Anyway, one really cool thing that I did do this vacation was take a trip down to Mt. Fuji. Two of the other AET's and myself all made the 150km trip to Mt. Fuji on the last day of the holidays and perhaps that was a mistake. Getting down to Mt. Fuji wasn't all too bad. For the most part we had clear sailing until we actually got to the exit from the expressway. We were stuck in traffic for a good hour or so, and we only needed to go about 2km to the exit. You can do the math to figure out how quickly we were moving. It's not that hard after all. On the way down we had some rather spectacular shots of Japan's highest mountain, which also happens to be a volcano in case you didn't already know. But it was really cool to see snow covering the peak and all.
The purpose of our trip was to go to one of the many onsens (I've used that term before) around Fuji so that we could relax while looking at the mountain. It sounded like a good idea until we actually got there. It seems to be that this time of year is particularly busy for going to onsens. There was a 20 minute wait just to get into the onsen area, not the actual bath mind you, that's another story which I'll tell you about now. Once we got all our bathing items (two towels and a key to a locker) we made our way into the bath. This isn't my first experience with an onsen, I've already documented the BoE onsen trip, but this was the first time when I actually had to wait in line to wash. WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Once you're in Japan long enough to get comfortable with walking around naked in front of other men, save a wash cloth, but having to queue up for bathing was just embarrassing (no pun intended, really, I mean it. Heh, bare ass). After a good ten minutes of waiting for an area to be free I was finally able to do the "prep work" that is necessary before getting into the bath. The interior bath was nice, but I really wanted to get a good look at Fuji, so I went to the outdoor bath for a soak, and a relaxing look at the mountain. I wasn't disappointed with the view either, it was really relaxing to look up and see the mountain towering over everything else. It made me really glad that I came to Japan, and only reinforced my decision to stay another year.
After the soaking was finished, we all gathered and departed. The drive back was perhaps the most interesting part about the whole trip. On the way down, we had seen that the expressway was packed on the way back for a good 5km or so near our exit. So instead of going back by the normal routes, we decided to take a road that wound through the mountains, but seemed to be a good size. Well were we ever wrong about that. The only way I can compare this to anything was when I went on vacation with my parents to visit my grandparents down in SC. On the way down the first few times we would stop at my father's uncle's cabin in the mountains of Virginia. On the way there are some rather narrow roads snaking up the sides of the mountains, and such and can be a very interesting ride if you don't like heights. Well, going through this mountain route put it to shame. The road started out fairly average. It reminded me of roads in Danbury with stores and the like on both sides. But as we went on, the mountains closed in around us, and they became the huge black masses that seemed unreal. The houses became less, and street lights became non-existent. Traveling up the south side of the mountains was a bit fun, there was lots of turning, and you could look over the cliffs edge and see the towns below.
I'll take this time to mention that Kevyn (one of the AET's) has a GPS (Global Positioning System) in his car and we were able to follow the route as we went along. Now, he hasn't updated his GPS so there are still old maps on it. Normally this wouldn't matter too much, but there was some pretty major road work on this particular route. In fact they have been building tunnels and widening the road. This didn't play any significant role until we came upon a tunnel that led onto the south side of the mountains. Once on the other side we noticed that, hey, we aren't on the GPS anymore. Luckily it didn't matter, because there aren't any other roads that split off from this one. Also once on the other side we noticed snow on the road. Apparently absolutely NO sun gets to the north side of the mountain. It was nice to see snow, but when you are driving on a fairly narrow mountain road, it makes things a little more nerve-racking. The drive was exciting, but I think that I would have rather driven it myself (I really want to get my international drivers license now). Anyway, once past that road we were on local roads for a good bit still, following the shore of a big lake/reservoir, going through tunnels that interrupted the GPS signal and making the occasional pit stop.
All being told, the trip to Mt. Fuji took about three and a half hours, and the trip back took almost five. We sure didn't save anytime going back via the back roads, but it was definitely more interesting. I would really like to go back on that road during the daylight hours just to see if it's any better when you can actually see stuff. So if you want to take a look at the Fuji pictures, click on over to the Pictures section to gaze on the majesty that is Fuji-san.
Speaking of kendo, I've been going twice a week for the past month and I can't wait until I'm able to wear the armor and get into the more interactive part of kendo. While my feet go numb during practice at Oyama-sho, the practice on Saturday is a welcome change. The floor is nice and heated, and I can feel my feet the entire time. This is extremely comforting seeing as how the floor at Oyama-sho is cold as ice because there is no heating what so ever in gym. Also related to kendo, my buddy Tetsuo was able to come up to Shiraoka to visit, and to go to kendo with us. It was his last practice before he, possibly, leaves for Afghanistan in a few weeks. His email was quite a shock when I received it, but I'm glad I had the chance to hang out before he leaves, maybe. I keep saying stuff like that because he isn't sure if he'll be going or not. The NGO that is
supposedly sponsoring him may not be able to get enough funds, so there is a possibility that he won't be going. If that is
the case then he'll probably be going to grad school in the States. But if things go the way he plans, he'll be leaving for
Pakistan in 2 weeks or so, then off into Afghanistan. Pretty scary stuff. Since this might be the last time I see him for a
while we took a picture for posterity, kendo style.What else has happened? I finished up at Seiga for the second time last month and almost all of the 3rd year students sent me a farewell email. It was really fun reading them, especially the ones from the students that can use their English decently. Most of the emails were the same thing, but a few really stood out. Some students even attach some pictures. The kids may not be the brightest students in Shiraoka, but they sure were some of the most fun.
I'm finishing up my last week at Shira-chu and this month seemed to be rather dull. It was just more of the same thing at school, although I did get to teach the kids about Valentines Day. I had a great time explaining that Valentines Day in Japan and America are pretty much polar opposites. The girls seemed to especially enjoy the idea of not having to buy girichoco (duty chocolate). I also taught them about "Lonely Hearts Club". The teachers seemed to enjoy that idea more than the students, but that's understandable seeing as how the students are still in the "friends" stage of their lives. All the AET's also viewed a demonstration lesson that 3rd years students took as an elective. It was a trial of sorts to see if there was student interest in English/non-Japanese areas. Some students gave reports on food from other cultures, while others did short stories, song translations (into English, always fun), and one group did a still motion Cinderella story (by far the funniest thing there).
The AET's had to take part in a meeting with some of the English teachers, and we had to give them some comments about what we thought and if it would be worthwhile to pursue this in the other schools. We were all unanimously behind this sort of thing because it gave the students an outlet to use English in an environment outside of the classroom. You could see that the students had a lot of fun with it, and that's only more of a reason to have this sort of thing at all the schools.
Oh well, I have to prepare myself for the upcoming month at Minami, and I think that I'll go rent a lot of movies to induce an epileptic coma for the next month so I don't have to go there. I'm definitely not looking forward to working with those 2nd year students. They're just like death, so I may as well think of some way to avoid them. Scary to think that they'll be 3rd year students soon.
The next few weeks brought spring break and the unenviable task of going into the BOE for work. I really wish that we could have as much free time as a high school JET, the don't have to report to the BOE during school breaks, and on top of that they are allowed to take "study leave," which I'm pretty sure is just a fancy way of saying more paid holidays. The time at the BOE wasn't constructive at all and it seemed that most of my motivation to do anything was being drained from me as I sat in the back room with the rest of the AET's in Shiraoka. Luckily that time ended, and the new guard had come in, so to speak.
Every April in Japan, there is a major shift in the workplace. People are transferred to other departments, or just moved right out of there all together. This was a rather busy moving period seeing as how all the cool people that worked at the BOE were moved. My kendo sensei was moved as well, but he was just moved to another section in the Town Hall. Some people were moved that we all wish weren't, and one person that we keep hoping will be moved, unfortunately stayed. There were some English teachers that were also moved. This was particularly distressing, seeing as how the 3 that were moved are some of the best teachers to work with. But there isn't anything that can be done, so I'll just press on and deal with the 2 teachers I wished were moved instead (keeping my fingers crossed for next year).
The beginning of the school year meant that I'd have to start the incessant rounds of self-intros again, so I wasn't really looking forward to that. However, since I was starting the school year at Shinozu, I wasn't in the worst of moods. The opening ceremony, while being rather boring, was filled with one surprise. They introduce all the new first year students, so they are constantly standing up. And during on of these periods of standing, one of the new first year students passed out. While this may not be too much of a shock, what happened after he slammed into the floor was rather, well..... intriguing. After he hit the floor with a rather sickening thud, some teachers did hurry to see if he was alright. But the thing that got me was the fact that the speech that was going on didn't miss a beat and the ceremony continued as if nothing had happened at all. I can't say I was all together pleased with the nonchalance that the rest of the students and faculty had about a kid passing out and hitting the floor pretty damn hard. But it's Japan, so what the hell do I know.
The next event was my friend Nick making his first trip to Japan. Unfortunately, our schedules weren't exactly compatible, so it was difficult to hang out with him for than more that a few hours. I had no intention of going into Tokyo because I knew that it would end up being an all night thing, and I just wasn't up for anything like that. Besides he said that he wanted to see what Shiraoka was like, so I figured he'd want to come up and visit. It only takes about 40 minutes from Ueno anyway, so he made the trek up after I had finished work, and we made our way over to the Okonomiyaki shop (after a brief stop at the local supermarket so he could buy some wasabeef potato chips). It was good to have somebody from home visit, and I truly realized for the first time how quickly everyone from the east coast speaks. Now I know why lots of the students have trouble understanding me sometimes.
Last but not least was the arrival of my parents in Japan. They'd been planning on coming to Japan since the day they found out I was coming here. I was a bit anxious to see them myself, so it was really nice to have them come. However, getting to the airport was an adventure all on it's own. I had been informed that the train was a bit cheaper to take down and that it took about the same amount of time. Well, that's true if you get all the right connections, but if that happened to me I wouldn't be telling you about it now. First let me say that taking a bus from Omiya Station in Saitama to Narita Airport takes under 2 hours for the most part. Well, taking the train took me over 3 and a half hours to get there. Add on top of this that I was standing most of the time. You know, there's nothing more unnerving than having a bunch of high school students stare at you the entire train ride. I guess you could consider it flattery but it gets pretty damn creepy when they don't take their eyes off of you. By the time I arrived at the airport I was already 30 minutes late, which made me all the more less at ease, but once I entered the terminal (I went to the right one by chance) I saw that my parents flight was delayed because of the strong wind. I was happy that I arrived before they did, but once there was an announcement about some flights being redirected to other airports because of the strong winds, a twinge of anxiety raced down my spine. However, once their plane was announced as landed I felt the anxiety leave, which was good. I met them at the exit, and we bought the bus tickets back to Omiya and I was thrilled to learn that it only took an hour and a half to get there. The train ride back into Shiraoka was a bit more crowded than I would have liked, but it was interesting to introduce my parents to the after work rush hour train crush. Welcome to Japan guys. The time my parents were here was nice. I took them to school for the day where they were treated as instant celebrities, and took them to one of the local eateries for some gyoza, mmmmmm gyoza. We also went to Yakiniku with all the other AET's in Shiraoka along with a former AET who was visiting at the same time. The major part of the trip was a little side journey to Kyoto. Since I'd never taken a Shinkansen before and I wanted them to go on it as well, I reserved some seats so that I knew we'd be getting guaranteed seating. It was a good thing too because there were a bunch of schools going on their annual field trips at the same time. So the train was packed but we had our seats, and I'm really glad that we took the train. It is so nice. Even if the cost of a plane ride is cheaper, I'd take the Shinkansen. It's that much nicer than riding on a plane. While in Kyoto we stayed in the Kawara-machi area, and I'd have to say that we couldn't have asked for a nicer location. The hotel was nice and the price reflected that, but it was my parents choice. I'd go back there if I had the chance, just so long as I could figure a way to open the window in the room.
We did the typical stuff of visiting some temples and shrines, but I think the highlight for me was going to Nijou Castle. I didn't go there my first time in Kyoto, so I thought it would be neat to go there. It was the residence of the Shogun while staying in Kyoto, and I had heard about the Nightingale floors that are throughout the entire castle. The sound the floors make while walking around is really cool, and the castle itself was definitely worth the trip. But it would have been even better if there hadn't been what seemed like a hundred schools visiting at the same time. It also didn't help that it was rather warm (28 C) and I was sweating the entire time. But it was fun none the less. We also visited the Heian Jingu, which was less than great, but the gardens there were rather spectacular. I wouldn't go back there to see the buildings, but I think the garden would be great, especially during cherry blossom season.
After we left Kyoto there were only 2 days before they'd head back to the States, so I asked them if they wanted to go into Tokyo, and their response was less than enthusiastic. So I figured that we'd walk around Shiraoka for their last full day, and I took them to the 100yen store which is a great place, and they left with quite a few things. The trip back to the airport was much easier this time, mostly because I decided we'd forego the train and just take the bus. Wise choice. There was plenty of room on the bus and the ride down was quick. After saying goodbye to them after lunch in the airport I caught a bus back that had a total of 4 people in it, and then I proceeded to sleep for the next few days because I was so damn tired. I'm glad them came, and I'm glad they had a good time, but I was also happy to get back to my routine.
So that brings us to May. I'm back at Seiga (woo hoo........) and it's the same old same old here. So the next few months will be boring as usually, but I have the field day at Shinozu to look forward to on the 25th. That should be interesting. I'll post the pictures of the trip to Kyoto sometime soon, and I may throw in some other random pictures as well. But that's still questionable. Damn, that turned out to be a rather lengthy journal didn't it? I guess I really didn't save any space by not posting for a few months. Oh well.
As for anything new...well, I was finally able to make it home for a short stay. The weather was great for the most part. Nice and cool on the day I arrived and stayed that way for a good part of the time. My friend Toshi came along with me, and it was his first trip to the east coast, so he was super excited about it. We did the normal things like go to NYC and such, but he was determined to see the U.S. Open and a baseball game. Since the threat of a baseball strike was still looming by the time we arrived and neither team was in NY, we had to wait and see. Luckily there was no strike and we were able to hit the U.S. Open and a Mets game on the same, tiring day. I'd never been to the U.S. Open so it was a good experience for me as well. We arrived at about noon I think, and had to wait on a huge line to get in. If I go again I'll buy tickets in advance. After waiting for an hour or so online we were able to get general admission tickets, and we caught the end of Venus Williams match. Then we saw Martina Hingis v. Monica Seles, which was a rather good match I think. After 2 more matches (I don't remember what they were) we made our way over to Shea Stadium for the 1st game of the Mets doubleheader. The walk over was rather nice, being on the boardwalk the whole time. Plus it was really cool walking to the stadium that way. Mostly because I had always gone to one of the parking lots. The new angle was cool. You get to look into the stadium from the platform leading down from the trains, and while I've
seen people on TV watching
the games
from there, I now understand why they do. It's a decent view for free.
Speaking of views, we were able to get the best seats I've ever had at a ball game. Right behind home plate in the Loge (sp)
level. While I would have preferred to get field level seats, those were most likely taken (damn). Here's a picture.We went to some of the other normal sites like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square, and we also went to the WTC site. I didn't know how to feel and I'll admit that it's still hard to express how I truly feel about that. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. It was such a shock to see this giant hole in place of the Twin Towers and buildings that were still damaged. It was just a lot to try and deal with. But I'm glad that I was able to make it there. That was the one place I told myself I would go to come hell or high water. Not exactly in those words of course.
On the non-touristy side of things, we visited my brother in Brooklyn and stayed the night which was really nice. Ben and Cat's apartment looks really nice since they re-did the back room. I wish that my camera still had some juice left, but it didn't. So I have no pictures. We also took Toshi out to the east end of Long Island. That's probably a side of the east coast he would never have seen if he came here on a tour or the like, so I was glad that he enjoyed the little trip out there. He met my grandmother and she absolutely loved him. In fact, I think that he met all of the family except for 2 of the Currans and Nana Helen.
Obviously though, I'm back in Japan and things are going along as usual. The new term started up again, with a schedule that
I
really, really, really hate. I'm stuck at Minami now for the entire month of October, and that's a full 5 weeks. Blech. I much
preferred the 4 week system we had all of last year. September was nice. It wasn't super hot which was a surprise and I spent
that time at Shirachu. They had their "undoukai" or sports day, and I have some rather interesting pics of that. Here's
a little
taste of some of the stuff they did.
And lastly, for now. I'm a year older and a year wiser (yeah, that's it, wiser) and my mom thought that it would be a neat idea to get a special cake for my birthday. So she took a picture of me in my kendo gear and had it transferred onto a cake. The picture came out surprisingly clear for being on a cake. So I'll stop this entry with a picture of me on a cake and the words that are just begging to be said, "Eat me."