November Adventures - Kamakura: part deux

One of my favourites - Ikuko-san - took me, my friend's sister Corine and my two other Canadian friends (Dayna and Aileen) on a tour of Kamakura in early November. We couldn't have chosen a better day, the sky was clear, the weather was perfect and we went on the day of the Shichi-go-san celebration. The shichi-go-san celebration is one for children of the ages of 7, 5 and 3 (as per the name in japanese :P). It's to celebrate the coming of age for 7 and 3 year old girls, as to pray with their family.

We started the tour at the main temple and then made our way to the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) and from there we went to a beautiful temple area and garden where we could watch the sunset on the Pacific. We were especially lucky to witness a traditional Shinto style wedding. It was truly fascinating as the bride and groom are to remain serious (no smiling) throughout the entire ceremony as to show their respect to God. I felt bad as they ended up being a main tourist attraction but regardless, I felt really lucky to have seen it.

My day at Kamakura is one of my best memories from Japan :P

Here's a slideshow!

Here's a slideshow.

November Adventures - Tsukuba-san: part one

I've been lazy about blogging and I apologize for those few people who actually read the crap I write about. So here's a breakdown of my last few months:

November:

What a grrrrreat month! I went to Tsukuba-san (a small local mountain) and climbed it with my friends Kenny and Mike. Although it would have been a nice Sunday afternoon walk for most people, it was a little more difficult pour moi because it marked the one year anniversary of mono. I was sweating profusely and breathing heavy but DAMNIT!!! I made it to the top! It was a beautiful fall day and the mountain was packed with people of all ages. But i must say that it didn't do much for my ego when all the 70+ year olds were whizzing by me while I was struggling. :P

Here's a slideshow :)

For Wakana-chan

Wakana! Gomene! I had no time to update my blog but I promise to in the New Year. Yoiotoshiwo! ;)

Ahhh October. What a fine month indeed. Part II

So many of you might be thinking...What is Halloween like in Japan?

Some brief notes:
- People think it's strange.
- People think you eat pumpkins
- People can't imagine leaving your house in some ridiculous costume. As quoted by my student "So are you going to get dressed at home or the bar". I replied "At home of course". My student then said "Reallllly? You mean you are going to walk on the street in your costume?".

Fortunately for me my favourite bar in town here held a party and i was quite pleased with the whole thing. I put together a slideshow for you to feast your eyes upon. Enjoy :)

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Ahhh October. What a fine month indeed. Part I

The month of October passed by quickly but was filled with good times and even better memories. One highlight was when I went clubbing in Toyko with a few students and a friend to celebrate my health. And what a better way to do that then to spend a night drinking! Wooh! The night began with me rushing to the train station in Hitachi (as I almost always end up having to do) and beginning the evening with what a lot of people call a Roadie. No, this does not mean that I engaged in any activity with some shaggy band guy, but rather a plastic bottle filled with too much vodka and orange juice. Hey..what can I say...it's a long train ride! I decided to share my roadie with two of my male students. Bad idea...they thought they should drink most of it and resulted with one of them passing out at the club shortly after our arrival. Shame. But the night continued on for my friend Mike and I and we did our best to make an adventure out of it. Here are some highlights:

1) Me: Hey, so uhh what do you do?
Weird Japanese guy 1: I'm a masturbator
Me: Oh, that's nice

2) Weird Japanese guy 2: Eat my udon!!! (but in Japanese)
me + Mike : What? Don't you want it? (but in English)
Weird Japanese guy 2: EAT IT! (but in very aggressive tone)
me + Mike: Ok...it's free food, we might as well.
.......confusion of this guy's sexual preference becomes a question for Mike and I as we continue trying to have a conversation with this guy.....
me: So do you like him? Or do you like me?
Weird Japanese guy 2: (no answer in other words... still a mystery)

3) We ate tacos and burritos made by Japanese people. They weren't really tacos and burritos.

4) Mike and I got rings that light up. They were cool.

5) Japanese guys are terrified of me. Mike told me to dance with some Japanese guys and they were immediately overcome with a look of terror proceeded by carefully backing away from the monster known as me.

6) They played Bon Jovi's "Livin on a Prayer" in the hip hop room. A song that followed an actual hip hop song. And yes, I went crazy when I heard it...especially since it reminded me of my Guelph days (Palace Play list anyone?)

My conclusion....Tokyo is awesome and I'm sorry I won't have these surreal experiences on such a regular basis upon my return to Canada.

Note: Don't wear too skanky of clothing when going clubbing in Tokyo as you will inevitably be forced to take the train the next morning with people in suits who are on the their way to work and who most likely slept the night before. In other words...it's a long walk of shame.

Sans blog, So sorry

Minna-san Konichiwa!

I apologize for my lack of blogging these days but I haven't been able to think of anything to post. I don't feel that I've been doing a lot of crazy and exciting things to share with you all...so maybe my problem is just that I need a more exciting life! hehe

Well I can report that I have booked my ticket home for Christmas, and I am really really looking forward to seeing my family and friends. At the moment, I am also trying to decide what I am going to do with myself after my contract with Aeon expires. My immediate goal is to make a visit to TO where I can catch up with old friends and see some dearly missed family. I've also been dealing with the emotions that have surfaced due to the realization that my time here is really flying and that I will be saying goodbye to a lot of wonderful friends sooner than I'd like. It's such a privilege to be able to live in another country and to share the culture with great friends, but it's definitely depressing to know that I won't be seeing most of these people anytime soon. But c'est la vie.

Life is full of unpredictability and that's what i am loving about it. It feels good to be healthy (finally) and really that's all I care about at the moment. Simple.

For those who are curious, I finally do feel at home in Japan and I am still enjoying my life here. There are always cool people to meet and there's always the daunting challenge of the Japanese language slapping me in the face wherever I go.

Keep on lovin', keepin' the peace and eatin' sushi. (my words of wisdom)

p.s. I'll post some pictures soon :)

So What Now?

Wow...it's already September and today marks the day of my 7 month anniversary being in Japan! It doesn't really feel like 7 months but I can definitely say that I have recognized some changes in myself. The way I see it, foreigners in Japan can live their lives in 2 different ways: 1) Pretend that they aren't really in Japan and just live their life the same they would at home (i.e. don't learn the language or culture and only hang out with other gai-jin); or 2) they can immerse themselves into this culture and learn everything they possibly can while they are here. Oh and maybe I should add a 3rd: 3) foreign men who can't get laid at home so they come here in hopes that some poor, beautiful Japanese girl will think he's cool (note: this can sometimes apply to women too).

I, of course, opt for the 2nd but that's because it's the reason why I wanted to come in the first place (and of course I wouldn't ever admit to the 3rd, although most people would understand why I'm not attracted to this young generation of Japanese guys....I know my brother will back me up on this one). There isn't really anything wrong with the 1st reason, but it just isn't for me. Anyway, I feel that by being immersed in a culture like Japan's teaches you a lot about yourself. It's so unbelievably fascinating to hear first-hand from my students, coworkers and friends about what they consider is socially and culturally acceptable here.

I also thought that i should announce that my contract with Aeon will come to an end in February 2007. I still haven't decided on whether or not I am ready to leave at that time, but I am leaning towards ending my stay in Japan in February as originally planned. So...what next? I need a new adventure....I have been thinking about France. Any suggestions?

Speechless...

Today I received probably the best gift I'll ever receive. Megumi came over today and surprised me with a yukata of all things! For those who don't know, a yukata is the summer version of a kimono. I was so speechless when Megumi presented me with this gift....how did I become so lucky to have such a wonderfully generous friend?

Here are some pictures:

August trip

Let me start by saying that I went to 7 places in 7 days and I am still alive (take that mono!). As most of you know, I had travel plans with my bro and a friend named Gilly. It was a great trip and we got to see a lot of Japan in a very little amount of time! Here is what we did in that week:

August 5th:
I was convinced that my brother was never going to get to this country after he didn't arrive on the day he orginally planned, but to my relief, he made it and we started things off with a welcome party at G-bros - a gyouza bar that makes everyone happy. We finished the night off with Karaoke...and what a good night it was.

August 6th:
We started off our trip by meeting Megumi for lunch in Tokyo and from there we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto. We arrived in Kyoto and somehow found our B&B, only to learn that our host was drunk and hadn't even set up our room yet. Haha but it was all good...we loved the place and changed our plans to stay an additional night.

August 7th:
We did a walking tour and started out at Ginkaku-ji then made our way to see temples in the scorching heat. I dont think I've ever sweat that much in my entire life. Sexy.

That night we decided to try out this restaurant called the Lock Up....a place that puts you behind bars while you enjoy food and drinks. Unfortunately to my disappointment, they were full. We went to an Irish Pub instead and then off to Karaoke round 2.

August 8th:
We started out the day with a trip to Nara to see the Big Buddha. Then we headed back to Kyoto to see Kinkaju-ji and THEN we went to Osaka to meet up with Rach and Rossen where they accommodated us for the night. That day involved just a little bit too much train action.

August 9th:
The morning was spent at the Osaka Aquarium. What a great place...I recommend it to anyone who visits Osaka :). After that, we started our journey to Koya-san. Once we arrived at Koya-san, we all felt pretty relaxed (exactly what we needed). It's a beautiful village in the mountains that is stocked with history. We stayed in a temple and were fed and taken care of young Buddhist monks who smoke cigarettes and use cell phones. haha I love that.

August 10th:
A bright and early start with an intriguing Buddhist morning ceremony at 6:30am followed by a fire ceremony. After a nice breakfast, we packed up and started our hike around town to look at some of the temples. Koya-san is a very spiritual place and I look forward to going back again some day.

From Koya-san, we traveled back to Osaka where we caught the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. The first night in Hiroshima was awesome. We went to have some Okonomiyaki (amazing and the famous food in Hiroshima) and then we proceeded to Karaoke round 3 where we met a group of fabulously drunk Japanese people that asked us to join them in their karaoke room. Random and I loved it.

August 11th:
Miyajima - one of the 3 most beautiful sights to see in Japan. If you remember correctly, I've already been to one of the 3 - Matsushima...I've done pretty well.

August 12:
The A-bomb dome and the museum to describe the bomb's events. I can't say too much about this experience except that it was really haunting, surreal and emotional. It's a place where everyone in the world should take the time to visit.

Return to Hitachi.

After that, Gilly was supposed to leave on the 13th but her plane was cancelled so she came back to Hitachi. Her and my bro went to Fuji-san for a quick look on the 14th while I stayed home and went to the beach. She left on the 15th....thanks for coming Gilly!

My brother and I did some other cool things after Gilly left. We went to Tokyo Disneyland and Megumi's nursery school. It was great to spend some time with him!

Alright, I think that is about it. Thanks for reading!

Here's a slide show of the last month's adventures: (and a few other randoms photos)