Oh lately its so quiet!

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

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!

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?

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

Today I am at Suisan

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

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

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