Last Entry from Sabae High School
Today is the last day at school. No more bitching about grading, weather or being late! I'm happy that its the end of term & time for summer vacation (it's still the student in me) but I will be a bit sad to leave this place that I've become so used to. Of course I'll miss my classes and students too.
Closing ceremony was interesting. They started by getting me to give my farewell speech (in easy English). Then a student representative came up and gave me a small speech in English. It was very cute. Then I had to leave.. literally.. keep walking out the gym. Haha. It was so funny. I thought I could stay and take some pictures of the rest of the ceremony, but i had to leave and not come back. I guess that's how they do here. Interesting... "don't let the door hit ya..."
Lastly, i got a tour around the school with some of my ESS gals. Checked out the sports clubs & took some pictures. Very cool & I'm a bit sorry I didn't check it out earlier. Oh well, it was nice saying hi to the kids that were there. So, now I'm off to the post office to mail my final package.
Sayonara Sabae High Schol & thanks for the memories.
Movin' on up
Only 6 days left before I come back to LA.
Things are quite hectic this last week as I'm trying to make sure I'm all packed and don't forget anything... as I usually do. :( My successor is moving in to my apartment & its filled with so much stuff I can barely move. Getting rid of furniture and trash is a real pain in the butt!!! Also, I'm trying to make sure that I filled out all my forms for returning stuff (taxes, bills, etc, etc...). I'd like to say that I'll never do this again... but that would be silly... of course I would!!! :D
Despite all the annoyances of moving, I will miss Japan and Fukui. I had my last class yesterday. Fitting, it was my favorite class so I feel that my teaching here ended on a high note. I'll miss some of the kids... lots of entertaining writing for sure. Teachers and students are doing parent conferences so I've got a pretty free day (hence the blogging!). But I don't have much to report on other than I'm moving.... its annoying.
J- Baseball
Today... I see my first Japanese Major League Baseball game... JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY!!!!!!!!!
o( ^v^)o
The Nippon Professional Baseball (Japanese Pro Baseball) association holds regional tours every year and this year they are dropping by Fukui city. Lucky Me! And I was worried my time was running out for J-baseball!
Hanshin Tigers:
http://www2.gol.com/users/michaelo/Tigers.html http://www.hanshintigers.jp/I've taken the liberty (oh, lucky you!) of scouting some of cuter players players of the Tigers:
(left) #24 Outfielder, S. Hiyama (right) #58, Outfielder, Y. Takahashi
The Carps weren't looking quite as good. Go Tigers.
Weekend Update: SNAFU
Yae, it is always pleasurable to behold the coming weekends. Filled with promise and
excitement, i heart weekends. Though this weekend left something of a bitter sweet taste as it seemed this was yin & yang weekend for moi. And unfortunately, I am not talking crunk-tacular, to the win-dooooooows, shakin like a salt shaker weekend. This was more of a Newton's 3rd law-ish weekend... every action force is always opposed by an equal and opposite reaction force. YEEEEEEEEEEEEAY-YUH!
Friday: Yippie ki-yay...Fridays I have half day (because I work longer hours the other 4 days of the week... awesomeness). So in my rush to get the heck out of school, I forgot my computer charger & mail that had to be sent. I must learn not to rush around at the last minute. Never seems to work out for me. Went to Bell to get a pair of shorts I wanted but didn't end up getting (cute, but not cute ENOUGH)... missed softball practice (traffic was awful... awww, felt a little like being home only with even crappier drivers!) and so, to drown my sorrows of a few too many missed opportunities I went to another store and got some pants & a skirt (yes... shopping is my drug of choice). Spent the rest of the night watching movies... and discovering the AWESOME-NESS of the Die Hard movies.
1 was OK. A decent start, perhaps? Alan Rickman is damn cool. Die Harder (what a cle-ver title!) = WAY Excellent. This is what sold me on the series. A few twists and turns of plot...OMG and AIRPLANES AIRPLANES AIRPLANES, and James Evans.. a double crossing ex-military Major?! WHO KNEW! So it was around 3am when I started #3 (what happened to "Die Harder-er"?)... with SAMUEL L.ook what I did BEFORE "Snakes On A Plane" JACKSON! So unfortunatley my eyes let me down half way through... damn the physical limits of this mass of meat and hair!
Saturday: RoosahWoke up bright and early to have breakfast (french toast) before playing softball with some other JETs. We missed the local train so bought regular faire tix, and hopped on the express instead (we're such badasses... oh yeah, regular gangsters... take THAT, Japan Rail!).
The one time being a foreigner comes in handy... train people try to tell you you need to pay more, you look at them like you don't understand (as they always do to YOU when you try to speak Japanese) and keep awn walkin.
Played softball ... it was grand. I pulled a muscle in the first inning (forgot to stretch & took off kind of badly on my way to 1st) so i was hurtin the rest of the game. BUT I will proudly proclaim that I AM a super duper trooper and played on. Happy to report I was pretty consistent... made it to 1st every time I bat... BUT unfortunately I didn't score... furthest I got was 3rd base. Blast. Our team didn't win but it was still good fun.
After softball we went to an all you can eat place that was FANTASTIC. Went to this place 2x before during boarding season... little under $20 and they have a GREAT selection of food and TONS of meat you can grill at your table. The lamb is dericious. After
dinner, went to the river to chat and shoot fireworks. It was a good day, despite the small injury.
Sunday: Beach Fun... and you can't spell 'fun' without 'f' 'u'!Woke up early again to go to the beach! It was such a beautiful day on Saturday that we thought a beach trip was definately in order for Sunday. However, it would seem that luck had left the building... thankyouverymuch. It was cloudy & over cast, and slightly sprinkling when we got to the beach. It was warm though so it felt kind of nice to have small drops of water hit us as we lay out tanning (there was still enough sun to get a little brown). However the way back was the REAL adventure.
My car was getting worked, with 4 people (crazy heavy for the likes of my tiny little kei car) and no new oil (yes, I know... bad, bad, BAD Tina) and lots of curves and gradients. It finally gave up the ghost somewhere between Takefu and Tsuruga. We were able to push it to the side and wait for JAF (Japanese AAA) to rescue us. And rescue us he did!!!
JAF-man came roaring up in a flat bed, jumped out, ran down the road and sparked at flare, all in one smooth motion! I now see that the way of the ninja has lived on through JAF roadside assistants. After assessing the situation & determing that my car was a definate no-go (the clutch was dead), he towed up my car, we all got in and rode, in my car on the back of the flatbed, all the way back to my mechanic's. It was awesome. Truely a wonder & one of the best displays of Japanese efficiencies I have seen.
So, after all that, today I biked to school (not so bad really... I will never complain of my "commute" again) and will go to sign the deth certificate for my car after school. Yes, my car will soon be scrap metal. We had some great times but 50000 yen is my trip to Tokyo in 2 weeks... so peace out car! Thanks for the memories...
Car... a retrospective.
WTF at first sight...
Memorable moments:
it was suggested that an 'H' gets added to the beginning 'Opti' (the car model name) as hooptie was apparently a more appropritate description
Stuck in the middle with you...
Memorable moments:
Getting my car stuck in the gutter in front of my building. Damn gaijin traps.
The snow...
Memorable moments:
None. It was a pain to clean and shovel every day, I won't lie... I do not wish to remember ANY of it. IT was cold and I was miserable every morning. I will glare very very very angrily at anyone who even mentions "character building".
R.I.P, Litte Daihatsu Opti
Your conveniece as a mode of transportation will surely be missed.
June 26, 2007
A whole new world... Manga & Anime...
I was to happen sooner or later. I live in Japan so besides deveolping a Hello Kitty fetish I have also come to appreciate... dare I say it... ENJOY??? anime and manga. Yes, yes... I know... its down 'nerd' hill from here but let me just say that its a lot more interesting than you think AND it is SERIOUSLY addictive stuff. They're so good at keeping you on the edge of your seats and wanting more... even if its not that great of a comic... you just want to know what happens.
Blah. What have I become...
Actually, I have found myself with a bit more free time during the week now that snwboarding season is over (and impending DOOM XII, I mean rainy season, is approacing) so I decided to see what all the fuss is about. I inquired to my more anime/ manga saavy friends about procuring some of the more current & popular anime. Needless to say I spent about a week of 4-5 hour viewing sessions of BLEACH and Naruto. I'll be starting One-Piece when I get the 1st disk (gotta start from the beginning!!)... BTW... those 3 are cartoons that I'm watching (they are also comics). Bleach is by far the most awesomest. I'm totally obsessed.
I also started reading Death Note (recommended by my students) and GTO [Great teacher Onizuka?... funny about a tough guy who becomes a teacher initially to score high school chicks]...(an interception from Jon to Doug). They're not quite BLEACH but they're interesting also.
So, I would link you to this stuff... but I can't be bothered. If you're interested, google it. :D
But I'll give you a quick rundown of their basic premis:
BLEACH:
a high school student with a 6th sense ability gains powers and helps grim-reaper type people send souls to heaven.... there's more to it really but i can't splain it all. The main character is interesting & def someone to root for... and my fave character so far is Urahara-san aka SandalHat! :D OMG... nerd to tha core! Somebody help me. Seriously...
Naruto: VERY popular with kids these days, story about ninjas and a boy, Naruto, who is trying to become a great ninja... the kind of funny thing is he's a prety big screw-up. I think it's on Toonami now in the States.
One-Piece: haven't watched it much so I can't really say, but its about pirates looking for treasure (the one-piece). Also WAY popular with kids.
Death Note: a kid finds a notebook left by a grim reaper-ish thing & if a name is written in the book, the person dies... the kid tries to kill off criminals & baddies, but authorities try to find out who is doing the killing
GTO: a 22yr old former gangster/ thug/ hoodlum/ biker bad boy (and a bit of a perv) is looking for the perfect regular job (he feels he's getting old & needs to mature and get it together)... so he decides to become a high school teacher... summers off, easy work & hot high school chicks... comedy ensues as he begins to want to actually help the kids learn! Awww.
That's all. Thank you.
More of Tokyo...
Sunday
·Loach for lunch After coming back from the club, I crashed for a whopping 4 hours before I decided I
should get up (didn’t want to miss out on sight seeing!).
Almost everyone was gone (blasted early-risers!) so I took my time & prepared to wander the streets of
Tokyo on my own.
But luck was on my side (sort of) as a couple of friends came back and we went to lunch together at Komagata dozeu.
“This restaurant serving loach (icky little bottom feeder river fish) dishes was opened in
1801. The interior design as well as the manner of the guests, sitting on cushions in the large straw mat room to eat from the pot on the table, reproduce the mood of the early nineteenth century. The popular Dozeu Pot (1,400 yen) contains loach cooked with miso flavor.” My friend had wanted to
come here “since 1998” (he heard about “through a BBC program”… poo poo!).
They cook the loach first by drowning it in sake, then slow boil it in a sort of hot pot.
You eat the thing whole with onions on top.
It was hard for me to get past the aesthetic aspect of it… those little beady eyes and fishy mustache! The skulls and spines crunching in my mouth was a little rough too.
It didn’t taste awful, but its not the best dish I’ve ever had.
Oh well.
Hurrah for trying something new.
Restaurant webpage (in Japanese)
http://www.dozeu.com/Description (in English)
http://www.norenkai.net/english/shop/dozeu/index.html·
Bandai HQOur hostel was near the Bandai HQ.
Character statues, of course, were standing guard. Doraimon, Anpanman, Cinneroll and ULTRAMAN!
Akihabara
This is the technology/ electronics district. Kind of like Hong Kong… only way more expensive. Endless shops selling electronics. ALSO it is
kind of known as manga/ anime central, so occasionally you can see fans doing the ‘cos play” as their fave characters. Lastly… there are “maid cafes” where girls are dressed as cute little maids and serve their clients (mostly men). To advertise for their cafes, many girls were out in costume handing out fliers or staging small shows (basically them doing something ‘cute’ and ‘girly’ like playing red light-green light)- of course with THRONGS of men swarming & taking pictures (hehe... and intrigued passers-bys such as meself!).
Shibuya ShoppingI spent the rest of that day in Shibuya doing some preliminary shopping scouting. Tried to meet up with a friend… first he got lost and then I got lost looking for him. The madness.
Christon CaféFinally caught up with my friend and the group at this posh & gothy restaurant in Shibuya. Food was good (a bit expensive) and the atmosphere was interesting. http://www.ug-gu.co.jp/english/e-resutaurants/e-shop/e-christon-shibuya.htm
Pub 2- Dublin BarAfter dinner no one felt like clubbing (weak-sauce!) but they wanted to go to a bar. So we found an Irish bar in Shibuya & hung out the rest of the evening there. One wonderful thing… they actually knew how to make Cosmopolitans. JOY. First one in 6 months?! Did I say how much I liked Tokyo yet??
Tokyo, You Rock My World... part 2
And so it continued...
Saturday: Group Trip & split
· Harajuku: despite rolling in around 5:30am, we all managed to get up a 9-10 and get on 
out to Harajuku. Yes, it is a real place and not just a Gwen Stefani lyric. I guess it’s a pretty chic area these days… TONS of shops, both designer and not. Near the station apparently a lot of kids come out to just hang but are usually dressed in gothic style. PS- there are
quite a few gothic clothing stores in the area… and I’m not talking Hot Topic, mall gothic… this stuff is damn elaborate and quite a sight to behold. I must say, when the Japanese are into a ‘scene’ they are into it all the way. 2 of my friends donned their goth apparel and seemed to fit right in. It was rather interesting. However, it was here that a few of us split up as people had different things they wanted to see… so we figured we’d reconvene later for dinner & parted ways. So basically, I roamed around Harajuku a bit more… found a DISTURBING toy at Condomania (see the photo of Jon & the clown... and yes, that IS what you think it is...SHOCK!) and went back to the hostel.
· Shibuya Dinner: 
went to dinner with 3 other friends in Shibuya area (south Tokyo). I heart this area. It’s so busy & lit up at night! Big city lights and all. I must say I found it more impressive than Time’s Square and I’m sure it has a TON more people. So we found a really COOL Japanese restaurant. What was “cool” about it was the atmosphere and design of the restaurant… we were inside but it looked like we were outside! Each dining ‘area’ was separated,
kind of in their own rooms… and there were lower and upper rooms (so there were people eating directly above us)… like in small dens. So, when you were walking around in the restaurant you were walking on a small stone path, there were bamboo shoots and lanterns around… as if you were outside & the dining areas were huts. Anyway, it was an awesome layout and the food was good too.
· Shibuya Club: after dinner we met with 2 more of my friends and 2 of my other friend’s friends and we went to a club. Along the way they seemed to pick up more people that they knew and by the time we got to the club, we were rollin with at least 15 people. BTW they were all so nice! Some of them spoke English pretty well and others spoke in broken English, but the point is… they were not afraid to talk with us or meet us or party with us!!! TOTAL contrast to my experience in Fukui. But I suppose it’s a city vs. country thing. Anyway, it game me hope for making j-friends after all…awww. So we went to a hip hop club (JOY!!!) and cover was a bit high (2500 for gals & 3000 for guys) but we went anyway (I think it’s the going cover rate in Japan AND it included a drink). At first I was a bit worried cause there weren’t too many people on the floor, but the DJs were playing fun music so it was ok. The thing that amazed me the most was that people were actually DANCING!!! In Fukui, the clubs I’ve been too (the 2 clubs maybe out of… oh, I don’t know… 2?!), the people just stood around and watched the DJ…bobbed their heads a litte… but at this place people were actually dancing with each other! SHOCK!!! It was awesome to see people actually moving and it reminded me a little more of home… tear. To wrap things up, it got completely PACKED later on in the night, my girl friends left at 3am, and I stayed on with the guys till 5:30am closing (interesting that people actually stay till the end too) and then got back to the hostel at 6:30ish. It was a good night.
Tokyo, You Rock My World... part 1
Oh me, oh my. Where to begin?! I just got back from my 5-day Tokyo trip & I must say… I don’t think my world has ever been rocked this hard.
Yes, indeed, Tokyo is all that and a bag of nori-flavored chips. All the hustle and bustle you’ve seen in the movies but so much more. I must admit that at first I thought it would just be a giant metropolis, much like Osaka, but maybe with a few more sights to see. However, I was really surprised to learn how many things actually are in Tokyo to see, other than the shopping districts (e.g. Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Ginza… though, don’t get me wrong… I HEART shopping districts with mouth and I think they’re completely valid places to put down as sights to see). Whatever the case, Tokyo has totally won me over… yay Japan… kickass, Tokyo.
I did so much in 5 days that I can hardly remember it all straight! I did a few nights of staying out late so, I was running on 4-5 hours of sleep & going on strong with the sight-seeing during the days. SO, instead, I’ll list my itinerary (as much as I can remember) and comment on things. J Hopefully it will be easier to read too.
Friday: Arrive in Tokyo
· Shinkansen ride: my first time on the Japan bullet train! Yay! It was a pretty fast trip… only about 3 hours total (pretty good! To put it in perspective it takes about 3 hours to get to Kyoto via local trains from my place, and Kyoto is a lot closer to me and Tokyo). It was a nice & smooth train ride. The only downside is that it cost almost around over $200 for a round trip ticket!!! OUCH and SHOCK!
· K’s House: “Backpacker’s hostel”, opened the day before we arrived. It was so new that it still smelled like paint, the sheets were rough and the pillows like rocks. Ah, new-ness. The staff was really great though & spoke AMAZINGLY good English… beat that Keio Plaza! Met with my old buddy Emilie (friend from Hong Kong who I haven’t seen or really spoken to in 10 years!!!) and figured the game plan for the next few days. Also met with a friend who lives in Tokyo. Haven’t seen him since July when I first came! J Hurrah for seeing old friends!
· Roppongi: and area in the south east part of Tokyo. It has a pretty ‘swingin’ night scene so, after a few more people showed up at the hostel (some other Fukui JETs that we were meeting with), we all decided to hit the town for a first night out in Tokyo.
o Pub 1- Hub: we weren’t really sure where to go & people didn’t really feel up enough for clubbing (damn. L Can I never find a club crew?), so we decided to get some drinks at a this English themed bar. It’s actually a chain of bars (they have point cards and everything!) but it was still nice to just sit & chat with people.
o Arcade- it was late when we left for Roppongi (its about 45mins from where we were actually staying, in Asakusa), and later still when we came out of the bar, so since we missed the last train at 12, rather than take a cab (that would be for lame-o’s!) we decided to stay up till the trains started again at 5am. Woo Hoo! So, basically we had about 3 hours to kill and we started by taking “purikura” (shortened for “print club” or “purinto kurabu”… they’re sticker pictures). Lotsa funny & nice group pix. Yay. Oh, I also found GHOST Squad at the arcade (JOY) so I got to play a round of that (though I was on a budget so I couldn’t pass the mission I chose… regret,…sigh.).
o Champaign: WTF say you? Champagne? For what occasion? To welcome the morning light, say I! Actually I detest being up when the sun comes up… well… don’t mind being up, just detest seeing the sun rise… I always feel like I should be sleeping then. Anyway, after wondering around Roppongi and looking for a bar to chill at (I hear Tokyo’s late-up-all-night clubs & bars… many of the stay open till 5-6am! How convenient! You just party till the first train! They’ve really thought of everything)… we found a little spot on the 5th floor of a building. Somehow a round of Champaign was ordered and we had a nice morning toast. Who needs milk and cereal when you can have Champaign? Let them eat cake.
