Dale In Japan

Day 14 Jan 11, 2011 Langkawi, Malaysia

2011-01-14T03:09:00.000-08:00

It was 7:30am in the Colombo airport and I was online chatting with my brother Preston while searching for a website that was streaming the BCS (college football) championship game. I found a few options but the connection was just too slow so Preston provided the play by play. I boarded the plane at about 8 and was feeling pretty good about the ducks chances. As soon as I arrived in Kuala Lumpur I jumped back online and was greeted with 3 emails of condolence. DAMN IT. I obviously jinxed the game by not watching it. It’s entirely my fault and I am sorry. I had a 5 hour layover in the airport and nothing much happened worth reporting. Actually, I was kind of moping around because of the outcome of the game, the shitty day before and knowing this day would be spent mostly waiting and flying.

I landed in Langkawi at 9pm and it was already dark. Upon arrival to the guest house I noticed about 10 people drinking and smoking in the common area. I checked in and joined them. The common area is much like a patio you would find attached to the houses of Las Vegas. In fact, I reminded me of my dear aunt and uncle’s (Juree and Max) patio. It is comforting in a hot weather, open air, concrete and plastic furniture sort of way. A few steps from a table stood a refrigerator packed with tiger beer and a pen attached with string dangled from the door handle. As soon as I walked up I was greeted by the entire group and an American with a voice as loud as his belly is big took it upon himself to acquaint me with the culture of the common room. I was astonished when he told me “you are responsible for keeping track of how much beer you drink, use the pen and mark it down, its three ringgit (about a dollar) a pop.” He continued “so and so has been here for 2 years, this guy for 1 and I come for a month every half year; everyone else is a short-termer” It was obvious the current drinking session began hours before my arrival and everyone received me with great enthusiasm because I was the newest addition to the never ending party. I sat down and had as many beers as I did conversations without consequence. It felt good to finally be in a place where being alone is only an option if I want it. I went to bed quite drunk at around 1am and the party surly continued until the early morning without me.

Day 13 Jan 10, 2011 Negombo, Sri Lanka

2011-01-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

I woke up and looked outside. I was not at all surprised to see that the rain didn’t slow throughout the night and it was as soggy as ever outside. I had the same breakfast as the day before, said goodbye to Ravi and hurried off to catch my 10:45 train to Colombo. My plan was to spend the day in Colombo making my way to Negombo by night. Negombo is a 15 minute drive to the airport where Colombo is over an hour and my flight was scheduled for 8am the following morning. The train was about 30 minutes late and packed. I was fortunate to find a super uncomfortable seat that I could cram my ass into and settled in for the longest and most uncomfortable train ride of my life. I assume it was the rain that caused the 3 hour train ride to extend to about 6. When I finally arrived to Colombo I learned that, perhaps because of the rain, the only train going to Negombo for the day was leaving in an hour. There went my plans to explore Colombo! I had enough time to grab a bite so I asked tuk tuk driver to take me to a restaurant but didn’t specify what kind. He dropped me off at a sad excuse for a western style eatery. I ordered curried mutton and it was the saltiest piece of shit dish I have ever eaten. I ate a few bites of it and took off back to the station to catch my train. This train was right on time but what should have been a 45 minute trip turned into 2 hours. I was feeling miserable when I got to my hotel in Negombo but was looking forward to finally having a place to relax. I sat on my bed and noticed there must have been about 50 mosquitoes in flying around. For reasons I can not begin to fathom there were five 6x3 inch screenless windows on the wall and the blood suckers were swarming in. Obviously, relaxing in my room wasn’t going to work so I headed off to find a few beers but had to first hit up an ATM. I walked around looking for one with no luck so I asked a bar man. I was so sure he was full of crap when he told me that there was no ATM in the area (which is filled with hotels, bars and tourists because it is so close to the airport) that 3 other people had to confirm his story. Dejected, I headed back to my room, curled up under the mosquito net and could hear the blood suckers buzzing all night long. What a crap day.

Day 12 Jan 9, 2011 Kandy, Sri Lanka

2011-01-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

For some reason I was up and feeling pretty good at 7am. I could still hear the rain pounding on the roof and knew it was going to be another wet day. I went upstairs and Ravi, the 22 year old running the place, asked me if I wanted a Sri Lankan or Western breakfast. Of course I requested Sri Lankan style and I am glad I did. Before long I was presented with potatoes and onions in green curry with bread to soak it all up, shredded coconut (mixed with lemon, chili and onion) and king coconut milk to wash it all down. Ravi told me the king coconut milk is very healthy and it is what Sri Lankan’s drink to cure a hangover. Too bad I didn’t have one at the time ;)

After breakfast I decided to hang around the hotel for a while to see if the rain would let up. I got to talking with Ravi and found that he is a really sweet guy. He wanted to know about my travels and what it was like to live in Japan. He also told me a bit about himself. He works 7 days a week to support his family because his father is ill. Rather than being upset about the situation he told me that he is proud to be able to make money for his family and likes to work hard for their benefit.

Ravi and I:

We talked for about 2 hours but the rain never calmed. I decided I would brave it and see the sights of Kandy, Sri Lanka’s most famous ancient city. I visited the Temple of the Tooth which is a nice Buddhist temple if you are into that sort of thing and also hiked about 2miles up a steep hill to visit a huge Buddha statue that overlooks the city. I hoped to go to their Elephant orphanage but the rain was too intense. In fact, the city was beginning to flood and I noticed that more than a few roads were blocked because of mudslides and I decided it was best to get back to my hotel. I hailed a tuk tuk and once inside the driver told me that not far outside the city a few houses slid down a hillside and that school and government activities were canceled for the next few days because of the mudslides. I was confirmed, this was the worst rain storm I have ever seen.

The flooded river view from my balcony:

Buddha through the rain:

At the hotel I let Ravi know that I would be ready for dinner in a couple hours and he promised me a special feast. When I returned to the dining area later that evening I noticed there were 3 Sri Lankan guys drinking together. Soon they invited me to sit at their table. I ordered a beer while they bombarded me with questions. They were obviously pleased that I showed up and I was happy to be there too. It turns out that these guys are friends with Ravi. Apparently, there is a posse of drivers, tour guides, and tourism workers that base out of the hotel for work and play. After a beer or two my dinner came and it was nothing short of special. There was white rice surrounded by little bowls of sweet peppers and onions, curry chicken, lentils, fish tasting fried dough and a coconut/vegetable salad. It was way too much food for me and I ended up sharing it with my new friends.

After we finished eating Ravi brought a bottle to the table and explained to me it was local liquor similar to rum but made with coconut. Just like rum it tasted strong and sweet and we all poured each other a few fingers of the liquor straight up. A bit of drinking later the guys showed me a Sri Lankan gambling game where one person picks a number before cards are dealt to each person until the chosen number comes up. The person who is dealt the chosen number is the winner. I was ready to partake in a game or two but they didn’t want to play. Honestly, I don’t think these guys had any money to spare. I asked if they played poker and I was totally surprised that none of them knew how to play. I spent the next half hour teaching them a few poker games before beginning to realize that all three of them were completely smashed. Between four people we had drunken about ¾ of a bottle of 80 proof liquor; hardly enough for the slurring, stumbling, head down behavior I was witnessing. Either these guys are serious light weights or I walked into the final hours of an all day drinking session. Either way, I was having a great time with them.

One of them kept telling me to sing a song so that he could “make music” on the table while I sung. I indulged him by singing Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young” in its entirety while they pounded on the table. Next the man I assume to be the leader of the group sang a sweet song in his native tongue that caused his fellow Sri Lankan’s to close their eyes and sway back and fourth. After he finished I gave him a round of applause and he responded by knocking over beer bottle that shattered on the floor.

The performance:

The topic of conversation turned to sports and they could not comprehend that I have never seen a cricket game and have no idea how to play. While expressing his disbelief the same guy as before sent another bottle crashing down and I could tell Ravi had enough of his friends for the night; soon he was shuffling them out of the hotel. To say goodbye I exchanged hugs and handshakes with each of them. They were a few steps on their way when the bottle breaker turned around and unexpectedly ran up to me. He grabbed my face with both of his hands, looked directly in my eyes and said “you are so handsome I want your face. Don’t forget me.” Then he kissed my hand and stumbled off with his friends. After that how can I ever forget? It was late so I headed to bed and again fell asleep to the sound of heavy rain.

Day 11 Jan 8, 2011 Kandy, Sri Lanka

2011-01-09T01:38:00.000-08:00

I just realized it may be important for you to understand that English is an official language in Sri Lanka so, although the accent is sometimes difficult to decipher, I have no problem communicating in this country.

I woke up at about 9am to the rotting smell of sewage. The toilet was stinking and I was glad I was moving on from Galle to the ancient city of Kandy later in the day. The 8 hour train ride to Kandy was to begin at 2:30pm so I leisurely drank coffee and read on the beach until it was time to leave. From the beach I grabbed a tuk tuk to Galle and had the driver drop me off near a small restaurant I noticed near the station. A white guy carrying a huge duffle bag walking into this small dirty restaurant must have been quite a surprise to the customers and staff. They looked at me with wide eyes and 4 people, two employees and two customers, directed me to sit down at a plastic table in the corner. One man asked me what I wanted and I told him “whatever you would eat” and he quickly returned with a bowl of white rice and an assortment of vegetables in separate round metal dishes; Also, a piece of curry chicken was served. It was absolutely delicious and absolutely cheap at about 1.50$.

Outside of the restaurant I started to walk towards the train station that was about 2 blocks away. This particular stretch of road is where the tuk tuk drivers wait to pick up passengers who are just leaving the station. I had to laugh because I was propositioned for a ride over and over again even though it was clear I was walking to the train station which was in my sight. They said to me “train station 100rupi,” “let me drive you to train station,” “station far from here.” I guess they were hoping I had no idea where I was.

The train ticket was about 2.50$ and I found a nice window seat where I could enjoy the countryside passing by. Before long a young woman sat next to me even though there were plenty of other seats available. I said a few engaging words to her but she showed little interest in conversing. Again, I thought this was another instance of the peculiar behavior I previously noticed of people settling very close to me without saying a word. I paid no attention and dug into my book for about an hour until I felt the girl leaning into me. I looked at her and she was looking at my book and obviously trying to gain my attention. I gave her a smile and said “do you like to read.” From this moment we casually talked for the next 3 hours. Her is name is Jayani and she works as a pediatric surgery rehabilitation nurse in Colombo. I not only enjoyed having someone to talk to on the long train ride but I really enjoyed her personality. She was very shy but I could tell was trying hard to be brave and talk with me. She was embarrassed easily and turned bright red when she asked if I had a girlfriend. Speaking with her also gave me a good chance to observe the side to side head movement that indicates acceptance or agreeing (I think) that Indian and Sri Lankan people use. I noticed it before and have spent more than a few minutes in front of the mirror poorly trying to mimic it. After watching her do it over and over, I think I got it! Anyway, as we approached Colombo she told me she would cook me rice and curry if I could visit her after the 16^th. I told her I was leaving on the 11^th and for whatever reason she was unable to accommodate me before then. At Colombo we said goodbye and I was thankful to have met her.

The train quickly filled in Colombo until people were standing in the isle. As far as I could see only one seat remained unoccupied on the train and that was the seat next to me. I am either scary or smell bad. I either case I was much more comfortable than anyone else ;) . I still had 4 hours of left to my train journey and the further away from Colombo the more dense the jungle became became. Throughout the journey hawkers walked up and down the isle selling different sorts of food including deep fried crab, drinks and chip like snacks. I noticed that after consuming whatever they purchased the people on the train would throw whatever garbage they had out the window. Judging by the piles of garbage collected on either side of the track disposing of garbage in this way is the normal and accepted practice. Soon it became dark and the train was almost empty. I had about 1 hour left in my journey and the rain started pouring down. It was at this moment I started to get the “what the hell am I doing” feeling in my stomach. I had hardly heard of the city I was destine for, I saw nothing but darkness outside, the rain was pounding the on the windows and I had no room reserved for the night. Knowing it would be fine I choked back my nerves and again became exited about the adventure I was having.

With the rain giving no indication of slowing down we arrived in Kandy and I jumped off the train. I soon started talking to a Tuk Tuk driver and instructed him to take me to a room that was no more that 20$ for the night. He was a handsome and gregariously friendly guy. We arrived at a guest house not far from the city that overlooks the lake. Two small young men were outside waiting for us. Soon I was informed that they all were cousins. After looking at the room I threw my bags down and joined them all upstairs to drink a few beers. We chatted for a couple hours and they recommended places I should see in Kandy and the threesome of cousins seemed to be genuinely gracious and kind though quite dedicated in convincing me to book tours through their friends. I declined the tours and went to bed. As I feel asleep I could hear the rain increase its intensity outside.

My room:

Day 10 Jan 7, 2011 Unawatuna beach Galle, Sri Lanka

2011-01-09T01:11:00.000-08:00

I woke up at about ten and went downstairs to get some coffee. There I found an old woman who I can only assume is the mother of the owner of the place. I picked up a menu and pointed to the coffee to showing her what I wanted. Without a word she left and I was unsure if my desire was communicated. I noticed the computer area and walked over. It was not the first time I saw that the computer was unplugged and a sheet rested over it. I guess it is to save power and keep dust off of it but it seems completely silly to me. After about 20 minutes of checking my email, facebook and other sites I gave up hope for my coffee and began to blog. Just then I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see the old mother clearly disappointed in me. Only an old mother can give the look she gave me. She led me over to the table where a fresh pot of coffee was waiting. I thanked her, smiled and poured a cup. She stood near my table and looked my direction intermittently until my coffee was finished. I am definitely missing something in the culture here.

After eating I took off for the beach were I leisurely swam, sunbathed and read before going up to my room. If I have not mentioned before, the shower here only produces cold water and the water this morning was particularly painful because I was heated from the sun of the beach, Hahaha, sun of the beach! Uggg, anyway, after my shower I decided to grab a tuk tuk into Galle city. The distinguishing characteristic of Galle is that there is a huge Dutch base that still stands on the shore of Galle's amazing beach. The actual city of Galle is chaotic and poor looking even for eyes that have seen many poor countries before.

City of Galle:

Dutch Fort:

I had heard about a turtle sanctuary outside of the city and decided I would pay it a visit. It was about a 20 minute tuk tuk ride and I paid 3 dollars for it. Inside the sanctuary a man explained that the people of Galle like to dig up turtle eggs for food and because of this, the turtles are endangered. The powers that be at the sanctuary decided that they can’t stop people from digging up the eggs so they offer more money for the eggs than someone who would buy them for food. Once in possession of the eggs they hatch them and then release the turtles to sea, saving a few for the exhibits. It was kind of neat to see these endangered turtles up close.

From the sanctuary the tuk tuk driver convinced me to visit an area famous for stilt fishing. But he warned me to not give the fisherman more than 1.50$ no matter what they said to me. We arrived at the place and I had no idea what to expect. As soon as I was out of the tuk tuk my hat was grabbed off my head and a turban like cloth replaced it. About four men told me to empty my pockets because I was going to get wet and hurriedly try to escort me to the sea. Feeling uncertain I told them all to back off for a minute as I contemplated what was going on. Here I was alone in some unfamiliar place with 4 fisher guys plus a tuk tuk driver telling me to empty my pockets, walk into the ocean and climb a poll. This was seriously tempting my faith in humanity but I eventually decided than anything I lose can be replaced. I jumped up on the poll while the driver took my camera and snapped a few pictures. It was actually really fun. At the end the fisherman asked me for 15$ and then 10$ and then 5$ and then 1.50$ The tuk tuk driver was right about the price but I am pretty sure he gouged me on the cost of my ride at 7$.

It was getting late and I headed back to the beach. I enjoyed the sunset while eating a dinner of yellow fin tuna and vegetables before returning to my room for the evening.

Day 9 Jan 6, 2011 Unawatuna beach Galle, Sri Lanka

2011-01-07T00:59:00.000-08:00

I am using the crappiest computer in the world. I am going to fly through this post so bare with my writing.

Early in the morning at the KL airport I met an Indian guy names Sidd from New Delhi. He is also traveling alone and we talked about the places we both have seen. When I told him that I was flying to Sri Lanka he asked me "why not India." I told him that India was a pain for Americans to get visa's (which it is) and that anyplace I go is new to me so I don't really have a strong preference between India and anywhere else. He was dumbfounded by my explanation. He told me that if I go to Sri Lanka and not India I am a fool. He aggressively told me that I needed to change my trip so that I could visit India and was genuinely upset that I would go to Sri Lanka and not India. He was acting like total dick and it was clear this guy was an asshole. I told him to leave me alone and eventually slept for 2 hours in the airport before my 6am flight.

I crashed the entirety of the 3 hour flight waking up only for landing. While the plane rolled to the terminal I asked the guy next to me if he was taking a cab to Colombo which is about an hour away and 30bucks. I didn't realize it at the time but this guy, Ed, was a funny character. I thought he was from China because he was asian an spoke with a weird lisp but it turns out he was from Canada. He told me he would have to ask his friend who was sitting elsewhere about the cab and I agreed to meet him at the baggage claim. There I saw that his friend was a man of about 80 and I caught up to them while he was barking instructions to poor Ed. All together we walked to the taxi area where the old man was working deals to get the best price. The standard cab rate to Colombo is 30$ prepaid from from the airport. After 30minutes of negotiations the old man finally accepted the special price of 30$ to Colombo. Ed and the old guy spent the cab ride cautioning me of the dangers of travel. "Have you ever slept on a beach because don't people will kill you." "If you just get in a cab they will drop you off in the jungle, you have to let them know you mean business." "The best places to stay are near the airport where you can get out quick." These guys where an interesting pair to say the least.

I got dropped off at the Colombo train station and grabbed the next train to Galle which is about 3 hours away. The train journey to Galle was spectacularly beautiful! The train runs right along the beach and the water is crystal blue and the sand is almost white. On the train a tiny Sri Lankan man was doing his rounds pestering the 5 or so foreigners sitting on the train. He was sort of like a Japanese host girl. He was desperate to keep me talking, complemented me often and listened intently to whatever I said. I knew at the end of the train ride his unwelcome company would be concluded with a plea for money. I gave him about a dollar to save him from pulling out family pictures.

pics from the train:

The Galle train station was about a 10minute tuk tuk ride to Unawatuna beach. My hotel is nearly on the beach and views are beautiful even though I am the only guest. I can't put my finger on it but I know there is some sort of cultural gap going on btween me and the staff at my hotel. They like to sit near me and stare without talking. When I engage them they have not much to say. I just don't know what they want. Anyway, though I was tired from traveling and sleeping in the airport I had to get down to the blue water. I swam, sunbathed and walked around the small beach town. There isn't much to do here but enjoy the beach, drink and eat. These are all activities I am skilled in doing. This computer is truly terrible and I had a hell of a time writing this blog entry. I will add pictures and edit my crappy writing once I can get to a decent computer/connection. I am having fun and I am safe.

My room:
view from my room:

Day 8 January 5, 2011 Kuala Lumpur AIRPORT

2011-01-05T06:04:00.000-08:00

Right now I am sitting in the airport. I flew out of Yogyakarta at 9am and arrived in KL at noon. My flight to Sri Lanka leaves KL airport at 6am tomorrow morning. There is one hotel near the airport that costs 40$ a night but I am not going to pay that just for a bed. Grabbing a bus to the city would take about an hour. Once there I could get a hotel room but I would need to leave at 3am and take an expensive cab to the airport because the busses won’t be running. I also could take a bus to the city and hang out until the last bus to the airport leaves but I have a huge pack and 3 more days in KL coming up soon. So, I have decided to spend 17 luxurious hours in the Airport. It actually isn’t too bad. There are plenty of restaurants, free wireless internet and some interesting characters walking around. I am a little worried about later tonight because the terminal is an open air building and the mosquitoes are sure to be buzzing me. What did I say in my last post? Oh yeah, “everything worthwhile requires work and dedication.” I am going to keep saying that for 10 more hours.

Day 7 January 4th, 2011 Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2011-01-05T05:28:00.001-08:00

I woke up late and felt a little ill. Regardless, I decided to take a bus to the Prambanan temple complex (http://wikitravel.org/en/Prambanan ). On the way to Prambanan I was looking out the window when I noticed quite a commotion. There was a large gathering of people and when I looked closer I noticed people were wearing costumes and preparing for some sort of parade. I had no idea what they were doing or why they were doing it but I jumped off the bus to check it out knowing it would mean I would miss out on Prambanan because of the heavy rain forecasted for the evening and through the rest of the night. To be honest, I wasn’t that excited to visit the temples anyway. I have seen quite a few temples old and new and I have reached my temple threshold. It has become clear that what I am looking for on this trip is excitement. This mainly includes meeting new people, trying new foods, getting into weird situations and interacting with my environment. I was over the sightseeing portion of my journey even before leaving Japan. I have high hopes for rest of my trip but day 7 was sort of depressing. Yogyakarta is difficult place to be in alone. I guess I am one of maybe ten westerners in a city of 500,000 and there are few travelers to talk with. The locals have been wonderful but so far most of them either want to sell me something or take a picture with me. While traveling to most places I have found that the best place to meet friendly locals and other travelers is at a watering hole. In Yogyakarta, that hasn’t been the case; this is probably due to the fact that it is a small city in a Muslim country and they just don’t do that sort of thing. I hate to sound like a douche but… I feel my loneliness is a positive experience. Loneliness is an undeniably difficult part of my journey but I know that everything worthwhile requires work and dedication. Ultimately, I can not fathom a time where I will regret a moment of this trip. With that said, I am feeling a little down at the moment.

Ok ok ok, I didn’t expect to go on that tangent but I guess I needed to talk about it. So anyway, I jumped off the bus to check the parade and it was pretty cool. People were dressed up and dancing, the military was marching and it seemed that half the city showed up to watch even though the rain was pouring. After the parade I had a couple lonely beers with dinner and spent my final night in Yogyakarta at my hotel where I seemed to be the only guest.

Parade photos:

By the way, I found a website that photo documented the parade at http://handoyoblog.com . The parade was to celebrate Yogyakarta’s anniversary as a city of the republic.

Also, did you know that Speedy Gonzales is Italian?

Day 6 January 3rd, 2011 Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2011-01-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

I was jolted awake by a coughing fit at 9:30am. For the third day in a row I didn’t really feel sick but just completely stuffed up. I took a shower, threw on some clothes and reached for the door. Just outside I patted my pockets to make sure I had everything. A wave of panic rushed through me as I realized I didn’t have my passport. I rushed back into my room and checked my pack, pants, jacket, table tops, counters, bed and bathroom but found nothing. By this time I was telling myself to stay calm and that worse things could happen than loosing my passport. I sat down and closed my eyes trying to remember the last time I saw it. Soon a memory drifted into conscience. It was me putting my passport into an inconspicuous little nook next to my bed and then taking it out of the nook because I was thinking “you are going to forget you put it here” and then putting it back in the nook while telling myself “you are not that much of a jackass.” I opened my eyes and reached into the nook. Of course the passport was there and I cursed my tendency to forget where I put things.

I ate the free hotel breakfast what was essentially top ramen noodles and set off for a long walk. I find it really enjoyable to aimlessly walk for hours as a way to explore each new city I arrive to. I walked and walked taking pictures along the way and rejecting the hard sells of people who wanted to cab me around in their cars, bike, motorcycles, horse and buggy (seriously) and bicycle chariot looking tuk tuks.

Occasionally, I got the chance to talk to a local who wasn’t interested in selling me a ride or anything else. One man told me I had a beautiful beard and asked me my religion. Kind of caught off guard and not ready to provide a lengthy answer filled with details of my religious misgivings I simply said “Christian.” He told me he was Muslim and then for 10 minutes he told me the details of his religious misgivings. We shook hands and I continued on. While taking a rest on a city bench an old toothless woman came up to me and proudly proclaimed “I am a Christian.” I started laughing and said “great!” She sat down next to me and taught me 1-10 in Indonesian. Another man came up to me and started chatting away. He told me his mother was in the Malioboro shopping area and he had been waiting for her for hours. He and his family were tourists from Jakarta. He told me not to buy anything on this street because he knows how much they mark up for white people and that there is another street that isn’t used to tourists where they are less likely to mark up as much. Having heard just about every deceptive sales pitch from touts during my travels I started to think this guy was one too. But then he pulled out his own tourist map and pointed to the area. Still, I was waiting for him to try and escort me or take me to his “family shop” or jump on a motor bike and insist I get on but he didn’t. He shook my hand and told me to be careful. I headed to the street and found a piece of cloth art that was being sold at the other market for 25$ and here it was 3$. I really didn’t want it but I bought it anyway.

While walking around I bumped into Kristine who was on her way to the airport but informed me she had time to grab a bite. We sat down at a food cart area and ordered two bowls of Basko. Basko is a soup created around a big rubbery fatty beef meatball. It was delicious.

As we finished our meal the rain started pouring down. We decided to wait it out and ordered a durian dish for desert. Durian is a sweet fruit that is said to smell like rotting human flesh. It had a smell to it but it wasn’t as bad as it is often made out to be and while mostly sweet, it had the pungent taste of old garbage to it.

It was about 3pm and Kristine and I said our goodbyes. I walked around the city a bit more and ended up grabbing a tuk tuk back to my hostel at about 6pm. I decided I would spend the evening drinking hot tea and resting up for tomorrow. I hoped this would be the last day of my cold.

By the way, the picture below is of my funky bathroom.

Day 5 January 2nd, 2011 Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2011-01-03T03:13:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 4am feeling much better than the previous day but still had some pain and a cough. I gathered my packs and hailed a cab downstairs. I took the cab to KL Sentral for about 3 bucks and from there grabbed a bus to the airport for about 2 more. Although I fly more than most I absolutely hate it and the flight from KL to Yogyakarta was a bumpy one. The plane arrived in Yogyakarta, Jogja for short, about 30 minutes late and I was glad to get off that plane! At the immigration counter I was informed that my visa on arrival would cost about 25$ to be paid in cash in the local currency. I didn’t have Indonesian money (Rupiah) on me because the website I checked said that a 30 day visitor visa was free and ATMs are available at the airport. Well, that was half true. After informing the immigration officer that I had no cash he took my passport and shooed me away while pointing towards the medal detectors and guards. Unchecked, I walked past a long line of people waiting to get patted down, adverted the metal detector and was on Indonesian soil without so much as a glance. I found the ATM at the far end of the airport took out some money and headed back to immigration to retrieve my passport. In case I ever want to smuggle drugs into Indonesia, which is punishable by death according to the declaration paperwork I was given on the plane, all I have to do is arrive without Rupiah and stash the stuff in the bathroom while “going to the ATM.” ;)

After taking care of the visa I walked through the gauntlet of taxi drivers on my way to the bus station. It was a twenty minute ride to Malioboro Street, the center of town. On the bus I chatted with the bus driver who was pleased to practice his English and then quickly found a motorcycle driver who gave me a ride to my hotel. My pack is about 20kg and not falling backwards off of the bike proved to be more physically challenging than I had expected. I had the driver wait for me while I rushed to check in and shower; I was to meet a girl that I met on travbuddy.com in only 20 minutes. I arrived at her hotel and we set off to view Borobudur ( http://wikitravel.org/en/Borobudur ) temple together. Kristine is a Filipino who currently lives in Jakarta and is working as a copy editor for an English newspaper. At 24, she speaks valley girl American English while never setting foot outside of Asia. She was so up to date on American pop culture that she put me to shame. And her general demeanor was so American, for lack of a better term, that I was stunned she had only ever lived in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is more than fair to say we got along straight way.

Borobudur temple was beautiful and we spent about 2 hours taking it all in. I wish I had the words to describe Borobudur but I don’t. Seeing it was fantastic but at the end of the day it is a bunch of old carved stone and I am impressed but not smitten by the temple itself. I am thankful I could enjoy it with Kristine because, as I am learning, everything is best appreciated when shared with someone else.

On the cab ride back to the city I took a turn for the worse and was coughing, sneezing and my throat hurt like hell. Regardless, Kristine and I decided to eat dinner together. She read that squirrel and sparrow are part of Jogja cuisine and had tried to locate a restaurant that served either with no luck the previous night. After hearing this I was determined to have a squirrel and sparrow dinner and we promised we wouldn’t rest until this was achieved. After talking to many people and being pointed in the wrong direction numerous times we found a restaurant a few miles out of the city that fulfilled our needs. The sparrow was in a curry sauce and was so small and well cooked that the bones were devoured with the meat. To me it tasted like curry sauce with bones and chicken. The squirrel was fried with peppers. There wasn’t much meat on the critter and it reminded me of overcooked chewy chicken skin. Like most food I try that is out of my standard diet it was neither good nor bad but a lot of fun to eat.

(This picture cracks me up because this is the moment I felt I was really sick and it shows!)

During dinner I tried to fool myself into thinking that I wasn’t sick but it didn’t last. I was so stuffed up that my head felt like it was an aquarium and my throat was screaming. We asked the restaurant staff to call us a cab and after hearing it was a 20 minute wait we wandered outside. Not far from the restaurant was a group of about 8 men playing bell and xylophone like instruments. They completed their song and we applauded their efforts. They couldn’t have been more pleased to have us as an audience and were especially dumfounded by the fact that a white guy was watching them. They pulled out cameras and I did the photo rounds with them. Afterwards, they invited us to play with them and in an instant I was playing a brass “xylophone” in the outskirts of a small city in Indonesia with a group of guys. This is why I love to travel.

On the cab ride to the city Kristine asked me if I wanted to drink at a club. I thought about how sick I felt and the answer was obvious. “Of course I want to drink in a club with you.” We pulled out her lonely planet guide book and showed the driver the address. The club’s parking lot was packed and the 10$ (US) cover charge was an outrageous amount in this part of Indonesia. We prepared ourselves for a wild trance night, got a vigorous frisking and walked into the hidden club area. Inside there were about 6 people, including the DJ, sitting and smoking. We had a drink, took a couple of pictures and took off. I got to bed at about 12:30am and was grateful the club sucked. I shouldn’t have been out in my condition.

Day 4 January 1st, 2011 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2011-01-03T02:57:00.000-08:00

I woke up at about noon feeling terrible but not from a hangover. Through the night my sinuses and throat began to swell and hurt. Upon waking a could hardly swallow and could only breath through my mouth. I decided a hot shower would help my situation and I took a long one. Feeling slightly better I skyped a few friends before hitting the street looking for breakfast. Once outside I saw that it was raining and rushed into the first covered restaurant I could find. For the first time in Kuala Lumpur I was handed a menu and found that the food at this restaurant was, I can’t really say expensive, but more that I have been paying on the street for the same kind of food. After ordering beef skewers and fried rice I filled out a few post cards for friends and family.

As I sat in the restaurant the rain only increased and I decided with the weather, feeling sick, and many more days left of travel it may be best if I call the day a wash and get a much needed rest. On the way back to the hostel I bought some cold medicine and dropped off the post cards. The rest of the day was spent in my room working out details for the rest of my trip, chatting with friends online, sleeping and watching The Family Guy online. I had to be up and on my way at 4am so I went to sleep quite early.

Dec 31, 2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia cont.

2011-01-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

At 9:30pm I left my hostel and headed to meet Michael. I stood around like a jackass for 30 minutes waiting for him and then took off. The main area of town is normally a 30 minute walk but as I got closer the crowd got bigger and bigger. By the time reached the center of the action it was so crowded that I could barely move.

By the time I got to the bar where I was supposed to meet Justine it was already 11 and she and her crew were nowhere to be found. My plan for the night was to watch the fireworks outside of the KLCC building so headed that direction. There were so many people on the street that it took nearly all of an hour to get there. Fireworks are kind of neat but they were only fireworks and at the end I was still left wanting.

Two missed meetings and I was alone on NYE. Feeling kind of shitty I started heading back to China town. With all the people on the street I got completely turned around and was definitely lost in the city. I hailed a cab that refused to use his meter so I told him to go to hell and kept walking. About 15 minutes later I found another cab that also refused to use the meter but I decided that the way the night was going, I better take what I can get. Once in China town I walked to a Bar called “The Reggae Bar” to check the scene. The place was packed and everyone was having a silly good time. As I looked around the bar it struck me again how diverse this place is. Minus European looking people (Last night I didn’t include myself in this group since I was asked if I was Iranian twice ;) and Latinos it seems KL hosts people from everywhere else.

I ordered a beer and continued to survey the place. In the center of the dance floor was a short Arab guy with a gigantic belly holding a bottle of rum and dancing like no fat man I have ever seen before. With sweat dripping down his slick bald head he was pumping up the crowd like Flava Flav! I was admiring his work and starting to loosen up when I felt two hands grab me from the waist and pull me backward. I turned around and there was Justine! I told her earlier that I planned to end up at the Reggae bar and she came to see if she could find me. For the rest of the night Justine, her crew and I danced, drank, laughed and rang in the New Year. At 4am I walked back at my hostel picking up some spicy chicken and rice at a vendor to eat in my room. After party food is always the best and I was so enthusiastic about eating it I ended with a chili pepper seed in my eye. I wept myself to sleep.

Dec 31, 2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2010-12-31T03:45:00.000-08:00

I woke up at about 11am and packed my dirty laundry into a bag. For about 3bucks I gave it to front desk and they told me it would be washed and dried by 6pm. After that was settled I came back to my room and skyped my parents. While talking to them my dad told me that he has been researching KL and found a place called Batu Caves. He explained to me that Batu Caves is a huge lime stone cave that acts as a Hindu temple. I heard there were caves outside of the city but didn’t think about going to them until the next time I am in KL (about two weeks) but my dad’s enthusiasm motivated me to take the trip today. After a little research of my own I found that the caves were quite easy to get to being only about 7 miles outside of the city. I planned a route by train to get there and set off.

When I walked outside I found my dreadlocked friend hanging out. I told him where I was going and he suggested I take a bus rather than train. Apparently, I was to take bus 11 from the station. At the bus station I waited for over an hour to catch bus 11 before giving up and taking a bus to KL Sentral train station where I could enact my original plan. It only took about 30 minutes and 40cents to get the Batu caves. Once outside of the train I was amazed by what I saw. This place is truly amazing yet the chatter about it online claims it is mediocre. The rock face was fantastic to see alone but the Hindu structures, of which I have never seen before, added to the mystic of the experience. On top of this monkeys roamed the place. They were so tame you could touch them if you really wanted to. To get to the main cave there were about 250 steep stairs to climb and monkeys accompanied me the entire way. Since I have lived in Japan and traveled around Asia quite a bit I find temples a snooze to visit but the Batu caves were an exception. The Hindu statues are not only a nice change of pace but I find them to be entertaining to look at. Add monkeys and I was happy for a couple hours.

After I had my fill of Batu I jumped back on the train heading the direction I came from. Unfortunately, I over shot china town by one stop and had to wait at a station for 45 minutes for the next train to come. When it did it was packed. Because of Japan I am used to packed trains but this was different. Everyone on that train was soaked with sweat and the smell of humanity was ripe. Not only that, everyone was talking loudly and having a good time smooshed into each other. The smell and loud voices made me feel at ease. This sort of experience is what I felt was missing in Japan. I am as smelly and loud as the best of them and loved participating in the "realness" with the other passengers in the train.

I got back to Chinatown and was famished. Without really looking at the food I sat down at a food garage near where I was left off. I chose a piece of fish, rice and some veggies. For the first time I was disappointed in my food choice. It tasted like boiled veggies, deep-fried fish and dry rice. I guess because that is exactly what it was. For 3$US, I guess I can’t complain too much.

For dessert I decided to stop at an outside table area and drink a beer. Before long, I started talking to an Irish guy named Michael. Like myself, he has traveled quite a bit in Asia and we shared stories as well as travel tips we learned along the way. He is also traveling solo and we decided it would be a good idea to hit the New Years Eve festivities together later in the night. After making a plan to meet I came up to my room and found that I received an email from a girl I met on Travbuddy.com . She is also in KL traveling with friends and invited me to hang out with them later. Neither of us have a cell phone so I suggested meeting outside of a bar in the main area of town at 10:30. I highly doubt we will be able to find each other in the NYE crowd but Michael and I are going to be there anyway so it’s worth a try. I will let you know how my night went tomorrow. Now, it is time to get ready party!

Thursday December 30, 2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2010-12-30T05:31:00.000-08:00

I was woken up by the noise of two men arguing at about 9:30am. They were speaking English but I couldn’t catch what the argument was about. They seemed to be yelling about the washing machines. One participant in the argument kept saying “I don’t lie to you” over and over in an Indian accent while the other said “then why is it so” in a different accent unrecognizable to me. My head was hurting from the whiskeys I drank before bed so I tried for the next 45 minutes to fall back asleep but it was a lost cause. At about noon I walked out the hostel door to a grey, hot and muggy day but it was not raining so I was pleased. Having read that KL doesn’t have much in the way of "must see" sightseeing I made a vague plan to spend the day walking the entire city without using any mode of transportation other than my feet.

My first stop was a street vendor who was selling coffee. I ordered the chilled coffee for approximately 60 cents and it was presented to me in a plastic bag that was rubber banded to a straw. Having had my caffeine fix it was time to locate breakfast. I walked around checking food stall after food stall until I found something that I knew I wanted. It was a beef noodle soup that was kind of like pho but definitely not pho. For a dollar fifty it was the perfect breakfast.

I then made my way to central market, which really is a lousy inside market to visit, and before long felt an emergency feeling in my stomach. I found the bathroom, paid about 10 cents for entry and praised the lord that Japan trained me to use a squat toilet. It was apparent that something I had eaten in the past couple days was going to give me trouble. Always expecting to be sick while traveling abroad I didn’t think too much about it and continued on my way. For hours I walked around major areas of the city people watching until my stomach started to rumble again. I crossed the street to a KFC and ran upstairs. The stall was taken and I waited outside listening to him groan and screech at the same time he was popping and splashing. I decided it was best if I didn’t use this toilet and found a mall. There, while on my way to the toilet, I noticed a commotion in the center of the mall. It was apparently a huge sale and people were cramming to get to it. The ferociousness of the crowd convinced me to closer inspect the area after using the john. Upon entering the sale zone I was pushed, bumped and even shooed away by a few individuals among the headscarved crowd. This only convinced me more that there was a deal to be had and I continued digging through the racks hoping to find a nice dress shirt. (I will be attending a New Years Eve hotspot tomorrow that has a dress code.) After some time I found a really nice button down black shirt and bought it. I can thank my stomach issues for an awesome 9$ shirt and a very unique experience.

From the mall I walked to the wealthy area of the city called the Golden Triangle. This is where the famous KLCC twin tower building is and also where I will be partying tomorrow night.

Not being interested in Louis Vuitton or any other brands, I quickly walked through the area deciding it was time to head back to china town (where my hostel is located). On my way I kept my eye out for a barbershop where I could get my beard trimmed. I stopped into 3 obviously female focused solons, all of which refused to touch my beard. The woman behind the counter of the third solon told me that I needed to find an “Indian barber man” if I wanted my beard trimmed. With my mission at hand, I searched the city for an Indian man holding a pair of scissors. As luck would have it, I found one smoking a cigarette outside of his shop that was on the street adjacent from my hostel. I asked him for a trim and for some reason he laughed at me while pointing to the chair in his shop. I sat down and enjoyed the best beard trim of my life. He used a combo of buzz clippers, scissors and a straight razor to get it perfect all for 3 dollars. Trimmed and newly handsome I headed back to my hostel and rested until about 10pm.

So far my impression of Kuala Lumpur isn’t that great. Don’t get me wrong, I am having fun and the people I have met are kind but I just can’t find much to do besides shop. Unfortunately for me the only thing I hate more than shopping is having new stuff to deal with. In fact, shopping seems to be the about the only activity anyone can recommend to me. I spent the evening walking around and chatting with other foreigners who were either very drunk or very bored. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy night so I fall into the bored category at the moment. At least the food here is outstanding and cheap! Here is what I ate for dinner. It was about 2.50$ and it was super good.

Wed, December 29th Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2010-12-30T03:46:00.000-08:00

First day of the solo trip was a success. I arrived in Kuala Lumpur at about 9am and had no problem catching a bus from the station to the city. It was about an hour ride and I fell asleep for most of it. When I got off the bus a Kiwi guy, based on my guess about his accent, approached me and asked where I was going. I smiled and said “China Town” not knowing where that was or how I was going to get there. He explained to me that he was in KL only for the day and was trying to figure out where to go. I had no answers for him and although I could have invited him into my first moments solo in the world, I didn’t. Perhaps his ambition to connect with another traveler foreshadows my trip. I hope so.

From central station, where I was dropped off, I almost immediately found a bus that had the area of my hostel written on a white piece of paper with marker hanging from its window. I jumped on and asked the man if the bus was going to XXX. He confirmed that it was and I found a seat. I erroneously assumed that since I was obviously foreign and obviously had no idea where I was going that he would alert me when the stop I inquired about arrived. That was a stupid but not horrendous mistake. I instinctively knew, with no signage I could read, when we passed my stop and I stood up and asked him if in fact I was correct. He pointed towards the back of the bus and said “go.”

Once out of the bus I was asked by no less than 6 Indian cabbies at once “sir do you need a taxi?” Determined to find my own way to the hostel I refused and started walking the direction I was pointed. After about a block I saw a large building with the words Central Point hung on the front wall. Inside I found an information desk with what I estimate to be a 40 year old Indian woman sitting behind. Without words I showed her the information I had available for my hostel. She looked at me like I was an idiot and in perfect English said “I am calling them now!” After her convo she informed me that I was merely two blocks away and pointed to the hostel area on the map. I made it there with no problems.

Once at the hostel I stripped off my sweat soaked clothes and relaxed on the bed. I have a private fan only room that is small and clean. There are 5 shared bathroom stalls that double as a shower so the entirety of the bathroom is wet at all times. It is my theory that this hostel is mainly used by Indian’s who are looking for work in KL as a temporary apartment. The hostel itself is a bit scummy but for about 10 bucks a night, I love it.

Including a nap, catching up on emails and general lethargy I stayed in the tiny room for over 4 hours. At that point I decided I was rejuvenated enough to hit the street and abandoned my room. Just outside of the exit was small Asian man with dreadlocks. In a thick Australian accent he told me “20 minutes the shower will come.” Without breaking pace I smiled at him, probably bowed just a little, and said “oh, I better run” without even attempting to trot. The man at the door was wrong. Not two blocks had passed when I felt a sprinkling. Then a huge drop of rain avoided my glasses and fell directly into my eye. I stopped for a moment to collect myself and just then rain started pelting me. Quickly, looking for somewhere to hide, I ran to an Indian food restaurant that looked like it was run out of an auto garage. The staff paid no attention to the rain and looked at me like I was doing something weird. What it was I will never know.

The man heading the small vendor buffet spoke perfect British English and told me I wanted the rice and fish. I submitted, agreed and then accepted a Styrofoam dish filled with it. I walked to the table noticing the differing skin color, eye shapes and dressing styles of the customers. Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai and more all call this city home. I believe it is the most diverse place I have ever been in. Sitting at a table I devoured my meal as the rain started to move from heavy to disturbing. People all around me started laughing and whooping as the flood water reached the top of the curb and began to pour over into the shop. The workers paid no notice and continued stretching dough, mixing rice and stirring curry. Thunder announced itself so loud that not only did I, but I suspect, everyone in the shop jumped out of their seats. The whooping commenced again. I watched as busses just outside of the restaurant let people out and the people would jump from the final step of the bus onto the sidewalk to avoid walking through six inches of water. Eventually 3 busses stopped in front of the shop and didn’t continue on. They were waiting for the rain to subside.

I finished my meal and hunkered down to wait out the storm. Out of nowhere I heard another big bang but this time it was followed by the sound of breaking glass. The shop went dark and I suspect that somewhere a florescent light bulb was in pieces. Again whooping and excited chatter erupted. I smiled with the rest of the customers and waited for thirty more minutes until the rain slowed to a pace I felt was acceptable to sprint two blocks. Back in my room I chatted online with friends back home in Japan and America.

About an hour later I checked on the situation outside and found that the roads were as dry as they were before the storm. The “flood” had passed and I had a hankering for a drink. Luckily there was a roof top bar above where I was staying. I walked up three flights before noticing that the rooftop bar was a soggy wooden rooftop with lawn furniture, 1 bottle of rum, 1 bottle of coke, 20 or so beers and the same dreadlocked man who warned me about the rain talking to another very flamboyant guy from Thailand. The bar looked so lame I almost turned back down the stairs but they saw me turn the corner and beckoned me to come. I simultaneously sat down as my rum and coke was being poured. 6 ringetts (1.80$) later Mr. Dreadlock patted me on the back, smiled and said “I told you it would rain!” His hand was extended and he introduced himself with a name that sounded a lot like Bragodon but I never asked him to clarify. Without missing a beat the other man grabbed his drink, clinked my glass and told me his name was Jack. Together we drank while discussing how wonderful the view on this roof would be if only the building blocking the famous tower burned down.

Eventually, two female students of about 20 from the Netherlands came up to the bar and were encouraged by Jack to join us. One drank a beer while telling her friend, in English so we all could understand, that she should stop complaining about her bug bites. All the while her friend scratched her bites and complained incessantly about them. Jack was ready to go to a better bar and so was I. I assumed he was a local. I was wrong. At the reggae bar down the street Jack introduced me to the tour group he was leading. Apparently, they started in Bangkok, where he is from, and after 15 days will have hit many spots in SE Asia. The group consisted of 1 couple from America who live in Japan, one couple from Australia and one couple from England. Jack told them all I was his boyfriend. To everyone’s amusement I denied the charges and played a game of pool with the aussie male, won, and exited the situation.

I headed back to the rooftop bar where I found my dreadlocked friend and an American couple from New York. They explained to me that they wanted to spend as much time abroad as possible but have run out of money. As a result, they hedged their bets by renting an apartment in KL and are now looking for work. Though I explained that my situation in Japan was much different than theirs, they sought my advice on how to land a job overseas. I tried to squeeze a bit of knowledge from my situation that would help them but ended up talking about old Nintendo games instead. Couple whiskeys later and we said goodnight. I headed to bed.

Finished in Japan and on to somthing new

2010-12-30T03:28:00.000-08:00

For those reading this allow me to catch you up. I finished my work in Japan in August of 2010. I moved back to America for 3 months and then back to Japan for about a month. Now I am at the beginning of a solo trip that will take me many places in the world. I would give you more detail but I just don’t know where I am headed. Basically, I am playing it by ear and figuring it out as I go. I am excited as hell about this adventure and plan to blog everyday. Be warned, this blog is basically a way for me to remember the sometimes boring details of an incredible trip. You may find my writing is careless and my details are insignificant to you. With that said, if you want to know what it is like to travel alone in the cheapest countries I can find then you may enjoy the blog anyway.

Culture festival and Party

2009-11-24T04:56:00.000-08:00

Not so long ago my school had its annual culture festival. This is a day where the students perform for each other and staff all day long with songs, plays and other crafty sort of performances. I wrote about the festival in more detail on this blog last year. Anyway, this year I was asked to act in the 9th grade play. The play was about civilians hiding in a cave in Okinawa during WWII. The battles in Okinawa and the civilian experience there are often remembered in Japan with great significance. In fact, each of my students takes a trip to Okinawa and visit the caves featured in this play before graduating Jr. High.

My role in the play was... you guessed it... an American Soldier. It was surreal to be in Japan acting as an American soldier, who speaks Japanese, in a play, that that describes the horror of war from the Japanese perspective. It was one of those -how the hell did I get here- moments. Basically, I had 4 sentences in Japanese roughly translated as "The cave is dangerous, come out of the cave. Come out. We will not do anything to you if you come out of the cave. Gently come out of the cave." To make myself feel smart here is the Japanese as I remember it... not sure if it is totally correct: "donokutsu wa kikendesu, detekinasai. Detekinasai. Watashitachi wa nani wo shimasen. Otonoshiku detekinasai."

Soldier Dale:

Class photo:

After the culture day ended there was a party (enkai) for the teachers. Because it was a special occasion shiitake mushrooms were served http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiitake . These mushrooms are very expensive and are said to have an amazing smell and taste. I thought they were completely void of flavor good or bad. In fact, as I sat and watched everyone make a big deal over the mushrooms I was convinced everyone was either pretending or just enjoying the hype of the mushroom (like when I get overly excited about a lobster coated in melted butter that tastes wonderful but exactly the same as anything else coated in butter).

This piece tasted exactly like charcoal:

Fellow teachers and kocho sensei (boss man) having fun:
more teachers:

In accordance with tradition everyone save 3 drivers got completely tanked at the party. Red faces and slurred speech by all. The green tube you see on the table above is sake made in Takashima. We must have consumed 15 of those suckers along with a million beers. As always, a great time!

I guess we enjoy dressing up!

2009-11-19T04:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I posted and it has been a long time since I have talked to many of you. Family and friends- it appears I am not very good at keeping in touch. The truth is, I am very busy and always on the go. Recently, I have added studying Japanese for 1hr a night on my plate because I have a big test coming up on December 20th. I will be trying to pass the Japanese language proficiency examination (JLPT level 4). Apparently this test is supposed to be easy but it sure as hell is hard for me. Right now I am taking practice tests and earning a passing grade on about 50% of them. So, at this point it is really a coin flip if I pass or not. Anyway, don't get the idea I don't love and miss everyone back home---I am talking to my buds back home too--- I just am living every day as hard and as intensely as I can while I am here. Sadly, that means I have lost touch with many of you. Worry not! I plan to be back in August and look forward to seeing you all again!!!

Anyway, I was talking to a friend recently and together we realized we have had quite a few costume parties since arriving in Japan. Back home I hardly dressed up for Halloween and here it seems like we are in costumes every couple months. Here are a few of my favorite costume pictures. Enjoy!

Halloween 08: Walking the streets of Japan.
Halloween 08: Most people who saw us had no concept of Halloween.

Toga party: Why not?

Toga party: guess who cut the cheese.

Cowboy and Indian Party: Moose knuckle.

Cowboy and Indian party: American style!

Cowboy and Indian party: even taller than the other foreigners... why?

Halloween 09: Captain Hook and Peter Pan.

Halloween 09: Proud Captain and his crew

As you can see I have fun quite often here. I feel like I double dipped on the college experience.

My Japanese Family

2009-09-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Please meet the Shimoda family! They also live in Takashima and own a sashimi market that is connected to their home. For about 4 months I have been meeting with them on a near weekly basis. Minami, the daughter, graduated from American University in Washington DC and speaks English Fluently. We are known by most people around here as brother and sister.

Her parents hosted numerous students through the years from all over the world and now, have extended that kindness to me. About once a week I come to their house and Mrs. Shimoda teaches me Japanese while I teach her English. Usually this lasts for about an hour when she abruptly gets up and starts making dinner.

I usually sit and watch TV while she is cooking and Mr. Shimoda is tending to the shop. At first this was a surreal experience but now it just feels normal. They have been so kind and welcoming I really feel at home when I am there.

Mr. Shimoda is quite the train guru and can get me anywhere in Japan in the cheapest and fastest way possible. He also has a thing for soba noodles and travels far distances via train just for a bowl of soba.

Mrs. Shimoda is a fantastic cook and an excellent beaded jewelry maker. She is also quite a character and enjoys picking on me when I unintentionally act rude... or should I say, not Japanese.

As you can see, the food is always amazing. I will try to post more photos of the food I am privileged to eat but I always forget to bring my camera.

Fujisan

2009-08-31T07:14:00.001-07:00

A group of friends and I decided it was about time to finally climb Mt. Fuji (Fujisan in Japanese) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji) . Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan at 3,776 m (12,388 ft). The mountain is closed to climbers (or causal climbers) most of the year and has only a 2 month opening in the middle of summer when it is considered safe to climb. This is the period when base camps are functional on the way up the mountain. While everyone else in the group opted to take the bullet train to Fuji, I decided to save a few bucks and take local trains to a city near the mountain (6.5hrs) followed by a 2 hr bus ride to the trail head (same way back too). Here I am on the bus. It was only the driver and I so I made myself comfortable:

Before long, Fuji came into view:

I met up with the rest of the group at camp 5 of 10. It was already feeling cold even though it was about 90 degrees at sea level. Of the 7 people here, only 4 would make it to the summit:

Climbing Fuji is no joke. Before arriving I really didn't think it would too much of a challenge but I was wrong. The weather was terrible. The rain was pouring down and the winds were so strong we often had to stop and let it die down to avoid losing our balance. On top of this, the fog was so thick that we could only see a few feet ahead. Here we are at camp 7, the last place where it was feasible to take pictures because of the weather:

It took us about 4 hrs to get to camp 9. Here we reserved a place to sleep from 9pm-2am in order to arrive at the summit in time to see the sunrise. The camp was very rustic but they did manage to pack in enough food to feed us. We were all freezing cold and soaking wet when we arrived. The camp was a little warmer than outside but not by much:

Luckily, we had each other to keep us warm. We woke up at 2am super cold and many of us were still wet. At this point 3 members of the group backed out. They were not ready for 3 more hours of climbing. I can't say I blame them. The weather got nothing but worse and the trail was incredibly steep at this point. We could hear random people in the cabin who spent the night puking because of altitude sickness. One unlucky member in my group got sick too:

Fortunately, I was strong enough to endure! Here I am celebrating on the summit. Too bad the weather was so bad that we couldn't see the sunrise or anything else for that matter:

The fog and rain was so thick this is the only way we could get a group shot on the summit. Kind of cute though:

Half way down the mountain the weather cleared and I was able to enjoy the morning view:

Fantastic!

Going down the mountain was painful for me. I would have rather climbed Fuji 3 times than descend it once. Albeit my knees are a little torn up anyway from playing basketball, I was in serious pain going down the mountain. I shuffled down the trail sideways wincing the whole way. Regardless, it was absolutely worth it. I have to admit, it must not have hurt that bad because I ended up pulling an all nighter in Osaka that evening with a different group of friends.

Hanshin Tigers Game!

2009-08-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I went to a Hanshin Tigers game. The Tigers are Kansai's professional baseball team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshin_Tigers ). That's right, the kids who have a huge rivalry with the Tokyo Giants. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get tickets to a Giants/Tigers game so I settled for a match up with the Yokohama Baystars. Koshien Stadium is located between Osaka and Kobe and thus, about a 90 minute train ride from my home of Takashima. Ever since watching the Movie Mr. Baseball as a kid, I have wanted to personally witness the spectacle that is Japanese professional baseball. All the fans here are die hard and rumor has it, and it doesn't surprise me a bit after living here, that they practice team sanctioned cheers at home before the game. At a Japanese baseball game coordinated crowd participation rules. The whole stadium will erupt into the same chant and make the same movements when certain plays are made in the game. I have yet to break the code on this one.

As you can see the stadium is packed! Koshien Stadium is not very big but nearly every seat is filled every game:

Running up and down the stairs are teams of super cute girls in pink wearing a mini keg of beer on their backs. I find this to be a superior system to the sweat hogs yelling at you at MLB stadiums. With that said, I did kind of miss the yells of "cold beer, peanuts, popcorn" but not that much.

As always, a group of foreigners showed up and messed up the solidarity of chants:

One jackass was particularly annoying:

During the 7th inning stretch I realized why I was handed balloon on the way in. Everybody spontaneously stood up and started blowing the suckers up:

And quite by surprise to me, the entire stadium let them go at once. The video below is a work of fate. I had no idea they were going to let the balloons go but I caught it on tape by accident!

I am happy to add Koshien Stadium to the list of professional parks I have visited thus far. If you care, and I honestly don't know why you would, I have watched games in:

The Kingdome (old Mariners park)

Safeco Field (new Mariners park)

AT&T park (Giants)

Turner Field (Braves)

Dodger Stadium (Dodgers)

Angel Stadium (Angles)

Shea Stadium (Mets)

Koshien Stadium (Tigers, Japan)

I am going to try to hit at least one other stadium in Japan. Hopefully the Tokyo Dome.

By the way, yes, I felt the earthquake early this morning. It was of 6.6 magnitude and began just 10 minutes after a bigger earthquake hit SE Asia. We must be on the same plate or something. The Japan earthquake epicenter was quite far from Takashima but it was the biggest quake I have experienced to date. It hit around 5am my time and lasted for what felt like 2 full minutes. To me, it felt like low grumbling for 60 seconds, about 20 seconds of some serious rattling and then back to a low grumble for the last 40. These numbers are all based on my nervous and tired memory so take them for what they are worth.

Until next time- Dale

Fishing spots near my house

2009-07-22T14:58:00.001-07:00

Lake Biwa is well known in the area for great bass fishing. Here are a few of my favorite spots to fish all within a 5 minute walk from my house:

The bridge. Here I wade into the water and work both the shoreline and bridge structures.

The water is very clear and you can sometimes see the bass and other fish swimming around.

I do not have much fishing equipment and most of my equipment is not suitable for the kind of fishing available to me here. I have tried in vain to locate a fishing store in Japan. This is a great source of frustration to me because I know there has to be fishing stores all around the lake but everyone I ask has no idea where. When I do ask someone who would know (other fishers I see) I can't understand their Japanese well enough to get directions. Additionally, I am unable to read Kanji so even if I am looking at a fishing shop, I have no idea what I am looking at. Anyway, here is the only bass I have managed to catch so far. Impressive, no?

Blue gill are also abundant in my area. If you don't know, blue gill are one of the stupidest members of the fish family and are easy to catch because they hang out in shallow water (so you can see them) and they bite just about any bait you have--- I once caught a blue gill with no bait at all, the bugger just bit a dry hook. After I fail at catching bass for the day I usually end up catching a couple blue gill and feed them to the stray cats that keep me company on the lake.

My students tell me this harbor produces a good number of bass but I have yet to catch one.

Although my success in bass fishing has been almost nonexistent, I still have fun relaxing outside with my line in the water. I think my luck will change once I find a fishing store! Wish me luck.

Nagasaki

2009-07-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

In late June my friends Ryan, Haruko and I took a trip to Nagasaki. As you are probably aware, Nagasaki is one of two cites in Japan (the other being Hiroshima) that was victim of an atomic bomb. Since this time the city of Nagasaki has become a symbol of peace by keeping the stark memory of atomic warfare alive in the city. Nagasaki was also the first and, up until the latter years of the 19th century, only major port in Japan open to the outside world. As a result, Nagasaki grew into a multi-cultured city that is like no other I have visited in Japan. The Chinese and, especially, European influences can be felt in its food, architecture and even city infrastructure. This made my trip especially enjoyable after living and working for a year in an unmistakably Japanesesy (technical term) version of Japan.

My trip came together in a flash. I was visiting the Shimoda family (friends who have taken me in and teach me Japanese while feeding me the best food ever---they own a sashimi (raw fish) market) when the father of the household told me about a special shinkasen (bullet train) deal that would expire the following day The deal was 120$ for a ticket that is good for anywhere the shinkansen will take you for 2 days. Take my word for it, that is an incredible deal! He could see my excitement and pulled out a map showing me the route to take to get to the best and furthest city from where I live. Of course, it was Nagasaki. As he was starting the car to take me to the train station to buy the tickets I called everyone who I thought may be interested in a spur of the moment trip. Soon I had two takers and 3 ultra cheap shinkansen tickets for the following weekend! Thank you Mr. Shimoda!!!

Here I am standing in Nagasaki station (a five hour journey via bullet train) next to Kyushu's (island where Nagasaki resides) version of a shinkansen. These suckers fly down the tracks. If you are fortunate enough to get a seat the ride is very cushy. In this case, I stood in the "cell phone" area for a 2 and a half hour leg of the trip because this sucker was packed.

Here is something I almost forgot existed; A huge and beautiful catholic church. It was actually a thrilling experience to appreciate the stained glass and mosaic art with fresh eyes. Because I have only visited temples and shrines since arriving to Japan I was able to appreciate the beauty in what I cared nothing about before.
Overlooking the ultra hilly city of Nagasaki. With the western architecture and steep narrow streets I could almost pretend I was in San Fransisco for a few moments.

My friend Ryan and I stopped to appreciate this canal. I am no canal expert but this one appeared strange to me. It was a trench that was dug to allow the bay to flow deep into the city. I image it connects to a fresh water river somewhere down the line. Some distance from the bay I looked into the water and saw jelly fish swimming around. Is this usual? I have no idea but it was pretty cool.

Here are two famous Nagasaki dishes. Champon (the soupy looking noodle stuff) and Kakuni (fatty beef that is wrapped in a steamed bun). Both are pretty good but I don't have much to offer in way of an insightful opinion. Fatty beef is good. Soup with meat and an oily base is good. I don't think there are any surprises here.

Here is the most famous statue in Peace Park. As I remember, the man is half sitting in meditation and reflection but also has one leg out to represent action he will take to promote peace. One hand points to the sky to remind us of the threat of nuclear war and I cant remember what the other hand represents. The guy in the statue is intentionally buffed out to represent the strength it takes promote peace. There are many other statues in peace park that have been donated from countries around the world with each proclaiming the importance of world peace---- a few of these countries are currently engaged in war.

The bomb was dropped very close a prison. The prison was completely destroyed with only what you see below remaining:

Below is the exact location of where the A-bomb landed. The box is a tomb for those who died as a result of the bomb. As you can see the sign on the lawn says "stop the war" and Iraq is written in Japanese (katakana) below.

Here I am standing on an old bridge after hiking around the city all day.

And lastly, here is the customary Barack Obama----place your city name here---- souvenir. People tend to love Obama in Japan and I see Barack Obama souvenirs everywhere I go.

Elementary students

2009-07-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

For the past year I have been teaching every day at the Takashima Jr. High school and every once and a while at Takashima elementary school. Fortunately, as of late, I have been visiting the elementary school once a week. For me, teaching at the elementary school is a lot more fun than the Jr. High. This is because the students are always excited to practice English. In elementary school the students are rarely too shy to speak up in class or try out English. It is a sad fact that elementary students often seem to speak better English than the Jr. High students. I am certain that the Jr. High school students know more English but they are reluctant to use it because they fear making mistakes in front of the group--- a very Japanesey cultural phenomenon. Back home kids can be shy for sure but it is nothing compared to what I have seen here. Also, starting in Jr. High, English classes are taught not for conversational skill but for passage of high school entrance exam tests. This is an issue that is discussed with annoyance by both foreign English teachers and Japanese natives alike. In my experience I have only heard negative comments regarding Japan's standard of teaching to the test. I assume this is a big factor contributing to the relatively few people in Japan who speak functional English even after completing compulsory English study in elementary, Jr. and Senior high.

When I go to the elementary school fun is the name of the game. My number one priority is to make sure the kids are excited and happy to learn English. That means we play games, yell, laugh and act goofy for the entire class. These are all areas where I have considerable skill.

Recess! Check out the view we get to enjoy.

Warming the kids up with a little song.

lecturing about welfare systems and the implications for America's most vulnerable populations:

It really is a lot of fun:

Last week I also volunteered to instruct a class at "English Camp." Basically, 7 students spent the night at a public building and practiced English. The students cooked a delicious dinner of rice, curry, chicken katsu and salad. I was forced into eating so much that I could barely move while teaching my lesson. After dinner I was invited to take a bath with the students..... no thanks.

Yum!
It was a million degrees in the kitchen where we were eating. This little sweaty creature came out of nowhere and started fanning me. Thank you!

Beer Samurai

2009-06-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

My friend Takeshi sent the best email ever:

"hello beer samurais it is asahi beer takeshi thank you very much from bottom of my heart for joining asahi brewery tour. tour is about 50min watching and about 20min drink free fresh beer time. unfortunately, no English introduction by guide, but fortunately we can drink so nice beer. im not good at hearing and speaking English but ill make efforts to tell you about asahi brewery, i hope we can make beer awesome legend. love beer takeshi "

Takashi (Take) is a mechanical engineer at the Asahi plant outside of Osaka. He thinks he can't speak English but I think his words are quite elegant. Soon after receiving this email we set out as brothers (and sisters) to fulfill the legend of the beer Samurai.

No camera's allowed in the factory but here we are after the tour. Free beer for 20mins. The samurais of long ago were watching. We had to make it count.

Soon the spirit of the samurai was flowing through us

After the tour we decided to go back to Take's place and have a blind beer taste test. Whoops, Take (Mr. Asahi himself) chose suntory as his favorite. We all worried the legend would end at that moment.

But we continued into Osaka to search for answers. No visions were provided by the hookah. We were running out of time! Samurais were deserting the campaign left and right. I thought maybe we wondered off path.

But our destiny was found at the bottom of a staircase. We healed a man's soul! Forever more we will know that the legend of the beer samurai is real!

(this kid was ok, by the way. I don't know who he was but obviously he had a rough night.)

Rugby in Shikoku

2009-06-23T04:25:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I have been part of a co-ed rugby team. In late May we participated in a tournament in Shikoku (the smallest major island in Japan) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku .

The tournament was about 4 hours away by bus. We had an amazing party the whole way there:

Once in Shikoku the bus party turned into a camping party. After all the festivities died I found that 8 inches of floor is plenty of room for sound sleeping.

Warming up the muscles and preparing for battle!
Celebrating consecutive losses!I even found time to pose for a polo cologne commercial:

Serious work on the field:

Team photo:

It has been a long time!

2009-06-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I last posted! Now that I have been here for 10 months I have been finding it difficult to post because I am so busy and have a lot of things to do every night. If not meeting with friends or studying Japanese I am tired and zoned from it all. With that said, here are a few pictures from my trip to Tokyo in May!

I don't really like roller coaster rides or waiting in line but I went to Disney Sea in Tokyo anyway. Here I am taking out the heart of a young virgin temple of doom style.

No surprises here, it was just like going to any amusement park in America. Except..... beer is served in the park!

As soon as we walked up to this fairy and asked for a picture she backed off and told us to cross our arms. Apparently, she has had a few bad experiences. I imagine it has somthing to do with the beer.

I really don't like roller coasters.

In case you wonder what a capsule hotel is like:

The hallway of the capsule hotel. Rooms for 24 bucks a night.

This is Harajuku station and it was packed. It took about 30 mins to get outside onto an almost equally crowed street. Can you find me in the crowd?

While in Harajuku a protest of sorts came marching buy. This is highly unusual in Japan and I have no idea what it was about but the group was definitely protesting in a "Japanese style." They were calm, controlled and regimented as compared to protests back home.
I also got to see the famous Tokyo fish market at 5am in the morning. I was told that 30% of the world's seafood comes through this market.

After touring we ate sushi at a restaurant just outside the market. Seriously fresh and delicious.

Class activity Fun

2009-05-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

To break up the monotony of English class I occasionally give presentations about various adventures I have in Japan using PowerPoint. The kids seem to love seeing pictures of me doing "Japanese" things. The slide shows work as both a listening and reading activity for the class. At the end of the presentation I test their comprehension using a worksheet to incorporate writing too. Below is an example. It looks a little cooler using PowerPoint but you get the idea.

I went to Koyasan!

(question: Where did Dale go?)

I woke up early and took the first train. I was tired!

(question: Was Dale genki on the train?)

At Koyasan I took a cable car up the mountain.

(question: How did Dale go up the mountain?)

It started to rain. But I went sight seeing anyway.

(question: How was the weather at Koyasan?)

I slept in a ryokan. It was a beautiful place!

(question: Did Dale sleep outside?)

At the ryokan I ate delicious food!

(question: Was the food delicious?)

And tried on a yukata!

(question: What clothes did Dale wear?)

I also saw the largest rock garden in Japan.

(question: Did Dale see the smallest rock garden in Japan?)

And the largest cemetery.

(question: Did Dale see the largest cemetery in Japan?)

I enjoyed the trip!

(question: Did Dale enjoy the trip?)

As you can see it takes great skill and innovation to teach English in Japan ;)

Spring is here!

2009-05-09T04:22:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and Takashima is beautiful. The wonderful weather is helping me to truly appreciate how lucky I am to be in such and amazing place surrounded by phenomenal people. It's seems everyone has thoroughly thawed from the harsh winter and we stopped hiding under the blankets and are now finding excuses to enjoy Takashima, the sun and each other.

A few weeks ago the cherry blossoms (hanami) were out in full force. English teachers from the west side of the lake got together in Makino (about 5 train stops away) and enjoyed the scenery in the traditional Japanese style; that is, while drinking sake with friends.

On another weekend we decided to go to an izakaya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya near where we live. Izakayas are basically Japanese style bars that serve small plates of food while you drink. I have been to many izakayas in the city but this was my first experience of one on the countryside. The difference was that in the city foreigners showing up is no big deal but in the country, people are happy to meet the teachers they have probably been gossiping about. When we arrived, two people who where on their way out promptly turned around, ordered more beers and sat with us. We had a great time.

Below is nabe (soup) party we all chipped in to create. Kind of like stone soup:
The spring has also given me the opportunity to explore my surroundings on bike. In fact, I just came home from a 20 mile bike ride (as guesstimated by my friend Kenji and I) along the west side of the lake. Here are a few pictures I took on a different bike ride 2 weeks ago. This is a beautiful beach on lake Biwa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Biwa about 10 minutes from my house:

And the new swimming spot for the summer:

This is the small harbor about a block from my house. The boats are fishing boats that can be rented for 40 bucks a day. Soon I will be out on the lake!

There is also a temple, as shown in a previous post, about 5 minutes from my house. It is an amazing location that is in the mountains and surrounded by forest:

Besides lake Biwa there is also a small pond in my town that is a 5 min bike ride away. I love to fish but found that poles in Japan are ridiculously expensive. For example, at a second hand shop the cheapest pole I found was 80$. I couldn't bring myself to drop that kind of money on a rod so my awesome parents sent me a pole in the mail along with other care package goodies. I have since been fishing twice with no luck but I did happen to run into one of my students who caught this nice bass!

This is a picture of the Mountains and rice fields taken from near the pond. I could not have ended up in a more beautiful place:

And finally, this is a picture at one of Satoko's famous parties. Satoko is one of the most gracious people I have ever met. She has befriended all the foreigners around her and welcomed us into her home as well as giving us help and friendship to us like it is her job. She also has the reputation of being a party animal and I can tell you for sure that she lives up to it!

All this is right outside my door but I still miss all of you back home. Please take care.

Doug in Japan

2009-05-01T02:41:00.000-07:00

In March my brother Doug came and visited me in Japan! His trip tested my ability to party and I found that I just can't keep up with my brother. I am impressed with his ability to go all night, osleep a couple hours and then do it all over again. For me, it was a lot of fun mixed with a lot of pain. I imagine for Doug it was a lot of fun mixed with a lot of pain in his ass from me complaining about being hung-over and tired for 9 days. The experience of having my brother here was fantastic not only because it was fun but also because I got a chance to share my Japan experience with him. We did so much over the 9 days that it seems like a blur but I do know I wish he could have stayed longer. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for him to experience life on the countryside of Japan but we did get to explore Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe together.

On Thursday I took a night bus from Kyoto that left at 11pm and arrived in Tokyo at 6:30am Friday morning. Doug's plane didn't get into Tokyo until 4:00pm so I spent the day walking around and scouting out the Shinjuku scene for when Doug arrived http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku. Shinjuku is a big (if not the biggest) entertainment/businesses/nightlife area of Tokyo. I ended up meeting some dude who was on vacation in Tokyo for a month and he showed me around the area including the famous seedy/red light area of Kabukicho http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabukich%C5%8D,_Tokyo . Doug and I ended up spending a lot of time there. FYI: The Japanese version of seedy/red light is not what you would expect in any American city. It is safe, clean and fun. Just a little a little gritty compared to the rest of Japan. When walking around Tokyo it dawned on me that Doug and I never created a meeting plan, he didn't have my phone number and his phone wouldn't work in Japan. I did have his flight information but was still a little nervous because I had never picked anyone up from the Tokyo airport before and if we somehow missed each other at the airport it would be a shit show to find each other. To settle my nerves I found an Internet cafe and sent him an email saying, "If you are reading this you are lost in Tokyo. Get in a cab and tell the driver to take you to the Keio plaza hotel in Shinjuku. Do not leave the hotel; I will be in the lobby all night." I left the same message with my parents just in case he called them. Fortunately, meeting him was easy and the party was on right away!

We took a terrible 2 hour train ride from the airport to Shinjuku and met up with a couple friends of mine (Charla and Evelyn) who also happened to be in Tokyo. We walked around the stunning scene of Shinjuku sipping beers we purchased from a convenience store before popping into a smoky bar with 80's slash metal posters on the wall and bartenders who also dressed the part. After ordering beers we were handed a book of songs to choose from. Bad move on their part because we ended up playing hits from Steve Wonder, Journey and Billy Joel. 1 hour and a million beers later the bar stopped playing our songs and switched back to playing Slayer et al. It was time for us to move on. Here is Doug and I at the bar:

The four of us walked around Shinjuku for hours stopping at random bars and eateries until a karaoke place caught our eye. We bought a million beers from the convenience store outside and shoved them in our pockets before entering. The karaoke room had a glass wall and the view was fantastic. We were high above the center of Shinjuku singing, drinking and carrying on! It was perfect. We sang until 5:00am.

After karaoke it was time to find a place to crash. We walked around and in terrible Japanese I asked people where we could find a capsule hotel. After about 30 minutes a man pointed us towards an inconspicuous little building and Doug and I bravely walked into what turned out to be a bathhouse. I have never actually been inside a Japanese bathhouse but I have been told they are the cheapest and coolest places to sleep. The rumors were true! Doug and stripped down, put on the provided yukatas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukata) and headed for the shower room. There we showered and soaked in hot and cold tubs while apparently astonished Japanese men smoked and gawked at us. From there we found a commons area and did what everyone else was doing- watched TV, drank beers and relaxed for about an hour. Finally, we entered the sleeping room that had rows of cots affixed with high privacy walls and slept for about 6 hours. I was a little nervous about the cost of this experience but was pleasantly surprised that the bill was about 16$ each. Yes!

Doug awake and excited the next morn:

Me awake and hurting the next morn:

Here is a picture of Doug in Tokyo's Harajuku area. As you can see this is one of the busiest areas of Tokyo:

During our time in Tokyo we hit a few dance clubs and I have about 15 pictures of myself posing with this dude. All of them look just about like this. WTF!

Here is Doug and I at about 6am eating after a long night of clubbing. At this point it was definitely time to get the hell out of Tokyo. Tokyo is really fun but also expensive, confusing and tiring. For me, 2 days in Tokyo is perfect. By day three Doug and I were compulsively saying F-Tokyo to each other. We had tickets for a night bus from Tokyo to Kyoto (close to my home) leaving at 11pm, Sunday night. On Sunday at 11:30pm I decided to put down my beer and check the time. Whoops, we missed the bus that I had already paid for. Our best option to get back to Kansai was to stay up all night and catch the first shinkansen (bullet train) back for a total of 260$. At this point the idea of one more night walking around Tokyo was unbearable and we were already way over budget for the trip but there was nothing else we could do. We walked around like zombies for until the sun came up.

I was happy to get back to Kansai where I know where I am, where to go and what to do. Here is a picture of Doug at the Port of Kobe:

And of us in Osaka on Dotonbori street:
Doug singing in Osaka:
Clubbing in Osaka:
Eating Takoyaki (octopus balls) together:
It was the beginning of Kansai's Hanami (cherry blossom) season http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami season so we toured a few temples with Haruko in Kyoto displaying the blossoms at night:

And here is a picture of Doug in Kyoto. He looks just like an old picture of my dad in this shot.

And here we are in front of a temple that I forgot the name of:

Other highlights of the trip include Doug and I sitting awkwardly in the teachers office of Takashima Jr. High for hours with nothing to do and getting nabe (soup) in a little country restaurant a few miles from my apartment. I had a lot of fun during Doug's time here and am truly happy I got to share "my" Japan with him. Hopefully, he will write a little about his perspective of the trip on this blog.

Omihachiman, Sagicho

2009-04-21T02:35:00.001-07:00

Since the beginning of the year I heard about a festival in Omihachiman, a city almost directly across the lake from me, called Sagicho (or burning festival). Over and over I heard the same stories “people carry floats and crash them into each other;” “the festival turns into a huge bonfire and they burn everything;” “everyone is drunk, even the students;” and “don’t wear anything you don’t want caked in ash and burned!” Obviously, it was a must for me to attend the festival. A few JETs who teach English in Omihachiman decided to have a pre-festival party and invited anyone wanting to come. About 25 English teachers showed up and we BBQed and drank beer for three hours before the festival began. It is safe to say that by the time we decided to head to the festival a majority of us were feeling the cloud of intoxication beginning to surround our brains. Friends walked arm and arm down the street and many of us were talking inappropriately loud about inappropriate things. After about 2 miles (a complete guess) of walking I saw in the distance 2 obviously intoxicated people dancing atop a large float made of decorated pieces of wood being carried on the backs of about 20 stumbling drunken men. We hurried towards the action and as soon as we entered festival grounds we were handed cartons of booze while chanting men prompted us to chug; and chug we did. Before I knew it a few us were recruited to help carry one of the floats and just like that we were part of the festival! The float was heavy, awkward and people from the crowd were climbing on it and dancing before falling off. I am sad to say the combination of shifting weight, unpredictable balance and bellies full of liquor was too much for the carriers and the float crashed to the ground on at least one occasion. This was a shameful moment for all.

Other highlights of the night include floats being crashed into each other and the eventual burning of everything. To tell the truth, the night is a little hazy and as I write this I realize I can’t give much more of a description about the rest of the night. Check out these pictures instead:

Chugging seconds after entering the festival:

I am taller that most Japanese men so it was difficult to help carry the float. I either had to crouch to get my shoulder under the planks of wood or carry more weight while standing straight. Below is a shot of me helping to carry a float:

All good nights include a little bromance:

Check out the cool float and Mr. T on the bottom right:
Huge fires:

Drunken fun:

HA!!!

End of the school year

2009-04-08T04:59:00.001-07:00

March, 09

In Japan the academic year ends in March and begins in April. So, I recently taught my final class with the 3rd year (9th grade) students. At the end of the last class I stood at the teacher podium and congratulated the group on their achievement while thanking them for all the wonderful experiences we shared together. As I was speaking it dawned on me that these children are moving on to unknown adventures in the years ahead. In a flash I thought about my time in Jr. High and remembered how I had no idea about opportunities available to me, what I would do or where I would go. When I was in Jr. High my world was small and simple; the experiences I have since enjoyed, and at times endured, were unfathomable. As I told the class to “never give up” and “always follow your dreams” I realized I was not saying scripted words appropriate for the occasion but that my heart was really speaking. In this moment, as contrived as it may seem, I realized that the reason I find myself working with children over and over again is because I see every kid as packed with unknown potential and the opportunity for greatness. It is through my laughter, lessons and love that I, for brief moments, give them the opportunity to see for themselves what I see in them.

So here I am standing on the podium talking to kids who don’t speak English well enough to understand what I am saying while parts of my life are spontaneously coming clear when I realize I am going to start crying. For whatever reason, shedding a few tears in front of the class is not what I wanted to do so I concluded my statements and let the class mill around a bit. After a few minutes four girls who I helped study for the English proficiency test came up to me and broke the news that they all passed the test. I could see in their faces how proud they were and it was all too much. I lost my shit and tears were running down my face. I felt a little embarrassed until I realized the students and Japanese teachers felt the same way as I did. We all had a little cry fest to conclude English studies for the ninth grade. What an ending!

The graduating class:

Receiving the diploma:

It was literally freezing but that didn't stop the teachers, families and underclassmen from creating a human tunnel outside for the graduates to parade through after the ceremony:

Watch out! These are the cool kids:

Hard to tell from the picture but this kid actually stands 6ft3. He is 3 times as big as the other students and wants to be an American football player.

We stood outside and took pictures for about an hour:

Preparing for the ceremony with a few first year (7th grade) students:

Playing with my food:

Trying hard to cheer up a bunch of crying students:

I will miss these kids!

Guys night

2009-03-10T04:16:00.000-07:00

Being true romantics... my boys and I decided to pull an all nighter in Osaka for valentines day. Our goals were so simple and yet so perfect! Goal 1: Drink a ton of "real" beer at one of the few bars we found that sells microbrews from around the world; Goal 2: Go to an all you can eat/drink Brazilian meat extravaganza; goal 3: Look for adventure in Osaka with cloudy beer brains and bellies full of meat. I am proud to report we met and exceeded all of our goals.

The crew:

The beer:

The hanging:

The obnoxious:

A really fun day

2009-03-04T00:24:00.000-08:00

There was no school on February 11th because of "National Foundation Day." I have no idea what National Foundation Day is but I was glad to get the time off! All of the English teachers on the west side of lake Biwa were invited to "share the culture of Japan" with the Shin Asahi (a town next to me) international group. Again, I had no idea what the Shin Asahi international group is but they sent me a flier and agreed to pick me up at my train station so I was down to see what it was all about. I was driven to a temple in Shin Asahi filled with about 50 (?) smiling locals. A monk who spoke English MCed the event and encouraged us teachers to try and talk with everyone because they were all excited to meet us. A very fun part of being a foreigner in the countryside of Japan is that people are often very happy to see you and get the chance to speak with you; even if it is just a way for them to test out their English. I spent about 40 minutes shaking hands, meeting people and practicing Japanese before it was time eat. Oden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden and onigiri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onigiri were on the menu. As far as I can tell oden is basically boiled eggs, fish loaf (think imitation crab), soggy bread and vegetables. It has a bland flavor and the taste makes me think it is the most healthy and cheap way to feed a bunch of people. Like many foods I have eaten in Japan, I think it tastes fine but not great. Onigiri is basically a rice ball wrapped in sea weed with some sort of food in the middle. I actually eat onigiri all the time and think they are great. The convenience stores sell onigiri for about a buck each and they are a decent lunch and/or snack. The best part of eating onigiri is that, for now, I often cannot read the writing on the package so I have no idea what is in the middle. Now days, I can recognize my favorites (tuna with mayo/salmon) but if I am feeling like something different I will just grab and deal with the consequences. I have yet to buy an onigiri that I couldn't eat but there is one flavor floating around out there that tastes similar to Copenhagen tobacco.

The older lady to my right was my best friend of the day. She spoke rapid fire Japanese to me like I was born in Japan and to reciprocate; I spoke natural English to her. Neither of us had any idea what the other was saying but we held hands and laughed at each other for a good part of the day.

After lunch we were beckoned into the main part of the temple. I followed my older Japanese lady friend into the temple and sat in the same area as her right in front. After a few minutes I realized I was the only male, only foreigner and only person under 60 in this part of the temple. Right as I was about to join the rest of the group in the back a ceremony started so I stayed where I was. It was a great spot to watch 5 or 6 older women ring bells and sing in front of a Buddhist shrine. After a few minutes a young family joined my area and I felt relieved that I wasn't breaking some rule about sitting in the front with the ladies.

After the singing and bell ringing everyone was handed a bag and the monk (other people too) started throwing dango (a type of mochi) at us http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dango . Kids were running around, everyone was getting pelted (it stung to get hit), and I couldn't stop laughing. Finally we all left with bags of rock hard dango!

Upon leaving the temple a few other teachers and I were invited to a nabe dinner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabemono. Nabe is basically a soup with anything you want thrown into it. I love nabe! We ate with the family and had a great time.

It was a really fun day!

Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival) full post

2009-02-23T02:02:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, 2/21/09, I attended the Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival) in Okayama, Japan. Okayama is a medium sized city located between Osaka and Hiroshima. It is about a 4 hour train ride from my home city of Takashima. I knew almost nothing about Hadaka Matsuri before participating in the event. Basically, about 6 weeks ago I received an email from my friend inviting me to attend a "naked man festival" and, as a joke; I replied that I wanted to be one of the naked men. About 2 weeks later another email arrived confirming that I was signed up as participant. I knew this would mean I would be running around for a few hours in the cold wearing a fundoshi (think unpadded sumo undies) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundoshi and that I would wrestle some guys for a stick but I had no idea what was in store for me. Hadaka Matsuri was the most intense, scary, painful and thrilling experience of my life. Please take look at the link below. It is Japanese news footage of the event and I am somewhere in the middle of that mess.

http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/news_okayama/index.html?d=2009022203

I arrived in Okayama with my friend Charla at about 1:30pm. We were met at the station by Charla's college buddy, Evelyn, who lives in Okayama. We had some time to kill and I wanted to check out the city. Here I am in Evelyn's apartment getting myself mentally prepared for the cold!

In the city we found a glasses store:

And a porn movie theater! The movie posters behind us are hard core and displayed without shame for all to see. Strangely, this picture was taken by a 14 year old boy who was hanging out by the theater.

After walking around for a bit we hit up some last minute karaoke then I headed to the foreigner participant meeting point. Out of the 9000 naked man runners about 50 were foreigners and we were all packed on the same bus. I am guessing it takes a certain sort of personality to agree to run around in the cold and fight while wearing underwear because the bus was filled with the most foul mouthed, drunken and crude group of men I have been around in a long time; it was the most at home I have felt since moving to Japan!

On bus we were all drinking liquor and at the advice of festival veterans continued to drink in order to keep up with the Japanese participants. I was told the alcohol would cut the cold and numb the pain that we all were about to experience. Joy! Once at the festival we paid about 30 bucks for a fundoshi, a pair of Japanese socks (the only footwear allowed) and a place to store our clothes. The tent was filled with naked men awaiting the fitting of our fundoshi by an old man and woman in the center of the tent. The best part of the fundoshi fitting was watching the old man jack the cloth high up everyone’s ass with a single forceful pull making each victim rise to the tips of their toes. The worst part was shoving a card down your fundoshi with your blood type indicated on it, just in case. Outside the tent was cold. Really cold. Before stripping down I comfortably wore a hooded sweatshirt, fleece jacket and down coat. The socks provided to us were no thicker than the socks I normally wear and the road and gravel were no softer than the road and gravel I typically jog on. Below is a group of us on our way into the cleansing pool and I am the one wearing a headband. The cleansing pool is a 3.5 ft deep pool of cold water that has a fountain in the middle. We ran through it at the start of each of our laps through the temple.
9000 of us ran around and around the temple for about two hours. It was amazing! The spectators surrounded us and cheered us at every step. Men, women and children reached out to touch us as we ran through the crowd chanting "Washoi! Washoi! Washoi!" Below I am exiting the cleansing pool.
Finally, the time came to enter the main area of the temple. All the runners fought, pushed and clawed their way as close to the center of the madness as possible. I have no idea how long it lasted, maybe an hour, where all 9000 of us jockeyed for position. Being in the mass of humanity felt like fighting the ocean. Waves of force swayed the crowd back and forth, up and down. Feet were stomped and elbows were thrown. The unlucky people who fell were trampled before a team of 200 police officers (I am guessing the number) formed a human chain into the crowd to make a rescue. Falling was my biggest worry. Below is a shot of the action taken from the spectator area.
Eventually, lights were turned out and the sticks (I think there were 3 lucky sticks and 1 main stick) were thrown out into the crowd. When the lights were turned back on a huge skirmish erupted near me. I jumped in trying to get to the middle but was quickly pulled away. I came back to the fight over and over and eventually got to the middle but couldn't locate the stick. I honestly have no idea how long this went on for but soon it was all over and everyone exited the temple. Below is a bird's eye view of the action:

Today my muscles are terribly sore. My knee is throbbing and my little toe looks like it is going to pop. I am fortunate not to be seriously hurt and I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to experience new adventures everyday. I still can't believe how lucky I am to be here.

Hadaka Matsuri (Naked man festival)

2009-02-22T03:13:00.000-08:00

I just got home from the Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival) in Okayama (about 4 hours away). My feet are black and blue, I may have a broken toe and my whole body is sore. I got the crap beat out of me over and over again last night. I will tell you all more about this and post pictures. For now check out http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/news_okayama/index.html?d=2009022203 . I was in the middle of this mess after 2 hours of jogging around the temple almost nude, in the freezing cold while dipping myself into a pool of water

Words I know

2009-02-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

Today I was looking for a new way to study and ended up looking at the English side of my flashcards while typing the word in Japanese on my computer. When I was finished, I went back and typed the English for each Japanese word. Without realizing it I created the following blog entry. I know each word posted below pretty well. That is to say, I could probably say the word 70% percent of the time and if the word is spoken I can understand it probably 80% of the time. This leaves me with about the same language ability as a dog. When Japanese is spoken to me it sounds like: blah blah blah blah blah blah "sit" blah blah blah blah blah. At this point speaking in a sentence is nearly impossible for me but I can spit out a few single words if I am lucky enough to be in a situation where the few words I know can be put to use. The list below is from flashcards only and does not include what is floating around in my head yet to be put on paper. Learning this is hard... wish me luck.

つくえ desk
なんさい how old
あのひと that person
えんぴつ pencil
とけい clock/watch
かばん bag
ほん book
かいしゃいんcompany employee
せん thousand
きょしつ classroom
まん ten thousand
だら who
この this place here
しょくどう cafeteria
どなた who (polite)
けんきゅうしゃ researcher
ひゃく hundred
きょうし teacher
あなた you
うち house
びょういん hospital
ここ place that is near
あれ that thing over there
どこ where
どちら where polite
じむしゃ teachers office
へや room
あちら over there (far/polite)
あそこ over there (far)
そちら over there (middle/polite)
じしょ dictionary
ちがいます you are wrong
かぎ key
ざっし magazine
だいがく university
わたし me/I
それ that thing over there (middle)
しんぶん newspaper
めいし business card
こちら this place near me (polite)
その that place near you
おなまえわ what is your name?
でんわ phone
かいしゃ company
かさ umbrella
そこ that place over there (near)
くつ shoe
あの that place over there (far)
じどうしゃ automobile
かいだん staircase
これ this thing right here
なん what
がくさい student
わたしたち we
でんき light/electricity
いす chair
うけつけ reception desk
いしゃ doctor
みなさん all of you
カメラ camera
ラジオ radio
エレベタ elevator
ワイン wine
ロビ lobby
ノト notebook
ボルペン ball point pen
コンプタ computer
チョコレト chocolate
コヒ coffee
ネクタイ necktie
テレビ TV
カド card
エスカレタ escalator
はな nose
ゆび finger
うしろ behind
そと outside
は tooth/teeth
かお face
さかな fish
うえ on/above
か mosquito
つめ finger nail
ホッチキス stapler
ぶんぼうぐ stationary
はえ fly (bug)
みぎ right
むこう over there
すずめ sparrow
ひげ beard
かみ hair
ひだり left
あかちゃん baby
みみ ear
むな chest
あし leg
あため head
となり next to
それから and next…
まゆげ eyebrow
そば beside
した under
なか inside
パンダ panda
まつげ eyelash
かわ river
うりば store counter
いきます go
かえる return
かう buy
あるく walk
おかわり one more of the same
たのしむ enjoy
ねます sleep
します do
たべる eat
こんがらがっちゃった I am totally confused in this confusing situation
げつようび Monday
かようび Tuesday
すいようび Wednesday
もくようび Thursday
きんようび Friday
どようび Saturday
にちようび Sunday
なんようび What day
きます come here
がっこう school
スパ supermarket
えき train station
ひこうき plane
ふね boat/ship
でんしゃ train
ちかてつす subway
バス bus
タクシ taxi
じてんしゃ bike
あるいて by foot
ひと person
おきます wake up
ゆうびんきょくpost office
はん half
あさ morning
おととい day before yesterday
ねます go to bed
ぷん　ふん minute
としょかん library
べんきゅうします study
じ minute
ばん evening
おわります finish
きょう today
まいばん every night
なんじ what time
きのう yesterday
はたらきますwork
いま now
あした tomorrow
やすみます take a rest
かしこまりました certainly
ひる daytime, noon
けさ morning
あせって day after tomorrow
こんぼん this evening
ひるやすみ take a break in the work day (lunch)
まいにち everyday

Staying Warm

2009-02-16T01:37:00.000-08:00

Like I told you all before, it can get fricking cold Takashima. I am living on the base of a mountain and we get plenty of wind, rain and snow. Strangely, It is not the weather that is difficult for me to deal with; it is the lack of insulation and central heating in my apartment and at school. At school the teacher's office and classrooms (while in use) are warmed by kerosene heaters; the hallways, bathrooms and rooms not yet in use are as cold as outside. The kerosene heaters are powerful and can heat a room fast. The problem is that after 20 minutes the room becomes so hot the heater needs to be turned of. 10 minutes after hitting the switch, because there is no insulation in the building, the room is back to frigged. All day I am too hot and then too cold over and over again.

Up until 2 weeks ago I dealt with the same dilemma in my apartment. I was either too hot or too cold but now I am finally getting a handle on how regulate my temperature. All it took was one nabe (soup) party in a Japanese home to learn how it is done. First off, when I get home I immediately turn on my Kerosene heater and shut all the doors so that only my living room is getting heated.
Second, I turn on my heated carpet. The heated carpet is the green "blanket" in the picture below. Since most Japanese people sit on the floor the carpet warms your body quickly. Next, I get my ass and legs under the kotatsu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu . It is basically a low table with a heater underneath that has a thick blanket over it. Like at the school, my kerosene heater works too well and I soon have to turn it off. What is different from school is that the heated carpet and kotastu keeps me comfortable as the apartment turns back to cold. Point being, it is a much less drastic cycle of hot and cold than at school.
Finally, I eat hot soup almost every night. I found that a pot of hot soup in my belly will help keep me warm in even the most miserable of nights.

Using these methods, I am pretty comfortable until bedtime. That is when it gets a little hairy. I am sleeping in my living room over the winter because it is the warmest room in the house. Around bedtime I get my living room super hot with the use of my kerosene heater then turn it off for the night (along with the kotatsu and heated carpet). My futon and 3 heavy blankets are my only salvation while I sleep and like I said before, my apartment quickly becomes the same temperature as outside. Jumping out from under the covers to use the bathroom in the middle of the night is avoided except in the most dire of circumstances. When I do get up to pee I get the privilege of experiencing a piss sauna when my warm urine hits the near freezing toilet water! I even have a friend that told me he is considering keeping a bottle nearby so he can pee without getting out of bed (good luck with that one dude). In the morning my face is typically cold to the touch and I can see my breath. I peel off the covers and turn on my heater before making a mad dash to the shower. I never knew how much I loved hot water until moving to Japan!

All in all the cold isn't so bad but, like everything else in Japan, it just takes some getting used to.

School lunch!

2009-02-12T01:33:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Japan I have lost about 15lbs. I didn't think I needed to lose weight before and now I feel almost too skinny. At the moment my weight hovers between 167 and 172. I think I lost so much weight for a few reasons:

1) The lunches I eat every day are mostly healthy and not very big (although they fill me up).

2) The food in Japan generally has less calories than the food in America because of both portion size and the method of preparation.

3) I hardly snack at all. I basically eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with nothing in between.

4) I do not have a car so I walk a lot. Every morning I walk half a mile to school (then back in the evening) and when I go anywhere, I walk to and from train stations.

5) Although not athletic (but soon I am joining a rugby team with other teachers) my life style is active. There is always so much for me to do around here I almost never sit around at home.

Backlog of school lunches:

Snowy day at school

2009-02-11T04:22:00.000-08:00

A couple days after returning from the hot weather in Vietnam I woke up to this:

Over night it snowed about a foot and I had no idea until I walked out of my apartment. It was a funny surprise and I laughed the whole way to school because I have never seen so much snow. The old town I live in was beautiful covered in white!

Here I am with students in the high level English class. They are making story books in English and will later read them to the elementary school students. I impressed everyday by the artistic ability of my students. The pictures they draw are amazing and detailed. A few weeks ago a student was drawing on his desk rather than listening in class. When I walked over to get his attention I noticed he had drawn multiple view perspectives of an I-Pod by memory complete with labels for each detail. It looked like a technical drawing from an instruction manual. No wonder they laugh when I draw stick figures for examples on the chalkboard. And here is a picture of my 9th grade class from the teachers podium. Scary!

It continued to snow the entire day and there was about 2 feet of snow when I was walking back home. Yeah, it was a cold day!

Vietnam and Cambodia part 4

2009-02-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

From Siem Reap, Cambodia we caught a flight to Nha Trang, Vietnam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nha_Trang. A direct flight from Siem Reap to Nha Trang takes about a hour and a half; unfortunately for us a direct flight was not available so we flew 2 hours back to Ho Chi Mihn City arriving at 10pm and spent the night in the airport to catch another 2 hour flight to Nha Trang leaving at 8am. Normally, I wouldn't complain about sleeping a night in an airport because I can sleep soundly almost anywhere but the Ho Chi Mihn airport is ruled by mosquitoes. I spent the night listening to tiny helicopters buzzing my ears while I smacked at my face to kill the little bastards. Before I knew better I slept barefoot but soon found my little toe red and swollen from three bites all raised in a perfect line. On the bright side, as far as I can tell, I didn't get malaria. Below is the last picture I snapped in Cambodia. We spent the afternoon in a bar drinking beer and playing pool while waiting to go to the airport.

Here is the "tropical paradise" of Nha Trang. It stormed the entire time we were there complete with blinding rain and crazy wind. Although I was looking forward swimming and lounging in the heat, the weather didn't bother me in the least. I was happy to just be in Vietnam and Nha Trang is a lovely tourist town even in bad weather.

We planed our trip so that we would be in Nha Trang over the New Year because Nha Trang is known as a party destination in the Eastern Hemisphere. We were not disappointed! We met and partied with people from all over the world on New Year's eve. Below is a shot of me drinking a bag of coffee for energy before going to the wildest bar I have even been too. I purchased the coffee from a vendor on the street and was totally surprised when I was handed a zip lock bag rubber banded to a straw.

The bar party we ended up at was a crazy mess of drunken people buying each other drinks because it was all so cheap. My group bought a full sized bottle of vodka from the bar for 10 bucks and shared liberally with anyone who wanted to partake. It was surreal to be on the dance floor holding a bottle of vodka and I am pretty sure I morphed into JZ for part of the night. Below is what I was doing the first few seconds of 2009.

My time in Nha Trang was basically a four day party and at the end we all needed a little rest and relaxation. Although I was initially opposed, I am thankful that Kyla was steadfast about us all going to a mud bath spa. The mud bath was an interesting experience that I will never forget. Simply put, we spent 45 minutes covered in warm mud. It was slimy, weird and I have no idea what benefit it has besides having a good time with friends and a cool picture to share with you. After the mud bath we all took our first hot shower in two weeks (hot water is a bit of luxury in that part of the world), and after took a dip in a heated pool filled with mineral water. After weeks of cold showers and generally being covered in grime the pool was heaven!

Below we are packed up and waiting to begin our overnight train journey back to Ho Chi Mihn City. At the train station we were terribly confused about what to do and where to go until an old woman who stood about 4ft2 took a look at our tickets and beckoned us to follow her. The beauty of Vietnam's tourist economy (and other tourist economies too) is that you can be alone and confused but you will always find help from locals who have found a niche in the market. For this lady, her niche was finding confused tourists and offering help. Without her, figuring out what to do and where to go would have been a doable but a difficult situation. With her help it was easy and her payoff came by leading us directly in front of her shop on the departing platform. There we bought snacks for the train, soft drinks made out of bird's nest and ..... Snake whiskey!

The poison of choice for the train ride:

And bird's nest drinks. It tastes like sugar water with tapioca in it.
Kyla went bed early while Jeremiah and I started on the snake whiskey. Big surprise, just like the snake wine we tried before, it tasted just like cat piss smells. It was impossible for us to drink straight so we mixed it with coke and headed to the dining car. There we awkwardly sat with train employees and drunkenly reflected about our trip. Before long it was time to sleep but before reaching our car, we looked out the window and realized we were traveling through the jungle. It was hard to see in the dark but definitely a beautiful moment shared between friends.

In case you are wondering, the snake whiskey was wicked and f-ed us up after one drink. When the train stopped in Ho Chi Mihn City, about 6 hours after going to bed, I thought there was trouble with the train because I couldn't believe we had arrived. I didn't even think I fell asleep, and yet, we were in Ho Chi Mihn City. I have never been put under for surgery but my imagination tells me snake whiskey is similar.

Above I am in Hong Kong waiting for my plane and am ready to be back home... in Japan.

WTF Dale!!!

2009-02-04T01:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know my blog updates have been taking longer than usual and I apologize (by the way, I just finished one below). Please hang in there and keep checking for new entries. I have many amazing experiences that I am excited to share with you and I am committed to updating my blog throughout my time abroad. This month has been hectic and the temperature in my apartment (f-ing cold) makes it difficult to do anything beyond hiding under the blankets. But fear not, I just bought a new jug of kerosene and figured out how to use my heated carpet. New entries sure to come soon!

Vietnam and Cambodia part 3

2009-01-20T04:32:00.000-08:00

From Chau Doc, Vietnam we jumped on a faster transport boat (as opposed to a tour boat like on the Delta) headed to Cambodia. The boat ride was a basically uneventful 3 hour trip save fact that I, and others, were curled up on a metal plank above the boat motor because all the seats were taken. The Cambodian border crossing was a small governmental building with an outside campus. Dogs were running around everywhere and the walls were painted in colors that reminded me of my short visit to Mexico. I can't remember exactly how we were transported from the border to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh but it may have been via the 15 passenger van that was carrying 19 passengers I remember sitting on for hours somewhere in southeast Asia. Once in Phnom Penh we checked into our hotel and then while looking for dinner ended up in a dance club. We ate, drank and danced until we couldn't stand it anymore and then headed back to the hotel and crashed. Around 4 am I woke up to the sound of violent vomiting. I regret to say the funky food we had been eating finally caught up with my buddy Jeremiah and for the rest of our time in Phnom Penh he was either in bed with a fever or having a miserable time in the bathroom.

After making sure Jeremiah's wish for pain ending death wouldn't materialize Kyla and I took off to visit the unhappiest place on earth; The Killing Fields http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Fields.

Albeit completely devastating to learn about what happened in Cambodia about 30 years ago; this experience was the most impacting leg of my journey. Although many millions of people were systematically executed during the Pol Pot regime right around the time I was born I had only a shaky understanding of what actually happened in Cambodia based entirely on acquaintances who described the movie "The Killing Fields" to me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Fields_(film) . Please take the time to at least glance at the Wiki article above and learn more about what happened.

This is a video I took on the way back to the hotel. From my experience, this is a pretty typical scene in Phnom Penh. And below a picture of me looking smug.

At about 9pm on our last day in Phnom Penh I started feeling sick and maybe a little feverish so I headed to bed early. The next day we had an early bus to catch that would take us to Siem Reap about 10 hours away http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap and I was nervous I would be violently ill on the bus. Fortunately in the morning I woke up, promptly puked my brains out and then was ready to go at about 65% strength. Not too bad! I basically slept the whole bus ride and managed not to puke or crap myself the entire trip. At about hour five the bus pulled over at a market somewhere in Cambodia and we all took about an hour travel break. He is a picture of some of the locals selling pineapple and papaya to the tourists.

And here is an industrious little girl who figured out that if she put a big hairy spider on her chest tourists would look in her direction; a perfect way for her to move more pineapple! Fried giant crickets and taranchulas were also sold at the market but I regret to say I was too sick at the time to give them a try.

The purpose of our journey to Siem Reap was to visit the amazing temples of Angkor Wat that is about 5 miles away from the city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat . Essentially, Angkor Wat is an amazing collection of temples/ruins built in the early 12th century. It is literally a city of temples and even after 2 days of exploration, we were unable to see all of the amazing architecture. If you blow up the following picture by clicking on it, you can see faces in the stone. Really cool.

Walking through one of the temples we met these monks who traveled from Phnom Penh to visit Angkor Wat. They asked us to take their picture and we couldn't resist using the opportunity to get a shot with them. They also enjoyed practicing their English by talking with us.

Another amazing temple.

And the most famous area of Angkor Wat. This temple is on the Cambodian Flag.

While in Siem Reap we enjoyed a buffet dinner while watching traditional Cambodian dancers. I actually think the "traditional dancers" were high school students making an easy buck. None the less, it was fun!

more to come...

Vietnam and Cambodia part 2

2009-01-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

After 4 great days in Ho Chi Minh City, we started our boat tour of the Mekong Delta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_Delta that would eventually lead us to Cambodia. We woke up at about 6am and were quickly shuffled by the hotel staff to the meeting area for our bus. We took a miserable two hour packed bus ride lead by a slightly obnoxious Vietnamese tour guide who wanted to be called Stiffler. No joke, this guy made reference to the movie "American Pie" a few times and told us his "Stiffler" nickname indeed came from the movie. He was determined to have all of us listen to his tour script and woke us up to make sure we were paying attention. Fun! Finally we arrived at the Mekong tour port and to the dismay of the entire bus it turned out that Stiffler was our guide for the multiple day trip. To tell the truth, I actually ended up enjoying Stiffler's company because he was such a personality right down to the English he spoke with a thick Australian accent. I truly wish I had a picture of Stiffler to share with you but... I don't.

Here I am ready to jump on the boat:

The boat tour essentially consisted of hours sitting on a boat in the Mekong Delta. If that sounds boring, I assure you it is not. The Mekong Delta is beautiful and like nothing I have seen before. It is obvious that those who rely on the delta have a special way of life. Stilted houses are on it's shores and it is not uncommon to see people netting fish, bathing or collecting water in the delta.

Also on the delta are floating markets. Floating markets seem to be the Mekong Delta's equivalent to a mall. I saw clothing, food, fabric, and furniture all being sold from boats in the market.

Along the way we stopped at several places to eat that had their prices inflated for tourists. At this place, we spent about 10$ each.... what an outrage!

Also, on the tour we got the chance to ride for a while in a traditional delta boat. Same scene but a better hat:
Finally, we arrived in CAN THO CITY, VIETNAM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_Tho). Here we celebrated Christmas by watching the Vietnam soccer team win the Asian cup and wearing Santa caps!

We also got the chance to visit a huge Ho Chi Minh statue in the center of town.

And drink wine infused with snake. It tastes exactly like cat piss smells!

After Can Tho City we took another boat to small border city or CHAU DOC, VIETNAM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chau_Doc . Here we visited a really cool temple:

And ate the best pho I have ever had while sitting in an empty restaurant that looked like an auto garage. Here is my friend Jeremiah and the kid who served me two beers and a bowl of soup for about $1.50

And the best pho ever:
More to come...

Vietnam and Cambodia part 1

2009-01-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

I just came back from a 17 day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. I never imagined I would get the opportunity to visit these places and now that I have I feel enriched by the experience. I wish I could accurately describe every detail of my trip but I am afraid that is impossible. For now, I will post a the best description I can of each leg of my journey.

Part 1:

First off, I can say that I have been to China... kinda. Here I am in Hong Kong enduring a 3 hour lay over. I bought a sandwich and found that Hong Kong change is fricking thick and heavy. I played quarters (where you slide a coin across the table into the other participants knuckles for no reason other than bordom) with my buddy Jeremiah and blood was drawn and the game ended within 10 seconds (sorry J!). I imagine China has more to offer than bloody knuckles. I will let you know.

Upon arriving in Ho Chi Min City (the locals still call it Saigon) the fist thing I noticed was the almost incomprehensible amount of motorbikes on the road. It seems that for every one car there are 500 motorcycles on the road. The motorcycle traffic is thick and the western idea of traffic laws is non-existent. Bikes fly down either side of the road in both directions and the traffic is so thick people actually touch incidentally while moving down the street. I was not uncommon to see a family of four all packed onto on motorcycle; often with a toddler in front holding onto the handle bars dad is controlling. The following is video I took directly after the Vietnam soccer team qualified to compete in some championship game. Granted, these people are in midst of celebration but the everyday street scene is not much different.

The best way to get around Saigon to hire a driver and there are plenty of local drivers on every corner soliciting foreigners for their services. My friends and I decided catch a ride to a market we heard of one morning (about 1$ each) and ended up hiring our drivers for the whole day (15$). The guys we hired were super cool and we basically requested they take us wherever they wanted.

Here is the most shocking picture I have of the market; brains, organs and bags of blood! The interesting thing about the meat in Vietnam (at least to an American) is that it is rarely refrigerated. I ate a ton of meat that had been sitting out (brain included) and to this point, I feel fine.

We ended up seeing temples we never would have realized existed (one of which a monk grabbed my face and started rubbing my beard):

And Eating at a local restaurant that was delicious and cheap:

At the restaurant our drivers told us we were at a locals place that wouldn't charge tourist prices. They ordered ordered dish after dish and beer after beer for us. When the food came our drivers prepared the food but wouldn't eat with us. They would however drink the beer we ordered for them. At some point one of the drivers told us they drink at least 20 beers a day and after about 10 seconds of thought I decided not to worry about jumping back on the bike because A) I was lost in the outskirts of the city and B) apparently, that is how they roll in Vietnam. For more delicious and fancy food than I could eat along with 4 or 5 beers together with beers for the drivers, I paid about 13$.

We had a great time touring the city!

Jeremiah and I visited a museum of sorts that was once a Vietcong (VC) base camp. Here we crawled through actual VC tunnels and learned about the war tactics of the VC. At arrival to the camp we were shuffled into a room and sat down to watch a video. The video was an amazing example of anti American propaganda filmed in what looked like the late 70's. Seeing this Vietnamese propaganda video reminded me of some of the over the top American propaganda I have seen before but never recognized as being so until now. This is one of the most valuable experiences I had in Vietnam:

Here is our tour guide demonstrating a trap used by the Vietcong. He interchangeably used the words "the enemy" and "Americans and their allies" when describing victims of the traps. He obviously took pride in America's defeat in Vietnam and just as the video did before, this experience helped me to more clearly understand my own feelings of war and how I have the ability to discount the loss of other's countrymen.

One of many pictures depicting Americans dieing on the battle field.

I also visited the War Remnants Museum. This was a lot to handle. The images of war were stark and the anti Americanism was thick. Here is a short history of the museum provided by Wikepedia: "Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government of South Vietnam. Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization for relations with the United States, but the museum does not attempt to be politically balanced."

More to come.

Cooking Class

2008-12-16T23:47:00.000-08:00

I occasionally attend an English conversation group called Gimmie 5. Gimmie five consists of about 7 Japanese people who are interested in improving their English. All Japanese members of the group have pretty good English speaking ability and they get together twice a month to chat. English teachers are invited to attend the group and basically chit-chat for an hour. It is fun to speak with this mostly older group of Japanese adults and it is also nice to make connections in the community with locals who I can communicate with. This week the Japanese members of the group put on a cooking demonstration for us English teachers.

Here we are at the "fish cake' station:

And here is the masterpiece I created:

The other food we were shown how to make is mochi. Mochi is basically ground up rice flower that can be made into a sticky dough. Mochi can be made into dumplings and put into soup, rolled out and stuffed with sweet or savory insides, simply be eaten as a raw dumpling with or with out a stuffing, and probably a thousand other uses too. On this day, we had raw mochi balls filled with sweet bean and also mochi dumplings in our miso soup. The raw balls (haha raw balls) were sticky, gooey and hard to swallow because it doesn't break apart. If you try to swallow a bit of the mochi the entire mouthful follows down your throat. Too much mochi in your mouth at once is certain death. To me, there really is no taste to mochi and it is basically a textural experience. The mochi dumplings in the soup were about the same as the raw balls but also very slimy. The Japanese people in our group loved the mochi and since I don't think mochi is gross, just tasteless and weird, I ate almost as much as was offered to me. I haven't pooped since. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi

Me displaying my fish cake handy work:

Miso soup with mochi dumplings:

Back with the lunches

2008-12-16T05:17:00.000-08:00

I stopped posting my school lunches because I though it would be boring for those who look at this blog but I received a few requests to start it back up so here goes:

Clockwise: rice; cabbage, carrot and sweet vinegar salad stuff; really good BBQ pork; milk; mushroom, tofu and seaweed soup.

Clockwise: Milk; ummm, I can't remember but I obviously ate it; a piece of bread with chocolate sauce to put on it-- chocolate is in the red and white packet (weird combo); lettuce, mayo and tuna salad; either potatoes o'gratin or something that tastes just like it.

Clockwise: Milk; chicken, carrot, and potato in miso soup; almonds; rice; chicken and some veggie that is black and tastes like it as been soaking in chicken; tiny oranges that you eat whole; fish, onion and mystery sauce.

Practicing English in Kyoto number two

2008-12-16T04:56:00.000-08:00

I got the chance to help my students harass tourists in Kyoto again and took it! Same story but new pictures:
The classic Japanese pose.

This time the students and I looked for tourists at Kinkaku-ji. Look at how beautiful this is. I can't believe I live here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji

I can't help but Japanese up my pose for pictures now and again.

Practicing English in Kyoto

2008-12-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

In mid November I went on a field trip with about 30 students to Kyoto! I was responsible for two girls and we basically hit the city and had fun all day! It was a funny situation because I didn't know where I was going and I am basically illiterate in Japan; it was more like the girls were keeping me out of trouble. My one major job in this project was to motivate the girls to walk up to strangers and speak English. Typically, my students are much better at grammar, reading and writing than they are at actually speaking and listening to English. Oral English is not used often (even by those who can read and write English) and that is why Japan's Government is willing to give a solid paycheck to English speaking foreigners just to use their native tongue in classes.

Needless to say, it took some prodding to get the girls to complete their assignment. Basically, their goal was to find six English speaking foreigners and conduct a very basic interview with them in English. This turned out to be really fun for everyone involved. The students and I enjoyed goofing off all day with each other, they got to practice their English and the tourists were tickled pink to have authentic Japanese students talking to them.

For lunch we went to an Okonomiyaki place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki and it was fantastic. Okonomiyaki is a popular food in Japan and Kansai has its own okonomiyaki style. It is basically pancake batter with noodles and whatever else you want, cooked on a hot plate at your table. I usually get egg, pork, onion and other veggies. From my experience okonomiyaki is usually cheap, tastes good and is fun to eat. The perfect lunch!:

We also went to a few temples looking for photo snapping foreigners:

And here is a picture of the whole group. As you can see, I am holding my hands in particular way. Apparently there is a very famous (and according to the teachers at the school very stupid) singer who holds his hands like this and says "WISHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The students walk around all day making the hand signal and proclaiming "WISHHHHHH!!!" to each other. It is sort of addicting and to the amusement of the Japanese citizenry I am walking around doing it too. People on the street have actually asked to take pictures with me while we all do the wish thing. I am pretty sure the joke is on me but I think it is funny too.

Monkey Park

2008-12-04T01:28:00.000-08:00

In Early November I went to a monkey park in an area of Kyoto called Arashiyama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arashiyama. Arashiyama is a stunningly beautiful area at the base of forested hills. There is a wonderful shopping and eating district there as well as an unbelievably beautiful river running through it. During this time of year people from all over Japan come to Arashiyama to view the changing of the leaves and they are not disappointed. Arashiyama (and much of Kansai) is surrounded by hills filled with lush forest. During the fall the colors are simply amazing and it is well worth the time to sit back and soak it all in. To get to the monkey park from Arashiyama there is a steep 20 minute hike up one of the hills. On the way, there are many signs that read "do not stare at the monkeys!" I thought this was funny because what else are you going to do at a

monkey park? On the way up I wasn't sure what I would find but my expectations were high. I read online that about 70 monkeys inhabit this park and they are indeed wild. They have become "accustom" to humans through the years and have designated this particular spot home because of the daily feedings provided by the park owners. As I approached the park I could hear and see the monkeys running around from a distance. To my amazement there were no fences or barriers and you could walk unrestricted right into the thick of monkey land!

I have to admit that it was a little scary at times to be among the monkeys. They would walk right up to you and even brush against your legs. At times something would spook one monkey and a mini stampede would ensue complete with monkey screams and skirmishes among the group.

Being high up in the hills the park also offers a spectacular view of Kyoto! Here I am with Kyoto as the the backdrop:

And a lucky picture moment I was able to capture:

The one area of the park that was enclosed was the feeding area. For 200 yen (2 bucks) you can buy a bag of apples or peanuts and feed the monkeys. When doing this you are actually the one in the cage and the monkeys come up to you. They reach their little hands into the cage and take the food out of your hand. As you can see in this picture, there were baby monkeys running around too.

And finally, here is a video of feeding time!

Culture Day

2008-11-20T00:55:00.000-08:00

In early October Takashima Jr. High held it's annual culture festival. The students practice for months to put on plays, sing and play music for the town. They also prepare various art projects to display. It is a really cool event and it is run almost entirely by the students. Again, I am amazed at the level of responsibility the students are given and it was run perfectly. I am starting to see that children really do live up to the expectations that you give them. I wonder if students back home would do just as well organizing and running events if they were given the responsibility to do so by themselves with only occasional assistance from adults. Reflecting on my time in American schools, both as a student and staff member, I realize that when teachers uniformly act as directors and authoritarians students are striped of school/event pride and ownership. If I end up again working in a school I hope to try this style and see if the result is equally effective back home.

Check out a few pictures from the event!

Halloween 08

2008-11-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

The west side of lake Biwa (where I live) is extremely rural and there are only around 10 English teachers over here. Being out in the country worried me at first but I soon started to realize the west side (just like in the US) is the best side. Because there are so few of us out here we formed a tight and cohesive group. We all enjoying hanging out with each other and get together often. Everyone on the west side likes to have a good time and there is always something fun to do with this rowdy bunch.

For no particularly strong reason the west side crew decided we would all dress up like zombies an reenact the thriller dance unannounced at the big Shiga Halloween party. Most of the group got together and practiced the dance for a few hours. I couldn't make it to the practice so I was officially the "stand there and look creepy guy" on stage. At the party we slipped the DJ the thriller CD and when it came on all of us hit the stage. The dance was a surprise to everyone and the crowd reaction was great! It was a really fun party too. Check out these pictures.

Keep in mind that the Japanese don't typically celebrate Halloween and most people who saw us outside of the party had either no idea or a very vague idea of what was going on. We took an hour train ride dressed like this, walked about half a mile and even stopped at a store along the way. Dressing up and scaring people is very not Japanese and I don't think our costumes were appreciated by the locals but, f-it Halloween is only once a year!

Osaka in October

2008-11-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, before coming to Japan I worked two days a week in Astoria (about 90 miles from Portland) in a dialysis clinic. The company put me up in a hotel room once a week for about two years. During this time I signed up for the frequent stay program and earned free hotel rooms. In late September I was sent an email alerting me that my last two free hotel rooms were about to expire. Upon receiving this notice I checked online and found that there is a Comfort Suites in Osaka (about and hour and a half by train from where I live). I booked a room for two nights the following weekend and decided to have a solo adventure! I love traveling with friends but solo trips have their advantages too. When traveling alone I talk my face off to everyone I see and at times find myself in outrageous scenarios. It doesn't take much to amuse me and it takes a whole lot to get me discouraged from having fun. I am willing to endure hours of being lost, awkward and confused because I know that eventually all the pieces will come together into a great time.

My hotel was booked for Saturday and Sunday nights (it was a three day weekend) but I got a little excited and left for Osaka almost immediately after I got of work on Friday. Before I left I wrote down the names of a few capsule hotels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel) and decided to play it by ear.

Here I am after getting off the train in Osaka:

And I headed straight to famous DotonBori street.

The DotonBori area is the biggest tourist night life area in Osaka. Upon arrival I went right to work. I walked into a Japanese style bar/snack shop and ordered a beer. I don't speak Japanese other than a few key words/phrases but that didn't stop me from trying to talk with other patrons. For me, it is fun to stick my neck out a little by talking to people and seeing where the night takes me. This is a little difficult when you don't speak the same language as everyone else but fun anyway.

Eventually I became hungry and it was time for some takoyaki ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki). Osaka is know for it's great food and Takoyaki is a specialty in the Kansai region. They are essentially balls of fried octopus and batter topped with mayo and fish flakes. They are tasty but in a way that is totally foreign to me. If you are thinking they taste like an octopus fritter you are wrong. The inside is gooey and the outside is soft but not quite gooey. The tastes is... um... can you imagine molten dough and octopus squirting into your mouth followed by a mayo and fish aftertaste? Yum!

Above is probably the most common picture taken in DotonBori by tourists. Now I have mine!

After hours of walking around, drinking beers and talking to people it was getting late and I still hadn't booked a hotel room. Instead, I decided to go to an all night dance club. I arrived at 1am and it was dead. Just me and two young Japanese salary men drinking together. It wasn't until 3am that the party started. Hoards of people showed up (a number of them English teachers) and I had a great time dancing, talking and drinking. The club closed at 6am but I couldn't check into my hotel until 10am. I sat down outside next to the club to collect my thoughts and was woken up 2 hours later by a woman who wanted to clean the area I was sitting on. I jumped up (she had a hose after all) and headed to my hotel. After a two hour wait in the lobby I was allowed in my room and I slept the day away.

It was about 6pm when I woke. After as shower I hit the street. It was the same story as before. Talking, eating and drinking. I finally ended up at a different night club. This club was packed when I arrived at 11pm and remained that way until I left at 2am. Outside of the club I saw a group of drunk foreigners and decided to check it out. Instantly I was invited to a birthday party at bar a few streets down. Jackpot! Free drinks, food and lots of Japanese and English speaking people to hang out with. It was 6am when someone suggested we move the party to the 7am until noon dance club and I was ready! He is a shot from inside.

I left the after hours club at about 10 am and slept for 3 hours before hitting the street again. Here are shots of my final hours in Osaka before catching the train home:

So many people!

As my good friend Cornjob says: "Sleep is for the weak."

OBAMA WINS

2008-11-06T01:17:00.000-08:00

I am relieved that Obama will be our next president but that is not what this post is about. This post is about the fact that I spent election day in Obama, Japan with a bunch of Japanese people, a huge dancing cat, a power ranger, friends from the states and media from around the world. There were only about 10 Americans at the party so we were photographed and interviewed over and over again. The following are links to media coverage featuring my friends and I. I plan on telling you all the whole story about my trip to Obama, Japan but I want to get these links out there now. Check it!

We were live on CNN, the Japan part comes after China:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2008/11/05/asia.us.elex.whip.chang.lah.cnn

We get an on air interview:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2008/11/05/lah.us.elex.japan.obama.cnn

Pictures from the AP:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/World-reacts-US-election-Barack-Obama-Obama-Japan/ss/events/pl/110508electworldwide/im:/081105/481/8f0e6540b2134e08b9d572ca0cdd08f0/

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/World-reacts-US-election-Barrack-Obama-Japan/ss/events/pl/110508electworldwide/im:/081105/481/dfc4909d42834dec8d00ca93ec0acbec/

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/World-reacts-US-election-Barack-Obama-Obama/ss/events/pl/110508electworldwide/im:/081105/481/045eed85b67b4b4fb35cb67e23232fa6/

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/World-reacts-US-election-Barack-Obama-Obama/ss/events/pl/110508electworldwide/im:/081105/481/fb15d9f6286c48429c11713e38a659ac/

And a little back story to the event:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2008/03/05/lah.japan.obama.town.cnn

This is a video I took when the Americans (us) saw that Obama took Ohio. We had to inform the Japanese media of the significance.

So this is what it feels like to be a celebrity:

Hot off the press:

This is how Japan does it, son!

Kyoto Race Track

2008-10-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

October 26th, 2008

My good friend Ruben Bailey http://avghorseplayer.blogspot.com/ turned me onto horse racing two summers ago by taking me to Monmouth Park in New Jersey http://www.monmouthpark.com/ . We spent a full day in the sun drinking beers, betting and after enjoyed a world class BBQ. I had been to the track before but this was the experience that hooked me in. Now, I list going to the track as one of my hobbies- thanks for sharing Mr. Bailey!

I heard that horse racing is a big deal in Japan and since my arrival I have been trying to find a connection who knows more about it. Luckily, I met Rie who had never been to the track before but was more than willing to take me and a group of friends out for the day. Thank you Rie! Our day started on the train and I noticed it slowing becoming packed with people reading about the race as we came closer and closer to our destination. I was getting excited. It was easy to tell there was a lot of buzz about this race.

It turns out we were headed to "the" Kyoto horse racing event of the year. The big race was KIKUKA SHO (JAPANESE ST.LEGER) and I don't know much about it but the huge stadium was was packed!!! I later learned the official crowd was over 55,000 strong:

Although the Japanese Racing Association has an English website with a betting tutorial http://japanracing.jp/ it was difficult to place a bet (obviously everything was in Japanese) and near possible to handicap the races:

But I did manage to put together a few random exacta and straight win bets:

And even celebrated my consecutive losses:

Here is the big winner of the day:

And the Japanese style winner circle:

The food and beer was awesome but I still craved a hot dog:

Also, I noticed there were many more young people at the track than I am accustom to. I think about half the fans were in their 20's and 30's:

And here is one more picture of the track itself:

I keep having good time after good time here! I am really lucky.

Earthquake training!

2008-10-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

Today at school we had one of three yearly earthquake readiness trainings at school. As you may know, Japan is prone to earthquakes and in 1995 the biggest and most damage causing earthquake in the last 80 years was right here in the Kansai region. Over 6000 people died during the Hanshin earthquake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake
with most damage occurring just 2 hours away from where I sit in the city of Kobe.

Since in Japan, I have experienced 2 minor earthquakes. The first one was at about 4am on the second day I arrived in Takashima. It was enough to wake me up but not by much. I thought it was a dream until I asked around and learned that some of my friends felt the quake as well. The second earthquake was a little stronger. My 3 floor apartment shook enough that I jumped up and opened my door (something they tell you to do to make sure you don't get trapped if the door jam breaks). It lasted only about 10 seconds but it was enough to remind me that earthquakes are something to take seriously. Being the only detectable earthquake I have ever experienced while wide awake, I was definitely shaken (haha get it shaken?) by the experience.

Today's earthquake training consisted of an alarm going off and everyone running out of the school and into an open field at nearly full speed. It was like a fire drill at most American schools except really fast. There were no lines formed (like I experienced during fire drills at school) and no dilly dally at all. The atmosphere is best described as "get the hell out of the school before it collapses" and everyone, even the oldest teachers were running down the halls. Once in the field all the students lined up by class and everyone was accounted for.

After counting the students two uniformed officials from Takashima City gave a 30 minute training that I couldn't understand and escorted each student onto the portable earthquake simulator they brought. The earthquake simulator is indented to remind the students how important it is be prepared for when a big earthquake hits and it works! I got the chance to try it out and I it was an eye opening experience. The machine was set to simulate the same intensity as the Hanshin Earthquake (7.2) and I was catching air off of the chair I was sitting in. During the Hanshin earthquake the ground moved 18cm horizontally and 12 cm vertically, the machine was set precisely to this specification and let me tell you, it is nothing like the OMSI earthquake simulator you make have tried. This was no joke! I want no part of an earthquake the moves like that; I guess that is why 65 year old teachers were sprinting out of the school this afternoon. So, today I learned a valuable lesson and will do some independent research about earthquake preparedness since I didn't understand a word of today's training.

Kyoto with Friends

2008-10-23T03:34:00.000-07:00

I went to Kyoto with my friends Linda and Tina. It rained all all day but we had hot wet fun together anyway! We tried to go to a Monkey park (where free roaming monkeys hang out) but the trails were flooded. Although we missed our chance at getting monkey crap thrown at us we did find our way to an outdoor concert. Check it out:

I am unsure if I can accurately describe this but.... Japan is so different from America. So different but at the same time there are flares of Americana in the strangest of places. This concert is a great example of my point. We area out side of the main foreigner tourist district and next to the stage is a river with traditional boats and a very Japanese styled shopping center. It is the last place I expected to hear jazz music but there it was.

Another good example is the drug store in my town. Today, as I walked towards it I heard "I'm Bad" by Weird Al playing. I thought it was so funny I stopped by but found right away that not one person in the store spoke English. The idea that Weird Al was playing and no one understood what he was saying has been cracking me up all day. Weird Al? How in the hell did the shop owner decide to put that on the CD player?

Here are two other pictures from the day in Kyoto!

Kyoto tour with my friend Iwata Sensei

2008-10-19T04:08:00.000-07:00

Iwata Sensei took me on Kyoto temple tour. Check it out:
The temples are beautiful and filled with incredible artwork!

This ancient protector of the temple is carved from wood.
I was told this is new statue that is representative of a new religion in Japan. My language barrier kept me from learning more.
This is the Daigoji temple. It was built over 1100 years ago.
The temples are still in use and monks (at least in the Buddhist temples) live in and take care of the temple grounds.
Here I am after ringing a bell intended to get attention from god.
After the tour Iwata Sensei and I ate a bunch of good food and drank beer together. The red meat on the table happens to be raw horse. It was not as strange as it sounds. There was very little flavor to it, all I tasted was the soy sauce we were dipping it in. It was an awesome day.

Watersports weekend!

2008-10-09T04:31:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago many of the JETs who are placed in Shiga got together on the west side of lake Biwa (where I am living) and had a full weekend of BBQing and water sports. We were provided with life vests, kayaks, wind surfing equipment, a water skiing boat, food, a place to sleep and a beautiful beach to enjoy for only about a 100 bucks. Everyone brought additional beer and snacks to enjoy!

I kayaked, water skied and tried windsurfing for the first time. Getting up on windsurfing board is easy but it is near impossible to move with no wind:

We spent a lot of time chilling on the deck by the lake while enjoying each other and the sunshine:

For dinner we ate meat and veggies that we cooked right on the table in a built in BBQ grill:
After dinner we preceded to drink until the early morning. To protect the not-so-innocent I decided against posting a great picture I took of one of the fallen solders who drank too much. Lets just say I spent a good chunk of the night scooping up his puke with a fly swatter:

(By the way, Tallon, the guy I am holding like a baby for no good reason was not the puker)

Squat Toilets

2008-10-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

Mom requested: What is the deal with the squat toilet?

Although western style toilets are often available in newer buildings the squat toilet is still the most common toilet in my area of Japan (and I assume all over Japan). Before arriving here I knew I would be required to use a squat toilet from time to time and honestly didn't give much thought to it because I figured it would be no big deal. How hard it is to squat, deposit and flush? Well, I found it takes a little more practice than I anticipated.

As far as I know there are 2 basic rules to use the squat toilet. 1) face the hood (front) of the toilet; and 2) get as low to the toilet as possible before the magic happens. This seems easy but comfortably getting down to business in this low squat position requires a special quadricep muscle tone achieved only through a lifetime of squatting. Personally, I don't understand how the Japanese universally avoid dirtying their pants and to put my mind at ease I grip my pants with one hand and pull the fabric towards the front of the toilet to give a couple extra inches of clearance. I think getting totally naked before going for it would make the whole experience a bit less stressful. Also, worrying about my aim further complicates the issue. I am not joking when I tell you that I start shaking with muscle fatigue after about 10 seconds in this awkward balancing position; maintaining my composure is difficult. Personally, to lessen the physical burden of the act, I like to bring a friend in the stall with me and have him/her grab hold of my hair to keep me as sturdy as possible.

I am happy to report that my apartment has a western style toilet and I have avoided using a squatie in all but 2 occasions. With that said, I am looking forward to the time nature calls while I am on a long train ride. All train toilets are of the squat style and if a foreigner completes the job in a hygienic fashion while on a swaying train traveling at 80MPH the Emperor personally sends you a certificate of appreciation. I am up for the challenge!

More school lunch

2008-10-02T04:04:00.000-07:00

Clockwise: Milk; potato and carrot soup that had very little flavor; very cold grape flavored gel; rice; boiled veggies and mushrooms with peanut dust; tofu and very tasty ground meat that tasted like empanada filling.
This lunch was wack. Clockwise: milk; mushroom soup with a couple carrots and potatoes; a piece of toasted bread with a thick layer of mayo and corn in the middle; fruit salad with slimy rice dough balls. WTF!

Clockwise: Milk; potato, seaweed, cabbage and carrot soup; rice; seaweed carrot and sprout salad; piece of yummy BBQed pork (came with a tube of liquid smoke flavoring). Very good.
Clockwise: Milk; tofu, seaweed and sprout soup; rice; spinach, carrot and other stuff salad; fried chicken.
Clockwise: Milk; hearty and delicious soup that tasted like chili without beans; rice; a vinegary salad that tasted like a mouth full of vinegar; little circles of smokey cheese; at least 400 tiny dried fish. I felt a little weird after eating so many fish at once. I am unsure if I can explain but it was difficult for my brain to comprehend that at some point all those fish were alive and I just ate them in 2 minutes. I never ate so many carcasses at once.
Clockwise: Milk; yummy chicken, egg and seaweed soup; rice; cabbage with vinegar; chicken, carrot, green been, soybean and some black stuff cooked together.

Waterfall hike

2008-10-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday August 23rd there was no school and I went on an awesome hike with a bunch of friends. Thank you Efrem, Mike and Salem for making it happen! It just so happens that my town is home of Japan's famous 8 waterfall hike. I have never hiked through such breath taking beauty. On our journey we marched directly up the river jumping boulders, wading through water and even rock climbing. In hindsight the hike was a little dangerous since we completed it without safety equipment but we all were up for the task and I feel so privileged to have done it. The natural scenery was breathtaking but experiencing it all with my new friends was the icing on the cake. I am so lucky to be here.

This is a picture of the group just before heading to the river. Notice the "Gulliver" sign. It is my understating that Ireland gave a statue of Gulliver (from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's travels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullivers_travels) to Takashima town during the the 1970 world fair in Osaka, Japan (*it is interesting that my dad was actually at this world fair as a sailor in the US Navy). Because of this gift Takashima town has sort of a Gulliver theme with the gifted statue of Gulliver standing outside of the train station (see next picture), a Gulliver restaurant, a Gulliver park and probably other Gulliver monuments I have yet to discover:

This is the Gulliver statue outside of the train station. Now back to the hike.We climbed straight the river pausing only take pictures and occasionally jump in the water:

The water is clear and the river bed is covered in orange sand. You can clearly see from the surface to the bed and everything in between in 3 or 4 foot water:
In some cases we climbed directly up the falls:
In others we climbed up rock faces (can you see my friend Kenji in the middle?).
Luckily chains, steel hand grips and a latter was available during this part:
Hands down this is the most incredible hike I have been on to date.

Grocery Shopping

2008-09-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

Nadine requested a typical day off:

The truth is that I don't have a description of a typical day off because there is so much to do in Japan! I am surrounded by beautiful country side, big cities a short distance away and a group of amazing friends (both foreign and local) who I am privileged to spend time with. I can say that on my days off I a unsure of what great adventure I will get into but certain that I will have a great time doing it. HMMMM, I guess the most consistent activity I do every weekend is go shopping because my little town does not have a grocery store and I have to take a train or ride my bike to get to a big supermarket. I took the following pictures at my most local big grocery store. To get an idea of what shopping was like for me during this particular experience keep in mind the store was crowed, all products are described in Japanese (of course), for some reason very busy sounding classical music was being played over the loud speaker and a lot of people blatantly stared at me because only a crazy person takes pictures of a grocery store:

Yum! Octopus! I have not been bold enough to try and cook octopus yet. Soon...

Mayonnaise. I swear, the Japanese love mayonnaise!

The seafood section takes up a large part of the store. Chicken, pork and beef (kind of) are available but the seafood definitely stands out!

Yes! Special K and bran is available. Is it possible to express sarcasm in a blog?

And back to the seafood. Did you know squid eyes look sad?

Finally, this what I bought for dinner at the store. It is a little smooched up because I threw it in my backpack and rode my bike home but don't be fooled. In Portland this sushi would be considered decent and cost around 20$ at a minimum. Here, 500 yen (five bucks).

Keep the requests coming!

Speech contest!

2008-09-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

Since I arrived in Takashima City I have been working with 4 students to help them train for the local English speech contest. During lunch and after school each day we got together and I coached each of them for about 30 minutes. Of about 30 contestants from various Jr. High schools, 6 finalists move onto the more prestigious Shiga Prefecture competition to be held in October. My kids worked really hard memorizing and practicing their speeches and their dedication moved me to become invested in their success. Together we spent many hours painstakingly going over the speeches and their tenacity paid off! Each student did an excellent job at the competition and one qualified to compete in the prefecture wide contest!

I am very proud of all who participated but particularly so for one of my students. The girl I am thinking of is very shy and when we first started practicing together she would look at the ground and mumble over her speech. During my first meeting with her, her voice cracked and the papers she read shook along with her hands. As the weeks went by I noticed her slowly gaining confidence and before I knew it she was smiling, laughing and having a good time during practice.

This confidence dissapered on the day of the event. She was so nervous she didn't talk and I could again see her tremble. Before the contest began I took all my students outside and lead them in jumping around, doing deep knee bends, yelling and then laughing as a way to cut their nervousness. She tried to participate but was just too freaked out. After the other students went inside I pulled her aside and tried to give some encouraging words. I told her she had nothing to worry about because she worked hard and she knows her speech inside and out and that I was proud of her but I am sure she didn't understand what I said. When she walked away I officially started freaking out for her, I have never seen such a nervous little girl.

45 minutes later her name was called and she walked to the stage meekly, I held my breath, then she began. From beginning to end she F-ing nailed it! She smiled at the audience, projected her voice and remembered every word. She was amazing! Walking back to her seat it was easy to see that she was amazed by what she had accompished. She sat down with a big smile while silent tears rolled down her cheeks. This is a moment I will never forget.

Sitting and waiting for the contest to begin:

After I ate a magic mushroom that caused me to grow into a gaint:

Contest coming to a close:

More school lunch

2008-09-24T02:42:00.001-07:00

Clockwise: Milk; beef, chicken, sprout and tofu soup; rice; cabbage, carrot and seaweed salad; coffee flavored jello like stuff.
Clock wise: Little wrapped pieces of mystery cheese that look like candy; milk; something I can't remember; rice; cabbage tofu and carrot salad; fish that tastes like canned sardines (you eat the bones too).
Clockwise: Milk; something like miso soup; rice; cabbage, carrot and little baby fish salad; grape jello stuff; fried and seasoned chicken.
Clockwise: Milk; potato, ground beef, carrot soup; rice; an icky vinegary salad; piece of pineapple; whole fish that have been injected to overflowing with fish eggs (see close up below).
After asking around, I found the abdominal cavity of the fish has been injected with thousands of tiny white fish eggs. Wow this tastes like fish!

A typical work day

2008-09-20T04:21:00.001-07:00

If there is a subject you would like me to blog about please let me know!

Jessica requested: A typical work day:

6:45am: Wake up (morning rituals et al.)
7:30am: Get dressed and end up looking like a youth pastor.
7:45am: Spill coffee on my tucked in polo.
8:00am: Leave the house and walk to school
8:10am: I walk into the teacher’s room and loudly say “ohayo gozaimasu” (good morning) then bird walk (a term coined by my friend Ryan that describes walking while doing a series of slight bows) to my desk. It is customary for each staff person to announce their arrival in this way each morning and “ohayo gozaimasu” is echoed back by everyone in the room.
8:15: The bell rings and all the teachers stand up and wait for Kocho Sensei (the principal) to walk out of his pimped out office and say “ohayo gozaimasu.” Once he does we all say it right back to him and a short meeting starts to which I have no idea what is being said.
8:20: I meet with my Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) and she tells me the schedule for the day. Then I review lessons for each class and prepare materials (usually big vocabulary word flash cards and/or warm up games to play).
8:45: First class of the day. Each class is run basically the same with only the difficulty level of the lessons differing depending on the grade level of the classes. Typically, class is started with an English greeting by the JTE that is repeated back by the class. My JTE usually sticks to “Good Morning/afternoon” and I try to mix it up and keep it kind of funny by obnoxiously saying phrases like “happy Tuesday!” Then I ask the class “what day is it today” and “how is the weather?” In unison they respond in English and then prepare to take a word test. For the test the JTE says 10 or so words in Japanese and they write down the English translation. After this I usually play a game like hangman with the class while acting completely ridiculous (dancing around and making stupid noises). This helps to keep myself amused and the kids like it because to most of them think English is the most boring class ever. At some point I read words and/or sentences over and over while the class repeats it back to me. Typically, I use different voices while reading. The kids practice speaking these words/sentences with each other and eventually the JTE forces each one to stand up and say the words/sentences to the entire class. While this is happening I offer tips in pronunciation and praise the shit out of them while dancing/smiling/stretching/boxing/clapping and generally acting like an idiot. Before I know it the bell rings and I am off to the next class. By the way, unlike school in the US, the students in Japan stay in the same room and the teachers move from class to class. The classes go by fast and I have a lot of fun acting like a complete tool to the amusement of the children; it is probably no surprise to you that I am awesome at acting like a jackass.
9:45am to 12:35pm: more classes
12:45pm: Lunch time. I sit at my desk and eat lunch while playing on the internets.
1:50pm: I lead 10-15 students in cleaning a classroom for 15 minutes. After lunch every student and teacher cleans a designated area of the school while Japanese pop music is played over the loud speaker. Because about 250 people clean the school for 15 minutes each day the building is immaculate and, in my opinion, this activity gives the students a sense of ownership and pride in the school.
2:00pm-3:50: more classes
4:00pm: Classes are finished and the school day comes to a close. The students shuffle off to various clubs (every student is in a club) run by the teachers. During this time I meet with 3-4 students and practice English for an hour.
5:00pm: I come back to the teacher’s room and check with Kyoto Sensei (vice principal) and the JTE to see if they need help with anything. I do this each day only to show my willingness to work as hard as the other teachers because it is atypical for a “normal” Japanese teacher to duck out of school at 5pm; to this I am always told “good work, go home.” Most teachers stay at the school to prepare lessons and complete various other works until 6 or 7. I am usually the first to leave.
5:10: Once back at home I smoke PCP until bedtime. I love getting wet.

Sports Festival

2008-09-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

The sport festival is an annual event individually held by each school in the area. All students participate in the festival and each class (about 32 students) is considered a team. What struck me about field day is that throughout practice and into the event every student participated as hard as they could and to the best of their ability. The athletic and no so athletic worked together side by side and cheered each other with encouragement and comradery. There was no sign of strong kids getting upset at the weaker nor the weaker kids bowing out and calling it a day. This is such a different experience from when I supervised a field day working at a elementary school back home. Another interesting note is that the students ran the festivities and the teachers basically watched. All announcements, instructions and organization was under control of the students. I have to say, I watched in wonder and popped a few goose bumbs when a group of 10 or so students ran along side a kid who looked to be among the weakest in the school and everyone was clapping and yelling gambatte (you can do it, go for it, do your best). I heard from a couple other JET teachers that their field day experiences were not quite as nice but mine definitely was awesome. Oh- forgot to mention- I ran 200 meters as part of the teacher team in a relay. Super fun!

Students preparing for the first event:

A torch was lit for the opening ceremony:

Check out how beautiful it is here! The school field literally connects with the begining of a mountain range.
Video of a bamboo stick tug-a-war like game:

More school lunch

2008-09-16T02:42:00.001-07:00

Not my favorite lunch by far. Clockwise: Milk; potato, tofu and chicken soup that tasted like ginger; a mini loaf of bread that was greasy; two grapes; bok choy, onion and corn.
This was a special lunch to celebrate September's full moon on September 14th. The Autumn full moon in Japan is said to be the most beautiful view of the moon on earth. Legend says during the Autumn full moon a rabbit pounds out rice cakes on the moon. Notice the "moons" (pounded rice balls) in my soup and the rabbit picture on my dessert. Clockwise: milk; moon soup with chicken, pounded rice balls, sprouts, carrots; sweet dessert gel that tastes like orange; edamame, fish with a sweet soy based sauce. YUM! Check out the legend of the rabbit here: http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/manga/0709/index.html Clockwise: Milk; sprout, bok choy, chicken and tofu soup; rice, salmon with onion and mayo on top; some sort of root vegetable cooked with sesame seed oil; a creamy and sour yogurt drink that made me cringe when I drank it but is like a vitamin boost for the lunch.