Slipstream

2011-01-29T01:48:00.011+09:00

Myanmar Take II and a bit of India

After hanging out with my Kawasaki in Yangon for the first few days, Josh and I hopped on a bus to Inle Lake. We rented a boat that took us out to Indein for a few hours, then stayed at a nice little hotel on the lake.

A few novice monks who took us up to see some nearby ruins

Indein

Our hotel on Inle Lake

The weekly rotating market in Indein

Bagan again

Josh trying to float

An example of the architecture in Yangon

Our bike ride outside of the capital

More Yangon

And now to India!

Sunset in the Thar desert outside Jaisalmer

Josh's camel

Inside the Jodhpur Fort

Josh overlooking Jodhpur

2011-01-28T23:49:00.007+09:00

Finally back

I've fought the good fight and gotten our computers back online, so now we can upload photos from the trip till our heart's content. Here are some from Laos to start things off.

I've fought the good fight and gotten our computers back online, so now we can upload photos from the trip till our heart's content. Here are some from Laos to start things off.

A view of the Mekong from above the boat ramp

A few shots from Khoun and Khone, the bungalows we stayed at in Luang Prabang

Kuang Si Falls outside of Luang Prabang

(note: I am REALLY bad at rope swinging)

A spirit house

An elevated view of the main street

Next post, Myanmar!

2011-01-16T18:21:00.003+09:00

On the Way Home

Josh and I are enjoying our last day in Rishikesh. The computer, however, is not really letting me type without constantly changing things into Hindi characters instead of the English I'm typing. Oh well, too much technology, what can you do? We might visit the Beatles' ashram that is pretty famous here, this afternoon. Otherwise, we're packed and ready to go. The yoga course certification ceremony was last night. With the puja, concert, and handing out of the certificates we were sitting from 3:30 till about 9:00pm. I realized that a straight hour of sitar (even when the musician is quite talented)is a bit much for one sitting.

Tomorrow at 4:30am we're taking one last walk across the bridge over the Ganga and heading to Hardiwar by cab and then to Delhi by train. We will be in the air and headed to Detroit by early Tuesday morning. Looking forward to seeing all of you on the US homefront soon, and all of you everywhere else in the near future! Will write more when we get back and have my own computer again. I promise photos will be posted as well.

2010-12-26T20:34:00.003+09:00

Happy Holidays!

Wanted to send out a slightly belated holiday greetings to all our friends and family! Also happy birthday to my sister <3 !

We had a day of yoga classes, an evening of dancing, surprise presents, and a long awaited chance to talk to our folks. It was a nice day, followed by a bit of volunteer work and a hike this morning/afternoon.

Just passed the halfway point in the course, and are starting to do asana (yoga pose) lesson plans this week so we are prepared to teach our own classes to the rest of the group in our last 2 weeks. I think both of us are getting antsy to teach again. It has become part of our nature. Won't our parents be proud? ha ha

No photos to share quite yet, but I will try to upload some later this week when we have a bit more time in the afternoons. The weather here has been hovering around very cold (high 18 °C and low 5 °C) in Rishikesh. We went to a nearby town and stocked up on Christmas presents and wooly socks to sleep in on Saturday. Our hotel is located in a mountain basin, so the wind whips down the side of the mountains in the morning and freezes us while we sit in the yoga studio warming up. Brrr... I'm definitely looking forward to visiting in Florida and wearing my sandals again!

Happy New Year to everyone a bit early, and we'll see many of you in just a few weeks!

2010-11-12T17:21:00.006+09:00

Leaving Varanasi

Hi everyone. Josh and I are just finishing up our last afternoon in Varanasi, and preparing for a 17 hour train journey to Kolkata this evening. Hopefully the train is only 17 hours. Our train from Agra to Varanasi ended up being four hours late because of a coal cargo derailment at the Varanasi station. It messed up all the traffic in Northwestern India.

Varanasi is a very interesting city. We came in on the night of a festival where Krishna tosses a ball in the Ganges, wades in after it, and ends up fighting with and taming a naga (multi-headed snake). Our guide got us a boat and we watched the spectacle from the river. It was a mess of boats tied together making a boat-island that people ran around on top of for the best view. After that, we headed down river to watch a nightly 45 minute ceremony to Mother Ganga (the river) where the Brahman priests waved around incense, peacock feathers, flaming naga candelabras, and something akin to a golden Christmas tree of fire in graceful motions. It involved a great deal of bell ringing as well.

Our next stop is Kolkata and the end of the northern portion of our tour. We'll be flying south in 2 days, into much warmer weather. We hope all is well wherever you may be reading this from. Sorry for the lack of photos, we made a photo DVD, but the old computers we have internet access on only have CD readers. We'll try to change these google images with our own soon!

This photo is from Mamalapuram on the southern part of the tour.

And here is one from Rishikesh. Will write more soon!

2010-10-26T19:45:00.005+09:00

Jaisalmer... finally made it to India

Hi everyone! Josh and I just finished up a 19+hour train ride from New Delhi to Jaisalmer. Can't complain, really. The train wasn't fancy, but we had our own beds and good conversation with the other people in our Intrepid group. There are 12 of us total, plus our guide Navin who is from Darjeeling. We're the only Americans on the trip, which is nice. It's better to have a wide range of people from different backgrounds on a trip like this. You learn more from each other and have a wider breadth of experience to draw from.

A view of Jaisalmer Fort over the train

The ornate ceiling in one of Jaisalmer's Jain temples

Josh and the son of the Guinness Book's longest moustache record-holder, trying to achieve the same status

Ganesh, the elephant headed Hindu god who removes obstacles, is painted on the side of a house before a couple is married, for good luck

In New Delhi at Humayun's Tomb

Inside the Red Fort

Sorry there was no proper update from Myanmar, but the government restricts what websites, newspapers, television channels, and radio you have access to. We were in Myanmar for about 3 weeks and had a really great time. After getting situated in Yangon for a day or so, we hopped on a bus to Inle Lake and spent a few days. Stayed at a really nice relaxing hotel on the lake for one night and spoiled ourselves. Josh gorged on Burmese tomato salad, and we saw the ruins and Indein in the southwest area around the lake. Due to our taxi forgetting us, we stayed an extra day in Nuangshwe (the city with access to Inle). Next up was a 10 hour local bus to Bagan. The bus ride took us through mountainous regions and many small towns. The scenery was gorgeous, and there was no need for air con on the bus. Apparently, quail eggs are a popular traveling snack since all the touts were trying to sell them to the passengers on the bus at every stop.

We stayed in Bagan for 2 days and 3 nights and toured around on Japanese mamachari bicycles. It was harder than it sounds because we managed to hit the 1 week long rainy season in Bagan and were often wading through mud troughs dragging our ever accumulating mud covered bikes beside us. Josh really fell in love with Bagan and we easily could have stayed longer, but money was tight so we headed back to Yangon. The last week was spent in the city, wandering around, looking at the architecture, trying out different restaurants, and spending time with our friends who live there. We went mountain biking on the outskirts of the city one morning with a local expat group. It was once again muddy and grueling. I think we slept for the whole day after!

One of our last nights, we found what may be the only hotel that accepts credit card in Yangon and treated ourselves. I even ordered room service. This was well deserved because the night prior I was bitten on the leg by a street dog (one of MANY in Yangon). Don't worry, I just had my 3rd in a series of 4 rabies shots, and the dog wasn't foaming at the mouth. It's just precautionary.

Back to India...

Our hotel in Jaisalmer is stunning. Our room is covered in mirrored mosaics and sandstone lattice work shelving. We have a sweet little window seat with a huge cushion which I have made my own. We're here for 2 days, then it's out to the desert to ride some camels and spend a night under the stars around a campfire. I'm pretty excited to see the stars from the desert again, and we're really lucky to have a full moon as well!

Will write more soon, and hopefully have a chance to upload some photos. I hope you are all well!

Nihongo de, mo sugu kakimasu!

2010-09-24T19:10:00.002+09:00

Almost out of the weeds

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long absence. Josh and I are currently mired in a CELTA (Cambridge English Language Teaching to Adults) course in Hang Dong, Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is a 4 week intensive course, so we've been writing reports and attending classes day in and day out.

Fortunately, we had a bit of time to wander around in Old Chiang Mai with Kawasaki and some other friends over our first weekend. We get out about once a week to stock up on tea, snacks, and other essentials, like orange Fanta, to keep us going. The rest of our week is spent in classes from 11:30-9:00 with a few breaks for lunch and snacks in between. We are definitely getting some prep work in for graduate school, and I have to admit, it feels nice to be on this side of the desk again. In one more week, barring any unforeseen drama, we'll both be certified CELTA English teachers! Cross your fingers for us :D

Nihon no tomodachi, gomen nasai! Kono pasokon ha nihon no ji ga arimasen. Mousugu nihon no tegami wo kakimasu! Eigo de ganbatte kudasai!

2010-09-01T14:45:00.007+09:00

Sabaidee (hello) from Laos!

We started off in Bangkok, and went south to Hua Hin for a few days to catch up with some of Josh's friends from his days in Thailand. Highlight, 2kilos of mangosteen for 50baht. That's less than 2 US dollars! Yum.

ラオのパソコンで日本語で頑張ります。最初、バンコクとフアーヒンへ行った。ジョシュのタイの友達に会った。２キロはマンゴスティーンを買った、でも２百円だけ！安い！

After a few more days in Hua Hin and back in Bangkok, we flew up north to Chiang Mai where we explored a bit and were picked up the next morning to head further north to Chiang Khong. We took a longboat from Chiang Khong to Luang Prabang, passing over the border to Laos on the 28th.

フアーヒンの後で、バンコクに帰り、チアンマイへ行った。次の日長い船でラオスへ行った。メコング川はとてもきれい！

We are currently enjoying double-priced yet air-conditioned internet in Luang Prabang, a bit down from our hotel. Our first 3 days were spent at a great little bungalow place named Khoune and Khone about 4km outside of the city. The owners are a husband and wife who built and run the place with their family. We experienced shoe-cleaning ants, a monster spider, and a really beautiful setting. The family is lovely, and we got to spend some time talking to them and eating Laos home cooking.

ルアンプラバングに小さい旅館の方がバンガローに泊まりました。クンとコーネのバンガローですした。市は４キロからにいました。本当に楽しかった。大きい庭とかわいいバンガローがあった。コーネの料理はおいしかったも。

Yesterday, we rented a motorbike to head out to Kwang Si waterfalls, about 29km southwest of the city. It's nearing the end of rainy season, so the falls were very strong and the swimming was a bit difficult. We managed a bit of rope swinging (Josh more than myself). You can see we have very different "styles".

昨日バイクを借りまして、くワングシ滝へ行った。ルアングプラバングは２９キロからにいました。ラオスはすごく緑の国です。滝の川に私たちはロプスウィングをした。ジョシュは上手ですでも、わたしはちょっと。。。写真を見て下さい。

We have to leave Lao a day early because of a flight cancellation. I guess that will give us a little more time to explore Chiang Mai before the course starts. Silver lining? I'm not so sure. Josh is pretty bummed to leave. I think he has become a bit fan of Lao.

ラオスから一日早くで去り無ければなりません。残念です。じゃあとで！

2010-08-16T18:55:00.006+09:00

Welcome

Hello to all our friends and family who might be seeing this blog for the first time. What Josh and I are going to attempt to do is update the blog with photos and info when we can manage to find internet cafes and friendly hotel lobbies during our trip. Also, I am going to try to update in Japanese as well as English, so our friends back in Japan can see what's happening.

皆さん、私達のブログへようこそ。私の悪い日本語からすみません。このブログはジョシュアと私の家族と友達のために。旅行中、写真とニュースを書きだろう。少し日本語で書きます。外国に、日本語のキーボードがありません。まだ、頑張ります！コメントを書くか、または私たちに質問してください。答えることができるとき、私たちは、答えようとするでしょう。

We are departing Toyama-ken tomorrow morning at 6am.

明日、午前６時に富山から出発します。

We also wanted to share some news with all of you. On August 11th, while on a hiking trip in the Northern Japanese Alps, Josh and I got engaged.

嬉しいニュースがある。８月１１日、北アルプスの登山する時、ジョシュアと私は婚約しました！

And we're off!

私達は出発します！

2010-04-09T12:00:00.012+09:00

Kyushu by car II (Miyazaki and Kumamoto)

Haniwa, a bit of a trip theme

ritual cleaning basin at Aso-jinja

Aso-san, recently burnt for new growth

clouds wisping out of the crater

I was reprimanded for not posting the "money shot" from the love hotel

Takachiho gorge

Takachiho-jinja

the waterfall at Takachiho

J pretending he's falling

more Takachiho

Down the river from the gorge, rocks are stacked vertically in Buddhist tradition, to make a safer and happier place for the spirits of the dead.

every direction you looked, as far as people could reach, there were stone piles

Ama-no-Iwato-jinja

NOoooo!

businessmen walking to Aoshima-jinja

Aoshima-jinja and an Obachan (grandma)

J investigating the Giant's Washboard

within Udo-jingu's cave

Udo's cliffs

a view down and into the cave

secret island cave shrine near Udo-jingu

views from the cave

Kumamoto castle

flowers and lantern

yukizakura (cherry blossom snow)

in my natural habitat

walking up to our final shrine in Kumamoto-shi

sakura petals

That just about wraps it up. From Kumamoto, we headed back home to Toyama. The return trip was a rainy affair, but we are back, safe and sound.

Next up is a Golden Week camping trip. Not sure if we'll head to Gifu's mountain area, or somewhere coastal and therefore warmer. I suppose it depends on the weather. Either way, we're doing cheap and local this time around!

2010-04-05T10:43:00.014+09:00

Kyushu by car

Last Friday around 3 am, we woke up and headed down route 8 to the highway. J drove till nearly 4pm that evening, when we arrived in Shimonoseki, just north of Kyushu. We stopped, visited a few temples, had dinner, and did a bit of yoga in a nearby park with a view of the bridge we'd soon be going over to the last island we had to thoroughly investigate. The map on our wall is covered with pins marking where in Japan, J and I have visited over the past 7 (for him) and 5 (for me) years we've been here. Poor wall is going to look like Swiss cheese by the time we're out of here.

I won't go on an on, but will post pictures from the trip, with some short descriptions. Hope you enjoy!

so, they're a little fugu (blowfish) crazy in Shimonoseki

did I mention the fugu?

fugu fins posted to dry outside of a local store

Hōichi the Earless

inside the Akama Shrine

J's shot of the boat at Akama's gate

Miko sweeping at Tenman-gu

J captured a shot of a Miko training troupe

path to Tenman-gū shrine in Dazaifu

lest you think we take ourselves too seriously

shishi antics

raked rock garden

vampire dog (check out that cape!) at the shrine Saturday market

the one that J likes at Sofukuji in Nagasaki

"shattered glass" door design at Kokufuji in Nagasaki

J discovering Nagasaki in Ryoma Sakamoto's boots

me too!

don't mess with carpentry donkey/horse

Suwa Shrine from a distance

the approach to Suwa

wandering the hillside temples

my new friend and her mom next to the single tori in Nagasaki

the martyr's monument

yup... that's Kannon riding on the back of a massive turtle

he's yelling at you to remember about beef

learning about pork is also important

Nagasaki Peace Park (beefy statue in distance)

bask in his beefiness

J peeking out

tree after the blast

the tree's great comeback!

a fat pony at Yutoku

Yutoku Inari-jinja

sakura in full bloom

a very subtle love hotel advertisement we saw on the way to Aso

heading into the Aso-shi caldera

J playing kitchen wench at our cold-ass campsite on Aso-san

vegan sausage yum

J's moon shot

there was ice on the car and the tent in the morning

Alright, that's a little over 1/2 way. I'll save the rest for another post. It's off to study for now.

2010-04-05T10:18:00.004+09:00

Spinach Falafel Wraps and Gorgeous Shiitake

This is as simple as it sounds, and even more delicious. My aforementioned evil oven doesn't get any hotter than 250C (480F) which puts a damper on my naan and pita baking. I was a bit short of time a few weeks back, possibly due to the fact that I spent hours baking bread and cake... Anyways, I needed to feed J and myself, and was craving some chickpea love.

Follow your favorite falafel recipe. Everyone's quite particular about how they like their falafel. And honestly, with my lack of a deep frying pot, mine come out looking a bit worse for wear. Good but sloppy.

Mix up some Israeli salad.

1-2 grated small cucumbers
1-2 grated carrots
1/4 cup Italian parsley
a dash of olive oil
a dash of lemon juice
1/2 cup diced tomato (optional)

Make a small bowl of tahini.

1/3 cup sesame paste
1/4 cup water or yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
lemon juice to taste

Make sure to get large leaf spinach, and rinse off all the grit. Using the large raw leaves, you really have a strong base for the falafel. Give it a shot instead of the fresh pita next time. Don't worry, if you really love the pita, just try shoving some fresh spinach in there.

Before our grand falafel evening, we spent the afternoon with some good friends out in the country. They set a few of us loose in the shiitake patch behind their house. Look at these beauties!

2010-04-05T09:52:00.005+09:00

Irish Soda Bread

Nearly every year, when I was growing up, my mom prepared this bread for St. Patrick's Day. I recall demanding it more often, but I can't remember if she caved-in to my demands or not.

When I started playing in the kitchen routinely, this was one of the first recipes that I hunted through her recipe box for. When I lived in England, I found that Mark's & Spencer sold a soda bread that satisfied my needs similarly, but it wasn't quite right. This recipe is the quintessential soda bread for me, partly because of the twist that my mom put on it.

Normal soda breads call for the addition of caraway seeds and raisins, but my mom added orange zest and orange extract instead. Sometimes I make a simple orange glaze to go on the top of the bread. I have brought a loaf to school a few times and shared it with my students. It received the high school student seal of approval.

Irish soda bread
3 ½ to 4 cups unbleached flour (or use 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour plus 1 cup unbleached)
½ to ¾ cup raw or brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened
1 egg
1 ¼ cups buttermilk (or regular milk soured with 1 teaspoon vinegar)
½ cup golden raisins or currants (optional)
1-2 teaspoon dried caraway seeds (optional)
*1 teaspoon orange extract (alternate version)
*2 teaspoon orange zest (alternate version)
Preheat oven to 375F/190C
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
Cut the butter into the flour mixture, using two knives or a pastry cutter, until crumbly.
Add egg and buttermilk (*extract and zest if making orange version). Mix until moistened. The dough will be stiff. Add raisins or currants and caraway seeds, working into the dough.
Form into a round loaf on a greased baking sheet, adding more flour as necessary. Use a knife to cut a spiral or cross on the top, if you wish.
Bake one hour. Best served warm, and eaten the same day you bake it.

The past few times that I have made the bread, it hasn't risen appropriately (evil oven perhaps?), so I made a few adjustments to the recipe, and am proud to say that this bread rose like a dream. Also, this time, due to J's insistence, I left out most of the orange (no zest, just a bit of extract) and added the caraway seeds. Oh, he was right. They really did add a new dimension to the bread, and I didn't find myself missing the orange at all. Perhaps next year, I will just have to make both.

2010-04-05T09:21:00.007+09:00

Carrot Cake!

Having been logging my calories for the past few months, and actually seeing some lasting results, I decided to splurge a bit. Running through the list of desserts that I have successfully prepared before, nothing sounded right for the particular urge I was feeling. Also, the limited ingredients that I have on hand in Japan stifle my creativity sometimes.

The trick here is tweaking the recipes enough so that a single meal or cake doesn't cost as much as your rent. That usually means cutting back on the butter, the nuts, and many special ingredients that you wouldn't think would cost so much (powdered sugar, seriously how are you that expensive?) Fortunately, J and I brought two massive bags of nuts (walnuts and pecans, respectively) back from the US in January. I also had a bag of carrots on-hand. So, I decided to try my hand at creating a delicious and not 'overwhelmingly bad for us' carrot cake.

Ingredients

3 eggs
¾ cups canola oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots
½ cup chopped pineapple
1 cup pecans chopped
Icing
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
8 ounces (one package) cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (to top)
*I would probably swap the pecans and walnuts (inside to outside) next time

Mix the wet ingredients together, then add into the dried. Fold in carrots, pineapple, and finally nuts. Pour into greased baking tray or cake pans. I baked at 180C for about 50 minutes, but the time will vary depending on your oven, because my oven is a bit of a monster. The icing was mixed and applied after the cake cooled, then the nuts were placed haphazardly on top.

The recipe requires some fiddling, as it came out really moist and dense. J mocked the sound of a piece dropping onto a serving plate. PLOP! It was delicious, but not perfect. This recipe is going in the "needs adjustments" file, but for a first attempt, I'd say it was a success.

2010-03-25T10:49:00.004+09:00

Kyushu Roadie

Far too early tomorrow morning, J and I will be heading out of drizzly Toyama and driving south. We should arrive in Fukuoka (Dazaifu) sometime past midnight, where we will have a delightful night's sleep in the car. The trip should last about a week, and we're planning on covering a lot of territory. That means photos soon!

2010-01-26T20:39:00.006+09:00

Black Beans and Rice Cooker Magic

I was brave this Sunday. I tossed 2 1/2 cups of rinsed dried black beans into my rice cooker with two bay leaves and a chopped clove of garlic. 5 cups of water and one sleep later... the beginnings of an awesome soup.

Sadly, I was so excited about presenting J with the pretty bowl of soup and cornbread, that I neglected to take a photo. He assured me that it was photogenic. Next time! But till then, here's the recipe.

(finger numbingly good) Black Bean Soup
2 1/2 cups dried black beans (obviously more after re-hydration)
1 clove of garlic roughly chopped
1-2 bay leaves (I have a bundle in my freezer from my veggie dealer, and need to use them up)
2 small/medium red onions chopped
1 decently sized red bell pepper chopped
2-3 cloves garlic (yes more garlic, ALWAYS more garlic) minced
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of one lime
handful of cilantro/coriander
1-3 chilis diced (I used what we had available at our local Brazilian store, and am not sure what kind they were... made my finger go numb for a bit, so I take it they mean business)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Pop the first 3 ingredients and 5 cups of water into your rice cooker. All I did was hit "cook" and let things roll until I got up the next morning. Make sure to prep well in advance if you are cooking this the same day!

2. Add olive oil, onion, garlic, pepper, and cumin to pan and cook till onions start to brown slightly. Be careful not to burn the cumin on the edges of the pan (coat well with oil before adding it).

3. Transfer the pan love into a large bowl and toss in the chili, lime juice, and cilantro/coriander, followed by about 1 cup of the beans.

4. Mix well with submersion blender (if available) or transfer batches into food processor/blender first, then into a large bowl. Continue till all the beans are mixed (unless you like your soup to be lumpy and beany... your call).

5. Now is the time to add your salt and pepper to taste. You could add a few tomatoes here, to thin out the soup without losing flavor, or you could add a cup or two of hot water with veg bullion or possibly a bit of soy milk. I opted for a thick soup and left it as is.

This soup is delicious over fresh cornbread*, and perhaps a dollop of sour cream (vegan or otherwise), if you are feeling naughty.

*I initially followed a cornbread recipe in my ancient vegetarian cookbook that called for 4 eggs (I was astounded by the amount of eggs, but figured the cookbook knew better than I did). The first batch came out of the oven smelling raunch. Probably because I am not a huge egg fan. J dutifully tasted it and threw it away (it was unsalvageable, despite my initial mottainai leanings), whilst I whipped up PPK's tried and true vegan cornbread with the minor adjustment of nixing the syrup. Soooo much better than eggy goo!

2010-01-15T10:03:00.004+09:00

To Begin

I came across the following at yogapoint's blog .

"Below is Satyananda Saraswati's personal sankalpa (intention), may it serve to inspire us as it did him."

I am an invisible child of a thousand faces of love,
That floats over the swirling sea of life,
Surrounded by the meadows of the winged shepherds,
Where divine love and beauty,
The stillness of midnight summer’s warmth pervades.

Life often cuts at my body and mind
And though blood may be seen passing,
And a cry might be heard,
Do not be deceived that sorrow could dwell within my being
Or suffering within my soul.
There will never be a storm That can wash the path from my feet,
The direction from my heart,
The light from my eyes,
Or the purpose from this life.

I know that I am untouchable to the forces
As long as I have a direction, an aim, a goal:
To serve, to love, and to give.
Strength lies in the magnification of the secret qualities
Of my own personality, my own character
And though I am only a messenger,
I am me.

Let me decorate many hearts
And paint a thousand faces with colours of inspiration
And soft, silent sounds of value.
Let me be like a child,
Run barefoot through the forest
Of laughing and crying people,
Giving flowers of imagination and wonder,
That God gives free.
Shall I fall on bended knees,
And wait for someone to bless me
With happiness and a life of golden dreams?

No, I shall run into the desert of life with my arms open,
Sometimes falling, sometimes stumbling,
But always picking myself up,
A thousand times if necessary,
Sometimes happy.
Often life willl burn me,
Often life will caress me tenderly
And many of my days will be haunted
With complications and obstacles,
And there will be moments so beautiful
That my soul will weep in ecstasy.

I shall be a witness,
But never shall I run
Or turn from life, from me.

Never shall I forsake myself
Or the timeless lessons I have taught myself,
Nor shall I let the value
Of divine inspiration and being be lost.
My rainbow-covered bubble will carry me
Further than beyond the horizon’s settings,
Forever to serve, to love, and to live
As a sannyasin.

- Swami Satyananda Saraswati

2009-11-07T00:13:00.003+09:00

Beware the Squash Hand!

Were you aware of the possible allergic effects for butternut and acorn squash? Admittedly, I stumbled across a mention of possible allergic reaction on a food site a while back. Didn't think much of it, and assumed I was impervious, since I am not allergic to poison ivy. In my mind that makes you invincible. Alas... this is not so.

Within about 3 minutes of cutting the skin off of a raw butternut squash, the skin on my left hand started tightening itself closed. I immediately washed the hand with soap, to remove any irritant, and sent J onto the internet to figure out why my hand was morphing into an aged monkey claw.

The culprit was the droplets oozing from the edges of the squash. Earlier, the goo adhered the top half of the squash to my cutting board like superglue. I never expected an allergic reaction.

After 30 minutes, the skin was cracked and tight. I added water and moisturizer, which helped temporarily, but soon was absorbed.

The skin turned orange as well. As you can see below. I applied something akin to cortisone cream, and slept with a cotton glove on to keep in moisture.

After the next full day wearing the glove, I woke up to find the first layer of skin peeling off. It was what Elmer's glue used to look like if you let it dry on your hand in elementary school. Within the next few hours, my hand looked perfectly normal again. A quick recovery for an unexpected case of dermatitis. Be careful making your butternut squash soup this winter, everyone!

2009-11-06T23:23:00.008+09:00

Vegetarian (vegan) Shepherd's Pie

This autumn, J and I were inundated with gifts from our school and friends' gardens. Our kitchen was filled with persimmon, sweet potato, onions, and potatoes. Having worked through most of the overstock, I am still faced with how to use 5 persimmon tomorrow (perhaps a bread?) and about 4 gargantuan sweet potatoes. Looking at a pile of radish greens, onions, and potatoes provided from our friend Miyawaki-san's hatake, I decided to make something pie-like. Inspired by the recipe from fatfreevegan , I concocted a Farmer's Pie.

Farmer's Pie
5-6 small to medium potatoes
1/2 cup soy milk
dash of salt and pepper
1 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
6-8 ounces fresh mushroom, diced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can/pack kidney beans
1-2 cups green beans, snapped
1 1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp sage
2 cups radish greens or spinach
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

1. Cube and boil the potatoes.

2. Mash them, as you will, and add soy milk. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. Using 1 tbsp canola oil, fry onions till translucent.

4. Add garlic, and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

5. Add carrots, celery, pepper, and mushrooms and cook for 3-5 more minutes.

6. Add veg broth, kidney beans, green beans, radish greens, and herbs. Simmer for 20 minutes.

7. Some liquid remains in the pan, so add corn starch and stir till sauce has thickened.

8. Pour into glass pie dish, and top with mashed potatoes.

9. Sprinkle with sage and rosemary. Broil for 3-5 minutes, till slightly browned.

*note: I added cheddar cheese to the top of the potato in this recipe (thus de-veganizing it), but we found that the cheese added nothing to the flavor of the dish, so I feel it's best to omit it.

2009-11-06T11:18:00.013+09:00

Vegetarian Polish Sausage (take 1)

Last week, during my Japanese conversation class, I mentioned vital wheat gluten to my Sensei. To explain a bit, this man is possibly the most curious Japanese man I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He is a Baptist minister who has traveled around the world, and is fluent in English and passable in a slew of other languages, most recently including Portuguese. I have the utmost respect for him as a teacher and a friend, and his family as well. His son became one of my first and best Japanese friends, and is a pretty impressive snowboarder (after just 2 seasons). The entire family are also musicians, and when Maekawa-sensei is not trying to get me to somehow understand transitive and intransitive verbs, he's convincing me I need to learn how to play the accordion, or perhaps start studying Chinese as well. Like I said... amazing man.

Back to wheat gluten. My sensei doesn't eat fish, which is considered rather odd in Japan. When I stay for dinner after class, his wife cooks vegetarian food, so we can all eat together. It's awesome and I have gleened many ideas from her cooking. When I mentioned I have been looking for gluten so I could make vegetarian sausages, his interest was immediately peaked. He ran upstairs and ordered 1kilo for us to share, and I it was delivered this week. Upon handing me my pack, he said, "You might as well take mine, too. You'll need it to make me sausages." Cheeky!

This is my challenge. An old childhood favorite, that I made a few times in university with store bought veggie sausage. Can it be done with no proper steamer?

I started with a variation of Isa's sausage recipe from the Veganomicon, and altered it for a more Polish flavor.

for the sausage
1/2 cup beans (I used cannellini)
1 cup cold vegetable broth
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp dried marjoram

1. Bring steamer water to a boil while preparing other ingredients.
2. Mash beans in large bowl with fork.
3. Add other ingredients as listed and mix well.
4. Shape into sausages and wrap with aluminum foil, be sure to twist ends of foil
5. Place in steamer for 50 mins.
6. Using 1 tbsp of olive oil, fry sausages for till uniformly brown on edges.

for the kraut
1 jar sauerkraut
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp caraway seeds

1. Cut sausages into 1.5cm thick slices.

2. In frying pan or hot plate, add sauerkraut, sugar, mustard, and caraway seeds.

3. Toss in slices of sausage and spoon kraut over them till well integrated.

4. Cover with lid and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

I apologize for the most unappetizing food to ever be posted online, but I wanted to show the process for creating the sausages.

All tucked away in their make-shift steamer.

J gives it a 6 on a 1-10 scale (with 5 being I would eat it again as if some changes were made). The texture was surprisingly good, but admittedly the spice was not strong enough. I will "kick it up a notch" as requested, next time around. There was a definite flavor memory touched upon for me, though, so I was happy with my first attempt.

2009-11-04T11:23:00.004+09:00

The Next Step

The clock is counting down in my mind. It's already November, and I have butterflies in my stomach about what comes next. Next month, J and I will be heading home for a few weeks to visit our families and to see how much America is still "home" to us. There is a long list of things I am looking forward to seeing, doing, and of course eating when I get back. J mentioned the ease with which we can eat out. No worrying about what hidden delights might be put in the "vegetarian" food, and he can freely go to a steak house knowing that they are bound to have at least one veg option on the menu. I, on the other hand, am delighted to dive into the supermarket. Living here has allowed me to level-up my cooking skills. I never anticipated I would be making tortillas, pita, pesto, and veggie patties and sausages with a mini-oven and range out of necessity. It's definitely been a wonderful experience, but having a full-sized oven, a freezer that fits more than 2 ice cube trays and a bag of frozen bananas, and sweet god perhaps even a counter-top larger than my cutting board would be AMAZING. I am getting way ahead of myself, though. Before I can dream of appliances and roots, we have to plan out this next year.

The loose plan is to head out in August. Where we will lay our heads from July 31st till August 20th (besides in a tent on a mountainside) is still up in the air. Onward then, to Thailand. It's so comfortable and centrally located, you can't help but to keep coming back. This will mark my 5th time visiting Thailand, and the longest chunk of time staying solely there. Whilst J and I drown ourselves in local food (FRUIT!!), we will be taking the CELTA certification course just outside of Chiang Mai. This course is about a month long, and will both give us a kick-start back into study mode, and provide us with internationally accepted certification. Nice to have in your back pocket.

We're hoping to hop over to Luang Prabang for a few days before or after the course as well. Steveo, we will be in need of your expertise!

Soon after the course comes to an end, it's back to Bangkok and then to Mumbai (with a possible stopover in Myanmar). I'm still waiting for the dates on this one, but J and I are going to spend a month at the Yoga Vidya Dham Ashram in Nasik, India. Perhaps my dear Kara will join us, but it's a bit far ahead to know yet.

So, we'll be limber, licensed, and certified. We want to wander around India for a while after the course, to really see the country. After we have satisfied our wanderlust enough, we will likely head to Amsterdam, and possibly London (on your toes, Callaghan!) before landing safely back in Detroit sometime in December.

Nothing is concrete... things haven't been paid for or reserved yet. My goal is to solidify these plans in the next few months, and relieve some of the crazy pressure I feel right now. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts, I would love to hear them!

2009-11-04T11:12:00.004+09:00

Oh I wanna go!

Kara has plopped this tempting offer in my lap.

Bali Spirit Festival

I am trying to find a way to legitimize spending the money for my ticket there. Health? Fun? Relaxation? Focus? That annoying voice of reason in the back of my head keeps reminding me that I need to be saving money for grad school. But ooooh how much do I just want to slam down 50,000yen for a ticket to Bali?!

2009-11-02T12:12:00.003+09:00

Staying Warm and Saving Money

The winter is upon us, and many of us will soon be huddled in our apartments away from the cold. Once the snow kicks in, an escape to the mountains is possible for boarding fun. Unfortunately, it's just pouring rain outside and the wind is howling. This will likely continue till sometime near New Years.

We have several ways of fighting the cold in Japan. My apartment is decked out with a kotatsu (small table with a heated bottom, it's all sealed in with blankets, and you sit under it and absorb the warmth), which is perfect for that pre-JLPT study push. We also have J's electric carpet. Put it under the futon and allow the heat to radiate through to you! Yum. I don't like using the standing heater very much, because it sucks mercilessly at the electricity. Instead, I double the use by baking breads and casseroles in the kitchen, thus heating up the coldest area of the apartment. Bonus: added layer of winter insulation provided by pie and soda bread.

I think the best thing we have going, though, is the gym literally across the street. We can go over anytime for a workout, sauna, and sento. I intend on saving my own electricity this year by spending as much time as possible leeching off of Holiday Sports center. Mwaa ha ha.

2009-10-08T09:43:00.010+09:00

Myanmar and a bit of Typhoon 18

Last night, we knew we were in for a bit of a jolt, but I figured a Japanese typhoon would have nothing on the hurricanes I went through back in Florida. Usually, Toyama is protected from earthquakes, typhoons, and Godzilla attacks because of the Northern Alps hugging us. The wind seems to have found its way around the peaks, this time.

J and I woke sometime around 5am with no hope of going back to sleep. The wind was battering our veranda door and I could hear the empty bins in the hallway blowing to and fro. Donning pants, because we are fancy, we went downstairs to make sure our bikes were not blowing into the moat around the apartment, or flying through my car's windshield, as I was picturing in my mind. No problems in bike land, and the wind seemed to be much more mellow 4 floors down.

Most schools in the prefecture have closed down for the day... for the students. Yup, all the teachers were expected to put on our superhero capes and brave the roads this morning. I am not complaining because I live less than a 5 minute drive from work, but other ALTs were much less fortunate since Japan Rail canceled nearly all their trains today, and few of us have cars. Zannen, what can you do but complain?

On to other news. My trip to Myanmar back in July/early August was fantastic and beautiful, so here are some of the highlights!

For those wondering "why Myanmar?" I give you my dear Kara.

We went to school together for a year in Lancaster, England and traveled together in Europe and Africa. I hadn't seen her for nearly 7 years, and couldn't pass up the chance to come see her when she was living and working so nearby. She is doing amazing things in Yangon and around the country. I have always been in awe of how passionate Kara is about her work, but to see her in her element and to meet the people she is helping and motivating was truly inspiring. Being around a friend that you admire and love who is doing what they want to be doing, no qualms, no hesitation, is an ass-kicking and motivational experience. I had a fantastic time, drank a ton of tea, squeezed in some yoga, fell in love with thanaka (the goo on my face, above), and got my mind back into focus. Can't ask for more in a friend or a vacation.

The above picture and these below are from Na-gar Glass Studio in Yangon.

This family run self-taught company that was once the glassware crutch for the whole country. Because many products are blocked from being imported, Myanmar has become self-dependent in many ways, to save money, and sometimes just to survive.

We spent some time being shown around by Mr. Myay, an older gentleman who used to run the crucibles and furnaces. He spoke of the studios practices, recycling glass because there was no other option, and their technique of lower temperature crucibles, which leads to a signature bubbling within the pieces. He proudly showed us the 6 crucibles which each used to contain a different color of glass, and their handmade annealing furnace and sanders.

When Nargis hit on May 2nd 2008, the towering shade trees that surrounded the outdoor studio fell down taking the roof and almost the entire studio with it. What had been built from scratch and tweaked to perfection suddenly quashed. The studio site is now growing over with vines and roots, vases and wine glasses lay amidst the leaves and mulch, with centipedes crawling over them.

Devastating but also eerily beautiful, the studio hasn't been running since the cyclone. The family depends on sales made of previous work laying around the forest. We wandered and dug into piles here and there. I found what I was looking for half-buried in the mud. It felt like an excavation praying against nicks or cracks, finally I unearthed a nearly 4 foot high vase.

Getting "baby" (dubbed such because of the loving way the studio ladies wrapped it up) through airport security in both Myanmar and Thailand was a bit tough, but we made it back to Japan in one piece.

Kara and I headed north to Bagan by bus, a trip slightly reminiscent of our trek to Marrakesh, years ago. This time with more chocolate and less panic. The bus ride was somewhat surreal since we had two passport/national ID checkpoints and the new "capital" city, Naypyidaw to go through. The approach to Naypyidaw was much like the approach to Disneyworld. A long stretch of road with lights along the sides, vastly different from the surrounding area. Like you are heading to wonderland. Except Naypyidaw is much less "wonderland" and much more a leech on the country's resources and money. No joke, even the zoo was picked up and moved away from Yangon, so the "people" could benefit from it. This makes perfect sense if the only "people" the government is concerned about are its own workers.
I digress...

Bagan, on the other hand, is a lovely and quiet area. Tourists were few and far between, partly due to the time of year we visited, but also because of Aung San Suu Kyi's plea for a travel boycott. A large part of this is due to tourist money being funneled into the pockets of the junta government. I believe that carefully planned travel, where govt run hotels and transportation are avoided, can only benefit the country. Many of the people we met, including some of Kara's old students have jobs that depend on tourism, and also use the opportunity to speak to foreigners and learn other languages. Some manage to learn enough so that they can study abroad and return to Myanmar to help their country and teach others.

Bagan was an astounding city, very relaxed and overflowing with history.

If you climbed to the top of one of the higher paya, you could see nothing but Paya all around you. Surrounded by gorgeous temples, each housing its own art, statues, and unique history.

We spent 2 days wandering through the desert, talking to local artists selling paintings and bells, and avoiding herds of goats on the roads. Loved it.

2009-10-01T11:24:00.005+09:00

2009 World Heritage Update!

Update! Up to 39 now, and hoping to add a few more in the next 12 months.

World Heritage Site List

Australia

Australia: Great Barrier Reef
Australia: Gondwana Rainforests

Cambodia

Cambodia: Angkor

Czech Republic
Czech Republic: Historic Centre of Prague

France

France: Chartes Cathedral
France: Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
France: Palace and Park of Versailles
France: Amiens Cathedral
France: Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay
France: Cathedral of Notre-Dame
France: Paris, Banks of the Seine

Italy

Italy: Historic Centre of Rome
Italy: Vatican City
Italy: Historic Centre of Florence
Italy: Venice and its Lagoon
Italy: City of Verona

Japan

Japan: Himeji-jo
Japan: Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
Japan: Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
Japan: Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
Japan: Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
Japan: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range
Japan: Yakushima
Japan: Shrines and Temples of Nikko
Japan: Shirakami-Sanchi
Japan: Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
Japan: Itsukushima Shinto Shrine

Morocco

Morocco: Medina of Marrakesh
Morocco: Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddiou

Poland

Poland: Historic City Centre of Warsaw

Switzerland

Switzerland: Junfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn

United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Frontiers of the Roman Empire
United Kingdom: Westminster Palace, Abbey, and Saint Margaret's Church
United Kingdom: Tower of London
United Kingdom: Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
United Kingdom: Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City

United States of America

United States: Everglades National Park
United States: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
United States: Statue of Liberty

Just an update on some missing Japanese sites, and the most recent addition of Shirakami-Sanchi. Will post photos from the hikes up soon.

2009-07-17T09:40:00.012+09:00

Better Late Than Never?

I said nearly a year ago, that I would post pictures from the Yakushima trip, and I never seem to have gotten around to it.

Some quick logistics for you. We drove to Nagoya and flew out of their lovely airport. They had bagels and pistachio gelato in one building. Needless to say, it is my new favorite place in Japan. After arriving at Kagoshima airport, we hustled onto a bus and hopped a taxi to the ferry port. The ferry was a 2 hour affair, air-conditioned, fast, and very mellow. Once we landed in Yakushima, we flagged a cab to take us up to the trail head. We witnessed a bit of devastating destruction on the mountain in order to make the trails more accessible, but the deer who hopped in front of our cab didn't seem to mind the construction too much.

We hit the trail around 3pm, which was much later than we originally intended. With our flight, it was impossible to catch the earliest ferry, so we had had to settle on the early afternoon one. The woman who sold us our tickets to access the reserve warned us against starting the trail so late, and asked us where we were planning on sleeping. J confidently told her we'd crash at the second koya up the trail, which was a good 4-5 hour hike away. She balked a bit and said that we had better hurry. This did not bode well.

The hike was beautiful. Crossing over bridges and rivers, huge craggy trees with roots sprawling across rocks and forming steps, and more moss than you could imagine. Meanwhile, I was looking down at my feet trying not to slip and tik-tokking away as I do. J had to remind me to enjoy the scenery every once in a while, so I didn't miss it all in my concentration. Perhaps it's a better idea for me to train mindlessly in crappy deforested areas of the world until I have enough skill to frolic effortlessly in gorgeous locales.

I have no doubt in my mind that if J had been climbing solo, he could have pushed on to the 2nd koya, but we ended up pitching the tent past the 1st koya, near a raised bathroom station with access to water. I was exhausted (I still have nightmares about the old tokoro we followed up for what seemed like an eternity... the false hope of each curve, praying the monotony would end) and we still had a grueling 1.5-2 hours to go to the next koya. Soon, we were drifting off into an ammonia infused sleep, thanks to the toilet chemicals nearby.

The second day was cake compared to the first. We woke up around 5:30, broke camp, and were on the trail within 1/2 an hour. This was the day of stairs. Wooden stairs, tree root stairs, stairs to more stairs. Massive sugi were situated just off the edges of the trail, some had been turned into shrines, others had been surrounded by terraces to protect them from erosion. 1000s of years ago, they were tiny things, now looming over the entire island. There was hugging.

We arrived at the Shintakatsuka koya around 12 in the afternoon and pitched our tent on the boardwalk. A bit of laundry time, and a solar powered risotto later, we got to bed early for a quick start in the morning towards the peak.

Starting around 4am, we headed up the final approach to Miyanouradake. The views were absolutely stunning, but I will let them speak for themselves.

Notable events were J's bush hunt for a water source, the deer who scared the crap out of us, and the worst possible likeness of me yet to be taken atop a mountain. Good times.

aforementioned deer

We had peaked around 10am, and headed down an hour or so later. J soloed up Kuromidake, while I sketched at the trail fork and lazed a bit. I falsely expected to camp in the swamps, but we kept on till reaching Ishitsuka koya (btw, the trail we followed was in pretty rough condition so if you head the same way, kiotsukete!). The rain was coming down a bit, and the koya was empty and a bit umm... rustic, so we actually pitched our tent inside.

This is the bad picture. Notice how genki J is. Then notice that I appear to have died.

Our bus was going to be arriving/leaving Yakisugiland at 10:59am, but according to the maps, we had plenty of time to get there. We left at 5am, figuring we could keep a solid pace and make it with time to spare. Ha ha ha ha! It was harsh with interspersed moments of not sucking too horribly. Then came the leeches. I had read about them, even went so far as to bring salt to deter them. Ironically, they seemed to be drawn to my faux leather boots, more than J's decomposing ancient leather boots. My feet were prepetually covered in them for a good hour. I squealed when I started noticing them making their way into my boots, and had already removed a few from my calves. J had to rip a few off of himself, and stopped a few times to help me bash at my own feet with walking sticks. The salt! IT DOES NOTHING! At least the fear of my toes being bloodless got my ass moving. So, we were looking good, making somewhat decent time. Then the boots started to die. Not my aforementioned bash accumulators, but J's 9 year old boots. The sole began to peel away from one and then the other. After the first hour of the boot, we had run out of duct-tape and were using bandanas and hatchimaki to hold the things together. There was a great deal of cursing, some at inanimate objects, some at blood-sucking parasites, but mostly at the clock. Time was ticking away and the trail just kept extending further than the map let on.

By the time we hit the edge of Yakisugiland, we were at a jog. Please take a moment to develop a mental picture, if you will. Two foreigners, drenched in sweat, most likely stinky after 4 days in the mountains sans bath, panic stricken, slightly bloodied legs, giant hiking bags on, one with boots tied together like an exploding scarecrow, and the other looking like she was going to start bawling any second. With the lighter of the two packs, and intact boots, I was to run ahead and try to find the way to the bus. Yakisugiland is a family nature park, so lovers are strolling around, grannies are on tours wandering aimlessly and enjoying the trees. We are tearing through this mother like death is chasing us. I run past a bridge-full of obachans, sumimasening my way across, and see their faces recognize my distress and return to calm a mere instant before J hits the bridge and sends them into another panic. The tour guide blew his whistle and moved everyone to the side of the bridge. That man is a star. I accost a young couple and beg if they know where the exit is, up the LONG staircase to the right, or down the straight path to the left. They point to the right, I thank them and then curse in Japanese, amusing them greatly. By the time I climb my 4th flight of stairs at a run, J has caught up and overtakes me. He screams through the treeline, "I see the bus, keep going! I don't think the driver will wait for you, hurry!"

In the end, the driver took pity as he saw me emerge from the forest over the last stair. We sat on the bus, J pulling a fat leech off his leg who had stowed away under his sock, me melting into the chair and waiting for my heart to settle back into my chest.

It was a good day. Then we saw monkeys!

2009-07-15T13:20:00.005+09:00

Organization?

Setting some goals for my last year in Japan. My imminent return to the outside world is a scary and exciting event on the horizon, and I am trying to prepare myself for a cushy landing.

In the next year, I need to do/will do the following:

re-take the GRE (hoping to raise my score a bit... damned computer test)
hunt down one of my favorite professors who retired, thus solving my looming 2nd letter of recommendation question
pass 2-kyuu in December, because I am about 99.9% sure that the July test was hopeless
fill out all my apps by May
make sure I have really narrowed my schools down to 2, and am not just dreaming
figure out how and where J and I will move all of our past 5/6 years of stuff/lives
discreetly freak out about leaving Japan
stockpile enough cash to float us through our first year of school/apt without a job just in case the economy is still in the crapper
get my yoga into gear prior to India
etc etc
sort out the selling of and getting rid of all my accumulated toys/junk

After writing it down, it doesn't look so bad. Some of the points are long-term goals, and need not be rushed, but I have a lot of studying ahead of me.

I also want to be sure to keep up with the Matsumoto Ukiyo-e Museum's 3-month shows. We went back in March and although the architecture is a bit trippy, the museum is a gem. Hoping to head back in September after the current show swaps over. I am not the biggest fan of courtesan/"fancy" lady prints, well... at least not a show of only them.

2009-07-13T15:40:00.004+09:00

2 weeks

That's it. Wait, I am being melodramatic and confusing. Not leaving Japan yet, just two more weeks until I am out of here for a little while. Don't get me wrong. I love Japan and am still in shock that this July 31st will begin my 5th year here. It's just that I haven't stepped foot off of the islands since going to Thailand nearly 1 and 1/2 years ago. J and I have traveled all over since then, but not out of the country.

On the 24th, I will be utilizing the 18kippu and heading on the local trains to Osaka. I might get there early and hang out in the city for a while before heading to the airport, or I might just use my time to read a book in airport lounge instead. Hmm... the airport doesn't have falafel. It might have to be a bit of both.

There is a lot on the plate in these next two weeks, but I think that it will make me appreciate my downtime in Myanmar all the more. Visas are taken care of, passport has been renewed, and tickets are good to go. Packing is like second nature at this point, and I am staying with my friend Kara, who although more athletically built and taller than I, can still lend me a shirt or pair of trousers if it comes down to it. The benefits of visiting a friend instead of just going solo in a new country are many. They know the secret places that usually take months to find on your own, or with great strokes of luck (I'm looking at you fruit guy). They have all the necessities on stand-by (ie. toothpaste, shampoo, etc), in case you forget anything. They scout for vegetarian hot spots in and around town (thank you so much for that!!), and can help streamline the trip with suggestions and advice. I do love adventuring on my own, or with a partner in crime who is as clueless as I, but it's nice to have a bit of a pampering on occasion.

This coming weekend, though, J and I are tackling another 3 Hyakumeizan. We have an eikaiwa party for the hospital folks on Friday night, then an EARLY morning on Saturday, and all of a 3-day weekend to wander around taking pictures and making like Tik-Tok.

I have been graciously given this nickname due to my two speeds when climbing: "leeches are on me" - speed, and tik-tok - speed. In my defense, at least I have a steady pace. I keep moving... usually. After the first few climbs, I've discovered that J can be kept amused by the camera while I catch my breath. Plus, he can look at the pictures months later and proudly comment on how they are "HIS" photos. Ha ha! Actually, the only way I can tell who took 1/2 the photos is if one of us is in them.

Hopefully, after a few mountains under my belt, and a week and 1/2 of yoga time at school (no classes means I can snag the key to the old dance room again!), I will be ready for a bit of trekking in Myanmar, if the rain isn't too intense. I'll bring my hiking boots, but the good ol' Toyama boots might be more appropriate this time of year.

More after Myokosan!

2009-03-09T09:11:00.003+09:00

Some Randomness

Last week, whilst waiting for my coffee, I was looking out the giant glass wall/window of the shop and to a bridge across the small lake in the park. (whoa preposition overload!) I was checking out what kind of bridge they built in the semi-new "health" park behind Toyama eki. To my surprise, there was a young man at the top of the bridge and he was dancing. At first, I wasn't sure if he was having a fight with an imaginary being, practicing a martial art I am not familiar with, or maybe just dancing? Dancing it was. J-pop style. Sadly, he wasn't 100% into it. There was still some sense of shame or embarrassment to his public display. Part of me was happy he was dancing at all, but another part was hoping he would throw caution to the wind and really break it down.

I turned back to my coffee and when I glanced back before leaving the shop, I saw him stop and run over to his girlfriend who had been sitting further down the bridge. I am left to ponder. Was it a display of love? Courtship? Maybe a dare?

We are going to Kanazawa this weekend, and I'm pretty excited. I haven't been to a museum for quite a while now, and I am starting to feel art pangs.

Also, I need to start sketching out my dreams again, I think. Last night... sabre-toothed antelope babies. Yup.

2009-02-18T12:56:00.011+09:00

Changes

It's the middle of winter now, in sort of melty/snowy Takaoka. I realize that I haven't updated in a very long time. The usual list of excuses are known "I was busy" "I had to study" "I couldn't be bothered to upload new photos and therefore had nothing interesting to share in this format." "I was sucked into the election news" etc

The truth is, life took priority over the virtual. That, I feel, is the most valid of excuses, so I am sticking with it.

Quick re-cap of what has happened during and since August:

Had an art adventure on Naoshima.

Kusama Yayoi's red and black "pumpkin" on Naoshima

My sister and brother-in-law came to visit Japan. It was a 2-week whirlwind. Kyoto, Nara, Toyama, takayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Osaka, Tokyo, Nikko, and they managed to squeeze in a quick swing by Himeji.

Beth and Brenndan in Nikko

Climbed Hakusan finally. It really is a beautiful mountain, especially in the early fall. Please note my ever-stylish soccer socks.

stripey!

Had a crazy camping trip to Noto. There were marshmallows, native art, and more Thai-jin than we ever expected. J also discovered a scary trilobite critter, if anyone knows what it is, please enlighten us!

This cultural park had a great rolly-slide. Too bad it was covered in rotten cherries.

The mysterious trilobite creature...

I am a chicken on slippery rocks when drunk on wine in the dark.

Went to Hida and Takayama in search of a wooden Godzilla sculpture I once saw.

aforementioned Godzilla

Hida warehouse and fall leaves

just some koi

J and his new friend tanuki-chan

Studied my ass off for JLPT's 2kyu test only to be turned away from the testing site because I didn't open my envelope beforehand to realize I had been bumped to Kanazawa. Complete failure on my part.

Cracked my laptops LCD screen, so now I have a thrillingly annoying "black bubble" effect going on. I am too cheap to just buy a new computer.

Took the Shin Nihonkai Ferry to Hokkaido, was great fun (we think we saw a seal off the coast, too)! Spent Christmas in Sapporo and New Year's in Niseko on the slopes.

outside of the Sapporo beer garden

inside

J drawing kanji in the sand along the shore east of Otaru

Had a PA seminar in Tokyo, so brought J along for the weekend and visited old friends and a professor who was very giving of his time.

Spent the night in a tiny little minshuku in Toga. Had an amazing ungroomed first day of powder, followed by a mediocre yet fun 2nd day of groomed slopes.

Practiced my cooking A LOT in the past 6 months. Homemade muffins, cupcakes, breads, pita, tortillas, pies, various lasagnas, mousakkas, hummus, soups, and curries. It's been a fattening time!

Watched all the snow melt in 20C weather last week, and am now crossing my fingers that the temp will continue to drop.

I am going to fiddle with posting some recipes on here, and see if that lures me to the computer more often.

Till next time...

2009-02-13T09:48:00.003+09:00

In my Absence, I dream

3 of us were traveling together. 2 had bones broken, and were taken in by a man who seemed to be gentle, and offered us spaghetti sauce later that day. He healed our broken legs with a gun. He had a small dog, which seemed to switch between happy and nervous. I wandered outside while the man was preoccupied, and saw a neighbor. I walked to him and asked how the man treated the dog. He said that the man was lovely to the dog as long as it remained inside, but once it stepped foot out the door, the man became extremely violent. I began to worry, and simultaneously noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a 3-4 foot tall jet black creature. It was all legs, slowly making it's way down the street like an ink-drenched alien spider. I was afraid. I questioned the neighbor about this monster as well. He said it was a "wethen" and it fed on spaghetti sauce, which is what you are having for dinner. It knows what you are having for dinner, it can smell it. I started running for the house. Slamming the screendoor behind me, I screamed for the others. The wethen clawed at the door and shrieked at an ear-piercing pitch. It pushed me over and broke through the door, only to jump on the face of my friend. Flashforward: the man somehow subdued the wethen, and placed it in my friend's arms as she sat on the couch. He instructed her to bite each of it's arms. I ran from the room. I couldn't understand why they trusted the man. If he and the wethen feed on the same thing, there is something in him to fear.

2008-07-16T15:07:00.003+09:00

Discarded Umbrellas part I

Please note how windy it was this day...

2008-07-16T10:12:00.012+09:00

和歌山 Escape Part II

Campsite at 七色.

Coastline and CLEAN beaches!

Recreation of Steveo's famous photo.

Playing with my color settings, and more holy trees.

ORANGE!

Banner at the shrine.

So many stairs, and so long of an absence from the gym!

Pathway to the temple, through the torii.

Main entrance of the temple.

Distance shot of the waterfall, and the rooftops of the temple complex.

Pagoda and waterfall.

Under the waterfall.

Kakigoori was the best thing possible after climbing all the stairs.

Tanbo and sunlight.

The three-legged crow is the symbol of the area.

More shrines!

Roofs are my favorite part.

The chrysanthemum, the symbol of the emperor.

J at the beginning of the trail, and the massive torii marking it.

What I look like without a shower.

Our riverbed campsite.

Morning light and broccoli trees.

Yup, more stairs. But these led to a beautiful shrine hidden in the forest.

Aforementioned beautiful shrine.

A view from the other side of the torii.

Prayers.

Pull this to ring the bell and wake up the kami.

I love my new camera so hard.

MORE stairs... J walked all the way to the peak, but I wussed out 1/2 way.

We pulled over and climbed more stairs to another hidden shrine.

The booby temple!

Offering to Buddha.

The little details.

Koya-san an hour before closing time.

More from Koya-san.

Still...

More.

Tanuki crossing.

The sea, again.

Lilac tree in Obama.

We had no idea there were so many temples and shrines there.

Obama on the Sea of Japan.

2008-07-14T15:16:00.009+09:00

So, Remember Golden Week?

A few months back, J and I (mostly him) drove to the Ise/Wakayama area and did some stuff. We walked along portions of the Kumano Kodo, saw the Great Shrine at Ise, as well as the wedded rocks, climbed more stairs than I care to count, saw beautiful scenery the whole time, played in the river, and well... just look below.

Drippy copper frog. Frogs are particularly important at the Ise Jinja for some reason...

Josh loves trees, especially holy ones.

We couldn't take photos of the actual shrine, so this is the outer area. It's still gorgeous.

Slide!

Our "shortcut".

Right before our quick hike.

View from the mountain top.

Proof we had a mini-hike.

Dragonfly.

Tree fungus?

Broccoli trees!

One view down the river.

The other direction.

We.

Carp streamers down the beach.

He.

She.

Buoys and streamers.

That's the day, more later!

2008-07-09T14:28:00.015+09:00

Back and melting.... (this one's for you, Anne)

Summer has descended, and the rainy season is coming to an end. Temp's in the 30s and thunderstorms pull he humidity out of the clouds and cool things off for about 10 mins a pop. Things have been running their usual pace (crazy) here. This past weekend imparticular was a blur and memory was a bit fuzzy in the wee hours on Saturday into Sunday morning. Saucypants was in town for the night, so we went to Jonna's art show under Takaoka eki, which was awesome! Check out her online gallery Then went to hang out with Ayumi an Yacchin (oh yeah, and eat dinner).

On Saturday, we had the Kid's Sports Day meeting in Toyama, then J and I drove up to Toga to see everyone off for the Leaver's Weekend we throw every year.

Honestly, after all the talking and galavanting, I just needed a sando. The two Js and I went to our tent and we made delicious cheese sandwiches, after we were finished slapping each other with the slices of cheese.

J and I woke up around 8am, since I wussed out early on the night before. I managed to pull a muscle in my neck, and couldn't move it around to the left until today. We went down to the river, next to where we set up camp, for an hour or more. J threw rocks in the water next to me, splashing me continuously, and channeling his inner 5 year old. Then we ate watermelon and played "green or pink". It turns out, the green side of the melon is more buoyant, so all money on green.

Many of us were devoured by evil mountain vampire bugs, despite having a thick layer of DEET on our legs. I had to buy a itch remedy called mu-hi to stop from scratching through my ankle. To quote my amazing supervisor, "Mountain bug are very strong!"

Aside from all that. The Charity Show recently ended, and here are a few pictures of my performance as the most over-utilized pokemon of all...

The show was Snow White and the Seven (err... 6) Otaku. My #1 highlight has to be the most stirring bear performance of the century. It was good fun, and I have the added benefit of working one day a week with children who will benefit from one of the charities we donated to. My kindergarten enrolled 4-5 kids from the local orphanage and provided tuition for them! A few of them are developmentally delayed, and one has Down syndrome, they are incredible kids, and it's giving me a unique insight to the Japanese orphanage system.

And I am rambling on. J and I leave for Yakushima in (let me check my nerdy counter...) 15 days 1 hour and someodd minutes! Can't wait to be alone in the mountains with my boy for a while. It seems insane that we live together now, yet still get to see one another so little. No time for complaining, though. It's time to go camping soon!!! Wooo (see below picture to understand the fullness of my joy!)

2008-06-02T13:42:00.004+09:00

Mogura Monday

Perhaps the happiest news of the past week can be broken down into two chunks. First, my sister and brother-in-law have purchased their tickets, and will be coming to Japan for the first time in August! Hurrah! Now is just a matter of organizing where they want to go over their 2 week visit. My thoughts are Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Toyama, Sado, Tokyo. A lot of city, a little inaka, a little island, and sending them off with a bang.

The other happy news is also concerning inaka and airline tickets. The Yakushima trip has finally been booked! Next month, we will be flying to Kagoshima and ferrying across to climb Miyanouradake. Just need to put our heads together and come up with a plan of action. I look forward to visiting these fine fellows.

On my list of things to pack... salt to kill the leeches I will most likely encounter. Yum.

Other fun random fact I learned this week. Mogura (Japanese moles) have started a northward assault on Nihon farms, as the weather gets warmer each year. Grrr... global warming. My sensei's friend has recently had a plague of mogura descend upon her hatake. But they're so cute and tiny!

2008-05-16T16:11:00.004+09:00

It's back...

Being faced with a few days of office confinement, and having spent the entire day Thursday studying my hypothetical nards off, I am posting a blog. Oh my, desperation? No, not only that. You see, some of my dear friends from all over the damn world are quite difficult to keep in contact with on a regular basis. So, I am making an effort to update more (we'll see how long this lasts) and perhaps provide a clue as to what is happening on the shores of Nippon.

Life isn't necessarily glamorous, but it's fun as hell. My personal contemplations of late are revolving around ways to cut my nutty schedule down. The following runs through my head repeatedly: "I am really busy right now, but if I just make it through till .... (next month, next week, etc.) then I will have more time to relax, see my friends, spend with Josh..."

Perhaps I need to get rid of one of my eikaiwas? I love both of them for different reasons, but as 2kyuu comes creeping up ready to devour me in December (I know it's a LONG time away, but it's a scary test!), I desperately want more time to devote to studying. This inevitably leads to me pondering if I would actually use that time I would have opened up in my schedule to study. Honest evaluation of my slacker psyche mostly sounds like giggling. I have been doing well on my weekly quizzes, but I'm afraid it's solely due to my short-term memorization prowess. The words, you see... they leak out of my brain at night. I think that's what causes the pillows to have those creepy yellow stains on them when you take the pillowcases off to wash. Eeew... dirty kanji.

In happy domestic news, I have been on a cooking experimentation spree. Thus far, J appears to be happy with the majority of the concoctions. Either that, or he is so hungry by the time I finally finish cooking (sorry!) that he'd eat dog poo with relish. This week's crowning glory was a cooperative effort of J's secret red sauce, and my attempts at Italian cooking... calzones! Mmmm... too bad my oven is slow as molasses. Oh man, does that make me southern? I blame you for making that phrase a part of my vernacular, Dad!

Sweet lord... is it time to go home??? FREEDOM, I can taste it!

Join us tomorrow for the WHY DO I HAVE TO WORK ON SATURDAY edition.

2008-04-01T12:15:00.004+09:00

A blur

No, sadly, not the "wooo hoooo!" Blur that was probably called to mind. But nonetheless, I have provided dancing milk for you. The past week and 1/2 has flown by. J is here now, and finally getting settled in with work etc. My schedule has calmed down and straightend out a bit as well. My two eikaiwa are both on for this week, and my lessons are in place also. I just need to buckle down and study the two-weeks worth of material I promised my sensei I would have under control for Thursday's lesson.

My new camera arrived last week as well, yet I have had no time to fiddle with it. The ume and sakura are starting to bloom in Kanazawa already. Hanami will soon be upon us, with the grad return of the Baron, and a multitude of boozed up games in Kojo Koen. Just hope I have shook this damn cold before then. Also I require 2 bicycles of decent build, so that we can enjoy the warmth and inevitable sunlight that it will bring. Oh, and perhaps car tires to lock them to, to prevent theft...

Onward to the depths of kanji memorization hell I go. Pray for my soul...

2008-03-21T14:18:00.004+09:00

um·brel·la [uhm-brel-uh] –noun

I have been wanting to start this documentation of collection project for a while. Seemed like after/during a big windy messy day was a good a time as any. On the way to Kanazawa, I began collecting evidence. Let's learn of our oft neglected and unappreciated friend.

1. a light, small, portable, usually circular cover for protection from rain or sun, consisting of a fabric held on a collapsible frame of thin ribs radiating from the top of a carrying stick or handle.

2. one of the top two most stolen or "borrowed" items in Japan, the other being bicycles.

3. as cheap as 100yen a pop

4. the most common variety is a conbini purchased clear vinyl model.

5. every umbrella I have ever bought or was given to me over the past 3 years has been stolen, with the exception of a tiny magenta one I don't know the origin of

6. in a more esoteric vein, umbrellas remind me of the status of older people in many societies. once their usefulness has expended, they are unceremoniously discarded and ignored

pictures to come...

2008-03-21T13:35:00.006+09:00

Of Books

I haven't had a whole lot of time to read in the past few months, but I recently managed to finish a few books that have been neglected on my shelf.

First was started a LONG time ago. It's a book that nearly all JETs have heard of, or have read a passage from at the very least. Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson, took me forever to finish. It's not a difficult read at all. It's easy to swallow, suited well to chunk reading (some would say "toilet reading") as he hops from city to city, driver to driver. I suppose the book is a bit dated now, since it was published 10 years ago. Things have changed in both the JET programme and Japan. It was entertaining, but often struck me as a tinge racist. Nothing flagrant, but you could sense a deeper vibe of the author being disenchanted with Japan as a whole, that just increased as you went on. Some of his interactions were rather embarassing, and really frustrated me, as a foreigner living in Japan. It's the same reaction I have when I see a foreigner behaving in a particularly obnoxious manner. In North America, or Europe there is more of a blend of races to meld into and the average caucasian isn't particularly noticeable. In Japan, however, the group is judged based on the actions of the few. It's an issue of culture and perspective, but I like to see travelers take consideration of how their actions effect their nationality (or assumed nationality, since the author routinely passed himself off as American) as a whole.

All in all, meh... Some of the authors descriptions of Japan were poetic, and it was interesting to hear about the Japan of recent past. In the end, I really didn't gain anything from the book. I was not as enthralled as I had anticipated being. Zannen.

In more enjoyable book news, I also finished The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. I have heard whinging about de Botton's snobbish attitude coming across in his books, looking down on the intellectually inferior and dumbing down the teachings of famous philosophers into pithy platitudes (the alliteration was completely unintentional). I didn't feel any of that in this book, though. Perhaps I am just not intelligent enough to have been offended by his philosophic handholding. I will be the first to admit I need it! There is no shame in reading a book with your dictionary at hand. I want to understand, I am trying to understand, and if someone out there is willing to lend assistance, then who am I to complain?

Some of the ideas mentioned about traveling and appreciating detail through drawing were really interesting, and helped nudge me a bit into focus again. I have been looking for creative outlets lately. My schedule is fairly brutal, but I need some way to get the crazy out of my head and on paper or at least in some form of media.

In irrelevant news. We have a load of homestay students coming this afternoon, and it seems I have lost a pivotal battle. Tomorrow, we are supposed to hold a cooking class with them, and introducing a Japanese recipe. So what are we making? Curry rice. Sigh... seems the lengthy discussion I had with a co-worker about the origin of curry and the international adoration of sushi did nothing.

Sometimes I really wonder...

2008-03-18T09:16:00.011+09:00

Irrational Fears

Living in Japan has become quite comfortable. I can carry on basic conversations, run errands, have a laugh with my student who works at the local supermarket, order my coffee like a pro, fill up my tank with their wacky machines or at full service (makes you feel like a superstar for yennies more!), buy tickets on all forms of transportation, and find my way when/if I get hopelessly lost in the countryside. With all of these previous worries under my belt, one would think I was confident.

Well, today I will share with you some fears that I still have about living in Japan.

Fear 1. The dry cleaners. J thinks this one is quite funny, and I agree it is silly. It stems from my lack of experience in dry cleaning ever, no matter what country I was living in. I realize all I have to do is walk there, drop my suits/futons/etc. on the counter, give them my address and name, then skeedaddle out of there. But, for some inexplicable reason, I haven't done it. Maybe it's not fear, I think it's just laziness.

Fear 2. Japanese vegetables. Often, I feel a bit brave and purchase some mystery veg at the supermarket. I bring it home, ponder over it's origins, and attempt to cook it in a way I think would suit it. Sometimes I succeed, but more often than not, I fail miserably. I eat dinner at my sensei's home every Wednesday, and routinely quiz his wife on her recipes, making mental notes of which veg to use where, and what spices and oils they are intended to marinate in. My experiments have become slightly more successful. Huzzah!

note: this photo is of another ken's gomi instructions

Fear 3. Crazy gomi day. Japan has an elaborate garbage/recycling system. It is divided by neighborhood, where the obaasan mafia get together and decide what insane rules will be instituted so as to drive the other residents mad. Also, it gives them something to do a few times a month, where they can yell at all their neighbors and feel self-righteous. Ahh... to be old and insane. My neighborhood uses the 3 bag system. Stay with me here.

Blue bags are used for anything burnable. This sounds simple, right? Well and good until you consider that at a high enough temperature EVERYTHING is burnable. To simplify, food waste, plant waste (as long as it is in small quantities), discarded clothing or cloth (as long as it is cut into small pieces and distributed throughout the rest of the trash), paper, plastics that are too dirty to clean off (they get pissy about this one, though), and things that don't make sense to throw into the other bags (but you have to wrap them in thick layers of paper, so that the gomi ladies don't find out that you sinned). Also, you must purchase the blue bags from a local store, and they must be the official blue gomi bags, or they won't accept them. I made the mistake of buying opaque blue bags by accident once. That was an ugly incident. I still have nightmares.

Now pink bags. This one is still perplexing to me. I was babbled at by a little old man this morning, as he rifled through my bag and told me it was wrong wrong wrong. I just smiled brightly and said "I have no clue what you are saying!" In Japanese of course. What I gathered from watching was styrofoam is not legit pink bag content afterall. It gets put in a clear bag (where does one acquire such a thing?) and on a different pile. So, in the future, I will have to separate all the styrofoam and either bring it to the local foreign food store, or cross my fingers and hope that same little old man doesn't break them for disobeying him. Soft (grocery bag) plastic seems to go in it's own bag, and hard plastics, like a bento package, in another.

On to yellow bags. I don't have to buy these or the pink, they are delivered several times throughout the year, and I have actually accumulated enough to build an inflatable couch. I should get on that project soon... Yellow bags can contain glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans, and tin cans. Wow, you think, this one sounds easy! No no no. Each different type of material requires its own bag. Glass bottles and jars in one, but not the lids or caps. Also, large glass bottles, like sake bottles get placed in a row alongside the other trash. I think that's just an aesthetic preference on the part of the gomi collectors. Or, they are performing a social experiment and seeing how much alcohol our neighborhood consumes bi-weekly. If the glass is broken, you must wrap it in paper and place it in the burnable garbage, kinda like a bomb (I am not being sarcastic here, that one is 100% according to the written regulations). The tin cans must be rinsed, labels removed (ha ha, nope), and put into their own bag. The aluminum cans share a similar fate. At least the last two are simple. Instead of dealing with that nonsense, I took all the aluminum cans out and will deposit them in the recycle container at the conbini late at night instead. Mwaa ha ha. Oh no! I nearly forgot PET bottles! This is the name for your average plastic beverage container. There are two sizes of PET bottles that must be separated. The really big ones, that you would take camping, or that (if you are an old or superstitious Nihonjin) you fill up at "holy" or particularly "oishii" water sites around the ken. Mine were from Kamiichi's infamous delicious AND holy water. Beat that! The big bottles get their own bag. Then the normal to small sizes are put in a separate one as well. I didn't even mention the hard plastics like household cleaner bottles, dishsoap bottles, etc. Those likely get their own bag, too.

If you are keeping count, I would have had to have 8-9 different bags in 3 colors, and still am not sure if I am correct. In addition to all that...

Cardboard. It must be cut up to a B3 approximate size (not specific, but small enough to carry comfortably, think briefcase size), and bound together in a stack with twine. All lables and tape must be removed.

Oversized gomi. Today this included my old broken vaccuum. Blessedly, this seems to be the simplest section because it has the least amount of stuff for the gomi-folk to sort through.

All of this information came through 3 years of trying to decipher the illustrated instructions, screams of dismay from gomi-folk, and whispers in the garbage scented wind. This morning, I managed to learn a lot, as I brought my gomi 5 minutes late to the drop-off site, and thusly had 6 gomi men (we are lucky that we have men instead of crazy ladies!) rooting through my trash. If I had been earlier, others would have stolen away their attention and they would have been none the wiser to my evil sorting ways. Alas, I was alone with a LOT of gomi to unload. The men were really sweet, and knew exactly where I lived. Apparently, I am now the only foreigner in my neighborhood, so they were really kind and tried to help me understand the proper gomi techniques that have been passed down through the generations.

I must do them proud. Next time, I am going to sort like they've never seen a gaijin sort before! I will amaze them with my separation. Wow them with my twine bundling! They shall fall at my feet praising my prowess. Or maybe the ojisan just won't babble at me angrily anymore.

2008-03-14T10:33:00.002+09:00

Abandoning Doraemon

Notably, this week, we lost a friend. J sent a package a few weeks ago from Bangkok to Japan. He and his kuroneko-ed (yeah, I verbed the romajified noun) a rucksak to my address from Fukuoka a few days later. I received the rucksack about 2 days later, and we anticipated the usual tardiness of Thai post to take it's toll on the package.

On Tuesday, I found a slip from the post office in my door, saying that I needed to come pick up something. I assumed this was the package. Nope. I was instead handed a letter from customs in Yokohama. Why they didn't just put the damn thing in my mailbox is beyond me. The letter stated that hey were holding the package due to import restriction violations. ? The package contained some suits J had made in Thailand, and possibly a few knicknacks from his students. Upon further reading (with my dictionary in hand) I came across an odd mix of katakana and hiragana. ドラえもん Doraemon? Yup. Turns out, customs opened the package and found a knockoff copy of a stuffed Doraemon, which had been a gift from one of J's students. I was sent an official document asking if I would... hold on, they say it better than I ever could

I hereby swear that I have complete and full authority and legal capacity to dispose of the article(s) given bellow, and also declare that based on my authority I voluntarily abandon the said article(s).

I left in the misspelling of "below" as well. Good to know there are still jobs available for translation over at the customs department.

So, after killing trees to send me this letter (and a lovely color pamphlet on illegal imports), I have to sign, hanko, fill-in, and mail off the Declaration for Abandonment of Articles for a stuffed animal before they will send the rest of the package to me. They had already (get this) sent Doraemon to the official Doraemon manufacturers, to have it evaluated for authenticity. Yes. That is where the government is spending the nation's money. They should have received my response by now, and hopefully sent the package on its way to me. I hope I hanko-ed in all the right places, or who knows, they may send the form back to me!

2008-03-07T13:35:00.005+09:00

A break, for my poor finger

I suppose that sounds a bit filthy, maybe not... maybe that is just me. I am in the weekly process of making between 50-90 kanji flashcards. After writing so much, my finger KILLS. My new book is prep for 2kyuu (Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 2), and that is about 1000 kanji if I remember correctly. Remembering the little bastards is one thing, but learning all the vocab that comes along with is the real killer. Wooo 78 this week, all including じ　ず　そ　た　good times. I admit, I am bit concerned about retaining a lot of the vocab, but if I somehow manage to review continuously, there is a chance. It has been done before. Plus, I will have J here to beat me with the old hockey stick if I slack off.

My kiddies had graduation this week. It was tearful at times, but I was more proud than sad. I have some photos to post as soon as I get around to uploading them. I really need to get a new camera, sigh. Mine is being held together with packing tape. No lie.

The Toyama JETs Team Teaching Handbook of doom is finally finished. I went in on Monday to get the damn thing completed, and after pasting 165 tiny numbers onto individual pages (hurrah for numbering the old-fashioned way!) finally filed it in the finished file. Just for clarification, the finished file is a recycled cardboard box. Stay classy GEC.

Rounding out the week was downloading some fantastic music I have been meaning to for a while. I have Caribou's The Milk of Human Kindness on repeat, currently. I could listen to "Pelican Narrows" for 3 days straight and never tire of it.

Last, but not least, I have a few hidden Saipan photos that J posted on Facebook, and I have the privilege of putting up here! (the opening photo, and the one below) I love seeing old photos that I forgot were taken. They always make me happy.

2008-02-26T10:10:00.004+09:00

Here it comes again

Bubbling up inside, the ever present wanderlust. I am getting the urge to get the hell out of dodge again. I just started contemplating when I will next be able to leave Japan, and it's looking tough. I may head home to the states at the end of this year for a visit, but I am not sure if I will have time to go anywhere between now and then.

Spending the past hour looking at train and river transport in China, Vietnam, and Laos is probably just exacerbating the problem. I don't think J will be in a position to travel during Golden Week, which is really expensive anyways. And the education centre has made it extremely difficult for me to skip the country this summer as per usual, by moving up the new ALT orientation an entire month. So... I could probably pull off some inner-Japan travel. I still have a burning desire to get to Yakushima. Looks like it might happen finally. There might be a few 3 day weekends to hop around and get South Korea under my belt, but who knows.

I realize that I am not thinking like an adult, but I want to go EVERYWHERE. I feel like, living in Asia, I am required to visit as many countries as possible, and will regret it if I do not. The saving for grad school, or just my future in general, is starting to creep up as a priority, however. Can someone please pay me to travel? Then all this will be settled.

Another random note. I studied so much yesterday, I managed to hurt my finger. Finally, after years of writing incorrectly, I have had the negative physical reaction all my elementary teachers warned me about. You are right. Fine. Are you happy now? How did this not happen in college when I was drawing for hours on end?

2008-02-20T23:04:00.009+09:00

Gratuitous monkey and some other creatures

I had to rifle through my 1000s of photos to hunt down some endearing shots of my students to accompany an article I wrote last month for the prefectural education magazine (it's probably more like a newsletter, so it's not likely to be as cool as it sounds). During my search I came across these photos from my visit to Thailand back in August. Please enjoy.

I bring you the monkey with the softest hands ever. He did pull my hair a bit, though.

These animals were all living on a crocodile farm outside of Bangkok. It was... interesting to say the least.

Scary Panda says "Sweet Dreams!"

2008-02-20T11:17:00.005+09:00

it's all about positive thinking , or is it?

I have been in a bit of a poo mood the past few days. I blame my pulled muscle, or perhaps hormones. So, instead of being an obnoxious complainer, I am going to jot down some happy things. (it's your call if you find it obnoxious as well)

Laurac and I got to play in the snow in Kojo on Sunday. It was quiet, peaceful, empty, and beautiful! Pictures were finally taken of the incredible amount of snow we had.

They had the purple stuff in the onigiri today. Purple is the best flavor.

The bread recipe I have been tweaking came out better than expected.

I managed to cook Japanese vegetables that have confused me for a long time. And they taste good. No, really!

The countdown is practically at one month till J is back in Japan! (I figured I had to give you an exclamation point, so you didn't feel inferior to pringles)

Japanese class went really well tonight. Finally managing to infuse my speech with new vocab.

We talked about poopies and other words for shit in my eikaiwa tonight. ha ha

Been reconnecting with a lot of old friends as of late.

Might be able to go boarding this weekend afterall...

That's it for now. There are other happy things, but I don't wanna go jinx myself into sadness or anything. Time to learn more Nihongo!

2008-02-15T08:44:00.006+09:00

News, diet, and fishy guilt

On a near daily basis, I have access to the internet and use it as a between class mental recess. I like to check various news sites both international and local, to get a broader idea of what is happening in the world. When I am finished reading reputable sources, I go slumming.

Some things I have noticed lately:

CNN's IQ has dropped appallingly in the past few years. I am sure it has been a gradual decline, but having the time to check regularly has given me a front row seat to the perversion of news.

American media in general is completely obsessed with weight loss. I suppose all the other countries finally poked us in our flab enough times that we became ashamed. They try to sound "hip" and make dealing with obesity sound more like a trip to the circus rather than an actual SERIOUS matter. I offer you this article title I stumbled across this morning "How to Eat Like a Hot Chick". What? The article seems to realize it sounds like a twat when the first paragraph tries to dig it's way out of the hole it's firmly planted in. (just saw that this is taken from a book of the same title. It makes me sad for American women.)

We know that you're already hot and that you have the potential to be and feel even hotter.

It sounds more like "oh, shit... we called you ugly didn't we? Um... you are sexy? Yeah, and you don't need this article really, but you could be sexier maybe?"

Let's delve further. Upon reading anything along these lines, which I mostly do to amuse myself, wondering if something of value is hidden between the lines, I am instead met with repetitive Sex in the City references, and reminders that are completely unnecessary if one would just look at an ingredient or nutrition label. This particular article also manages to insult vegans, and all they really accomplish is saying condiments will make you a fatty.

My bastion of sanity for news comes from the BBC.

Why all this talk of food? What does ocean conservation have to do with this? Well, let me provide some cohesion. I haven't eaten meat for nearly 12 years now, and feel guilty calling myself a vegetarian. This is because I have eaten fish for the past 3 years. Before that, it was 8 years clear. It's still not a regular food for me, perhaps 3 times a week or so. Living in Japan as a strict vegetarian is possible, but you become a bit of a social pariah. I couldn't, for instance, go to a Japanese friend's home for dinner, without causing them dismay over what they could possibly serve me. I admit I have grown to enjoy a few types of fish. Shrimp are delicious, and I have a serious weakness for salmon onion mayo sushi.

My only problem is the guilt. I have been contemplating for a long time, what I will do when I eventually leave Japan. Will I stop eating fish again? Will I go back to my real vegetarian lifestyle? I always say that you should only be veg if you truly don't like eating meat/fish. I don't hold anyone's diet against them. Fish isn't that important to me, I could easily go without again. Plus, the above photo is a view of man's impact on the world's oceans. I live in a country that is renowned for it's fishy needs and whaling prowess. The demand for maguro (tuna) alone is astounding and since the stock in Japan has been pludered, we import from Mediterranean waters. National Geographic explains it far better than I could.

I realize that I am just one person, but really don't feel very good about myself if I order that plate of maguro.

It also makes me want to slap the hell out of Gal Sone. (they start wolfing down the Otoro, or fatty tuna in the middle of this clip.)

2008-02-13T12:33:00.005+09:00

Instant Happiness!

I have about a million things to be happy about right now, but this just caused an eruption of glee. I hope you enjoy. I found it via this amazing and beautiful online comic Dresden Codak. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The band is called Rock Plaza Central, and if you are a fan of Neutral Milk Hotel or Grandaddy, you will surely appreciate!

The video is from a kid's show called Nanalan, which looks to be fantastic. One of my dreams is to be able to one day work for Jim Henson's workshop. I actually had an application sitting on my desk when my JET acceptance call came through. Hell, a show like this would be awesome to work for! Maybe one day...

2008-02-13T12:16:00.000+09:00

Howl's Malay Moving Castle
(eat your heart out, Baron!)

This is the less than beautiful, yet awesome dive platform that we stayed at for 4 days off the coast of Borneo in Sipadan.

I wanted somewhere with lush reefs, and variety of sea life, but without costing a million dollars. Sipadan has been on my list for a while now, and tickets from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur weren't going to cost me an appendage, so things were looking up. Seaventures used to be an old ocean drill unit. Looks quite a bit like an oil rig. The humor of it is, it's a horrible eyesore on the skyline. If you are staying at the fancypants resort connected to the island, you have this giant rusty multi-colored mess marring the view. But, if you are on the platform, all you can see are beautiful islands, open ocean, and the sweet architecture of the nearby resort. ha ha! It really does remind me of Howl's Moving Castle. What do you think?

Bunny and I left Joshie to fend for himself in Aonang for the day, and headed to the airport on the morning of the 21st. We flew out to Kuala Lumpur and hopped a flight from there to Tawau. I will provide a map for clarification.

Tawau is an intriguing little town. I didn't quite know what to anticipate, because it is considered a "business centre" in Malaysia, but is also in the middle of nowhere Borneo. Many conferences go on there, for some reason. The city was about 20 minutes away from the airport, and kinda reminded me of the seedy outskirts of Miami. Not the kind of place you would want to take a late night stroll alone in. It is famous for it's cocoa, strangely enough, and on the way back through, Bunny and I hit up the factory for a personal tour! More on that momentarily.

The next morning, we headed back to the airport to catch our minivan to Sipadan (bonus: that rhymed). The drive was somewhere around 2 hours long, and we amused ourselves by trying to figure out what all the palm planations were about (palm oil!) and looking for monkeys. We arrived at the coast with a view of this...

(borrowed this picture from picasaweb)

Looks pretty, ne? I only wish you could see the massive amount of garbage floating in the water. It was revolting and quite sad. The trash disappated as we went out in the boat towards the platform, but it's impossible to forget. So, the boat. We were taken out the 30min boatride to the platform by our captain and his two sons. They were gorgeous kids. The youngest had grabbed my rucksack and slung it on his back to help us to the boat. I am never again allowed to bitch about it being heavy. He was about 9 years old and had no problem. We headed into open water with the horrid pollution disappearing behind us. I promised myself, that if I ever have the means, I will attempt to fund a pollution cleanup near Sipadan.

The platform came into site, and I was downright giddy. We hopped onto the lift and were greeted at the top with mango juice and our keys. Mango juice is always exciting, but I couldn't wait to get upstairs to see our digs. It was quaint, comfortable enough, air conditioning, and a mostly functioning toilet (that I managed to break the handle off of, since I am a beast). My only qualm was our "roommates". Seems the platform has fought a war, a nuclear holocaust, if you will... against a plague of roaches. The humans lost. I asked Evie (the happiest divemaster you will ever meet) about it, and she said they bombed multiple times, but the bastards refused to fully die. It took me a day of squeamishness and sleeping with the bathroom light on, to get used to the idea, but the next few days were fine. Like Evie said, "you dive all day and all you do on the platform is sleep and eat, so you don't even notice so much." Also, she hooked us up with a courtesy roachspray!

We stayed the 22nd-26th, and got about 8 dives in. Nothing the first day, because we didn't arrive in time to catch the afternoon boat, nor did we have our equipment sorted out. So, our first morning, we woke up early and headed out to Sipadan for 2 dives. The first one was as Barracuda Point. Hell of a way to start us off. The barracuda formed a massive school and were practically a wall of shining teeth. It was amazing to see. We also came across a fair number of white tip reef sharks, and hawksbill turtles lazing about. Visibility was magnificent, and it was easily one of the best dives of the trip.

(another borrowed image, sorry I didn't have a camera for these dives!)

The 2nd dive was Turtle Tomb. Disturbing name, I know. It's a cave system, that many a turtle has headed into to rest, and then when it was time to surface for air, they had managed to get too deep into the cave, attempted to go up, and hit the ceiling instead. The floor is littered with bones from many a pineapppular turtle. We didn't go any further than the entrance, because we didn't have the gear, some of us didn't have the experience, and a few diver's have gotten lost in there before. Nice. Evie was great at pointing out the microlife along the walls, for the rest of that dive. Many tiny shrimp, nudibranch, and crazy looking creatures that the untrained eye would have mistaken for coral or seaplants. We turned a corner and entered a small cove where jackfish had formed a spiral stemming from the ocean floor, nearly to the surface of the water. They just coned continuously, as we swam around them.

We headed back to the platform that afternoon, feeling pretty damn accomplished, and (at least I was, as you can see above, me looking smug) overwhelmed by the sheer number of turtles we saw. We were just about within site of our monstrous base, when one of our divemasters spotted a whale. He dove off the side of the boat and within minutes had surfaced again, was climbing back in, and gushing about the humpback he had just seen underwater. Our boat ambled around for 1/2 an hour or more trying to get close enough that we could swim near the whale, but it wasn't to be. Several of us were 1/2 geared up, perched on the prow of the boat, which you could see below on one of my previous posts. (all photos of me are stolen from Bunny)

Ok, that was rather long... so I will save the next day's dives for another post. Preferably when I have access at home to my own stash of photos. I am going to go back to studying kanji and staring out the window at the pretty snow.

2008-02-08T10:15:00.001+09:00

The Year of the Rat

is kicking ass so far. (Laurac was correct) Despite the whole being sick for the past two days, I have been in a pretty damn good mood. Why, you ask? (I am gonna tell you, so you might as well ask)

1. J is coming to Toyama! I was holding my breath and trying not to get my hopes up, in case he was placed in the mountainous wilds of Niigata. It seems, however, that Interac saw it fit to place him where he actually requested to be. Hurrah!

2. I passed! Hurrr? Yeah, guess I was neglectful in saying much about it, but the JLPT or Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I took it in December, 3kyuu (3rd level) for the second year in a row. Last year, I was definitely ill-prepared for it, and was anticipating that big "FAIL". This year, was quite a bit harder than I remembered, and they threw in a bunch of random vocabulary. But, it helped me to see where I need more practice, and it's vocabulary vocabulary vocabulary. I did get the little postcard that says "PASS" this year, though, and a good kick in the ass to study more for my first attempt at 2kyuu this December. Once again, I am not really positive of passing the first time around, but you never know. If they decide to up the kanji section, I might just stand a chance. Seems kanji is the only damn part of Japanese I find easy. I am now the proud owner of a piece of paper that says I don't suck at Japanese as much as I used to. Wooo hooo! Grad school qualifications are getting better!

3. Today, I have no classes, and am facing a 3 day weekend ahead. Tomorrow I am hitting up beautiful Toga with Laurac and "gotta want it" Macaskill. Sunday, Kazuto and I are waking up at the butt-crack of dawn and heading to Hakuba. His friend works out there, most likely at an onsen/ski resort, and we are gonna meet up and get some boarding lessons, I think. Weee! I hope I learn how to jump or do something else relatively fancy. Then, Monday, I am taking Bunny out to Toga (again, yes, but I LOVE Toga) to teach her how to board. Should be low impact for me, but I have a feeling she is gonna get it pretty quick. Will we make it up to the mildly terrifying (for your first time) intermediate course? You will have to wait to find out. Also, since my camera has become a piece of poop, I will be bringing it along for photo fun!

4. Did I mention it's snowing? A lot? And sticking, which is the most important part of the process. It's supposed to keep up for 2 days straight, and I am very much looking forward to snowball fight and (soy) cocoa party on my roof.

I do love snow, but I wish I were back in the warm for a few days... (above photo blatently stolen from Bunny) I will explain the picture soon... I just wanted some snow contrast! Pics of snow later this afternoon, btw. For now, please enjoy this adorable map of Toyama I just found.

2008-02-05T20:13:00.000+09:00

Every morning, whilst eating toast...

we were privy to 2 openly homoerotic monkeys displaying their love. The above character is "small monkey" as we liked to call him. He grabbed my finger and sent my heart a flutter. The other monkey was older and a bit of an opportunist, but enough of that.

We stayed in Aonang for about 4 days, while Joshie and Rachel got their open water certs, and I worked on my advanced and acquiring a fantastic case of food poisoning. Gwar (the monster who lives in my stomach) is a bit of an asshole, and this happens fairly regularly, so I was not exactly surprised. Back on track... on our 2nd day out, I got to borrow this fellow's sweet underwater camera setup, and took the following pictures. Keep in mind, for my ego's sake, I am only posting the nice ones. I will save you the trauma of watching me chase a yellow fish around and never getting a decent shot (J was not so lucky, and promptly fell asleep). Without further adieu, and to make Bunny happy:

This is the dive on the first day. Nice and murky, about 18-25m

scorpionfish

orange seafan and blackfeatherthingie that I don't know the name of

sea anemone

green-spotted moray

some contrasting anemone and white seaplant

the infamous south asian black urchin of pain

some shrimpies

anemone fish at home

a sea cucumber flanked by black urchins

I think that is as much as I can legitimize posting today, because I have more Japanese work calling me. Hope you enjoy the photos!

2008-02-05T10:28:00.000+09:00

What am I supposed to say to that?

I was teaching my eikaiwa last night and the following two statements were made.

"I don't want Obama to become president, because I am afraid the Ku Klux Klan will murder him." (On that note, am I the only one who has noticed the striking resemblance between Obama and Malcolm X?)

I blame FOX News.

and

"The Chinese do not rinse their dishes, they wash them with dish soap and leave the bubbles on."

Ok. So, a few things can be assumed from these statements. First, a lot of Japanese folks believe nearly ALL of what is written in their papers, or put on the evening news. Second, unless they have traveled, or happen to be particularly awesome, quite a few people don't have any concept of what life is like outside of their own country. This holds true for Americans as well, and probably just about any other ethnocentric person chilling in their homeland with blinders on and a dislike for BBC news. I mean absolutely no offense, I just call them like I see them.

Let's dissect the first statement, shall we? We were discussing politics, which is always an interesting, as well as a volatile topic. I stated my approval of Obama, and my distaste for Hilary's methods. In swoops the aforementioned comment, followed quickly with "justification". This is not directly quoted, but the best translation I could muster. "In America, there was a school where some white students killed a black student for sitting under a tree that only white students were allowed to sit under."

I have seen stories of the Jena 6 in the news, but purposely stuck my head in a hole and tried to hide from the story, which CNN seemed to be hyping far too much. This is my excuse for not knowing the details enough to say her whole condensed explanation was assbackwards. Seems, my student had somehow concocted a very different story, making the white students into murders as well as racists. I am not in any way denying the fact that racism still exists in America, but it's not like I am gonna get threatened for marrying a black man these days.

I tried to explain how the KKK and other groups are looked down upon severely, and only exist in small pockets of the US still. Also, that the US is not really as simple and stark as it is portrayed in film and television. They went on to compare the KKK to the Yakuza. The Yakuza has over 84,000 estimated members, however, while the KKK has more like 8,000. I tried to explain that a national crime syndicate isn't really comparable to a racist hate group. Who knows if I made a dent in that mentality, though?

Now, about the bubbles. My initial reaction was to laugh. Many of my friends and co-workers are anti-China in subtle ways. Slagging on them now and again. Here are a few choice quotes:

"Chinese food is dangerous! Did you hear about the 500 Japanese getting sick from gyoza?"
(more like 10, but whatever)
"The Chinese are too proud."
"The Chinese government kicked people out of their homes to build new stadiums for the Olympics, and those displaced were given no money."
Do you want to go to China?
"I want to see all the famous sites..." (but not dealing with the native population was heavily implied)

I can't seem to find anything online about the soap speculation. If anyone knows where that particular gem came from, please help me shed some light on it!

2008-02-04T11:24:00.000+09:00

2008 Check-in

Life is busy, but I am gonna bust out a few things today. Sannensei kiddies don't have to come to school anymore, because they are "preparing for college" or working at the local conbini already, based upon their level of pineappularism. So, I am left with only my ichis, which is great, except I only have 6 classes a week! Note, I am not complaining. This actually gives me time to catch up on my Japanese studies, which my sensei is about ready to beat my skull in about.

Yeah, I should be studying now, shush. Everyone deserves a little procrastination time.

Let's see what I can pull out of my magical blogging hat. Ahh... lists. I do so love them. To begin, things I need to do still in Japan. *the koala yummies I just ate are making my tummy feel weird.

Things I still need to do in Japan

1. see the snow monkeys in Nagano.

2. Hiroshima and Miyajima

3. Yakushima

4. get better at Japanese, damnit

5. dive in Okinawa

6. northern Honshu roadtrip

7. Ise

8. Nikko

9. eat fugu (blowfish)

10. go surfing on the east coast

11. ??? suggestions?

From the previous suggestions I have had, I have managed to get my picture taken with the Prime Minister (his poster at least!)

have been on Japanese TV not once but twice, and have won an award for something stupid (most likely to get naked). I am definitely up for more exciting suggestions, since my list looks more like a "places I still need to go" list.

The past month has been a blur of snowboarding, making up filler lessons on the fly, speaking garbled Japanese, and sento tattoo secret maneuvers. I went to Thailand and Malaysia over the holidays. Thailand was to see J, and to do some more diving. I will get a post up here next with photos from the dive. I think I have one on hand...

Yup, clownfish. These did NOT bite my finger. I still haven't forgiven Sydney for that. I did, however, injure myself, because really, it's not a true vacation if I don't vom and least once, and damage myself somehow. This was caused by my slow sealegs on our first day off of Aonang.

I couldn't have chosen a more aethetically located toe to break! Look at that purple. Please beware, for those of you wishing to emulate my awesomitude, dive fins hurt quite badly when you are powering them with a mangled foot. I did get to see leopard sharks, though, so it was a million times worthwhile. I also became an... ahem Advanced Open Water Diver.

This is right before I vommed, on beautiful Koh something something (Bunny!?) near Railay. I think that yoghurt at breakfast was of the bad variety.

Even better than that (the diving, not the being ill), I got to see J after another long 4 month gap and we headed to Kachanaburi for a few days of nature, stairs, waterfalls, baby elephants, history, peace, and more stairs. I will provide photographic documentation of these events soon.

Rachel and I also spent a few days in Malaysia learning about chocolate, defending our beds against cockroach invasion in Howl's Malay Moving Castle, chasing whales, jumping off of things that hurt my ass, and being overwhelmed by sea turtles. I will post separately about this, for it merits it's own entry. Think that is enough of a teaser to make you come back?

(rocking out to Eve6 right now... what a throwback to high school!)

Also, I think I am gonna get around to posting all my scar photos on a separate page in the next week or so. If I can find the time and the patience to do so. To the text books...

2007-11-20T17:26:00.000+09:00

Maybe I should show them Free Willy...

Every week, I teach two eikaiwa. One is with 5 lovely ladies, all married, all moms, all local for at least the past 20 years. We mostly chat about their lives, their kids, my life, and where Tomoko is going golfing next. The other is 3 ladies and a gentleman (who I might add, is very LOUD during yoga), where we talk about sake, local goings on, and world issues.

Last night, Kiyoto-san (the male version) and I were conversing before the ladies arrived. He looks at me meaningfully and says, "What do you think about 鯨 (whales)?" I told him that I suppose I quite like whales. They are intelligent and graceful, and I used to study marine biology, blah blah. He pushed again, and I realized he wanted to know if I liked whale meat. Living in Japan, one becomes accustomed to interpreting questions such as these. It's not, "Do you think octopus are endearing?" It's "Do you think octopus are delicious?" This goes for an array of animals. I sometimes like to imagine a Japanese child watching the little mermaid. Particularly the scene where Sebastian the crab is singing about all the ocean animals playing various instruments. Is the child pondering over woodwinds in an underwater environment, amazed at the bright colors, or thinking mmm, everything looks tasty! I am not trying to be racist here. My childhood was spent in the midwest, where cow, pork, chicken, and Mrs. Paul's fish sticks were what I was accustomed to. Fish just wasn't much of an option, and let's face it, when a child is not raised on a particular food, it takes a while to develop a taste for it. Palates are strange things.

It might also be the Japanese lack of disguising their food, at least in sushi restaurants. There is no question what you are eating. Hell several kinds come out with their heads still on. Kids in kaiten restaurants reach over the conveyor belt, touching things as they go by. I am starting to wonder if they think it will start moving again.

Anyways, back to whale. Kiyoto-san enlightened me quite a bit, so I thought I would share. He is a good source of typical Nihonjin experience and knowledge, and also has a great sense of humor to deliver it. He said, when he was a little boy, whale meat was all the rage. Japan was a very poor country when he was young, because of the economic downfall after the war. Whale was easy to come by and a single whale could feed many people. Whale meat was also the only red meat that Japan had at the time, because cows were so rare, that beef was exorbitantly expensive. Whale steaks, whale on a stick, whale everywhere. He said, he quite enjoyed whale meat as a child because it was different. The rest of the time it was fish, rice, and vegetables, so whale was special. I asked him what he thought of whale now, and he said "Japan does not hunt whale because the world says it is bad." Umm... yeah they do, they say it's for science. "Oh, we must kill whales for science, but we do not eat them." Umm... whale is served in middle-school lunches at least once a month right here in Toyama. "No it is not." Yes, it is. My friends have eaten it. It is in the store. "No, we do not eat whale."

I knew this wasn't going to go down well, but I told him the truth of the whale still being eaten in Toyama and around Japan. I also gentley volleyed the original question back to him. What do you think about whale? "Oh, I do not eat whale now. Only when I was a child. Now, I like pork and beef." I asked why he doesn't eat whale anymore, since he used to like it quite a bit in his youth. His only answer, "Japan is not a poor nation." So, I am assuming from this, that eating whale meat has a psychological connection to the economic hardships in Japan's past, and that is part of why it has fallen to the wayside. I am sure international pressure has done it's fair share as well.

We moved on to the subject of whaling for "research". No one knew the details of the research (the ladies had joined us by this point), but said that the whale meat in Japan came from the whales who had been "researched on"(this was a switch from "we do not eat whales"). They defended themselves by saying that the Japanese use all parts of the whale, unlike the Americans who killed all the buffalo *low blow, I might add.

Ahh.. the buffalo attack. I was expecting this all along. Just to clarify, I had not been rude, accusatory, or snarky for the entire previous convo because I like these folks, and we learn a lot from each other. Sometimes it takes a while to break through cultural ways of thinking to the truth, on both our parts. We debated endangered animals, for a bit, and I swallowed the US guilt of whaling in the past, only using the animals for oil, killing the buffalos, I took it all in stride. Face it, our history is pretty bloody and shitty. I am a vegetarian, though, so I don't worry too much about the association (hell, later he asked me how I survive eating only salads all day every day). I think Kiyoto-san was just trying to unburden himself from pressure that I didn't mean to put on him. Let's call it whale guilt.

I was disturbed by the idea of feeding middle schoolers on "researched" whale meat to save a few bucks. We all were. So, our final question was:
Why does the Japanese governmet insist on whaling still, if the majority of the Japanese populous don't really care for whale meat at all?

Mysterious. Here's more info if you are interested in the political hub-bub.

why whale?

greenpeace vs. sea shepherd

Note: Sea Shepherd has damaged their name to the point in Japan, that after choosing them as recipient of our international charity show funds this year, we were chastised by the Japanese sponsors and asked to change charities.

2007-10-31T15:40:00.001+09:00

Today I am an angry grape.

that is all

2007-10-09T15:31:00.000+09:00

GRE and geometric shapes that I have made peace with

I have decided that he GRE as a computer-based test is the devil. The tiny boxes you are expected to word process within, caused me to neglect to erase my "notes" before the time was up. I realize this is probably my fault and not the computers, but usually when you are typing out a paper, you can see everything on the screen. This is, of course, ruling out 2-3 page essays and the like. This was a 5 paragraph essay about judging a culture by the appearance and actions of its people.

This is what the test-site looks like (please note the massive orange headphones of pain on the left of the brunette)

We were promised "earplugs" but that was a lie. Much like the bathroom break before the test really began lie. LIES! Having freshly moved up to 12mm lobes the previous day, I was none too thrilled with the earwear. (ear shots later)

It made me cranky, and I hope the readers of my analytical section realize that I am just a doofus, and don't grade me too harshly for the obvious "word ... (four spaces)... word ... (two spaces)." Kinda made me want to cry, but what can you do? You can go out till 4am in Osaka at some club called Triangle (oh the irony) and get drunk on numerous alcohols. I needed the relaxation, and I paid for it on Monday. Ouchie.

Anywho, I will probably take the GRE again next year with J, after reviewing a lot more about the geometry and vocabulary of circles. Fuck circles. Hard. I memorized formulas for circumference, area, etc. I know about tangents and line segments, semi-circles and arc lengths. What do they do? The first question is something about 2 concentric circles and the tangent of the smaller circle bisecting the other circle at two points.... All I could do was look at concentric and think, "that was NOWHERE in the review!" This blew my mind into a million pieces.

The unfortunate thing is, MA programs are gonna view the scores side by side, not alone. If I do better, then cool, if I do worse... It's good to know that studying for months won't make you feel any better about the test. It was as if none of it mattered.

The system gives you a question, and if you get it correct, it gives you a harder one, and so on and so forth. If you screw up, you start getting cake questions. When I saw "modicum" I knew things were starting to go downhill :(

Also, it's fairly evil to include "there is not enough information provided to figure out the answer" problems in any test. It's like pulling the safety net out from under a teettering tight-rope walker!

To top off the fun, Japan is, for some reason, under the impression that J is my middle name now. When I applied for my passport nearly 8 long years ago, I was asked for my middle initial. That would be J. When I filled out the online form to take the GRE, they asked for my middle name, so I wrote Jane. The mistress of GRE called me into her lair on Sunday, sat me down, and started asking why I filled the form out incorrectly. ??? She asks to see my passport and points at the J trying to tell me that is my name. I explained as best I could the difference, and try to legitimize the ridiculousness of J vs. Jane, when it's obviously me, they have photo evidence as well as every number I have been given by either govt. since birth. Want my soc # I have my card in my wallet! Want my gaikokujin card? In my wallet! Want my thumbprint? HERE! No. I had to wait nearly 20 minutes while she called the head office and had a debate about whether or not I should be allowed to sit for the test. Talk about unnecessary tension directly before taking a test that is going to affect the rest of my life~!

That is enough whinging for now. If any of you folks are preparing for the GRE, take the online tests, as many as you can, be careful of the word processing software (you cannot use mouse right/left clicking for cutting and pasting), and circles! Circles are EVIL.

2007-09-30T15:52:00.001+09:00

Bangkok is for monkeys

I have become the prefectural advisor for our ken, and in doing so, have swamped myself. Smooth move on my part. All in all, I enjoy the added spice to my normal work routine, and I get to take a weekly business trip to Toyama. However, with all the wacky regional meetings and orientations this time of year, things were a bit hectic. And who doesn't enjoy a good whinge?

On top of that fun, Bunny and I are taking the GRE next weekend in Osaka, and have been studying our brains out. What's more (I just wanted to say that, because it is a popular phrase around my school right now, appearing in essays and peppered in my JTE's speech) I am taking sankyuu again in December, and I have no doubt about passing, but am trying to study for that as well as start preparing for nikyuu next year, which is evil (so I hear).

It's nice to be busy, and I am getting into the flow of it now. I have been finding time to cook more (samosas and banana bread recently) and go to the gym somewhat regularly, in an effort to prevent old lady wings from forming under my arms. Eeew, you know what I am talking about, and I don't want them! Also, I need to train for the team marathon in 3 weeks, and for diving in December.

Which leads me to Thailand. I had a fantastic yet all too short two weeks near Bangkok. During the days, I explored the city thoroughly, parks, shopping districts, random streets, rivers, etc.

I took and amazing yoga class at . I swear, I think I saw god. J and I ate too much food, and I gorged myself on fresh fruit from the market near his apt. Mmmm... dragonfruit!

We partied with Holzer and FDan at night, and I managed to see numerous projectiles being shot from interesting locations. This includes a banana aimed at the two of us. Thank god it didn't have a lot of umph behind it!

J had to work during the day, but we had a 3 days weekend escape to Hua Hin. I got my beaching in, we hung out with large narded beach dogs, and we found a delicious and authentic Italian place our last night there. I think the best time was probably sitting on the pier and relaxing with a beer. (bonus, that rhymed!)

Oh and there was a baby elephant wandering around downtown Bangkok, being exploited for money that almost made me cry :( The upside was, I got to meet Thai Elvis!

the end

2007-08-03T23:47:00.001+09:00

Hello August, goodbye Japan

Tomorrow afternoon, I am off to Thailand! The typhoon that is rolling through Toyama ain't got nothing on me. It appears to be determined to ruin my supervisor's vacation to Aomori, rather than my excursion tomorrow night towards Osaka.

I get to spend another glorious evening eating kakigori, wandering around Namba, and sleeping at my favorite little capsule hotel. It's like a mini-vacation before my real one.

I am gonna come back brown and hopefully more buff from my attendance at a yoga studio I hope to go to in Bangkok, while J is teaching the kiddies at his school during the week. Mmmm... vacation.

Enjoy Obon, and all that jazz. I will return with photos!

2007-07-31T13:59:00.001+09:00

Bit of a Hiatus

I was so hoping that the plural of hiatus was going to be hiati... nope.

In other news, I just returned from a weekend of musical gorging. As previously mentioned, I was to attend Fuji Rock 2007 this weekend. And, I am gonna put it out there now... I want to be at Fuji Rock 2008. Time to start saving up my 10yennies! Here are some stats.

8 Toyama-ites
4 tents
3 days of camping
4 homemade onigiri *mmmm...
3 bagels!
20 bands seen
0 showers
?? beers
1 cardboard robot
4 instruments played in drum circle
2 bowls of vegetarian curry
2 rainshowers
4 times Less Than Jake slagged American girls
2 circle pits
60 years Robert Smith looks like he has aged
1 time I embarassed myself in front of Yellowcard

Please enjoy photos stolen from Timmy and Bunny.

Nikujaga's very own Nikubot of love.

The village of tenty goodness

The boys from the man-tent

Me "impressing" Yellowcard with my old school ways.

Iggy Pop falling in a hole couldn't put a damper on our fun. Hurrah for Fuji Rock!

2007-07-20T23:24:00.001+09:00

Some Pictures (because they are nice)

This is the rice near the Okada's home.

The sky that night was something else.

This is the rice we planted last month.

Nekobus in action!!!!

The massive box of cherries that my awesome neighbor Yuta gave to me. It seems his grandma lives in mystical cherry land, and sent him two boxes. He gave one to me, knowing that he could never eat them all in time on his own. He even apologized that some were too ripe! Awwww!

Toga was gorgeous for Leaver's Weekend...

2007-06-18T09:23:00.002+09:00

It's OVER!

The 17th annual Toyama Charity Show has finally wrapped up. It was a ton of work for everyone involved, but as usual the last day makes you realize it was worth it. Or is it just the elation of being able to start working on the "after charity show" list that you have compiled? (photos yoinked from Tim L.)

Here be PIRATES~!

Here is Hook having a chat with Wendy. Bunny is scary. I am hiding in a "cage" behind them.

Thanks to everyone who was involved this year, it was a lot of fun.

2007-06-04T15:19:00.001+09:00

Rice planting (muddy fun for everyone)

Been a bit slack about posting these photos up here. I would like to thank my stand-in photographer Matsumoto-san for his efforts.

Timmy, Rachel, and I ventured to the Okada's abode a few weeks ago to get muddy and plant edible things. We brought boots for the occasion, but were inspired by our new 8 year old friend, to just jump in.

The Nihon-jin planted rows were beautiful and straight. The gaijin rows... no so much. If only my father were there to tell me "Tuck 'em in!" In my defense, these are my "fall down" pants, and I tied them tight, I swear!

I blame the 8 year old! He was hyper and too excited by our gaijinness to plant straight.

Our adventurers...
Timmy of Kangaroo Island.

Bunny of West Virgina.

I think Yoshi secretly wants to be in a boy-band... (please note me retying my pants in the background... excellent.)

Matsumoto's favorite shot. I think he was getting artsy ;) Hey Timmy, "isa my underwears showing?"

This is our "plaque" of accomplishment. The rice will soon grow taller than it.

What I learned:

planting rice will make you smell like cow for a full day afterwards
you plant at least 3 blades of ricey grass per spot
the spots are in a straight line approximately 4-5 inches apart
(I just received mandarine orange cake omiyage! yum!) this has nothing to do with anything.
you can use a toothbrush and soap to get cow poo out from under your nails!
leeches live in gaijin runoff traps... as do spiders

2007-05-28T11:47:00.001+09:00

New Ways (to use old shrimp)

The Baron and I were watching a film last night and decided we should have some beverages. A quick trip to Sanko later, we had a bottle of Asti and a bottle of wine. The champagne was not chilled. Adam had the bright idea of chilling it in a bucket with ice, but alas... no ice was to be found in my tightly packed freezer. What did I have? Freezer burned shrimp.

I have a thing about eating shrimp poopies. I won't do it. I make it a point to cut out the little poopchute before I cook them. But, the frozen shrimp I bought were so small, that painstakingly cleaning out all the poopers would have taken ages. I am lazy. So, they got freezer burned something vicious.

Step 1: Breaking up the chunks of icy shrimp.

Step 2: Repeat step 1 more violently.

Step 3: Pour shrimp around bottle in bowl.

Step 4: Admire your handiwork.

Step 5: Add water.

Step 6: Rotate briskly.

Step 7: Strain shrimp... eeew.

Step 8: Pop cork and make me scream like a little girl.

Step 9: Enjoy!

This is what happens when we get bored...

2007-05-21T11:15:00.002+09:00

The weekend in brief

The bravest knight of Slimpsonium is leaving our fair city to experience all the Germanic wonders Deutschland has to offer. To celebrate his moving onto darker beers and stronger currency was celebrated on Saturday evening with the moving of his couch. Its new home was about as far away from Simpon's house as possible, so we saddled up with some tall boys and had ourselves a singing transport session.

Afterwards was hiroshimanomiyaki at Yacchin's.

Fair thee well Ittyan and Kaoru, you will be missed!

Sunday consisted of Charity Show practice, which went quite well, after a bumpy start. Then, I joined Kazuto for a party at his dad/my sensei's house. Hurrah for homemade pizza and tacos! I failed to bring my camera, so you will just have to trust me when I say it was a lot of fun. A few things I learned from a full evening of Japanese.

Kazuto's name sounds a lot like when I pronounce pirate wrong in Japanese *kaizoku (I say kazuko sometimes). He kept insisting that he is not a pirate.
O-naka ga ippai - I am full!
One can pan for sapphires in Gifu
His sister is nicknamed Chibi *little, and he is Saru *monkey... we had a battle over who gets to keep "saru" and decided we have to share.
I have a new no hassle eikaiwa starting in August, 5 minutes away from my apt!

2007-05-08T10:23:00.001+09:00

Sansai (and falling in mud)

I was asked to go to a party at the Okada's last week. We were going to have a lunch composed primarily of mountain vegetable *sansai. I eagerly accepted the invite, and was thrilled to hear the update from Yoshi... "we will be picking vegetables in the morning, do you still want to come, it is hard work!" I told him I was "even more excited" and he commented on what a "unique" girl I was. Offhanded compliment, I suppose, but I will take what I can get.

We headed to the mountains just outside of Oyabe and started the hunt. Our crew included the Okada's, Yoshi, me, the Nakayama's, and two women, their husbands, and 3 little ones (6, 8, and 10 years). Their mom is sister to one of my sensei here at school. Thought that was pretty cool, small world.

First off was teaching me what was what. Helps to know what you are hunting. Wabari are long stemmed, with a little curlie deal at the top, they are usually served after soaking in some kind of dashi or vinegar.

Next up were a small bud that grew on the very top of a bare spikey tree. I found a bunch of these, because Nakayama-san was really excited about how delicious they were when used for tempura. Also, I noticed that they are home to a small black beetle. I had to wack them on the trunk of the tree to rid them of their occupants. Got over the guilt when I tasted them, though. Almost like the stem of broccoli, but a little sweeter.

These lovely things look like lilypads, and you eat the stem after soaking in vinegar. I actually eat them all the time in my Sanko bento, and never knew.

The zenmai were a bit tricky to find. They are essentially rolled up ferns. I was taught that you should pick the ones stil wrapped up tightly with the fuzzy outer shell around the coil. It is the best tasting kind. Some of my first efforts were tossed to the side because they "are not as delicious!" Ooops. We still had bags full, so I wasn't too concerned. I slid down the side of a hill once, since it had been raining the two days prior. No one saw me though... ;)

*not my photo

Lunch rest stop.

These were our hunting grounds for the mid-morning.

Our spoils...

Great day, great dinner of tempura, and good company as always. Days like this make me love Japan all the more.

The kids were a little timid at first, but after they found out they could practice their English on me, and then fall into Japanese if necessary, they wouldn't leave my side. We were climbing on cows,

racing up stairs (note, this is before the racing),

playing with *kemushi caterpillar(毛虫）well,the one in the photo isn't so *ke (fuzzy)

And just hanging out with everyone in the mountains. There was a beautiful temple up there as well, and I got my first *goshuin in almost a year. (御朱印）Which are stamps and *shodou calligraphy(書道) that you can collect in a book that you purchase at shrine or temple in Japan. The shrine maiden or priest will whip out the shodou brush and write the name of the temple and the date of your visit over the red stamp that symbolizes the temple/shrine itself. They are beautiful, and a great way to remember which temples and shrines you visited and when. Thank you Saffer for suggesting I get one almost two years ago in Kyoto!

Here is Yoshi ringing the miniature bell next to the main building.

Very relaxing day, couldn't have had a better time... and I made some new friends. In a few weeks it will be rice planting time!

2007-04-04T15:16:00.001+09:00

The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife

I was having a discussion the other day about an ema, that J and I procured in Kyoto last year. It was from a small shrine devoted to tako *octopus. The image is simple, a woman praying on her knees to a large googley-eyed tako.

The Baron commented on how apeshit Westerners would have gone had they seen this shrine back in the days of conquest and cultural misunderstanding. I could only imagine the Japanese being seen as even more pagan because they appear to be praying to sea creatures. Ahh... ignorance in history. Anyways, I was researching the first forms of tako/woman love, since an entire genre of anime *hentai has been born from it. I am going to blame Hokusai, who brought us the titular piece of today's post, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife. I like how he cunningly doesn't mention if it is a nightmare or not... left open to perverted interpretation.

A simple artistic interpretation of maritime fantasy becomes a future generation's whap fodder. I was reading an interview with one of the "hentai legends" Toshio Maeda, who had this to say about tentacles:

At that time [pre-Urotsuki Doji], it was illegal to create a sensual scene in bed. I thought I should do something to avoid drawing such a normal sensual scene. So I just created a creature. [His tentacle] is not a [penis] as a pretext. I could say, as an excuse, this is not a [penis], this is just a part of the creature. You know, the creatures, they don't have a gender. A creature is a creature. So it is not obscene - not illegal.

I guess that makes sense, when you consider that even pubic hair is considered vulgar in most Japanese pornography. Funny how they could get away with a woman clutching an oozing tentacle. Ha ha! Gotta give the gentleman props for imagination! This has become a pretty common theme in contemporary art, not just manga and the like.

I will leave you with some real tentacle porn...

might have to watch this and educate myself more...click!

2007-04-03T20:02:00.001+09:00

And they said it couldn't be done

Ahh... America... land of the rude and home of the obese. My trip was planned. I was to hit Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and Michigan again. Many called me a fool. Others were convinced I would lose my tremulous grip on sanity. All were correct. It went by in a blur, so here is a briefing.

Upon entering Detroit's International Airport, I was bombarded with my first cursing rant. Just your average spoiled business man not wanting to wait his turn to change over his yen into dollars like the average plebian. My favorite line from the exchange between us, "I don't want to go upstairs. My car... I mean, my LIMO is waiting down here for me." Sigh. Yes, I know you have money. Most overweight middle-aged men on an international flight from Japan to the US are probably comfortable enough in their finances to take trips such as that. He ended up cussing at the poor woman working the exchange counter and storming off. Classy.

The trip was great, besides my raging culture shock. I can only imagine what it has been like for my comrades who have been home for nearly 9 months now. The meals were huge, and no matter how much J claims that his Big Boy is better, I am still going to be scared if I ever enter one again. I probably gained about 3-4 lbs in a matter of 7 days. That is pretty impressive. We were consuming a lot of beer, however... and some margheritas for good measure.

I arrived in Michigan to guacamole and a monkey. We went to watch a college hockey game in Joe Louis Arena, which made me quite happy! Then headed to Toledo. Toledo was a completely random, yet very fun choice. The art museum had wonky hours, and made for a good wander and lovely arting on a Sunday afternoon. Josh scouted out a little jazz bar near the hotel, while I snuck in a jetlag induced mid-afternoon nap. Then we celebrated St. Patrick's Day in style with Mexican food and jazz. What can I say, we are unconventional... and we had fish & chips with beer the previous evening.

After leaving Toledo behind for the bright lights of Howell, hee hee, I headed out to Indiana at 4:30am. The gods of travel were not with me, as per usual, and I took about an hour detour between Ft. Wayne and Indianapolis in a gas guzzling shiny red Jeep Wrangler. Fun. I did make it, however, and got to hang out with my grandma and my sister!

The red theme was purely coincidental. It was really nice to eat lots of grandma pancakes and catch up being a smartass little sister for a while. I was out of practice...

Next on the list was Florida to see my folks, and to meet up with some friends from college/Boca. I say some, but I really mean Mike who gets props for coming all the way down from Satellite Beach to see me. You are a star, and it was wonderful to see you. Remember to call me long distance when you cross the state border on the way out of Florida! ;) I also saw John at good ol' Mizner Starbucks. Everyone is moving on to bigger and better things and I am happy for you all! The downside of the Boca visit was that Blane and Dr. Courtney both had the day off from FAU, so no professor visiting for me. Sadness.

My parents and the dog were happy to have me home. We celebrated with key lime pie and feet licking (well, Buffy did). I got to teach at my mom's school one afternoon, and the kids asked me a bunch of random questions about Japan. My mom also wanted me to explain why my boys were dressed up in drag in a picture I sent her (from an old school festival pic). I got to explain the Japanese view of homosexuality, etc. to a bunch of special ed. kids. Intriguing.

Back to Michigan for a final evening, and the DIA! Icing on the cake was the Diego Rivera mural, I was led into the room by J and "released" to my geekery. It was amazing, and I have been looking forward to seeing it for YEARS. I was a melty pile of happy art nerd.

Meiers has a lot of cereal. We took this photos to taunt the Baron of Breakfast. Let us see if he retaliates. Thanx for getting my camera from the car, and not minding me embarassing you in your hometown grocery store too much ;).

The next afternoon was my flight out, and after a soggy and difficult goodbye, I sauntered my emo ass around the airport till boarding time. The flight was rather painless, as I was exhausted as all hell. The little girl with the melon head, next to me, did try sleeping on my lap twice. I had to remove her gently both times, to her dismay. Then began the 11 hour marathon vom fest. When she wasn't hurling, she was crinkling the barf bag, or her brother was killing goombas with his DS volume on max. I came milimeters away from committing multiple counts of manslaughter on the plane. Good thing I passed out!

I made it back to Takaoka just in time to hear about the 6.1 earthquake that rocked our neighboring ken, Ishikawa. We felt aftershocks all last week, and one of my Christmas Cacti was not happy to have been knocked over, but little other damage came to my abode.