April 5, 2001

I'm having some design issues this month, it seems. I don't know if I like the picture being that big (after having changed it altogether - twice), the text seems a little too columnar somehow, and my colour scheme is causing me concern. Good thing I have tables to play with. So much nicer than frames, wouldn't you say? Still, a month short of a year's worth of HTML, and I can't seem to make up my mind. Here's to a little more mental/creative solidarity for next month.

Seems a little unreal - it sure doesn't feel like a year to me since I began this little journey. Has it been worth it? I think so - I'm still learning the ropes, but I'm hoping that over the course of the next year I might attract a few more readers and solicit a few more replies. If I can find the time and opportunity to work on this during my travels, that is. Although with each passing day, my mind tells me with increasing vigour that I'd be a fool to leave here at this particular juncture. That's it, though. No ideas about how to stay or what I could do should I choose to stay; just the fire and brimstone Doomsday sermon all about how dull and unfulfilling my life will become once I leave Paradise and enter Purgatory. There's an idea: maybe I can become Japan's first televangelist - or the next incarnation of Dante.

All part and parcel of my ever-present "let's-just-wait-and-see-what-life-drops-in-my-lap" method of planning. Or is that just laziness? It amounts to pretty much the same thing, doesn't it? I guess I've always been fairly lucky that way: moving to Hong Kong at an early age, having the opportunity to see and do so much more than most kids, breezing through school and university, the application of the JET Programme falling in my lap and three crazy years spent living in a rice paddy atop a mountain - I've never actually seriously pursued anything in my life. I've never really had to. A situation somewhat similar to that of the Motorcycle Boy in Rumble Fish - I can do anything that I want, but there's nothing that I want to do. I just tend to do whatever comes along.

Like going for lunch, for example. That's what I'm going to do right now.

April 10, 2001

Well, after 10 days without a quote, I've finally found something. Two somethings, actually - I can't make up my mind; so, in honour of the new first year students (who had their first day at school today) I'm including a free bonus quote by none other than Charlie Brown. It just seems appropriate, somehow.

Been reading about Justin Hall's Trip to Japan recently. It's kind of refreshing to read about someone experiencing Japan for the first time - it reminds me of what it was like when I first came. Particularly funny are some of the faux pas that he unwittingly commits - throwing down 300 yen as a tip, for example. An honest mistake, to be sure, but knowing how insulting some people might find that just adds a whole new twist to his stories. Don't get me wrong, I'm not coming down on him - after all, he's the one responsible for getting me started on this whole thing in the first place - I guess it makes me realize how clueless I was in Tokyo three years ago.

To wit: the first night at the Keio Plaza Hotel, I was reading the hotel brochure and noticed they had a sauna downstairs. After an incomprehensibly long flight, sweltering temperatures throughout the city and my complete inability to locate any vegetarian food whatsoever, a sauna sounded pretty nice. Clad in only a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, off I went to locate my sanctuary. I don't think I could have messed up more if I tried: walking into the elevator barefoot resulted in such a sharp inhalation of breath from all others inside that I couldn't help but wonder if there was going to be enough air to sustain us for the entire journey. Crossing the lobby was even worse - even after three years of traipsing about the countryside, I've never felt so conspicuous. Finally, mercifully, I made it to the sauna to discover that not only was it closed but also cost 5000 yen a pop! Fifty bucks for a sweat is too rich for my blood; besides, I'd forgotten my wallet.

Heading over to Okinawa on Friday - I'm broke as broke can be, but I'm beside myself with excitement. I've been trying to get down there (as well as up to Hokkaido) ever since I arrived in the country. Things just kept coming up - looks like I'm going to have to take a raincheck on Hokkaido this time around, which might be a Good Thing. Haruki Murakami wouldn't lead me on a Wild Sheep Chase (sorry, Chris. I couldn't resist), would he? I don't think so; everything I've heard about Hokkaido makes me believe I'd have a hard time leaving, even to come back to Saga. All the more reason to get my heiny back over here sometime soon.

My biggest concern about heading down south is being mistaken for one of the countless multitudes of military personnel while I'm there. I don't think I look much like the military type, but what with recent developments (and that Pearl Harbour posting last month), I imagine I'll be getting the cold shoulder from time to time. Not to sound pessimistic, but the US Marine Corps ain't exactly what you'd call popular over here these days - although I'm also looking forward to being proven completely wrong in this assumption. Folks over here still have a knack for surprising me from time to time. Oh, and there's also the slight problem I have wih letting my imagination run away with me... sometimes it doesn't bring me back once it's finished with me.

Closing thought: there seem to be an awful lot of parentheses hanging around today. Hmm.

April 11, 2001

I saw a bird crash-land today. Very peculiar. Driving home for school for lunch, this bird swooped down about 10 feet in front of my car, tried to pull up, but ended up smacking right into the pavement. I stopped, the bird got up and looked around, then flew away. I guess it was kind of embarassed to see me there. It's not everyday you get to see an animal screw up (not counting my cat, of course), so I'm taking it as a good omen.

Either that or it means my plane is going to crash on the way to Okinawa tomorrow. I like the first option better. Looking at a map today and having communicated with Joss on the subject, I'm thinking about renting a car and just driving around the entire island. I've definitely got enough time to do so - cash, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether. Then again, with all them foreigners hangin' around, there has to be someplace where I can bust out my Visa.

Like the fish? I was checking out a few Okinawan webpages and I just couldn't resist pilfering a couple images. I mean, that there is the Offical Fish of Okinawa Prefecture - awfully spectacular, ain't it?

Anyway, moving right along and dispensing with the Dave Barry-esque wit (which is witless, if you ask me), if find myself distracted by the office lady, who has been raising herself up onto her tiptoes and back down again for the past fifteen minutes now. Today is shaping up to be a very odd day, it seems. Here's hoping it carries right on into the weekend. I could use some more oddities in my life.

April 13, 2001 - Photos en route.

Welcome to Okinawa. Naha appears to be a city much like any other in Japan, save for the decidedly more tropical/exotic feel and rather large number of American military personnel flexing their pecs as they walk down the street. After finally managing to locate a guest house - the owners of which (a family of 4, I think) seem very friendly and have invited me to sup with them this eve - I took the opportunity to just walk around and try to get a feel for the place. Sitting in the Helios Pub, drinking a glass of microbrewed Pale Ale, I feel that I could quite easily spend the entire four days just slumming it up and not doing much of anything. But it's still early.

Getting here, on the other hand, has been a true test of my patience and resolve. From arriving at the check-in counter at Fukuoka Airport, I've had nothing but problems and setbacks until arriving at Kashiwa-ya (the aforementioned guest house). I foolishly brought up the fact that I had received someone else's ticket as a gift, and would it be possible to change the name? Apparently not. I ended up phoning Tetsu and giving the woman behind the counter my phone. After a very tense 15-minute conversation, she finally acquiesced to refund the first ticket and let me buy a new ticket (same flight, same seat, new name) for an additional 25000 yen. Yikes. Well, I bought it, met a very nice stewardess, arrived in Okinawa and headed up to the car rental agency - pausing only to make a rabbit for a friendly child.

I'd forgotten my International Driver's License. The woman behind the counter was even less willing to help than the woman in Fukuoka was. Not a very pleasant welcome. I moved on to the Information Desk and was promptly handed a sheaf of paper containing maps, bus schedules, brochures and advertisements. Sitting outside waiting for the bus, I wondered just what I had gotten myself into this time - feelings very similar to the time I found myself in Akita prefecture without a flight home, as my travel agent assumed I wanted a one-way ticket. But that's a whole other kettle of fish. Anyway, the bus ride was short and I soon found myself standing on a very busy street with no idea where to go. Wandering around, I came across an Okinawan Tourist Centre and popped in to try my luck.

The woman behind the counter was friendly - a nice change of pace - and listened to my sorrowful saga with interest. She made a few phone calls and found a company that would rent me a car with only a copy of my IDL. Bliss. I phoned Furukawa-sensei and told him where he might find my IDL and asked him if he might fax me a copy. I gave him the number and got directions to the nearest mobile phone shop, as my phone's battery was on its last legs. Lugging my luggage a kilometre and a half down busy sidewalks at two in the afternoon in Naha is hot. Doing it three times is not a pleasant experience at all. Why, you ask? Upon arriving at the shop, my phone rang - it seems the fax number I had given Furukawa-sensei was no good. Back to the Tourist Centre, double-check the number, call Furukawa-sensei and then back to the phone shop to pick up my phone. After sorting all that out, I proceeded to try all the guest houses for which I had received flyers, but to no avail. Luckily, one of the owners gave me directions to Kashiwa-ya where I am currently lodged - with a dinner date in an hour and a half.

More to come.

April 14, 2001

Well. Okinawa is nowhere near as big as everyone here makes it out to be. Preliminary inquiries suggested it would take 3 to 6 hours to get to Nago, the other big city on the island. Made it in just over an hour - and I wasn't even speeding. Also found time to round the entire northwest coast of the island; lots of beautiful beaches, forests and generally very scenic scenery. I'm kind of wondering why I rented the car for 2 full days - I probably won't need it that long. Not too much to report for today - save the vegetarian restaurant that I almost ate at.

Driving up through Motobu and Nakijin, I spotted a sign for the Nakijin Castle Ruins. I figured; what the hell, haven't seen any of the man-made attractions yet... I'll check it out. Along the way I passed a sign that read: "HERB Vegetarian Restaurant" - I couldn't resist. Ended up driving along a treacherous dirt road for 3 km, arriving at a beautiful house nestled in a small valley. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for the weekend and the cooks were away at a hanami but there were a few people inside, on of whom got up to come to the door.

I found myself face to face with an older-looking man with a short, neatly-trimmed beard and purple hair - why oh why did I not take a photo? He spoke impeccable English and he explaind that the restaurant was closed on weekends for worship. Sigh. Guess I'll have to explore for 3 more years before I find another vegetarian establishment. Driving away, I wondered just what kind of worship they were into and briefly entertained notions that I had stumbled across an Aum sect before passing a sign for the Okinawa Baptist Beach Camp. Oh. Baptists. No wonder the place was closed. Kept on driving and I currently find myself in the sleepy town of Nago. I figure everyone's at the beach. Whilst I attempt to figure out what to do about tonight, I'll take the opportinity to relate the tale of last night's festivities.

Met a bank accountant at Helios after finishing up last night's entry - guy named Yonamine, nice fellow. Chatted with him for an hour and change, periodically interrupted by marines bumming smokes. I didn't realize how funny that is until right now. Anyway, left Yonamine with a promise to meet him there on Sunday, should I maek it back with any time remaining (he's the one who told me it would take 6 hours to get to Nago... I can't even imagine how he drives).

Back to Kashiwa-ya for a basashi (that's "Raw Horsemeat Party") - which didn't get underway until 10:30 or so; and I'll freely admit I was a little annoyed, as I kind of wanted to check out some of the Naha nightlife. However, once things got started, I was anything but annoyed.

Before proceeding any further, a brief introduction of the players:

• Hiroshi: owner of the establishment and possessed of the best English language ability in the place
• Mama-san: real name unknown, but friendly and easy-going
• Tatsuhiro: the feverish baby who likes goats
• Atsushi: employee, musician and all around nice guy
• Goro: the longest-term resident of the place (pushing 10 months), television broadcaster and boyfriend to Asami
• Asami: young woman who laughs more than she speaks, employed as a "worker-ha-ha-ha" (whatever that means), girlfriend to Goro
• Miki: the cook, I think - she & I mostly exchanged jokes, having only one semi-serious converation about the Portugese language
• Kanda: the guy with the towel on his head
• MR. Satomi: the insane air-guitar-playing, divorced-with-two-kids, can't-go-back-home, hey-lets-go-out-drinking curator of the Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden
• Four other gentlemen whose names I didn't catch

Basically just like sitting down with a big family for dinner - a few drinks, a few laughs; great fun. We carried on until about 2AM, when MR. Satomi (everyone had to call him 'MR.' for some reason... emphasis on the first syllable: 'MIS-ter'), who had been rambling on about all sorts of crazy things which Hiroshi assured me I was not alone in not understanding, decided it was time to sing some of his favourite Bob Dylan and Neil Young songs - at maximum volume whilst playing air-guitar (all solos included) - made all the more hilarious by the fact that he was dressed in a T-shirt, boxers and the toilet slippers. All this would have been fine, except Mama-san and Tatsuhiro were trying to sleep upstairs. We had to shut him up or get him out of there.

Initial attempts at shutting him up were quite entertaining: he would sit seiza, bow and apologize then jump up and start playing air-guitar again, silently mouthing all the words for a few minutes until he got excited and started singing aloud again. Eventually Goro, Asami, Kanda and I all went to try and knock MR. Satomi out with alcohol. It took us until 4:30 in the morning, MR. Satomi still in his boxers and toilet slippers as we went from bar to bar, singing all the while. Definitely an otsukaresamdeshita.

Later

Nago turned out to be an awfully sleepy town - as were most of the towns I passed through on my way back to Naha. I didn't mean for that to happen, but it did. Sitting in Helios again thinking about the huge tracts of urban nothingness that I passed through today. I felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness overtake me just after I left Ishikawa, prompting to press on all the way to Naha. Joss was right: the northern half of the island is definitely gorgeous, but camping all by my lonesome just didn't seem all that appealing today. I'm planning on heading back up to one of the beaches on the road to Nago to crash out in the car at some point, but we'll see what happens. Today does not bode well for the 3 months I'm going to spend on the road come August; but at least I'll have destinations to head for at that juncture. Realized I'd forgotten my toothbrush this morning (as opposed to my shaving brush, which is what I ususally forget to bring), which resulted in a delightful brushing-my-teeth-at-the-back-sink of a convienence store somewhere in that urban wasteland I mentioned earlier. I may not have met anyone new today, but I guarantee at least one person will be talking about me for a couple of days.

Oh, before I forget: there is a disparaging lack of onsens and sentos on this island. Where is a poor boy supposed to bathe around here? I bounced back and forth between Kin and Ishikawa for a good half-hour looking for one. Stopped at the police HQ in Ishikawa to ask for directions - they sent me to Kin. Arriving in Kin, I was sent back to Ishikawa. Harrumph. Eventually located a small run-down public bath house (with much ado) and had a relatively pleasant soak in a tub of bright green water with a couple of grandpas to keep me company. Fantastic; a true hard-core bathing experience. Here's hoping I can find another one tomorrow.

Found out why the bar is called 'Helios': the owner likes the image of the sun helping wheat and barley to grow - they being the primary ingredients for the brewing processes. Sadly, almost no one ever makes the connection between the name and the Greek god. Although expecting your average Japanese citizen to be well-versed in classical literature is kind of like expecting your average Canadian to know who Natsume Soseki is. Still, it's nice to know that there are people who do know these things and don't simply pull words out of the dictionary to use as names.

Wow. A young woman (who I just discovered is the bartender's cousin) just ordered a shot of Spiritus for her boyfriend. Guess they're not so close.

April 16, 2001

After leaving Helios last night, I wandered back to my car (conveniently but illegally parked a couple of blocks away) and passed by an interesting-looking bar called "Savoir". Ended up sitting down and drinking Booker Noe's with the head bartender for an hour or so before heading out to Miyuki Beach (up by Onna) to crash out in the car. I arrived at the beach at about 12:30 and found a semi-isolated spot to park and settled in for an uncomfortable evening in the car listening to music and drinking whiskey just because there wasn't much else to do.

I awoke the next morning and thought I had permanently bent my spine for the first 2 hours of the day. I continued my trek northwards and ended up at Sesoko beach - at the reccomendaion of Yamashiro-san, the bartender at Helios. Nice beach. I located a semi-isolated spot and whiled away the morning frolicking in the ocean and scaling a cliff face that lined the beach. Decided I was burnt enough at about 2PM and drove back down to Naha, where I spent an hour or so circling the back alleyways of Matsuo Ward seeking the one true path to the guest house I had stayed at before. I reckon Theseus had it easy - those streets are positively labyrinthine. I eventually gave up, parked the car, walked to the guesthouse and begged for help. Ten minutes later, I was sitting in my room wondering why I hadn't done so in the first place. Quick shower, a little omiyage shopping and back over to Helios to meet Yonamine-san for another round of microbrews.

Stuck around for a good 3 hours chatting about everything under the sun. I eventually escaped (talking to a banker for 3 hours usually requires and escape, no matter how nice a guy he is...) and made my way over to Savoir for another round of bourbon - Elijah Craig this time, and ended up talking to the newest member on staff the whole time, as the bartender was busy making scores of drinks for a wedding party that seemed bent on getting completely destroyed. Japanese weddings - nothing but fun, if you ask me.

Fourty-two minutes 'til departure. Despite periods of loneliness - and a rash of strange dreams about Kaori, for some reason - I close the book on my Okinawan adventure. In three days, I think I've done pretty well for myself: found some nice hangouts, got plenty of R&R and met a bunch of good people. I think this trip has basically reaffirmed my desire to return to Japan in the very near future. I think I fit in pretty well over here, but who knows? That's a topic best left for another day.

April 17, 2001

I can't make up my mind whether to stick the sordid sagas of my Okinawan adventure on this page or if I should just whip up a whole new one. I still have to develop the photos, which means I'm not too sure how many good ones there are yet. Which in turn means I don't know how cluttered with pictures the report is going to be. Oh, damn this HTML design! April is my month of graphical indecision and layout insecurity, I guess.

I don't think I spend nearly enough time appreciating some of the photos I've taken or picked up along the way. I think I've got a few pretty good ones, but I guess that all depends on taste. It's always a matter of taste, isn't it? Anyhow, I apologize if this results in a grotesquely lengthened download time, but I don't actually have all that much to say today. I'm all tuckered out from constructing that table-within-a-table you see up there.

April 20, 2001

Takashi pointed out last night that today is the twentieth day of the fourth month. At first I thought he was simply playing the fool, until I realized that most Japanese folks would write today's date as 4.20. Aha - the lights go on inside my foggy little noggin.

Takashi and I had a pretty good night last night.

April 24, 2001

I would've said more after that last sentence, but the 'pooter in the staff room wouldn't let me have a file larger than 32K when using Notepad (my HTML coding tool of choice, baby) - which meant that I had to make my way up to the computer room at school. Unfortunately, that trek took me 4 days. Them's the breaks. The one good thing that's come of all this hassle is that reading the entry above makes it seem as if Takashi and I got completely knocked off our tits (as a certain Englishman might say) in celebration of that particular date.

Come to think of it, that's not too far from the truth. Ahem.

Anyway, Takashi and I climbed up to the roof of the Saga Prefectural Gym and hung out for a while. Great view - we watched some guy chasing his dog around (and around and around...) a fountain for a while in complete secrecy. Nobody ever looks up in this country. I was going to elaborate on our rooftop adventures, but I don't feel like it today. Takashi, being the manly man that he is, also suffered a wound at the hands of Guy during rugby practice. I suppose 'hands' would be the wrong word, though. 'Shoulder' might be a little more apt. We took a couple pictures and a purikura (Print Club - kind of like a photo sticker), so I'll be sticking those babies up once I get my hands on them. Something worth looking forward to - I promise!

While we're on the topic, let's discuss those troublesome pictures of Okinawa - I'm thinking that it'll be May/June by the time I actually get them uploaded. Ergo, I'll be making a seperate page for them there photos. I'll probably also trick that table up there on the same page just to increase loading time, simply because I can.

Woke up this morning, stumbled over to the front door to pick up the paper and found myself staring at

Ping pong unites Ethnic Koreans

I have to say, seeing that on the front page of the paper is a nice way to start the day - one hundred percent worry free. Obviously nothing newsworthy - be that good or bad - happened yesterday. At least nothing so important as to beat out the Korean Ping Pong players, right? Well, I thought it was a nice way to start the day.