three cars in one week

I went to Sanjo last night and Fujitasan gave me another car, though I have been downgraded to an old piece of crap yellow plate that doesn't even have fm radio. Do you think he is attempting to preserve his newer stock? Oh well I only have to drive it for a couple of days and then I will be in Canada!

This weekend wasn't a complete catastrophe though. Friday night Glen had a Christmas party at his swanky pad. It was a beautiful apartment with heated hardwood floors and a massive fridge... oh why did I not get an engineering degree? On Saturday after a long day of rehearsal we barged into James' spacious apartment and had a bit of party, made some pumpkin pie and had a decent sleep!

luck runs amok

I have had a couple months free of bad luck (aside from my general forgetfulness) but lady luck decided to toy with me this weekend…

I was in Sanjo for another musical rehearsal and Kristen and I went out to buy some supplies. We were driving by Jusco when a guy pulled out of the parking lot and drove straight into the side of my car. It was somewhat strange because I was looking at him as it was happening and he realized he was going to hit me...if he would have stepped on the brakes at that point I think he would have missed me but maybe he was in shock or something and proceeded to t-bone me. It was not a bad accident by any means but it was frustrating not being able to communicate. Kristen called a Japanese friend who was nice enough to interpret for us. I was somewhat annoyed that the police asked for my passport because we go through the trouble to get a gajiin card which is suppose to stand in place of the passport so we are not required to carry it. Luckily, I had gone to pick up my re-entry visa last Friday and I had my passport in the glove box. It was unfortunate that we were in an accident but if some higher deity preordained an accident to occur it was lucky it was in Sanjo because that is where my car dealer's shop is located so the dealer was able to give me a loaner car while my banged up car was getting fixed and off I went.

Driving home from Sanjo I was thinking back on the car accident and because the police asked for my passport it reminded me that I left it in my other car which was lucky because I would have probably forgotten it until the day I had to leave and would have been out of luck.

I reached Niitsu and my luck decided to turn again! I was driving in the straight through lane and going through an intersection when the guy who was in the turning lane decided to go straight. I didn't even really see him but he was livid that I did not let him in and was driving beside me on a one way street and yelling at me. I didn't care so I let him go ahead. He then proceeded to stop his vehicle in front of me and get out. At this point I really didn't know what to do and I was wondering if I should attempt to drive away. He stormed over to my car and was yelling at me to get out. I can't quite recall if he spoke in English at all or not but I understood what he wanted and I was not getting out of my car. He then began knocking on the window and I shook my head and said no. Straight from a movie or those shows you see on FOX about people with road rage he smashed his fist into my side mirror and shattered it onto the road. He then stomped off to his vehicle and peeled away. I sat for a couple minutes just looking at the broken mirror of my second car of the weekend and then though…I guess it is lucky I have to go back to Sanjo anyhow to get my passport.

Lovely winter fashion

For those of you who always thought gee winter jackets just are not warm enough. Numerous examples running around japan. I think it is the fashion of choice for pimps and club coaches.

Christmas songs at a Japanese school

About thirty years ago the Agano river (runs through my town) flooded and killed a bunch of people. A famous Japanese composer wrote a five part song about the flood and my school sings it every year at their culture festival. Since I have been here it has been the only song they have sung besides the school song... so today I nearly fell out of my chair when the strains of Joy to the World came to my ears. I was shocked at the musical variety and figured that I would be hearing "ande heban ande naturu singu" over and over for the next week but they continued to belt out the Christmas songs including Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard on High. The last song is difficult for English speakers to sing mainly because of the Latin but to hear it sung in Japanese English is crazy.

It sounds like
anegelese we habe heardo on high
suweetelyu singingu obere the prainese
ande the mountains in repulyu
eko ingu deir joyusu sutraines.
Grrrrrrooooooooria in esucersusu daio

No matter how bad they butcher them I will take them over listening to the Aganogawa for the five hundredth time. Besides gets me that little bit more into the Christmas mood.

PS: I see it is getting warm back home, if there is not snow when I get there I am going to hurt someone.

another rehearsal

This past weekend contained another musical rehearsal this time in Joetsu. Niigata is one of the largest prefectures and Joetsu is in the southern area. I live in the north east. Niigata may be big but it's still got nothing on SK. It was about a three hour drive but on the expressway so I was able to pass all the idiots where typically I would be stuck behind them. Decent drive through the mountains...many tunnels. Crashed at Patrick's place and he thoughtfully made burritos for our craving western tongues. His area had much more snow than mine but it was in the melting stages and did not resemble Christmas snow. We had rehearsal in a church the next day and it was strange seeing a fully garbed Franciscan speaking Japanese. Props were forgotten and some are still missing so it was difficult to finish what needed to be done. That night we went to an open mic night at a pub frequented by ALTs. It had a great cozy atmosphere and there were tons of gajin because the Joetsu area shells out. Niigata cut 50 ALT positions this year so there is only a few JET ALTs left in the city. Anyhow, it would be nice if there was a similar pub in our area.

Had karate last night, not as cold as last time but still semi-painful. Punched a kid pretty hard because he started getting rough when his dad was egging him on (don't feel bad he is a green belt which is at least four belts higher than my paltry white). Many new bruises.

9 days until I go home!

central heating...anyone?

Well buildings in Japan do not have central heat even though the temperature does get below zero. It is almost akin to medieval Europe but instead of fireplaces in each room we have kerosene heaters. It is not too bad when you are in a heated room though at school the temperature is at 20 when it would be at 25 if I had any say. The hallways and the gym, however, are NOT heated at all. It is almost a mad dash from the teacher's room through the frigid hallways to the welcome sanctuary of the classroom. I feel for the kids who take part in club activities because the gym is freezing. I went to karate on Monday and nearly froze my feet off on the icy floor. The gym was so cold that each breath was visible. The sensei figured running in circle on the freezing floor in our bare feet would cause them to warm up? Not sure if you have ever partially frozen an appendage but it becomes more painful to do anything with it until it becomes numb. If I have arthritic feet later in life I will know why. To compensate they had a heater that looked like an engine from a WWII plane. It was only effective if you stood directly in front of it with your feet in the air but then you were subjected to the cold feet in hot water type pain. It was better to let them go numb. The girls still have to wear skirts to school every day as well. Wouldn't want to be them! The one room of my house has been pretty cozy but if I have to go into the kitchen or bathroom I usually have to put a jacket and slippers on. Thank god for my heated toilet seat. I thought it was a stupid idea when I arrived here in the sweltering weather but when that is the only heat source in the room it is appreciated. I suppose that is enough complaining it is still pretty warm outside compared to back home.

Here is a picture from the third floor of my school when there was still snow.

What kind of winter is this?

So it finally snowed on Sunday and started feeling a bit more like December. Melissa has her apartment all decked out in Christmas paraphanalia but I really couldn't get into the Christmas mood without the snow. It brought to mind late night shopping, Christmas parties, mitten and toques(a Canada word meaning woolen hat), and hot chocolate. I think the lead up to Christmas is what I enjoy the most of the holiday. Working at the Country Club I was cursed with an overabundance of Christmas. This year the Christmas atmosphere is sorely lacking even though Japan has embraced Christmas and all its accoutrements...perhaps too much. They play Christmas songs as jingles in stores all year long and at the KFC in Niitsu they even dressed up Colonel Sanders as Santa. It is all very cartoonish and artifical. They have adopted the physical symbols of Christmas but the feeling (I don't solely mean religious) is absent. I am very glad I am going home.Well, the snow has melted and has left a slushy mucky mess. They have this strange road clearing system made up of a system of pipes that spray water when it snows. This sounded completely idiotic to me...adding more water to freeze on the road? Apparently it never really freezes here though. They had the water things on on Sunday and once you left the safety of your car you had to wade through vast puddles to get anywhere. Now I understand why they have massive aisles of assorted styles of rubber boots. Anyhow, I am sure the snow must stay after a while because my area has been known to accumulated around two metres of snow in the winter.

Celebrated Kristen's and Misael's birthdays last weekend. Here is Kristen with her crazy flip flop feet slippers.

Misael and Justine. Is she looking at him or the food?

I'm a gangsta stay away from my paella.

Birthday time of year

I seem to know many people who were birthed into the world around this time of year. We celebrated Justine's birthday this past weekend. Went to Northern Lights for a round or two and then to Immigrants cafe. I bailed out at that point but I know the party went on until late morning. Next day we went to Indus in Shibata for a delicious curry lunch. Before coming to Japan I think I had tried curry twice. Now I probably eat it at least two times a month. I do enjoy it though especially with nan.

The birthday girl!

A full table of food. Jon's curry was much more crimson in hue than the rest of ours and he had a difficult time getting it down. Justine and the Shibata crew frequent this place so often the owner gave her a bottle of wine. The tag on it said "to Kristy"! Oh well, it is the thought that counts.

This weekend will be celebrating Misael's and Kristen's birthdays. Happy Birthday to all those back home celebrating around now...Kerri, Christina, Alanna, Anna, Corinne, Jason, Sarah hope you have a good one! AND DOUG...are you happy now?

What's on your feet?

I had to attend an incredibly boring class on morality today. One of the teachers at my school had to give a lesson in front of the rest of the teachers while being critically judged on every diminutive aspect of the lesson. Anyhow, the lesson was in Japanese therefore I did not understand anything besides unimportant words like today and "and" and thus my attention was wont to wonder. I was busy checking out every one's shoes until I saw my Principal's. All my teachers wear runners no matter if they are wearing a suit, a dress or a track suit so I am accustom to that fashion but my principal was wearing CONVERSE SKATER runners. I had to prevent myself from laughing in the middle of this poor teachers lessons. Oh for those of you not versed in Canadiana... runners = sneakers /running shoes. There really is no age specific dress here until the age of 50.

Yay for one day of internet!

Today is Saturday and I am working, sort of. Because I am working (it is my school's 40th anniversary), I had Wednesday off and Thursday was a National holiday. I finally had people come out on Wednesday to fix my internet. I was skeptical because I had a couple people try to hook it up and it was always a no go and I figured it was the modem thing that was the problem. Weird things were happening that day with my phone line, my parents had called me and then half an hour later I was unable to call out. I thought this would impede them further but they had it running in a short amount of time. I had been paying for the damn service so I was relieved. That afternoon I went away for another thanksgiving (my third one this year). It was an enjoyable affair with an amazing drive along the sea coast of Japan. I learned to play crib so dad and Bruce watch out! Anyhow, I come back tried out my phone which happily worked then went on to my internet and NOTHING. Now the techies charged much more than I was told they would and it only ended up working for half a day. It is turning out to be more hassle than it is worth, grrrrr.

Forever Fall

I have never experienced such a long fall with such vibrant colours. Back home we have a week of coloured leaves and then they are snapped off by frost. The leaves have been in the process of changing for almost a month and the time simply allows the hues to deepen and diversify. The mountains as opposed to the flat prairie of SK gives an incomparable view. The pictures can never compare however. This is my school with colourful hills in the background.

This is the spine I was writing about earlier. The gigantic sunblock.

Snow is visible on the mountains in the distance. My area usually does not get snow until January, however.

Random pictures

I forgot to include a picture or description of my lovely car as of yet. I quite enjoy my car but those sitting in the passenger seat (especially if they are tall) have a hard time of it. My passenger seat is fully equipped for a handicapped person so it swivels and moves completely out of the door. Because it is able to complete these operations, it does not adjust as a normal seat would and allows for little leg room. No I have not taken to driving around handicapped people because of it, this is just Iwan testing it out. There is a jagged mountain ridge in front of my school that the locals have named after a cartoon character because apparently it looks like this character lying down in profile. We don't see the sun after 4:15 because of this ridge. This is a picture of the ridge at around 5:00.

I don't believe I have spoken on the squat toilet yet. Traditionally the squat toilet was the toilet of choice (well maybe not choice because it was simply all there was)in Japan. A normal toilet is called a western toilet. Most places these days you can find western toilets but my area is quite country so squat toilets are the norm. My school luckily has one western toilet but most businesses in my town only have squat toilets. Apparently many Japanese people feel that sitting on a western toilet is disgusting and I have heard of Japanese people who actually climb on the toilet seat and squat on a western toilet. At any rate male anatomy would certainly make using these toilets a lot easier!

We went to the beach in August for Iwan's birthday. It the first time I have ever swam in salt water and I was surprised at the warmth of it. It was almost too warm when you are looking for relief from the sweltering weather. It was not enjoyable tasting the saltiness of the water, either. There was not a single shell on the beach but we did find live starfish in the water.

View of the Shinano river(which is the longest river in Japan)and my finger, in Niigata city.

There is an area in Tokyo called Harajuku where people gather on Sundays and dress in outrageous clothing. We found this Harajuku boy in Shibata at the festival. I have never seen a male prettier than his girlfriend but he takes the cake. Linds and Emma couldn't help but get a pic with him.

Emi-chan is my Japanese tutor's daughter. She is incredibly cute but definitely a handful. James calls her Tabe-chan because taberu means to eat and this child will eat anything.

A group shot from Tokomachi rehearsal. This is Joel's typical pose...I think he is going for Greek God? Tomo is drunk and Kaede is just cute.

PS: We caught the mouse after using many different types of traps. No hamster as of yet.

The Great Challengie

A bit of background information is required to effectively tell this story. I work in one school that houses an elementary school and a junior high. Though they are in the same building they are completely separate and I have two desks in two teachers rooms. I tend to get along with my junior high teachers better because they are younger and they are not as busy as the elementary teachers and thus have time to answer my inane questions. The junior high teachers and the elementary teacher have a bit of a rivalry going on but I am not sure the background for this. Anyhow, I was at my elementary school desk and I decided I was quite famished so I opened my drawer to get omiyage. Time out for Omiyage...

Omiyage is a gift given to co-workers after going on a business trip or vacation. It seems they only give omiyage if they go out of the prefecture (province) and it tends to be food. This can range from unappetizing crackers coated in soya sauce to yummy cakes and cookies. Apparently, this is done to keep the harmony of the office environment by showing that the vacationing worker was thinking of the people back home while they were toiling away in their offices. Anyhow, we receive omiyage quite frequently and I keep it in my desk drawers for those times when I can't make it to lunch without my stomach loudly protesting.

... So I went into my drawer to eat a yummy looking apple pie and I noticed the wrapper was shredded. I was a bit disappointed figuring it would be stale so I went into a different drawer to get the Japanese equivalent of an Oreo. One of my team teachers gave me a box of them and the three that were left clearly had little teeth bites out of them all. Now I am not, nor have ever been afraid of mice but for one I do not want them popping out of my desk, two the damn things are eating my cache of sweets and three Canadian mice carry diseases so I figured Japanese mice might as well and thus was not pleased. I thought to get help in exterminating this problem. I showed the clerk and she said oh and laughed. I then asked "do you kill mice?" to which she replied "No, it is okay" in a very limited English exchange. I was not happy with this answer so I went up to the junior high teachers room evidence in hand and asked one of the teachers I really like if it was really okay and is it common in Japan to let mice run amok in peoples' desks. She was shocked and proceeded to tell the vice-principal about the situation. It was very amusing because they considered catching my mouse a challenge (they say this word in Japan but pronounce it challengie) and produced the oldest looking trap I have ever seen. It is a rusty cage with a piece of metal wire dangling inside that a five year old child could build. You affix food to one end of the wire and the other holds up the door. I was skeptical of the effectiveness of this trap but decided to give it a go.

So we set the trap and as soon as I got to school this morning my junior high teachers asked me to go check the trap in the elementary office (because they don't willingly go there themselves unless necessary). The porky little mouse ate all the food and escaped unscathed. My kyoto-sensei (vice-principal) reworked the trap and is positive it will get him next time. I just found out however, that the third grade hamster is on the loose, so perhaps it is not a mouse I will be catching. He surmises this is the reason the elementary teachers did not want to catch it because the kids might be upset if it was harmed in the process. He clearly stated, however, that he did not care so gambatte (go for it)! Updates forthcoming!

Musical a la Murikami

We had a thanksgiving in Murikami this past weekend with the musical and I was salivating over the thought of turkey all week long. The weather was miserable so it was nice to cozy up in a heated room after a long day of work. Melissa is quite the little cook and even brought her own apron along with her. We were concerned that the meal was going to lack in potatoes and vegetables because we could not get the gas to turn on and thus no burners. After half an hour the man working at the facility finally figured out how to operate the ovens and we were in business. The meal was fairly good (thought the turkey kind of tasted of fish) but by the time everyone finished preparing their dishes we had less than 30 minutes to eat. I have never felt so full in my life. Not only have I been deprived of this food for 3 months but I had only thirty minutes to eat it. It was the typical after thanksgiving feeling x 5. Kristen snapped a picture of me lying on the floor because honestly it was painful to sit upright.

She also took pictures of our bloated and distended stomachs but I'll leave that to your imagination. Next we were off to karaoke, some intelligent person (our director) decided we should walk there in typhoon like conditions so we arrive in a soggy and somewhat irritable state. We received an amazing deal, however, where we could sing karaoke and drink all we want for approximately $33.00 Canadian. It was a karaoke marathon of 7 and a half hours. We stumbled out at around 5:00 in the morning to grab 5 hours of sleep.

The guys singing "You've lost that lovin feeling" by the Righteous Brothers.

Not quite sure what dance Ashley and Seth are performing here.

Girls rocking it out to "I would do anything for love" by Meatloaf.

Kiku Festival

On our free Friday afternoon Kristen, Melissa and I went to a Chrysanthemum festival in a town in the mountains with a lady Kristen knows and her adorable daughter. Chrysanthemum is Kiku in Japanese which just happens to be Kristen's middle name because the flower blooms in November, when the world was graced with her presence! Enough posturing, I'm not really a flower person..well maybe orchids and some lilies but other than that they are not my thing. I was not attending the festival to observe the rare and beautiful award winning kiku. In fact I did not remember what the festival was for until we got there. So, I was lucky that the temple complex, where the festival was held, was absolutely beautiful. It is the largest temple I have been to thus far and the architecture was very impressive . The brilliantly coloured leaves on the trees and the ground and the dreary day added a mystic quality to the setting.

Torii gates are typical of shrines in Japan and mark the transition from the sacred to the profane. Most of the small shrines in my town have relatively small torii gates and they are generally a drab colour. While driving along the highway to get to the festival we drove under a massive torii gate. This one is much small than the mammoth gate but still much more intricate and imposing than what I have seen so far.

Small temple near the entrance.

Melissa doing what Melissa does best, besides drink. She is an amazing photographer but I am always afraid of losing her because she takes so many pictures. Luckily she only brought three cameras to this festival!

Gate to the inner temple.

Kristen and Saya, a very cute and precocious child who was hyped up on cotton candy.

I figured I should get one picture of the flowers and this plant was pretty extraordinary.

A girl in traditional hakama pants.

Sunday around town

My town has approximately 18000 people but it is an amalgamation of 4 towns and has an area of 952 km2. My small town in the town is called Mikawa (which is further divided into smaller sections but I have no idea what their names are) and has a pop of 4000 and an area of 250 km2. On Sunday I decided to explore the back country a bit more since thus far I have only covered a small area on my granny bike and it was along the main highway. The area is so incredibly beautiful with mountains, rivers, and shrines dotted here and there. The further I traveled from the main highway the more rustic the areas became, though often they all still had new vehicles parked in front of their shacks. I happened upon one hamlet like area where all the farmers were sitting in front of their houses on mats and cleaning their vegetables. It was very interesting and I received many a stare from this lot.

I found a dam I didn't realize existed because we by pass that view by driving through a tunnel in the mountain. It is actually mesmerizing watching the intensely constricted power of the water surge through this small fissure. In much of Japan nature is contained and it is somewhat sad. Riverbank are concrete, waterfalls are manufactured even the roads between the rice fields are paved. It causes me to lament on how difficult it will be to find an untouched, unaltered piece of earth in the future. Although, there is still much beauty to be found. This is a picture from this crazy mountain road I found. It clung to the side with barely a guard rail to prevent a long plunge but the view was spectacular. It continued going although nothing was along it and I do not believe anything was at the end. I did not follow it through however because places to turn were becoming few and far between.

I found this surprisingly long stair case in a very small hamlet. I believe there were bear droppings on the stairs so I was a little scared but there an old man cleaning vegetables at the bottom so I figured he could protect me!

This is the shrine that lives at the top of the staircase. All areas have their own shrines but this one is fairly large for such a small area. It was a very peaceful and picturesque spot if a bit shabby. When praying at a shrine you wash out your mouth and your hands, if a fountain is available, and then you throw money in a wooden box, if this is available, you then ring a bell that is at the top of a rope and clap your hands two times. After this you can make a wish to the God of the shrine and then bow when you leave. Well the bell at this shrine was ripped in half and needless to say did not work. I am not sure if the God is a malignant one or if the bears perhaps had a bit too much fun.

Bamboo forest along the stair to the shrine. It is the first one I have seen in Japan though bamboo is used quite often and is prevalent in every day life.

Aquarium

Saturday went to the aquarium with Melissa and Kristen. It was pretty small but still interesting. Melissa was pretty excited because she had never seen a dolphin show before. Dolphin shows in Japan are identical to those in North America so it wasn't anything new to me and the show was pretty small scale, but her excitement was contagious. It was nice to get out of Aga-machi and see some sites in the city.

Kristen snapped this awesome pic. I have eaten more octopus and squid here than I ever thought to in my life.

Anticipating the dolphin show.The sea lions were pretty cute, these two were fighting over their little island.After we went for a walk along the beach and watched a gorgeous sunset over the sea of Japan.

Kristen strolling in the white sands.Romantic sunset!


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almost gone