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2010-04-10T11:15:00.018+09:00

DANMAIL

Hello again! The weather is finally getting beautiful! It's a warm day and some of the trees are still showing cherry blossoms. I hope everyone is having a good week.

Today, I'll tell you about this month's schedule.

On April 14, we are having an English conversation bbq party at the park near the Watarai Bridge. I hope you all can come! The party will start at 13:00 and we'll finish at 16:00. Bring your own food and drinks to enjoy.

Moving to ...

2010-02-02T10:29:00.000+09:00

New blog:

http://stillinjapan.wordpress.com/

Repeatitude

2009-11-24T21:14:00.005+09:00

Every year, the somewhere-under-100 Mie JET program ALTs gather in the capitol city, Tsu, for a November meeting, the agenda for which is this: discuss the meeting to be held in January.

Granted, that January affair is more than a meeting (it's the mid-year seminar), but the whole operation is an exercise in -- what's the word -- repeatitude. We gather. The guy from the BOE reads a few key points about a few key things. It's nothing they couldn't inform us about via faxed/mailed/e-mailed document.

Mainly they bring us there to force us to decide who will have to give presentations at said January seminar. And essentially, it's already decided, on a mysterious document known as "The List."

While volunteers can step up, The List is there as a back-up when people don't. The List's victims rotate every year, so, it's essentially fair. But despite its objectivity, this annual meeting still exists.

---

Every once in a while, I'm reminded about third molars, aka wisdom teeth. They make themselves known with bursts of pain, ranging from mild pain to moderate pain. The other night, my lower-right wisdom tooth started in on a kind of pain between moderate and high.

While at this hour the pain has shifted down to what I'm calling sustained mildness, it all raises the question: do I need extraction?

Since I'm not a qualified dentist (anymore) I plan to schedule an appointment soon. There's an English-speaking DMD around who I hope can take a look at the situation.

---

It's now inside a month until arrival in Oregon. We're very excited to spend time there and see family and friends. Of course, Portland, Corvallis and Pendleton (plus maybe Vernonia?) are all on the agenda.

And this year it shall be a three-week affair rather than a rushed, Winter-Blastified two weeks. Not that I'm complaining about the Blast. While it complicated travel and caused some stress, who doesn't like a weather story?

One Pot

2009-11-09T22:26:00.006+09:00

Ah yes, my blog, that canvass of neglect, that conduit of silence, that never-ending, rarely-updating story of my life.

Why do I ignore you so?

Blah. Enough with the sentimental stuff.

---

Last I wrote here, I was weathering a storm. A typhoon (aka hurricane) to be clear. Obviously I made it through that all right. If you were really following along, you would have also seen my (cell-phone-powered) twitter updates at the time, which picked up after the power went out and took my Internet access with it.

By morning, all was well. Minor damage (none to my building). Slight floodery nearby. Trains weren't running. The power was still out.

At school, the trees rained down debris overnight. In the morning, with the students told to stay home, we teachers cleaned it up. One student who showed up by mistake joined in the cleanup.

And now, roughly two months later, I'm here. I don't know if I'll keep the blog going again. I came back last time in a spurt, but then it sputtered out. We'll see.

---

Right now, as fall picks up -- winter temperatures have reared and shall rear again next week -- the season of nabe has begun. Nabe literally means "pot" in Japanese, but in practice it means much more.

The nabe pot is brought to the table, heated on a gas-powered or convection burner. A base broth of some kind is brought to a boil, then whatever ingredients you like are thrown in. Popular broth bases include curry or kimchi. The toppings of course include a variety of vegetables and meat.

Nabe represents a communal eating style popular in many Asian cultures. Everyone grabs what they want from the central pot. Sometimes, when you finish your solids, you pour the extra broth in your bowl back into the pot to cook up the next round. Nabe fosters this level of closeness. Though in these times of the new flu, perhaps the communal nature of nabe will be seen as a threat this winter.

I've had nabe at restaurants as part of a course menu (blow fish!), and I've had nabe at friends' places. But as of this last weekend I can now nabe (sure, it's a verb) at home.

I did the kimchi type over the weekend and then curry tonight, with my ALT colleagues Annette and Conrad as guests. We were all quite full after the session, which also featured a screening of the latest episode of Dexter.

Now, as 11 p.m. nears, I'm winding down, wondering what's for dinner tomorrow. More nabe? We'll see.

2009-10-08T00:08:00.002+09:00

In case anyone is following this, I may try to get a little sleep in. I'll check back in after that.

Red Circle

2009-10-07T23:52:00.004+09:00

11:52

We're just about in that thick red circle denoting the 50 knot or higher winds. Wind gusts are getting noisier as the rain continues. Definitely seeing a worsening of conditions.

Rain

2009-10-07T22:52:00.002+09:00

10:52

Check out the radar showing the rain intensity. That's us in red.

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/radnowc/index.html?areaCode=210

New warnings

2009-10-07T21:40:00.002+09:00

9:40

Not really surprising, but the region including Ise is now under official warnings for storm, heavy rain, flood and high waves.

Wind prediction

2009-10-07T21:20:00.002+09:00

Some forecast specifics are coming to light. If the track and intensity holds as currently predicted, we may see 100 mile an hour sustained winds and gusts of up to 134 mph.

Phase shift

2009-10-07T20:50:00.003+09:00

It's 10 to 9 and things are picking up out there. I can hear the wind whaling and bursts of rain up against the window. I just took a peak outside and saw an ambulance or something up the road. Could be unrelated but not sure. The water on the roadway looks gnarly in the wind. More later.

(The tracking images on the blog should be updating here too, or you can go check them out at their original sources. The JMA site also has a precip radar and a satellite image. )

And a note to family: If we lose power, I may change over to twitter. See my feed at www.twitter.com/danofthenorth

News reports

2009-10-07T19:42:00.002+09:00

7:42

This article by Rueters says this may be the strongest typhoon to make landfall on a main island of Japan in 10 years. I should note that my goal here, mom, is not to scare you. But after a day of hearing some people freak out and others say "oh it's weakening" I wasn't sure what to think. I'm still not sure what I'll see here. But I feel pretty well safe and informed. There's a branch of city hall across the street and plenty of neighbors nearby.

I'll update again in a while.

Update

2009-10-07T18:56:00.002+09:00

7 p.m

Mie and many other areas are now under the official storm warning. TV news says to expect peak wind around here at about 2 a.m. Meanwhile, about 500 ml (1.6 feet) of rain are to be associated with the storm in this area (I suppose this includes the rain that's already been falling).

We're also now inside the yellow circle here in Ise (perhaps that's what prompted the storm warning being made official). I haven't noticed any wind pick-up just yet. We shall see.

Precautions: I have extra food and water on hand. TV news said to fill the bathtub, as it can allow the toilet to flush if the normal plumbing goes out. I don't have a flashlight, but next-door neighbor and ALT colleague Anette does.

I have no idea what to expect. If it is a category 1 storm when it reaches, sustained winds could be up to 95 miles an hour .

More later ...

Home from work ... the rains pick up ... oh right, plus wind ...

2009-10-07T17:19:00.004+09:00

It's 20 after 5 p.m. and I've arrived home from work. The rain has been going non-stop since morning, but it is just now starting to pick up. Drainage ditches through the rice fields are filling up but not overflowing. The nearby Seta River is high, but I've seen it higher in periods of heavy rain. A ways to go before even close to threatening overflow.

The wind is also stronger than this morning. Though we are not yet in the area likely to see 30+ mph winds. This photo above is the tracking of the typhoon on the Japan Meteorological Agency website. The yellow outline shows areas with winds of 30 knots or higher (34 mph). The thick red circle is areas with winds of 50 knots or higher (57 mph). The lighter red line shows a vague "storm warning area" ... which at this point is just an advisory/warning that the storm is coming.

As the hours pass we may get more specific warnings for high winds or flooding. Despite the weakening, we can still expect the storm to be Category 1 strength or borderline Category 1 / tropical storm as it moves over the area. And we are still in the section of the storm (top-right quadrant said to pack the strongest winds.

At the moment I'm just sitting at home checking info online and on TV. No big plans but I may head over to fellow ALT Conrad's apartment nearby to watch movies or TV shows and see if anything happens.

The brunt of the storm should come in the early morning hours. A decision on whether or not students have school will be broadcast around 6 a.m. Early prediction -- there will not be school. Staff still have to report, they reminded us in the morning meeting. I'll go along unless it's dangerous to go out.

More later ...

Weakening

2009-10-07T11:01:00.002+09:00

The typhoon is weakening faster than previously expected. It's now a Category 2 storm. By the time it gets closer to our area overnight and early Thursday morning, it will be a Category 1 weakening to a tropical storm.

Certainly still cause to be carefull but it looks like less of a threat than once thought.

Typhoon Melor

2009-10-06T18:29:00.004+09:00

On this Tuesday night, Japan is staring down a storm called Melor. At this hour, the typhoon (same as a hurricane) is moving over Minamidaito, an island that is part of the Okinawa chain.

Soon, the storm will begin to track northeast, potentially passing directly over us here on the Kii peninsula (circled in red).

Ise is on the tip of the eastward jutting peninsula-within-a-peninsula in the northeast quadrant of the circle.

Forecasts appear fuzzy as to Melor's exact center path, but here in Mie and Ise we are within the possible direct-hit area. Meanwhile, present TV predictions show the center path pushing through the middle of the Kii peninsula.

I was also reminded by the TV weather guy that the strongest part of a tropical system is to the right of the center (see image at left). Current TV predictions, then, do not bode well for this area.

Although perhaps not as strong, this storm has a path that resembles Japan's worst typhoon in recorded history, the 1959 Isewan Typhoon, named for the bay to Ise's east that extends up to Aichi prefecture and Nagoya City. That storm killed more than 5,000 people. Here is the path of that typhoon:

While the path is similar, the 1959 storm was stronger. And of course, today more precautions are in place. Better seawalls to fight flooding off the bay. Better knowledge of how to prepare and stay safe. Stronger buildings.

Nevertheless, this storm has the potential to be dangerous.

The first effects of the storm may be felt here tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon or evening. For this reason I wouldn't be surprised if students are sent home at midday. School also could easily be closed on Thursday. This is just for students though. According to the "rules," staff still report to school.

If a staffer cannot get there, the system would expect them to use paid leave. It's laughable how ridiculous this is. I don't plan to use paid leave if I can't make it to work on Thursday. However it's fair to say the school may be safer than my low-lying, river-butting neighborhood.

I have never experienced a direct hit from a typhoon/hurricane, nor can we be sure about the strength or path of the coming storm. But at the very least I plan to stay informed and take basic precautions.

An update

2009-09-29T16:16:00.003+09:00

The Osaka trip redeemed itself, mainly in the form of Mexican food at Osaka's El Pancho restaurant the day after the USJ adventure.

Oh, I should also mention that we went to Costco. There are a few Costco outlets scattered around Japan, and they look exactly like their U.S. counterparts, down to the products and store layout.

When we arrived by train and taxi in the early afternoon, there was a 20 minute wait to sign up for membership (roughly $40 for a year). We then were set loose in a jam packed store -- think holiday weekend at peak hours -- for about an hour and a half.

We didn't have a car, so we couldn't fill a cart full of wonderfulness. Also we couldn't really do things that needed to stay cool.

I bought a huge container of Picante sauce, a 20-pack of flour tortillas, a small pack of beef jerky, and a some onion and cheese bagels. It all fit nicely into my backpack, but that meant for a heavy bag to heave around train stations.

Hopefully we can head back to Costco again some other month, but this time by car, so we can load up on more items and perhaps even take orders from friends.

I gave away half the bagels, and my half is long gone. We used 10 of the tortillas at a bbq/burrito party, and the other 10 are nearly gone from my fridge. The jerky went fast during a night out at the bar.

Meanwhile, the winter holiday season approaches, and I need to start thinking about plans now. I was in Oregon as recently as June, though I was busy with the Canfield-Nealon wedding. Then I hit Hawaii in August. So I'm strongly leaning toward staying out of the U.S. this Christmas.

I might instead hit the slopes of Nagano. There are a few others already talking about putting together a trip, and it would be nice to see if I can still ski after a several-year break.

Other options include an even wintry-er destination: Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido.

Still undecided. And I guess it's possible the U.S. could slip in there. Oregon? New York? Money?

Hollywood Dreaming

2009-09-22T10:18:00.003+09:00

I report this morning from Osaka, in fact, in the middle of Osaka. Yesterday I went to Universal Studios Japan, referred to here as USJ.

I should note that it is the middle of a 5-day weekend. Three national holidays aligned themselves to make a mini-vacation in the summer-heads-toward-fall period of late September.

Needless to say, USJ wasp packed.

We managed to ride only one real attraction, a rollar coaster called Hollywood Dreams. The wait was more than 2 hours.

Meanwhile, the mass of people walking around the park, in the still-summer heat and Osaka humidity, were naturally thirsty. But vending machines at USJ are scarce. Seems they'd rather have you wait in line for an hour to get a drink and why-not-a-meal at one of the theme park restaurants.

This next (last for now) picture might not mean much to those outside Japan, but this country is loaded with vending machines. They usually look like the one in this picture, except for the red light shining beneath every beverage. That means that all the drinks are gone. Yes. All of them. This was at 6 p.m. Four hours to closing time. It was never re-filled.

The Earliar In The Night Show with Jay Leno

2009-09-16T09:25:00.003+09:00

Thanks to the Internet and its pirates, I watched the first episode of the new Jay Leno show, NBC's consolation prize/cheaper-than-a-drama 10 p.m. hour of something allegedly "new."

Instead it was the same old Jay. The trappings of The Tonight Show morphed into something that felt 1990s. The musical backupled by the same laughing leader, renamed "The Prime Time Band." The same burst of energy from back stage flowing into the same handshake affair the faux host Larry Sanders once comically tried in an effort to boost his ratings.

As for the conent, its much the same too, with an opening monolouge that was as strong as you'd expect when it draws from three months of material. Leno himself was energetic and appeared in his element. But the comedy bits fell flat. Kanye was there, too, apologizing again, and garnaring more headlines and angles for Jay's debut. Jerry Seinfeld, in a tux, was funny as you'd expect, and his bit-within-a-bit featuring Oprah was perhaps the comedic climax of the program.

But judging from Day 1, the new show hardly deserves the "new" designation. As he expands his roster of guest comedians in skits, and perhaps follows up on stated plans to give the mic to up and coming stand-ups, maybe the show can find a niche. But I imagine the Leno niche -- already established from his days with The Tonight Show -- won't be seeing a major shift at all.

The Swine and the Surgical Mask

2009-09-15T13:13:00.004+09:00

Swine Flu is making its way through my school this week, with one 40-student homeroom on a 3-day leave because the virus was spreading rapidly. A few other cases from other classes, all second-years (juniors), have been reported.

I came down with a bug last week, manifesting as a sore throat early in the week. Out of an abundance of caution (haha) I stayed home on Wednesday. It didn't get any worse so I returned to a normal schedule. As usual the sore throat shifted to sinus pressure and then some sneezing (this time only about three sneezes in total) and then it faded to nothing in time for the weekend.

Not Swine Flu.

But I guess there is a fair chance I will catch it, working in a school. Many students and staff around here are wearing what we call surgical masks as a preventive measure. Fortunately they also pressing more logical prevention techniques such as thorough hand-washing and sneeze-etiquette, as well as keeping the known sick kids at home.

I am trying to remember to wash my hands more often, and I need to get in the habit of bringing my own hand towel.There are no paper towels and hand-dryers in the bathrooms here, just a single towel than I guess they think everyone should use. On top of that there isn't always soap in Japanese bathrooms, even at schools.

The Swine Flu fear has changed this a bit, in the form of more readily available soap.

A rather flat post, but I wanted to try to keep blogging after that rush of posts the other week. I will try to keep it up from now on as well.

I want my money back

2009-09-06T20:53:00.007+09:00

Here now, is a weekend wrap-up:

On Friday, mainly I lost money.

Well that wasn't the plan, but a post barbecue trip to the bar led to an impromptu 3-person poker game, a tournament-style hold-em bout that I failed to win.

Here is the money (roughly $30) in the original pot.

I lost. Then I tried to buy back in. Then, I lost again ... to this guy, on the left, who informs me his winning on Friday led to more winning in a much larger Saturday-night game.

The barbecue was a nice little get together at Sean's place (Sean being the Guy On The Left Who Took My Money). Nice burgers, made nicer with the kick from some Huy Fong Sriracha. Now that I think about it, I left my Sriracha at Sean's too. He takes everything.

On Saturday I headed for Nagoya. I picked up an application for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which I plan to take in December to prove that I am kinda OK at Japanese but not as good as I probably should be after 2.5 years.

Then I went with a friend to the Port of Nagoya, where we toured an old scientific-explorer ship-converted-into-a-museum. More on that in a later post, perhaps.

After looking around the port area, it was time for a dinner of Indian curry.

Overall, a nice weekend. Some stats:

Money lost: $20
Mannequins of Japanese scientists on a ship-museum posed with: 3
Spiciness level: moderate to high

That's all for now.

sketched

2009-09-02T19:00:00.005+09:00

Many of our students are talented artists. Often, as English Club winds down, these students flock to the white board and begin sketching. Popular choices are sometimes interesting takes on characters like Doraemon, Hello Kitty or others. Occasionally we ALTs become the targets as well.

Here is a caricature done by a second-year student we call Oku-Rina. I think it captures me well.

Map My Run

2009-09-01T20:47:00.004+09:00

As noted a few posts back, before all that food and sight-seeing stuff, I'm attempting to put some more exercise into my routine. Last week was solid, but it didn't take off beyond the 6-mile run and the single gym trip.

Needless to say the weekend went by without any further exercise besides plenty of walking around the tourist spots of Ise.

This evening Annette and I headed out for a run after dark, so we headed through the city instead of out toward the bay like last week. We also planned to cut the distance in roughly half.

We followed a path I've taken before, along the Seta River toward the city center, and then back again. I like the route because there's not much traffic and it's expandable if you feel like going farther up the river.

I signed up for a website -- www.mapmyrun.com -- which does just that. Below is a look at today's run (let me know if you can't see it). We actually stopped running right at the 3-mile mark, though we didn't know that at the time. A quick cool-down walk and we were home again.

A nice, quick, and mostly painless run. New goal: repeat or build upon the effort tomorrow.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/japan/ise/751125180550411928"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;City-side 3-mile jog &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/japan/ise"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Runs in Ise, Japan&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Foodstuffs

2009-08-31T20:52:00.005+09:00

Lots of Japanese women have blogs on which they mainly write about to post photos of what they've been eating or making. Am I turning into a Japanese woman?

Last night, our usual bar Nanaimo hosted a takoyaki party. Takoyaki is another dish most famous for being Osaka fare, but like okonomiyaki it's popular throughout the country. In this case, there's a similar batter base and the same put-in-what-you-like process for ingredients.

The main difference is the shape -- in this case little balls. The tako in takoyaki means octopus, as this is the most prevalent filler. But you could really add anything. Last night we used quail egg, cheese, pork, kimchee in addition to the octopus.

The picture above shows me helping prepare the takoyaki. I was perched there for a couple hours straight trying my hardest not to screw up the food that paying customers would attempt to enjoy.

The key is a fast spinning motion around the outside of the forging ball. Attacking too soon can mess things up. Or being a silly a foreigner. I had moments of glory, but there were those other moments too.

And also, I had beer.

Today I opted for a lighter dinner, leading to a salad. I had only tomato, cucumber and some bacon to work with. I got the bacon to ultra-crispy mode and chopped it up into bits, then threw this in with the chopped veggies and added an onion-flavored dressing. It was pretty good.

But a couple hours later I was hungry again. So I made up some pasta with a spicy meat sauce to serve as a second course for dinner and also as tomorrow's lunch at work.

To spice up the regular store-bought tomato pasta sauce, I added a mixture of sirracha chili sauce and the aforementioned onion dressing. Very tasty. Perfect amount of spice. In fact I might have to break into the fridge and have a litttttle bit more.

Okonomiyaki

2009-08-31T14:14:00.006+09:00

The previous post mentioned the pancake-like dish called okonomiyaki.

A little background. Okonomi means "what you like" and "yaki" means to cook or grill. So the idea is you add whatever ingredients you like to a basic pancake-like batter, top it with a sauce, mayonaise and more and then eat. This is one of the signature dishes of Osaka, but it's available and popular all over Japan. (Wikipedia for the hard facts.)

In Osaka city, there are many okonomiyaki shops around. In Ise, there's a nice little shop just down the road from my place. At this shop, like at many, you can have the staff do the prep and cooking or you can do it yourself at your table/grill.

In the past, eating with fellow foreigners who often forge a collective aversion to culture, I have opted to let the professionals do the dirty work. But on this occasion, with a Japanese friend, it was a chance to try for myself.

Here is where it all begins for the customer. The big bowl has the batter and some toppings, including the pork. My kimchee is off to the side.

The Mom (appears to be a Mom and Pop operation) told us to mix up the contents of the big bowl, pour half onto the grill, add the main ingredient(s), pour on the rest of the mix, and then begin the grilling.

Here is mine in the early stages of grilling. It may be hard to gauge how big it is, but picture it as a two-spatula situation.

After a few minutes, when the underside begins to solidify, it's time to flip. First I watched Mai handle hers with the grace expected of a local. She slid in the two metal spatulas and sent the unit up and over itself, landing it perfectly in the same right-center spot it had been before.

My turn. What I lack in grace I make up for instincts, so when my flip went awry, sending the disc of goodness onto the rear quadrant of the grill, I tried to use the spatulas to pull it back to the center. Oops. Some of the ingredients came out, but the disc stayed put. The result -- the salvage, really -- was the birth of what I call the okonomi-baby.

But all in all my cooking experience was good. The final product looked decent, though not as good as its natively-engineered counterpart.

If you want to try this at home, which could be fun, try an online recipie. Here's one from About.com, although I of course cannot personally vouch for it. You can probably subsitute or omit a lot of the topping ideas (fish flakses, for example). One could have of fun trying different fillings and toppings (sirracha!).

Ise, toured

2009-08-30T19:28:00.015+09:00

On Saturday, a friend from Nagoya came down to Ise to visit. Ise's a small town but a big tourist draw because of the Ise Grand Shrines, which are very important to the Shinto faith. Near the main shrine there's a traditional shopping district called Okage-yokocho. There you can buy gifts both cheap and not, eat a variety of foods and snacks, and mainly, you can enjoy a bustling atmosphere that Ise cannot offer anywhere else.

My friend, Mai, had been to the shrine once as a child but she didn't remember at all. So that meant I got to play host and show her around. The first stop was lunch. The Okage-yokocho area has a wealth of restaurants. We opted for one with reasonable prices and a short wait. Many shops in the area offer "Ise-udon" as a local specialty. This video explains, roughly, what makes Ise udon different from regular udon.

This picture shows my dish, curry-Ise-udon. The challenge is not getting curry-colored stains on your shirt.

And here's me posing for a photo in the restaurant.

And now that The Hair is on display here, let's take a closer look.

After lunch we went to walk through the shrine area. The idea is to go up to the shrine and pray, but the payoff at this shrine is the surroundings. Namely, trees. Big ones. And some other stuff. Take a look.

There's also a river flowing through the shrine grounds. As the Oregon Trail computer game might inform you, it's looking rather tranquil.

And here is the visitor herself.

And some more scenery.

After heading up to the alter at the shrine (photos forbidden) and praying, we headed back out to Okage-yokocho for a bit more looking around.

The first thing to catch our eyes was a cat who was zonked out. We think maybe the beer is to blame.

Then we decided to join the throngs of people all seeking to enjoy the soothing refreshment of Akafuku company shave ice with sweet bean paste inside. Right.

Akafuku is a local company founded in 1707 that is famous for its mochi (rice cake) snack. In the summer, they have a green-tea flavored shave ice with a sweet-bean-paste filling. It's ... pretty good. But you have to re-wire your conception of shave ice a little bit to enjoy the tea flavor. It's wildly popular. We had to wait about 10 minutes to get ours, and they were cycling through the customer number cards at top speed.

When showing a new person around Ise, the next stop after the shrine and Okage-yokocho is the Futami Wedded Rocks, known in Japanese as Meotoiwa. From the shrine, it's about 15 to 20 minutes away by bus. The rocks, said to be husband and wife, sit just off the shore in the Ise Bay. It really isn't much to see, and the rocks themselves aren't that impressive. I'm way more impressed by the variety of frog statues.

Here's a couple shots from there.

We then lucked out and caught a bus back to town with a minute to spare (they only head out once an hour). For dinner we went for okonomi-yaki. The Japanese like to call this "Japanese pizza" but it's really more comparable to a pancake into which you put in all kinds of delicious fillings. I had kimichee and pork while Mai had mochi-cheese. Hers was way better.

(photos to come ... technical difficulties)

And that's the story. It can be fun to be a tourist in your own town. Perhaps you can relate. Back in Pendleton I always though I should try that Underground Tours thing, but I never did. What home town touristy thing do you like? And which ones suck?

Have beer will jog

2009-08-26T19:15:00.005+09:00

I was decent, as a basketball player, on that freshman team at Mac-Hi. Voted most improved player. Best defensive player. Averaged 2 points a game. Never mind that last part.

But in those days I was kinda quick and athletic.

This was before I met beer.

I turned 17 one day, and beer has been with me ever since. It stays with me, in the form of a belly, which I keep under wraps at all times, hidden behind the concealing powers of collared shirts.

Four -- OK, five -- years of college later, and it's evident that I spent more time in the pub than the gym. After two years in Japan, where people like me love pointing out that drinking is "part of the culture," I haven't done much to change my ways.

To be fair, the amount of physical activity in my daily routine has increased significantly in Japan, where I get around on a used bicycle instead of behind of the wheel of a used car. And now that I no longer live out of Snell Hall and the nearby fast food eateries, my food habits have mostly improved.

I have lost some weight -- you can see it in the lines of my face, but I don't actually measure -- since coming to Japan. But nothing substantial.

And it goes back and forth here. I don't have to weigh myself, I just encounter Japanese friends. Here it's routine for friends and acquaintances to casually comment on another person's weight status. This isn't considered rude or a taboo subject, but almost like a greeting.

"Oh, hey Steve, it's been a while, have you lost weight?" Maybe we can relate, but only when we're buttering people up (Steve, to be fair, has been laying off the butter). In Japan, they're serious. They say that if they think you've lost weight. Or if things look like they've been going the other way, they're equally blunt: "Steve, did you gain weight?" Their tone is sometimes grave, as in, "Steve, whoa buddy, you've put on some pounds there, don't you realize we're all paying for your health care collectively? Lay off the bear claws or the appropriate cultural substitute in this context."

This week has been a high point, though, in my physical activity lifespan. Yesterday I hit the gym and did some moderate lifting and 30 minutes of cardio. Today, along with the two other Yamasho ALTs, I went for a run along the river, about 6 miles in all, perhaps twice as long as my most recent attempts at running.

And it felt good, aside from the sudden seize-up of my right calf muscle as soon as walked in the door to my apartment. More stretching, check.

So now the goal is to keep up a routine. Yeah, I've said it all before. But I might have the edge this time. The new ALTs, Conrad and Annette, are both avid runners. I can join the team as the rusty, out-of-shape guy with significant experience in the gut area.

Now, all I've gotta do is find Steve, and find out where he keeps the bear claws.

Hawaii Part One: The Only Part

2009-08-20T11:16:00.013+09:00

I can picture it. Friends, family, random Web surfers, strewn across the globe, waiting, impatient, furious. Where is the promised follow-up Hawaii blog post? You know, the one with the pictures?

It is here, finally.

...

From my window seat toward the back of the plane, I scanned Oahu for anything familiar. Vaguely I knew that the urban center of Honolulu was on the southeast side of the island. On the north, there was North Shore. Somewhere down there was the Nakahara home. Also, plausibly, a runway.

After the airport pickup, I showered and dressed down. No more socks. Just flip-flops for the week. (Also shorts and a shirt. They aren't that casual.) After a day or two, I realized I was the only person on the island wearing an undershirt.

No worries. My first meal was the Big City Diner in Waipahu. After a detailed appraisal of the menu I went with the turkey club (Kyle had the kimchee fried rice, which came in a quantity fit for a family of five). And while our waitress forgot our drinks, the food was good enough to make up for it.

After lunch we headed toward the North Shore, making a stop in historic Haleiwa town for some Matumoto Shave Ice. You can tell it's good because people are waiting in line for it. That's all you need to have a successful business.

Mixed in among mainland and Japanese tourists, we considered what flavor(s) we fancied as we waited in line. Behind me, a young man asked his mom whether the guidebook said what kind to get. Ha! I laughed to myself, and then to Kyle, he needs a guidebook to decide the flavor! Then the panic set it. Ahh! What should I get? I broke down and ordered the combo at the top of the menu.

We followed this with a drive around the North Shore area, which in winter features famous waves and is host to various surfing events. We stopped at a viewpoint for photos (I only had my phone at this point).

I slept late on Day 2, Friday, hoping to be ready to Be Active for the remainder of the trip. On the slate was a hike followed by a dip in the ocean to cool down.

We headed toward Lanikai, home to what's said to be the most beautiful beach around. First, we did what the Internet tells me is the Lanikai Pali hike, a quick, only sometimes strenuous venture up a hillside offering nice views. To give you an idea of the level, you can do the whole thing in flip-flops. Shoes with traction would make certain parts easier, such as the opening stanza, which is a bit steep and littered with loose rock and dirt.

Here is a view part-way up the hike:

There are two little huts along the trail, one at a false summit and the other a the top. The Internet informs me that these are World War II bunkers. For this reason, the hike itself is often called Pillboxes.

On the way down, we assured a group of struggling, rotund mainlanders that it does get easier. May they rest in peace.

A couple more photos:

From near the top.

Toward the start of the trail

After our descent, we took a quick dip and a short walk along what was indeed a beautiful beach. My aversion to the sun meant we didn't lay out, so we quickly made for a shower at a nearby park to de-sand and return home.

That's the end of part one. Part two may not ever materialize. In brief, we saw a movie and went shopping and had a lot of good food.

Now, here at the office with nothing to do, I must eat my convenience store sandwich for lunch. But I'll be picturing that turkey club as I do.

You'd have eaten a can too

2009-08-12T00:09:00.004+09:00

At this hour, the tropical depression formerly known as Hurricane Felicia is still a couple hundred miles East of Honolulu, and she's only packing sustained winds of just over 30 miles an hour.

My Korean Air plane (do not try to get up when the fasten seat belt light is on -- they will chase you) was safely in the air as Felicia's weakened outer edges moved along the island chain. And tonight I've landed in a calm and clear Japan, one day shy of twin typhoon threats and a major metropolitan earthquake.

My six pack of fun-size cans of Mauna Loa brand Maui Onion & Garlic Macadamias has been reduced to five. Souvenirs, sure, but I get some too.

Dirty clothes, peppered with unworn socks and jeans, rest in piles near the bed. The little bag from Korean Air has a toothbrush in there. And socks. Really.

Down to my boxers. It's bed time.

Back on Oahu, Kyle and her mom and dad and brother and dog are probably sleeping in their soon-to-be-renovated house. Although the dog, Coal, may well be patrolling the house to keep the family safe from ever-present threat of neighborhood cats.

Although the five-day trip had lots of down time (Law & Order, CSI: New York and other dramas that TV offers late at night), it went by in a flash. Now, yes, I've been to Hawaii. There was a hike, a dip in the ocean, nice views, more than one serving of shaved ice, and food. A lot of food.

After some sleep, sometime tomorrow, I'll get some pictures ready and post a more detailed account of the touristy things I did around Oahu.

For now, just take it easy. That's how they do it in Hawaii. Mainly because Coal is patrolling for cats.

Seasons Greetings

2009-05-28T21:33:00.003+09:00

It rained much of the day. It will almost surely rain a bit tomorrow. Also, the next day.

And while June kicks off this region's Rainy Season, ask a local if this three-day streak of precipitation is Rainy Season rain and they'll laugh you off. "It's not June!" they'll say by way of a soft, judging chuckle. "Rainy Season starts in June."

"Haha!" you'll say, until you realize it's not a joke.

I've said it many times, but I would stress here that I am not a weather scientist. However, I am willing to wager that the Rainy Season sometimes starts a bit earlier or later depending on, you know, patterns and models and Russian intervention.

Everything has an assigned season here. Last night, after a dinner of Indian curry and nan, a small group of us went down by the sea and lit off some fireworks. This is a summer activity no matter where in the world, but in Japan it's narrowed down to August.

When I told a Japanese friend via online chat what I had been up to, she admonished that it was a little early for fireworks. "We usually do it in August," she said, using "we" to mean "Japanese people." Of course we had a Japanese person in our group, and she actually was the one who suggested it.

It may not come as a surprise though that this person just got back from living a year in Australia. It's pretty clear that her season recognition abilities have been affected by her trip overseas.

Either that, or it was the Russians.

Swine

2009-05-18T17:24:00.003+09:00

After a long vacation from the blog I though I'd try a post.

How could I not start with the Top Breaking Urgent Panic Bulletin item of the day:

Swine Flu!

In Japan, it's called shin-gata influena, with "shin" meaning "new," "gata" meaning "type," and "influenza" meaning "panic."

Japan's first reaction was to try to keep the new flu out, despite conventional wisdom among public health experts that it was too late to contain the disease.

The general murmur here was to avoid travel to infected countries, screen incoming passengers from said countries, and prepare just in case it somehow gets in.

Of course, it got in. Not long ago a some students who had been on a homestay program in Canada were found to have the new flu (since they changed planes in Detroit, however, the Japanese media decided they had come from the United States).

Since the only cases among Japanese people were those who contracted the disease overseas, Japan continued to operate under the inside outsie mentality. Xenophobia prevailed. One ALT colleage had a Japanese teacher come up to him and ask if he was going to get checked out for the swine flu, despite the fact the he hadn't been overseas or exposed to anyone else who had.

Over the weekend, a explosion of cases in two western prefectures, Osaka and Hyogo, has renewed -- and perhaps recasted -- the panic. Now there are at least 130 cases in Japan, most in Osaka and Hyogo, where more than 3,000 educational institutions have shut down for at least week.

The public schools in Mie have restricted out of prefecture travel and are strongly suggestion personal travel be put on hold unless it's absolutely necessary. A friend who recently went back to the states for a wedding is barred from going to work this week.

My question -- especially since I'm planning to go to Oregon for a friend's wedding next month -- is how the new developments might change the attitudes of panic-happy Japanese.

Logic says that since it's already here and spreading, efforts to keep Japan sealed have failed. Why restrict travel when it's already here and spreading?

But I'm not sure it works that way here. They increased panic might just inspire even stronger reactions out of ignorance or an effort to appear to be doing something about the threat.

Anyway. I'm watching developments closely.

Wow ... I set out thikning I'd try a light-hearted post on swine flu in Japan but looking back it's not very light.

More later!

2009-04-10T13:07:00.002+09:00

Misleading headline of the day: Edge of Space Found

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090409/sc_space/edgeofspacefound

Watarai

2009-04-10T12:59:00.002+09:00

Today I went to my once-a-week school, in a tiny town in the topograhically diverse Watarai. The road from the bus stop to the school is lined with cherry blossom trees, which are holding onto their pink display as of today.

After a quick meeting I have learned that my class size at that school has been cut in half. Good news, that is.

On the way out, I stopped for a phone picture:

Fire!

2009-04-09T10:52:00.003+09:00

In the middle of a time-kill workday, it was easy to get excited when sirens came whaling upon the school grounds. Nobody -- from the principal on down -- seemed to know why firetrucks and ambulances were zipping around building number 2 heading toward the the far side of campus. Had a student been injured? Did a student's errant smoke light the nearby brush?

The vice principal got on the PA and asked any nearby teachers to check out what was going on. Then he and and few others rushed toward the scene themselves.

Eventually Nick and I decided to venture out as well. We joined a growing group of students watching a light plume of smoke rise above the bamboo trees just off campus. A fire! It didn't look to big, and with almost no wind it didn't appear to threaten school.

I joked with some students about whether they started it, as bamboo trees exploded with occasional muted pops and bangs. The firefighters scrambled to get into position. As the smoke thickened, teachers sent the students back to their classrooms as we all continued to watch.

It was impossible to tell what caused the fire, or what was burning, at least from our vantage point. After a few minutes the smoke cleared and the fire appeared to be under control.

Now, I'm back at my desk, killing time, waiting out the next mini-adventure.

In Brief

2009-04-08T15:14:00.002+09:00

SUNDAY was the Nanaimo Hanami BBQ party at the Isuzugawa Park area. This is always an entertaining afternoon involving meat, beer and playing catch with a football. A nice crowd turned up after a slow start ... the first hour was just the owner, another bartender and myself. As noted before, this kicks off the barbecue season. Photos to come.

...

TODAY we had school-year opening ceremony in the morning. As usual, plenty of standing and bowing and boilerplate specchifying. More interesting was the entrance ceremony for new students in the afternoon. Since high school is not complusory in Japan, it's considered an acheivement to be accepted into one. So parents (mostly moms) show up for this formal ceremony of standing and bowing and boilerplate speechifying. All day long we ALTs dispense with a normal casual wear for suits. I'm sporting a brand new red tie.

...

JUNE is fast approaching, meaning I'll spend a week in Oregon for the wedding of Andrew and Ellyn. While I'd like to have a chance to see everyone, I'm afraid I'll be stuck mostly on the west side, much of that spent down the valley. My next trip to Oregon might not be for a while, since I'd really like to put some travel dollars toward new places. No friends or family have made it to Japan so far, and my second year is almost over. Anyone?

Pushing Softly

2009-03-31T09:11:00.004+09:00

It's the middle of spring break for Japanese students. They get about two weeks off before their new school year kicks in. But teachers and staff get nothing off. You'd think maybe just one week, or even a long weekend. But no. Every day.

I guess in Japan, it almost makes sense. They only get two weeks to get ready for a new school year, a crop of new students, changes to the curriculum, new responsibilities. For the most part, we ALTs do not have anything to do. We could clean our desks (will do this week) plan lessons (tricky because we don't know our schedule) or come up with games for the occasional free day (not a bad idea). But overall there is very little to do.

Usually, to kill time we sit at our desks and browse the Web or study Japanese. Often we do this with our own laptops brought from home. But I have grown tired of bringing it, and today I am starting a spring break experiment.

After checking in down at the staff room and stamping the attendance book, I quietly moved to the third floor of the international building, a computer lab. Here, I can study or surf in peace and quiet and relative freedom.

I have done this without asking, because I feel in this case asking would only shift responsibility to someone else, who would in turn have to ask someone else, and pretty soon there would be a mini-conference about whether or not I can be here.

If someone comes to use this room, I'll leave. If someone needs me for something, I'll find out as I check in occasionally throughout the day.

This is the plan.

---

Another plan was to visit the gym for a workout after school, but I have been thrown a curve ball. My main bike has a flat tire which I have yet to fix, so I am using our Backup Auxiliary Bike, which is old and crappy and falling apart.

Well this morning, the Backup Auxiliary Bike decided to make a tremendous whaling sound for each revolution of the pedals. This means anyone from rice farmers to toddlers playing in the front yard can here me coming from meters away.

I am not sure I can handle the 20-minute ride to the gym with the bike making all this noise. I could try another experiment -- seeking out the use of the school's workout equipment ... but can I really break that much new ground in one day?

Barbecue Season is Upon Us

2009-03-30T13:15:00.002+09:00

Oops. Another period of blog neglect.

Rather than looking back, I'll look ahead.

It's spring, but one last grip of cold air has settled in.

It will give way soon, which means cherry blossoms in bloom and the beginning for one of my favorite times of year here: barbecue season.

The first such event will be this Sunday, when the Nanaimo (our regular bar) crowd comes out for an afternoon "hanami" party which literally means flower-viewing. Really it just means we set up a big barbecue in a park full of cherry trees and eat and drink and throw (or kick) the ball (or disc) around.

Spring, in all its moderate-temperature glory, quickly fades to summer, and its loathsome heat. Throughout, the barbecue season continues. A saving grace of sorts, a reason to get outside and be social despite the unhealthy addiction to the powerful air conditioner in the living room.

Drape a damp towel around your neck.

Sweat, drink and be merry.

The 'Curse of the Colonel" ... or ... Kentucky Fried Tigers

2009-03-12T12:29:00.007+09:00

Let's start with the hook: Yesterday in Osaka, construction workers recovered a statue of Colonel Sanders from the Dotonbori River, where it had been resting and collecting muck for 24 years.

How did he get there? In 1985, the Hanshin Tigers -- the most popular baseball team in the area -- won the Japan Series, throwing fans into a frenzy. Fans dressed to resemble players from the Tigers' roster dived into the very dirty river in central Osaka. But there was nobody around who looked like American slugger Randy Bass.

Nobody, that is, except The Colonel, who like Bass was not Japanese and had a beard.

Naturally, the horde of fans elected to uproot a statue of The Colonel from a nearby KFC chain store (of course they have KFC) and toss it into the river.

But ever since that victory nearly a quarter century ago, the Tigers have fallen flat, failing to win another championship. It was dubbed the Curse of the Colonel, becoming a major sports urban legend in Japan.

Now, with the chicken baron's resuce, diehard fans are predicting a turn of fortune for the Tigers. A KFC Japan spokesman even wants to erect the statue somewhere in the team's famed Koshien Statium (maybe left field?).

Now, looking ahead to the start of the proper baseball season, we can watch closely to see if the Curse really is over. I'll go a step further. If the Tigers don't win it all this season, I say the statue goes right back into the river for another 24 years.

---

Here now is a Japanese news report on the events:

Puffy and Potent, Delicious but Deadly

2009-03-04T16:32:00.011+09:00

There aren't many dishes that could kill you if prepared incorrectly.

Sure, a lifetime of fast food and soda will kill you slowly, but I'm talking about something more sudden.

I'm talking about paralysis. You can't move or speak, but you're still awake, until you die from asphyxiation.

The meal is question if pufferfish (alternatively blowfish), called fugu in Japanese.

Naturally, the fact that it could be lethal only adds to its popularity.

The poison resides in the fugu's internal organs and skin. Only licensed chefs who have undergone rigorous training can prepare fugu for the general public.

Last week, at the end-of-school-year party for the English department, we dined on this potentially-deadly delicacy.

It was an all-fugu, multi-course meal, washed down with beer and a Japanese liquor called schochu.

We started off with a small bowl featuring heavily flavored fugu skin. Keep in mind the skin is poisonous. We're pretty sure there was a little poison in there, because we felt some tingling after this first course. Sure enough, Wikipedia confirms that sometimes a little poison is left in on purpose to give this tingly sensation.

Next was the raw slices (pictured above), which are clear enough to see the pattern of the plate they're laid upon. This sashimi course was excellent. Now, I've had a lot of raw meat since moving here. Some is good (I like the squid), some I can barely stomach (chicken. Yes, raw chicken). The fugu, however, was quite tasty and the best raw meat I've had to date. Each of those little slices are made into a small little roll with some small vegetable add-ons, dipped in a nice sauce and consumed.

Next came the fried course. As expected, it was good, but the bits of bone were a bit difficult to deal with and I think I preferred the raw stuff (never thought I'd say that).

Finally came fugu nabe, which is a big pot of veggies and meat that you cook right at the table. This was also very good, and what was left over was combined with rice to make a wonderful soup-like final dish for the meal.

At the end of the night and $70 later (fugu isn't cheap), we rode the train home full, a little buzzed and glad to be alive.

--

For more information, please watch this video: click here!

Shaking, then sleeping

2009-02-19T11:19:00.003+09:00

Ten minutes to 7 and I find myself awake.

I realize the house is shaking. I find it odd that I've woken up just in time for an earthquake.

Just an illusion. The shaking woke up me, but it took a moment to realize what was happening. I could hear the rumble, enough to make you wonder if something was gonna fall off the counter (nothing did).

After it was over, I turn on the TV and get online to look for the source and size.

It wasn't a big one (or The Big One). Registered as a 5.1, centered in Fukui prefecture.

Then adrenaline finally drops. I fall back to sleep. I wake up 10 minutes late.

Earthquakes, as a alarm clocks, aren't that good after all.

Flurry Fury: Snow Day in Ise

2009-02-17T14:25:00.004+09:00

It doesn't snow much in Ise. So when it does, people freak out a bit. Traffic jams up worse than usual. Teachers who are always on time are five, even 10 minutes late. The lunch delivery service I rely on when I don't have time to make a sandwich in the morning shuts down.

Needless to say, I was deeply affected by this morning's half inch (yes, a whole half inch!) of precipitation. And my drama spread to the ladies in the office, who had to be the ones to tell me that there would be no lunch delivery today. There would be no whatever-that-kanji-said next to the Tuesday entry on the menu.

Fortunately, one of the English teachers, upon hearing of my plight, took pity, and we went by car to the Tiger Mart. Lunch crisis, averted. Snow, melted.

This first (and maybe only?) snow-dusting in Ise is over now. It remains bitingly cold and windy outside, but the sun is shining and the teachers' room is furnace-like. My desk is right next to one of the space heaters, and I feel it's invading my personal space.

But if I try to shut it down my colleague form Singapore will probably throw something at me. And while, at this moment, the only available projectiles in her vicinity appear to be expensive electronics, I wouldn't put it past her to sacrifice an iPod for warmth.

I'll just have to periodically step outside for the rest of the day. The answer is obvious: I'll start smoking.

Halfway to Nowhere

2009-02-09T13:43:00.002+09:00

Within my 19 months in Japan, the only foreign country I have visited is the United States of America. I went home in the spring last year and for the most recent winter break. On top of that, except for a few trips to Japan's three largest metro areas -- Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya -- I have not been out of Mie prefecture.

There are some practical reasons (read: excuses) for my lack of exploration. One is the financial factor. After sending home about a few hundred bucks for bills and loan payments, there is plenty of money for daily life and the occasional trip, but it is not as if I am raking in the dough in sums that make every free period a travel opportunity.

Another excuse is more complicated. I tend to want to travel with someone else or with a group. I certainly don't mind traveling alone, but without the travel companion(s) from the start, the planning or execution of a trip can be slow or simply non-existent. Some travel plans have been in the works but fallen apart. I was going to climb Mt. Fuji, but we had to cancel. I was going to go skiing in Gifu prefecture, but a farewell-party was a priority.

So here I am at the midpoint of my JET experience and I have yet to really explore Japan. During the back half of my time on the program, I hope to change course. I want to see some other parts of Japan, perhaps Hirosihma, Hokkaido or the mountains of Nagano. I want to visit another country or two, maybe South Korea, Thailand or China.

These things won't come cheap, and some plans might not materialize. But I hope to do what I can to get out of Mie a bit as the next several months tick away.

If I am successful, you can read about it all right here.

Decision Day

2009-02-03T10:54:00.002+09:00

I have on my desk a completed form stating my intent to re-contract with the JET program, thus extending my current contractual time in Japan to the summer of 2010.

Mainly, I'm interested in continuing what I have here, while at the same time figuring out what I'll do next.

Broadly, I know that I'm interested in going to grad school, but I have yet to decide upon a program I'd like to try to get in to.

A friend pointed me to a grad program in journalism at a well-known university in Tokyo, and for a moment I thought it might be an English curriculum, but upon inspection, only some classes are offered in English.

There remains no university in Japan which offers an English language graduate program that I currently think would be a good fit. I'd be interested in such a program because I've long been interested in doing journalism in Japan, and I'd be interested in a productive way to further my stay here.

But that may not be a realistic idea. So for now I shall enjoy my time here, along with some other more fleshed out goals. One is to finally take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in December. Another is to do some freelance writing for one of the English language magazines in Japan.

With those goals on board, along with the usual routine of fun and work, I expect to have a good experience over the next several months.

Perhaps I'll give the blog some more attention ... perhaps.

A wide-ranging post of things and news

2009-01-20T11:10:00.002+09:00

When I found out I was coming to Ise way back in the early summer of 2007, I started trying to the plug in to the community here. It was part of my time-killing exercise in that pre-departure, post-graduation summer. I graduated -- one giant exhale, but I was about to move to Japan -- an inward breath for sure.

One of the ways I tried to get pre-connected with Ise was reading the blogs of the ALTs who were already placed there. At the time I noticed that most of the blogs started off with many posts in the beginning, only to peter off over time to the point where a single post in a month was not uncommon.

I scoffed at this non-bloggery and told myself I'd never fall that far. Well, I was wrong.

Now my blog looks much like the blogs of those now-moved-away ALTs who gave me my introduction to my tiny bit of Japan.

And I completely understand why.

Ise, Japan, today, is my home. I don't know exactly how long it will be my home, but for now it is everything a home is supposed to be. It does not feel foreign. It isn't strange or mysterious. It's just where I happen to wake up every morning and go to work or meet friends.

In the beginning, in a new place, there's a feeling of excitement. There's a defining period when things take shape, friendships are made, routines established.

So this is my bar. That's my grocery store. Here's my route to the post office.

But that defining period comes to an end, and things become what they are. That's not to say that new things don't occur. New people, new places and new ideas appear on the scene. But as they do, it's just like the new things you face right now back in your home in Portland or Corvallis or New York. It's your life, and it takes place where you are.

The wider point is that I want to blog about things I feel are interesting, in addition to the occasional "what I'm up to" post. And while that day-to-day stuff might be interesting to my close friends and family who aren't here to experience it, it's hard for me, in the middle of it, to pull from daily life what could be a post.

Because as I said, it's all very normal now.

No, I'm not announcing some kind of silly "suspension" of the blog. More so I'm admitting that it probably won't go back to its old form, with a few posts a week. So, for the moment, perhaps you too can ponder the novelty of what's new and the establishment of home.

---

As for what I've been up to ... since returning form the winter trip to Oregon, I've been out and about nearly every weekend night. There were birthday parties, dinners out, marathon karaoke nights and movie nights that give way to late-night ramen runs. All in all that means lots of fun but also lots of cash.

Looking ahead, I'm hoping to make a ski trip some time in February.

---

Looking further ahead, I'm now pretty sure that I'm going to re-contract and stay with this job for a third (and final) year. While I'm excited about moving on, to graduate school, perhaps, I'm not yet sure what school or program I'd like to try for. So instead of rushing a decision or just going home and searching for a job, I'm going to stay with what I've got here, enjoy it for a year, try to add in some other goals, and see what develops.

That pushes the end of my time at this school to the summer of 2010.

It has not been easy to decide, and 2010 seems so far off, but I'm enjoying myself here and I'm just not quite ready for what's next, since I don't know just what will be next.

So sure, I've buried the lead. Guess I'm getting rusty in journalism.

Siren Sunday

2009-01-04T10:45:00.004+09:00

It was a piercing siren, louder for me because I live right across from the community center hosting the speakers. At first I thought it was a particularly loud police car.

Instead, a message warned of a tsunami approaching the southern coast of Japan, a result of a 7.5 quake near Indonesia. I didn't understand everything they said in the warning, but I heard the word tsunami quite clearly.

So I turn on the TV and get online.

I'm a few miles away from the coast, so it would take a monster wave to actually send water to where I am, so I didn't go into panic mode.

We're basically under a tsunami advisory, meaning a small tsunami appears to be coming our way. The highest they're talking about any area getting in Japan is about two feet.

It's good to know the emergency alert system works, and while I can't pick up all the Japanese in the message, at least I know that siren is loud enough to wake me up.

A new project ...

2008-12-03T15:02:00.001+09:00

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

2008-11-19T14:32:00.003+09:00

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

2008-11-14T09:11:00.004+09:00

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

2008-10-31T17:56:00.000+09:00

Here now, is a Business Horse:

The Ise Derby

2008-10-28T15:15:00.005+09:00

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 ...

2008-10-08T15:15:00.004+09:00

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?

2008-10-02T17:13:00.002+09:00

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

2008-09-19T20:01:00.003+09:00

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

2008-09-19T14:33:00.003+09:00

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

2008-09-16T12:07:00.002+09:00

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

2008-09-11T15:04:00.004+09:00

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

2008-08-31T15:31:00.003+09:00

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

2008-08-31T11:21:00.002+09:00

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

2008-08-31T11:13:00.002+09:00

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!

2008-08-25T09:15:00.003+09:00

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

2008-08-01T09:28:00.002+09:00

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

2008-07-24T14:58:00.002+09:00

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

2008-07-17T08:41:00.001+09:00

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?

2008-07-14T16:04:00.003+09:00

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!

2008-07-05T01:54:00.003+09:00

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

2008-07-03T11:07:00.003+09:00

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

2008-06-27T16:03:00.003+09:00

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

2008-06-22T11:29:00.001+09:00

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

2008-06-16T22:00:00.003+09:00

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

2008-06-09T22:39:00.003+09:00

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

2008-06-08T21:57:00.002+09:00

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.

2008-06-06T17:54:00.001+09:00

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

2008-06-03T17:21:00.002+09:00

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

2008-06-01T22:27:00.002+09:00

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

2008-05-29T20:38:00.003+09:00

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 ...

2008-05-28T09:20:00.000+09:00

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

Status Report

2008-05-27T11:55:00.002+09:00

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

2008-05-15T14:50:00.003+09:00

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

2008-05-14T12:12:00.002+09:00

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

2008-05-12T13:16:00.002+09:00

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 ...

2008-05-12T13:11:00.003+09:00

... 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 ...

2008-05-08T13:36:00.002+09:00

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

2008-05-07T09:26:00.005+09:00

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!

2008-04-21T11:52:00.003+09:00

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

2008-04-21T11:44:00.002+09:00

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.

2008-04-12T23:45:00.001+09:00

Beer

2008-04-12T00:37:00.001+09:00

A rare celebrity sighting.

bbq photos

2008-04-08T20:42:00.003+09:00

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?

2008-04-04T13:13:00.007+09:00

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

2008-03-29T19:59:00.003+09:00

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!

2008-03-28T15:47:00.002+09:00

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

2008-03-28T01:40:00.006+09:00

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.)

2008-03-27T16:50:00.001+09:00

We won!

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

2008-03-26T10:32:00.005+09:00

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

2008-03-23T15:02:00.002+09:00

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.

2008-03-19T15:51:00.001+09:00

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

2008-03-07T15:24:00.001+09:00

Some planes.

2008-03-07T14:56:00.001+09:00

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

2008-03-07T11:51:00.001+09:00

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

2008-03-07T07:39:00.001+09:00

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

2008-03-07T00:33:00.003+09:00

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?