Today was not actually a bluesday, but I didn't have anything that really rhymed with Tuesday. It is Tuesday here, the Jazz had a good win, and my house was a refreshing 29 degrees this morning when I went to work. On the plus side, my soda stays nice and cold! What's new? Well, I taught some children today...just like everyday.
You can read about it there. It is an abbreviated form of Association Football. Weird right? The Brits used it, then replaced it with Football. We Americans had our own ideas about Football and decided to keep with soccer. It seems a lot like the imperial measurement system that we use in America. The Brits came up with it, it took hold in America, and they no longer use it and we look dumb (to the world with their fancy metric). I think it really just shows that we in America don't like peer pressure to change.
Oh yeah. Bear mace. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not. In each classroom at my elementary school, they have a relatively unsecured can of bear mace and a helmet. One is for earthquakes, and one is for bears? I am not sure if they are nervous about bears or would-be attackers. Either way, watch out.
A close up. Funny thing about the bear mace is that there are no Japanese instructions. Only instructions in English. I think that means that technically, I am the only qualified person to wield the awesome power. Maybe the teachers all have training in it that I am not privy to. I bet you they haven't and if the situation arose, they would mace themselves before they got to the bears.
Tonight was that most auspicious of occasions when I venture into the nearby city to do my laundry. Glamorous right? you think that living abroad is all eating gross things and taking fabulous vacations. I have to do regular person things too! Anyway, I went into Nirasaki to use the dryers at the laundromat. In the meantime, I decided to go to dinner with the only other person in Yamanashi that appreciates country music. Luckily he is a good conversationalist.
Can't figure it out? I am talking about myself. I got talking about country music last week with some other ALTs which got me curious as to who in the prefecture likes the like of Garth, Tim, Alan, and George. I asked on the forums and the answer came back...no one. I am alone here. I knew I stood apart being the only Mormon, Utahan, and Jazz fan, but I didn't think I would be the only one with a fine appreciation for songs that tell the stories of my people. Oh well. I may have mentioned it before, but I feel like I go through double culture shock here in Japan. I have the culture shock of being around other international and different foreigners as well as the Japanese. As to country music, I love it and I think I can help explain why...actually, Jeff Foxworthy does it well in this video:
I like this video. It is a little high-minded about how great country music, but I think it helps grab some of the essence of how I feel about it. I can't say that I have always been a fan because I haven't. Luckily I dated a girl who liked country music. The girl is long gone, but the music remains.
While I was waiting for my laundry to dry, I took myself out for a nice dinner at Coco's Restaurant. I went there once with a friend and was super impressed. Here is the think that helps make Coco's so amazing: it has pebbled ice and Coke Zero with all you can drink! That is huge in this country! Also they have some of the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted. I tried my best to drink my weight in it while I was there. Not bad for 189 yen.
Here you can see the delicious sampler of (surprisingly) delicious sausages, fried chicken, and possibly the best french fries I have had in Japan thusfar. In the picture you can see my hot chocolate and Coke Zero...that is just how I roll.
While I was getting a refill on my sweet Coke Zero, a couple of high schoolers passed by me and said a bunch of things I couldn't understand. One thing I did understand though, suteeben sugaru. I am now an expert at recognizing western words through the Japanese filter and I can tell you with assurity that he was saying Steven Seagal. Yep. I thought to myself, "that is a weird thing to say." The two of them then continued to stare at me as I walked away. They thought I look like Steven Seagal. Cool?
After perusing pictures of Steven Seagal, I should have knocked that kid out with a Steven Seagal karate chop for saying such a slanderous comment.
After my meal and the comment on my look-a-like, I guessed that old Steven Seagal deserved a delicious banana crepe. What Steven Seagal wants, Steven Seagal gets...
I can say this about the night. The conversation was good, and at the end I didn't regret spending money on the activity (which is more than I can say for many dates I have been on...HIYO!). Now I am capping it off by watching the Two Towers. Jealous?
I will get this out of the way immediately. I did not meet someone named Jose in Nagano last weekend. I just needed a catchy title (achieved). Last weekend, I went to Nagano with a bunch of other foreigners (105 to be exact). It was a gaijin-explosion! We rented out an entire hotel and went skiing at the Hakuba47 Resort.
The morning of the trip, it snowed in Kiyosato. I didn't have to work because it was the anniversary of my Junior High. So I spent the day lazing about and watching the Jazz game. They lost, and I was super mad.
This is the view outside our hotel, the Lady Diana and St. George.
The Lady Diana, or as I called it, the Dirty Diana (like the song, clever right?).
The St. George. Not as nice, in actuality it was the dirtier of the two. Our accommodations were super Japanese. I slept on a futon on the floor with 7 other guys. It made for a terrible night of sleep.
Up on the mountain. You can see me rocking the super sweet SUU sweater. What is crazy about this picture is that it was taken in a place with no daylight. We figure the pure power of my spirit is what is shining behind me. Also in the picture is Matt, Matt, and James (in the hat).
The resort was really neat. There was a storm hitting the mountain when we got there, but we took a chairlift and actually got far above it and could look down at the roof. It was pretty neat.
Getting ready to go down. I ended up skiing most of the day with no hat or goggles. I am sure that it was quite a sight for all the Japanese people to see a white bald guy tearing it up out there. I didn't feel dressed right for skiing, but it worked.
Another picture, but we swapped out James for Lana. We took this picture here because there was a recycled steel statue of Alien and Predator strung with lights. Makes total sense right? It does if you live in Japan...
My attractive face. You see at the buckle on my shoulder a pocket for a cell phone. I had used this to put my ski pass in. The ski pass is a little electronic chip that you scan at every lift entrance. This was the most sensible place to put mine. The only problem is that the scanners were about 4.5 feel high. Every time I got on a lift, I had to stoop down and rub my chest on it until it let me through. It looked a lot like I was trying to chest-bump a little person every time I got on the lift.
This was chilling back at the hotel. We visited the onsen after a long day of skiing. My feet had become numb and bruised by the boots which were too small. Most unfortunate. An onsen is like a Roman bath (I think). It is like a hot tub, but only dudes...and you are naked. You also wash and shower totally before getting in. It was an experience to say the least, but after a day of skiing, any hot water is welcome.
This is a picture of me on Sunday watching the Jazz game on my phone. I am fairly to extraordinarily intense during games...
A tour around the Lady Diana.
The night after skiing, we had a big dinner arranged by the hotel. Hamburger steak, Some kind of fish, some kind of roast, salad stuff and some potato wedges. Food of kings I say.
Ah yes...then the drinking. Apparently the allure of this weekend is not actually the skiing, but the crazy party that goes on afterwards. Here you can see they are starting with a drinking game.
Chatting and having a good time.
The guy in the green shirt is Fred. Fred is in charge of the trip and has been the resident expert on all things in Yamanashi for many years.
Also, people wore cute pajamas. This is Nick. He is Canadian, so we will let it slide.
The annual ski trip boat race. A boat race is a drinking contest where you race to finish your beers one at a time moving down the line before the other team. Every year it is a contest between America and the rest of the world. Every year (nearly) America loses.
Getting ready, the Americans are on the far side. Not being a drinker, but being a proud citizen of the USA, I was looking forward to a good American showing.
Conor is the captain of the American team, and he is wearing a super awesome shirt. It features Lex Luger, a famous professional wrestler from the late 90's.
It ended up being a very close race, with 3 lead changes, but the Americans won by a half a beer. It is the first time in 5 years that the Americans have even come close (yay for us?).
After the win, there was much rejoicing and rage. You would have thought we just won the SuperBowl.
Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain
we beat another ther countries best
at intoxicating our brains!
America, America thy patriots we'll be,
No drinking game, can we not tame.
Go go gadget land of the free...
Overall, I didn't fall down once, and I have nearly regained full motion in my legs. Fun times to be had, and despite 6 years away from skiing, the kid has still got it!
Today was quite a milestone for me here in Japan. I arrived in Japan on July 24th, 2011. Today is January 24th, 2012. 6 months ago I got to Japan, and 6 months from today I will be done working here. It seems a bit surreal when I think about it. My time here has felt like the blinking of an eye, and 3 or 4 lifetimes at the same time.
To celebrate this auspicious occasion, my elementary school decided to serve my least favorite meal imaginable (yay!). We had nasty Chinese snot and egg soup (as mentioned in an earlier post). We also had whole, deep fried fishes (and you were expected to eat the tail...like eating the whole shrimp). To accompany these monstrosities, we had slimy bean sprout and spinach salad. To top it all off, for dessert, we had dehydrated sweet potato straw snacks (they were uncomfortably crunchy and not delicious).
Here is a memory of a happier time (last week) when I tried a bacon-wrapped hot dog. Was it delicious? Yes. Would I eat it again? If you don't know the answer to this, you are invited to leave my blog right now. Finally Japan does pork products right!
I saw this little little beauty in the parking lot of the J-Mart. Sweet right? It is a John Deere mobile. I wish I had it, I would get all the ladies. Ladies like tractors right (country music tells me that they do)?
Today at school, I was presented with a plate of something that looked less than appetizing. When I asked what this mystery fish was, they said it was called ika. I looked it up, and didn't find anything in my dictionary about it. After getting home to Google, I looked up what it was that I ate. When they tried to explain what the fish was, they said it was "like octopus."
Turns out it was a cuttlefish!
This here is a cuttlefish. I ate that. I am pretty sure I ate a whole one. It was not delicious. Oh well. Chalk one up for school lunch again.
Today I had an interesting experience with a teacher asking me (professor of English knowledge) about what air quotes are. She approached me and asked what it meant when you do "this" with your fingers in the air. I had a devil of a time trying to explain what that meant, but I think I got her on to the idea.
This made me realize that when I try to explain complicated concepts to people that don't speak English well, I sound like an idiot. The video that immediately came to my mind was this very popular video:
The reason I think I sound so stupid is the words that I feel that I have to use. Never in the course of regular conversation with other English speakers do I feel such a desire to use every big word I have ever learned. I think it is some kind of disorder. Somehow while discussing air quotes, I really wanted to use the word ubiquitous.
After discussing the nuances of air quotes, we got discussing sarcasm. Sarcasm is a difficult thing to discuss with native English speakers, but it is extra difficult with someone who has English as a second language. But I think that...it like...was...really good...like...such as...
So nothing really awesome has happened recently, so I decided to make a list of things that I have been coveting over the last few weeks/lifetimes. They say money can't buy happiness, but I am pretty sure that I would be pretty happy with these 3 items.
Speedboat. I have never been a "boat person," but I feel like I would make a good one. I feel like I would enjoy being out on the water fishing or tearing it up. The awesome part about boats? Everything that is water is like a big open road that if you fall on, you just sink. Freedom.
The thing I covet most goes right in the middle of the 3. Of all 3 of the items that I list, this is the one that will be a reality before I die. Period. I want season tickets to the Jazz for many many years. If we are to get a little ridiculous, I would like to have court-side seats to every home game. Mark my words, I will have season tickets.
It is less likely that this one will happen because as the years pass, these become more rare and expensive. '67 Mustang is something I have only recently started heavily considering. What a good looking car? Perhaps it is a commentary on the stage in my life I am currently in, but this is the ultimate car. 2 seats, fast, big engine. Can you tell I am single and living in a land full of tiny cars?
So after all of the Atomic Bomb stuff, we took a long train down to a city called Kure. It is in the Hiroshima area, and it was a vital boatyard during WWII. You may have heard of the battleship Yamato during WWII. This is where it was build. They had a museum to accompany it.
Also: A submarine.
They meant to put it there (I think). It housed the Japan Self Defense Force Maritime Museum. The museum showed all the activities of the JSDF with minesweeping and submarine activities.
That little guy is a floater that they troll behind a boat and wait for a mine to blow it up. Many mines are magnetically activated, so the JSDF uses giant wooden boats. Interesting eh?
This part of the museum was modeled after the top of a boat.
Know you boat...or else.
They had cutaways of what it is like to live in a submarine. It would be terrible.
All these switches are just to run the one espresso machine.
Giant cranes over the harbors. We also got to go inside the submarine. I knocked my head at least 5 times in the 4 minute tour> They let you look through the periscope and check out what was going on outside.
The Yamato museum had a 1/10 scale of the battleship. It was SUPER cool. The Yamato was the most feared and famous battleship of the entire Japanese Navy during WWII. It was a symbol of the Japanese power in the Pacific.
The model was huge, but the real ship was (obviously) bigger.
They had an exhibition of all the different types of torpedoes launched by submarines in WWII.
They also had the outlines on the ground showing how big those things were.
A smaller submarine.
Mitsubishi Zero fighter. So awesome! The fighter crashed into a shallow lake during training, but was mostly intact. They restored it and now it is on display.
These were awesome planes that were especially vicious when launched from aircraft carriers.
The kamikazi submarine. They would put a guy in it and launch him toward an enemy boat. Underwater kamikazi.
A display of the Zero and the motor.
A small scale cross-section of the Zero.
The guns recovered from downed Zeros.
Ammunition and other parts.
Another look at the sub.
A cross section of the inside of one of the small submarines.
An overhead view of the Yamato Model. The Yamato survived the war despite being seriously damaged toward the end. Ultimately, the crew was ordered on a suicide mission to Okinawa. The museum contained letters that the officers and crew wrote to their families before going off to die. The ship was sunk with the crew.
After that, we got on our last bus back to Tokyo. We boarded the bus at 8 pm and rode it until 8:30 the next morning. It was...awful. Luckily the bus wasn't very crowded, so we each got two seats. After we got back to Tokyo, we traveled the 3 hours back to Kofu, and the hour back home. I have rarely been so happy to be home again. Total, it was about a 1,000 mile journey over 4 days. Fun and frantic.
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