It's been a while...

Hmm its been a really long time since I last blogged. But I'm really lazy, and have been really busy with other things. Things have been pretty good in japan. It's only started to get cold here. I'm hoping by mid november that it'll be cold enough for an ice rink to be made for me at the sports park. But anyway, apparently I have a hockey tryout in mid november which I'm sorta worried about since it'll be a contact game and I haven't had any hockey since July. We'll see how it goes, I was hoping to play in the best league in asahikawa but yah, like I said, we'll see what suits me.

Last week I went to go buy a guitar and ended up getting a Epiphone AJ-45 1963 model, which is a limited addition acoustic guitar. I didn't know it when I bought it, but it turns out to be a really nice solid top guitar for 40 000 JPY. I'll take some pictures of the guitar and post them on facebook. Which reminds me I still haven't uploaded those pictures I said I would... I guess I gotta get back to that.

Hmm what else? Oh right...got an iPod touch. It's really nice, and it makes me wish I had gone with apple a bit sooner than I should of. But thats sok, the touch was just available when I got it and the other iPods aren't as exciting as the touch imo.

Hung out with my buddy in Nayoro, Jenna, and discovered that driving 1/4 the width of Hokkaido can take 1 hour if you go on the right roads and speed at the right time. Usually roads are as slow as hell here. (The speed limit is 40km/h in the cities and 60km/h on the country roads that lead to other cities, high ways are like 70km/h, but then again everybody speeds.) The drive to Nayoro is spectacular and filled with awesome scenery. Lots of mountains and trees.

Also, finally found a way to watch NHL games on the internet. Had to pay $169 USD (well Jenna did, so I owe her half that amount still ...) but I've been watching some of the oiler games on the weekend. Was watching the highlights to the Ducks-Oilers game. They're pretty incredible. I can definately say that the oilers have found the scoring touch (tho they don't always win). The shootout was spectacular, with Gagner undressing Gigure and then Hemsky sealing the deal. Gotta make sure that my next jersy is Gagner. That kid is spectacular, I expected him to play 9 games in the NHL and then be moved to the minors, but wow has he been surprisingly good and getting better.

Anyway, gonna finish the rest of my dinner and practice guitar. Talk to you guys later, however long that maybe.

A short ramble

Sorry its been soo long since I last blogged. I'm gonna blog a bit just before class starts. Not sure if its ok for me to blog at the school but I think it'll be fine because I have all my class materials made and ready.

So this is what happened since I last blogged (in short summary form).

I got bought the Yellow Subaru Impreza Wagon. Althought I couldn't test drive it before I bought it, I realize that its a really good car to drive around, and its really fun to drive too. Insurance is pretty cheap ($800 CDN a year approx.) I've been driving it around Hokkaido, but I've only gone as a far as Asahikawa. Maybe sometime I'll take it down to Sapporo.

I got my own internet connection. I'll upload some pictures later on to facebook.

Bought a lot of stuff. Maybe too much...but they were kinda a needed.

Might buy a guitar soon. The one I'm interested in is a Epiphone Acoustic guitar with a nice warm sound. If I buy a guitar I'll need lessons too.

Been drinking again. Now I have a beer almost everyday. Go Alcoholism!

Going to check out some hockey teams in a couple of weeks and maybe buy my new one90 stick to replace the one I broke before.

Been hanging out with my prefectural bud, Jenna, who was concidentally at the University of Alberta taking Japanese, although not in the same classes.

Been buying a lot of CDs, dunno why but downloading doesn't feel right anymore. Maybe because I'm no longer a student.

I'm trying to plan my trip to Hong Kong and Tokyo in December and January but haven't found a good travel agency...maybe its because I'm slacking off.

Yesterday I went to Ike-chan's father's house. He ended up giving me cookies and a classical guitar. I had to clean it up and will probably replace the strings, since they're pretty rusted. Wouldn't want tetanus or anything like that.

To pass the really boring times I've been playing a lot of PS2. FFXII International Zodiac and Winning Eleven J-League and Onimusha 3. All in Japanese, so its really hard to understand at time. I also got Jump superstars for my DS. About damn time! I've also been reading lots of Manga. I can get through a book and understand everything in about 2 hours. I've also boughten a crap load of manga to last me 2 months. The manga shop is too tempting for me, I need to stop going, but I can't help it.

Anyway, I gotta go soon. I'll blog later. If I don't feel so lazy.

ERO(TIC) CAR!!!

On Wednesday (Yesterday), I went with my super, to Asahikawa. We went to G-Park, a place that sells used Subaru cars (the one I mentioned before), to talk about some financial details and have closer inspection of the cars I was interested in. If you remember, there was a buyer interested in the "Ero car" but apparently that deal didn't work out and the dealership contacted us to begin negotiations.

So we started negotiates with another guy. And I did my best to hide my excitement at the possiblity of buying the ero car. We tried to pick out the flaws, in hopes of lowering the price of the car. (To recap it was listed at 470000 JPY total, actually when we got there there was a price sheet listing it as 540000 JPY, which is more than I prefer to pay for it.) There are quite a few dings on it, but its really nothing serious. It's really everything you expect fro a new car.

I got to test out the clutch point (the dealer didn't look too happy when I asked) and inspect inside the hood and the bottom. Everything seemed ok.

Remember when I said that the winter tires weren't included? Well Takahata-san asked and we actually got a set for free. All in all, I will be paying a total of 400000 JPY for it. I think it was mostly due to Takahata-san's talking and bargaining. Anyway I owe him Ramen and a Beer for it.

Afterwards, we went back to Kamikawa, and Takahata-san invited me over to his house for dinner for a celebration. We had Jingiskan (Sheep) Nabe. It's like sukiyaki, in which you have soup and cook food on it. Actually I'm not really sure because I was too busy drinking craploads of beer. Go look it up on wikipedia if you really want to know.

So yah, I was drinking a lot, with Takahata-san, his family was just watching us and enjoying the food. It's kind of wierd how its kinda acceptable for the father and other people to get drunk infront of the family. Actually the kids, were pouring the beer for us some of the time.

Afterwards, we played Mario Party 8 on the Wii and Warioware. It was really fun, and I think we all had a really good time. Being drunk wreaked havoc on my reflexes tho, so Warioware sucked pretty bad.

I got to watch a bit of Takahata-san's wedding ceremony, and the games they play when they get married. There was a sumo parody and some singing. The biggest surprise to me, was seeing the younger versions people I knew from Kamikawa. They had changed so much since the time of the video.

Today, was really busy, it was a full day. Morning was Sounkyo elementary, after that was a meeting at the elementary and then finally kaiwa club at the high school, which went really well thanks to the Berabera book. (It's really hard to explain what this is if you don't know Japanese culture, or SMAP, but its basically an english phrase book made by a celebrity in Japan).

So yah, I'm pretty tired right now so I think I'm gonna call it an early night,I'll blogged to you guys later.

すすきのがすきの？(Do you like Susukino?)

Note: the title is a play on Japanese language...its pronounced Susukino Ga Suki No?

On Saturday, I woke up at 7:00am and arrived at the BOE at 8:20am, just in time for the departure to Sapporo at 8:30. A lot of people from the BOE went, along with some people from the junior high. It was nice to know a lot of the people for once.

During the bus ride everybody consumed a fair amount of alcohol. I had 2 beers and Japanese Sake. It was a first time for me to consume so much alcohol in the morning. The worst part of the trip was having to pee on a bus that doesn't really have a washroom. (My kidneys and liver go into overdrive mode after consuming alcohol, which means more urine production.) Actually a lot of people had to pee frequently, so we made many stops along the way to Sapporo. The whole trip there ended up taking about 3 hours when we could of got there in about 2 and a half hours.

When we arrived, we went straight to the Sapporo Dome to watch the Nippon-Ham Fighters battle the Seibu Lions. It was more fun this time around, because the Fighter fans tended to be a little more louder this time. Unfortunately it didn't help the outcome, as the Fighters still lost the game. We also couldn't watch it all because we had to get on the base shortly before the game ended. Sucks...

We checked into our hotel (located in Susukino) and then went to the first location to what would turn out to be a long, but entertaining night in Susukino (getting the theme?). It was called Te-chan and it was really neat, because the entire restaurant was decorated with old toys and pages from manga. The walls were covered with old mangas and covers of magazines, the shelves were filled with old toys. On the roof hung old fishing nets which held toys and other nostalgic (nostalgic for those who had grown up in Japan in the 70-80s) things.

We ate our fair share of sashimi, including moving octopus tentacles. This time I wasn't as scared. We drank our fair share of beer.

We then moved to our second location, which was a "entertainment club". I forgot what it was called, but unlike the other clubs in Susukino this one didn't have to do with hostesses or strippers (although it did have a lot of alcohol). It was sort of like a Japanese variety show with dancing, singing and skits. Some of the skits were easy enough to understand, but others required some knowledge of Japanese pop culture, probably from the beginning of my generation. So I had no clue what they were talking about. I still found the whole experience really good though.

Our third location was at another entertainment club (we lost about 3/4ths of the group, it was mostly the younger of the BOE left, including my supervisor and I). The show was a little bit better than the previous one, because I got most of the Japanese pop culture references. They had a DJ Ozma skit, which made me start listening to some of his songs. His dancing is really cheesy and funny if you watch the music videos and the performers mimicked it very well.

After that everybody went back to the Hotel. Ike-chan, Chikka-chan and Ikk B pulled me out of my room for a night of card playing. We played till about 4:00 in the morning before we went to sleep. I got up at about 7:45, Sunday morning, but it seems that other 3 got up at about 6:00 and went to have breakfast.

We checked out of the hotel at 8:50 and then went to the Winter sports museum. There, we saw some ski jumpers do some ski jumping on a nearby ski jump. It as neat because they did it without snow, just on some sort of slippery rubber soaked in water. I guess that's how they train all day for big tournaments in the winter.

After that it was off into the Winter Sports museum, to look at the exhibits and participate in a couple of the simulations. The simulations are really pretty fun, some of the notable ones are a ski jumping simulation, a hockey goalie simulation and the speed skating simulation. I did horrible in the hockey goalie one (good thing I'm not a goalie) stopping 0/5 shots. I swear the sensors are under-sensitive, maybe I'm just making excuses. Ski Jumping I did ok at. Ike-chan challenged me to speed skating and I ended up beating him hands down, though after I almost lost the use of my legs due to fatigue.

After that we boarded the bus again and then went back home, with a stop along the way to the local gift shop to buy Omiyage (souvenirs) for everybody. I bought a fair share for all the schools I go to.

Once arriving back home, I was so tired, I took a 3 hour nap and woke up to find Watanabe-san from the Rotary club calling, to invite me a few events this month and give me some squash. I was pretty groggy then but I accepted and he came over in a few minutes to discuss the details. After that, it was dinner from Seicomart (Convenience store) and then sleep time.

Today was a pretty eventful day. I met the rest of the high school, and they seem really uninterested in English. They're always talking and don't give a crap, which makes me not want to teach them, as it's a waste of my time and theirs. But I guess these things are what make teaching in general, challenging. Anyway I'm sure they're fine as people, so I'll have to find another way to reach them.

We had two incidents of violence today at the high school, one was to a teacher and the other was student to student. The prior, I didn't really have to do anything, though I was a little concerned about the teacher's safety (he was a fellow english teacher). The latter, I had to help intervene because Sasaki-sensei (another teacher that I work with) and I were the only ones there. It was rare to see this sort of thing happen I heard, funny how it happened on the 3rd week since I started to teach. The students don't seem that strong here, so I'm sure I could take a couple of slugs before I lose conscienceness, good thing it didn't come to that. Apparently if I hit a student I could get deported.

I'm sort of glad to have the experience to see and participate in these things, but at the same time I don't really want them to happen. So far, almost all of my students seem pretty friendly or have no ill intent. I'm sure that my students are just as intimidated by me as I am them, probably even more so.

I also happened to mis-place my DS today and thought I had lost it or a student had stole it. Luckily, I only left it on a computer desk in the staff room and a teacher had kept it for me. I went back and forth from the BOE to the school 2 times before someone finally told me the teacher had it in his desk. Oh well, better found then lost, even if it took me two trips.

When I got home today, I broke my house key in two (about 1cm from the hilt) while trying to open one of the locks and had to really take a piss inside my house. I inserted the broken part (that became stuck in the keyhole) and the hilt into the lock and turned to open the lock and take a piss. I later had to fish out the part inside the keyhole and call my supervisor to get a spare set.

Wasn't a great day today, but it could of turned out worse. I'm a little worried about the students I met today, but I don't think they'll be too bad. I really don't have to discipline, them, just embaress them enough or intimidate them enough that they shut up. I think I can get good at it.

Anyway, I'm off to unwind and play some video games. Blog to you guys later.

Car Shopping in Asahikawa and MANZAI!

I was at work till about 5:00pm on Wednesday night, when my supervisor asked me suddenly if I wanted to go to Asahikawa for some car browsing. I, of course, said yes. And off we headed to Asahikawa.

After about a 45 minute drive, and talking about all sorts of things, we arrived in Asahikawa. The first stop was at G-park, which sells used cars all refurbished by Subaru. There were three cars of interest.

The first car, which we saw on the internet, was a Rally Blue Subaru Impreza Wagon with 1500cc engine. It was almost like new, but it was about 690 000 JPY base price. It had no Shakken (manditory yearly or bi-yearly inspection that costs about 100 000 JPY, the time of the inspection depends on how old the car is), so altogether it was estimated at 800 000JPY (I think that includes some taxes and stuff I'm not yet aware of). Which is a little more expensive then I would like.

The second car, was a silver Subaru Legacy 1500cc engine; the only legacy I could find on the web that would use regular gas. It was a ten year old car, but listed at 370 000 JPY it was kind of a bargain I guess (probably with everything it will be about 500 000 JPY). Unfortuately I was a little bit adament about its features (or better yet, lack of features). It's a pretty nice car and I might buy it if the next one doesn't turn out.

The third car was a pale yellow Subaru Impreza station wagon, that was a few years older than the first Impreza. My supervisor calls it the Ero Impreza (sounds like Yellow Impreza), being called ero means your a pervert, and if I buy that car I know hes gonna say something like: "Hey its ero Wing in his ero car". Anyway, it had been upgraded with a Momo steering wheel, and other asthetic features by its previous owner. It had traveled like 50 000km over 7 years, and had a CD player. The total price was listed around 470 000 JPY. There was also one year of Shakken. No winter tires, but even if I buy some, I'm sure it would be cheaper than the legacy.

Anyway, after, we went to a couple of car shops around Asahikawa, but didn't find anything that was suitable. All the cars were either too big (Trucks, SUVs, etc.) or really expensive cars (BMWs, Benzes, New Cars). We then went to Yoshinoya to eat the famous Beef rice bowl, which was pretty good. I added an extra egg to mine, and treated my supervisor to his beef bowl.

We then headed to a nearby supermarket where my supervisor had to go grocery shopping for his family. Apparently his brother had caught a fish and they were gonna smoke it. Unfortunately we couldn't find all the ingredients. He also helped me shop around for a few things, and taught me couple things about eating rice Japanase style. Such as Ocha Awase (puting tea in your rice), puting some special nori in your rice and about famous canned foods in Japan. We also figured out the Furi-kake that I bought in Asahikawa with Peter, was Natto flavored... Yes....Natto flavored. I suppose I should of clued in when it smelled strong. I also should of looked up the Kanji on the bottle. Well....now I know the kanji for Natto....

Your probably all laughing at me. Which is fine, I'm laughing at myself too.

Today was teaching at the child care, which was fun because the kids are soo friendly and are all over you the minute you walk into the child care centre. I basically turned into a human jungle jim. I actually had one kid give me the Naruto, "Thousand years of Pain" move (basically pushing his fingers into my butt). Although the kid didn't do much damage, it did hurt a bit. But other than that it was a pretty fun experience, although somewhat tiring.

I went back to the BOE and told my supervisor that I was interest in buying that yellow impreza. It turns out that the impreza is actually being negtiated with a previous customer and that I might not be able to buy it. We'll see, I guess if I can't buy it it was never meant to be. My supervisor told me to be patient, because if you express that you want it, they may end up charging you higher. He also said that if we manage to get to the negotiation stage, we could potentially negotiate for winter tires :D. I know Canada works like that for new cars, not sure about the used ones, but hearing this really surprised me, and I can only hope that everything turns out ok. I'll just be patient and not rush myself into any dumb purchases. I only hope that hockey doesn't start till later!

I had lunch and studied Japanese until about 3:10, when I headed off to the High School to do conversation class with a group of 2 students and 1 teacher (all female). It's always fun talking to them and explaining things and teasing them to describe difficult things in english. It's always a great time, though I think I need to start going into the club with a definate plan of action, rather than just wing it (excuse the pun).


After that it was back to the BOE there was Rakugo (traditional Japanese stand up comedy, well not really stand up) and Manzai (a two man comedy act) event.

Rakugo was the majority of the event was Rakugo. It's an old Japanese cultural thing dating back to Edo (as I was told by Kamada-san owner of Asahi-ya). It's basically stand up comedy, except that hes sitting on stage, and making Japanese jokes, which require a different type of thinking at times. I think the jokes are set in older times, but I couldn't understand much of it, because it was mostly in Kansai-ben (Kansai-dialect), which is like a totally different language of Japaneseand some Hokkaido-ben (Hokkaido Dialect), which I'm still learning. I did learn a few friends and kind of learn a bit about Kansai-ben which was really nice (Nande ya nen!? --> "What the hell?"). The Manzai act I understood a bit more because they were speaking Kanto-ben, your basic textbook Japanese. All in all, a good experience.

I then went to Kyoshi, a local izakaya, where I was treated to Crab Fried Rice, Yum soo good, and had Horumon and pork. Since he gave me free rice, I figured I should give him an omiyage, so tomorrow I plan to drop by with someting. Anyway, I should head to bed. I just wanted to catch up with some blogging and let everybody know whats happening in my small town.

On the weekend, I'm going to Sapporo to watch baseball, go to Izakayas and a sports museum, while drinking the whole time (this is gonna be such an awesome trip!). No, shopping, but I figure I need to save for a car anyway? aha. Guess I won't be saving much with all the money I'll be spending on CH3CH2OH (Ethanol/Commonly refered to as Alcohol). Anyway probably won't blog till Monday, or Sunday evening at the latest. So...Till then!

EDIT: One more question before I sleep. This is for everybody who reads my notes. Put yourself in my shoes. You're an ALT in Kamikawa. One evening, an ALT calls your cellphone and asks stay over at your house the next evening because hes doing some biking excursion. All you know about this ALT is his name and that he is with the JET program (so he says). Do you let this guy stay over because hes a JET?

What I did? This ALT called me while I was in Asahikawa. Though I try to be nice to JETs as I don't really like causing any animosity between members of JET and myself, I found myself saying no. For one, I have no idea who this person is, or even how this person got my number. He didn't say, and in fact it freaks me out quite a bit. He could be a JET, or he could just as easily be some mass murder, maybe I'm being too paranoid but I hope you understand where I'm coming from. If I had met this person, and then invited him to stay over, like I did with Peter, then it would of been better. Two, this guy asks me one day before hes coming to Kamikawa. Maybe he has his reasons, but to me thats really last minute and kind of rude.

If this action has put me in a bad position with the JET community then I guess so be it. I not too sure why it should, I'm just being paranoid again I think. I realize JETs are suppose to help each other, but there have been JETs who have been tricked by their JET predecessors. And theres also a limit to what one will do for a someone they haven't even seen. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to what you guys have to say.

MY FIRST ONSEN!!!

So yah sorry guys,I keep leaving things out of my blog. Guess if I kept up with the blog I really wouldn't have this problem would I?

Anyway heres what I left out of the last blog.

1) I went gambling last wednesday in Asahikawa. We went to a horse race which was kinda cool and exciting at the same time. I've never really been to one, but I believe it works the same way in Japan and Canada, where you pick the horses that you believe will come in first, second and third. And if your choices matches the outcome the you win money.

It was kinda cool because I won the first of my three races. Unfortunately I only bet 100 JPY so I got like 1600 JPY in return. I made about 15 bets over 3 races, all about 100 JPY each, so really I didn't spend that much. I guess it was more fun just having fun with everybody at the town office and my supervisor.

On the bus back, for some reason I suffered an anxiety attack, where I questioned why the hell I was in Japan, while I was on the bus ride back home. I actually think it was more about being away from my home in Edmonton, and then being away from my home in Kamikawa, with the Sapporo orientation and frequent visits to Asahikawa and all. I guess being shipped from place to place has its toll on me and somehow I just wanted to return to a place I could call home. I just closed my eyes and pretended to sleep it off until the panic subsided. My supervisor was pretty worried, I don't think he knew exactly what was going on, as I didn't say anything, but after a while of just listening to my MP3 player I felt a lot better. Upon to returning to Kamikawa I felt great. I think it was just being removed from Kamikawa or soo long. I dunno...

Also on the bus back, Konno-san, drank to much and almost puked on the bus. We had to pull over for him to puke. I guess its a first time for you guys to hear about me not puking somewhere. I did have to go the washroom soo bad that I almost peed my pants on the way to Asahikawa. I had to tell my supervisor, and he told the driver to pull over to the nearest washroom. It was pretty fun and sad, for me, at the same time. Damn you alcohol!!! You make me have old man bladder.

2)I had my first haircut in Japan. I decided to go to a barbershop called Higuchi, ran by a man of the same name. It's fairly close to my apartment and on the way home from work, so I figured why not? I had actually met Higuchi-san on the sunday of the Furusato Matsuri, and he had showed me his beer chugging skills. He managed to finish one pint of beer in about 2.5 seconds. You have to see it to believe it, its mind blowing.

Anyway, for 3300 JPY he'll cut your hair, give you a head massage and give you nice shave the traditional barber way. Now that's service! I never got that kind of treatment in Canada. Not even close! Thats why I love Japan. BTW, all the stores and shops in Japan provide pretty good service.

For example, if you buy something from a clothing store, they'll walk you out and carry the bag for you till you reach the end of their store. Then they'll hand you the bag and say good bye. I actually went to a department store in Sapporo just as it was about to close, and when I finally found something I liked and bought it, the department store had closed. The lady clerk, walked me out of the building and actually showed me where the subway station was. Fracking great, I don't think I will be able to stand he service when I get back to Edmonton.

Anyway, I plan to get another haircut later when my hair is a little longer, I kinda wanna go back to the mullet as its socially acceptable in Japan, and people will actually still hire you if you have one, and girls kinda like it more then short hair I'm sure ;P. Might be fun to have long hair eventually anyway. But the haircuts are more really enjoyable experiences here, I'm only concerned about Higuchi-san being able to style my hair, if I grow it long. I'm sure he will be able.

But anyway, I found out another thing I really enjoy about Japan. ONSEN (Baths)!!!!

I went to one today in Sounkyo with my supervisor and his friend Nobu-chan. They're really nice and relaxing, although a bit draining. I'm sure everybody knows a bit, or has heard a bit about Japanese baths. But I'll explain my experience anyway.

Well first we went into the change room and removed all our clothes and put them in a basket. You have a privacy towel, you use to cover your privates. After that we walked into the bathing area, where we would shower ourselves off, and then finally enter the baths. Its good to enter slowly, as entering too fast hurts pretty badly (the water is really hot). The change rooms are really seperate by sex of course, and so was this bathing area, but I heard from my supervisor that there are baths that don't seperate the bathing areas. I dunno if hes just jerking my chain, but that would cause me to nose bleed continuously, unless it was full of old women, then I'd just be creeped out.

After staying in the bath for about 10 minutes, we went to Otenburo (Outdoor bath) just one floor up (it was just part of the bath, but just one floor up, which is reachable by the stairs). The bath there is a lot cooler, and its really nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors as well as feel the breeze.

We then went to sauna for a good 10 minutes before we cooled down in a pool full of cold water right beside it. That was easily the best part.

Then we warmed up in the otenburo for a bit before showering off and eating lunch at the italian restaurant right beside it.

We all went home, where I took a 2 hour nap. The baths somehow drain the energy away from me, but it made me feel good and refreshed in a way.

Anyway I got some work to do, so i'll talk to you guys later. I started playing FFXII international version in Japanese, so hopefully I'll get to continue some of that tonight once I finish my work.

Talk to you guys later!

Continuation of the previous blog...

Sorry, last night I had some plans which involved gambling. But more on that later. Therefore I couldn't finish the blog of last week.

I also wanna say for those JETs that read my blog, the person shouting in my face wasn't anybody of the JETs that I hang out with so no worries! Even thoughit was a bit irritating its not like I hate that person.

Anyway, on with the blog. Where was I? Oh right teaching on Thursday the 23rd.

On the 23rd I went to the Yochien (basically preschool) where I played with the children for about 2 hours. It's kinda nice to be the JET of the city and get to go the Yochien because all you do is talk and play with kids and you get paid for it. The kids are pretty cute and generally not as shy as the elementary, junior high or high school kids. After that I returned to the Board of Education (BOE) and then after work I went to pick up the rest of my comics, as they had finally arrived at the local book store. However, I'm still missing some issues in between because they can't find some of the issues, but I guess patience is a virtue and I'll wait it out just to help the smaller guy out.

Friday was really my first day of teaching class. I went to the junior high and taught my first class during the second period (9:45 ish I think). Basically I just explained where I was from, my hobbies, interests and likes and dislikes. Gave them a quiz on myself introduction. It wasn't too hard because the teacher, Kosaka-Sensei, basically lead the way.

Friday was the beginning of Furusato Matsuri (Hometown festival), but instead I went out to Akashi, a local izakaya, to eat and party with the elementary school staff. I had to make a speech, which I have no more problems with now, since I've done it soo much :(. I realize I suck at Japanese still tho, so theres still a lot to work on. The first speech I made was in English s it wasn't soo bad. The second speech, was part of a game, where I had to talk about my love life. I started in English, but stopped after Kosaka-sensei started translating my speech inproperly and made me look like some hentai pervert. But anyway I just talked about my last relationship.

Our second party was at a Karaoke bar, I forget the name. But it was just more drinking and singing. I actually ended up going the a third party with a couple of other teachers and eating Horumon (pig guts, sounds gross but its good when its bbq'd) and Ramen. After words I proceeded to go home and sleep away the alcohol.

On saturday, I did a few choirs around the house (yes, pretty rare coming from me), while waiting for Pete, the ALT in Shirataki (a city of 1500, only 30 mins away). We went to the festival for a bit and talked to a couple of people, before leaving at shortly after. We decided that it would be better for Pete to stay over for the night so he could drink and party with the people of Kamikawa, rather than return home and then come back the next morning for his Yasakoi (Japanese Traditional Dancing, although I'm not sure if thats the correct way to call it, you may want to check for yourself). So we went to Shirataki to pick up his stuff and almost ran over a fox on the way there. We came back to Kamikawa and hung around the festival for a bit.

First, we went to watch the parade, which consisted of dancing skits and the like. There were actually people from the Yakuba (Town Hall) and BOE (people I work with) doing a dance number with a Women's synchro theme. They were wearing women's swimming suits and make up. Had I not had Sapporo orientation I would've been forced to join because I promised to try it in Sapporo when I was asked. Which means next year I will be doing it for sure. It was pretty funny. They were doing something related to the naked dancing guy in Jackass, but Japanese style. One of the trademark moves is saying "Sou Nani Kankei Ne" while stamping your right food and moving your arm like pulling a lawn mowing card. And then you go "Pah pee pooh!". You have to see it, its pretty funny, if I find it on You tube I'll link it.

I also met Mama, the owner of Romance, a local karaoke bar and ate a crap load of food and drank a buttload of beer.

After the festival was done for the day, we headed to Romance and sang and drank the rest of the night away. I threw up discretely in the washroom, and then left romance soon after at about 1:00 in the morning. I actually got lost around Kamikawa for a bit before being able to stumble my way back home. Pete stayed till 3:30am apparently so I left the door open in the apartment so that he'd be able to get in.

I had to wake up the next morning at 7:30 and help my supervisor clean up the streets at 8:00am, at a place near the Gym, but I actually got lost and went in the opposite direction. I was late leaving and by the time I called my supervisor to ask him where it was, cleaning was over. He did pick me up and showed me where it was and then dropped me off at home. I actually felt pretty guilty. I was also feeling pretty shitty from being hung over and tired from lack of sleep.

When I returned home, Pete woke up shortly after, and then we headed to the Festival grounds and I waited for him to Yasakoi. In the meantime, I went home to record my message on my answering machine. I went back to the grounds and watched the Yasakoi. After that, Pete and I went to Asahikawa for a bit of shopping. I was finally able to buy a long TV cable, so that I could move my damn TV in to the real living room with a couch. I also bought a couple of things from Takeo Kikuchi and crap loads of groceries from the grocery store at Aeon and at a foreign food store. I also introduced Pete to Takeo Kikuchi, which he cursed me for. I think he'll be spending quite a bit of his money there from now on. BWAHAHAH!

We had ramen before returning back to our homes. It was nice to be back home, but I soon went back out the meet Takahata-san for the After Furusato Matsuri party. It was at Akashi again and really good. I had to make a speech in Japanese, which I toally got wrong as a result of being hung over, but I think I still made my point.

I went home at 11:00pm although Fuchigami-san, one of the employees of the Yakuba, wanted me to go to a Second party with him and Nishiki-san, at at karaoke bar. Actually Nishiki-san was pretty unwilling and told Fuchigami-san but I think Fuchigami-san suceeded in dragging Nishiki-san along. Poor guy. I just ran away and told them I had to teach in the morning (I had to be at the High School by 8:00).

On Monday I woke up early and headed to the BOE to pick up my teaching materials. However it was locked and I actually couldn't get in until 7:50. I quickly gathered my stuff and just barely made it to the high school on time. I taught my classes by doing a self introduction and a quiz. I also did a few tricks with my Hockey stick and puck. That impressed the students.

High School Girls seem pretty inquistive about my current relationship status. I told them I have 20 girlfriends back home and then all answer with "Saitei" ("You're the worst"). I just laugh it off. I also had some girls ask me to go out with them, to which I replied: "I'll think about it". This seemed to make them happy and then just ran off laughing. It's all pretty wierd and pretty funny at the same time.

Tuesday was pretty normal as I was back in the Junior high doing a classes. The kids were still pretty talkative and still treate me like I'm sme sort of star.

Today was pretty interesting. It was my first day at the elementary. Teaching was basically the same outline at the junior high and high school, just a bit simpler for the youngins. However I did have a kid ask if I had a big Pen 15. I was too shocked to answer. He just ran off and yelled: "I knew it was big!". I'm not kidding, this is a true story...

I'm also kinda sad today. I was flexing my stick today for the kids to see and ended up snapping it in half. *Sniff* there goes my Nike Bauer 190. I hope to be able to order a new one maybe this Sunday if I head down to Asahikawa. Maybe I'll get two, just as a back up. Somehow, life feels a bit emptier without a 190.

Anyway, I've finally caught up to where I wanna be. I'm gonna sleep now since I have to be at the BOE tomorrow around 8:30, if not sooner. I wanna study some Japanese and read my Japanese Novel to get ready for the JLPT Level 2 Exam in December.

Talk to you guys later, I hope the start of school isn't stress you guys out too much. If you guys are in Japan, teaching, I hope that your students make your experience enjoyable!

Its been a while...

Sorry about that, its my fault. I've been so busy with the weeks events that I haven't had much time to reply back to some emails, nor actually catch up on blogging. This is gonna be one long post if I manage to finish it tonight, if not I'll try to finish it tomorrow night. I kinda have an early day tomorrow (I have to be at the Elementary by 8) but I'll do what I can.

Let's start with the beginning. Last week Saturday, the 18th (Friday was uneventful because I was just packing for Sapporo) . Since I had Sapporo orientation with the JETs on Monday the 20th, till Wednesday the 23rd, my supervisor decided it would be a good idea for me to head to Sapporo on Saturday to party it up with his morning baseball team. And after hearing party I accepted right away. So in the morning of the 18th we headed down to Sapporo, the largest city Hokkaido, 2 hours away.

When we got there we checked into our hotel at Susukino called Swanky Hotel (The name is actually quite descriptive based on the location). Susukino is the Kabuki-cho of Hokkadio (Kabuki-cho is the red light district of Tokyo). Being the red light district, it has a lot of....clubs and stuff.

But anyway, after checking in to the hotel we headed to the nearest subway station and took it all the way to the Sapporo Dome, to watch the Nippon-Ham Fighters, the local team in the Japanese baseball league. Although I don't normally like baseball, I kinda found it fun to watch because being part of the Cheering squad is so much fun. The opposing team (Chiba Marines) had a really strong cheering squad despite having 10 times less the fans as the Fighters. The Fighters lost in the end, due to a bad 7th inning, but it was still fun anyway.

After that we headed back to an Izakaya at Susukino and I got the chance to eat freshly killed octopus. The tentacles still moved in the plate which it was served in. It was a pretty interesting experience and I'm glad I tried it. I'm sure it grosses most of you out though, but when in foreign place, I find it hard not to try new things. Also had crab brains and sake, that was a really interesting way to eat it.

Afterwards we went to a few bars and clubs....yah.

Everybody had their own room, which was totally nice, because after Tokyo orientation and staying with other people, it was a nice change.

The next morning, I went into the Hokkaido Keio Plaza Hotel, which is not as luxurious as its Tokyo counterpart. I couldn't check in right away, check in time was at 13:00. So I had Keio keep my luggage for me and then me and my supervisor walked around the area (which is basically known as Sapporo station). I discovered where the ATMs where, the JA train station was, where I needed to board the train back to Kamikawa on Wednesday and tons of other stuff including a Starbucks. We ate ramen at a Ramen village, which was a floor on the Department Store totally devoted to ramen. In other words, heaven. Anyways, we went back to the Keio and my supervisor left. I then met up with a couple JETs downstairs in the lobby of Keio.

We then went around the area doing some electronics shopping (where everyone bought DS), clothes shopping before finally eating at Yakiniku at Susukino (we took the subway to get there). Ike-chan suggested it when I asked him over the phone. I had a bit of a difficult time trying to find it, but it all ended up ok and I think everybody enjoyed it for the most part. We went drinking at a couple of bars and ended up getting quite wasted. My friend Jenna and I almost got stuck in Susukino, we caught the second last train back to Sapporo station at 12:01 midnight. It was kinda scary. Although Sapporo is within walking distance to Susukino (30 minutes) and I guess we would of made it back one way or another (even if I was lost I had cell phone GPS). But it was quite an experience.

The next morning was the start of orientation. I got up early and headed to the Combini to buy myself some Riceballs and a coffee for Breakfast. Nothing much happened at Orientation other than being bored out of my mind. There was a recruiting for HAJET, which is like a brotherhood of JETs. When you join you can use their english library and other services. I myself didn't join because I don't read english books, and for 4000 JPY it was a bit pricey. There was also a enkai hosted by HAJET but that costed 4000 JPY too. A lot of JETs were going, but I decided to have some alone time and wander around the city of Sapporo.

I first went to Oodori Station, which is the stop between Susukino and Sapporo station. (It's kinda wierd how they name one station Sapporo station but anyway...) Theres a shopping place called Kanuki Koji, which is like an outdoor bizarre. I guess you could compare it with something like Whyte Avenue or 17th Avenue if you're a Calgarian. Afterwards I walked to Susukino, 15 minutes away. I visited some of the department stores there and ended up buying a couple of dress pants. All the stores there close at 8. So I went back to Sapporo station at that time and did a bit of shopping at the department store there, which closes at 9.

After that I dropped off all my bags at Keio plaza (only 5 minutes walk from the station by the way, sorry that came out so late) and then ate at an Izakaya my supervisor suggested to me. It was right behind Keio so it was pretty convenient. The Husband and Wife pair that run that store know my supervisor personally and are actually really close with the Kamikawa people because they go there all the time. It was nice talking to her and I told her to basically let her decide what I would eat at their restaurant.

She picked Gouya (which is some sort of Vegetable, with bitter melon, in a yellow soup, it's hard to explain), Sanma (Mackeral) sashimi, Cooked Sanma and Crab, which is very different then the ones in Canada (the ones here are pointy and the meat is pretty tender). The dinner came out to be about 4000 JPY but it was delicious and fulfilling. It was really nice to try new things.

I met up with some JETs at Susukino after on their 2nd party after the Enkai, we talked for a bit and then headed down to the 3rd party in a karaoke bar near Keio. It was fun and all, but I did have some people shouting in my face, which I didn't enjoy. I realized they were drunk but still... I didn't know JETs could be soo loud but it was all in good fun, even though I was so dead tired I was incorrherent of things going on. I left earlier then everybody, 1:30 in the morning in preparations for next days orientation.

Next day's orientation was about the same. Except atleast I got to do Advanced Japanese class, which was fairly decent. It ws basically us talking in Japanese the whole time. After orientation everybody just had an easy day. I went shopping with a Chris, a JET I had just met in Sapporo. We went electonics shopping and guitar shopping, although I didn't buy one, I learned a lot about the process. I might consider getting one later on in the year. Everybody, including me went to bed early and to get ready for the next day's orienation and departure back to our respective cities. I did go buy some Yukimi Daifuku (Ice cream rice balls) and a beer for snack before sleep.

The next day was half a day of orientation and then a tour of the museum and historical village. The latter was the most interesting, since it was basically old transported buildings gathered in one place. I got to see live silk worms which was kinda cool. After that I departed JA station at 17:30 to arrive back in Kamikawa at 19:50. A couple of co-workers came to the station to see if I made it home ok and to give me a ride back to my apartment. Very nice people, but I probably caused them a lot of pain :(. Anyway, I was sooo tired that I went back out and into one of our many Ramen stores to eat dinner. After words I went home and slept.

The next days were really eventful as they were my first days teaching and the Furusato Matsuri, which I'll explain next time. It's getting late and I don't wanna rush the rest of the blog, so I'll leave it at that till tomorrow.

Yay for Keitais!

Finally! On Monday morning my Foreigner card finally came...which means I am allowed to do many things I wasn't allowed to do without one. For one, I'm now able to buy a car, whether used or new.

Another thing, which I actually did shortly right after we stopped by city hall, was get a Postal Office Bank Account. Along with my normal account, a postal office bank account will let me withdraw money from any postal office in Japan. My normal account is with JA (not sure what this stands for), but if I'm in places other than Hokkaido, my money won't really be accessible. I can also do banking with my Keitai (Cellphone), which brings me to my next subject.

In the afternoon, we headed to Asahikawa to finally get myself a high tech, 3rd generation Keitai. (I believe Canada and US are still in Generation 1.) Weeks before, my supervisor and I discussed which plans to get for about 3 days. We decided to go with Softbank (I think its Vodaphone), on their White Plan. The White Plan is really different that any other plan that I've had. In the end we decided to get the Double White Plan (Its actually W-White) because just 100 JPY more expensive than the White plan. Heres how it works, you get to phone people who are in Softbank for free from 1:00am - 9:00pm, outside of those times, it costs 10.5 JPY / 30secs. Mailing messages is about the same, except theres no time limit and your charged by message length when you message someone outside of Softbank. Anyway, rather than bore you with other details, I'll just concluded that my plan is about 3300 JPY/Month (approx. $30 CDN). Thats with paying for the phone monthly (over two years) and the Double White Plan. It should be noted that he phone I got is the 913SH from Sharp and is the latest model of Keitai Softbank has.

Anyway, the 913SH and other 3G (3rd generation) phones are pretty amazing in Japan. If all you owned was a phone and had a decent salary you could live off these phones in a main city (like Tokyo, Sapporo or even Asahikawa). You can use your phone as a wallet, you can pay for hotel room (by using your phone like a Pre-charged credit card), food at combinis, and public transportation, simply by swiping your phone over a sensor. Its nuts! If your bored and want to watch TV, you can (I can't yet, but apparently the service is coming to Kamikawa in a month, hence why I said "living in a main city"). Watched too much TV on your Keitai? Go buy yourself a Wii, PS2, PSP, PS3 or DS at Geo (pronounced Geh-Oh) with your Keitai. Lost your bank card? you don't need one, just swipe your Keitai over a sensor and you can log into your bank. Wanna get out of Tokyo? JAL and ANA take payments for plane tickets by Keitai. All these services require pre-charging your keitai with money. Its pretty incredible, whats being going on with cellphones in Japan.

But that doesn't even scratch the surface. Keitais are almost like your blackberries, but have even more functions. Everybody knows about cellphone cameras, but can your cellphone take a picture of a business card and read information from it? Then turn that information into a contact for your phone? Can your phone read 2D barcodes that can contain information such as websites, phone numbers, contacts, names? I finally figured out why theres no iPhone in Japan. Because the iPhone sucks compared to other phones here.

If all this sounds like I'm falling head over heels for Techno gadgets in Japan, its probably because I am. Keitais alone are reason not to live in North America or any other place. But then again I guess most of my friends are in Canada, so thats a pretty good reason to go back too. Maybe we should all move to Japan and then I'll be pretty happy!

Anyways, wanna end the Keitai verbal molestation, with saying that if your in Japan under Softbank, gimme a call anytime between 4:45pm and 9:00pm or text me at any time (except when I'm asleep). Actually if your in Japan gimme a shout anyway, we can atleast trade contact info. If your not and wanna cost me some money, I guess you could call my cellphone, though I would prefer if you guys signed up with Skype so I could talk to you guys cheaper :P. That ends my Keitai rant.

Anyway, we went to go look at a couple of used cars after we got my keitai all hooked up. I'm thinking about declining the sprinter for a car with 4WD. My supervisor has been telling me to get it just in case snow becomes really bad on the roads. Even though the Sprinter is cheap, its not worth the danger I might have in the winter time. As a side note, I'm sell my Mazda3 at home :(. I'm gonna miss that car. If anybody is interested, let me know.

We took a look at the normal white licence plate cars. They tend to be heavier and safer in the wintertime. One car that was of interest was a Honda Integra Type R(yes Honda, Japan doesn't have Acura). For 590 000 JPY, it was tempting, but it doesn't have 4WD and insurance will be might expensive, being a race car.

On returning to Kamikawa, I went to my supervisor's house to have Dinner, where we had Yakiniku, with fish, mutton and vegetables. We had plenty of beer to drink and got drunk pretty late in the night. Toby-san, who works at City Hall had his family and himself join us. We must of talked till 10pm. Then we went inside My Takahata-san's (My supervisor's) house and played Wii Tennis. After that it was home and sleep.

Today, was less excited, other than playing with my phone, I didn't do too much. Work was also dead due to the Obon-festival. Tomorrow will probably be the same :(. Anyway, gotta sleep soon, blog to you later!

Hanging out with the "Youngins"

Well there have been a lot of replys about my Natto (fermented soya beans) post (which I'm sorry for not describing, I just assume everybody is familiar with it for some reason). Anyways, your replies got me thinking about trying it again, so maybe if we I have a house party with the other co-workers I'll try to experience Natto in a different way than at an izakaya (sit-down restaurant). Thanks for your feedback!

So, throughout the whole week, it was pretty uneventful. Pretty much a routine of waking up, going to work, coming home, cooking dinner and then relaxing and playing video games. My supervisor went on holidays from Wednesday to Friday and will be back this coming Monday. Also, I finally got my memory card mailed to me on Wednesday. I'm still waiting for my manga to come from Asahikawa (its taking forever :/ ).

Friday was a little more eventful than the rest of the week. I'm planning on buying a used car so that I can drive to Asahikawa and play hockey in the winter time. I got to see on Friday at noon. It was Toyota Sprinter and for 260 000 JPY it was a bargin, considering it had an automatic car starter, and winter tires included in the price. It's pretty tempting, but I think I'm gonna pick another car considering the Sprinter is a FF (Front Engine, Front wheel drive) and automatic, which isn't gonna be fun to drive for 2-3 years. I've been told its best to have a 4WD car especially in winter time when the roads are filled with snow. Anyways, I have a while to think about buying the car. It's a white licence plate car (which signifies that the engine is above 1000cc) which means Shakken (annual/bi-annual manditory inspection) is going to be a bit more expensive as is insurance. Though for the price, I think its a great buy and I'm pretty sure it would last me the rest of my stay in Kamikawa.

After work, my co-worker, Ikehata-san (whom, I should call Ikke-chan after work), invited me to go to a beer party in Kamikawa Park. When he came to pick me up at 6:30, he had changed the plans to Yakiniku in Asahikawa (basically korean bbq with Japanese food). However, we did stop by the beer party to say hi to Watanabe-san of the Rotary club, whom had called me to tell me to go to the beer party when I got home after work.

We picked up Ikke-chan's two friends, two girls Chikka-chan and Ick-B (note: thats not they're actual names, just their nicknames), and then we headed off to Asahikawa. The difference in age between me, the youngest, and the oldest, Ikke-chan, was 4 years. We drove to some Yakiniku place and basically ate until our stomachs were full. I was kind of disappointed in myself for not being able to have better conversations with them. I think it was a combination of being tired, being sorta intimidated with hanging out with a younger Japanese crowd and just not knowing enough Japanese. Maybe it was just the inexperience of hanging out with a younger Japanese crowd.

Afterwards, we headed back to Kamikawa, and on the way went Kabuto-mushi (Beatle) Hunting. I have no idea what it is, but Japanese girls are fine with Japanese beatles but not ok with moths or any other bugs. Maybe I'm prematurely drawing a stereotypical conclusion.

We stopped by a Combini (convenience store) for a couple of snacks and drinks, Ick-B and Chikka-chan's house, for their Gamecube and Playstation games. Then we returned to my house for a night of video games. We ended up playing till about 3:30 in the morning, and in between the tenants down below coming up to my apartment at 12:00am to tell us to keep the noise down. I apologized and bowed deeply to express my regret. Needless to say, throughout the rest of the night, I was a bit nervous for fear of waking up the neighbors again. I should probably go down and apologize again later.

It was a fun night anyway, I'm probably gonna try to be less timid next time. We played Mario Party 8 and Mario Kart, the latter in which I "pwned" all :P.

Not sure why, but I felt really tired today but still managed to do laundry, go grocery shopping and cook and feed myself. I'm currently watching Women's volleyball. Its Japan vs. the Netherlands and its actually pretty intense. Netherlands definately has the height, but they're not so good when it comes to digging. However, with that being said, Japan is definately the underdog. Anyway, I'm gonna get back to Volleyball, so I'll blog to you guys later!

A Food Tip for the JET and Those Coming to Visit Japan

It happened a couple days ago, but I thought I'd tell you now that I remember about it. In Japan, it should go without saying, that you should try everything if you really want to experience it's cuisine. In otherwords you have to have a pretty tolerant stomach.

Being Chinese, I'm pretty open new food, I will each pretty much anything thats sanitarily edible. However I at something that made me gag for the first time ever in my life. Well technically its two things.

Anyway I'll get straight to the point, instead of going round-about. Do NOT try to wash down Natto with Beer. On that day, I decided to challenge myself by eating Natto the second time, in my life. We ordered Natto-maki. During the fourth roll, I couldn't swallow it because it was getting wayyy to strong. So I decided to wash it down with beer. Thing is Natto makes beer foam, and beer increases the taste of Natto in your mouth. Along with that, there are these mint leaves they put with Natto, it kinda makes the Natto taste more pronounced.

All this in combinaton triggered a gag reflex, and I almost puked on the spot. Luckily my desire to not puke on the table or other peoples laps was stronger than the desire to puke. Anyway, thought I would relate that lesson to you, so you don't go through the same thing as me. If your gonna eat natto try it in small bits and never wash it down with beer.

宴会ばから ･ Enkai Bakari

Sorry its been a while, heres a short update on what has happened the past days since I updated.

I had a Welcome party on friday, which was interesting and fun. I drank a lot and puked equally as much. The thing about any Enkais or welcome parties of the sort is that there is always two stages. You start off at one place and you often end at another. Therefore, its important to pace yourself when you do enkais. Otherwise, you'll be puking in front of your work staff staring at you concerningly. I had to have two co-workers, Suzuki-san (Yasumasa is his first name) and Tomoko-san carry me into my apartment. Needless to say I thanked them on Monday.

Sobering up from Friday's Welcome Party, I headed to Asahikawa the next day. Asahikawas is the nearest city next to kamikawa and is about 1 hour away. There, I went to a couple of department stores that were interesting; Comme ca Men, Seibu, composing of two buildings, and Marui Imai Department store. I bought a couple of things from TK (Takeo Kikuchi), they're not too fobbed out, and one from Men's Malibu, which had a pretty cool dress shirt with crystals from Swarvorski. It's kinda neat, I dunno maybe I'm just turning too metro in Japan.

Anyway, I went to a video game store called Geos where I bought a PS2, yes I know its old but its cheap and has games I can enjoy when I'm playing by myself. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy a memory card, but I ordered one online and I hope that comes in a few days. A nintendo Wii will have to wait till later. I plan to get it when more single player orientated games come out.

It should be noted that one of the department stores in Asahikawa, I forget what it is called has a complete Anime/Manga floor. In retrospec maybe I should of got all my manga then, but I guess helping out the little guys is always good to, if I'm willing to be patient.

On Sunday, I did cleaning and laundry in my apartment, as well as spend time with my PS2. Needless to say everything is now clean, and I'll send pictures to facebook once I get my own internet.

Yesterday, Monday, was back to work. I spent the first half of the day meeting people from the town office and pre-schools, elementry schools, junior high school and high school. It was pretty rough, but I have to say that talking with the mayor face-to-face and being interviewed by the town newspaper felt pretty neat. I can definately see the benefits of coming to a small town like Kamikawa.

The last half of the day was used to prepare lesson plans, although those won't be used till August the 24th or so, and studying Japanese. I'm actually trying to read the Death Note Novel, based on one of the Minor characters Misora Naomi. Today I actually got past the prologue, which I totally don't get, and started reading chapter one. After work, it was another Enkai but it was with a Peace forum.

The peace forum is is trying to advocate peace, based on experiences and consequences suffered as a result of the Hiroshima bombing. We had to watch a video about mothers of the Hiroshima bombing, which was pretty shocking once you actually saw what happened. I'm glad it had nothing to do with anything political like Yasukuni or anything like that. Otherwise, I don't think I'd go. But I'm pretty sure people wouldn't do that to me, especially Takahata-san, he's a pretty cool guy.

Anyways, after the video we had Yakiniku, which was delicious. Niku (meat) was mostly Mutton, but they had some cow meat, but it was really really soft and tender, more so then the ones at home. Our second stage, was at the Karaoke box, where I got to sing my Japanese songs and listen to Enka for the first time. Although it sounds horrible to many people, Enka is a pretty fun way to enjoy karaoke, but its really difficult to sing. Fuchikama-san who works at Town Hall had too much to drink, and by the end of the night, he as yelling "Fight-Oh Fight-Oh" and mixing that with the song lyrics. When he wasn't singing he was sleeping in the corner. He was also doing Chekku, which is basically hugging yourself and making yourself looking like your making out with someone. It was funny and pretty much at the end of the night we were just laughing non-stop. I had no idea karaoke could be so fun with Japanese people.

Today was all work. I came home right after it was done because I need someone to install a gas alarm for me(all Japanese stoves use propane and the alarm is needed to warn you if there is a leak). Actually, it was suppose to be done for me yesterday, but I was at the Enkai and I totally forgot about it. Bad me!

Btw, hopefully I have a Keitai soon. I'm going to go with Softbank, for those who are planning to come live here in Japan, go Softbank too and I can mail you for free. I'm probably gonna get the Softbank 913SH phone, which looks really nice and will hopefully keep me statisfied for a few years. I'm pretty excited about it!

I've finished all my chores for today, and I'm currently watch a pretty sad television show called Tengoku no Tegami (Letters from Heaven). I think its some psychic guy basically talking to the families whom have had people die tragically (The one I'm watching is where one day, some kids at a childcare are walking along the street for a feel trip and many of them get struck by a car with a flat tire). This psyhic has communicated with the dead and is basically relaying the messages ("Its not their fault, etc.). It doesn't matter if its fake because hes making people feel good, thats probably the most important thing. Anyway it's Namara-Kandou dabe! (Really moving). I'm gonna keep watching so I can learn some Japanese and maybe tear up infront of the T.V.

Talk to you guys next time!

New Day at the Job

Before I start I should probably write some more things about Tokyo. Washrooms at a 5 star hotel have everything. A Bidet to clean ur but, and part of the mirror is heated, so condensation will not occur when you take a really nice hot bath. It's really nice!

I also met my JET predecssor in Shibuya. I originally went to Shibuya to meet her and her sister at around 9. But couldn't contact her over the phone again and decided to go back to Keio. Once I got to Keio I decided to tell her not to go to Shibuya, but she was already there. Turns out she was traveling by train and she couldn't use her phone (in Japanese trains you're not suppose to talk on the phone). So out of eagerness to meet her, I decided to return back to Shibuya. Actually the train ride to Shibuya is only 7 minutes away from Shinjuku. Harajuku is like 5 minutes travel.
After we met up, we went to some bar in the back streets (it isn't as sketchy as it sounds, backstreets are the only places where you'll find the coolest stores). Turns out this bar was sort of a rip off because it charged us cover (400 Yen), and the drinks were ridiculously expensive for a bar in Tokyo (680 - 1100 Yen) based on what you choose. They're named after movies and comics and stuff, so I guess that made them unique. We only entered the bar because of sheer thirst for alcohol. We bonded for a while and left back to our "homes". It felt like I knew her for a
really long time.

The next day I traveled to Sapporo and then took a 3hr car ride with my Supervisor, Takahata-san, to Kamikawa. He didn't speak English well, so he was glad to have me speak Japanese to him. In fact he was surprised that I was at the level I was at. When we arrived at the Board of Education (BoE) we decided to play a joke on the rest of the staff members. When I first arrived, I pretended to be able to speak only English. We met the superintendent and he spoke to me first in Japanese (being of Asian decent and appearence, they think I can speak Japanese). I replied in Japanese. When Takahata-san told me "O.K." I let the Japanese rip. He almost had a heart attack! Everybody is happy that I speak Japanese, because they're english is minimal. They're all great people and I look forward to spending the whole year (or more) with them.

After that Takahata-san, other Co-workers; Nishimoto-san, Suzuki-san and I headed to an Izukaiya with (Sit-down Bar Restaurant) called Akashi. We at Sushi, drank Beer and Sake, and talked for about 2 Hours. Todo-san joined us in between and it was a great way to talk to people. We headed to another Food place right after, I was stuffed full, and proceeded to keep drinking and eating. I ate a Curry Katsu Don and was officially innoculated in the town of Kamikawa. I hardly at much after being so full, but I plan to go back and order it again.

Today was the first day of work. Takahata-san picked me up at 8:30 and took me around town for a few errands. First was getting the Foreigner Card. We needed to have two photos of me, so we actually had to go a Photo shop, take pictures and then head back to the Town Hall. After that, I got my bank account (I had to deposit 10 Yen) and then he took me on our tour which encompassed the schools, a gym and Espawaarudo, which is Kamikawa's large bell tower that sit on the peak of a smaller mountain nearby.

After that it was back to the BoE for a bit, and then Lunch, where I went to a grocery store and bought stuff for the house. I dropped that off and headed back to the BoE. I finished the rest of my work day studying Japanese (I haven't met the teachers yet so I don't know what kind of lesson plans I should do). I headed to a bookstore run by an nice elderly lady. I ordered probably $300 CDN worth of Comics (its actually alot, about 60 books or so. I'm using comics to improve on my Japanese. Now I'm home, blogging on my laptop.

Well I'll end this blog by saying that I'm glad that to have been placed in a small town. My Japanese is going to be so much better when I come back. I'm also glad that Asahikawa and Sapporo are close by, if I ever feel that the country side is getting too bland for me. The simplicity is nice for a home, but sometimes you need to head to the big city for shopping or something. Anyway, I splurged a bit but the good thing is that I get paid in 2 and a half
weeks. But I still have lots of money left.

The only downfall I can find with this experience is the lack of TV channels, but thats because I'm being cheap and not wanting to pay for extra channels. I might want to do that, seeing on how I feel about not being able to watch the dramas I want. I'll also have to see how much it is. If anything I can always get subtitled dramas from the internet once I get my own. Right now I'm mooching off a neighbor, and I don't want to hog his bandwith. I still have to find Hockey, but I'm sure I'll find it in Asahikawa, the city 1 hour away. (less than an hour if you
take the Tokkyu train). I'll upload some pictures when I can and put them on facebook.

Last Day in Tokyo and Recollection of the First Days

Wow, so the last day in Tokyo. It was nice staying here, although a bit stressful at times with the orientations and the sightseeing. Nevertheless, it was fun and I think that I can safely say that Tokyo has become one of my favorite cities in the World. You can do so much here, such that everyday is something new and exciting. I think it especially helped having Ambrose to hang out with.

So what eventful events happened in the first two days.

Well first of all, living in a 5-star Hotel for the past 3 days have been exciting and have offered me a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Although JET wanted me to stay in the hotel my entire 3 days, I was glad to have the chance to go out and enjoy Tokyo. I learned to ride the trains for the first time, which was very exciting. Although I had no transfers to other lines, riding to Shibuya proved to be pretty education. Especially just now, when I the train got so crowded that the girls around me felt like they were raping me. It was wierd because I was more bothered by my hand on their butt then they were. Guess stuff like that in Tokyo is pretty common.

My first time in Shibuya, I accidentally walked around a girls store for 15 minutes searching for a guys clothing store. When I finally got the hint, (through wierd looks from both girls and guys) I finally asked one of the employees where I could find the men's stores. He said something in Japanese, but I wasn't in any shape to understand it as I have been burnt out and Jet lagged (excuse the pun), for the past 3 days.

In fact, orientation was the past 2 days, today being the worst. Prefectural orientation with all the JETs from Hokkaido was hell because there was so much confusion about the luggage we were suppose to check in today, for tomorrows flight. My bag weighed 30kg but the weight limit was 15kg (which is like nothing, 34lbs). I had to empty most of my stuff into a box I bought and get the tokkyubin (shipping company) to ship my stuff down to my host prefecture. The bad side of this is that I'll get there before my stuff does.

I also hope that the cargo I sent to Hokkaido, right off the plane from Tokyo will have made it safely to Kamikawa. I'm most concerned about my sticks. Anything else should arrive a few days after I do.

Today, I chilled with Ambrose again, and we did some shopping in Shinjuku, which was a worthwhile experience. I learned about some of the stores, and although I never really bought anything, except a bag from Uniqlo (nothing else was interesting or worth it, I needed the bag for my laptop hand carry tomorrow on the flight to Sapporo), I got to see the nicest Burberry Black Label coat I have laid my eyes on. Unfortunately its approx. $500 CDN, and I don't have that much to spend. Perhaps, if I come back in December, I'll have a chance to buy something just as nice.

I had my first foreign cigarette today. It was a good experience as well, especially since I didn't have to buy a pack. I probably won't smoke that much, but it is tempting considering a pack in japan costs about 350 Yen, or $3 CDN. Its ridiculously cheap.

I got to use a spray toilet in Japan. Never again! It felt tooo wierd.

Vending machines are amazing here, they're everywhere and offer pretty cheap drinks (120 Yen, approx. $100 CDN for stuff you buy at T&T for $2 CDN). Haven't seen anything other than drink ones (no booze) and cigarettes.

Anyway, I'm tired and have to wake up at 7:00 or so tomorrow for my flight to Sapporo, Hokkaido. Hopefully I'll be able to chill in Haneda (or Narita, which ever we go to) and buy a nice brand name wallet there. If not I can atleast buy manga and study it on the plane. I will then meet my host supervisor after I arrive and then we head to Kamikawa. We'll probably have a Enkai at night. Should be pretty overwhelming, but I think I'm pretty used to it now. Anyway, shower time and sleep time. I'll give pictures on facebook with captions later. Also I'll blog what I can recollect of Tokyo later, after I upload my pictures.

Good Night, or Good Morning if you live in Edmonton!

Anyway, I'm tired and

In Shinjuku

Hey Guys,
Sorry haven't had much time to blog. I can't believe that I'm in Shinjuku right now, its really awesome. Haven't had much time to go sight seeing, other than Ambrose taking me out last night, but I've tried to avoid most of the JET stuff in favor of viewing All of Tokyo with what little time I have.

It was a fun night with Ambrose, we went to a couple of bars in Kabuki-Cho, the red light district and drank beer all night. We also had the experience of being harassed by employees of hostess bars and restaurants to enter their establishment. It was mostly Ambrose's fault because he was wearing a suit and apparently wearing a suit makes people think your a big spender.

Anyway, I don't have much time as I have to contact my predecessor in Tokyo and ask her where to have Dinner. I'm skipping a seminar (45 mins in length) about Japanese Food. I'm a fairly open guy when it comes to food, so I figure whats the point, I'm gonna try everything I don't really care.

I'll write more about my first few days here when I get settled down in Kamikawa. Pictures will also be coming, so don't worry. Anyway, I'll talk to you guys later, its hot and humid here, I hope its not as bad in Edmonton.

I'm here in Calgary

Last day in Canada and I'm stuck having it in Calgary. I guess its a different view than Edmonton but I'd much rather be spending the last day at home and leaving from there. Sleeping on someone else's bed doesn't offer the same amount of comfort that my bed has (especially the tempurmatic orthopedic memory phone mat). But I guess I can't bitch and complain, because if I wasn't staying a friends place, I'd be at a hotel with all the JETs doing who knows what.

Today I had my orientation and met many people on the same journey as me, which makes me feel a little better knowing that I'm not alone. The orientation was torturous as I only had 2 hours of sleep the night before. Not sure what the reson was but I just couldn't sleep. Breaks for lunch, allowed me to go shopping in downtown Holt Renfrew, which had some cheap ass sale going on, just like the Edmonton branch. I spent $200 there, and was able to buy 1 Hugo Boss Tie, a Dunham Tie, 2 pairs of Polo Socks, and 1 pair of G-star Jeans. I saved a lot trust me, it was well worth it to pay $200 for all those. The jeans themselves were originally $210, I paid $68. (They have a sale were they take 20% off the sale price). The ties were about $60, which is awesome for high end stuff, cheaper than stuff at Banana Republic. I also bought a short sleeve dress shirt at BR, despite what you guys think. Goes to show you I don't conform to group mentality! :P

Had Krispy Kreme at night and will probably have it again tomorrow morning for breakfast. The plane leaves at 12:00 tomorrow from Calgary, which will then go to Vancouver. From Vancouver I'll fly to Narita Airport in Tokyo. Total Flight time 10hrs. Lucky for me theres my laptop and a plug in on the plane. Also there's TV screens on the back of each seat. That's sweet. So the big dillema I'll have to solve tomorrow is whether to watch my Japanese Dramas, or the on board movies. The decision will be made when I find out what movies those are. Bet you they suck.

I'll arrive in Tokyo at 3:30 or so (their time), and from there I head down to Shinjuku(a 2 hour drive! wtf), to the Keio Plaza Hotel, where I will have my orientations and my lodgings. Not looking forward to the shared rooms, but I guess I got no choice. Its not like I get to share my room with 2 girls, otherwise it'd be a totally different story. On the 3rd day in Tokyo, I'll pack my stuff and head to Hokkaido, where I get to meet the Mayor, the Board of Education staff members, and then possibly go drinking/eating with them. Should be a very busy week. Hopefully I'll have internet installed ASAP. I can't live without it.

Anyway thats all for me for now. I'll talk to you guys in a bit. Hope you guys had fun at Les' thingy, wish I could be there. I assume that he ws doing his scottish accent bit and then puking half an hour later.

Its Been a While Since Blogging...

But its time to start up again. Mostly, because I'm going to Japan to teach English for ONE year (thats for you Dave, but know that I can extend and you can visit me anytime you choose, you'll always have a free hotel room). I'm taking some time off of packing and using it to blog and nurse my soul (so to speak).

This last week has been really emotional and surreal. I can't believe that I'm leaving Edmonton for atleast a year, and with it, leaving all my friends and family. I think the biggest emotional obstacle I've had to overcome was leaving my Mom. (Yes, I am a momma's boy.) I pretty much teared up thinking about her in the car on the drive to George H. Luck today. I don't know why, but being half way around the world from my mom hit me pretty hard in the car. I've always been, atleast in the same city as her, but 3 days from now everything will be different. I'm sure it'll hit me again when I leave the airport with my Dad and Stepmom.

This evening, hanging out with my friends one last time felt normal. It was a nice change than with the emotional onset with my mother. I think if it was my last day to see them ever, this is how I would of wanted it. I'll miss you guys thats for sure. The years I've hung out with you guys have been ones that I'm proud of. You guys are awesome.

I'm glad for internet, because soon in a week or so, I'll be negging my friends and my family again with my presence on the internet. Although it won't be the same as hanging out with them in person, it'll have to do until I return from Japan.

So since it maybe a week or two before I have internet again and have something in my mind to say to you guys, I'll leave some of you guys with a message on my blog (in alphabetical order by last name, except my parents come first, you know why!). Think of it as a thanks, for all the years you've backed me up. If I've left you out, it doesn't mean ur not important, it just means I don't know what to say to you guys! (I'll talk to you on MSN tho!).

Anyway here I go:

To my paternal parents: Thanks for raising me and supporting me, even now. Hopefully I can make you guys proud. Don't complain when I contact you in a few days asking for money. One of the responsibilities of a parent is to provide for his child, even if his child is 40 years old and your retired. :P

To my step-parents: Even though I've known you for a shorter time, it doesn't mean you mean less to me. You've guys have still supported me without much question, and for that I thank you. Be sure to take care of your significant other for me, they're a handful sometimes, well atleast to me.

Kingsley Chan: You've been a brother to me since Jr. High. We go way back, thanks for being someone I talk to, and can get along with so easily. If you get married to Sharlene when I'm in Japan and I can't attend the ceremony, I'm gonna kill you! :P

Christine (Sunshinez): $30Gs on clothes. YOUR CRAZY! Waterfight when I come back.

Perry Chung: Damn, we've been friends for a long time. Remember when you kicked my cousin in the neck? Because I DO! Good Luck in Montreal man, make it great.

Dave Chung: Jeez man, hanging out with you has given me the opportunities to watch awesome movies and play great games I might not otherwise experience. Once you get famous writing, remember who I am, I might need you to support me for life.

Josh Ferry: Josh, its been a pleasure meeting you, glad to finally have a non-asian in the group. (Don't tell the asians I was getting tired of them :P). Remember that if somebody pisses you off really bad in the league, take off your skate and threaten them, just like happy gilmore. Then call it self defense in court. I'll be your lawyer.

Joho: You bought me 16 shots...I won't forget....You'll get them back...

Hiromi: I saved that picture of you at that Summer camp when you were a kid. So it doesn't matter if you remove tag. Thats all gonna come back to you at your wedding, so Louis won't be the only one to be embarressed. And you better not have it without me when I'm in Japan.

Dave Jang: Hey man! I'll see you in Asian sometime!

Louis Lai: It's been a pleasure playing hockey with you. Try not to turn too black before I get back, I might not recognize you. Try not to buy too many custom Nike Bauer sticks, I might have to come back and steal them from you, fellow left hander.

Alex Lam: Hey man, its been great chilling with you this last month. Try not to look so mad all the time. Also, stop playing WoW, unless it'll land you a girlfriend. I'll try to find you one in Japan, but telling them you played D&D with me isn't gonna help either of us...

Thomas Ng: We've know each other since High School, stealing food from the food bank. Remember, NG stands for never gone, that is, never gone from Edmonton, working the same job for the rest of your life. Haha, I'm sure life will never get boring for you, even if you stay in Edmonton all your life. Especially with the new custom Nike Bauer stick maker at United Cycle. If you don't get a girlfriend when I come back, I'll find one for you. I know a pretty hot one, her initials are BD: blow-up doll.

Dave Gugenz: Last few weeks have been fun, what with D&D, Samurai Swords and Dreamcast, all at your house. I'm waiting for the day when I come back and you totally own me at Capcom vs. SNK 2. Keep practicing man, try not to work too hard!

Jeremy: Good luck in med man. Your gonna be one awesome doctor and still in school when I come back. Which means we can make another intramural soccer team!

Sam Szeto: When I come back, we're gonna eat Arby's. Not having cow beef for one year will make me crazy. Keep taking akward pictures of our friends and send them over to me in Japan. I think you have some special ability to capture people in the wierdest poses. You should be on Heroes!

Geoffrey Tan: GODDAMIT! Stop playing videogames! :P

Michael Wong: BCM, It's the last time your gonna hear it from me for a year. When I come back, your gonna beg me to keep calling you that cause you'll miss it so much. Or you'll be in jail for killing Tmo cause he called you BCM one too many times.

Simon Wong: So, when I come back, will I all ur parts in your car be aftermarket?

Bernice Yee: Remember to floss after every meal. Wood attracts a different type of bacteria that can be even more corrosive to your teeth then the natural population of bacteria you would have, had you had a normal human diet. Sorry, couldn't help it.

Leslie Yiu: I hope we'll be partying in Hong Kong and Tokyo this X-mas man. Try not to attract to many girls. Also, keep the scottish accent to a minimum.

Andrew Yoo & Francis Saunobane: When's the marriage?

To the Tsunami Boys: Good luck in the playoffs, and do me proud.

To guys in Sunday Night Hockey: If you guys keep playing every week, for sure you'll improve. I won't be surprised if your much better than me when I get back. If any of the oilers come out to play with you guys, call me 48 hours in advance, I'll make sure I can get back and play.

So thats it for now. I guess next chance I get, I'll blog again. It maybe tomorrow when I'm in Calgary, I have no idea. But I'll leave you with those words for you to soak in. I'll miss you guys, thats for sure, but I'll be back, more annoying then ever in a few years.