AAAAACHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!

Note: This blog was written this week Monday. I’ve been too lazy to post it till today. Sorry!

Well this week I caught a cold again. Or maybe I should say my cold bug returned, all because I went to enjoy a trip to the Onsen on Saturday. There’s a cold water bath you can go into after you enter the sauna, and spending too much time in there probably explains why I’m sick. It does feel really good after a sauna though, so I couldn’t help it. One of the cool things about it is that the air in your lungs become cold and it feels really good when you breathe. Anyways, I have to get better before I take my next trip.

Yesterday (Sunday), was practice with a few members of my band. We completely forgot how to play the songs, since it’s been so long. Hopefully we’ll have another practice soon. Voting for the elections was finished yesterday, so it put an end to the long week of election campaign cars with speakers that would wake my afternoon nap with screams of “Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!” (literally translated as “Please take care of us”), “This is Joe Schmoe, running for something something, Thank you very much!” and the like. These campaign cars drove around town for a whole frickin’ week. From 9:00am to 6:30pm. It was annoying. I felt like I should have hijacked the car, Grand Theft Auto style, just so I could put an end to it. Thumbs down to Japanese elections.

The votes were also tallied yesterday. With 11 of the 12 candidates running, getting a seat on the town council (basically only one candidate lost). The candidate that my supervisor was supporting received a seat, so there was a celebratory party. Of course, I was dragged along to go, which I usually don’t mind when I’m 100% healthy. I left around 12, after drinking a large bottle of beer, to head to bed, since today was busy day. My supervisor, being the party animal that he is, stayed till 2 in the morning. Needless to say he’s pretty sleepy right now.

Today was the elementary and the Jr. High school’s ceremony for those just entering the school (so the grade 1’s and 7’s respectively). I had to do a self introduction, which I did in Japanese and English. At the Elementary, after I had spoken English, people were talking to each other saying things like, “Wtf, he isn’t Japanese?” At the Jr. High I had no such reaction, unfortunately. I’m starting to get a kick out of throwing off any Japanese person off, by speaking English. Yes, its kind of “assholish” of me (I just made a new word, and no my name isn’t George Bush).

So what’s next for me? It’s back to teaching this week, which I’m looking forward to. Sort of.

I most likely have a lot of drinking party’s to attend this week, seeing as it is the start of school and all. There is a drinking party for the hockey club to celebrate the wrap up to the season. Speaking of hockey, hopefully, I’ll be able to start working out soon. I have to recover from this cold still, but I want to start seeing if I can bulk myself up for the next hockey season. I looked on Nike’s Hockey training website, for a few exercises I could do. Some of them require a medicine ball and free weights, which my gym just doesn’t have.

Next Monday is concert, with some female singer from Sapporo, coming to Kamikawa. I believe she plays acoustic guitar, but I have no idea what type of music she sings. I’m pretty sure it’ll be more on the popish or folk side. The day after that is D-day. Basically, I’ll be working from 6:30am to about 10:30pm (that’s 16 hours) doing an interpretation job for one of the former MPs from Alberta. I have to travel to Sapporo to meet her in the morning, come back to Kamikawa, eat lunch and translate for her, then travel back to Sapporo, and finally come back home. So that’s pretty much 10 hours in the car. *Start sarcasm* that’ll be fun *end sarcasm*.

Hope you guys are doing well in Edmonton!

My Busy Week

Warning: this blog entry is 4 pages long in Microsoft word on 10.5 sized Century font. If you can’t read massive amounts of text on your computer for a long time or have better things to do that sit in front of your computer for a half an hour, you’d best read a bit everyday. It’s probably going to be a long time till I blog again, so just take your time reading this one and hopefully when you’re done, my next one will be ready.

So I, bored at work, figured I might as well right something in my blog to you guys. Although I have no access to the internet as of now, so I am writing this in word, and will copy and paste this into my blog. It really sucks when they won’t give you internet connection at work. But I can’t complain, my work is pretty slack anyway. The last week has been pretty dead, in terms of work for me to do, as school is out. About 2 weeks ago we had graduation ceremonies and ending ceremonies (Japanese society is big on formal ceremonies), and everything till next week will basically be just me staying in the office. I will be studying Japanese and reading articles I have downloaded onto my laptop trying to waste away this last week of boredom before I get back to the nitty-gritty part of English teaching.

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand…it’s the time of the year where some people leave for other jobs. In Japan, its regulatory for people to change jobs every 2, 3 or even 6 years, at around this time on year. So every year, there’s probably going to be people leaving a given office and heading to a new one. It’s like that with schools too. Of course, there will be new people filling in these positions, but that’s a story for later.

So tis the season for Sobetsu-kais or Farewell parties, in Hokkaido, which is kind of sad. Although I’ve only been here 7 months (almost 8) it is really hard to see people that you’re used to working with, go, especially if you’ve just started really settling down and enjoying the atmosphere at work.

Last week was really busy. Tuesday I had band practice, although that didn’t turn out so well because our vocalist couldn’t make it, and there were customers in the bar (It’s called Romance, I believe I mentioned it earlier) that we were suppose to be practicing at, so the bassist (who’s one of the bar managers) was busy with them. Not to mention that because it’s a karaoke bar, when there are customers we’re pretty much not allowed to start jamming. So that was a shame and I was a little angry at that.

Wednesday was Guitar lessons and then back to romance just to chat with the bassist.

Thursday was killer. It was Toda-san’s Sobetsukai, as she is leaving the office as of tomorrow. Kind of sucks, she gave me a lot of advice on Japanese living and I know shes a lot of help to the office. My supervisor, Takahata-san and my other co-worker Suzuki-san will have a lot of work to do without her in the office. Until the replacement comes (which will be sometime in April or May, I believe).

For her Sobetsukai, we headed down the restaurant they first brought me to when I arrived in Kamikawa, called Akashi around 6:30pm. We had dinner there (Sushi platters, all the good stuff, and all you can drink for 3000 yen). After 3 hours there, that we headed to Tomochan, another restaurant to go eat (we were hungry again). I actually heard news that the Mayor (who had his retirement ceremony on that day, I was in attendance) was in the karaoke bar across from Tomochan, so I sneaked in and grabbed a few pictures with him, before joining my group back in Tomochan. We had Ramen and beer and talked till about 11.

After that everybody decided to go home, that is except for me. I had to go Romance, so that I could meet with Dustin, a Muroran ALT who was also leaving his job and headed for Western Honshu, near Hiroshima. Takahata-san, my supervisor, being the good guy he his came along with me. In fact, he had to work the next day at 8:00 but ended up staying with me till about 3:00am in the morning. Wow, no 40 year old parties like that at home. No wonder why Japan is so fun.

There were lots of people there, Dustin was pretty popular here in Kamikawa. So we partied together, took pictures, drank some more, acted stupid all those things. At 3:00 I was pretty concerned that Takahata-san wouldn’t be able to get up the next morning. He had given me the day off the next day (Friday), but not himself, so I figured we should head out. I paid the bill (as thanks for hanging out with me so late) and we headed out. Unfortunately, two other people we were partying with went to outside to say good bye to Takahata-san and ended dragging me back in. They figured it was ok since I had the day off. So it was more drinking for me even though Takahata-san went home.

On Friday, I was pretty dead tired. I basically slept till 11:00am, woke up, got re-hydrated, slept again till about 5:00pm. Made dinner and then headed out to hockey, were my team lost, though I did get an assist. I think next year I’ll be joining the top league, as I need to play on a team with a closer skill level. I didn’t get home till about 12:00am

On Saturday, I helped Ike-chan and his family move into his new apartment with about 15 other people. So that went over pretty quickly. We moved everything in about 1 hour. Though we had to move a fridge and that was really heavy. It took 4 people to move it. After that we had lunch and some beers at his new apartment.

I was going to take a nap that afternoon, but Ike-chan called me to invite me to his Dad’s office to check out this killer Fender amp (I’m guessing its probably like a 50Watt, most likely more, I’ll double check later) his dad was selling for 20000 Yen (less than $200 CDN). It came with a Boss-ME30 multi effects pedal. The sound was great. So I bought it, even though I’m aiming for an Xbox360 and NHL 08 in the near future, just because it’s a great deal and it’s going to be good for the band.

I went to go drop off the Amp at Romance, since we would be performing there and they have a lot of extra space there anyway. The bassist invited me to dinner at her house with her husband. I couldn’t refuse, since I was extremely lazy and would of ate out anyway. I enjoyed delicious Teppan-yaki (basically roasting stuff on a huge hot plate). We finished up making practice CDs and tabs for the next songs in our band. (We’re doing “Bohemian Like You” by The Dandy Warhols and “You” by Hotei Tomoyasu, a famous Japanese guitarist who has collaborated with David Bowie.)

Sunday was a day of sleep, but some Elementary students managed to ruin that by somehow, finding my house and ringing the doorbell insistently. Of course, I didn’t answer, but I could still hear the ringing and children screams of “WING-SENSEI!!!”. I went back to sleep for a while and then I watched the Oilers beat the Flames 2-1, went to eat Ramen and do some grocery shopping. There was a Hockey practice match that day, but seeing as my knee was sore (it had gotten sore on Friday’s match), I decided not to go. That, going would mean I wouldn’t be home till around 1:00am when I had work at 8:00am. With my week of drinking, it didn’t seem like something I could pull off.

Anyway, at least this week will be a little slower, and involve less drinking, so I am to believe. They sometimes tell me about nomikais, just as I’m about to get off work, so I have no idea what to expect.

Today, I’m going to meet with a Japanese girl who wants to learn Cantonese from me. (All I can say is that’s a bad idea, although there are worse people to learn from, who will not be named, but instead, their names will be spelt. Those people are the following: T, M followed by an O and P, E, followed by two Rs and then a Y). Wednesday is another guitar lesson, which I’m looking forward to (yay, slide guitar). Saturday, is drinking with the hockey team, and Sunday is quite possibly band practice, where I’ll take a few pictures if it happens.

I should end this blog entry now, since its getting to be a hefty 4 pages in Microsoft word. Last time I did that, Tmo stopped reading after the second paragraph. But then again all I talked about was drinking.

Some updates...

So its been busy month and 10 days since I last blogged, so I figured I should at least write something down. At least let people know I'm still alive in Japan (haha).

Hockey is going great. So far, in the second season we're 3-0-1. Last game was pretty exciting as the Nayoro ALTs and my office came down to cheer me on. The opposition had a Japanese player that had played in college so he was really good. Though not good enough, I scored twice and added an assist. I think I was fueled to such success, by the fact that he was looking to hit me every opportunity he got, so I had to respond back in some way.

In fact, on one rush, I was going in on a semi-break away, he was the only defender left. He decided to come across and hit me, though I dodge he did manage to clip my head which left my neck sore for a few days. He then hit his own teammate who was in the corner, and by hit I mean completely ploughed over, it was awesome. So awesome, that I was just looking at him smiling and couldn't even score a goal on that play. Buggered weighed about 170-180 lbs, so his teammate must of been hurting pretty bad. Anyway, he seemed to hurt himself on that incident, guess thats karma.

But the season is winding down. The season ends on the 20th or so. After that I'll be looking forward to having a nice break from hockey. Most likely in April or so I'll start conditioning my body again and start weight training. I want to see if I can hit a weight of about 170 lbs. I believe I am about 150lbs from excessive eating and sitting on my ass playing guitar everyday.

While we're on the subject about guitars, we had a band practice last week, without our vocalist. (He's extremely busy because he works at the town hall.) But we managed lay the ground work to the songs, so to speak. It was especially helpful to practice with Saitou-san, my fellow guitarist in the band. We planned out who would play what part and some what sync ourselves to each others playing.

After practice we had a Jam session. Basically when I was jamming with them we were playing 12-Bar blues in the key of A with me doing rhythm and soloing parts. I never knew a rock band could be that fun when your play with people, just making music, even if its really simple. Hopefully, I'll develop my guitar skills to be able to jam with them more in the future.

Sorry, I don't have pictures of the band, I'll have to take some next time, and maybe a video during our next practice which is scheduled at the end of the month (the 25th is the tentative date). Hopefully we can decide on other songs to play then.

In other news, I'm really wishing I had a Canadian Xbox 360, so I could play NHL 08. I really miss playing NHL games and I've heard so many good things about 08. Maybe I should just wait till NHL 09 before I get an Xbox. The Japanese Wii also looks like fun to get, just because of Smash Bros, but its more of a party machine, and I don't have that many parties but I guess I could start (haha). Anyway, all this purchasing stuff is going to have to wait, as I kind of want to just save. Maybe save for that plane ticket back home for a visit.

Speaking of going back home, I may not be able to do it this August. With the Rocky Mountain house students coming over to Kamikawa, I'll be limited to 2 weeks in Canada at most. Getting adjusted to the time difference within those 2 weeks and then leaving right after seems like sort of a waste. I don't know, really want to come back home for a bit and chill out, but August is looking like a bad time to do it. May have to wait until Christmas break, we'll see how my schedule pans out.

I'm going to upload lots of photos on facebook. Take a look at those while your waiting for my next blog. Which may be a long time....

Jr. High Textbook Characters That Annoy Me #1

I'm sure many of the JETs who teach at a Jr. High at some point, and use the standardized textbooks, like me, loath the them. The English is plain and bland, and teaches students to use set phrases, instead of thinking for themselves. They should take a look at the Japanese textbooks we had in High School. Those were pretty effective.

Anyway, the characters in these textbooks are also cardboard cutouts of stereotypical personalities. I hate some/most of these characters. I'm not sure how many blogs I'm going to have with characters I'm going to bitch about, but since this character makes me so mad I need to vent, this blog is dedicated to her. Her name is Lisa, from The second year junior high English textbook. Shes a good friend of Aki (another character from the textbook), shes 14 years old and was born in New Zealand (Yes, each character has a history). She practices Judo with Aki. Funny how she doesn't have an accent in the tapes when she talks...

Why I hate her: Shes a whiny bitch. For those of you with a textbook, you can follow along in your textbook in Lesson 8-1. For those of you without a textbook I will happily transcribe it below. To set up the scene, Aki and Lisa are on their way to Judo practice.

Aki: Hurry! I think that we're going to be late for practice.
Lisa: I don't think we should practice so early.
Aki: But this is a tradition. You'll get warm soon.
Lisa: My feet won't. Your feet are cold, too, aren't they?
Aki: Of course.
Lisa: Thats not snow is it?
Aki: Yes
Lisa: I can't believe it! Why isn't this tradition in July?

The tradition they're talking about is Setsubun. Which doesn't matter in the context of this blog, but for your information it has something to do with beans and throwing them at someone with a devil mask to bring in good luck. If you want to know more about it check this wiki website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun.

Everybody who's not Japanese but lives in Japan can thank Lisa for depicting Gaijins at complete whiners. She needs a bitchslap... or two. Heck, just hit her until she's knocked out, tie her up and then just ship her off to Sahara so she can get die by dehydration. That'll show her to bitch about cold feet.

Uh...Sex Ed in a Japanese Elementary School...

I have a really short blog I want to make. I promise it will be shorter than last time. Ok..way shorter.

Anyway, today I was in the photocopier room at the Elementary school, and like every other school in this town, they have a pile of paper, (usually stored in box) that have something printed on one side of the paper, but the back side of the paper can be used for scrap, or whatever. I get pretty interested when I come across these boxes, and I always shuffle through the papers to see what was printed on them. Usually they're extra tests, hand-outs, quizes, homework, etc. that weren't handed out (maybe the teacher made too many of them). It's always interesting to see what kind of things the kids in Japanese schools are learning.

But today's experience was slightly disturbing. So as I'm waiting for my 26 copies of my worksheet to finish, I take a quick peak in the scrap paper box and see this funny looking shape, looking sort of like a stylized "W". The shape peaks my curiosity and I go in for a closer look. What I see is a drawing of a Uterus and the Ovas (I think I forgot my anatomy). And then I think to myself. Why is something like this in an elementary school?

It's hard to believe they teach a topic like that in a Japanese elementary school. If I had been introduced to something like that elementary, I probably wouldn't be able to look at a girl at the age I'm at now. Maybe I was introduced to this in elementary, just to traumatized to remember it. Maybe I'm over reacting. I dunno. But to me, this is WIERD!

Shinenkais and Winter Flags

In an effort to keep my "do more blogging" pledge, I will blog about this weekend! Are you ready for this one? Because it’s a doozy of a read.

Probably a lot more exciting than most weekends, I've had, this weekend started off with another Shinnenkai (New Years Meeting, if translated literally). It's basically a fancy term for New Years party, where you drink, eat and talk with other people. I've had about 5 of these this month, which means drinking hard for at least one day a week. I’ve had a Shinnenkai for the Rotary Club, Board of Education, Junior High School, the district which I live in and finally the Kamikawa Workers Union. All of which are fueling my raging alcoholism. Sweet.

In fact, about a couple weeks ago, when I had the Shinnenkai for my city district, which started at 12:00pm and lasted till 3:00pm, I was invited to someone’s house to do more drinking. So basically, I drank from about 12:00pm to about 10:00pm. Of course there was a break in between where I took a nap (or passed out) after the Shinnenkai. But I woke up again, only to start another round of drinking and eating shortly thereafter. Fun times in Japan…now only if I could remember them… (Just kidding, I’m not drinking so much that I forget what happens.)

My Shinnenkai last Friday, was for the Kamikawa workers union. It consisted of people that were working and that had joined the union, which surprisingly, is not very many. I think there were 100 people there, which is significantly small for a town of 4500 where I’m sure two-thirds the population or more are involved in some sort of occupation. Perhaps there were people absent, but I don’t think many people tend to skip things like Shinnenkai as they’re pretty important in Japanese work culture.

We started off at Coming Hall, the place where my Board of Education is located, and then moved on to a restaurant called Kyoshi, and finally to Manly, a karaoke bar (though we didn’t do much singing). By the last destination I was pretty hammered and didn’t feel so good, almost falling asleep on the sofas. I somehow managed to hold it together, stumble home, drink a few glasses of water and fall asleep.

Saturday was a lazy day, as I just stayed home, cooked food, watched TV and played the guitar all day. Right now I’m debating as to whether I want to put on a pickguard on my Les Paul, as it involves drilling holes in the wood (which I’m kinda scared of). Of course if I decide to do it I’ll go ask a professional technician to do it, rather than do it myself. The lack of a pickguard means there are a few scratches on the finish, nothing that can’t be touched up. But on the other hand a pickguard looks so much cooler on a Les Paul (especially if you want to look Jimmy Page, but don’t play like him).

Sunday, I didn’t even want to get up as I had stayed up pretty late just playing the guitar (thank god for amps that let you plug a set of headphones in, otherwise my neighbours would be hollering at my door). But I had to get prepared for Winter Flag, which is basically a race to retrieve a flag. The track is 1/3 ice and 2/3 snow.

The rules of Winter Flag is pretty simple, it’s about a 60 metre dash to the flag. You start off lying on the ice, facing away from the flag. At the sound of a gun (not a real one of course…) you get up and run to towards the flag(s). Starting on the ice is the hard part as it’s hard to get the momentum going, but once you hit the snow part of the course, you can really get going. Usually retrieving the flag requires diving for it, as races are usually pretty close. If you get the flag you make it to the next race, don’t and your out.

There’s also another version called Lucky Winter Flag, which is the same thing, except there’s a flag for everybody, but the flags have a slip of paper saying if you make it to the next round or not. Basically it doesn’t matter how fast you are, you just need to grab a flag that allows you to advance to the next round, where the Luck part comes in.

I invited two Nayoro ALTs, Jenna and Jill. By the way, if you’re a Hokkaido ALT, sorry if I didn’t tell you about Winter Flag, it was sort of a last minute thing and there was registration to be completed. Definitely, next time I’m going to send out invites on Facebook or something, so free up your schedule near the end of next January if your interested! I should mention there is a total cash prize of 100,000 Yen. Oh! You also get a free ticket to the onsen just for participating.

None of us did too well. For Winter Flag, I only barely made it past the first round and was out by the second round. In Lucky Winter Flag, only Jenna made it past the first round. Which proves that I still have no luck what-so-ever.

Despite not winning we definitely had a fun time. Though the boots we had to wear for winter flag made standing in the cold almost unbearable, as they were just rubber, with no insulation. Luckily, there were heating rooms in which you could warm your feet.

There was a food stand, where you could buy meat buns and ramen. There was also an ice slide that they made, which had a Mario bros. theme (I’m going to steal that picture you took Jenna! I really need to start brining my digital camera to these things). I was impressed, since the ice slide had you going pretty fast. Though the bumps on the slide didn’t feel too good on my Arse.

After that we went to ramen at Asahishokudo restaurant, the best place for ramen in Kamikawa, in my opinion. I tried the Maboroshi ramen, on the advice of another Nayoro ALT who we coincidentally met at Asahishokdo. It was really different than anything that I’ve had. It had a different broth and allowed you grind up your own sesame seeds and add them into the ramen (as well as pine nuts and leeks) to your own liking. It had delicious nutty taste. I only wish there was more meat added into it.

After that everybody went home. I had a nap, and then went to the convenience store to buy dinner. That was followed by sitting on my arse and playing guitar for about 4 hours.

We have two songs that are decided for the band. “My Sharona” by the Knacks and “Ame agari no yozora ni” (雨上がりの夜空に)By RC Succession, a Japanese Rock Band in the 1970s. I really some classic rock songs but I’m not sure if the vocalist can handle it, as some of them you pretty complicated English pronounced pretty fast. We’ll see what they decide on at the next Band meeting.

My goal is to get the solo part down for “My Sharona” (no matter how slow), “Let it be by the Beatles” and to be able to play a few Led Zeppelin songs. I’m currently working on “Heartbreaker” minus the solo part, as that’s going to require a many months to be able to play that up to speed.

Anyway, I’m hoping that my guitar skills will grow enough so that by summer, I’ll to be able to put on a decent sounding concert with my band come this summer.

Congrats if you to the finish of this blog. As it’s really really long. It fills up about 3 pages in word. I’ll end it here, because if I go any further, my blog is going to turn into a novel. Till next time!

OMG Wing finally wrote something...

So its been about 3 months since I wrote anything in this blog. I've been super lazy, but hopefully thats changed. As from now on I'll TRY to write in this blog on a more consistent basis. Why? Because 1) to at least let you know that I'm alive in Japan; 2) Because I want something for the record, where I can look back and say, "Yah those were good times"; 3)I can practice my English, which is slowly getting worse (I'm using spell checker more and more everyday); and 4) to entertain you when you are tired of staring at your desk and twiddling your thumbs.

So what has happened in 3 months, besides me being missing from the blogging world? I've been playing guitar as much as a heroin addict takes crack. Perhaps more...I devote about at least 2 hours a day playing guitar. On weekends, I just sit in front of the TV with my guitar, just playing random stuff and learning new songs to play. Then I have guitar lessons with my teacher 1 hour per week. So I would say about half my time here in Japan is spent playing the guitar. Kinda weird how I come all the way to Japan to just play guitar.

But lemme explain... I have a pretty well paying job in Japan, which means I can afford to fuel my hobbies now. I also don't go out as much as I do in Edmonton, and even if I do go out, I pay at most $50 a night to drink as much beer, and eat as much as I can. There has been NO night, where I have spent beyond $50 to party hard. Seriously, I love the Japanese country side. It's a good place to save money, while having fun.

Furthermore, I have access to a guitar teacher in my town. Hes only a 5 minute drive away. Super convenient.
That and the fact that he charges me $15/lesson (which is basically an hour). Each lesson is privately taught, I'm getting a much better deal than if I actually went to a music store to learn guitar. And yes, hes a legit teacher, he plays in band and teaches at the Shimamura Music Store (Big music chain store in Japan) in Asahikawa (the nearby city) on Sundays.

Lastly, I've found music connections really easily. In fact, I've formed a band with a nearby bartender, her friends and a guy at the Town Office. Which will further my musicianship (which is at the level of none or really really low). We have a few songs that we're thinking about playing and then expanding from there. The name of the band? We haven't decided on that yet...

Oh, by the way, I bought a Gibson Les Paul. Got it on sale, and its a hell of a guitar. Set-up is really nice and the tone is pretty versatile for rock music. You can play so many types of Rock music with it, which is great for me as I've been starting to listen to Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the likes. Of course its like 10lbs, but it feels really solid when your playing it. Somehow, I locked myself out of the hard case after I took the guitar out, so I'm waiting for Shimamura to fix it for me (I Love the customer service here).

I went to Hong Kong at the end of December, to visit my family and Les. Hang out with the family was really fun. It's been so long since I've seen my little cousins (10 years) and I was pretty surprised to see them grown up into full fledged Elementary school students.

One thing that bugged me was the people in HK who walk like jackasses. They would bump into you on purpose, or just get in your way. Even if theres like open area they could walk in. So eventually, I would just start walking like a dick and giving people the hard shoulder. Even little old ladies who refused to get out of my way. HK people seriously piss me off.

I also did a bit of exploring of HK by myself and got a hang of the transit system. It's pretty simple once you get used to it, and HK is not as big of a place as one might think. Well, at least its not as big as Tokyo, which I went to after my HK visit.

I hit a few tourist spots in Tokyo, but didn't really get to do too much in the way of touristy things (i.e. going to Disneyland, visiting Tezuka Osama world, taking a tour inside Fuji television and many more were things that I missed out on). But that couldn't be helped as my stay only consisted of 4 days. Most of which were hanging out with friends and shopping. I didn't buy too much, as I was planning to buy my Les Paul right after my flight to Asahikawa airport. But there will definitely be a next time, as I have to go back to Tokyo for my re-contracting conference. Hopefully, I'll be able to head there a few days before and do some of the things I missed out on with my friends.

Hockey is going well... Finally got a goal with that Vapor 30 some of you guys sent me. Btw, thanks. The card and that stick are great reminders of whats waiting for me back home. Hopefully I'll come back around July or August for 3 weeks ,to come visit you guys. I'll let you know what my plan is when it gets closer to the date. However, I do have to be a translator for a group of kids coming from Rocky Mountain House in late July, so I probably won't be able to leave before then. If I'm coming I'm not sure if I can bring my Les Paul over, and not sure if I want to, just because of the hassle it turned out to be when bringing my Epiphone Acoustic to HK just to practice. I have a Squire back home so I'll be able to practice on that. Although, it'll probably need a wipe down, string changes and a set up.

Anyways, I'll leave it at that for now. Making this any longer will probably make you quit reading altogether. Hope things aren't too cold back home. I'll upload some photos on to facebook later, once I get them off my camera (which may be a long time, just because I'm sooo lazy). Talk to you guys later.

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.