Just Say YES!!

I know what you are thinking...these pictures of Japan are wonderful, but when do we get to see pictures of you, (after all you are handsome and charming...). Well, though I am those things, flattery will get you nowhere with me. Lucky for you, I did manage to get a photographer to take some pictures at a party I was at on Monday. The paparazzi really are everywhere when I go outside. 

 My just-happy-to-be-here jovial face. Something was funny. Probably something I said.

This is some kind of food I didn't try... 

More food of the Japanese variety. 

 Sandwiches. I can't tell you what it is in the middle of them.

SUSHI! Wahoo! 

 Spring rolls. Delicious and nutritious.

 Delicious fishous. Like a chicken nugget, but fish.

Cool looking stuff...that also tasted tasty. 

This stuff was good. Some kind of purple rice with some other stuff in it... 

 Grapes. Most delicious

These rice balls had some local mushrooms that are seasonal inside them. 

I have no idea what this is. 

No one really looks good in this picture. 

Very nice folks. The Guy on the left, Masa, studied in New Zealand for college, and the lady on the right and I are going to do some duets. She likes Phantom of the Opera, and saw it twice in London.

 Group picture

 Obviously some sort of breadlike substance.

 The guy in the middle was described to me as "a mysterious person."

Yep... 

They are quite good at listening.

More shots of the sushi. What a country. 

As I failed to mention before, this was the first meeting of the Yatsugatake (big mountain we live on the slopes of) English Society, or YES. I am going to be helping them with their English and they will help me to not starve to death in this country. We had a good first meeting and we will have weekly meetings after this.

Softball Mormons, Bugs and Halloween Month

Sometimes, in the fall in Japan, Mormons will get together and play softball. It is very important, as you can tell. The whole stake gathered to play. Sadly, we lost both games. I must say that almost all of it was not my fault.

I am in this picture with some missionaries. 

 These are the Hargers, their dad is from the U.S. and their mom is Japanese. They are super cool.

 Elder Shiozawa who is currently in my area.

 MoMo's in action (momo means peach in Japanese)

 Meta-picture

 The sisters based in my area

 As you can see, I was working very hard (see the Kindle) at my elementary school when a bug came and flew into my head. Yeah. This fly just ran into my forehead and fell on the table and twitched for a minute. My instincts told me that this was bizarre, so I took a picture. About 1 minute after this picture was taken, the fly just got up and flew off. 

I took a drive around my city and saw this giant pumpkin (not a real pumpkin, trickery). 

Paul Rusch is a famous guy because he saved everyone from starving a few decades back. To honor him, they have this big organ on the back of a truck for some reason. My guess is that this organ represents his bodily organs which are dead. The advantage of this organ pictured is that it can't die.  

 Tractors are very chic this time of year.

Happy Halloween month because who wants to celebrate for just a day? 

A horse made of logs. We should start selling these at Swiss Days. 

As for the most bizarre thing I saw over the weekend, here is a toilet equipped with a button for flushing noises. You push that button and the toilet will make simulated flushing noises for 25 seconds. Someone explain to me in what universe this would be needed when it is attached to an actual toilet!?

Cleanup Post...Apocalypse

Call me the king of broken promises, but I am now fulfilling some things that I said I wouldn't do. I had said that I would give some pictures and stuff. Here they are, and then some. 

 First up is this adorable little bag that I got at the Distribution Center under the Tokyo Temple. Who doesn't love puppies and engrish? 

 This is the holy love seat. Beautiful isn't it? I don't remember if I put up a picture of this yet. Even if I did, it deserves another post. This thing was 25 dollars. Genuine leather (or it would seem). It is starting to crack a little, which is unfortunate...but other than that little fact, this loveseat is probably my best friend here. 

 Bento Box that we got during sports day. I still have no idea what more than half of this stuff is. Some of it was good, the rest was digestible.

 Doth thine eyes deceive? Be that white people in the distance? Yea, it is. A week or so ago, I was out wandering around and happened on the golf course a few miles from my house. What I found was the Pata Gorufu Kosu, or Putter Golf Course. I happened upon a few people from North Carolina. They were very nice and we played 18 holes of the poorest cared for grass I have ever seen. No only does it contain 90% crab grass, it also has lots of patches of dirt that make it incredibly difficult. 

 I was actually pretty decent at it, and I ended up shooting par.

Mmmm....sweet sweet joy. You may think it stupid, but this here is phenomenal. 8 glorious pounds of peanut butter, and 2 pounds of extra sharp cheddar. Tastes like mana from heaven. American food from Costco.

 We went to a junk store closer to home. I found this charming little fellow peering at me as I rummaged through all the stuff this guy had to sell. 

 I seriously considered buying this little beauty. I figured that I would wear it all day everyday as a way to let the Japanese know that I value their culture...also, it would let them know that I am a formidable soldier who can cut them in half. 

A rodeo chair...which is weird...but I guess the Japanese love their rodeo. After all, it;s the bulls and blood, it;s the dust and mud...

I was going to get a whole post entitled, "The terrifying things I find." This is a teaser for you. Frightening right? I can't imagine why this is second-hand...

Honey Badger Don't Care...in Japan

Here's a quick picture for your daily fix. Here is a sign explaining that there is no bike parking. Luckily, the Japanese don't care. 

Not only does one person not care, but hordes of people don't care. 

Golly Gee! So Many Gaijin!

Today, September 19th is National Respect for the Aged day. Cool holiday right? It basically entitles anyone over the age of 50 to get away with whatever they want with no fear of consequences. I mean, you have geriatrics jumping turnstiles, letting their dogs poop wherever they want and tons of shoplifting, obviously. I am obviously joking, but you are welcome for the mental images of folks in walkers doing those outlandish things. In America, September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. I think America wins, but in Japan, we got the day off. 

For the day off, I got myself up at 5 am and met with members of the Kofu Ward to go to the Tokyo Temple. After 3 or 4 hours of travel, we arrived in Tokyo at the LDS temple there. Recognize this?

 You can see the spire there in the center of the picture. On the right you can see the outer fringe of a big ol' park located within Tokyo. 

 No caption needed I suppose.

Picture from the parking lot. Celestial lighting provided by Mother Nature.

I was informed that this area of Tokyo has all sorts of English speaking folks. I am fairly sure that the American Embassy is located near by as well as a few for other countries. It was quite jarring to see groups of Gaijin walking around, biking, and being normal. It continued to get more and more confusing for me to see these other Gaijin from their respective countries. 

After the temple, we went down to a ramen shop. As I sat next to the missionaries, across the table from a woman who only speaks Japanese, I heard perfect, fluent English floating across and into my ears. As I looked around, I saw a group of 4 girls sitting at a table talking boisterously about how one girl did not in fact like the boy that it she is rumored to. It was a serious issue of cognitive dissonance. To make matters more interesting, I heard a popular American rap song come over the radio.

We got Baskin Robbins for dessert which was delicious. I stood with my jaw open at all of the English speakers and white people walking around without even taking notice of one another. For me, it was such a stark contrast to the world that I live in everyday. When I see another white person, I am shocked and amazed and feel an immediate need to run up and talk to them. Here, these folks were surrounded by hordes of English speakers and took no notice. 

It made me feel a little jealous, and also a little confused. The Japan I know is the one I live in. The Japan that these people live in is starkly different. I am jealous of their ability to speak to so many different people in their native tongue, but I am also very grateful for the Japan I live it. Mine is not so metropolitan and western, but I didn't really come to Japan to live in the West.

I am surprised at how much my view changed in the last two months of being here. My house is a western place, but I have gotten used to a lot of the Japanese way of doing things. I suppose that is why seeing other westerners in a different situation was so jarring. Also, British accents have always thrown me off. 

Yippee Ki-Enkai-yay

On Friday, I had my first Japanese enkai. An enkai is a party that Japanese workplaces have. Essentially everyone gets together after work and drinks and has a good time. As I understand from a few books I read about Japanese schools and work culture, the enkai serves as the other side of the Japanese work system. In the  Japanese workplace (as far as I have seen), people are very gracious and efficient at what they do. A high level of rigidity exists in the day to day. The enkai serves as the cut loose time. 

We had our enkai at a traditional restaurant where we sat on the floor. We all know how much I hate sitting on the floor...the party was actually a lot of fun. In Japan parties are 2 hours long without fail. We had what basically amounted to a 10 course meal. They just kept bringing out dishes of stuff. I am pretty sure (though not entirely sure) that I had crab, tuna and red snapper sushi, tempura sweet potato something or others, and some eel. I have never known myself to be a fan of eel, but I decided to be a good little participant and try some. They brought us an eel that was split down the middle and covered in some kind of BBQ sauce. I took a bite to try and it turns out that it is AMAZING! I actually ate the whole thing. It was like chicken, but a little squishier. 

All in all, it was a good party. The really good party came afterward though. It is called the nijikai. It literally means "second party." We went to another restaurant and all hung out singing karaoke. Most of the coworkers were pretty loosened up by this point. A few of the coworkers had mentioned that they knew some English songs. I had a standing duet with a science teacher to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. The principal also showed that he has some wicked skills with Simon and Garfunkel. The principal sang Scarborough Fair and Bridge Over Troubled Water. 

After a few songs, my karaoke skills became apparent. People started making requests. All in all, I sang Bohemian Rhapsody, Hotel California (with accompaniment from all the teachers on the chorus), Beat It, Piano Man, Poker Face (by Lady Gaga, which despite being a famous song in Japan, no one sang along), and I Can Show You The World from Aladdin. The last song was interesting. I was mid-song when a teacher came up to me and said that I was singing the next song. She said, "You Alladin" and that was it. I thought I was just going to sing the boy part. Once it came to the girl part, no one stepped up to the plate. I ended up singing the whole song in two different voices for both parts...they thought it was hilarious. 

I did manage to capture some pictures from the adventure for your enjoyment. Also, a video. Booyah!

 You can see half of my principal on the right.

The guy looking regal with his hand on his chin sang Bohemian Rhapsody with me.

The super fun song by a group called AKB48...don't ask.