Sunday, December 5, 2010
Not Bad
Sundays are usually pretty slow, no matter what country you are in. Last night, however, was a pretty significant change from the norm: went out for dinner with my friends Taka and Seiji, ended up going to La Tache with the two of them plus Seiji's Mom and cousin (that (everytime) = ultra-rad), talked about what the hell to do with my parents when they get here, and met a really cool chick who goes by my favorite name, Tomoko (if you know who you are and are reading this, you're welcome).
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Boredom
Its been a while. I find that I'm a much better poster on blogs I am a part of, but not a manager, and definitely not the only poster. As to why this is, I can't begin to explain.
Its Thanksgiving over there, right? That has always been a holiday that slips my mind (much like anyone's birthday but my own), and though its an 'important' holiday, I know why I have such a hard time remembering when it occurs: its boring. Overeating, obligatory conversation, and sleep don't really strike me as much of anything to celebrate, even if it is family. And the whole ''I'm thankful for...'' thing strikes me as kind of ridiculous - I know what I'm thankful for, I re-live that realization everyday, and I see no practical reason why I should inform anyone else of this... god knows I don't care what someone else is thankful for. Really, could this just be another hallmark holiday? In all likelyhood.
Didn't really intend to go off on that, nor did I intend to present myself as such a humbug, but, well, there you have it. My initial intentions were to call to attention the similarity between Thanksgiving and my job... that similarity being, pure, unadulterated boredom. Its friday, I'm at Miyakita (home of students with an amazing capacity for killing time by any means necessary (though most frequently this is sleep)), I forgot my lunch, I barely ate breakfast, I had a bunch of coffee, and I'm waiting... WAITING... for class to begin.Of course, being Thanksgiving, new sites aren't gracing my computer screen with their hilariously objective opinions (that's a weird phrase, isn't it?), well aside from the ones I've already read anyway. So I've been reading the Count of Monte Cristo (if I was gonna be sentimental, I'd say I'M thankful for Alexander Dumas cause this book is really bad-ass), and mulling over how incredibly bored I am, and how to cope with this.
And it hit me, ''People can read about this, and after an incredibly long hiatus, on my own blog!'' So here I am, attempting to wade through the thick sludge of time's progress by informing you of my efforts, frustrations, and miser-ings.
Developments: picked up 2 new english tutoring gigs, one twice a week at 1500/hr, and one once a week at 2000 yen/hr; might begin bartending sometime soon; band practice tonight at 8, new song totally done on my part, waiting to hear how my drummer's developed, and waiting to see if my bassist has finally nailed it (doubts, and I bet he'll complain); aggravated over the amount of time its taking grad schools and peace boat to get back to me; flies buzzing; people eating; chomp chomp chomp; STOP SUCKING ON YOUR TEETH, OLD MAN!
Its Thanksgiving over there, right? That has always been a holiday that slips my mind (much like anyone's birthday but my own), and though its an 'important' holiday, I know why I have such a hard time remembering when it occurs: its boring. Overeating, obligatory conversation, and sleep don't really strike me as much of anything to celebrate, even if it is family. And the whole ''I'm thankful for...'' thing strikes me as kind of ridiculous - I know what I'm thankful for, I re-live that realization everyday, and I see no practical reason why I should inform anyone else of this... god knows I don't care what someone else is thankful for. Really, could this just be another hallmark holiday? In all likelyhood.
Didn't really intend to go off on that, nor did I intend to present myself as such a humbug, but, well, there you have it. My initial intentions were to call to attention the similarity between Thanksgiving and my job... that similarity being, pure, unadulterated boredom. Its friday, I'm at Miyakita (home of students with an amazing capacity for killing time by any means necessary (though most frequently this is sleep)), I forgot my lunch, I barely ate breakfast, I had a bunch of coffee, and I'm waiting... WAITING... for class to begin.Of course, being Thanksgiving, new sites aren't gracing my computer screen with their hilariously objective opinions (that's a weird phrase, isn't it?), well aside from the ones I've already read anyway. So I've been reading the Count of Monte Cristo (if I was gonna be sentimental, I'd say I'M thankful for Alexander Dumas cause this book is really bad-ass), and mulling over how incredibly bored I am, and how to cope with this.
And it hit me, ''People can read about this, and after an incredibly long hiatus, on my own blog!'' So here I am, attempting to wade through the thick sludge of time's progress by informing you of my efforts, frustrations, and miser-ings.
Developments: picked up 2 new english tutoring gigs, one twice a week at 1500/hr, and one once a week at 2000 yen/hr; might begin bartending sometime soon; band practice tonight at 8, new song totally done on my part, waiting to hear how my drummer's developed, and waiting to see if my bassist has finally nailed it (doubts, and I bet he'll complain); aggravated over the amount of time its taking grad schools and peace boat to get back to me; flies buzzing; people eating; chomp chomp chomp; STOP SUCKING ON YOUR TEETH, OLD MAN!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Homeless at Fuji Rock, Part 3
So we get to Echigo-Yuzawa, finally, and its pouring rain. Not only that, we don't have any rain gear. Not only that, we have no idea how to get to the actual concert... all the knowledge I came with amounted to 'Its at Naeba ski resort' and 'its about a 40 minute car ride from the station.' Walking didn't seem feasible in good weather, and much less in this monsoon. After a long day of travelling, getting lost, and whatnot, I'm, while not in a bad mood, all about getting shit DONE, so having considered our situation for all of 30 seconds, I think that its about time I should be asking a Fuji-Rock-looking person how the hell to actually get there. Fortunately enough, there are 2 brits hustling around the station, and so I let the question fly... 'Yo, you know how to get to Fuji?' And he's like, 'yeahhhh. See this bus? It goes there. You going? We're headed there ourselves.' Thus, our luck slowly but surely begins to change...
Before heading out with these guys, Isaac and Charles(?) (Akio could remember the other guys name and not Isaac's), I head to an ATM and take out 40k or so, and head to a convenience store for something to eat and a beer, because we dont know where were going to sleep, we only have tickets for the event in 2 days, its pouring rain, and its going to be a long goddamn night. Isaac's down there too, doing what foreigners do best - breezing past all the Japanese people and demanding stuff in English. I help him out real quick, pay for my stuff, and we head to the bus.
I get on and notice a whole lot of equipment, and then Akio mentions he just found out they're with a band. **CLICK** 'Start talking all friendly like, these guys might be our ticket to something good.' We chat and eventually I ask about their band, and its turns out they aren't members per se, but rather managers of Isaac's Dad's band. I ask again, 'what band?' and Isaac casually says, 'Oh, Roxy Music.' WHAAAAAAT. I exhibit my lack of knowledge concerning the band members by asking about Eno, and Isaac informs me he stayed with the band for an album, and had very little input, which, he said, was strange considering his output and career following his stint in Roxy.
So we get on well enough with these guys, and, having mentioned our ticket situation, suggest that we follow them for a bit and they'll see what they can do. We head into the hotel on grounds, and are immediately surrounded by instruments, musicians, and not much else - its a bit hectic, but I've got to say the hotel employees did a seemingly good job at managing the whole ordeal. We're waiting on the sidelines, Akio and I, and eventually Isaac comes over and says he's got to call their Tokyo contact about passes, but it looks good. Hopes are up now, but I'm not one to believe in something until its actually infront of me, so I'm more than anything nervous now. But, as luck would have it, Isaac comes back again, after about an hour total, and hands us 2 red badges with 'Roxy Music' written on them. Free backstage pass for the night. Killer.
Akio and I head off to the festival, and this shit is magical, psychedelic, astounding, and everything in between. 8 stages total, set across the entirety of the ski resort, there are long passages through woods on raised wooden platforms with all kinds of crazy light shows set in the woods themselves. Theres a cliff face that is, in its entirety, covered with falling stars... it literally looked like the cliff was melting. Outside movie theaters, carnival grounds, all kinds of food, clubs, gondolla rides, and all other kinds of things, and with our backstage passes we routinely got free beer, could avoid the lines at pretty much everything, and never had to wait for a bathroom. Fuji Rock is, in 2 words, extremely intense. And that doesn't even take into account the totally killer line-up.
The first day I saw only 2 bands because we got there kind of late: Muse and !!! (that's ChkChkChk). But that the bands stopped at midnight doesn't mean that the fun stopped, no, it just meant that's when the DJ sets started. Outside and inside, there were lights flashing, and bass thumping. Akio and I stopped at a bar before we headed to the Orange Stage, had a few while talking to some girls from Taiwan, and then headed to the mud pit... oh that's right - it always seems to rain during Fuji Rock.
The Orange Stage was an outside venue, so we were all dancing and slipping around in a huge mud bath. Sometime during this, we randomly met up with the Roxy Guys, who had another present for us... 3-day video crew backstage passes. Immediately upon receiving those we lost sight of the guys as they were washed away in a storm of mud, rain, and people. Again, in the midst of dancing, I spot Akio coming towards me with a pretty shitty look on his face, and sure enough, when he approaches me he says 'I lost the big money.' Took me a second to realize he meant his wallet, and then he made a phone gesture too, so I realized hes lost both. FUCK, I think. I look around, he looks around, we don't find anything just as one would expect when looking for something in a giant mud pit at 3 am with 3 or 4000 people dancing around you. Akio says hes gonna take a quick look around, and I figure its not a bad, though hopeless, idea. He leaves and just like that, 2 or so minutes later he returns with a huge grin on his face bearing both in hand. Unfuckingbelievable, our luck.
Here's my first favorite memory: I've been dancing with a girl for a while, things are going well I suppose. Its around 4 or so in the morning at this point, and the sun is just peaking over the tall mountains which happen to be shrouded in fog. Sun light is exploding through said fog onto the audience, all the while there are huge pillars of flames shooting up behind me in front of the stage as the DJ is playing. Eyes lock, and the most explosive kiss ensues. Killlllller.
This is taking too long. Part 4 will follow.
Before heading out with these guys, Isaac and Charles(?) (Akio could remember the other guys name and not Isaac's), I head to an ATM and take out 40k or so, and head to a convenience store for something to eat and a beer, because we dont know where were going to sleep, we only have tickets for the event in 2 days, its pouring rain, and its going to be a long goddamn night. Isaac's down there too, doing what foreigners do best - breezing past all the Japanese people and demanding stuff in English. I help him out real quick, pay for my stuff, and we head to the bus.
I get on and notice a whole lot of equipment, and then Akio mentions he just found out they're with a band. **CLICK** 'Start talking all friendly like, these guys might be our ticket to something good.' We chat and eventually I ask about their band, and its turns out they aren't members per se, but rather managers of Isaac's Dad's band. I ask again, 'what band?' and Isaac casually says, 'Oh, Roxy Music.' WHAAAAAAT. I exhibit my lack of knowledge concerning the band members by asking about Eno, and Isaac informs me he stayed with the band for an album, and had very little input, which, he said, was strange considering his output and career following his stint in Roxy.
So we get on well enough with these guys, and, having mentioned our ticket situation, suggest that we follow them for a bit and they'll see what they can do. We head into the hotel on grounds, and are immediately surrounded by instruments, musicians, and not much else - its a bit hectic, but I've got to say the hotel employees did a seemingly good job at managing the whole ordeal. We're waiting on the sidelines, Akio and I, and eventually Isaac comes over and says he's got to call their Tokyo contact about passes, but it looks good. Hopes are up now, but I'm not one to believe in something until its actually infront of me, so I'm more than anything nervous now. But, as luck would have it, Isaac comes back again, after about an hour total, and hands us 2 red badges with 'Roxy Music' written on them. Free backstage pass for the night. Killer.
Akio and I head off to the festival, and this shit is magical, psychedelic, astounding, and everything in between. 8 stages total, set across the entirety of the ski resort, there are long passages through woods on raised wooden platforms with all kinds of crazy light shows set in the woods themselves. Theres a cliff face that is, in its entirety, covered with falling stars... it literally looked like the cliff was melting. Outside movie theaters, carnival grounds, all kinds of food, clubs, gondolla rides, and all other kinds of things, and with our backstage passes we routinely got free beer, could avoid the lines at pretty much everything, and never had to wait for a bathroom. Fuji Rock is, in 2 words, extremely intense. And that doesn't even take into account the totally killer line-up.
The first day I saw only 2 bands because we got there kind of late: Muse and !!! (that's ChkChkChk). But that the bands stopped at midnight doesn't mean that the fun stopped, no, it just meant that's when the DJ sets started. Outside and inside, there were lights flashing, and bass thumping. Akio and I stopped at a bar before we headed to the Orange Stage, had a few while talking to some girls from Taiwan, and then headed to the mud pit... oh that's right - it always seems to rain during Fuji Rock.
The Orange Stage was an outside venue, so we were all dancing and slipping around in a huge mud bath. Sometime during this, we randomly met up with the Roxy Guys, who had another present for us... 3-day video crew backstage passes. Immediately upon receiving those we lost sight of the guys as they were washed away in a storm of mud, rain, and people. Again, in the midst of dancing, I spot Akio coming towards me with a pretty shitty look on his face, and sure enough, when he approaches me he says 'I lost the big money.' Took me a second to realize he meant his wallet, and then he made a phone gesture too, so I realized hes lost both. FUCK, I think. I look around, he looks around, we don't find anything just as one would expect when looking for something in a giant mud pit at 3 am with 3 or 4000 people dancing around you. Akio says hes gonna take a quick look around, and I figure its not a bad, though hopeless, idea. He leaves and just like that, 2 or so minutes later he returns with a huge grin on his face bearing both in hand. Unfuckingbelievable, our luck.
Here's my first favorite memory: I've been dancing with a girl for a while, things are going well I suppose. Its around 4 or so in the morning at this point, and the sun is just peaking over the tall mountains which happen to be shrouded in fog. Sun light is exploding through said fog onto the audience, all the while there are huge pillars of flames shooting up behind me in front of the stage as the DJ is playing. Eyes lock, and the most explosive kiss ensues. Killlllller.
This is taking too long. Part 4 will follow.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Homeless At Fuji Rock Part 2
So we stayed in a hotel that night in Niigata City and headed out the next morning around 8 or 9 am. We took a train to the service area that was marked on our map only to find that... it totally wasn't a service area despite the map saying so. See, service areas are big, theyve go stores, places to eat, places to hang out, and as I said earlier this is a very important quality because it gives potential drivers time to mull over what they think about you. This service area had a bathroom, 2 vending machines, and an ashtray. Probably no more than 20 parking spaces. So, we hiked there from the train station, saw this and tried our best despite knowing we probably wouldn't be getting anywhere anytime soon. And we didn't. 3 or so hours later we said to hell with this and walked to the train station to take a train to Echigo Yuzawa, the town where Naeba Ski Resort is, the town where the ultimate rock festival in the history of rock festivals is held...
About an hour into our trip, I notice that the ocean is on our left.... this is odd because we're on the west coast and if we're heading south like we should be then the ocean should be on our right.... FUCK WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY. Turns out there's another Yuzawa in Akita prefecture, just north of Niigata prefecture, and that is where the search engine on my phone told us to go. So we get off at the next stop, Kuwagawa, and check the time table. 2 hours to kill in the middle of this world's most inaka town - the hell are we going to do?, we think. Well, there was a sushi restaurant right across the street and we hadn't yet eaten, so we dropped in. Turns out to be a pretty rad spot, with the owner/head chef fishing/diving for the fish and shellfish he serves on a daily basis. Lucky for us, he had just gathered some Awabi (abalone) and so we started our meal with a plate of that. Unluckily, he was out of Uni (Sea Urchin), but our meal was quite good - ordered a simple sushi set meal, what's contents were decided by the chef daily, and had some tea. This was all done sitting on tatami over looking the ocean out a window. Good stuff.
We paid after finishing and saw we still had some time left, so we went for a walk down the boardwalk. Ultimately, we discovered a very small shrine situated on a very large rock that was very close to the shore but not actually on the shore. Per the usual, this means there was a red gate marking the opening of a path that ends with the actual shrine. These things are located all over Japan and most are in the most unlikely, or out-of-the-way spots. Really cool, and I'd love to go on an adventure seeking these things out some day. So we climb the rock, take some pictures, head back down, wash our feet off, and get to the station just in time to catch the train. Finally, after a small but not at all unappreciated detour, we are on the last leg of our trip to Naeba...
END PART 2
About an hour into our trip, I notice that the ocean is on our left.... this is odd because we're on the west coast and if we're heading south like we should be then the ocean should be on our right.... FUCK WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY. Turns out there's another Yuzawa in Akita prefecture, just north of Niigata prefecture, and that is where the search engine on my phone told us to go. So we get off at the next stop, Kuwagawa, and check the time table. 2 hours to kill in the middle of this world's most inaka town - the hell are we going to do?, we think. Well, there was a sushi restaurant right across the street and we hadn't yet eaten, so we dropped in. Turns out to be a pretty rad spot, with the owner/head chef fishing/diving for the fish and shellfish he serves on a daily basis. Lucky for us, he had just gathered some Awabi (abalone) and so we started our meal with a plate of that. Unluckily, he was out of Uni (Sea Urchin), but our meal was quite good - ordered a simple sushi set meal, what's contents were decided by the chef daily, and had some tea. This was all done sitting on tatami over looking the ocean out a window. Good stuff.
We paid after finishing and saw we still had some time left, so we went for a walk down the boardwalk. Ultimately, we discovered a very small shrine situated on a very large rock that was very close to the shore but not actually on the shore. Per the usual, this means there was a red gate marking the opening of a path that ends with the actual shrine. These things are located all over Japan and most are in the most unlikely, or out-of-the-way spots. Really cool, and I'd love to go on an adventure seeking these things out some day. So we climb the rock, take some pictures, head back down, wash our feet off, and get to the station just in time to catch the train. Finally, after a small but not at all unappreciated detour, we are on the last leg of our trip to Naeba...
END PART 2
Monday, August 2, 2010
Homeless At Fuji Rock
Holy Hell. This week has been absolutely incredible, culminating with me turning 24. So I took a train down to Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture to meet my friend Aaron/Akio whom I worked with at Mori no Ike in 2006. Smallllll city with not much to do, so we booked a hotel room (not homeless yet) and went out to a restaurant for dinner. As is very common in Japan, this was an all-you-can-eat/drink type deal, so we spent 2 hours catching up between glasses of beer/whiskey/shochu and what turned out to be a whole lot of Kimchi... shit is real tasty. Afterwards, we went to another restaurant and tried out the "I Don't Speak Japanese" thing on a few girls there, but in the end English proved to burdensome and we reverted back to Japanese, to their surprise/pleasure. Good night, bad hangover.
Somehow we managed to get out of the hotel by 930 and took a train to a very small station nearby (I forget exactly which) that was located near a Service Area. A note first: service areas are the place to hitch in Japan for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that its illegal to be on the freeway outside of a car, or even to stop if in a car. Of course, a lot of people also stop at service areas, and are in greater numbers than rest areas. They also have a lot of time to consider your own circumstances versus theirs, i.e. "So he's Hitchhiking... looks like a nice guy... I wonder where he's going..."These things all make service areas the most logical place to try and catch a ride.
We managed to catch a lift from a couple with their father (wife's side, from Inner Mongolia) who dropped us off close to the shores of Lake Inawashiro. According to our map, we were wicked close to the lake, so we started walking in that direction, but either the map was wrong or we just weren't right and we ended up in this hidden valley of rice after hiking approximately 3 Km through a woodsy backroad. Fukushima and Niigata prefectures both have a staggering number of rice fields, and this was the first time I had ever been in one. It was dark by this time, and this village we were in was way cut off from everything else (and the houses were very nice/HUGE, surprisingly) so the night sky looked extra big while standing in the middle of many acres of low-rising rice plants.
This village turned out to be just off of the shore, so once we left it and got back on the main road we almost immediately discovered the lake. Unfortunately, we also discovered that this pitch black road had no sidewalks or anywhere whatsoever to walk, so we spent probably another 3 kilometers running along this road avoiding the very few cars barreling towards us. I guess I don't have much in the way of a safety sensor, but it was pretty fun playing Frogger like this.
We found a convenience store and a hotel in a small outlet off the road that was more or less a camping zone, and considered staying there/eating, but for some reason or another we thought it a good idea to keep pushing onwards and didn't do either. Mistake. Maybe an hour and a half later we still hadn't eaten all day and definitely didn't know where we were going to set up camp due to all of the rice fields taking up space. We ducked into a gas station and asked where a good spot to eat was, of which there was only 1 in the area still open, and got a cab there. Typical chain ramen store, but it was pretty tasty and definitely filled our stomachs so I can't say either of us were very angry at that. After eating, we walked around for a while looking for a spot to set up camp, and finally decided on a cemetery by the freeway where we planned on hitching the next day... buuuuuut that didn't happen.
We woke up/decided to start moving again around 8 and first wanted to find an onsen where we could clean up. In a bit of a rain, we walked to the train station and took a train to I-Forget-Where, close by anyway. The Onsen we found was pretty awesome, like the owners somehow collected a bunch of buildings and squished them all together. This "complex" wasn't the best of spots, but it totally sufficed after having spent the previous day hitching, hiking, and sweating all along. We retraced our steps, in a bit of a heavier rain, and had to wait about an hour for the train to come back and return us to where we started. It started raining pretty hard by this time, and we didn't really have sufficient rain gear, so we didn't get off and took the train all the way to Niigata City, in Niigata prefecture.
Despite EVERYTHING around Niigata City being rice fields, the city itself is pretty big and was a hell of a lot of fun while we were there. Went to a small restaurant to start the night off and had a beer with our Whale Sashimi (!!!). Good stuff, but it was getting kind of packed so we headed to another spot that served local nihonshu (Niigata is famous for its booze, supposedly) and we drank some really great stuff while eating Natto Pizza and Cow Liver Sashimi. The whole night was basically focused on culinary exploration and we were pretty successful in finding some great items; I totally want to go back some day and see what else I can find.
END PART 1
Somehow we managed to get out of the hotel by 930 and took a train to a very small station nearby (I forget exactly which) that was located near a Service Area. A note first: service areas are the place to hitch in Japan for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that its illegal to be on the freeway outside of a car, or even to stop if in a car. Of course, a lot of people also stop at service areas, and are in greater numbers than rest areas. They also have a lot of time to consider your own circumstances versus theirs, i.e. "So he's Hitchhiking... looks like a nice guy... I wonder where he's going..."These things all make service areas the most logical place to try and catch a ride.
We managed to catch a lift from a couple with their father (wife's side, from Inner Mongolia) who dropped us off close to the shores of Lake Inawashiro. According to our map, we were wicked close to the lake, so we started walking in that direction, but either the map was wrong or we just weren't right and we ended up in this hidden valley of rice after hiking approximately 3 Km through a woodsy backroad. Fukushima and Niigata prefectures both have a staggering number of rice fields, and this was the first time I had ever been in one. It was dark by this time, and this village we were in was way cut off from everything else (and the houses were very nice/HUGE, surprisingly) so the night sky looked extra big while standing in the middle of many acres of low-rising rice plants.
This village turned out to be just off of the shore, so once we left it and got back on the main road we almost immediately discovered the lake. Unfortunately, we also discovered that this pitch black road had no sidewalks or anywhere whatsoever to walk, so we spent probably another 3 kilometers running along this road avoiding the very few cars barreling towards us. I guess I don't have much in the way of a safety sensor, but it was pretty fun playing Frogger like this.
We found a convenience store and a hotel in a small outlet off the road that was more or less a camping zone, and considered staying there/eating, but for some reason or another we thought it a good idea to keep pushing onwards and didn't do either. Mistake. Maybe an hour and a half later we still hadn't eaten all day and definitely didn't know where we were going to set up camp due to all of the rice fields taking up space. We ducked into a gas station and asked where a good spot to eat was, of which there was only 1 in the area still open, and got a cab there. Typical chain ramen store, but it was pretty tasty and definitely filled our stomachs so I can't say either of us were very angry at that. After eating, we walked around for a while looking for a spot to set up camp, and finally decided on a cemetery by the freeway where we planned on hitching the next day... buuuuuut that didn't happen.
We woke up/decided to start moving again around 8 and first wanted to find an onsen where we could clean up. In a bit of a rain, we walked to the train station and took a train to I-Forget-Where, close by anyway. The Onsen we found was pretty awesome, like the owners somehow collected a bunch of buildings and squished them all together. This "complex" wasn't the best of spots, but it totally sufficed after having spent the previous day hitching, hiking, and sweating all along. We retraced our steps, in a bit of a heavier rain, and had to wait about an hour for the train to come back and return us to where we started. It started raining pretty hard by this time, and we didn't really have sufficient rain gear, so we didn't get off and took the train all the way to Niigata City, in Niigata prefecture.
Despite EVERYTHING around Niigata City being rice fields, the city itself is pretty big and was a hell of a lot of fun while we were there. Went to a small restaurant to start the night off and had a beer with our Whale Sashimi (!!!). Good stuff, but it was getting kind of packed so we headed to another spot that served local nihonshu (Niigata is famous for its booze, supposedly) and we drank some really great stuff while eating Natto Pizza and Cow Liver Sashimi. The whole night was basically focused on culinary exploration and we were pretty successful in finding some great items; I totally want to go back some day and see what else I can find.
END PART 1
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
This Could Be Interesting
So... I just sent out 30-some applications to jobs in cities I actually want to be in. Already heard back from 2... might have an interview down in Kyoto this weekend (reallllly hope they opt for the Skype interview I suggested - itll cost roughly 400-600 USD to get down to Kyoto & back). The Kyoto company, Universal Campus, is not a E/JHS/HS position but rather en English school position. I also got another response, from a company called Altia Central, and this position is for JHS or E/JHS. Its in Osaka, and Osaka is awesome.
The link to Altia is here
http://recruiting.altmoot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=63
And up front it looks like a pretty decent deal. About $100 extra a month, key money and all the other BS that goes into finding an apartment as a foreigner is supposedly covered, as are transportation fees. Can't say I know that much about Universal Campus' accomodations, but I figure thats what the interview is for... and if the pay is actually what they say it is (2-3.5 mil/month (with the experience I have I figure I can negotiate an initial salary of at least what I've got here at Interac)) it sounds pretty OK already.
Update: No dice on the Universal Campus gig. Scheduling conflicts don't allow, but that's well and good seeing as it begins August 1st and, aside from my 2nd day being my birthday, seriously disrupts my travel plans for around then. Altia, however, begins September 1, which seems like a mighty fine date to me - ample time to prepare.
The link to Altia is here
http://recruiting.altmoot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=63
And up front it looks like a pretty decent deal. About $100 extra a month, key money and all the other BS that goes into finding an apartment as a foreigner is supposedly covered, as are transportation fees. Can't say I know that much about Universal Campus' accomodations, but I figure thats what the interview is for... and if the pay is actually what they say it is (2-3.5 mil/month (with the experience I have I figure I can negotiate an initial salary of at least what I've got here at Interac)) it sounds pretty OK already.
Update: No dice on the Universal Campus gig. Scheduling conflicts don't allow, but that's well and good seeing as it begins August 1st and, aside from my 2nd day being my birthday, seriously disrupts my travel plans for around then. Altia, however, begins September 1, which seems like a mighty fine date to me - ample time to prepare.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I Found A Drummer
Practice starts saturday. Little Japanese girl, into Sabbath & Slayer. This should be good. And how about the practice space is fully furnished (kits, amps, etc.) and only runs 800 yen/2hrs/person? Awesome.
More sports festivals this week. Today begins 'Olympia' at Miyako HS, and I'll be playing on the teachers' Basketball team. This may or may not be a good thing, but I'm looking forward to it. Once again I don't know what my schedule is for Kita this week, so I'll have to contact Suisha or someone later on - I forgot my phone at home this morning so I'm temporarily cut off.
Stayed out last night to watch the Japan game at Rise, and boyyyy what a disappointment. I had 3 teams I was rooting for, and now I have none. Its not so much the World Cup anymore as it is the South American Cup... suffice to say I have no interest in any of the remaining teams, so looks like that'll be it for socccer for me this year.
More sports festivals this week. Today begins 'Olympia' at Miyako HS, and I'll be playing on the teachers' Basketball team. This may or may not be a good thing, but I'm looking forward to it. Once again I don't know what my schedule is for Kita this week, so I'll have to contact Suisha or someone later on - I forgot my phone at home this morning so I'm temporarily cut off.
Stayed out last night to watch the Japan game at Rise, and boyyyy what a disappointment. I had 3 teams I was rooting for, and now I have none. Its not so much the World Cup anymore as it is the South American Cup... suffice to say I have no interest in any of the remaining teams, so looks like that'll be it for socccer for me this year.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Open Weekend
Don't really have plans this weekend, aside from going to this Rotary dinner thing tonight at Jodogahama to send off a few girls from Texas who've been visiting for the last few days. Though I'll probably watch the Brazil/Portugal game at Rise... awesome that no one else shows any kind of interest in sports. Who does that?
Anyway, this week was a breeze - Monday through Wednesday was a bunch of test correcting, and yesterday and today were/still are the Sports Festival at Kita. Volleyball today. Fun ,but lots of free time. So, per the usual, Ive been whiling the time away with a combination of reading various news sources and studying, but this time I also through into the mix some menu planning for the next dinner thing I'm going to have... maybe next weekend. Probably the weekend after. Real simple this time around, summer-y. Here's what I've got so far:
App: Prosciutto & cantaloupe, on arugula with strawberry vinagrette.
Soup/Salad: Gazpacho (chilled soup)
Main: Broiled Trout (or Bass) with Cucumber/dill/lemon tofu 'crema' sauce, topped with chili oil.
Id like to get a fourth item in there, but im still working on it.
Finally, Im in one of those uber-productive modes with guitar, so hopefully the fliers that Ive posted (and continue to post) around town'll start pulling in some potential members.
Anyway, this week was a breeze - Monday through Wednesday was a bunch of test correcting, and yesterday and today were/still are the Sports Festival at Kita. Volleyball today. Fun ,but lots of free time. So, per the usual, Ive been whiling the time away with a combination of reading various news sources and studying, but this time I also through into the mix some menu planning for the next dinner thing I'm going to have... maybe next weekend. Probably the weekend after. Real simple this time around, summer-y. Here's what I've got so far:
App: Prosciutto & cantaloupe, on arugula with strawberry vinagrette.
Soup/Salad: Gazpacho (chilled soup)
Main: Broiled Trout (or Bass) with Cucumber/dill/lemon tofu 'crema' sauce, topped with chili oil.
Id like to get a fourth item in there, but im still working on it.
Finally, Im in one of those uber-productive modes with guitar, so hopefully the fliers that Ive posted (and continue to post) around town'll start pulling in some potential members.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Pay Attention to Your Calender.
I should've - I totally wrote down on it that I'd be getting my internet hooked up on the 19th (so next Saturday), but somewhere along the way I started thinking it was last Saturday... which it was not. SOOOO I'm still without internet for another week. Bummer.
Had a bit of a party this weekend at my place, and it went pretty well - I think I might be doing it something like once a month... get the word out that I've still got wicked good skills in the kitchen. This weekend's menu was Eggplant rotellini stuffed with a tofu/walnut/sauteed mushroom paste, followed by a spinach, tomato, and buffalo mozz salad with a light olive oil/lemon juice/basil/cracked pepper dressing, and I cinched the evening with sushi-grade Tuna tataki topped with fresh guacamole & caramelized onions (and accompanied by my favorite garlic potatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms). Pretty tasty, though the plates I was serving on were absolute shit (next time I think I'll rely on myself to purchase plates and what-not), and I suppose I could do with a bit more furniture... Fun though, and I got mad props for both the food and the songs I played after on my guitar, and that's really all I was going for with this anyway.
Suisha should've taken some pictures, but I was too busy with, you know, cooking to bother myself with that. Plus, while I like photography, if I'm at a party I much more enjoy enjoying myself than removing myself from the moment.
Oh, and I finished my band flier and made a bunch of copies, so I'll be posting that around town, what, tonight? I'll probably watch some of the soccer game tonight at the Parisian Pub near my place 'La Tache,' so I'll at least put it up there.
I've got a really great secret too, but its confidential until completion, so you'll just have to imagine what kind of awesome thing/s I'm doing behind all of yr backs.
Had a bit of a party this weekend at my place, and it went pretty well - I think I might be doing it something like once a month... get the word out that I've still got wicked good skills in the kitchen. This weekend's menu was Eggplant rotellini stuffed with a tofu/walnut/sauteed mushroom paste, followed by a spinach, tomato, and buffalo mozz salad with a light olive oil/lemon juice/basil/cracked pepper dressing, and I cinched the evening with sushi-grade Tuna tataki topped with fresh guacamole & caramelized onions (and accompanied by my favorite garlic potatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms). Pretty tasty, though the plates I was serving on were absolute shit (next time I think I'll rely on myself to purchase plates and what-not), and I suppose I could do with a bit more furniture... Fun though, and I got mad props for both the food and the songs I played after on my guitar, and that's really all I was going for with this anyway.
Suisha should've taken some pictures, but I was too busy with, you know, cooking to bother myself with that. Plus, while I like photography, if I'm at a party I much more enjoy enjoying myself than removing myself from the moment.
Oh, and I finished my band flier and made a bunch of copies, so I'll be posting that around town, what, tonight? I'll probably watch some of the soccer game tonight at the Parisian Pub near my place 'La Tache,' so I'll at least put it up there.
I've got a really great secret too, but its confidential until completion, so you'll just have to imagine what kind of awesome thing/s I'm doing behind all of yr backs.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Culture-time
Played a bunch of volleyball in a park (and a bit of ultimate) for the majority of Saturday. Ultimate really is a fun game... I'm thinking about getting a group together - post some fliers, that kind of thing. Anyway, Saturday was a day full of sports and, ultimately, pizza.
Sunday was a day full of tabi, happi, obi, and gigantic shrines on my shoulders while walking down Oodori in Morioka - that's right, I participated in an Omikoshi which would be called, what, a shrine walk? IF you've ever seen those sterotypical parades in chinatown in one movie or another where a bunch of people in really asian-looking garb are carrying a big, but still mini, temple that may-or-may-not have women dancing on it on their shoulders while chanting, you know what I'm talking about. At the end of the day, I was very tired (still am, 2 days later - that thing was HEAVY), but the owner of a new pair of tabi, and a pair of boots.
This weekend's highlights will be my first party at my house (= me cooking lots of food), internet hook-up, hopefully more frisbee, and probably a long bike ride because I need to start training for a mountain race I plan to enter on the day before my birthday.
Sunday was a day full of tabi, happi, obi, and gigantic shrines on my shoulders while walking down Oodori in Morioka - that's right, I participated in an Omikoshi which would be called, what, a shrine walk? IF you've ever seen those sterotypical parades in chinatown in one movie or another where a bunch of people in really asian-looking garb are carrying a big, but still mini, temple that may-or-may-not have women dancing on it on their shoulders while chanting, you know what I'm talking about. At the end of the day, I was very tired (still am, 2 days later - that thing was HEAVY), but the owner of a new pair of tabi, and a pair of boots.
This weekend's highlights will be my first party at my house (= me cooking lots of food), internet hook-up, hopefully more frisbee, and probably a long bike ride because I need to start training for a mountain race I plan to enter on the day before my birthday.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Great Weekend
Friday wasn't so eventful - just stayed in a read Great Expectations. Saturday, however, was a different story. I went into Morioka for the first time in a month or so (probably longer...) to see one of my favorite Japanese metal acts, Gotsu Totsu Kotsu. Met my friend Dan at a restaurant called Universal, had some pizza, habanero sausage, and a beer, and then headed over to the venue on the far end of Oodoori. Nice small place, could fit a max of maybe 300 people (and thatd be really packed), and admission was only 1500. Thats incredibly cheap compared with, say, Behemoth, who I saw in Tokyo for 8500.
Anyway, totally killer show. I was especially surprised with the openers (particularly JWA) as every time Ive seen Gotsu before there has been nary a good band playing with them (some exceptions, of course). Even more surprising still was that all of the other bands were local (Gotsu is from Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture), and Morioka really doesn't have much in the way of metal. Sure, a bit of punk, but theres a lot of Rockabilly up here... and gigantic pompadours. Anyway, I knew JWA was going to be good when they tuned to a Church of Misery song, and I knew Gotsu was going to be good because they're awesome.
Anyway, it was a great show (my neck still hurts) full of stage diving, pushing people around, beer being thrown, and sweating on each other. At first I was a bit concerned as our plans following the show had been to go to one of Morioka's clubs and I was literally soaked in sweat/beer, but instead we were invited to the aftershow party at a local Izakaya where all the bands showed up. Got some tacos before hand though. JWA were a bunch of nice guys, real funny, but of course I was most pleased with talking to the guys from Gotsu for a few hours whilst eating various Japanese bar foods and drinking mizuwaris (shochu and water). We talked a bit of shop (Im trying my hand at contacting labels for their sake as well as promoting them in whatever ways I can) but mostly had a good time just shooting the shit. Totally awesome night, though now back in Miyako I can only remenisce about the fun that can be had OUTside of the middle of knowhere while immersed in the cultural blackhole that is the town I live in.
I'll be asking my landlords for internet access today, and I think I'll be redoubling my efforts to find another job/apply to grad school. I'm only young once, and as Dennis Hopper's death just proved, even the most badass of us have to slow down and die sometime, so get done what you can when you will.
Anyway, totally killer show. I was especially surprised with the openers (particularly JWA) as every time Ive seen Gotsu before there has been nary a good band playing with them (some exceptions, of course). Even more surprising still was that all of the other bands were local (Gotsu is from Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture), and Morioka really doesn't have much in the way of metal. Sure, a bit of punk, but theres a lot of Rockabilly up here... and gigantic pompadours. Anyway, I knew JWA was going to be good when they tuned to a Church of Misery song, and I knew Gotsu was going to be good because they're awesome.
Anyway, it was a great show (my neck still hurts) full of stage diving, pushing people around, beer being thrown, and sweating on each other. At first I was a bit concerned as our plans following the show had been to go to one of Morioka's clubs and I was literally soaked in sweat/beer, but instead we were invited to the aftershow party at a local Izakaya where all the bands showed up. Got some tacos before hand though. JWA were a bunch of nice guys, real funny, but of course I was most pleased with talking to the guys from Gotsu for a few hours whilst eating various Japanese bar foods and drinking mizuwaris (shochu and water). We talked a bit of shop (Im trying my hand at contacting labels for their sake as well as promoting them in whatever ways I can) but mostly had a good time just shooting the shit. Totally awesome night, though now back in Miyako I can only remenisce about the fun that can be had OUTside of the middle of knowhere while immersed in the cultural blackhole that is the town I live in.
I'll be asking my landlords for internet access today, and I think I'll be redoubling my efforts to find another job/apply to grad school. I'm only young once, and as Dennis Hopper's death just proved, even the most badass of us have to slow down and die sometime, so get done what you can when you will.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
A Typical Day At Kita
So Fridays are the day I have the legendarily dreadful 3B class at Kita HS. This pretty much only applies to their conviction to study (of which they have none and have subsequently attained exactly nothing in the way of English language acquisition), and are fun enough kids to teach... or try to. They are, however, incredibly, often hilariously, rude, and I thought I'd throw some examples your way.
・During dialogue drilling, one student frequently only yells 'Fuck!' when asked to repeat.
・Most male students try to bring attention to their 'yellow hand.'
・One must actively avoid collisions with students' intended hands and one's junk.
・'Fuck you' is not an uncommon response to any posed question.
・Hand gestures of all kinds, specifically the 'gotcher nose!' type one, with the thumb placed between the index and middle finger, which is, in Japan, equated with 'let's fuck'
・Constant questions concerning genitalia.
・
・During dialogue drilling, one student frequently only yells 'Fuck!' when asked to repeat.
・Most male students try to bring attention to their 'yellow hand.'
・One must actively avoid collisions with students' intended hands and one's junk.
・'Fuck you' is not an uncommon response to any posed question.
・Hand gestures of all kinds, specifically the 'gotcher nose!' type one, with the thumb placed between the index and middle finger, which is, in Japan, equated with 'let's fuck'
・Constant questions concerning genitalia.
・
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Thoughts
I've been wondering lately if Miyako isn't just playing that god damn saxophone or whatever, dancing over some stupid hill into some dumb, boring, serene forest full of all those nice, cute little animals that I've skewered countless times in the last who knows how long... luring me away from things that'll bite my head of if I don't watch out and stab first. Blood runs deep and red in the forest of the imagination as surely as it flows through these veins, but it seems there's something of a rift between one and the other of late - its tiring living between the two. Though sleep is alluring, I am more and more overtaken by the idea that its high time to get back into that danger zone, wake myself up to the sound of whatever Gonzo drones, riffs, shrieks, and howls are wandering the insomniac streets... get my ears bleeding again.
So, seriously, I don't want to get lost living in such a nice place! Its starting to bug me out that danger, adventure... being young in general isn't really what goes on here... and yet I like the place I live - I'm not unhappy. Kind of lost as to what to do, and at the same time feel like staying here is just fine.
Sort of an odd predicament I'm in, if you can even call it that.
So, seriously, I don't want to get lost living in such a nice place! Its starting to bug me out that danger, adventure... being young in general isn't really what goes on here... and yet I like the place I live - I'm not unhappy. Kind of lost as to what to do, and at the same time feel like staying here is just fine.
Sort of an odd predicament I'm in, if you can even call it that.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Forget that last post
Yesterday was the best day of my life. That might be an exaggeration, but its a pretty good description. The family I tutor, the Mikami's, invited me out for a hanami party, but when it came to performance, the trees were lacking so we headed to Tono where we (me, Mr. & Mrs. Mikami, and their 2 daughters) toured a Japanese history site. I don't know the name, but if you've been to Gettysburg you know what kind of thing I'm talking about. Anywho, while there we got some pretty decent soba for lunch, saw a woman (video included) tell traditional stories of Tono in the local historic dialect (I occasionally understood single words - it is one hell of a dialect), and saw kappazuri, aka fishing for turtle monsters with cucumbers... I know, right?
Following that we returned to Miyako, around 7 PM (left at 10 am), and made some preparations for the barbeque we were heading to, during which time the younger daughter, who's my age, and I took their dog Sakura for a walk. Cute girl, cute dog, cherry blossoms blooming around us, dusk... I think yr probably starting to get the idea of where this post is ultimately headed - I've got a huge crush. From there we headed to the Taro district of Miyako, oceanside, where we met the rest of the Mikami's, probably 18 people in all, and proceeded to have the barbeque party of my life. Fresh caught squid, scallops, chicken & onion skewers, pig heart, pizza, beer, guitars and a bass and an amp (seems that most of the Mikami men are musicians, and mostly guitarists at that), multiple grills, a 3 month old dachshund, 3 very inquisitive (and a whole lot of fun) little girls (the oldest, I think she was 10 or 11), a fresh ocean breeze, great conversation, topped off with a cute girl who's become something of a diamond in my eye... couldn't really get better, right? WRONG.
After about 3 hours the party wrapped up, and young Ms. Mikami had just called one of her friends to pick us up and take us into town. So with our DD, (just like the school drinking parties, you almost can't avoid someone refilling yr cup with more beer, so at this point we were all except those driving probably about at least 3 16 oz. cans of Asahi super-dry deep) the 3 of us sped back to Miyako in order to, first of all, anyway, drop by the new billiards bar, called Rise, and DAMN is it nice. Only 1 pool table and 2 dart boards, but the place has 5 pretty big flat screens and 1 huge projector, a number of foreign beers in bottles and guiness on tap, decent prices (450 for a draft) and some great lounging space. The three of us proceeded to get on the pool table, where I performed quite poorly but held nothing against the burning light of inability that radiated from Team Japan. I'll blame it on the booze, but christ they were bad. Awful. I mean absolute shit. It was pretty funny to watch, and endearing to a point.
Awesome day of tourism, followed by the best party ever, and really bad pool at a really great new bar? Where does the fun end? Not at Rise, at least! We finished our "game" at Rise and headed to Karaoke! Such hits as Take On Me, The River, Anarchy in the UK, and The Ace of Spades, amongst others, were sung, some times by one, sometimes all together, and it was good like God said the world was.
Sadly, that was the last Miyako saw of us that night. Soon after we headed home.
Now, the problem that needs to be conquered is... get the Mikami's daughter (I've excluded names for some reason or another, just so you know that I know their names) single. She just got back from a year in Ireland (???), and informed me she has a boyfriend. But he's like, Polish or something, and lives forever away. God knows I'm aware of how those kinds of relationships don't work... so I guess I'll just have to put on my best when around her, and coax out the inevitable, little by little. Plus, her parents love me! I should be in like flint!
Following that we returned to Miyako, around 7 PM (left at 10 am), and made some preparations for the barbeque we were heading to, during which time the younger daughter, who's my age, and I took their dog Sakura for a walk. Cute girl, cute dog, cherry blossoms blooming around us, dusk... I think yr probably starting to get the idea of where this post is ultimately headed - I've got a huge crush. From there we headed to the Taro district of Miyako, oceanside, where we met the rest of the Mikami's, probably 18 people in all, and proceeded to have the barbeque party of my life. Fresh caught squid, scallops, chicken & onion skewers, pig heart, pizza, beer, guitars and a bass and an amp (seems that most of the Mikami men are musicians, and mostly guitarists at that), multiple grills, a 3 month old dachshund, 3 very inquisitive (and a whole lot of fun) little girls (the oldest, I think she was 10 or 11), a fresh ocean breeze, great conversation, topped off with a cute girl who's become something of a diamond in my eye... couldn't really get better, right? WRONG.
After about 3 hours the party wrapped up, and young Ms. Mikami had just called one of her friends to pick us up and take us into town. So with our DD, (just like the school drinking parties, you almost can't avoid someone refilling yr cup with more beer, so at this point we were all except those driving probably about at least 3 16 oz. cans of Asahi super-dry deep) the 3 of us sped back to Miyako in order to, first of all, anyway, drop by the new billiards bar, called Rise, and DAMN is it nice. Only 1 pool table and 2 dart boards, but the place has 5 pretty big flat screens and 1 huge projector, a number of foreign beers in bottles and guiness on tap, decent prices (450 for a draft) and some great lounging space. The three of us proceeded to get on the pool table, where I performed quite poorly but held nothing against the burning light of inability that radiated from Team Japan. I'll blame it on the booze, but christ they were bad. Awful. I mean absolute shit. It was pretty funny to watch, and endearing to a point.
Awesome day of tourism, followed by the best party ever, and really bad pool at a really great new bar? Where does the fun end? Not at Rise, at least! We finished our "game" at Rise and headed to Karaoke! Such hits as Take On Me, The River, Anarchy in the UK, and The Ace of Spades, amongst others, were sung, some times by one, sometimes all together, and it was good like God said the world was.
Sadly, that was the last Miyako saw of us that night. Soon after we headed home.
Now, the problem that needs to be conquered is... get the Mikami's daughter (I've excluded names for some reason or another, just so you know that I know their names) single. She just got back from a year in Ireland (???), and informed me she has a boyfriend. But he's like, Polish or something, and lives forever away. God knows I'm aware of how those kinds of relationships don't work... so I guess I'll just have to put on my best when around her, and coax out the inevitable, little by little. Plus, her parents love me! I should be in like flint!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Awesome
So let's just say things are going phenomenally fuckin' well up here in Miyako for me. Oh, and Tokyo was fun.
Also, I love how many comments I get.
Also, I love how many comments I get.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
What Do You Get...
When you combine 1.) a guy who purposely dresses like an old man, to the point of dying his hair grey, wearing suspenders, etc. 2.) a bassist who's main source of income is soft-core pornography and 3.) a moustache that might just challenge the throne that has forever been held by Mr. Tom Selleck?
I'll tell you what you get - the ultimate, groovy power of 中学生棺桶!!
I'll tell you what you get - the ultimate, groovy power of 中学生棺桶!!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Hm...
So, yeah, I'm still a bit bitter at being in Miyako, but of course I can deal. However, I did just apply for another company (actually turns out to be the same company that's picking up the elementary contracts in Miyako this coming school year), and while if hired I'd be taking a pay-cut of 10K Yen (~$100) a month, some of their locations are open "immediately," and one is in Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture, which is about a 40 minute train ride from Ueno station on Tokyo's Yamanote line. THAT is an awesome fucking placement. I figure with all the money I spend on getting somewhere interesting, hotels, etc. in order to have fun while living in Miyako, if I'm living in a city that itself is pretty big (~220,000 people) that is also near Tokyo, I can start spending less money on more important things than travel expenses. Plus, Saitama's capital, Saitama City, is PGH's sister-city and who knows, maybe I could get onto something with that. I've got 20 days until recontracting, so while I'm cutting it wicked close, I'm a bit hopeful that 100x more fun is in my near future.
Oh, plus, Interac took me off my favorite school (Miyako Kita, the one full of all the bad kids) and is now throwing me at Tanohata, about an hour to an hour and a half and (I'm guessing) ~1500 yen/trip away, for 2 days a week. Fucking hell.
Oh, plus, Interac took me off my favorite school (Miyako Kita, the one full of all the bad kids) and is now throwing me at Tanohata, about an hour to an hour and a half and (I'm guessing) ~1500 yen/trip away, for 2 days a week. Fucking hell.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Back & Forth
Miyako represents a truly awesome paradigm change for me. I can't call PGH a "big city," but it sure as hell ain't a small one, and having grown up there with its relative wealth things to do during both the daytime and nighttime, moving out here has proven something of a... not so much a challenge, but rather... aw, fuck it, call shit what it is - Miyako is a challenge. In any given week, I'm likely to change my opinion of it at least twice (basically ranging from either "I like Miyako" to "Fuck 'dis noise"), and I'm back on my dissatisfaction game of late. There's a lot of superficial interaction going on here, but nothing too much of substance... that I've experienced yet, anyway. Here's the main problem I'm obsessing over right now: there doesn't seem to be much hanging out going on. In its place are a bunch of club activities, and while I appreciate structure, I'm definitely the kind of generally structureless dude, so far as plans are concerned, who doesn't want to meet people via structured activity. Unfortunately, that seems to be the main means through which socializing is conducted here: I've participated in a break-dance troupe, a volleyball team, and some other collectives, but it didn't yield much more than both parties coming closer to the ideological wall that is established between big-city (and foreign) people and those living in a place such as this. Thing is, I'd much rather decide on what the hell it is I want to do on a given/afternoon/evening via whatever fickle whims I'm entertaining at the moment (granted, that usually revolves around music, whether playing with others, listening to, or going to a show). Miyako will not allow that of me, especially concerning my main interests in extreme genres of music. Self-actualization, unadulterated, anyway, is a bit of a problem for a guy like me in a place like this. Hence, this back and forth attitude I've developed towards my current city of residence - when I can appreciate the laid back lifestyle, with the absolutely gorgeous scenery around me, and totally cheap cost of most everything, I'm cool with it... but then I start thinking about what it is I'm actually interested in ,what I like to do, what I want to pursue, and I see Miyako as a singular dead-end.
When I try balancing these facts out, I say to myself that Miyako, on the positive end, affords me a relatively cheap (though I won't get into specifics) lifestyle, a chance to study my ass off, and to experience the Japan that isn't corporatized as of yet, but honestly I am only secondarily concerned with those things: living in a spot where I can entertain my actual callings (music, concerts, legit intellectualism, etc.) might be more expensive, but god damn it what is the point of not pursuing that? Hell, that's why I stuck with what I loved to study in college, because I wasn't so much concerned with getting a "money-making" degree as I was with going after what I actually found interesting. It seems to me like Miyako is a kind of purgatory for me, offering the possibility of later on moving into a space that offers me growth and like-mindedness amongst peers, while throwing me a pill that is fucking hard to swallow on each day I am here.
I'm gonna stop there cause I'm about to start really going off on Miyako, and I'd like to keep these opinions at least relatively buried for a bit longer. Suffice to say, I have already submitted a number of applications to jobs in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
When I try balancing these facts out, I say to myself that Miyako, on the positive end, affords me a relatively cheap (though I won't get into specifics) lifestyle, a chance to study my ass off, and to experience the Japan that isn't corporatized as of yet, but honestly I am only secondarily concerned with those things: living in a spot where I can entertain my actual callings (music, concerts, legit intellectualism, etc.) might be more expensive, but god damn it what is the point of not pursuing that? Hell, that's why I stuck with what I loved to study in college, because I wasn't so much concerned with getting a "money-making" degree as I was with going after what I actually found interesting. It seems to me like Miyako is a kind of purgatory for me, offering the possibility of later on moving into a space that offers me growth and like-mindedness amongst peers, while throwing me a pill that is fucking hard to swallow on each day I am here.
I'm gonna stop there cause I'm about to start really going off on Miyako, and I'd like to keep these opinions at least relatively buried for a bit longer. Suffice to say, I have already submitted a number of applications to jobs in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Recent & Upcoming Events
Soooooo... looks like starting tomorrow I don't have work till the 15th of next month. Funny how I wasn't really aware of this 'spring break' I've got, considering how substantial it is - I knew there was some little break thing coming up, but especially considering my company tends to send me elsewhere on work days, I wasn't really expecting to receive much of a break. Well, I was wrong, cause it looks like I'm about to embark on approximately 1 month of break time.
I think I'll be going to Korea for a bit.
Why, I mean, outside of 'Christ, I live in fucking Asia - I'm surrounded by foreign countries'? A good friend of mine lives near Busan, and he informs me that up until this point his experience there has been cheap, enormously entertaining, and largely carefree. Plus, I'm assuming he'll put me up, so that takes care of (not) paying for a hotel. Granted, I've got my after-school English teaching class every Monday, so I can probably, at most, stay 7 or 8 days (though that's unlikely, for not only am I not that rich, but I'd also rather not mess with the schedule we've established), but presumably that's more than enough time to visit a lot of cool shit in a country so small, all despite the fact that I know very little about it.
In other news, I was walking home last night and ended up... I hesitate to say rescue... assisting the most pathetically dead-drunk person I've seen in a while. This chick was so blasted she was asleep in the fucking street. That's no lie - cars were going around her... it was dangerous to say the least. Given how she and her friend were dressed, I'm assuming they are employed at one of the many local hostess bars. This is a distinctly Japanese phenomenon where men pay to talk to, and buy drinks for, women dressed for a club. Make no mistake, this is not a sex industry (so far as I'm aware, anyway - I've never been because, more than anything, I'm not cripplingly shy around women), but it does highlight the fact that enough dudes lead such dreadfully, painfully lonely lives such that necessitates this kind of establishment. Or maybe I just don't get it. Anyway, regardless of the culture surrounding Hostess Clubs (which, by the way, tend to be called 'Snack's or 'Pub's, so be careful), I figure they had a pretty god damn good night of customers to be that loaded...
Entertain me for a second - seriously, what upstanding gentleman buys a lady so many drinks that she's sleeping in the fucking street and doesn't have the courtesy to call a cab or walk her home/get someone to walk her home (This is rural Japan and people watch. Even if you have the most pure of intentions, there will be those that see and assume the worst, and report that to others)? Moreover, what company, especially one which makes its money specifically off of women getting men to buy them and to drink themselves absurdly marked up booze, doesn't call a cab for an employee that presumably just earned the company some pretty hefty profits who is so totally fucked up?
The more I write about this, the more I question whether or not they were Hostess Club employees and not just 2 chicks who had entirely too much 'fun' on a tuesday night...
Anyways, her friend was hanging about, but couldn't really do much in her not-as-intoxicated state with her friend's dead weight, so I helped carry this girl over to a corner and insisted her friend call a cab, only leaving when she had the phone to her ear. In retrospect, I probably should've waited for the cab to come, but considering how small Miyako is, and where the cab dispatch is located in relationship to where this event occured, I feel pretty safe in saying they got home alright.
Anyways, at least she wasn't sleeping in the street anymore.
P.S. - I have decided to build a fort this summer. In the woods, near the ocean. Ala the Zappler fort, but infinitely more awesome. I hope I can find a generator, becuase then I can bring an amp up there and jam to the ocean in the middle of wilderness isolation. Dream big or go home, I say.
I think I'll be going to Korea for a bit.
Why, I mean, outside of 'Christ, I live in fucking Asia - I'm surrounded by foreign countries'? A good friend of mine lives near Busan, and he informs me that up until this point his experience there has been cheap, enormously entertaining, and largely carefree. Plus, I'm assuming he'll put me up, so that takes care of (not) paying for a hotel. Granted, I've got my after-school English teaching class every Monday, so I can probably, at most, stay 7 or 8 days (though that's unlikely, for not only am I not that rich, but I'd also rather not mess with the schedule we've established), but presumably that's more than enough time to visit a lot of cool shit in a country so small, all despite the fact that I know very little about it.
In other news, I was walking home last night and ended up... I hesitate to say rescue... assisting the most pathetically dead-drunk person I've seen in a while. This chick was so blasted she was asleep in the fucking street. That's no lie - cars were going around her... it was dangerous to say the least. Given how she and her friend were dressed, I'm assuming they are employed at one of the many local hostess bars. This is a distinctly Japanese phenomenon where men pay to talk to, and buy drinks for, women dressed for a club. Make no mistake, this is not a sex industry (so far as I'm aware, anyway - I've never been because, more than anything, I'm not cripplingly shy around women), but it does highlight the fact that enough dudes lead such dreadfully, painfully lonely lives such that necessitates this kind of establishment. Or maybe I just don't get it. Anyway, regardless of the culture surrounding Hostess Clubs (which, by the way, tend to be called 'Snack's or 'Pub's, so be careful), I figure they had a pretty god damn good night of customers to be that loaded...
Entertain me for a second - seriously, what upstanding gentleman buys a lady so many drinks that she's sleeping in the fucking street and doesn't have the courtesy to call a cab or walk her home/get someone to walk her home (This is rural Japan and people watch. Even if you have the most pure of intentions, there will be those that see and assume the worst, and report that to others)? Moreover, what company, especially one which makes its money specifically off of women getting men to buy them and to drink themselves absurdly marked up booze, doesn't call a cab for an employee that presumably just earned the company some pretty hefty profits who is so totally fucked up?
The more I write about this, the more I question whether or not they were Hostess Club employees and not just 2 chicks who had entirely too much 'fun' on a tuesday night...
Anyways, her friend was hanging about, but couldn't really do much in her not-as-intoxicated state with her friend's dead weight, so I helped carry this girl over to a corner and insisted her friend call a cab, only leaving when she had the phone to her ear. In retrospect, I probably should've waited for the cab to come, but considering how small Miyako is, and where the cab dispatch is located in relationship to where this event occured, I feel pretty safe in saying they got home alright.
Anyways, at least she wasn't sleeping in the street anymore.
P.S. - I have decided to build a fort this summer. In the woods, near the ocean. Ala the Zappler fort, but infinitely more awesome. I hope I can find a generator, becuase then I can bring an amp up there and jam to the ocean in the middle of wilderness isolation. Dream big or go home, I say.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
New Ink, Old Ink, Whatever.
Got re-inked on saturday at noon. Whole deal took about two hours, and I gotta say... this shit is fucking AWESOME. I'm still healing up (aka saran wrap and petroleum jelly) so I'll be holding off on taking pictures for a bit, but I'll post some once she's ready for a debut.
The experience itself was interesting though. Getting inked in Japan is much more intimate than the American analog. The store front itself wasn't anything to gawk at, but once yr actually in the "chair" its wholly different form America. I say "chair" because there is no chair - once I was lead to the business end of the store, I entered a very small "room" partitioned off by rice-paper walls (Anyone who's been to a Japanese restaurant knows exactly what I'm talking about) and was asked to lie down. The whole ordeal took place while lying on the floor. The artist, Hirohide (trained in Tokyo!) sat seiza-style (sitting with your legs tucked underneath you) on a zabuton (seat-pillow) for the whole thing, using a seemingly hand-made gun. In America, I might be a bit worried upon seeing something like that, but in Japan, and especially concerning tattooing, your job is your art and so I have the exact opposite reaction... if this is not uncommon, then I guess Japanese tattoo artists are kind of like Jedi, what with making their own tools and all.
Whatever the case, the result is un-fucking-believeable. This guy knows his craft and I am 100% going back to him (I've scheduled a meeting with him in 2 weeks to discuss additional work). For example, when I first had this inked, the "artist" (compared to Hirohide she probably shouldn't even be in business) told me that the picture shouldn't be that hard EXCEPT for a braid in the woman's hair, that she couldn't do it. Hirohide didn't even mention it upon entering, but I figured I'd have to do without. WRONG. To my surprise, the microscopic braid was done just like everything else - perfectly. Dude is a magician.
Unfortunately, he doesn't do traditional Japanese "tebori" tattooing, but hey I figure I only need to get that done once and so this guy is definitely going to be getting a lot of my business.
The experience itself was interesting though. Getting inked in Japan is much more intimate than the American analog. The store front itself wasn't anything to gawk at, but once yr actually in the "chair" its wholly different form America. I say "chair" because there is no chair - once I was lead to the business end of the store, I entered a very small "room" partitioned off by rice-paper walls (Anyone who's been to a Japanese restaurant knows exactly what I'm talking about) and was asked to lie down. The whole ordeal took place while lying on the floor. The artist, Hirohide (trained in Tokyo!) sat seiza-style (sitting with your legs tucked underneath you) on a zabuton (seat-pillow) for the whole thing, using a seemingly hand-made gun. In America, I might be a bit worried upon seeing something like that, but in Japan, and especially concerning tattooing, your job is your art and so I have the exact opposite reaction... if this is not uncommon, then I guess Japanese tattoo artists are kind of like Jedi, what with making their own tools and all.
Whatever the case, the result is un-fucking-believeable. This guy knows his craft and I am 100% going back to him (I've scheduled a meeting with him in 2 weeks to discuss additional work). For example, when I first had this inked, the "artist" (compared to Hirohide she probably shouldn't even be in business) told me that the picture shouldn't be that hard EXCEPT for a braid in the woman's hair, that she couldn't do it. Hirohide didn't even mention it upon entering, but I figured I'd have to do without. WRONG. To my surprise, the microscopic braid was done just like everything else - perfectly. Dude is a magician.
Unfortunately, he doesn't do traditional Japanese "tebori" tattooing, but hey I figure I only need to get that done once and so this guy is definitely going to be getting a lot of my business.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
End of the School Year
So my contract is up in about 21 days, though I plan on renewing. Miyako's definitely got its charm, and while I'd love to get back down to Tokyo, I've developed something of an appreciation for my students and coworkers that I'd like to see at least one class off after having taught them for a full year. Plus, I've decided to use Miyako as a training ground - due to its lack of anything particularly exciting (at least on a regular basis), I have developed a 3-part plan to complete before my resurgence in the Tokyo Underground. I've mentioned the money saving aspect, and previously mentioned a daily exercise routine I'm still on, and I've also mentioned the studying thing. So, in a nutshell, I'm going to get relatively rich, relatively cut, and relatively really fluent at Japanese over the course of the next year, so that when I actually do return to the city, it'll be totally obvious to even yet-unborn children that, indeed, my arrival heralds the second coming.
In essence, I will nuture my ego to a hitherto unknown, indeed unknowable, excess. Lets get cocky.
Moving on to more serious topics, yesterday was the graduation ceremony for Miyako HS. It was different. In the place of the beach balls and laughter I remember experiencing at my own High School graduation, it was a bunch of rather polite speeches and sleeping seniors. Mundane, sure, but also possessing a heavy element of austerity. Pristine, I think I'd call it, that is up until the end when 3 students donned some weird kind-of-octopus-looking hats and started screaming at their classmates whilst waving flags to a drum beat on top of a stand. Bad-ass is what I'd call that, bringing to mind the kind of arrogant but self-assured, and totally rousing, attitude of Toshiro Mifune's various samurai roles. Banzai for real, yo.
We had a party for us teachers later in the day at 530, and since I get off work at 4 and didn't want to be exercising way late into the night, I booked it home from school, did a mildly abridged version of my regular Tuesday regiment, showered, and re-dressed all in about 1.5 hours. The party itself was a bit pricey, 6000 Yen, but they are usually worth it - a spread of sashimi (mostly Maguro and, my favorite, Kampachi); Sukiyaki; prosciutto with lemon, tomatoes, and spinach; Chawanmushi (a kind of custard with fish and shrimp in it); an Oyster gratin; and, most notably, some fried stuff on a stick with barbeque sauce. And of course beer, sake, shochu, and uronhai were flowing freely - its incredibly important to learn how to pace yrself at these events because you will ALWAYS have a full glass, due to the custom of refilling each others glasses, ad infinitum ad nauseum. Even if youve literally taken 1 sip from yr full glass, people will offer to top you off, and of course you can't refuse. And if the bastards are feeling especially sneaky, they'll offer you an entirely new drink, which, once again, you can't refuse. Oh, and of course you also have to participate in this beer-tiquette, so not only do you have to keep an eye on how much you've drank of your own drink in order to ward off further attempts at refills, who hasn't yet refilled yr glass (as they are all wont to do), and which of yr glasses you've actually drank out of (in order to appease the pourer), you also have to play the part of server. Its exhausting, especially being a foreigner so that they are much more likely to wander by with the ubiquitous liter bottles of beer. I mostly succeeded at sticking to beer, but by the end of the party (around 830) I had 4, largely untouched, different drinks in front of me. Talk about a waste.
Anyway, it was a good time. I still haven't met probably half the staff here, so I'm always glad to attend these parties for the chance to get to know more of my coworkers. Except for one woman I work with (GOD DAMN is she cold) all the teachers I work with here at MHS have good senses of humor, and generally rather bright demeanors. Its strange that a lot of teachers are still surprised when I start speaking their language, considering I've been here for 4 months, but then again I don't know their names. Too bad. The night was passed with a whole bunch of pretty funny speeches, exchanging ideas for in-class as well as out-of-class lessons/interactions, and, of course, questions about America. Afterwards, I went home and watched The Wire.
Have you SEEN The Wire??
Oh, and starting next monday at 6 pm, I'll be teaching a wicked cute 27 year old nurse (hehehe) and her dad (...) english at their house on a weekly basis. So its a part-time job, and while I can always use more money, I'm mostly looking forward to the opportunity to get close to this family, which seems to be relatively affluent, as a way to squeeze myself in with the local crowd, as opposed to retaining my distinct foreign-ness/culturally-imposed distance. Plus I'll probably get a few home-cooked meals out of it.
In essence, I will nuture my ego to a hitherto unknown, indeed unknowable, excess. Lets get cocky.
Moving on to more serious topics, yesterday was the graduation ceremony for Miyako HS. It was different. In the place of the beach balls and laughter I remember experiencing at my own High School graduation, it was a bunch of rather polite speeches and sleeping seniors. Mundane, sure, but also possessing a heavy element of austerity. Pristine, I think I'd call it, that is up until the end when 3 students donned some weird kind-of-octopus-looking hats and started screaming at their classmates whilst waving flags to a drum beat on top of a stand. Bad-ass is what I'd call that, bringing to mind the kind of arrogant but self-assured, and totally rousing, attitude of Toshiro Mifune's various samurai roles. Banzai for real, yo.
We had a party for us teachers later in the day at 530, and since I get off work at 4 and didn't want to be exercising way late into the night, I booked it home from school, did a mildly abridged version of my regular Tuesday regiment, showered, and re-dressed all in about 1.5 hours. The party itself was a bit pricey, 6000 Yen, but they are usually worth it - a spread of sashimi (mostly Maguro and, my favorite, Kampachi); Sukiyaki; prosciutto with lemon, tomatoes, and spinach; Chawanmushi (a kind of custard with fish and shrimp in it); an Oyster gratin; and, most notably, some fried stuff on a stick with barbeque sauce. And of course beer, sake, shochu, and uronhai were flowing freely - its incredibly important to learn how to pace yrself at these events because you will ALWAYS have a full glass, due to the custom of refilling each others glasses, ad infinitum ad nauseum. Even if youve literally taken 1 sip from yr full glass, people will offer to top you off, and of course you can't refuse. And if the bastards are feeling especially sneaky, they'll offer you an entirely new drink, which, once again, you can't refuse. Oh, and of course you also have to participate in this beer-tiquette, so not only do you have to keep an eye on how much you've drank of your own drink in order to ward off further attempts at refills, who hasn't yet refilled yr glass (as they are all wont to do), and which of yr glasses you've actually drank out of (in order to appease the pourer), you also have to play the part of server. Its exhausting, especially being a foreigner so that they are much more likely to wander by with the ubiquitous liter bottles of beer. I mostly succeeded at sticking to beer, but by the end of the party (around 830) I had 4, largely untouched, different drinks in front of me. Talk about a waste.
Anyway, it was a good time. I still haven't met probably half the staff here, so I'm always glad to attend these parties for the chance to get to know more of my coworkers. Except for one woman I work with (GOD DAMN is she cold) all the teachers I work with here at MHS have good senses of humor, and generally rather bright demeanors. Its strange that a lot of teachers are still surprised when I start speaking their language, considering I've been here for 4 months, but then again I don't know their names. Too bad. The night was passed with a whole bunch of pretty funny speeches, exchanging ideas for in-class as well as out-of-class lessons/interactions, and, of course, questions about America. Afterwards, I went home and watched The Wire.
Have you SEEN The Wire??
Oh, and starting next monday at 6 pm, I'll be teaching a wicked cute 27 year old nurse (hehehe) and her dad (...) english at their house on a weekly basis. So its a part-time job, and while I can always use more money, I'm mostly looking forward to the opportunity to get close to this family, which seems to be relatively affluent, as a way to squeeze myself in with the local crowd, as opposed to retaining my distinct foreign-ness/culturally-imposed distance. Plus I'll probably get a few home-cooked meals out of it.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Incredible That I Get Paid
This month's been going pretty well. I had my last class at 宮古川井高校 (Kawai HS) 2 fridays ago, meaning that since last week I've had friday off and will continue to have friday off until the end of my contract. This, paired with the incredible frequency of nat'l holidays in Japan make 4 day weekends a very likely possibility - this coming weekend is such an example: I've got Thursday through Sunday off. Tack on to that the fact that because 宮古高校 (Miyako HS) is testing this week I don't have any classes, and I've had one hell of an easy ride this month.
Still, I have to be in school during the testing, which is at once unnacceptably lame and a great opportunity to get other work done. Like I mentioned in my last (2nd to last?) post, I've been pursuing a much more productive lifestyle of late, so while I'm at school but outside of the classroom/not planning, I'm either reading or studying. I just finished Pollan's 'In Defense of Food' which was alright if brief, and am now working on Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' (for those Blade Runner fans out there, I'm sure that title'll ring a bell). In addition I've developed something of a regime for studying Japanese, mostly practicing writing and different readings (most if not all chinese characters used in Japanese (known as Kanji) have at least 2 different readings, and this number can increase significantly) while at school. I usually do memorization/drill stuff at home.
And speaking of studying Japanese, I just put an order in for a bunch of study materials for the 日本語能力試験二級 (Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken Ni-kyuu, also known as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, 2nd Tier) which I'm wicked excited about. Granted, I've been studying what I could find online for the test, but considering the difficulty of this test (perhaps most notalbly, this iteration of the government-sponsored exam features upwards of 900 separate kanji) I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend a little bit of cash on it. All told, all the stuff I ordered only cost around $50, so I'm really not at all put out by it. This order I put in is also my first experience using the totally rad Japanese system of sending products ordered online to a local Lawson convenience store for COD pick-up, no credit card required.
So aside from that, and the exercise routine I've also been sticking to, what the hell do I do around here? Good question. Its getting kind of warm recently, though I can't imagine this'll stick around, so I've been going on photo hunts occasionally; There was a party at a local bar, Mecca, last weekend that turned out pretty OK; I've been doing a bit of travelling to the surrounding areas to visit friends/coworkers(in particular Iwaizumi, Morioka, and soon Kamaishi); playing a LOT of guitar, for which I'm seriously considering throwing down 3K yen or so for this shitty used amp at a local thrift store... better than nothing, and hell with the kind of damage I'm looking to do, a shitty amp just might be the ticket.
The guitar thing is definitely a sore point for me, if there are any, about living out here, though - I have not yet been able to find ANYONE to play with, and really have no idea what channels to go through to find that info out, if there are any at all. Practicing is great and all, but without any opportunities to implement what I know, it gets old pretty fast. That paired with my recording equipment still being busted, I can't really do too much of anything but practice modes, chords, and number sequences.
So all in all, life's pretty good. Cooking a lot of my own food, with a LOT of that-day fresh fish, getting into better shape, learning a good deal more Japanese, getting better at guitar despite the lack of any real opportunity to show that off, and basically honing whatever willpower I had when I arrived here into something sharper by my, and mine alone, conscious efforts.
Oh, and I think I might be at another threshhold with Japanese - over the past few days I've noticed my speaking ability has partially shut down. The first few times this happened, I was a bit put off/freaked out because the words and grammar just don't come when I try to summon them (though I understand all that's being said to me, and reading or writing are still 100% intact). Now, though, but I'm now familiar with this feeling as being that which immediately precedes my break through to another, at least relatively higher, level of familiarity with the language. Just gotta wait it out.
Still, I have to be in school during the testing, which is at once unnacceptably lame and a great opportunity to get other work done. Like I mentioned in my last (2nd to last?) post, I've been pursuing a much more productive lifestyle of late, so while I'm at school but outside of the classroom/not planning, I'm either reading or studying. I just finished Pollan's 'In Defense of Food' which was alright if brief, and am now working on Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' (for those Blade Runner fans out there, I'm sure that title'll ring a bell). In addition I've developed something of a regime for studying Japanese, mostly practicing writing and different readings (most if not all chinese characters used in Japanese (known as Kanji) have at least 2 different readings, and this number can increase significantly) while at school. I usually do memorization/drill stuff at home.
And speaking of studying Japanese, I just put an order in for a bunch of study materials for the 日本語能力試験二級 (Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken Ni-kyuu, also known as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, 2nd Tier) which I'm wicked excited about. Granted, I've been studying what I could find online for the test, but considering the difficulty of this test (perhaps most notalbly, this iteration of the government-sponsored exam features upwards of 900 separate kanji) I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend a little bit of cash on it. All told, all the stuff I ordered only cost around $50, so I'm really not at all put out by it. This order I put in is also my first experience using the totally rad Japanese system of sending products ordered online to a local Lawson convenience store for COD pick-up, no credit card required.
So aside from that, and the exercise routine I've also been sticking to, what the hell do I do around here? Good question. Its getting kind of warm recently, though I can't imagine this'll stick around, so I've been going on photo hunts occasionally; There was a party at a local bar, Mecca, last weekend that turned out pretty OK; I've been doing a bit of travelling to the surrounding areas to visit friends/coworkers(in particular Iwaizumi, Morioka, and soon Kamaishi); playing a LOT of guitar, for which I'm seriously considering throwing down 3K yen or so for this shitty used amp at a local thrift store... better than nothing, and hell with the kind of damage I'm looking to do, a shitty amp just might be the ticket.
The guitar thing is definitely a sore point for me, if there are any, about living out here, though - I have not yet been able to find ANYONE to play with, and really have no idea what channels to go through to find that info out, if there are any at all. Practicing is great and all, but without any opportunities to implement what I know, it gets old pretty fast. That paired with my recording equipment still being busted, I can't really do too much of anything but practice modes, chords, and number sequences.
So all in all, life's pretty good. Cooking a lot of my own food, with a LOT of that-day fresh fish, getting into better shape, learning a good deal more Japanese, getting better at guitar despite the lack of any real opportunity to show that off, and basically honing whatever willpower I had when I arrived here into something sharper by my, and mine alone, conscious efforts.
Oh, and I think I might be at another threshhold with Japanese - over the past few days I've noticed my speaking ability has partially shut down. The first few times this happened, I was a bit put off/freaked out because the words and grammar just don't come when I try to summon them (though I understand all that's being said to me, and reading or writing are still 100% intact). Now, though, but I'm now familiar with this feeling as being that which immediately precedes my break through to another, at least relatively higher, level of familiarity with the language. Just gotta wait it out.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
I Spent The Weekend In Morioka & My Internet is Back
Like the title says, I was getting down in Morioka for Friday and Saturday. Morioka's the capitol of the prefecture I live in, Iwate. Its about 2 hours by train or bus from my town, so its not all that convenient to get there, nor is it a day-trip destination; you make a weekend of Morioka. Honestly, its not all that big, with a population of about 300k I think in the city proper. Iwate is funny like that - it is 100% a middle-of-nowhere kind of place, where even big cities are laughably small in comparison to the real thing.
Anyway, I met up with one of my coworkers and her boyfriend, who then had us all meet up with his friends/coworkers, and we all ended up at a club named Players Cafe (odd...) on Friday and Saturday. A few of their friends were guest DJs, so we all got in for less than the cover. Its funny stacking Morioka clubs up against Tokyo clubs: the latter tend to have a few stories, each devoted to a separate genre of music, with a cover fee of anywhere from 3.5k-6k, multiple DJs, lounges, and stupid expensive drinks (upwards of a base of about 1k). Morioka clubs have one room, really not that big, a cover of around 2k, free drink tickets, and like 3 DJs max. Its a totally different world.
In addition to the whole club scene, I got up there on Friday at about 7 so we didn't do too much else that night, but I got up at 9 Saturday morning, and:
Walked around the main drag, Oodoori, and got some seriously banging mushroom and spinach indian curry (with a bit of a kick too, which is a hell of a surprise in Japan);
Scoped out the tattoo parlors to see if theres any I might consider going to in a bit, and was pleasantly surprised with at least one, called Futurism, that does the whole traditional stick & poke thing;
Went to an art museum that was having a showing of a bunch of historical items from the latter half of the Tokugawa regime (so around 1730/50-1868) including some woodblock prints;
Got some okonomiyaki with Emily & Rylan;
Went to a rockabilly show... Holy hell were there some pompadours showing that night. Nice bar, with an owner stuck in his own fantasy of being a rockabilly legend, making all the patrons listen to his awful but admittedly well-intended attempts to cover various songs from the 50s with a backing band of 2 Japanese dudes being better greasers than the Fonz himself. He's got his whole crew up front with their leather jackets RIDICULOUS hair snapping along, dancing, and cheering him on. Its kind of surreal, but I've gotta give the guy credit for, despite any objective short comings, constructing his own fantasy world and living the hell out of it. And of course, there were these 2 Japanese business men covering our tab.
Ended up back at Player's after that, and did my thing there. Grabbed a cab to the station this morning, where I had the best fresh oysters 定食 (that's Tei-shoku, which is basically a set meal (for example, in this instance I got some fresh oysters on the half shell, a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, a salad, 12 oysters fried in pairs, and some pickled cabbage and cucumbers) for a late breakfast (is that weird?), and caught the bus back here, where, upon arriving, I discovered that my internet is once again working. Good weekend.
Pardon some of the language in the videos.
So this is Morioka station, and all of these igloos and snowmen were apparently built by some elementary schools or something.
Me at the "Rock-Splitting Cherry Tree" (How the hell do I rotate the video?)
Making Okonomiyaki #1&2
Anyway, I met up with one of my coworkers and her boyfriend, who then had us all meet up with his friends/coworkers, and we all ended up at a club named Players Cafe (odd...) on Friday and Saturday. A few of their friends were guest DJs, so we all got in for less than the cover. Its funny stacking Morioka clubs up against Tokyo clubs: the latter tend to have a few stories, each devoted to a separate genre of music, with a cover fee of anywhere from 3.5k-6k, multiple DJs, lounges, and stupid expensive drinks (upwards of a base of about 1k). Morioka clubs have one room, really not that big, a cover of around 2k, free drink tickets, and like 3 DJs max. Its a totally different world.
In addition to the whole club scene, I got up there on Friday at about 7 so we didn't do too much else that night, but I got up at 9 Saturday morning, and:
Walked around the main drag, Oodoori, and got some seriously banging mushroom and spinach indian curry (with a bit of a kick too, which is a hell of a surprise in Japan);
Scoped out the tattoo parlors to see if theres any I might consider going to in a bit, and was pleasantly surprised with at least one, called Futurism, that does the whole traditional stick & poke thing;
Went to an art museum that was having a showing of a bunch of historical items from the latter half of the Tokugawa regime (so around 1730/50-1868) including some woodblock prints;
Got some okonomiyaki with Emily & Rylan;
Went to a rockabilly show... Holy hell were there some pompadours showing that night. Nice bar, with an owner stuck in his own fantasy of being a rockabilly legend, making all the patrons listen to his awful but admittedly well-intended attempts to cover various songs from the 50s with a backing band of 2 Japanese dudes being better greasers than the Fonz himself. He's got his whole crew up front with their leather jackets RIDICULOUS hair snapping along, dancing, and cheering him on. Its kind of surreal, but I've gotta give the guy credit for, despite any objective short comings, constructing his own fantasy world and living the hell out of it. And of course, there were these 2 Japanese business men covering our tab.
Ended up back at Player's after that, and did my thing there. Grabbed a cab to the station this morning, where I had the best fresh oysters 定食 (that's Tei-shoku, which is basically a set meal (for example, in this instance I got some fresh oysters on the half shell, a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, a salad, 12 oysters fried in pairs, and some pickled cabbage and cucumbers) for a late breakfast (is that weird?), and caught the bus back here, where, upon arriving, I discovered that my internet is once again working. Good weekend.
Pardon some of the language in the videos.
So this is Morioka station, and all of these igloos and snowmen were apparently built by some elementary schools or something.
Me at the "Rock-Splitting Cherry Tree" (How the hell do I rotate the video?)
Making Okonomiyaki #1&2
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