right hand and a few of my left were bleeding. I am sure not knowing that I had just taken a spill down the stairs she probably thought this weird foreigner had just pummeled somebody before jumping on the train. Well, I reached into my bag and the only thing I could find was my face wipes I carry so, wiping away my wounds I had the nice stinging burn thanks to the alcohol. I pulled out my phone to check the time only to find that apparently it was the phone that had broken my fall because it was bent in half and the screen was completely shattered. I could see nothing on the screen but, somehow could still dial Ayumi with my speed dial. Anyways, broke my phone. This was no ordinary phone, I could watch television on my phone, I could listen to MP3's on my phone, I could surf the net and download streaming... this phone was nothing short of a miracle. The good news is that the phone was insured so, I took it to the store and in about two weeks I should get a new one... being that it was my fault (or some unknown cosmic force) I am responsible to pay some money but, that is what happened last week.

Bonus Photos

2007-10-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the other night we had a party with the English Conversation students I teach one a month. Here are some of those photos as well as an exclusive shot of out bedroom (with no beds, we keep the futons in the closet when we clean up) and lovable ol' Hershey. Enjoy

Some photos as promised

2007-10-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Something wrong with my computer

2007-10-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

So this week at the schools in Japan is what I figure to be the equivalant of mid-terms. As a result the teachers are busy making tests and as a precaution, no student is allowed to set foot inside the teachers office. Another nice side-effect of this is that other than two classes which I taught this morning, I am off the hook as far as teaching goes this week. Tomorrow at Suisan, I need to lend my voice to a tape recorder so they can record some listening comprehension questions for the tests but, other than that nothing. Now, if I am a good boy I will spend all this free time at school studying Japanese for a big language comprehension test coming up in December. I have been busy today with preparations for tomorrow nights adult English conversation class that Shelley and I teach but, having that done, an no desire to study, I thought I would seize this oppourtunity and fill in my blog.

As I wrote last week, Ayumi and I have caught some nasty colds. On the scale of judging colds from good to bad I am not quite sure where nasty lies but, from the way we have been feeling, its near the top. It all started a week ago last Saturday; Ayumi and I had gone to Suisan's school festival. We went, had a great time and some good food. Upon getting home we both crashed on the futons and unintentionally took a two hour nap. Waking up I felt a little queasy. You know before you get sick you can feel it coming one? That is how I felt. By night, my body was warm and nose starting to run. Sunday spent the whole day in bed. Monday and Tuesday were days off too... spent bundled up with a red nose and a box of tissues. Ayumi had the same symptoms but followed a day behind me. Well, now here we are a week and a half later. Better but, still sick. I'm still need to blow my nose quite often, and every time I cough (which is now only once an hour or so) I am coughing up the junk in my lungs. This cold has been going around. I've watched it skip from one teacher to the other, anticipating my turn. The only good thing that can come out of this is knowing, whatever is going around, I've already caught it and don't need to worry about getting it again.

Lately I have started reading Japanese comic books to help improve my language. I am currently reading a series called Dragon Ball which is pretty popular and has been consistantly written since the late eighties. The comic book is intended for elementary level where I gauge my reading ability (at the very bottom of that list). So far, I am on issue 17. If you google Dragon Ball, you can see some pictures. Altough not very popular in the states, they are fairly familiar.

In the neighboring city is an English man who runs with his Japanese wife an English conversation class. They have given Ayumi a phamplet which needs to be transulated from Japanese into English so, that is what Ayumi has been doing lately. With the seaons changing, I would like to get out and do some running. The other week, at the school sports festival I barley ran at all and pulled muscles in both of my calves. Afraid to do it again... I am afraid to run. I guess that is what stretching is for.

As I mentioned in the title, something has been wrong with my computer lately. Nothing serious but, I have a lot of picutres I have taken over the past little while I would like to post on the blog however, when I try and make a slideshow on picasa, there is some error where it loops me through the password entry screen again and again and again...
I think it is my browswer I am using but, too lazy to check it out. That will be my goal between now and the next entry.

Amyways, thanks for all those who read my blog.

A much anticipated entry

2007-10-10T01:10:00.000-07:00

Well folks, I am sick. All this running around going to festivals and eating delicious food has finally caught up with me. Last Saturday Ayumi and I took a trip down to Suisan High School to experience their school festival which apparently wiped us both out. Upon getting home, we crashed and took a two-hour, unintentional nap. Those are always the worse. I am not much of a fan of napping. Not that I have a lot to do during the day but, when I nap I feel like I have lost two hours. Well, I guess this nap gave me an excuse to get some extra snuggle time with Ayumi but, when I woke up I could feel sick was coming upon me. I had a few days off of work (great timing to get sick) so I spent Saturday, Sunday, Monday and most of Tuesday home sick in bed. Ayumi wasn't so bad but, come last night she started to get worse. Just when I was getting better she got sick. I had runny nose, cough, that all-around I feel like garbage feeling and a bit of a sore throat. Today Ayumi has the same symptoms but, we can add a fever to the list of things haunting her. I got online to view conference (being that we are a day early) but, online transcripts aren't released until this Thursday so, if everyone has started heading for Missouri... we're going to be late.

I have lots of pictures from the festivals as well as an intent to write about them but, sick and no energy to do it now so... please wait a little bit longer.

So, guess who finally got a haircut?

2007-10-05T18:17:00.001-07:00

Me baby, me! Yes, this ol' miser finally let common sense get to him and went out and got a haircut. As you'll see in some of the pictures later in this post, I was getting a bit shaggy. It's not that shaggy hair is bad or anything but, I suffer from UHGS (Uncontrollable Hair Growth Syndrome) which means the hair on my head grows at different speeds depending on the zones of my head. The sides and back grow really fast while, the hair on the top likes to take it's time and is in absolutely no rush to come out and present itself. As a result, I start to get this really cute mullet in the back, mad scientist hair on the sides and the world famous AJ up-doo in the front. So, I'm thinking of growing out my hair a bit but, realizing there is a stylish way to do so, opted to go get it cut and see what happens. Well, as you can see in the picture... I probably look like I did when you last all saw me. True but, now I've got this sportin' cool haircut which is like a faux-hawk extreme. If there is such a thing as a stylish mullet... I am on that path. Well, it looks cool but, I think its more Japanese than American. Well, I'm split right down the middle so I'll wear this for a while as I keep growing out the top. It's hard for me to go anywhere here without making a big deal out of it so, for the enjoyment of those reading my blog, I snapped a few shots in the parlour so you can see mine and Ayumi's new cuts.

This week we had some festivals at the schools but, I've got to run now and catch another so... I'll post later with some pictures of that. In the meantime... enjoy my new haircut!

Sports Day

2007-09-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

So in Japan, its tradition to have a sports festival at the school for the students. Ours at Shima High School happened to be this past Wednesday. In Japanese schools (Jr. High and High School) you're with one class the entire year where the teacher changes every period unlike in the States, where the teacher stays and the students change. Is that confusing? Anyways, this sports day is a huge competition between all the different classes at the school. Each class has a name (1A 1B 1C for Sophomores, 2A 2B 2C for Juniors and 3A 3B 3C...etc of Seniors). For preparation the past few weeks the students have been staying after school with their class designing class t-shirts and making giant flags which they rally around at the festival. So, anyways Wednesday comes and the big day has arrived.

The entire school is to report out to the field by eight-forty five where we do stretches, have some opening remarks by the principal and each class parades around the field with their flag (a la Olympic opening ceremony). The only difference though is they have the band playing the school song and each step of each class is perfectly coordinated to the beat so it is like watching a military drill. Anyways, this whole day was pretty much like a high school track meet minus the non-track events. There were relays and hurdles... Then there were weird ones like giant tire pulls and class jump roping. All in all it took the whole day and just watching it made me tired. I was pooped at the end and grateful when it was over.

I did injure myself though. Trying to run a fifty meter dash at full speed without stretching can really pull a number on the front of your calves. I don't recommend doing it. Please enjoy the low-quality pictures taken with my phone!

So, I was cleaning up my bookmarks and...

2007-09-25T02:18:00.000-07:00

So, I was cleaning up my bookmarks and I saw this old dusty page which I hadn't been to in a while. I clicked on it only to find that it was an online blog which I had been doing in the past. Well, I thought to myself, I've gone this far as to open the page I might as well type something. So, here I am. I think it has been two weeks since my last post. I'll have to remember what I wrote in the pat as to make sure I don't repeat myself time and time again.

Well, to be honest, the reason I have not written much in the past little while is because not much has happened. School has started and with it we finally have found a rhythm to our lives again. Although things are still a little chaotic, having a constant schedule now makes it nice. I know on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, I am up at seven thirty to head off to Shima high school. There I teach a total of seven classes a week, mostly made up of whatever content I choose. It is nice to have the flexibility but, with little or no help from the teachers am not quite sure on what level I should be basing the lessons. Tuesdays and Fridays are up at seven to get ready and head to the train station to get to the city to catch my boat. I teach nine classes there in a week and thankfully, it is the teachers who do all the preparation at that school. I sometimes think I teach more than a real teacher.

Two weeks ago this Wednesday, I decided to play a little rugby with the team after school; First and probably only time I will do that. About fifteen minutes into it, I tackled a kid and in the process scraped up both my legs and tore off all the skin on my left knee. Guesstimating about four inches across, two high. As soon as the adrenalin wore off, I was in a world of hurt. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the blood trickling down from under my shorts but, that is what I have been dealing with for the past little while. It was a big scab for a while (I tried not to bend my knee) and now about a one-by-one scab is all that is left. It still hurts and bleeds and I constantly wipe pus from it. More than you wanted to hear... I know. Anyways, that also adds to me not writing.

Tonight the other teacher Shelley and I are teaching an adult English Conversation class at the community center. Last time they told us that they wanted to read some articles, play some games and have discussions so today hopefully that is what we will do. Shelley and I have had no conversation about this lesson except in a brief e-mail and only hope with the two of our spontaneity we can kill two hours of time.

Today also, I had a day off so Ayumi and I went and did three hours of Karaoke. It was a fast three hours. Super fun though! All the ice cream and soda you could want. I love it here!

Guess who I ran into...

2007-09-08T07:37:00.001-07:00

Well, I survived my first real week of school. I enjoyed it very much but, it was really tiring. For the most part I am afraid that I am going to be a living tape recorder but, at least I’m getting paid for it… right? So far I have given a presentation about me which I made on PowerPoint like nine times already with four more this upcoming Monday. I never thought I would be saying this but, I’m kind of sick of hearing about myself. It will be nice to have a lesson on something different. The students are fun but, a little immature. I look back to when I was in high school and figure it probably isn’t too different to how I was at that age so going in to class I’m not expecting too much. I do walk out of class with a lot of friends though. Well, maybe it’s too early to say friends however, I think they respect me. Walking down the halls I get people waving and shouting to me “AJ!" I've even had a few photos taken at school.

On Friday I arrived at Suisan School to yellow and black police tape. During the night somebody had come to the school and using a little statue from a nearby Buddhist shrine had broken all the entrance windows of the school. As can be imagined, there was glass everywhere! They cancelled first period to hold an emergency school meeting where the disclosed what little details they had and told us that the total number of window panes broken was forty-three; I imagine quite an expensive amount to have to repair. Apparently this happened a few years ago and that time the culprit used the same Buddhist statue so I figure either the criminal has a grudge against the school or against Buddhism. I’ve included a few pictures.

Over the past few weeks I have been in contact with my cousin Lisa who lives in Osaka. Today she and her boyfriend made the trek to Shima-Isobe to come and meet us. On the phone a few weeks ago when she had mentioned she wants to come and visit I promptly warned here that there is absolutely nothing to do here. I am afraid she thought I was kidding. Well, we planned this day a few weeks ago and today we finally met. It had been twelve years this past summer since we had last met but, she said she still remembered what I looked like and remembers her trip to the states quite vividly.

Our apartment is a short two minute walk to the train station so Ayumi and I escorted them to our pad where we sat and spoke for a few minutes to discuss what we wanted to do this afternoon. I can’t emphasize enough how little there is to do in the town Ayumi and I live in. The other night we rode twenty minutes up a hill to go to a restaurant that is highly recommended. We got there around seven pm only to find that in addition to having had the sun set on us, the place was closed. Well, back to the story, we decided to take the train to Ugata (our oasis to this little town) where we went to lunch and then took a taxi to a famous beach in the area. I am sooo glad that Ayumi was there because she was able to engage our guests in conversation when I fell short… which quite often. I am able to shoot the breeze pretty good in Japanese but, today maybe I was a little intimidated or maybe even nervous?

So, after lunch we all piled into a taxi and drove about fifteen minutes to the beach. The weather was perfect for wading in the waves. There were people laying on the beach, body boarding and surfing all up and down the shore. We took a few pictures; enjoying the weather and each other’s company while we walked up and down the beach. I almost wish I had brought my swimming suit. We walked back to the road, and took a cab back to the apartment where after looking at pictures of the family reunion Lisa and her boyfriend (Kenta), Ayumi and I all walked to the train station and saw the two off. Ayumi and I both feel bad having had them both come this far just to see us with nothing else much going on. I think for the most part Lisa was just excited to come and see us so, in spite of feeling bad, think she was quite happy. We’ve got a promise though to get together in Osaka soon so, we’re looking forward to that.

All-in-all Lisa is doing well. She lives by herself with her pet Chihuahua Bruiser (named after the Chihuahua on the movie Legally Blonde) and has been dating this guy Kenta for four years (both 22 yrs. old). They seem like they have good heads on their shoulders, have goals and are both happy. Kenta is in college to do real-estate and Lisa is working full-time at a cell-phone company. We didn’t talk much about her sisters but, she said they are both doing well; perhaps when we go to Osaka we can see them too. A few years ago I received a DVD made by my grandparents which was a compilation of home videos of their growing up. Her dad was in that video a handful of times and I thought that maybe she would like to see it. We watched a little bit of it together and ended up giving it to her. I think in spite of being a little bit bored, we all had a great day!

This is a photo I took tonight while we were shopping for cat food. Something about this brand just dosen't sit right with me...

New Feature!

2007-09-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, I've added a guestbook to my blog located on the index bar to the right.

600 hits and rising!

2007-09-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, 600 hundred hits! Between mom and I, we're really setting the mark with this blog. I don't know who is reading this but, I am sure that at least a tenth of those hits are from me creating, changing and checking on the things in my blog but, fun to see that some people are reading this blog none-the-less.

School started this week. I still feel like I am getting into the swing of things. On Monday at my main high school (Shima), Shelley and I had to give some opening speeches in English to let the students know who we are. The teacher told me to speak some Japanese too and so after about a minute of speaking in English, I switched over to Japanese which seemed to amaze the kids. It's fun being a bi-lingual-ish English teacher. I think the teachers I work with like it too. If the kids aren't understanding something I am trying to explain in English, being able to jump over into Japanese and explain the same thing is pretty fun. Today I did the same thing at Suisan High School- giving my introduction speech. This time they only wanted me to use English so, I went up there and spoke really slow and used really easy to understand vocabulary; "Hello. My name is Andrew Allred. I am happy to be here..." etc. The students at this school aren't as ambitious to try and learn English so when I walk through the halls people are more inclined to speak to me in Japanese than in English but, I'm cool with that. The teachers tell me that as long as I use English in the classroom, Japanese is OK elsewhere.

Yesterday I was at Suisan High School as well. Being the first week of the semester, for some reason they only had half a day. Being done around noon and with nothing else to do, I decided to go out sailing with the yacht club. The head of the club is one of the teachers I teach English with so, anything I can do to associate with the students in thier eyes is good. I had on a t-shirt and borrowed someones swimming suit. With my undies on underneith I figured sharing a swimming suit with a complete stranger really isn't that gross. Besides, not many students can boast that they've shared a suit with a foreigner.

The school has a few boats of all sorts of different sizes but, for the after school club they focus on one man and two man boats. I set sail in the two man boat (a little crowded for three) and was constantly having to duck down, change sides whenever they brought the main sail across to catch the wind. Before too long I was steering the rudder, and pulling the jig like any ol' seaman would all while my two Japanese hosts were making sure I wasn't going to capsize the boat.

Yesterday was a pretty fun day. Riding the ferry to go home, I passed the little port where the students were practicing and they greeted me with waves goodbye. Today on my way home, I snagged a few pictures (and thankfully they waved again) while on the yacht to give you a quick glimpse of what they do. It was a fun day.

My One Man Show

2007-09-01T07:13:00.001-07:00

I think I found my geeky passion. Today I tried karaoke for the first time (in a real karaoke place). I had spent the afternoon on a bike ride to the neighboring city to check out the sights and enjoy the break in hot weather. After I had done a bit of (impulse) shopping I decided to head home. It was nearing dusk, which happens here around five-thirty, when I thought I’d stop by this place just to see what they offer. It is a pretty nice joint, looks fairly new and offers bowling, batting cages, internet, billiards and comic books all in addition to karaoke. Reading comics is huge over here. If you’re interested in anything… seriously anything, there is probably a comic book series that suits that interest. Well, maybe not everything but, they write comics about anything from romance, school, fantasy, sci-fi to tennis. Anyways, you pay 450 yen an hour, about $4.00 to sit and sing, read comic books and drink all the soda you want. I called Ayumi and informed her that I would be coming home a little late…

So to sing at this place, I needed to become a member so after filling out a form I was given a white basket containing my membership card, a microphone and a remote control that looked like it had been removed from the bridge of the U.S.S Enterprise. Being a karaoke virgin, I didn’t know how to do any of this so, after the employee lady escorted me to my room (and showed me where to get my free drinks and soft serve ice-cream) I had to beg her to show me how to run the console.

In this room, laying on the coffee table lay four large books, each about the size of a yellow-pages book filled with rows and rows of songs. She showed me the English section and there were probably (guessing) 10,000 songs. I was a little timid at first and thought I’d break in these vocals with a little Queen (what else?) “Don’t Stop me Now”. The song finished and I thought to myself why stop now so I kept singing Queen. This book had about 100 different songs all by Queen. Some so songs obscure they’d never left my lips outside of the shower but, I’ll be honest in saying that I was tickled to see them in there. After a few songs I realized I was really getting into it, flailing my arms in the air, playing the air guitar, beating the drums with my mike… all which I would have hesitated to do had someone else been in the room, or the lights being on.

After a few songs, I thought I needed to give my falsetto a rest and put in a little Sinatra and then got really bold and tried a song in Japanese. I didn’t have a good impression about my Japanese singing. The fact that someone peeked into my room just after I hit an exceptionally ugly (Japanese) note helped me to realize this; probably to see who was strangling the cat. It was time for a refill of my drink and then back to Queen. I must say I was a little sad to leave after my one hour was up but, looking forward to the $10.00 three hour package they have going. The good news, this place is open 24 hours. The bad news, I unfortunately have somewhat of a life and don’t think I’ll ever get to utilize an early morning sing-a-thon… especially being that this place is in another town accessible only by bike, train or car for those lucky ones. Can you imagine seeing a bloodshot, white kid on a bike in Japan riding up hill at two in the morning? Yea, neither can I.

Pictures of School 2

2007-08-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hi, the photography isn't the greatest, nor are the captions but, here are a few dozen photos I took yesterday in route and at the second school I work at. Suisan Highschool!

Scenes From Around Town

2007-08-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting but, yesterday on my way home from work I took a few snaps of the town... that is until the battery died. Well, here is what I have and more will come soon.

This beautiful (cough cough) Spanish looking building is the town train station. As I've mentioned earlier, this town used to be home to the famous Spain Town amusement park. The park is in the same place but, the home is now a larger city down the road. By home I mean, people used to come here and then take the bus to the park but, now the bigger city has taken all the cliental... apparently. The building to the left is the train station and the one on the right is the towns tallest building and most vibrant hotel. Although it dosen't seem to get much use the parking lot always has a dozen or so cars in the lot. We'll see how that changes once school starts again and the amusement park going season dies down.

Not much to see here but, my school is at the top of a small hill and this is the view that greets me every day coming home from work. I am told that at the base of that large crane you can see is the future home of the Shima City Assisted Living Center (aka Zombie Halfway House). Although there is not a lot to see based on the skyline, it really is a cute little town.

This is a failed attempt of mine to take a panorama photo of my school front. I neglected to realize at the time of taking it that as I change my body, vanishing points change and so does size perspective. Hopefully those of you reading can fill in the gaps with thier heads and appreciate my little collage as a modern piece of art.

This is a standard school hall at a Japanese school. Not much to see here but, I imagine halls like this were the inspiration of many a Japanese horror movie. Can't you just imagine Sadako, the creepy girl from the Ring, standing at the end of the hall slowly walking towards you. You turn around and she is like right in your face! Boo! Yea, so can I!

This is where your friend, my rear, rests all day long. I know its anything but glamorous but, this is my desk at Shima Highschool. Its quite comfortable really. To think, so far I'm getting paid to keep that piece of tin company. It may be hard to tell but, this is the standard setup for a Japanese teachers office. The room is full of probally about twenty desks like this all lined up to each other. Every morning the teachers all meet here before class and (apparently) have a meeting with the Principal/Vice Principal who will go over the things of the day.

This is the main school field. Here they do rugby (you can see the post in the background) as well as baseball (you can see a diamond too). This school also has tenis courts, soccer field, a weight house, a gymnasium and a goat path running track which goes around this field in the picture. 3 times around is 1k so about 5 times around is a mile..? Give or take. Japanese students go to school Monday-Friday (however until not too long ago Saturday was included in there too... and may still be in other places). School is until around four and then the students all clean the school for a little while and then go to thier club activies. These activites range from sports (Basketball, baseball, martial arts, swimming, badminton, etc) to language clubs (like an English or Korean club) to misc. (Flower arranging, tea ceremony, chorus, band, etc.) Anyways, I'd guess a large majority of these students are involved in these clubs. In the summer thier club scheduel is roughly nine in the morning until noon for some clubs and then noon to three for the others. When school starts they'll do thier clubs from around four-thirty to around seven..?　　I am told, with Saturday as thier only day off from the club. Yikes!

This is a picture of my sweet ride. I call it "Lucy", after my favorite mutt. Just kidding, I don't call it anything... anything but sweet. Up until yesterday (we bought Ayumi a bike) she would ride sidesaddle sitting on the rack on the back. It was fun (and a little romantic I suppose). This is your standard issue Japanese bike. One gear, basket and a tire powered light on the front. Sweet indeed, sweet indeed.

This is where I park my sweet ride every night when I go to bed. The ratio of bikes to tennants in this apartment is probally about three to one, three bikes to one person. There are bikes in there that are probally older than the complex itself. Security you ask? Five dollar lock at the home center... that and an old busted camera that I am sure used to work for about a week until somebody pointed it straight up and nobody bothered to fix.

Now the next picture is of our front door. I know you may be asking; "Now AJ, why don't you show us a picture of the front of your apartment". The answer is simple. I don't want people just showing up on our front porch with a copy of the picture in thier hands saying they knocked on every door at this complex know that we were one of them. Well, without further a due, here is our front door.

Beautiful isn't it. Yesterday coming home from work I saw a preying mantis standing on the ledge a few feet away. I wanted to flick it with my shoe and watch if fall the four stories to its death but, a)didn't want to get nearer to it than I had to and b)knowing the little devils can fly figured it would just fall a few seconds then fly up here and bite my head off.

Picture looking off from the front of the balcony.

And a picture from the back. You can see the amusement park in the picture and this is roughly the same spot I took the pictures of the fireworks with the other night. I don't have any pictures of inside the apartment but figure maybe Ayumi would like to post those on her website... She always does a much better job at presenting things than I. Either on my site or hers, one day you'll see the inside of this place once we have it looking presentable.

I am going to go to my other Highschool tomorrow so if I remember I'll take the camera and snap a few shots so I have pictures to go along with all my boastings.

I think I'm giving too much time to this blog.

Night.

Babies

2007-08-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well... I had a dream the other night; a really weird dream. It was about having babies. Now I'm in no rush to have babies nor do I think this dream was some type of sign or omen that we should start but, a strange dream none-the-less and with nothing better to do at work right now and my fingers itching to do something I'll write down what I remember.

Ayumi was pregnant with twins; a boy and a girl. I don't remember too many details but, am quite confident the entire dream took place in a hospital. I was in the waiting room and the nurse/doctor brought in this baby boy who had the most beautiful face ever. I remember looking at it and thinking it looks just like me and Ayumi and looking at the face and picking out which part belonged to who. (I'm sure I sound quite narcaccist right now). The baby's face glowed with a bright light and now that I think of it looked already a few months old. It was also wearing a white beanie cap. It's weird because although I was sleeping I in my dream felt such joy. Next thing I remember was them taking the baby away and then the nurse telling me that the baby girl had died at birth and later being told that the baby boy had died only a few minutes after I had seen him.

The entire dream I can't recall ever seeing Ayumi even once but, when I found out that both babies had died I felt really sad but, more sad for Ayumi than for the fact that we had just lost both of our babies.

Weird huh.

Maybe it's a sign to not have babies..?

I'm open to any interpretations.

Back on Scheduel

2007-08-21T04:12:00.000-07:00

Well, after being in this city for nearly four-weeks now, yesterday we finally got the internet in the house. It’s not that we didn’t want it or anything but, in Japan waiting for things to happen after ordering services isn’t too uncommon… especially when you live in a laid-back country area. Last week was a national holiday and as a result was told by the cable company that we would need to wait until that was over until they could come. Beggars can’t be choosers (couldn’t tell you where I heard that one) and when it really comes down to it, we don’t really need the internet. To be honest, I quite prefer being disconnected from the rest of the world.

Anyways, things here are going great. This place may be small but, amazingly enough every time I leave the house I always come back feeling more appreciation for where I live. I need to be at work every morning by eight thirty and leaving the apartment at quarter after and walking still leaves me five minutes with by the time I get there. My commute is short but hot. I think typically the humidity here is like between 80% to 90% and only cools down slightly once night hits. Right now, its 7:30 PM, the sun has set and the current temperature is 84 with 79% humidity (weather.com tells me it Feels Like 94 out there). Anyways, I think I mentioned it before but, from the time I leave my house to the time I get to school I’m usually already sweaty and stinky. I’m fortunate enough to be able to show up to work in shorts, t-shirt and sandals but, on the few occasions I’ve worn a dress shirt/suit it has been a (very stinky) nightmare.

School still doesn’t start for a little under two weeks but already there is pretty constant flow of students all with various things to do. Every day from about nine to about noon clubs are there working either out on the field or in the (non- air-conditioned) building. I’ve already been indicted into a few of the clubs… I’m the only boy in a five member woman’s softball team; I’ve got quite a fan following with the woman’s volleyball team and today attended a few hours of the men’s rugby team (my prerequisite to use the school weight room). I’ve got to learn the rules tonight because I think tomorrow they’re going to make me play. Anyway, a result, not only does it seems like I am losing weight but, I think I’m starting to get some color in my skin. I think the faculty (and maybe even some of the students) are excited to have somebody there who can speak a little Japanese and as a result have been very good to me. I feel very welcome and actually enjoy heading off to work every day. Pretty much we’ve been told to get to know the teachers and I can’t think of a better way that just being there, chilling with them and having a good time.

Now this is only one of two schools I will be teaching at. This one I am at three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). On Friday, I head to another school about thirty minutes south on the peninsula named Suisan. This school is a specialty school which teaches students maritime related skills. Here the student body is divided into three different area of expertise which spread through their sophomore, junior and senior years. One of these areas teaches the students how to sail and navigate the seas. The school has a few small sail boats and one thirty yard yaut, a bunch of canoes which they use to take these students out and learn the ropes. The next area teaches the students engineering specifically how to fix broken ships and the things on/in them. The third area is aquamarine cuisine preparation. I assume they go out and catch all their own foods. Walking around the grounds outside were large vats full of all sorts of different sea animals and tools used to measure the scientific things you can measure.

Now what aquatic school would be complete without swimming, surfing and scuba? This school has all three. They’ve got this indoor pool that is twelve meters deep and more scuba equipment than you can shake a stick at. Their pool area (its own separate building) has its walls lined with surf boards and wetsuits, scuba tanks, fins, masks, etc. The best part is the swimming teacher told me that the school has its own air compressor so I am free to use whatever/whenever I want. No cost for air or anything. As soon as school starts I am sure I can meet some people who could take me out and teach me the basics… of surfing. For scuba he apparently is a certified instructor who can refresh me and teach Ayumi if she wants to do it. I think I’m going to like it here. This school has a few unusual clubs you won’t find at too many other schools, like surfing, swimming, scuba diving, boxing and, sailing. They even had a few kayaks. I’ll be sure to take my camera with me next time I go.

Our apartment is a little dirty now because we’re still moving in but, once it is clean I’ll take a few snaps and throw them on the website. I’ll also go out tomorrow and try and take some pictures of the town so you can see what it is I’m talking about. We’ve got about two or three miles away on an opposite beach an amusement park which every night of summer vacation displays five minute fireworks show. We have a great unobstructed view from our balcony. I’ve included a few pictures. Enjoy!

The List Continues

2007-08-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

So here I am, back at school... back at work. I had a wonderful weekend during which we were able to get some furniture to fill our house. We climbed a mountain, which was the tallest in the area, visited an old battlefield and visited a historic village created with old relocated Meiji era buildings; very cool. In Japan there was a famous battle called the Battle of Sekigahara it was here that one of the most influential battles in all of Japan was fought. I think this happened around the year 1600 but, pretty much up until that point Japan was broken into a bunch of little different feuding states. This Sekigahara battle was where this one dude Tokugawa Ieyasu fought these other clan leaders ending a civil war and pretty much unifying Japan under one Shogun. I don't have any pictures, which we took at the time due to not having the camera with me but I will tell you I enjoyed myself a nice tuna rice ball as I sat alone overlooking this valley. I've included some cool Japanese pictures depicting this battle.

We also took a trip to visit a place called the Meiji Mura (the Meiji Village). Japanese history around the 1860's: Japan had been in a self-inflicted national isolation, which restricted foreigners from entering the country and Japanese from leaving. This actually started as a result of the above-mentioned unification of Japan. Well, for 250 years Japan sat isolated while the rest of the world experienced the renaissance, and other scientific/artistic breakthroughs. In 1862-ish an American Navy Commodore Matthew Perry sailed his boats into the Tokyo Bay and pretty much told Japan they would destroy the city with cannonballs if they didn't open up for trade with America (not a lot has changed in the past 150 years since then). As a result, Japan opened up and figured they had a lot of catching up to do. The Meiji period was the time period from this event to about the time of WW2. So, what happened during this time is Japan goes through a metamorphosis. Adopting the western style way of life. Their architecture changes, literature and fashion changes. Science and medicine changes too... anyways, this town is made up of all these old buildings that were build during this time period and brought and rebuild to make this historic city... like the Pioneer Village at Lagoon. They've got the Grand Imperial Hotel from Tokyo designed by F.L. Wright, old time Japanese theatres, etc.

My computer at work is broken, again and so I am writing this letter on a borrowed computer. See you all later.

An Inconvenient Truth

2007-08-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok... since my last blog my mailbox and phone lines have been crowded with comments from a few of my readers regarding the comment I attributed to my mom the other day. For those who don't remember, I quoted my mom to often saying something along the lines of "Beggars can't be choosers, and you son are a loser". I must apologize and say the rude quote I attributed to my mother was a pernicious lie. I'll take this opportunity to let you all know that I am an alcoholic and have decided to enroll myself into a substance abuse clinic with ongoing psychological treatment for the next twenty four months. I apologize to my friends, my family, my fans and most importantly... my mother for the pain this pretentious lie may have caused. I pray for your ongoing support.

Ok, that was a joke. I'm no alcoholic nor do I need ongoing psychological evaluations however, the bit about my mother was a lie. Is it just me or in Hollywood does it seem that every time a celebrity is caught doing something bad he attributes it to being an alcoholic and that he plans on enrolling himself into some sort of program. Ha ha ha... Probally not as funny as I think it is anyways, sorry mum.

So, we are in Gifu tonight to spend the weekend with her parents. This weekend is a Japanese holiday called obon where it is believed that Japanese spirits return to their families for one reason or another; then something along the lines of the Japanese praying to and then dancing with their ancestors. I don't know but, I remember having fun doing the dance years ago. Looking forward to that... and buying furniture which I regret to say, is probably the main purpose of the visit. There is just something nice about having a chair you can sit in in one's home. We've been prone to sit on the floor for the past week. Anyways, first time in four years I've seen the folks-in-law so, this is fun.

I've got a few pictures of the shrine we went to the other day. It's getting late and so I think I am going to turn in. Night all.

Blogging in the Name of Love

2007-08-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again. I can't believe has been a week since I first got here... and since I last wrote. I still don't have the internet at the apartment so getting online must be done at school and because of that I don't have as much time as I'd like to check/write e-mail and update my blog. However, as time permits will continue to do so.

Its been so long since I last wrote in this blog that I can't remember so far what I've written. My coworker from New Zealand (Shelley) and I both got here at the beginning of the school's summer break. As a result, every day we come to an empty school and sit in the teachers’ lounge (which thankfully is one of the few air-conditioned rooms). We each have our own desks and have been given computers. My computer is pretty old and as a result keeps having problems. So far it has been reformatted twice in the one weeks since I've been here. It has the internet and all the essential things I need to make my lessons so, I'm happy. Besides, momma always said "Beggars can't be choosers". But, then she would go on to say "and you son are a loser." The funny thing was I never heard the second part from anyone but her. I think I know now where I get my low self esteem. Yesterday I tried to plug my thumb drive into one of the old, dusty ports on the back and the computer reset and rebooted itself in safe mode. I figure because this isn't my computer I probably shouldn't try to fix it up; especially when all the directions are in technical Japanese.

Ayumi and I are doing our best to make our apartment cute and comfortable. Because we moved into a new apartment, we needed to get new appliances. Originally the school provided us an apartment which we decided to not move into because a) we’ve got a cat and b) sanitary reasons. The place is full of furniture which we are free to take but, when we went and looked at it everything was hammered, stinky, moldy and old. I guess it would be like saying, how about furnishing your new house with old missionary hand-me-downs. I've been back a time or two to see the place they provided and am so glad we are not there. It is on a river and I can only imagine how bad the bugs must be there. Shelley was almost attacked by a bat in her home the other night.

This is a small place but, by train there are a handful of places nearby that we can go to get a little taste of civilization. I've yet to go to the beach but, am only about thirty minutes from one of the most popular in the country for surfing. We went to a city called Ise the other day where we went and visited one of the most famous and oldest Shinto shrines in the country/world. It is said that at this place, the Sun God is suppose to come and occasionally reside. I think. I know it sounds geeky but, this culture fascinates me. It is so fun to be here and be able to actually have a (non-religion) conversation with people.

I've got to go but, will write more soon.

Welcome to... Mayberry

2007-08-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have arrived. It was a long and tedious trip but, I have finally reached the place that I can call home. At least for the next little while. Things here are awesome! Ayumi found us a great little apartment, Hershey is alive and kicking and our air conditioner works. Comparing our apartment with the rest of the city, it looks like we are in one of the best (and newest) structures in the whole place. So far I have yet to see the sea. I know we are on the coast but, not like I imagined it. From what I understand, Shima today was five years ago, a series of little towns. For one reason or another they decided to take all these little individual settlements, throw them into one and call the place Shima. I am living in the city called Isobe. I guess you could consider it like Shima is to Salt Lake what Isobe is to Sandy, but on a much, much smaller scale. This town is honestly even smaller than I imagined it.

From what I have been told (and seen) years ago this place used to be quite the hip spot. This place was famous for its beaches and surfing (which still exist). An amusement park was built here and people would come from miles around to spend the weekend and this was a thriving resort town. For one reason or another people stopped coming. The amusement park is still here (and we can see the nightly display of fireworks) and attracts a bit of a crowd but, not to the extent that it used to. The town is now full of closed hotels. Its a small place, and a bit off the beaten path but, I like it none-the-less. The Mayberry analogy comes from this town being so old and small... no comical police regeim though.

From Tokyo, we took a train to Nagoya with is the biggest city around here (about two hours by train) and from there a train to Tsu, the capitol of Mie. In Tsu, we were greeted by our supervisors who then drove us the rest of the way. One thing I can say about this place is that it is super green. On the drive, I noticed the towns getting smaller and smaller and the forests bigger and bigger. For those who have seen the Japanese cartoon "My Neighbor Totoro", the forest roads look a lot like the ones from that show. We arrived here (with my co-worker, a New Zealander named Shelley) and were taken right away to go meet the Principal and Vice Principal of one of the High Schools that I am going to be working at. From there to my apartment to see Ayumi. One thing I can state with confidence, no matter where I am or what I`ve been through, it is always nice to be with her. Well, I got home, showered and we went out. That night I thought I was going to die by drowning on my own sweat. The apartment was so hot, I literally was dripping buckets of sweat off my forehead. After a while Ayumi went and turned on the air conditioner and now the apartment is really quite comfortable.

The apartment is nice and new. We are on the fourth floor of six and about a five minute walk from the train station and about fifteen from the school. I`ve yet to see my second school (the one I need to take a ferry to) but, have an appointment to see the teachers on the tenth. Next to us is the community center where the other night we spied upon a hip-hop dance class being conducted there. The town has two small supermarkets, a bookstore, post office, bank and train station. Last night, we took a train with Shelley to the next town over to buy some supplies we were lacking, and to visit the dollar shop... the coolest shop in Japan. There in the other city we ran into some other Jets from the nearby towns and had a bit of a chat for a while. There were about seven of us and all from different countries standing in the heat all excited to see each other. We had a New Zealander, Australlian, America, Scottsish, Irish and English person in that conversation. I was cool to talk and hear all the different accents.

So far, no phone or internet in the apartment. With that being the case, I suggest to those who read this blog not to look for an update until at least Monday. I`m doing well, things are great. Honestly, I couldn`t be better. The people I work with are all amazing and, all around the same age as us. Yesterday, they took Shelley and I out to lunch and we just kind of shot the breeze while we ate. Half of them live in town and the other half commute every day. We were invited to go and have a barbeque with some of them tomorrw afternoon so, definatley looking forward to that.

Once I get the internet at home I`ll be able to take more time and make this blog a little more interesting but, in the meantime because I am at school kind of hesitant to do too much. More later to come!

48 hours later...

2007-07-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

So, here I am in Japan. I must say it was a painful, long, boring commute but, I am here and I am jet lag... maybe? I really hate flying. Its not because I am afraid the plane is going to blow up or terrorists or anything but, its the fact that you must sit there for hours on end with nothing to do. My teeth start to hurt, my fingers get swollen and my fingernails get shiny (call me weird but, they do). To make things worse, occasionally the smell of a really bad fart will float through the cabin. Confined to my seat, I look through the crowd and think to myself, "which of you fools can't hold their farts like the rest of us?" And we all know how stinky airplane farts can get. Enough of that.

Well, we were greeted in Tokyo with a thunderstorm and rain. Quite impressive to see the landscape of this city against the backdrop of a killer rainstorm. Too bad I have to camera. Well, today was orientation. Boring speech after boring speech. On top of that I was way sleepy. Well, we learned about the program, teaching English then got to meet the rest of the people. So far I know I am working with Americans, British, Irish and New Zealand. A cornucopia of accents. I am sure Ayumi will be excited to hear them all speak. I was able to meet our good friend Ayumu who has been living here for the past six months checking translations. He and I went to this ramen shop called "Musashi" named after a famous Japanese samurai... I think. After that came back to the hotel where I met my fellow Mie Jets to go and get some drinks. I not a drinker ordered two cola drinks while the rest of the crew slowly got drunk off beers. At the end I got my tab and ended up paying for two glasses of coke, roughly $14.70. Yikes. I'll never go drinking again.

I Flew All The Way To Denver and All I Got Was This Dumb T-Shirt!

2007-07-27T19:33:00.001-07:00

So, today was the big day. Kind of sad to be honest. I thought I'd be strong and make it through the day without shedding any tears but, even the mighty oak must too one day fall. Nothing serious but, when I was spending the last few minutes with my folks before getting in the ridiculously long line to get my carry-ons checked, I got a little misty eyed and had a little bit of a cry. Yea, I miss everyone already. However, after that brief little episode, I bucked up and went on my way. As with anything in life, the hardest part is the first step. Now I'm about twelve steps into this and so far, so good.

Upon getting on the plane I found that I had seated myself next to another fellow who is also doing the JET. When we had all situated ourself, we found that we had all kind of (unintentionally) clustered ourselves together. We spoke and the hour and a half plane ride seemed like nothing. Upon landing, we were driven to the hotel, given some time to relax and then off again to our first (of many) orientation meetings. It was informative, information in JET in general, re-entry permits, what to expect tomorrow when traveling and so forth. We also received our passports and baggage tags to stick on our suitcases to identify us as JETS. A handful of us decided to go back to the hotel to drop off our passports and then go out to get a bite to eat. As soon as we left, we were bombarded with the heaviest rainstorm I've ever seen (in Denver). It was crazy! Exposure outside for even a few seconds would drench the poor traveler. We got as far as we could seeking shelter from one building awning to another. I not content with getting my new suit jacket wet (and ruined) went inside a store and upon picking up a $.99 item asked if I purchased this if I could get the biggest bag they had. I got some lame key chain and two giant bags. I ran back to the crowd I was traveling with (5 others) and told everyone to roll up and put into the bags their jackets. We all did so and I am glad we did because our jackets stayed dry as a bone. (HERO)

The purpose of this expedition was to grab a bite to eat before we had to be back for the orientation. By the time this all rolled out, it was too late to eat so we went to this little shindig, sopping wet and tired. We were the first ones there but, slowly and surely people started rolling in... sopping wet. The purpose of this meeting was to meet the consulate general and to eat cheeses while we all sipped on wine and got to know each other. I listened to the speeches, had some cheese, mingled (so far I am the only one going to Mie that I've met) and then slipped out. On the way home I stopped by a bookstore where I purchased a copy of both "Jurassic Park" and "The Pillars of the Earth". I suppose I'll read them. I've had this poem stuck in my mind the past few days:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Spoiler Free

2007-07-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

So, I finished reading Harry Potter and it was awesome. Since the book came out (and a few days before) I was so paranoid to have the ending spoiled that I abstained from watching the tv and using the internet. A few days before the book was released, apparently while mom was using youtube somehow she unintentionally ran into a spoiler (which I am told was the last paragraph of the book). Well, after finishing the book I jumped online (at least onto youtube) to see if I could find a spoiler and, although there were many posted, none of them were correct. Now for those reading the book I would still advise staying away from media to avoid the chance of having it spoiled but, on the upside, I didn't find any spoilers. (I honestly didn't look too hard after being sidetracked by something else).

Yesterday night I had an appointment with a doctor to get a mole removed from my leg. Last July (2006) Ayumi went back to Japan and it was during this time that I went in for a physical during which a mole was removed to be checked for cancer. Well, the mole turned out to be cancer free, I grew a less-than-attractive scar and then a few weeks later, the mole returned, surrounding the newly formed scar. Well, on sunday I asked this doctor about it and he agreed to look at it. Well, yesterday I went in and had it removed once again. I'm told that usually re-appearing moles isn't a good thing so, this mole is being sent back to the lab for yet another biopsy to be done. Well, I've been told to take it easy and in spite of my carefulness, I've got a blood splotch seeping through my bandage. I can't imagine its a good thing in less than 24 hours. Well, I've got an appointment with him again Thursday (the night before I leave) to make sure everything on the stitch is doing well. Well, to make things worse, I can't get this thing wet so, it looks like its sponge baths for me until I get to Shima.

So, I've got three days left until departure. A few days after Ayumi left I started a countdown on my google desktop. I can remember seeing it cycle through the twenties, teens, and now its down to three days. Where has the time gone? To make things worse, I've got a lot more to do than I probably should at this point in the game (need to get an international drivers license, finish packing, get gifts for the people in Japan, etc) all with a gashing wound on my leg. Well, the wound was stitched very well and carefully.

It hit me for the first time last night that I am leaving in three days. Leaving for a long while. I just hope I settle all my affairs here so I don't get to Japan with regrets... not that I have any.

Good news; I got a haircut yesterday. And I look quite dapper if I may say so. Oh yes, an update on the working out. I can honestly say, I did a good job. Monday-Saturday (about 95% attendance) we went diligently. I would usually return later in the afternoon to go run on the treadmill for 30 minutes, then bike for 30 minutes. I wish I had known my starting weight but, I'm thinking it was around 159. Now I weigh 154 and actually think I put on a little bit of muscle. The downside is having just had surgery, I can't work this leg until the stitches are out which means, no running, no biking, no lower body workouts. I just hope in the next week before I meet Ayumi I don't gain back the five pounds. I plan on keeping this up once I get over there.

From what Ayumi has told me, it sounds like the school is expecting me to work on Wednesday (the day I arrive). I just hope I can stay awake. There is a lot to do once I get there. Ayumi has been buying essentials like beds, a fridge, dining wear, utensils etc. but, tells me that there is still a lot that we need to get. From what I'm told, we don't have any curtains but, living on the fourth floor of the only tall building in the city, we may be all right.

Back From a Little Break

2007-07-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't go anywhere just, neglected to write anything the past few days. I have been busy this past week. Not doing difficult things or anything but, realizing how little time I have I've been trying to spend it with those around me. Last night my dad, brothers, Thatcher and I all went up to the cabin for the second annual "Boys Night Out". Although only three of us ended up staying the night there, a fun time was had by all. I think I've said this before but, the hardest part about leaving is leaving my family. However, knowing Ayumi is on the other side waiting for me makes it all worth it. I was telling those present last night that, although I love them and will miss them, Ayumi takes priority... as I hope it would be in all relationships. When I entered the MTC years ago, I can remember leaving teary-eyed thinking to myself, how am I going to do this..? Later that night, amongst a crowd of crying missionaries, the MTC president said something along the lines of its ok to be sad... it means you love people and people love you.

I think I've had too much time to anticipate it and just need to go. I'm super excited for Japan though and really, really, really excited to see Ayumi.

So, update on the found movie, "The Loved One". I think I can put this mystery to rest. I believe that that movie was indeed the one which has been haunting my memory all these past years. The funny thing is, it wasn't anything that I expected it to be. Wasn't sci-fi-ish or anything. Weird story though about this reverend who pretty much has a cult and wants to launch bodies into space. More of a 1960's comedy than anything. Fun none-the-less.

Friday night, I found myself waiting in line with my brother, uncle and some neighbors for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows. I don't even know what a hallow is and am afraid to look it up (I'm trying to avoid spoilers at every cost). I wonder how many thousands of other blogs around the world are using this same picture in their blogs..?

Five days to go.

My 10 Year Mystery

2007-07-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

Occasionally in my life, I'll come across things that wanting to remember I'll jot down on a piece of paper so later I can devote more time to. These are things like when you hear a song on the radio that you want to hear again. You'll listen to the end of the song and hope that the DJ will announce the title, or hearing a snippet of news you find interesting you take note of the key points, or a persons name so you can later get on the internet and research to your hearts content. Well, ten years ago while abroad we were staying in a hotel in London. My parents had gone out for the night leaving us brothers (and a cousin) in the hotel to watch television and fend for ourselves. Looking back I don't know why we didn't decide to go out exploring.

Anyways, that night on television there was an old black and white b-movie that I can remember catching my attention. All I can remember is that it was a black and white film about a boy who goes to live with a relative who owns a themed mausoleum where people can choose to be buried in a plot of their choice (like an Egyption theme, or garden theme, etc). Don't remember much but, know that I was entranced by whatever I saw. I've always been a fan of old b-movies. back to my story though, I was dozing off to sleep while watching the show but made note of the channel it was on so that in the morning I could wake up and look in the paper (which was sitting on the table just a few feet above me) the title of this film and watch it when I got home. I don't remember crawling into bed, nor my parents coming back but, when I awoke in the morning I totally forgot about my plan to find out the movie title for future viewing. Well, later that day when I finally came to my senses the newspaper had been thrown away leaving me with a movie I really want to see and no way to find it.

Now this happened with the Internet was still relatively in its infancy. There was no such thing as the internet movie database and DVD players were just hitting the market. My only hope would be asking at the local video rental store if anyone had any idea what I was looking for. I looked (maybe just a little) and not knowing what else to do I put my search on the back burner in my brain only to occasionally search for it by whatever means I could.

I leave the country for a few years and when I come back I find that the internet has changed quite a bit in my absence. I try looking this movie up on Yahoo, Google and, whatever else I could get my hands on hoping that the words like "Black and White," "Funeral Home," would get me the movie results. A few years later, my cousin told me that he remembered somewhere in the movie Nazi soldiers coming to the funeral home wanting to build some kind of space ship. I didn't remember anything about it but, it gave me a few more words to look for online. One day I went to the library and flipped through these books on b-movies, and b-movie encyclopedias hoping to solve my riddle but to no avail. Still lost I gave up my search figuring that the only way I would ever find this out was by seeing it on television again. I didn't even know what I was looking for and figured that I would probably never find it out.

Years later (circa 2 months ago), my older brother gave me a free month subscription to Netflix. After seeing thier vast library of films, it sparked my interest again and I searched their website for the film, using the same (ineffective) movie tags I'd used in the past but, still nothing. I searched the Internet Movie Database and still could find nothing. One day I found on the internet an online b-movie shrine with a forum to discuss b-movies. I figured looking at what these guys had been chatting about already they would have no problem solving my problem (this was about a month ago). I explained the movie and the plot synopsis to them only to get a reply a few days later that nobody on the forum had any idea what I was talking about. I gave up my search. I felt like I imagine Ralphy felt like on the Christmas Story when he is told by Santa [he won't be getting a gun for Christmas because] "You'll shoot your eye out kid". I slipped into depression, drugs and alcohol use (thats a joke) but, got a little upset knowing that if these online b-movie junkies didn't know it I would probably never find it out.

Last night, I thought I'd give my search one more try. I went to another online b-movie forum and interestingly enough, they had a topic entitled "What was that film?" With fingers shaking and palms sweaty I typed in the following message.

Hi, I saw what had to be a B-Movie years ago and never found out the title of it... Years later I am still haunted by it and want to find out what it was that I was watching. To make things worse, I can only remember bits and pieces of the movie. If anyone can piece together what little info I remember and can help me pin point this movie I will be forever in your gratitude.

First of all, it was black and white. The protagonist was a boy, who worked at a cemetery/funeral home/mausoleum (which belonged to a relative?) This funeral home I believe had themed areas, like an Egyptian room, or a garden room and people could come and choose where they would like to be "put to rest". Now I think there were soldiers (most likely Nazis?) or some military commander who wanted to use something at the mortuary to make a space rocket..? That’s all I remember because, I don't think I was awake when the movie ended. When I saw it I was in England and, remember the film being shown in English. Don't know if that was the original language the show was filmed in though.

I remember watching it thinking to myself, this is awesome! I'll definitely watch this movie when I get home yet, never knowing what indeed I saw, years later am still looking.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I get home from watching Harry Potter V: The Order of the Pheonix (great movie by the way... even better book) and decided to check my forum, expecting to get shot down yet again. In less than 24 hours I have not one answer but two...

The movie you are thinking of is THE LOVED ONE, a truly bizarre black comedy with a stellar cast:

Jonathan Winters
Dana Andrews
Milton Berle
James Coburn
John Gielgud
Tab Hunter
Liberace
Roddy McDowall
Robert Morley
and in a truly twisted performance...Rod Steiger as "Mr. Joyboy"

It's available on a recently released DVD. Strange strange movie. Perfect for this board.

and

THE LOVED ONE was just shown this week on TCM. Gerry is right, though he doesn't mention the lead Robert Morse (got to admit I don't remember Tab Hunter) the film you are looking to identify is THE LOVED ONE. Though your description is not entirely accurate, it without doubt describes no other flick.

What? Is this it? Have I found my Holy Grail? Can I now have that portion of my brain back that has been obsessing about this movie for years and years? Here is the description of the movie from off the movie database:

Newly arrived in Hollywood from England, Dennis Barlow finds he has to arrange his uncle's interment at the highly-organised and very profitable Whispering Glades funeral parlour. His fancy is caught by one of their cosmeticians, Aimee Thanatogenos. But he has three problems - the strict rules of owner Blessed Reverand Glenworthy, the rivalry of embalmer Mr Joyboy, and the shame of now working himself at The Happy Hunting Ground pets' memorial home.

Is this it? I have no idea but, I'm thinking yes. Now all I have to do is beg one of my brothers to rent it for me. Those online movie rental places have everything. Just think, maybe now with that recovered brain space I just might be able to learn Japanese. I'm as happy as a clam.

Tursdae

2007-07-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

I had a nice night going shopping and to dinner with my mom tonight. We took a trip to a local Chinese restaurant and then to the mall. Although I've never considered conversation a strong point of mine, I had a nice time. It was the first time in a long, long time that it was just she and I. I'll miss her but, its good to know that she'll always be my mom.

Today I'd like to think I got a lot done in terms of cleaning. There is a lot of work to do but, little by little I'm getting it done. Ayumi and I bought a sofa at a thrift store five years ago which was in really good condition when we picked it up. I can't imagine it was at the store for more than half an afternoon (because for $30.00 anyone would be a fool to have not taken it). We bought a nice couch cover for it and Ayumi made some cushions and we've been using it ever since. Before we bought the cover, we thought it would be easy reupholstering it by ourselves (with fabric we had bought) and after getting half the bottom off decided to abort that idea and just buy a slip. Well, the bottom was always half hanging out and we've been able to just tuck it under the couch but, I figure if we are going to try and sell it I better fix what I had undone. Well, I nailed it back into place and washed the cover. Whoever walks home with that sofa is one dang lucky person. It was a cute couch (thanks to Ayumi).

I never thought cleaning a house you were moving from would be so hard. My style of cleaning has always been classified as "taking stuff from one room and just hiding it in another". Whether or not that is true, knowing I can't conveniently stash one item inside something else is not easy. One plus I have though is I've basically got three piles. Stuff I want to sell, stuff to take to Japan and, stuff to store at mom's house. I can just imagine when this Japan expedition is over and Ayumi and I are sorting through all this saved junk we'll both wonder why we decided to keep a lot of this junk.

I'll Start With a Quote

2007-07-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Years ago as a missionary, I came across a quote that I really liked. It was given by President N. Eldon Tanner years ago at a General Conference. When I heard this I immediately took to liking it and wrote it down. The quote is as follows:

The tongue is the most dangerous, destructive, and deadly weapon available to man. A vicious tongue can ruin the reputation and even the future of the one attacked. Insidious attacks against one's reputation, loathsome innuendos, half-lies about an individual are as deadly as those insect parasites that kill the heart and life of a mighty oak. They are so stealthy and cowardly that one cannot guard against them. [CR, April 1972, p. 57]

Today I was caught off guard and said some things that I probably shouldn't have. Not only that but, I was totally out of character when I was saying it. I am not sure how the receiver received it but I, the deliver, have felt like crap all day long. It goes back to this quote. Once you say something you can't take it back and unfortunately once every now and then you've got to re-learn this the hard way. I've always been one who has tried to keep my opinions to myself but, for some reason today I thought I had to speak my mind. There is another saying I've come to liking that goes something like

"The best thing I've ever said came ten minutes late".

How many times have you said something only to run the conversation through your head over-and-over only to come to the conclusion of how you should have said it thats where I am now. Well, c'est~la~vie; All I can do is apologize and keep on keeping on.

On a different note, today I spent three hours scanning important documents onto my computer so I don't have to bring the hard copies to Japan with me. These are things like taxes, bank information, Ayumi's green card application stuff etc. Things I'd rather have a copy of in case they come back to haunt me. I scanned about three hundred pages and tried my best to organize it so if I need to retrieve it (which I hope I don't) it won't take me too long.

I'm now just realizing how little time I have and how much I have to do. Ayumi is plugging away in Japan trying to find us a place to live. The school over there provided an apartment for us which Ayumi went to see but, we can't have our cat there. It turns out o.k. though because Ayumi told me it was in bad shape and the current tenant tells us there is quite a mildew problem. She's been looking around in Shima and the nearby cities and may have found a gem. Waiting for more details.

The sunburn on my back is finally starting to crack and peel. The past few nights, in order to sleep all I could do was lay on my back with arms crossed on my chest (just like Dracula) to sleep without hurting. You know when you burn your tongue and it hurts for the next day. Seriously it was like that all along my back and shoulders. Something I haven't experienced in probably over ten years. Growing up it was second nature but, when you don't get it too often you lose your tolerance to it.

I went to the library today and got a Bing Crosby CD. A little more dated than I thought. I was thinking this was going to be the Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin genre... wrong. Although nice, this music sounds like it was recorded in the twenties and the voice sung into a shoe box. I like old-timey music. I think it would be so cool to sing with a full band behind you. Yet another dream I'll never realize. (Not with this attitude!) I'm off to bed!

A Minor Setback

2007-07-08T23:01:00.001-07:00

I had a great time at the reunion. A little sunburned though. Full of fun people, exciting activities and more junk food than you can shake a stick at. As a result, all my eating probably set me back a couple of days. Oh well, all I can do is keep exercising.

Looking at all the pictures of me in the water I've come to realize that I am uber-white. I need to spend a little more time in the sun lest I blind all those people at the beach in Shima. Its past midnight and I need to hit the hay. More later.

Photos of Shima, a sunburn and a hurt head

2007-07-07T22:56:00.001-07:00

We're back from the reunion. I really had a great time. There is a quote I once heard that mentions something about true friendship is being able to sit with your friend, say nothing at all and still feel like you've had the best conversation. That is how I feel with my family; at this reunion. It didn't matter what we did but, just being there was so much fun and you could feel the love everyone has for each other. My family (both sides) is pretty tight-knit.

While up there, thinking I could use a little sun, thought I could endure a little while in the river without any sunscreen. Now I know if Ayumi were there she would have told me to put some on but, never thinking it will go as bad as it always did I ran and played in the sun. We had a great time, floating down the freezing river on about a 100 yard course through shallow water down small eddies and rough rocks. Two hours later I put my shirt on only to find later that night I was in total pain. I realized my mistake had caused my back to burn making me look more like a lobster than myself. To make matters worse it hurts every time I move.

The hurt head comes from me walking into the door frame with my left eyebrow while I was just getting up from a short nap. That smarts! I think I may have a lump tomorrow. I'm falling apart without Ayumi.

To the Reunion

2007-07-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

This morning we're heading up to a family reunion for my mom's side of the family. Pretty excited as that side of the family is particularally fun. Also, the last time I'll see a lot of them for a long time... However, I only see them once every few years anyways so, not that big of a deal. I haven't been writing about it but, I've been really diligent in exercising the past couple of days. Yesterday being the fourth, the gym was closed but, dad and I still did out lower body exerciese in his office with dumbells. My legs are more sore today than they've been in a long time. Also, I've been tracking my weight and I'm down about 4.5-5 lbs since I started. Not trim but, still looking better than before.

Ayumi is in Japan and all is well. Hershey our cat apparently had a hard time with the travel, along with being in a new place I think she is probally in doki-doki mode (panic mode). Ayumi tells me however that she is adjusting and finally relaxing, never far from Ayumi's side. I just hope she dosen't freak out when we move again at the end of the month.

I've been in contact with my predecessor in Shima who has been giving me information little-by-little over the course of the past few days and here is what I know so far:
-I teach at two schools. One 3 days a week, the other 2. I get to take a ferry to school. Probally expensive.

-The apartment we are going to live in is owned by the school and is apparently where all the other teachers live too. Bedroom, two tatami (bamboo matted) rooms, dining, kitchen. Sounds pretty big but, also said that it is old... with a mildew problem in the summer. Lots of bugs too.

-Shima is like the resort town of all the people who live in Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya and other nearby cities. The beaches (as you can see in the pictures from the prior posts) are white sandy with blue water (I would assume though that those pictures have been digitally enhanced). There are also a lot of onsens (public baths with natural spring water) in the town so, a pretty relaxing spot. Perfect for a lazy dude like myself. Ayumi and her dad are going to be heading down there this weekend to check out the place. Nobody in her family has been there so, I think it will be fun for all. Hopefully, when I get back from the reunion on Saturday I'll have some fun pictures to look at. Also, Ayumi is going to see if she can meet my predecessor and maybe look at the apartment. The biggest concern is whether or not we can have Hershey there. If yes, we'll probally move in. If no we can either smuggle her in (as reccomended by my predecessor) or we'll move somewhere else (something we were planning on doing anyways). Time will tell.

Ayumi has started a blog to document life in Japan... at least until she says I get over there and can take it over. Expect fun pictures to be found there. The address is:
http://kaeruz.blogspot.com/

And My Fate Is...

2007-07-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

A little place called Shima. I'm not kidding when I say little; 19,000 people. Don't know too much about the place but, when I google the name these lovely pictures pop up. A lovely scene of a sunrise over what appears to be "water". In the top right, a lady doing the traditional pearl diving (a la James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me) and a pretty cool looking beach. This is a link to a live picture somewhere in Shima. Ayumi leaves for the airport in about 3 hours so... I'll write more later.

Battleplan

2007-06-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

So Ayumi is out of here on Tuesday (4 am) and that leaves me a lot of stuff to do in this house before taking off. First of all, I've got to get everything ready for the yard sale, not hard mentally but physically I've got to gather, clean and transport all the stuff. We've got a couch, a futon, coffee table, kitchen table, dressers, armour, computer tables, radios, televisions, the list goes on and on. We've got a lot of stuff so hopefully, when we sell it all we'll make a pretty penny which in turn we are going to use to help make the deposit and rent on our apartment in Japan (which I understand to be pretty expensive).

Still waiting for the destination.

Filling Out Forms

2007-06-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but filling out government forms are one of the most confusing things one can do ever. Think of a standard question, then think of the most awkward and ambiguous way to ask it and you've written yourself an official government question worthy for any required form.

When we were getting married and going through all the paperwork for Ayumi's green card there was an incredibly long form (or two) required for us to fill out. These papers made no sense at all. The government had a hot line which you could call and ask questions about the form for like three dollars a minute or if you wanted you could pay fifteen dollars for an explanation of any three pages from the application. There were like twenty pages and I think in the end we had paid to have the detailed explanation walk through for the entire process. In addition to the form, they wanted photos of us together, an essay explaining our courtship, billing statements from both of us. They wanted to make sure that Ayumi wasn't going to split as soon as granted permanent residency and make sure it was a legit marriage, not one ordered from a catalogue, etc.

What brings this all to mind is right now I am in the process of filling out my visa application form to enter Japan. There are a few weird questions on this form that I don't quite know how to answer. I'm reading forums and calling embassies but, still don't have a straight answer on many of the questions. To make things worse, this form reads as if it was originally written in Japanese and then translated into English by someone whose English isn't really that good. Here are a few samples of the hangups I'm dealing with.

-Route of present journey: Over the Pacific..? The embassy told me to write AA 169 (American Airlines flight number).
-Post or rank held at present: I am wondering if this is referring to my social status, i.e. student, employee, exotic dancer, etc. Not quite sure what to put.
-Principal former positions: First I read this and was wondering; Which Principle is that? Elementary school, Jr. High, High School..? The school I'll be at in Japan. I don't know, I suppose they were maybe students who maybe had a paper route or worked fast food. They were probably teachers before becoming a principle... On top of that I only had about five inches to write it all. I then looked up the word principal (thinking they had mistaken this spelling with the principle) only to find that the spelling principal has two meanings:
a)someone who is in charge of a school (which I thought the question was referring)
b)most important; MAIN (which makes a little more sense.)

Having distinguished the two, I still don't' know what to put.

Its Been a Rather Ordinary Day

2007-06-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Not much to comment on today. Not much happened nor do I have any tokens of wisdom that I really feel like I can share... not that I have any at all. I'm sure I'll find something to rant about.

5 minutes later: ...nothing

10 minutes later: ...nothing

15 minutes later: ...nothing

20 minutes later: So, I've got these cousins in Japan who live in Osaka. Not through my wife but through my uncle. Through e-mail Ayumi and I have been keeping contact with them on and off. using the word contact is being very generous. I'll send the occasional e-mail saying something like, "Hi, how are you guys? We are all good here" and about a week later I'll get a reply... "We're all doing good here. Say hi to everyone for us." I hope by going to Mie, and being as close as we are going to be (an hour best-case scenario) we'll be able to make some sort of contact. I told our oldest cousin Lisa (23 yrs?) I'm moving to Mie and she sounded really excited... or maybe I should say sounded rearry excited! I'm excited to see them. The only memory I have of them was in '95 at a family reunion. One of the girls mentioned that she can remember playing with us cousins and swimming in our aunts swimming pool. I've got a DVD that Nana and Poppy gave me a few years ago which I intend on copying to VHS and giving them. I think they would like to videos of thier dad when he was growing up. I'll update the blog as events with them unfold. Maybe one day I'll get a picture of us all together.

Today in my spare time (I hardly know where to find it these days) I made a wallet out of an old oreo wrapper and electrical tape. Looks pretty good... and shiny. The outside was the silver metallic wrapper on the inside of the box. You'll see on the inside (through the window where the drivers lisence shows) the oreo label. I'm suprised how good it looks...what a waste of two hours. (-_-,)

Lately strange things have been happening around here with our computer... we sold our desktop to Ayumi's friend so we've both been using the laptop the past couple of days.
Weird thing 1) Neither of us can change the homepage in our explorers. I know... weird huh?
Weird thing 2) My cell phone won't send pictures to my e-mail. Yea, I was thinking strange too!
Weird thing 3) Every morning when I wake up there is this weird patch of blood dripping down from the ceiling.

I hope to have more to write about tomorrow.

2 Malls, Ikea and a Bookstore...

2007-06-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today marks the first anniversary of me going to the gym yesterday. To celebrate what else could I do but to go again. Me and Dad went there and did the exercise bike for thirty minutes. My legs have felt like meatballs for the rest of the day... which happened to be totally appropriate because we ended up going to Ikea later this afternoon (meatballs, Ikea... get it? Bad joke.) But, before that we had to take the cat in to the vet to get some forms signed in preparation for her flight tomorrow. You would normally think a veterinarian would be a friendly guy who tries to make the patients and their families feel calm and welcome but, this particular veterinarian isn't like that. As Ayumi says though, he seems to be very careful on what he is doing though and in our case wants to make sure every step has been followed. Well, after forty-five minutes there we took off to meet our friend Yuri for lunch and Ikea.

We were running a bit late due to the vet but met Yuri. We wanted to take her to a little restaurant Ayumi and I are quite fond of; Caputo's downtown. When we got there we saw a long line running about fifteen feet out of the door. We decided to pass on Caputo's and headed for the Gateway where we ate lunch at California Pizza and did a little bit of shopping. After Ikea we ended picking up Akio and the four of us headed over to Barnes and Noble where we sat for two hours talking and reading magazines.

Somewhere over the course of the day Ayumi mentioned to me that I should maybe consider surfing in Japan (if I am spot that would allocate it). If possible I think I'd like to try it. Reading those magazines today (mostly men's fitness and art magazines) I realized I really need to find a hobby. It would be nice if surfing (or something else I can take seriously) could become so. Looking at myself now the closest thing I have to a hobby would be singing every Sunday. The only other thing would be video games but, I'm kind of embarrassed to claim that as a hobby. Mainly because it should be classified as more of a waste of time more than anything. Still no news of where I am headed... keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

I'm a doctor gym... not a pretzel!

2007-06-25T21:39:00.002-07:00

Believe it or not, I actually went to the gym today. I tossed and turned all last night (can't remember what but know I saw some pretty tripped up dreams) and finally around five-thirty decided to drag myself out of bed. From the very moment I opened my eyes the constant heavy thought (depression) that I had started a new commitment today was on my mind and I knew I had to go to the gym or else I'd end up hating myself. After looking over a few "clubs" last night I decided this morning that I was just going to sign up at the community rec center's gym. That way I knew each time I went I wouldn't have to dodge some lame salesman trying to get me to invest in twelve months for low, low monthly fees. I bought a month membership for $29.00 which gives me unlimited access to the weight room but, later went back to upgrade it to the $40.00 package which allows me to attend the various weekly exercise classes (yoga, spinning, Pilate's, etc.) Ayumi and I are going to have a contest to see who can be in better shape next time we meet. I've got some way to go so, it'll be interesting to see where I end up in a month. Well, tomorrow is day two. Oh yea, dad is coming with me tomorrow.

So the other day at the library I checked out a book titled Stretching. From what I've read, the only two things that are going to fix my knee are stretching and weight training. Apparently Mie has some pretty nice beaches and I've actually gotten quite excited thinking about running up and down them. Won't turn out very well if I'm a cripple. Anyways, last night before I went to bed, I spent about twenty minutes and did a dozen or so different stretches for the legs, lower back and hips (the areas I need). After stretching and standing up, I felt like a new man! I couldn't believe how good (and loose) it felt. This morning, before heading off to the gym I did the recommend stretches for weight lifting. I'd like to think I lifted pretty hard today yet, don't feel as much pain as I had in the past (on day one). Not only that but, it felt really good to stretch. A new hobby..? Stretching..? I've always wanted to be flexible. We'll see how this develops.

Usually when I start exercising (with a goal in mind) I usually feel better instantly. Where last night I was depressed and upset about my health slipping from my hands, here I am a day later (only been to the gym once) and already I feel 100% better. Even though it was day one, I feel like I am doing something. Its a natural placebo. Just think how I'll feel if I keep this up for a month. A few years back I had a thought of how to balance the individual. There are three areas all which need constant care: Physical, Mental and Spiritual... and by spiritual I don't imply everyone needs to believe in the same thing I do but have a certain creed/way of life they choose to give them some direction. For one person that may be religion and for another it could be yoga or vegan ism. Physical is to be in good shape, eating right, exercising etc., and finally with mental one should always strive to challenge themselves mentally by studying, learning new language... sudoku, etc. I know it sounds hokey but, it sounded good then and it sounds good now. Well, enough blabbing today, lets keep our fingers crossed that I make it to the gym tomorrow.

The Wake Before the Storm

2007-06-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

So, I started my exercise plan tonight. What did I do you ask? Well, I got online and printed out a free two week guest membership to Bally's Total Fitness (that's better than I had planned). At least it seems free. I am sure that the first time I get there, along with every other consecutive visit I'll have to dodge their sales-people and tell them that I am indeed not interested in joining. My scapegoat will be that I want to check other gyms and see what they have to offer. If the pressure gets too hot, I pull my emergency parachute and tell them I'm leaving the country in a few weeks (like I'm sure they've never heard that one before.) Says here that I need to "take club tour and presentation, and sign guest release to redeem pass". I have always had a hard time saying no but, this time my chiseled pecks will thank me.

The plan for the rest of the night is to read a book I borrowed from my dad's office Men's Health Training Guide 2006 (don't worry, you'll get it back) and figure out exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow. Regarding my fitness, I've always relied on running as my fall-back-on but since my knee is out of whack I've got to do something else... its not like I ran anyways when my knee was good but, knowing I can't do it hasn't helped much. My biggest fear of working out (and this will apply for tomorrow) is because I don't know how to lift weights, in fear of looking like a total noob (computer lingo for a beginner) I've never liked lifting weights. I pray I do better tomorrow.

Here is my checklist for the next month:
-Get in shape
-Get tan
-Read the new Harry Potter

Pretty sad isn't it...

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2007-06-23T20:45:00.001-07:00

This evening, whilst I was turning off the sprinkler outside I looked yonder over my right shoulder to see sitting upon the eave of the shed, a small owl. My first impression was to duck (in fear it was going to swoop down at me and take my eyeballs) but, after I realized he was more interested in turning his head the full 360 degrees than attempt to blind an albino I was put at ease. I called Ayumi who brought the camera and we snagged these pictures before it was chased into a tree by a smaller, and very annoying bird. Look at those photos, quality comparable with those of a sketchy Bigfoot shot. In all honesty, it was the highlight of my day. Not that owls are cool but, its been a rather uneventful day.

You know how some mornings you wake up and just don't feel like doing anything all day? Now I know, you may be thinking to yourself, "Silly AJ, you don't do anything all day." Well, take a guy who does nothing all day and then add on top of that the feeling of not wanting to do anything and you've got a pretty lazy guy. Here I am at 9:50 p.m. feeling like I've wasted the complete afternoon. To make it worse, my wife had a list of things that needed to be done and I scarcely lifted a finger. That's all going to change next week.

I've got four weeks left. My goal, join four separate gyms using various 7-day "guest passes". I've already downloaded and printed out my 24 Hour Fitness pass for next week... the week after? Bally's, then Golds, then Exel. If the gym won't comply, I'll just take my business elsewhere! My abs are going to be so solid come Japan that we won't even need to buy a laundry machine... they didn't call me the washboard in high school for nothing!

"Like Sands Through the Hourglass, so are the Days of our Lives."

2007-06-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Last night, as I had retired to my comfy chair to read the paper, smoking my pipe and wearing my usual evening robe, my wife brings to my attention that she has a little over a week left before she takes off. I sat there, staring at the paper (something about the Queen being caught up in yet another scandal with the Prime Minister) the words became a jumble and for the first time, I think I realized how quickly this is all coming upon me.

Am I excited..? Yes. Am I anxious..? Yes. Am I sad to be leaving..? Of course. Do I still want to go..? More than ever. My wise Grandfather once told me, along with the history of my royal Norwegian heritage (quite a story that must be told in another blog... and something I intend to claim!) that when you leave somewhere "you can never really come home". I realize this and, to an extent it makes me sad. I realize even though I am not here, life here still goes on. Things will change and because of that, you never really can come home. However, I can remember before heading off to Japan the first time I was nervous... for the same reasons. Two years later I got home and things had changed (and the family had miraculously increased by one). Now, five years later here I am married myself. Are things different from how they were before initially leaving for two years? Yes, but they are so much better. Now, looking at the same mentality, am I sad and anxious? Yes. Like in the last example can I assume that in five years, even though things have changed they will be better..? Yes.

Reason I write on this topic is because I want people to know that yes I am excited but, yes too I am nervous. I know in our (my wife and myself) lives this is where we need to be going so, no regrets. I am in for one of the great life adventures! Now how long will we be gone? Like a blind man in a maze, I'll just have to feel my way out of this one. At least 2 years... but, like I've always said Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

Now that I've cleared my mind, its off to smoke my pipe and catch up on the news.

When all is said and done, at least the kitchen is clean!

2007-06-21T12:12:00.001-07:00

In the unlikely event that someone reading this blog wants to buy an almost new slightly used microwave oven I'd go as far as to boast that you won't find a cleaner one than the one we have in our here kitchen. And you know what..? Its for sale! We've been spending the morning cleaning up the surfaces around the kitchen. After reading a few posts on the Internet on how to clean out a microwave I decided to try a few. First I put a teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of water and microwaved it expecting to find some magical results. Whoever posted that message claimed that after 30-45 seconds, the food would just wipe away. Not the case. Mostly smeared but, defiantly better than just warm water. Next I mixed two cups of water with half cup of vinegar and heated it for five minutes in the microwave. Apparently the concoction is suppose to make a little sauna in your microwave and clean while it deodorizes and moistens up the walls for easy removal. The buzzer rings, I burn myself of the scalding water and wipe the walls. Worked pretty good too. Long story short, in the end I used a Mr. Clean magic wipe and got the place looking pretty good. (Speaking of Mr. Clean, as a kid I always remember Mr. Clean looking like an Arabian Genie. Now he looks more like a creepy, white jail-bird. Am I wrong?)

Yesterday, I managed to get the contents of my two bags both each under 50 pounds, as any traveler would know not an easy task to do. I can pay an additional $25.00 per bag at the airport to get the weight limit up to 70 lbs per bag but, don't have the room to do so.

So, to my diligent reader out there... Have I captured your heart yet? I promise as soon as I get to Japan, this blog will probably get a bit more exciting.

Video of Train Going Through Mie

2007-06-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is a video some people already working in Mie made for those of us wanting to know more of what to expect.

A Slight Case of Insomnia

2007-06-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I think I've developed a mild case of insomnia. I jump into bed around midnight and it seems that I toss and turn until around 2:30-3:00 before I finally doze off. The culprit..? I'm thinking its anxiety. The other day finding myself still awake and in bed at 3:30, I figured it would be easier to just get up and start with the day. I went over to the computer and played a game for an hour then around quarter to five, decided to go running in preperation to the local 5k on the 4th of July. The past few months I've been suffering from Iliotibial Band Syndrome (weak hip muscle putting strain on my knee) which makes running next to impossible. I thought I was cured but, about ten minutes into my run found out that it was indeed not the case. Well, I hobbled the rest of my route and waved the goal of running the 5k this year goodbye. The good news: sure enough come 11:00 pm, was ready for bed (and think I slept through the rest of the night). I figure if I can wake up early and exercise every day, maybe I can just beat this insomnia... easier said than done. With lack of motivation and an ever throbbing right knee I've still only made it out that one time.

Today and yesterday, Ayumi has been trying to fit all the stuff she is planning on taking with her to Japan into two big red suitcases which we had. I decided to give this a shot this morning with the two bags I intend on taking. While I watched the movie Airplane I tried to pack all my junk only to find that I need a larger suitcase or take less garbage. Now its getting to the point where we are forced to divide the necessities from the luxuries. It breaks my heart to see all the Ikea stuff which isn't making the cut. I guess when push comes to shove 2 years worth of underwear takes priority over a nifty swiss pen case.

T-Minus 38 days.

2007-06-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Following my mothers admonition, I have decided to document my life for the next little while. For those who don't know... (and if you don't know, I don't know how you have stumbled upon this gem of a website) I am headed to Japan at the end of July (thus the 38 day countdown) to live/work for the next couple of years with my wife... who happens to be Japanese. The program I am participating in is called the Jet Program and pretty much, I am going there to help teach English at Japanese high schools as a Japanese government employee. Its a one year contract that can be renewed up to four times and at the moment, we're feeling maybe 2-3 years (but, we'll see once we've tested the waters a little bit). The state I am heading to is called Mie however, as of now I still don't know the specific city. We're both excited but the past couple of weeks the days have been busy going through our stuff and trying to decide which is worth hanging onto and which we just want to get rid of. So far, we've compacted an apartment full of furniture and junk, into about half a dozen boxes we plan on hanging onto for future use, the rest..? To be given away to charity or sold at a yard sale. We're both excited, Ayumi is going to be taking off a few weeks before me to find us an apartment and look for a job (we only hope we know where we're going before she gets there). Now, in all honesty I can't imagine anything exciting being posted on this website at least until I get over there but, I'll do my best to keep those who occasionally look at this entertained and excited.

Here is a link about the Jet Program:
http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/JETProgram/homepage.html