A new project ...

My college friend Andrew has started a new online magazine / blog called InsertCulture. I have signed on as a contributing writer. Basically it's about culture, so there is content about music, TV, movies, art, the Web, life, and on and on.

Take a look when you have a chance.

Quiz Scandal! And decisions to make

After sitting at the top of the pack after round one (sports), we moved gradually downward, holding onto third place at the mid-point but finally slipping into a respectable but prize-less fifth. Over all, the Pub Quiz was a decent affair, with a wide variety of questions.

Our biggest complaint was the team sitting across from us, which had seven -- yes, seven -- members instead of the regulation four. One of their bonus members was a Japanese wife. Fair enough that she came along, but surely she helped out during the Japan-questions round.

Naturally, the cheating team beat us (fourth). But whatever. We've moved on from this minor issue (we'll let the courts decide).

Otherwise, we got our first taste of cold today, but it wasn't as bad as forecasts wanted it to be. The overnight low was suppose to dip below freezing. I don't buy it. Especially because today's forecast high of 45 has already been overtaken by 7 degrees.

It is about time to think about looking for those gloves, and the winter coat might be in use within a few weeks.

---

I have also been thinking more about whether I'll stay for a third year on JET. Here now is an attempt to look at some pros and cons of various courses.

OPTION: Stay very, very still ... or ... Remain on JET for a third year

The good

-Well, for one, stability. The economy is in the dumps, newsrooms continue to lay people off, and everyone seems to agree that it'll get worse before it gets better. Why not just stay with my decent job and decent, just-out-of-college paycheck?

-Also, staying here means putting off those goodbyes, be they to friends, teachers or students. I'd definitely miss students and it'd be nice to see one more class through to graduation. I've made some good friends here and once this JET thing is over, we'll surely be spread out across the globe.

-Another plus is simply the chance to spread out my time here, using the best available means. That is, stay here to study more Japanese, to have more unique experiences, to meet new people. If I'm gonna stay in Japan, why take a pay cut with another job?

The bad

-With this kind of job, there's nowhere to go but sideways, career-wise. ALT positions generally offer no chance of advancement, no pay raises, and generally no new benefits for staying, other than simply getting to stay and enjoy the other perks. By staying you're putting off your career for another year. But as mentioned, being here longer does have its upsides.

-The monotony is also an issue. In general the job is fun, at times it's great. Overall it's absolutely easy and generally painless. But sometimes, we have to sit at our desks for days at a time with zero responsibilities. This can be mind-numbing. Though the proper way to deal with this is find something productive to do, like study Japanese or read. So in a way this con is not really a big deal.

-Miss America? Sure, maybe I do sometimes miss the U.S. It's probably more about missing that road not traveled. That nagging question: "What could I be doing?" By staying here, I'm staying. Shouldn't I be going? I've always had that urge to change my surroundings. It manifests in tiny ways, like re-arranging the room; and big ways, like dropping everything and leaving the country. Alternative paths are there: Newspaper career, grad school, adventures in other countries. But in the end I realize that these alternatives will be there when I do finish up with Japan. So my advice to myself is, don't panic. A con? More of an ever-present thought-distraction.

Now, moving on:

OPTION: Leave the country(side) at once ... or ... Leave JET, head to Osaka (or Tokyo)

The good:

-Another con of JET, unstated above, is that you're stuck living where you're living. I didn't mention it above because I've come to like Ise and my friends and my school, so it's not a huge deal. But trying out life in the city in Japan does have its draw. I'd have more of a chance at finding domestic freelance writing work, there'd be more to do on weekends, more people to see, more conveniences to enjoy.

-Briefly, if I do leave JET, moving to the city in Japan would extend my time here, which has its benefits as noted above.

-If I got lucky, maybe I'd find work in journalism in Tokyo or another big city, but such work is hard to find.

The bad:

-Money! Leaving JET, I'd almost certainly take a pay cut. Whether my new job was in media or education, pay is not that impressive. It's enough to live on, but it'd be less than JET.

-My living space would certainly shrink. Life in the city means tighter quarters. Not a big deal but that's the reality.

And now ...

OPTION: Return to Sender ... or ... Return to the U.S.

The good:

-I could get started on one of those aforementioned alternate paths. Enough said.

-Access to the things I can't get here, like root beer and quality sandwiches.

-Being closer to family and friends, of course.

The bad:

-By returning home, I yet again would be faced with a "what if I'd stayed" situation. It never ends.

-I can probably get root beer somewhere here, right? Plus pop isn't even healthy.

-Forgot about this so far, but I'd love family and friends to visit me here. By returning home I close the door.

-I'd also close the door on the overall experience, the learning Japanese, the ... all of it.

---

So all things considered I'm leaning toward staying in Japan for a third year. This isn't a final decision just a present-day leaning. As for the new question of Ise vs. The City, completely undecided.

An update

The days pass, the blog is neglected. Let's see what I can do:

Let's start with Halloween. The picture I tried to post in the previous entry didn't work, so let's try that again.

That's the stuff.

So one time at karaoke some time in early October, somebody brought a horse mask like the one above. Hilarity ensued. Just to be clear, it's not difficult for hilarity to ensue at karaoke, because the only activity available there is singing, and alternatively, listening to your friends sing.

So the horse mask spiced things up considerably.

Also, the idea was floated to keep the equestrian fun going. So by the time Halloween hit, we had four horse-masked foreigners roaming the night.

The problem with the costume is that you cannot speak, nor drink, while wearing the mask. So for much of the night the masks just rested on our heads as we socialized. The funnest part was probably walking into a convenience store and buying a beer, in full horse mode.

---

I just took a look at last November's blog posts. In one, I noted that nearly all JETs travel during the winter break, and the fact that I had no plans was surprising for nearly everyone. Last Christmas I did just stay in Ise. Fortunately there were a few friends around, but I certainly did miss the normal routine. This year I'll be back in Oregon for two weeks over the holiday.

Another post from November 2007 complained that my apartment was devoid of furniture. I talked about a "couch crisis." Not long after, I had purchased a sofa-bed. But a year later the sofa bed has been designated as a bed only, moved into the bedroom, and the main room is once again a work in progress. The current plan involves a new area rug and a load of pillows around the low, Japanese style table. We shall see how it works.

--

Now, I'm looking at a weekend pub quiz. If we somehow win, we earn a cash prize. Next weekend, Yamasho celebrates its 100-year anniversary with a ceremony downtown. Beyond that, no other big events before the Oregon trip. Then it'll be another new year's even in Japan (not sure where yet) followed by a certain deadline: to re-contract or not to re-contract. No real progress on that yet.

That's all for now.

Happy Halloween

Here now, is a Business Horse:

The Ise Derby

I guess I neglected the blog for a solid 20 days. And no, I have not reached a decision on next year. My supervisor here encouraged me to stay on. Both my ALT colleagues are probably leaving. But I'm not really closer to a decision, probably because I don't yet have to be.

All is well over here. Trying to save some money in the months before going to America, as there a few things I'd like to buy over there. This is a difficult task since being social is pretty expensive, and not being social means being a shut-in. Of course one could be social without spending too much -- this would be an ideal goal.

Friday is Halloween, and I'll go to a party at the local bar. This year a few of us decided we'd be a group of guys in horse masks (of course you can get horse masks in Japan). Some friends will be Mario characters. The idea has been floated to have a derby (the British pronounce this "darby" for no obvious reason) during which the Mario characters ride the horse characters. If this actually goes down, I'll give a full injury report later.

A year from now ...

With most jobs, when you want to leave, you give a reasonable notice, a month or more if you're nice, two weeks to stay within the norm.

With the JET program, the re-contracting process for the August 2009 to August 2010 year has already begun, with information about what to do circulating, meetings on the process looming, and various colleagues asking if you're planning to stay.

In case you've lost track, I'm now at the beginning of my second JET year. It started in August and lasts until next August. But I'm right in the middle of thinking over whether I'll stay for a third year. I have to make this final decision by the end of January, and it's not an easy decision to make.

There are plenty of factors. But perhaps more interesting to start with are the option:

1. Stay with JET on my current job for a third year.

2. Return to the U.S. First, of course, to Oregon, and then to wherever I can find a job in journalism.

3. Return to the U.S. and dive right into grad school for journalism (but where? And with what money?)

4. Leave the JET program but find a new job in Japan, be it in media or education, in another location.

5. Attend grad school somewhere other than the U.S., like the University of Hong Kong's journalism program (again, money?)

Those, as of now, are the wide list of options, which include the easy to pull-off (staying another year; returning home) and the difficult to imagine (grad school in Hong Kong? Really?). But that's where I am now.

And as of now I'm not learning heavily in any direction. There are times when I think that I'd love to be back to living in the states. There are other times when it's hard to imagine leaving this school and the students and teachers I've come to know. Then there are times when I'm drawn to journalism, be in practicing or studying.

There are times I'm drawn to normal, that is, being home. But then I'm immediately pulled back to the sense of adventure that comes with living abroad. Sometimes I'm bothered by the routine being the same every day; the course work the same each year. But then I realize even if the material is the same, the students are new.

Sometimes I'm happy to be in the workforce, earning a paycheck instead of running up debt to academia. But then I miss being a student, or I'm drawn to the idea of earning that master's degree or lining myself up for a top tier internship with a major news organization. And while it's nice to be working and earning, even if you like your job, work is work, the morning is the morning, and stress is stress.

And the point of this writing isn't to flesh out my ideas, but to share them. This is where I am now, which is, nowhere near a decision. Perhaps later I could expand on the pros and cons of the above choices. Maybe you have your own thoughts you want to share here or in an e-mail. Maybe you'll just wait it out, and let the suspense build.

For now, the the larger question looming on my horizon is: what's for dinner tonight?

October: The month of the horse?

Since that previous typhoon missed, another has threatened and missed. Now, it's sunny.

Today was the second and final day of the school festival, which I described on the blog last year. Briefly, on day one, students, parents and staff enjoy festival food, some student performances, and theme-decorated homerooms.

On day two, we move to a culture center downtown, and there are more student/teacher musical performances on a big stage followed by a semi-famous musical act. Today's act was Redballoon, a rock/pop group that didn't have much recognition among the students but put on an energetic show.

October has brought mild temperatures, and when it's not raining, it's wonderful outside. Since it's so nice today I'm thinking of what to do other the lay around watching TV or movies. I might venture out to the Thursday-night Japanese class, a place I haven't been in many, many months. I stopped going to the class last winter and never went back. The volunteer teacher who I worked with most of the time saw me at a summer festival and invited me back. Maybe I'll oblige today, then stop by Nanaimo for a pint ... just one though, because I have very little money in the wake of ...

URGENT BREAKING WINTER UPDATE

I'm visiting Oregon in December. Those who read this blog probably already know this, but it will be from Dec. 17 to Dec. 30. Kinda short but the best I can do.

Thanks to help from the parents and a big chunk of my paycheck, the ticket has been purchased and the Broke October begins.

...

And I just re-read October 2007's posts ... Haloween was a common theme. Last year I went as a Mormon to the JET-sponsored party. Then a few months later a pair of American Mormon missionaries started visiting often, but I didn't answer the door most of the time. Sorry, guys. They caught me and a friend riding out bikes to the bar one night, and stopped us to tell us their basic message: that their religion is the one true religion. Nice opener. They also said we should chat over a meal of McDonald's someday. Getting warmer, but I'm with Bill Maher on this religion stuff.

Anyway, Halloween is approaching, and this year a few of us might invest in horse masks and be a group of horses wearing suits. Gold.

Typhoon update

It's hard to say, and we're still under storm warnings, but Sinlaku appears to have passed by far enough off shore that we're hardly seeing any effects. It was raining all afternoon and into this evening but the rain has let up and the high winds have not come. Still could see it pick up again, but it looks like this calm may last.

Typhoon Sinlaku nears

Once a Category 4 typhoon, Sinlaku is nearing Mie as a Category 1 storm after moving up the coastline mainly as a tropical storm. Sinlaku killed about 15 people in Taiwan, but bear in mind it was much more powerful when it made landfall there.

On my commute to work this morning, which being Friday included my bike and a bus, there was no rain. But the rain started up around 10, and by 11:30 schools around the region were sending students home. In another part of Mie, news reports say that more than 17,000 people had to evacuate.

I was in the middle of a lesson when the announcement came over the loudspeaker for teachers to report to the staff room. Moments later the decision to send students was made (though teachers are expected to stay throughout their workday; I got to go home on an earlier than usual bus.)

After my ride home from the bus area, I was completely soaked. The plan now is to hang out at home for a bit then ride out the storm at our usual bar, Nanaimo, where I anticipate a small massing of the regulars for a typhoon party of sorts.

I caught a glimpse of the area's largest river on the way home.

Here's a shot of it on a semi-normal day, though it was pretty high on this day too:
And here's another shot today:


You can clearly see a rise in the water level ... the river looks a lot more fierce that usual as well. Not sure if there will be any flooding, but we are under a flood warning, a heavy rain warning, a wind warning, etc.

The storm does not appear to making a direct pass overhead, but it will be passing nearby, bring perhaps 50 mph winds or higher and torrential rain.

Here's a tracking map from 9 a.m. this morning Japan time (it's now 2:45 or so p.m.)


Right near where it says 9 p.m. Friday is where I live. The yellow indicates the storm will likely still be a category 1 typhoon (same as category 1 hurricane back home) as it passes by.

I really don't know what kind of actual effects we'll see here in Ise, but if there's anything worth photographing I'll post it later on.

For now it's just raining without rest and the wind appears to be picking up.

Otherwise, it's the weekend!

On the third day, we hiked

Normal weekends here consist of going to the bar and/or going to karaoke, but on Monday (three-day weekend) I mixed things up a bit by going for a hike.

Kentaro, who owns the bar we frequent, and Ben-chan, another regular customer who is a hair-dresser/mountain guide, and I headed for Mt. Asama, Ise's highest point at roughly 1,800 feet above sea level. (There's another, much taller Mt. Asama between Nagano and Gunma prefectures; the kanji characters for the two mountains are different.)

While this is obviously not a towering mountain like Fuji or Hood, it makes for a good hike. Since it had been quite a while since I'd done anything like this, I was quite tired on the way up and I'm a little soar today. It makes me wonder how I would have fared at Mt. Fuiji had those plans not faded (we're hoping to try Fuji next summer ... perhaps I should go for some more regional hikes to get in condition).

But the slight pain aside, it felt good to be out doing something different. We set off just after 10 after Ben's boat of a car weaved through the tiny capillary-like streets of rural Japan neighborhoods.

While the summer humidity was in full force, the temperature was mild thanks to cloud cover, which would later dump heavy rain and leave us soaked but cool for the return trip.

The only wildlife we encountered were bees, which had us occasionally running up sections of the trail. A sign at the trailhead suggests that other possible sightings could have included wild boars, foxes, or a raccoon-like animal called a raccoon-dog, along with a host of other insects.

Instead of such animals, we saw a number of middle-aged to nearly-elderly climbers heading down. They had obviously started early in the morning and wisely avoided the coming rain. The three of us had been at the bar until about 2:30 that morning ... so 10 a.m. was already a stretch.

After about 90 minutes up the trail, the official path ends at a viewpoint. But at this point you reach a paved road connected to other area points of interest accessible by car. So we hiked up the road and later through the woods again for a while, eventually coming to a visitors center and view point at the actual summit of the mountain. Here we ate lunch, took a rest, changed shirts and then set off for the decent.

Overall, it was a nice return to hiking, something I've always included in my list of hobbies when asked here, but something that I hadn't actually done in an entire year. I'd like to find some more trails nearby before winter sets in.

Well, the chimes say it's lunch time, so I'll grab my sandwich and head to the international building for "English Lunch." I may come back to this post and add a photo or two from yesterday's hike.

No other news to report, except this ... typhoon Sinlaku is now a tropical storm. Having left Taiwan, it's turning toward Japan and will skirt the southern edge of the main archipelago in the coming days. Perhaps by late Thursday or Friday Mie's coast will see heavy winds, rain and thunderstorms, but I don't expect anything major.

Dr. Catfish

As a typhoon (hurricane) slowly churns toward Okinawa, some Brazilian "prophet" has predicted a huge earthquake in Japan set for this Saturday. While I don't buy into it, a huge earthquake could happen at any time, so, I plan to follow the advice of Dr. Catfish:


If you want to read more of Dr. Catfish's advice, download this (large) pdf file.

photos

Well just as soon as I post about the iPhone photo blog, the application dies. Won't open. So here are a couple photos from today's festival, old school upload style. I would describe this festival as a a bit of a counter culture event, far from the traditional festival format.

The was a skate park set up, some bike jumping, wild and crazy musical acts and of course traditional staples like beer and festival food.

The main stage and the flea market were moved inside because the usual outdoor site was rain-soaked after a week of nearly non-stop precipitation. This particular band puts on quite a show, and the act features guys running around in garments that barely contain their personal regions. This is naturally comical and, of course, terribly frightening.



Also, the nearly naked dudes' faces are painted white, so they kinda look like scary clowns who forgot to put on their clown suits this morning. What's scarier than a clown? A naked clown.

And that's all the imagery the iPhone captured today.

Bike Cycles

The Washington Post features an interesting article about cycling around the world. Of course the U.S. lags behind, but in developed countries high gas prices are pushing more people to commute on bikes. (Interestingly, in China and India, rapid economic development is prompting people to shun bikes in favor of the cars they can now afford.)

In Japan it's very common to get around via bike as part of or all of one's transportation routine. Bike parking at train stations is plentiful, and everyone is riding from school children to salary men.

The article also gives a shout-out to Portland, Ore., which has the highest rate of bike commuters of any U.S. city.

I am one of those residents in Japan who relies only on a bike or public transport. I get around fine, but on bad-weather days I'm reminded of why it would be nice to have a car. But having a car leads to using it even for short trips, so perhaps it's better to keep the car out of the driveway and just tough it out on the bike.

It's better for my wallet, and helps add more physical activity to my daily routine.

And back home, I believe brother Phil is one of those Portlanders who at least occasionally bikes to work. Right Phil? Respond via Twitter.

iPhone photo blog

I've started a photo blog exclusively for photos from my iPhone's decidedly not-that-great camera. The blog is set up so I can directly upload photos from the phone with just one click. Right now there's only a sample photo, but later today I'll send a shot or two from a festival.

Breaking news summer update news flash!

Hello blog.

It may be pretty obvious, but I took the summer off from the blog. This wasn't the plan, but it just happened.

Fortunately, the small group of readers of this operation have been kept informed of the basics:

1. Summer is hot and humid, and I complain about this at every opportunity.

2. I was somehow broke during my week of vacation, so that ruled out traveling anywhere beyond, for example, the grocery store.

3. On the non-vacation days I had to go to work where there is very often nothing to do, and I complain about this at every opportunity.

4. I won 13 Olympic gold medals.

So that was summer.

Now summer begins its wind-down. At least for now, weather conditions have gone from Holy Shit It's Hot to I Can't Believe I'm Still Sweating This Much. So that's good.

School starts up next week, and things get rolling for me work-wise this afternoon, when I'll have a meeting at my once-a-week school to plan the second term there.

I just remembered a couple things I should do right now, so I'll let this post end. I'll aim to get back to updating on a more regular basis.

And I'll post a photo with my gold medals later.

Study Hall

Summer is ticking along. After a few days of watching TV shows online at work, I burned out. Also ran out of episodes of Dexter (season three starts up this fall). So on a front of momentum from studying Japanese yesterday, I today announce a New Month's Resolution: Spend most of my down time at work studying Japanese.

This winter, I plan to take Level 3 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I am not ready for this test. I hardly know any kanji, the Chinese characters that make studying Japanese extra difficult. And my vocabulary has some major gaps (for example, I don't know how to say major gap in Japanese). Meanwhile, there are some grammatical areas where I'm sure I'm not up to speed as well.

So yesterday, today and for the rest of summer, I plan to hit the books. So far I've got a couple of books of practice tests. I can go through the booklet, check my answers, and attempt to discover where I went wrong on all the questions which result in failure.

I don't have to ace this test to pass. In fact, just a 60 percent is enough to get the certification. But I still need to polish up before December. So no more Seinfeld at work. Much less random Internet time-kill-surfing. It's time to try to get serious about studying, perhaps, for the first time in my life.

That's not going to be easy. Will all of this fluff be forgotten in a few weeks?

Maybe.

But the only way to reach that level of failure is to get started.

Man ... I should write a self-help book.

Summer Politics

It's high political season in teachers' rooms all over this country.

In this case, it's the politics of dealing with having to come to work without any, you know, work to do.

We make our own little cheating rules. We'll go to lunch -- for two and a half hours. We'll leave early. But it can be complicated.

It's all about showing face over here. Putting in the time. Even if you're not working, or have to work to do, sitting at your desk means you're doing your job in the summer.

This is especially the case for the ALTs. Yesterday I talked with a student for five minute about a speech she as to write. The rest of the time I watched "Dexter" online.

No matter. I was at work, earning my salary as a responsible public employee.

Our attempts to navigate the system -- that is, somehow cheat by leaving early -- can be clouded by guilt. Last week, we headed out for a very long lunch break, getting back at around 3 p.m., which is often our "early departure" time in the summer.

Even though on a normal day we might have left at three, we felt obligated to stay for another hour and do nothing at our desks just to show face. So we left at 4 (our contract says we can leave at 4:15).

And now today, it's a few minutes after 3. All day I said to myself that I'd head out at 3. But then when 3 came along I realized that walking out right at 3 might look like I somehow feel entitled to leaving right at 3. Perhaps a better time to leave would be something like 3:13. Or 3:07 .

Even though I strongly doubt anyone really would be upset that an ALT leaves a little early on a summer day, these things can get to us.

One colleague always makes a point of announcing to everyone within earshot that we're leaving by saying a Japanese phrase that translates to something like "excuse me for leaving before you all" or perhaps more accurately "I know it's horribly rude and I've brought shame upon my family, but I'm heading out now, so enjoy staying till 5 for no reason, suckers!" The Japanese phrase, "osaki ni shitsureshimasu," is commonly used, but I don't use it.

For I don't think it's rude to leave early. There's NOTHING to do. I've been watching season 3 of Seinfeld today.

And I always like to throw in one more justification: Every day during the normal school year we technically work 45 minutes of overtime at lunch, when we talk with students even though the contract says it's free time. And a couple days a week we work about an hour or so of overtime with the English Club. In the fall we'll work overtime every day, as English Club students prepare for speech contest season.

But surely some of the staffers who see me leaving early don't know all of this, or would not care if they did no. Because it's all about face.

But as a gaijin, I've got what George Costanza would call hand. We're not held to the same sstandards, thank goodness. And so now, at 3:09, I'm packing up and heading home.

To my family, I apologize for all the shame.

That New Yorker Cover

Mom e-mailed to ask what I thought of the Obama-satire cover on the latest New Yorker, to which she subscribes. My response:

First, I appreciate it on some level as satire, though I agree with those who say it's not really that amazing as satire, because rather than being over the top it simply expresses what people have already said. But that's a form of satire itself and it stands on its own.

Second, the Obama campaign, and the media, have taken the issue to crazy town. The appropriate response from the campaign would have been to say that Obama understands satire. Also, the media clearly have little else to talk about with respect to the campaign if they're making such a deal about this.

On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart made the point that it's usually cable news that raises these issues without a clear resolution, in teasers going to commercial. Like: "When we come back, did Barack Obama attend a Muslim school?" That's not satire, that's just trashy cable news. The New Yorker cover is clearly satire.

Also, my first thoughts were this: The people who read The New Yorker will of course understand that it's satire. The people who wouldn't understand that it's satire do not read The New Yorker. So what's the problem?

Well, the media, and, of course, the umbrage-taking Obama campaign, which has shown a lack of appreciation for humor.

What's your take?

Have you lost weight?

In the states, when someone says "have you lost weight?" it's usually a comment designed to make the person feel good, regardless of whether or not they've lost weight.

In Japan, it's a simple observation, and pointing out the opposite -- weight gain, that is -- is not seen as a different sort of comment.

So you might hear "you gained a little weight, right?" when talking to Japanese friends. Or, upon meeting a new Japanese friend, the conversation might naturally steer toward weight. "So, you're a little fat," is not seen as any more rude than "so, that shirt you're wearing, it's pretty blue, right?"

It's a perfectly acceptable part of normal conversation, even though many foreigners will cringe upon hearing a comment about their weight.

As for my own weight -- I lost some after arriving, but weight comes and goes. My lifestyle here is much more mobile than it was back home. I ride a bike everywhere, or walk, whereas I drove nearly everywhere back home.

A lot of people think that because I'm in Japan, I'll automatically lose weight because I'm eating only healthy food. Well, I could be, as I could have been back home. But fried food and fatty food and unhealthy treats are popular here too, along with all the stuff that's good for you.

One thing that does help is that normal serving sizes are usually smaller here than they would be back home, and that goes for McDonald's or a home-cooked meal.

Japan seems a little obsessed with the idea of being fat. They call is "metabo," short for "metabolic syndrome," and they seem to think it's sweeping their island chain like a typhoon. The government recently announced that it would be measuring waste-lines of people over a certain age, and an ad campaign urges people to avoid metabo.

Of course, Japan has fat people, but they're nowhere near the levels of the U.S. or Mexico or other fat nations. But when a trend gains traction here, it can really dig in. This is one such trend.

And that gives even more weight to the concept that discussing whether someone is fat is socially acceptable. Maybe it's a good thing. Our version seems to be that we ignore it if someone is fat because it might hurt their feelings to make any mention of it. Perhaps some discussion would be helpful.

Also helpful: a healthy diet and regular exercise. Maybe I should join that gym down the road after all.

USA! USA! USA!

First, as a comment in the previous post notes, along with an e-mail from Andrew, last year's Fourth of July mystery has been solved in part. We hung out at my place for a while, then we watched "Mr. Holland's Opus." I'm pretty sure Andrew and I were the ones most excited about this prospect.

Tonight, as it was the Fourth here in Japan, I joined a few other Americans (and one skeptical Aussie) and bought a pack of fireworks at the convenience store (of course you can buy fireworks at the convenience store) and headed down to the banks of the Miya River. There, we blew them up. The show was over in about 20 minutes, and failing to save the big ones for last, the Grand Finale was: sparklers. But doing anything at all was something.

Our Aussie friend asked if we were going to sing the national anthem, and, if we were, she wasn't going to come. We hadn't thought of it -- but we almost did just to taunt her.

A lot of non-Americans assume we're all flag-waving support-the-U.S.-without-question people. We are not all those people. In fact, the Americans are usually the ones who are the least concerned with supporting "their country" and defending "their country." At least the ones I hang out with are.

Tonight, at karaoke, I thought about singing the national anthem. But even if I had decided to try it, it wasn't in the system. I sang Green Day's "American Idiot" instead. My friend Mike from the UK colored his applause at the end with a possibly sarcastic chant of "USA, USA, USA." Let the record show that I was not chanting.

Notes on things

I cannot for the life of me recall what I did on July 4 last year. Summer was a barren wasteland of pre-Japan boredom tinted by I-actually-graduated joy. I hardly recall the period from right after I confirmed graduation to right before the Northwest Airlines flight left the ground at PDX.

Did I watch fireworks somewhere? Was there a party? Who was I with? I really can't recall. Nearly a year has passed since then, nearly a year of life in Japan, and one might wonder, what is the state of things?

But my life is normal here. At least, normal based on what normal has been for me so far. It feels like an extension of college sometimes, but with a lot more free time and fewer responsibilities. The big changes in my world have been happening to the people around me - family and friends.

In no particular order:

My step-brother Josh got married, and he and Jennifer are expecting a baby.

My step-sister Jenny graduated from OSU and is moving on to optometry school this summer.

My mother completed a graduate program and is now looking for work as an art teacher somewhere in the dark shades of Eastern Oregon.

My brother Chris re-surfaced, only to head off on the road again, nobody seems to know to where.

My father and step-mother got a wine retail shop off the ground in Corvallis, as my dad settled in to a principal-ing in a new school.

My brother Phil ... well, Phil? Anything big I missed?

My college friend Andrew gave new life to a VW bus, drove it across the country dodging tornadoes; he recently landed in New York City, seeking work, starting life. He'll marry Ellyn next summer in Oregon. Somehow, I'll be there.

And then there's me.

I don't discount that what I've done is a major thing. Just that I moved to Japan to work as an ALT is my "thing" for the list. But over the course of a year nothing big has happened to change my life. But things have gone well enough that I've opted to stay for another year. I should be careful not to expect too much. My predecessor Katie had the keen observation that even though you've changed countries, you're life comes too. Only one year has passed. Do I need a life-changing event to validate my experience? Of course not. Life ticks on.

In all of this, my "real" future is floating somewhere in my line-of-sight, a collection of thoughts about working in journalism. But the collection of thoughts is dominated by questions. Where will I work? Are newspapers dying? Can I work in Japan and in journalism? Am I destined for small-town America? Should I go to grad school? Should I change my plans entirely?

Fortunately, this flotilla of unknowns does not need to be sorted out at once. I might make a third year in Japan, journalism or not, by uprooting my country life in Ise and sampling city life. I've always though of myself as a city person, despite having never lived in a city larger than 50,000 people. I should probably test my "I'm a city person" claim by living in one, and where better than Tokyo or Osaka?

So the short term is settled. Good enough for now.

And now I'm reminded that I didn't intent this post to be about me. So to all the family and friends who have done so much in the past year, I say, well done.

I'll be here if you want to come by some time.

Environs

The blog has been quiet this week. A pretty normal week but one that I felt went by faster than most. Final week of regular classes for the first (of three) term. Next week: finals tests for the students, boredom for me.

This weekend: Quasi-camping. About 70 JETs from around Mie are converging on a "camping" area. We'll say in cabins and enjoy the environs. Not sure what will be found in said environs, but being environs, there should be features to enjoy, and, at the very least, nature.

The way veteran JETs talk about this event, the main feature is a bunch of foreigners drinking in one place. How is this different from last weekend in Osaka? Hard to tell. Let's take a look.

Short post

I went to Osaka. I ate Mexican food. It was tasty. I went to several bars. They were lively. I took a train home in the morning. It was calm. Now, I rest. This has been your short post.

Waiting for the Chimes

Early on, I wondered why teachers always waited for the chimes before even setting off to the classroom from their home-away-from-home in the teachers room.

My instinct as an instructor was to show up early, to take control of the domain, to get materials ready. A minute, or less even, before the bells chime would be plenty. Just setting the tone.

But here, they wait. Even if we set off for the classroom too early, we'll wait in the hallway until the bell rings.

In a flash, the students snap to attention. From a chaotic clatter to a snap-to-grid sense of order. Students in identical uniforms falling into line. The class leader calls out, they all stand. He calls again, they bow.

Until that moment, the room had belonged to the students. For the teacher to barge in before the bell would be an invasion of their space. Their 10 minutes between classes is a chance to release energy, for those who aren't already drained from hours of club/sports practice after school. In that break they can act like teenagers. They can change in or out of PE uniforms. They can get an early start on the lunch made by their mothers in the early morning.

At first, I thought the teachers were being lazy for waiting for those chimes. But they're just respecting the unspoken rules. Now, I am no longer uncomfortably shifting in my chair as the lesson start-time nears. No more nervous glances at my team-teaching partner. No more questions to the other ALTs: "Aren't Japanese people always early?"

So there's a small lesson. It only took 10 months to nail it down.

Be the ball, Danny

Golf is a popular leisure activity in Japan. From what I've read, the Japanese tend to take it very seriously, often spending years practicing at driving ranges before even attempting a real course. There are not a wealth of real courses (outside of U.S. military property, that is) and it's quite expensive to make a round.

Today, I went along with Nick and a couple others to a local driving range. I don't even know where the nearest real course is, but I'm sure there exists one somewhere in the Ise-Shima area. There were only three left-handed clubs available, and only two left handed tees. I set up at number 10 and whacked away.

The balls keep reloading automatically, even if your last shot was, for example, terrible. There is no punishment for mistakes, and unlike in real golf, you don't have to walk with your head down to find your shot that sliced into the woods.

I spent a few minutes with a five iron, then switched to the more friendly seven. There were no woods available for a left-hander. Being left-handed is pretty rare here. Those who show left-handed tendencies when they're young are "corrected." Except of course those who will be pitchers.

Anyway, I spent most of my time with the seven iron, mostly going for distance. I tried for loft, but it didn't go well and it was nearly as fun as trying to pound the ball into submission.

Nick has his own clubs, an avid golfer who used to hit the course every weekend when he lived in a place with reasonable greens fees (Australia).

After taking only a few swings, I announced that I wanted to try for a real course. While I'm sure it would be fun, I should probably recall that on a real course the balls don't keep reloading. You chase after them, even if they go the wrong way. Is that really something I want to get myself into?

Oh, probably. And there could be beer involved to alleviate the pain associated with failure.

Isn't that what sports is all about?

Tokyo stabbing spree

I missed the stabbing spree by an hour and a half.

Akihabara, a district of Tokyo known for cheap electronics, anime, comics, and maid cafes, was busy but calm when I changed trains at its main station at 11 a.m. Sunday.

As I moved from the subway to the above-ground line, I thought for a moment about exploring the district before heading to Shinjuku to catch my bus back to Nagoya. I decided against it.

Had I stayed, I might have seen the commotion when a 25-year-old crashed a rented truck into a crowd and then went on a stabbing spree, randomly killing seven and wounding several more.

Japan remains a relatively safe country, but crazy people are out there. Every once in a while such a random attack seems to occur. Usually it's the same kind of story. The killer is captured by police and is quoted as saying that he just wanted to kill people. Maybe he was fed up with his own life or wanted to die at the hands of the police.

I don't really have any deep insights on the issue. I'll let the media speculate as to what cultural factors may have played a role. I just wanted to post on it because I was sorta-kinda near where it happened.

I am in Tokyo for the weekend. Meeting friends soon. For now, happy hour! Beer that would normally go for 500 yen is only 300 yen. More later.

Random notes

Since I got home at 4 p.m., I've been on a massive cleaning project. I've been avoiding basic cleaning tasks for the past month for no particular reason beyond laziness.

I picked up loose items, brought dishes back to the kitchen, bagged up bottles and collected fallen coins. Then the floor was clear for vacuuming and some spot cleaning.

The last step is a choice of arrangement. All my furniture is easy to move and light so I often shift things around.

Then I tackled the kitchen, which still needs work but is at least in decent shape. Dishes are caught up. The tiny amount of counter space I have is wiped down.

One problem is recycling. I've got loads of back-up in this department. We are allowed to put out recycling once a month, but I almost always miss the day. So it stacks up.

If you ever visit, don't open the closet.

But it's really nice to be in a clean environment.

And after two days of rain, it's nice again for next 24 hours or more.

So overall it's a very nice day here in Ise. I've heading out to the 100 yen store and possibly the grocery store later. Of course any time I go out it's by bicycle.

Which is why rainy days suck.

I'm from Oregon. We live in the rain. But we also drive places. So what if you have to dash through the rain? You've got a coat on. You get wet. But cycling or walking to school in pouring rain is ... a pain in the ass.

Luckily for us our newest ALT Nick has a car, and on rainy days he drives us (covertly, as the miles of paper work required to authorize an ALT driving to work has yet to be completed or authorized ... it's pretty ridiculous).

I should note that June represents the rainy season. Any conversation with Japanese people about the rain since June 1 has focused on this fact. Never mind that it was pouring all day on May 31. That was just a rain storm. Once it struck midnight, it's the rainy season. The Japanese love their seasons.

Anyway.

This post has rambled. For that, I'm sorry.

It's good to have cheese

It started as a quest for the Greatest Sandwich Ever (In Japan So Far) but became a Mexican food foray.

Really though, it started with a Web site, theflyingpig.com, which deals in foreign food for those willing to dish the cash for a taste of freedom.

Fifteen bucks for a thing of cheese. But you have to understand the circumstances. Supermarkets here have lots of good stuff. But proper cheddar cheese is not involved. You can get a little tiny wedge of it for about $4. I'm talking about one or two bites here.

The rest of the available cheese is more of the pizza topping type or the "American" type.

So the Internet brings us cheddar. And tortillas.

Another Web site will bring me wheat bread, also unavailable in stores. From the starting point of wheat bread and cheddar, the local stores will give me the tools necessary to create this Amazing Sandwich. Vegetables will be involved. And sliced meet. But the real story will be the bread and, of course, the cheese.

But we're not there yet. I haven't even ordered said wheat bread. For now, my kitchen has been converted into a tortilla-based operation. Yesterday was burritos, today was a quesadilla with tuna (that's all I had lying around).

For financial reasons, I won't have a constant supply of these foods on hand, but once in a while I'll splurge for greatness.

Stay tuned for news of The Sandwich.

The Mormons on my door step

A pair of Mormon missionaries seem to be stalking me tonight.

They first came by three nights ago. They rang the bell and appeared to be trying to cover their face by putting their hands up in front of the camera the feeds the monitor up in my living room. Good strategy. If Japanese people see a couple of foreigners at their door they'll probably play dead instead of open the door.

English, after all, is scary.

I couldn't tell who/what they were. I thought maybe they were figures of authority or something, so I pressed the button and said hello. Once I realized what I was dealing with I switched to English and said good evening. The main guy said it was strange to be speaking to somebody in English.

I told them I was busy. They asked if they could come back. I said sure. Really, I don't mind if they come back, as they have tonight, but I'm only going to answer the door if I'm really truly free and have a few minutes to chat.

It might be interesting to chat with them, to hear where they're from, how long they've been here, their impressions of Japan. But let's be honest. I'm not interested in any religion. Not Mormonism, not Buddhism.

I am agnostic. A hard sell. Not gonna work. I'll take a free copy of the Book of Mormon, though. For reference (and, ahem, for future Halloween costumes ... I'm a bad person).

Tonight has not been a night on which I've felt up to chatting with missionaries, so I've ignored their ringings after identifying their classic hand-in-front-of-the-camera routine. Three times, they've rung. And three times, like my Japanese counterparts, I've played dead.

Religion, after all, is scary.

Side note: If by chance the missionaries read my name on the door, Googled me, and found this blog, I apologize for ignoring you on Thursday night. The first time I was napping. The second two times I was up, but kinda busy doing stuff. You know, like making a sandwich (avocado, tomato, lettuce and ham) and getting ready to go out (to a bar ... to have a beer maybe). I'm sorry. Feel free to keep trying. Perhaps we can chat some time. But remember: devout agnostic. I'm covered.

Meet ...

... Reggie Love, Obama's body man.

Status Report

Hair: Uncut
Weather: Warm, approaching hot. Muggy.
Summer travel plans: Pending. Hawaii, maybe.
Rainy season: Looming (June)
Umbrellas: No, thanks.
Lunch time: In 30 minutes.

This has been your Status Report.

Hair Care

Yes, that's my hair. And yes, I'm driving a golf cart. One of the teachers and his wife took Sam and I on a nature tour in the height of the cherry blossom season. One of the stops included some big place hosting various activities spread across an area large enough that people rent golf carts to cruise around. It was nice to drive something, even if it was just a golf cart. Sadly, we didn't actually do golf, and the cart's top speed was disappointing.

But back to that hair. This photo is from about a month ago. So now, naturally, my hair is a month longer. I've had it cut once since before I left for Japan last August. It has become a conversation piece. A point of debate. Sam occasionally surveys groups of students, asking if I should get it cut. I favor doing nothing, because this is the easiest path, but it is getting to that point where it may be too much a distraction.

Some people like the natural curls. I'm often asked if it's natural or if I had a perm. One trend in the voting has emerged: Among the older students who have seen it both ways, a majority votes to have it cut. But nearly all of the newer students voted to leave it alone. I remain undecided. It's not really that big a deal to me. But other people seem to think it's worth talking about. I wonder what it would be like to care that much about other people's hair. Sadly, I'll never know.

But for the sake of democracy, if you come upon this page, enter your vote. If I went to school with you or are a member of your family, you too have seen both ways. Let your voice be heard.

Called out

I didn't know this was even a thing, but I have been "called out" on Andrew's non-travel blog to do a chain letter survey thing usually reserved for the likes of MySpace. But since he was called out and followed through, I thought I would just do it.

Four jobs I've had:

1. Dairy Queen entry level worker

2. Dairy Queen supervisor

3. Dairy Queen crew leader

4. Editor-in-chief, university newspaper

Four movies I've watched more than once:

1. Billy Madison

2. A Few Good Men

3. Lost in Translation

4. Little Miss Sunshine

Four places I've lived:

1. Pendleton, Oregon

2. Milton-Freewater, Oregon

3. Corvallis, Oregon

4. Japan

Four places I've been:

1. Warsaw

2. Jerusalem

3. Kyoto

4. Michigan

Four TV shows I watch:

1. The Office

2. 30 Rock

3. West Wing

4. Weeds

Four people who email me regularly (doesn’t include blogging comments):

1. Mom

2. Nealon

3. Kappa

4. Kyle

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Pizza

2. Yakiniku

3. Burritos

4. Goldfish crackers

Four places I would like to visit:

1. Russia

2. Hawaii

3. Australia

4. Hokkaido, Japan

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:

1. Traveling

2. Visits from friends or family

3. Andrew and Ellyn's wedding (is that really this year? Wow)

4. Voting for a new president

Four people I've tagged (to do this too):

The chain stops here.

English Lunch and the Talking Sandwich

One of the reasons that we're busier than some ALTs at Yamasho is "English Lunch." Every day at lunch time, we go to room and eat lunch with students, who try to speak to us in English, thus earning signatures on "passports" used to collect points in English class.

Our contracts say our lunch period is our free time, but we don't mind doing this because really it's pretty fun to talk to the students outside of class, where they're not always interested in the course material (I wouldn't be either, in many cases).

Today, one student, after trying to figure out what to ask me, inquired about what I'd eaten for breakfast. I told her about my sandwich, which featured ham, lettuce and cucumber. After a couple of quick exchanges in Japanese, two students were overwhelmed with laughter. Apparently, cucumber in English just like the Japanese word for parrot.

"It was delicious," I said after learning that I had eaten a parrot sandwich.

Parrot, I'd guess, probably isn't too bad a snack. Frankly, I'd bet it tastes just a bit like chicken.

We can all rest easy ...

... knowing that the video rental store's in Japan are providing "Joey," the "Friends" spin-off which lasted two seasons but has survived to thrill audiences in the Far East.

I was having a hard time choosing a movie yesterday, and I almost settled on starting to watch FOX's "Prison Break," which like "24" and "Lost," is madly popular here. But instead I went with two movies, "The Kingdom" starring Chris Cooper and Jaimie Foxx and "Ocean's 13," which I'm pretty sure I never watched.

Unless they start releasing movies faster over here, I may one day get down to "Joey." I'm just glad Japan is willing to offer such world class entertainment.

In other news ...

You may have seen a headline about an earthquake in Japan, but it was in the East and therefore we had no shaking.

Meanwhile, the season's second typhoon has formed and at least for now appears headed for Japan. Hard to say where it will actually end up.

But overall it's getting pretty warm (near 80 today) and the humidity is creeping up. Soon, it shall be unbearable. I plan to complain a lot.

oh, a post

I stayed local for my Golden Weekend. The farthest I could get was a midnight dash to the prefectural capitol for a barbecue that had already finished. I also made it out for a quick hike, but besides that it was a lot of sitting around with the other ALT types who didn't manage to get out of town. We watched movies. We drank beer. We went to the same old bar. Saw the same old folks.

Part of it is just simply a lack of planning, part of it is wanting to save money, but mainly I didn't want to lave town because we have a good friend who is leaving Japan on Friday for a working holiday in Australia. Nearly every person under 25 whom I've met in this town is preparing to leave this town. Mami already left for Canada (to be fair she's over 25). Mayumi is leaving for Australia. Misa is leaving for the UK. Maki may be leaving Australia later this year. For young people, especially the female types, the thing to do in Ise is leave Ise.

So anyway, I wanted to stay around to hang out with Mayumi. We're trying to put together her farewell dinner tonight.

At work now -- this week I only work today and tomorrow. Taking Friday off since my once-a-week school doesn't need me this week.

Bells are ringing -- time for class.


For some truly more interesting reading, check out friend Andrew's new travel blog:

http://sevenseparation.typepad.com/

He bought and fixed up a VW bus and he's driving it across the country; some zigging, a bit of zagging, and complete with a future-wife at the end of the road. Good stuff. Be sure to go back and read from the beginning. You'll be hooked.

That's gold Jerry, gold!

Coming up in May is Golden Week, when Japan takes a collective break after the hectic fiscal year change-over period. Then, all at once, the Japanese people take to the trains, highways and airplanes.

Golden Week is not really a week off. And this year, it's just a four-day weekend, because one of the national holidays involved falls on a Saturday, which gets no make-up during the week because it's not technically a day off here (they used to go to school six days a week here, as we often heard about when the test score gap came up).

So we'll get a four-day weekend beginning Saturday, May 3. I haven't formed any big plans yet, which seems to be a theme for me and days off. I really would like to see some other areas of Japan. A visit to Hiroshima would be interesting. A trip to the northern island of Hokkaido, featuring Portland's sister city Sapporo, would be fun. Or I could pick an old standard like Kyoto, or try to see friends in Tokyo, or, failing to plan anything, I could wait around and hope the Ise crowd decides to do something.

It might actually be smarter to avoid major traveling during the Golden Four-day Weekend, since transport lines and hotels and things will probably be busy or booked. I can always save my own traveling for a less popular period, in the summer, when I can use paid holidays and take off when most people are still working.

For the record, in case you're interested, the holidays of Golden Week are the following:

Saturday, May 3 -- Constitution Memorial Day
Sunday, May 4 -- Green Day
Monday, May 5 -- Children's Day
Tuesday, May 6 -- Substitute holiday (because Children's Day falls on a Sunday

Originally I was imagining a six-day weekend for some lucky years, but it seems the most you can get out of Golden Week is a five-day weekend ... looking ahead at calendars for the next couple years, the dates of the holidays change, perhaps to avoid the six-day weekend I was imagining. Not sure.

A LAN-faced lie

Last summer, just after we arrived in Japan, we asked our then supervisor if we could hook up our laptop computers to the Internet, so we wouldn't tie up the public use computers as we tried to get through long days with no work to do.

I already knew the answer was yes, because our predecessors had mentioned in casual e-mails before we arrived that they had used computers with the Internet at their desk. So my query was less about a yes/no answer and more about starting the process of getting hooked up.

But my lawyerly approach backfired when the attorney for the defense opted to lie, telling us that we simply were not allowed to connect our own computers. That was that. I could have challenged him, but I had been warned that he could be difficult and I wanted to choose my battles.

Come the new year, our supervisor is transfered, a new one comes in. "Can we connect our computers to the Internet?"

"Yes, I think so. Let me ask the computer guy."

Two days later LAN cables are waiting on our desks.

New school year, new supervisor, hopefully less lying to our faces.

Beer

A rare celebrity sighting.

bbq photos

Here is a round of photos from our "hanami" cherry-blossom viewing bbq. It's hosted via Facebook but anyone can look even without a Facebook account.

Link

Oh Yeah, The Baseball Thing ... Drinking Under A Cherry Tree ... Octopus Balls, on a Sunday?

Perhaps you guessed based on my lack of a follow-up post on Koshien, but we lost the second game, 2-1 in extra innings, after a hard-fought contest that featured the same starting pitcher from Yamasho's previous outing going the distance. But all that is over now. Perhaps we can win the prefectural tourney this summer and return to the big stage.

But now, as I noted in previous posts, it's all about change. For me, that means a slightly more complicated schedule. Once a week (Fridays), instead of cycling to Yamasho, I'll cycle to Ise-shi station, park the bike, and ride a bus for half an hour to tiny little cove of a town called Watarai. I'll spend the day there team-teaching in four lessons before catching the bus home to start my weekend.

This is part of a mini-shake-up of Ise area ALTs. Previously, one ALT went to Watarai twice a week. Now, that ALT will be at Yamasho four days a week. A third ALT, who like me previously spent all his time at one school, will also pick up a day at Watarai.

So now the ALT line-up at Yamasho includes me, Sam and Nick, of Australia, who like us has been here since summer.

For now, the students are still on spring break, but the teachers (not so much the ALTs) are busily preparing for the start of a new school year next week.

I do have a few things to do, but since it amounts to only a couple hours worth of work, I do not plan to start it until, you know, I have a couple hours left.

Outside of school (in this case literally), it's cherry blossom time. Tomorrow I will embark on my first "hanami," or cherry-blossom-viewing party. Here, the tradition dictates that you go near some cheery blossoms (called "sakura") and drink a bunch of sake. Not sure if tomorrow's thing, which includes a couple ALTs and a teacher with his wife, will include drinking. On Sunday, the Nanaimo crowd is doing another hanami on a river-front park. That one will certainly involve drinking. Then, to keep the festive spirit alive, we will fall back on Nanaimo and eat octopus balls.

Don't fear. I do not mean octopus testicles, I mean taco-yaki. These are batter-based fried balls with octopus meat and other ingredients inside. Trust me. They're tasty.

Koshien: Take Two

It is 8 p.m. Saturday and I'm about to head up to Yamasho to get ready to head into Osaka/Kobe for our second game in the tourney. Sounds like we drive part way to a massive rest area (rest areas in Japan are full fledged operations with stores and stuff). We'll "sleep" on the buses while parked, until heading off again in the early morning. The game is set for 9. Rain is threatening. It will be a severe disappointment if after all this weird scheduling the game is delayed. Let's hope the rain takes it easy.

I'm off!

Nice Catch!

Video of the awesome bottom-half of the ninth inning:

click

The announcer guy is confused at the end ... he thought it was a nice catch ... but it was only almost a nice catch.

Color me Green

From the beginning, they had us beat in terms of who was more purple.

Our opponents, the Purple Squad from Chiba Prefecture, also started things out right with a solo shot over the left field fence to go up 1-0 on the second pitch.

They quickly added two more in the following frames, and things looked bleak for Yamasho in the single-elimination tournament.

But then in the bottom of the eighth inning we managed a score, 3-1, Yamasho rallying.

Only one, though.

But ever since those three early runs, Yamsho's defense and pitching was stellar. The Purple Fighters' early hitting surge leveled off. Their defense, meanwhile, chimed in with four errors.

Then came the bottom of the ninth. Base hit. Base hit. Base hit. Tie game. One out. Base hit. Game over.

Sorry for the lack of dramatics, but that was how it went. And being me, without a roster, so far away in the cheering section with the obstructed view, I couldn't tell you right now who hit that final shot that made it 3-4 in favor of Yamasho.

But I do know the pitcher:

(source)

He was in one of my once-a-week classes during the school-year. One of the lower-level English-speaking classes. But in every class, without fail, his voice carried over all the rest. Always smiling, if not nodding off. But clearly today he was on, smiling, and throwing some serious stuff at the Purple Peddlers.

Thank goodness we were in Hot Green.

(a note about the colors: for some reasons, the cheering sections of school clubs in Japan do not match the actual colors of the teams on the field or court or whatever ... our "school color" is neon/hot green, but the players uniforms are white with blue writing. The other team's cheering section was purple, but so was the writing on their jerseys.)

We won!

He's not a pitcher, he's a ... wait, yes, in fact, he is a pitcher. Excuse me.

Yesterday, before the school-year-ending ceremony, students and staff gathered in the gym to practice the pre-planned set of cheers to be dispatched during Yamasho's opening game tomorrow at the spring national high school baseball tournament, known generally as "Koshien."

Koshien, which has a summer version as well, is a major deal, with national media attention and live television broadcast.

In what was perhaps a bit of accidental foreshadowing, I attended a day of the Koshien tournament in 2003 when I was just visiting Japan. That summer, as it happened, Yamasho was in the tournament, though at the time I was unaware of any alleged "Mie Prefecture."

So in the summer of 2003, and again in the summer of 2007 just after I arrived in Ise, I was able to experience the organized craze that is high school baseball in Japan.

What struck me most originally was the organized and civil nature of the cheering sections. For an American, cheering on your team is about making noise, shouting insults, or in high school student sections, coming up with clever cheers or personal attacks.

In Japan, by contrast, the cheering routine is rehearsed and polite. When our team comes up to bat tomorrow, our student section will rise and offer a cheer song, backed up by the school band, a group of "cheer girls" in the usual cheerleader uniforms and a unit of "cheer guys." The guys seem to be the leaders while the girls focus on dancing and pom-pom control. I should also point out that these guys and gals have rehearsed dance moves to go along with the cheers, which they do without any apparent embarrassment (I have not found a Japanese person who cannot dance, if pressed; it seems to be a highly respectable thing to be able to do).

When the other team is up to bat, despite better logic, we sit quietly, showing respect to the other team. Meanwhile, that team's cheering section, located across the big league ballpark, stands at attention.

There is no unfounded but widely accepted belief that the opposing team's pitcher may be, in fact, a belly itcher. In addition, no one, at any time, asserts that the umpire should submit to a previously unscheduled eye examination. (Or perhaps in deference to maintaining the harmony of social relations, such suspicions go unsaid.) To the American baseball fan, these facts are difficult to understand.

So here I am, the day before the big game, and I am not, despite instincts, coming up with a clever ESPN acronym to try to get on TV. Instead, I'll have to hop that the camera men take a liking to our cheer girls or our neon green trucker hats with the school name across the top. Or, in an attempt at internationalization, I could probably get on TV by introducing to Japan the U.S. sports tradition of streaking through the outfield.

some words

This has been a Sunday afternoon of nothing-ness. I cycled to the convenience store for a snack. I download-rented "Michael Clayton" via iTunes (haven't watched it yet). Back to workless work tomorrow -- the students have already stopped regular school for the term. Final tests are over. Closing ceremony this week, then spring break for the students. Unlike in the U.S., spring break is not so break-y for staff. We still must report to work or use paid holiday ... which I'd prefer to save for a time when I have some kind of plan. So I go to work with nothing to do and do nothing. It's painful. But at least we can sneak out a little early and enjoy our free time with the weather turning nice (minus the rain, but I'm kinda used to that). That is all.

I have returned to Japan. Now waiting for a ferry to take me back to Mie.

Some planes.

I got to the airport pretty early, so I had a chance to meet the pilot.

I am now in Nagoya, doing some last minute shopping and meeting some friends for lunbh before heading down to the airport. Lift-off in five hours.

Here we gooooo

Shortly, I shall leave my apartment in Ise, eventually getting to the airport, boarding a plane and, strangely, on this Friday morning, flying into Friday half-way around the world.

See you there.

Soap Box

So in Times Square a bomb goes off at a military recruiting station. A small one. Anyway, the word is that they think it was not an act of terrorism.

What?

A bomb is not "terrorism" ?

What they mean is that it wasn't an extremist Muslim, right?

Can't we agree that terrorism is terrorism regardless of reason or race or religion?

snapshot

This tiny, grainy picture, courtesy of Yamasho's home page, shows the students filing in for graduation on Saturday. You may be able to spot a few people featuring non-black hair. That would be me in the middle with Sam on my right and former Yamasho ALT Pam on my left. That is the chair in which I sat for the ceremony, except for the parts when I stood and bowed.

This way for naked men

Somehow, I had gone six months without stripping down and getting into a hot tub with a bunch of Japanese men.

Fortunately, this major oversight was rectified last night, after my friend Mayumi responded to a "what are you up to tonight" with an invitation to a sentou, or public bath.

A sentou is like the more widely known onsen, or hot spring, but is indoors. Onsen feature sulfur-smelling natural pools; sentou offer a variety of different baths and saunas. I have not been to a proper onsen.

Both feature naked men. Also, naked women, but a key feature of these places is that the men and women are separated to keep things civil. Some advice: If you ever trek to one of these naked parties on your own, I would learn the Japanese kanji for man (男）and woman（女）.

There comes a time when you have to choose one of two directions, and it is probably a good idea to avoid an incursion into lady-land.

Once I was safely inside the naked man area, I was, not surprisingly, surrounded by naked men, casually walking around, relaxing, or filing their tax returns. They were everywhere, and of all ages. Things started out in a traditional locker room, which I would describe as like a health club locker room back home, but with more naked men.

And the naked men here are not concerned about limiting their naked exposure time. This is a public bath, not a public pool. Being naked is not an unfortunate side effect of the experience, but rather the point.

So I quickly found a locker, dropped in a 100 yen coin, threw in my backpack, and ran for the exit.

OK so I didn't really run away. I had already made the decision to not be a wuss. The only reason I could think of to turn down the offer was fear or embarrassment. I decided these reasons were not good enough. And this is Japan, after all, and being naked with a bunch of men is a key cultural experience that I had somehow escaped on three previous visits and half a year of living here.

So I stripped down and headed for the bath area. Now here is where I realized I had made a mistake. I had brought a full-sized towel for drying off after the affair, but when you walk around the bath area you are supposed to carry a small towel you get at the public bath. I failed to get this towel. This was a result of confusion out front, when Mayumi said I didn't need to buy the towel from the machine. Turns out, one requirement for having such a towel would have been buying said towel from the machine out front. The little towel is used for washing up before you get into the bath, and, for some, as a private-parts-covering-device.

But covering up is not really a major need. Some people seem concerned with covering up while others let it all hang out. I decided to forget the little towel as I went to wash up before getting into the bath.

This is a key rule of bathing in Japan, weather you're at home or at the naked party. You wash up first, then rinse, and only then do you enter the bath water. At home, bath water is shared. Of course, the water is shared at the public bath too. So it makes sense to clean up before you get in.

After I scrubbed up a bit, I got in the largest of the baths, which I would describe as being about as big as a Starbucks. By this time, I had gotten over the naked factor, and I was actually enjoying my time in the hot water. But I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing something "wrong." Am I allowed to sit here? Can I go over by those bubbles? Is that guy looking at me funny?

By the time I decided to relax, it was already time to go. But fortunately I've gotten over my fear of Japan's public bath culture. I now have a deeper appreciation for culture. And I now can avoid it for another seven months.

The weather outside is ... nice. Prettty nice.

If I could ignore schedule conflicts airfare spikes and general financial concerns, I would not be leaving Japan this month. Spring is on the way. Today is offering some foreshadowing. We are 50 degrees with little wind, which means it actually feels like 50 degrees. This is new.

And then summer, which I've mentioned a few times maybe, is so uncomfortable that it's hardly worth trying to describe with words. It would require kidnapping and some airplane tickets.

Anyway. My point is that as I was outside just now, cycling from work to the department store and then back home, I was comfortable.

We still have some more days of severe cold and nasty winds (tomorrow included) but spring is out there somewhere, waiting to be discovered. Then, when it's ready, and the cherry trees give the go ahead, it happens.

---

Tomorrow, as it happens, is Yamasho's graduation. This is a very formal affair. No silly student speeches. No serious student speeches, either. No musical performances. No gowns. No caps.

To be fair, there was a farewell ceremony a few weeks ago that included students performances. So they keep the fun separate.

Tomorrow's affair will be serious. I've been told to dress formally, meaning a black suit, white shirt, and here's the wild card, a white tie. Which I had to go buy today.

We ran through the ceremony in a practice today. There were a few rows of chairs for parents off to the side. The graduating students will file in and sit with their homeroom classes in the front, with the rest of the students sitting by class behind them. All are in their regular uniforms. Today's practice was abbreviated, but from what I can tell there will be a lot of standing and bowing, followed by sitting down, standing up again later, and bowing some more. I'm sure when the real thing happens there will be more time between stand-and-bow routines.

There is one element that reminds me home: They play Pomp and Circumstance.

Next Stop: America-Town

After seven months away from Freedomsville, my return is imminent. For 12 days in Oregon, I will eat pizza without corn on there, enjoy sandwiches with wheat bread, sample microbrews that don't cost six dollars a pint, avoid Japanese restaurants and sushi, read the Oregonian in print, and who knows what other things I haven't realized I've been missing.

Of course, the trip will be framed around visiting family, spread across Oregon, in Portland, Pendleton and Corvallis.

I will arrive in Portland next Friday, March 7, in the early afternoon, departing again for Japan on March 18. When I write that it seems like such a short trip, but it was quite a thing to squeeze it in amid a host of things happening here at what has become "home."

I am leaving immediately after my duties end for the final exam period of the third and final term of the school year. I will get back just in time to go along with the students and teachers to watch the baseball club participate in a national tournament, much like they did in the summer.

The baseball tournament, and one other major event, is what kept me from traveling during the proper spring break, though that would only have been about 12 or 13 days anyway.

The other option would be putting it all of until summer -- but summer would be more expensive to fly, I think, so I wanted to push for a spring trip.

Also, I want to do a little shopping for clothing, which isn't impossible here but is certainly inconvenient when it comes to sizes and styles.

But enough about shopping ... I nearly got a headache just thinking about it.

The key here is that in a week I will land in the U.S. -- in San Francisco, where I will change planes -- and enjoy what I have left behind. Exciting, much.

I am at a Denny's. Coffee refills? Free. Nagoya. All night. Little sleep. Total coverage.

We're gonna be OK, folks

Announcer: Welcome to the Campaign 2008 Variety Hour! Featuring that latest polling data, the Superdelegate Orchestra, and the comedy stylings of Dennis Kucinich. Now, here's your host, Wolf Blitzer!

Wolf Blitzer: Welcome, everyone, we're going to start today by talking with Barack Obama, the newly-minted front-runner in the Democratic race for The Whi--- wait .. excuse me sir ...

(A struggle is apparently going on off camera, back stage. A roughed up Bill Clinton emerges, smiling. He grabs the microphone from Blitzer.)

Bill Clinton: Well, folks, I just gotta say, I really appreciate being invited on the show today. Now, let me start with a tune I've always loved ... Hillary, come on out here!

(Hillary enters)

Bill Clinton (singing):

Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a dead campaign, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you Hill, and you should know it
With each debate and every little tear you show it
Hope is all around -- no wait that's not it
You can win the race why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all!
Bill and Hillary: We're gonna make it after all!

(To be continued)

Media scandal!!! And something about John McCain

The New York Times printed a story this week suggesting that John McCain may have had a romantic relationship with a lobbyist in the late '90s, basing the story on some anonymous sources and one on-the-record former McCain aide.

The New Republic, meanwhile, aims to tell the story behind the story. TNR's piece is also highly critical of the Times: "... The new information it reveals focuses on the private matters of the candidate, and relies entirely on the anecdotal evidence of McCain's former staffers to justify the peice--both personal and anecdotal elements ususual in the Gray Lady."

(Update: Slate's Jack Shafer defends the Times.)

Says TNR, the four reporters assigned to the story believed it was solid, but higher ups in New York disagreed. Eventually, it was published. TNR seems to think it was published when it was to beat TNR's background piece. The Times claims it was published when it was "ready."

It seems we are not getting the entire story -- neither the one about McCain and the lobbyist nor the one about the story itself.

The McCain camp, meanwhile, is trying to make the story about the Times itself, joining the usual conservative view that the paper is a liberal attack unit. This particular liberal attack unit, it should be noted, endorsed McCain. For president. And while the paper may not be rock solid in this case, the story does raise legitimate questions that go beyond the possible romance.

On a more personal note, when I spend my mornings reading juicy media stories like this, I realize that I need to eventually get back into journalism.

Run, sensei, run!

Another successful Beer Wednesday at the brewery last night. I wasn't hung over so much in the traditional sense but I felt and still feel run down. I think the twice a month thing may be a little much for what amounts to competitive beer drinking. You are competing against yourself of course, striving to drink all 10 of the day's offerings.

We started at 6, ended a few hours later. Sleep comes easy, naturally.

Our marathon beer-drinking is pretty impressive, but earlier Wednesday, the Yamasho kids ran a "marathon" of sorts ... not a real marathon by distance but a lengthy run. It's a big school event. Everyone has to join. The girls ran about 7 kilos while the boys hit 10. The longest I was ever forced to run in school was a mile. We all hated "running the mile," didn't we? I wasn't fond of it. But we should be thankful we weren't Yamasho students.

The weather was quite nice, as it is today. Mostly sunny with temperatures near above 50. We still have some coldness ahead before spring turns on for real.

For the boys, the best times were around 30 minutes, I believe, while the slowest of the bunch topped an hour. Best times for the girls were near 2o minutes.

A few people asked me why I didn't join ... I usually dismissed such comments with "maybe next year."

But really if anyone actually feels I should join, they should consider telling me about the event earlier than the week of. Maybe, say, a couple months out, when the kids start training, so I too could train a bit and be a good ALT and join in the fun.

Really though, among the staff, only the principal participated. But a lot of the students seem to think I'm more on their level than being seen as a teacher. Oddly, if they see my cellphone out in the school they'll tell me that "we're not allowed to use a cellphone," with the we seeming to include ALT Dan. In my book, such a rule applies to students. Maybe it does apply to teachers ... maybe we're expected to use cell phones only in the teachers' room ... but that's just silly.

I decline to participate in such silliness.

Chocolate Day

Mom e-mailed asking if they have Valentine's Day over in Japan. Below is my response:

In short, yes, they do have Valentine's Day here, but it is its own animal.

For some reason the tradition morphed here into women giving chocolate (only chocolate) to men they like or to their boyfirends. Men, meanwhile, wear black on the day if they are "available."

Some time down in March, on "White Day," men are expected to return the favor. Giving chocolate (only chocolate) back to someone who gave it to you means you are accepting their proposal to ... start something romantic?

I am not sure how rigid these rules are, or if they're widely practiced, but the basic idea is that on V-day women give men chocolate and on White Day men give women chocolate. I assume the choclate industry (Big Cholocate?) has something to do with this.

I had a private lesson on the night of V-day and I got a small box of chocolate from my student (a 20-something woman). Now I do not know if that means she has a thing for me ... it's possible. It's also possible that she's just letting me in on the fun since we had a lesson on The Day.

So when White Day comes around, I suppose I will have to decide if I owe her a small box of chocolates in return. Seems complicated. I like the U.S. system which only requires couples to act on V-day, leaving singles off the hook to mourn in solitude. Ah well. New culture, new rules. Maybe this way IS better. It at least provides more suspense.

G'day.

Dan