taking a trip back in time to rice planting

I finally got a bunch of picture of this years events from James. I think the planting was in late April early May and it was quite cold out!

The tender little rice seedlings waiting for our expert hands to take them to their home.

Taka the gospel singing farmer, kindly allowed us to muck about in his fields.

The real farming equipment. Most commercial farmers use farm equipment these days though Taka said this is a really old and crappy tractor. Many families have a couple plots of rice just for their own consumption though and they often have the little old grandmas and grandpas planting by hand.

Initially we started in rubber boots, real planters have thigh high waders.

We found that the suction was incredibly strong and we would get nothing done taking a minute to move five steps...

so the boots came off

and we froze our little toes...and hands

Taka looking mighty and clean on the tractor.

The machine at work

us at work.

It was an interesting experience but we chose a bad day for it. I planted again with one of my elementary schools and it was much more enjoyable with the warm mud tickling your toesrather than freezing them off.

gosen matsuri

I had bought a yukata (summer kimono made from cotton) when I had first come to Japan and did not find the opportunity to wear it. Gosen matsuri is quite small and uneventful but dammit I wanted to wear my yukata, so I did. I had Noriko help put it on because it is a bit of a process. I had to wear a special bra to flatten my chest and a towel around my waist because the square streamline look is desired. She thought it would be funny to dress James up in a Yukata, as well. Tsubo thought James looked like Yakuza(Japanese maffia) though.

Although uneventful as matsuris go, there were many things that I think outside of Japan would be interesting. I will try to be more camera happy in the future. Typically, they carry ancient shrines around town but Gosen has changed and now they carry popular anime characters around. This year ponya and doraemon were populous.

Pimp my Keitai

Perhaps I am behind the times and cellphone stickers (or as some call it bling) have crossed the ocean and are popular in North America but when I came to Japan it was all new and blindingly sparkly to me. As I said in my previous post, Japanese cellphones are already pretty cool to start with but they are into the bright, sparkly and outrageous "Pimped out Keitai" (cellphone in Japanese). Most people will have at least a few stickers on their keitai. My Japanese English teacher has had hers' professionally done for about $40.00. She has a sparkly cat and some gemstone but her keitai is almost mundane compared with the glitz that is out there!

There are the gemstones...

And the adhereable food!

The famous characters...in gemstones.

and more...

Don't you guys feel left out they have a sparkly line catered toward more manly designs!

Strapya seems to be a good place to buy bling, as well, if you are so inclined, I'm not.

http://www.strapya-world.com/categories/12_1147.html

what's hanging off your cellphone?

Everyone and their dog has a cellphone in Japan, from little kids (for security reasons!?) to little old ladies. The cellphones here come in an amazing array of colours and styles so you would think people would be satisfied with the vast choice, think not! This is the country of accessorizing and it is shown no more than in their cellphones. Cellphone charms are the norm not the opposite. Go into any tourist store anywhere in the country and there will be cellphone charms with the likes of hello kitty, kewpies and a host of others to decorate your bland phone. In fact go into almost any store and you'll find them. People need them to express the individuality of their cellphones? One will not suffice though, oh no, most people will have at least three or four making their phone difficult to fit into a pocket comfortably so you will see the charms hanging out of their pants or purses. The charms run from the common and cute.
To the slightly twisted.
To the perverted (kewpie bondage?)
The most popular charm of all is the delicious looking golden ice cream. Did I say ice cream I meant golden POOP! They consider the golden poop to be a good luck charm and you will see it all over the place in Japan.
If you would like to get your fingers on some wonderful charms apparently strapya is the best place to get them.

PS: you won't see a charm gracing my phone anytime soon!

http://www.Strapya-World.com

two months since the last post !!!

This is really just a random amalgam of pictures and tidbits because I felt I couldn't let my blog go past two months without an update.

The massive bugs have come out once again and all the children are shaking with delight. They are seen as pets here and sold in stores with all the accouterments, cages with toys and special food etc... I have seen on TV they even have insect sumo and people raise these bugs like they might prized thoroughbreds. The price of a proven sire can be up to two thousand dollars (for a BUG!). This is just a random one in the hallway of my apartment building . Much bigger than my big toe!

Evan has left the town with one lest gaijin and a lot less Australian spirit. We had a couple goodbye parties for him and they were sad affairs, though it doesn't really seem like he is gone. This is a plate of sashimi(raw meat) that was at one of the goodbye parties. One of our principals footed the bill for that one!


I had mentioned gaijin traps in an earlier blog entry but I will recap. They are deep gutters on the side on the road that call out longingly for foreigner to drive in. On a slightly different topic that will relate( I promise) I have never seen more public urinaters in my life and that is saying a lot coming from a small town. Cars will pull over anywhere and out will swagger a man be he construction worker or business man and nonchalantly do his business. This is somewhat strange in itself since there are reststops and convenience stores every 50 metres but I have become use to it. A while ago though I was driving on a small windy mountain road and I saw a bright pink car stopped off at the side. What did I see but a little old lady peeing in a gaijin trap. I had to drive between her and her car to get by and do you think she even batted an eye. She just continued with her business as I had to slow down so as to not hit her!

I was having dinner with a friend a few weeks ago and I spotted a fox through the window. I let my friend know and she jumped out and ran outside in glee to catch a glimpse. She thought it was such a novelty since she had only seen one in a zoo. Contrast that with monkeys frolicking in the school yard and my face against the window watching until the last one lumbers away, the rest of my teachers are working away, once in a while looking at me like I belong in a zoo.

The great summer sports competition was upon us again and my girls volleyball team had high hopes of winning first prize. The made a strong showing until the finals where the met a team with a girl who consistently jump served! I didn't even know a high school player who could jump serve back home. PS I hate the new scoring of volleyball.

Since summer has begun so has the sun paranoia. Japanese people are so crazy about avoiding the sun that if you go to the beach it will be you and the kids in swimsuits everyone else is covered to their ears. It is not uncommon to see women walking around with frilly parasols and long gloves to cover the arms and hands. They always say it is about skin cancer but truly it is because they yearn for white skin. Many skin products here contain bleaching agents and purport whitening effects. Personally I think really white Japanese people look really weird.

the stranger person drill

I am becoming very negligent to this blog, I may have to break down and get the net at home! I am sure I encounter things everyday that you would find strange or interesting but they have become so common place to me as to seem unremarkable. I'll try to be better.

Have any idea what this is?

To be honest I never gave it much of a thought. They have one in each classroom and I think I kind of assumed they were used to clean the spiderwebs off the roof or some other mundane usage. Well I discovered their true purpose during the stranger person drill (this is what my teacher said it is called)! A few years ago a strange guy entered an elementary school and killed? maimed? seven children with a knife. Since that time in typical Japanese overreaction fashion all schools in the country are now equipped with these human fending off devises and the teachers must take courses to ensure they are able to wield them. One of the teachers dressed up as a "stranger" and all the kids had to evacuate the school while select teachers, who are adept with the human forks, rushed to the location of the intruder and pinned him against the wall. Of course he did not struggle at all and it was a piece of cake. However, I am curious to see how well they work against someone who is not so complacent. Perhaps the inventor of the human fork is friends with the minister of education?

Bangkok

Some random Bangkok pictures. Before I left my dear friend Doug remarked that as a city Bangkok is as dirty as it sounds and he was not bluffing. It was dirty, loud and smelly. We couldn't walk a meter without being solicited for taxis, ping pong shows, massages and prostitutes. There were certain areas that are beautiful but add to the mix the humidity and ridiculous heat and I don't feel the need to ever go back. I can't believe I don't have a picture of the king. His picture was absolutely everywhere decked out in the gaudiest embellished gold and tracery imaginable. The people actually seem to love the king they would have his picture up and news about him or his family was plastered across every media format. In my opinion he needs a new set of glasses if his picture is going to be everywhere the coke bottles are slightly dated.

We also encountered every mode of transportation possible in Thailand. Starting with plane then, taxi, tuk-tuk (colourful three wheeled contraption in the pictures below), bus, motorbike, mo-ped, elephant, train, riding in the box of a truck taxis, and a ferry. We did cover quite a distance in our short time there and if I go again I believe I will take it easier. And my Thailand trip is finally finished two months later!

Reclining Buddha and the Grand Palace

Here are some random pictures from both of those places. The temple at the Grand Palace required long pants, skirts, and sleeves so the boys had to rent pants to wear inside. Everything was completely embelished there wasn't a surface that was left bare. It was incredibly hot and humid that day so by the end we were just begging for water and a siesta. It was quite beautiful but after while the glitz began to lose its awe.