Yokohama

To see the pics from this trip, click here.

At the end of February, all of the people in my program who are leaving Japan in the summer were invited to a 3-day conference in Yokohama. Although the conference itself was useful, it was just as fun to be in Yokohama.

The funniest part of the trip was my hostel. A friend and I booked a room in a hostel for 2 nights, as hotels in Yokohama were crazily expensive. When we arrived at the hostel we had a good laugh. The room was a 3-tatami mat room, which is TINY! We could literally touch the walls at either end of the room at the same time. And there was 2 of us staying there! I`ve uploaded a short clip on Youtube about it which is hilarious. Click here for it.

Anyway, we were free to raom the Minato-Mirai area of Yokohama for 3 days. The harbour area is quite beautiful, and there is a large Chinatown there as well. On the last day, Natsumi came and joined me and we spent the day looking around Chinatown, exploring the harbout, and just hanging out.
That evening, we had a special treat. Natsumi gave me my be-lated Christmas present, which was a 3-hour reservation in the Sirius lounge at the tope of Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan. Landmark Tower is 72 stories high, and the view from the top is incredible. We could look back towards Tokyo and see Tokyo Tower, Shinjuku, and other Tokyo landmarks. She had reserved a "nomihoudai" or "all-you-can-drink" plan, which was a lifesaver, as drinks ran about 25$ canadian each.

We had a great time, and before long it was time to leave. But it was really nice and capped off a nice stay in Yokohama!

Mountain climbing!

For all the pics of mountain climbing madness, click here.

Near the end of last month (Feb 24th), a fellow teacher and I went on quite a little adventure. We had been tossing the idea around about going for a day of hiking for a few weeks prior to that. I was pretty interested, as I had been trying to get some friends to go hiking with me for a long time, but no one ever seemed to want to go. Anyway, we decided to head to west Saitama to the Chichibu mountanis. Mr. Ishii, the teacher who planned the trip, had found some information about a hikeable mountain called Izugatake. We decided that was the plan for us.

We met that morning at Minami-Koshigaya station, and made the 2 hour trip out to the mountains. It was a nice trip, and we had a great view of Mount Fuji out of our window along the way. We arived at Shomaru station around 9:00 am and began our climb.

The first little while seemed to be the leisurely hike that we had anitcipated. The path we were following wound its way through little villages, ran past little waterfalls, and was not steep at all. However, that all soon changed. Once we rounded a bend, we were faced with a gnarly slope, covered in the roots of big trees. There ceased to be a path, and we basically just climbed hand-over-hand up the slope. This would be the way it would go for the better part of the next 6 hours...
Although the grade was steep and the terrain was bit dangerous, we had a great time scaling that initial face. The mountain itself was not very high, only 851m (Mount Fuji is over 3000m). There were a lot of places where you had to use a rope to lift/lower yourself, and the tree roots made excellent handholds. About 2 hours into the climb we arrived at the first peak, which was nicknamed `the Olympic peak`. We rested there for a while and then continued on.

Finally, we arrived at the top of Mt. Izugatake. At 851m, we were still afforded agreat view of the countryside. On one side, we could look back and see the Chichibu mountains, and on the other we could see all of the urban sprawl of west Saitama/Tokyo. We could even see the Seibu dome in the distance (the home of the Red Sox`s new Japanese pitcher, Matsuzaka). It was a bit early for lunch, so after having a quick victory beer, we pressed on.

We thought that after reaching the top we would be able to head downhill for the remainder of the trip. Wrong. The rest of the way down was an up and down route that was quite hard to deal with. Luckily we were not high enough for the air to be thin or we would really have been in trouble. Either way, we pressed on.

Later in the afternoon, we came to a break on the trail and stumbled upon a Buddhist temple and monastery. It was very beautiful, and was situated in a perfect spot high up in the mountains. Mr. Ishii showed me the proper way to pray at a Buddhist temple, which differs slightly from the rules at a Shinto shrine. We also bought some insence to put in the offereing "bowl", and rang the big gong over the shrine. There were also giant replicas of Japanese kimono sandals outside the temple, and several large statues that were quite beautiful.

After pressing on for another couple of hours, we finally ended our journey. Unfortunately, the hot-spring (onsen) that we had planned on going to at the finish had already closed for the day. So instead, we hopped on a train to Tokorozawa and went to a nice onsen near the station. Japanese onsens are quite amazing. In this particular onsen, there were several different baths of varying temperatures to choose from, as well as a sauna, and a rotemburo (outdoor bath). After soaking our stiff muscles in the baths, we retired to the "Rest Room", which is not a toilet, it is literally a "Room of Rest". The staff give you relaxed-wear clothing (kind of like a baggy nurse`s smock) and you are ushered into a different are. In this area, there are rows of deluxe vibrating Lazy-boy recliners, complete with TVs, and you can order food and drinks to be brought to you. There are also tatami mat areas, and places to get massages. We sat down in the tatami mat area and ordered some well-deserved beers. After realxing there for a couple of hours, we hopped on a train and headed home.
Although this trip wasn`t as physically demanding as the Mount Fuji trip, it was still a great time. Next on my list is Mount Tsukuba, which should be a fun hike too.

A lucky chance

This weekend I got an extra special treat. My friend had a connection with some of the sound techs at the TOOL concert and was able to get us free tickets to the show. So, after school on Friday, me and 3 buddies headed south to Odaiba to the venue at Zepp Tokyo. When we got there, we got to enter the side door and walk straight in past all the lines. Out tickets were also good for the VIP area, so we got to watch the show from this little balcony above the stage. They were easily the best seats in the house. The show was absolutely amazing. I have been a TOOL fan for many years, but seeing them live was a real experience. Danny Carey is the best drummer I have ever seen live, and Maynard was so freaky. He spent the entire show out of the spotlight so we could never see him completely, but they way he was silhoutted against the video screens behind him and the freaky way he dances made it so great to watch.

After the show we went to thanks the sound guys. they asked us if we were coming back the second night. We said we didn't have tickets, so they put us on the list for the second night as well! So the next night we went all the way back to Odaiba and rocked out with TOOL all over again. What a good deal, as I think the tickets were about $90 Canadian each night anyway. TOOL rules!

Updates

Hi all. All is well here in kasukabe. Trying to keep warm and dry, as we are in the middle of another Japanese winter. I really shouldn`t complain (what with Manitoba getting slammed with -40C days...maked 5C seem like summer) but it really is cold. One of the things that I am doing to try and keep occupied is to find a job for next year. On Friday night I had a telephone interview with a Canadian company that is hiring teachers for positions in Hong Kong. I did very well with the interview, and was asked if I could attend a second. The problem is that I may have to travel outside of Japan for it. Second interviews are being held in Hong Kong, Vancouver, and Toronto. So, when I get the call, I may have to go to Hong Kong. I would love to go to Vancouver and hang out for a while, but shelling out $1000 to travel for a 1-hour interview is a bit too much. Anyway, will keep you posted.

Natsumi is in Bali until Jan 30th. Luck girl is gonna come home with bronzed skin after a month of beaches and scuba, I`m green! On Saturday my good buddy Nori came up to Kasukabe from Yashio for a night. We got caught upon various things and then headed out for supper. After numerous plates of sushi and several bottles of red, we decided that Karaoke was a good idea. I hadn`t been toKaraoke for months and thought maybe I was sick of it, but we had a great time. After a late-night gyudon (beef and rice) feed, we headed back to mine and crashed. Sunday was spent feeling pretty sorry for myself because of my hangover, but it gave me a good chance top catch up on the NFL playoffs. Go Bears!

Hard to believe its almost the end of Januaryu already! Only 6 more months here in Japan. Then what? Hmm, time will tell I guess. Bye for now.

Blink your eyes and it`s 2007...

Hope everyone had a good holiday. Got any New Year`s resolutions? I don`t have many this year, but there are some things that I want to improve. I would like to be more diligent in keeping touch with people than I have been in the past. Seems like I am constantly forgetting to email, call, write, or otherwise inform people about what`s going on, and I need to improve that. I`ve also set new goals for myself with respect to my health. I want to be more dedicated to my workout schedule and diet. That should be a little bit easier as my scooter finally kicked the bucket over the Xmas break, meaning I have to ride my old granny-style bicycle to work everyday. I still haven`t decided if I want to bother repairing the scooter, as I will only be in Japan for another 6 months or so. We`ll see.

I`ve yet to firmly make plans about what I will do once I leave Japan. As of now, my job and visa expire at the end of July. At that time I will either move back to Canada, or explore other options in another country. After my trip to Shanghai, I think I would be able to get by in China without too much difficulty. I would also like to see what it would be like to live in a place like Vietnam, Cambodia, or even Hong Kong. Over the next few months I will be putting out some feelers to see if I could land any sort of job. Time will tell on that one too. I am anxious to get back to Canada, but I always think that if I go home too soon I might never come back to Asia and miss out one some great experiences.

Another weird (and frightening) thing about 2007 is that this year will be my 10-year high school reunion! Man, I am getting old! In my mind it seems like I just left home last week for University in Brandon, and that all my old hangouts are still the same. Of course, I doubt I will actually be in the country to attend the reunion anyway, but it would be really nice to catch up with the old class of `97 and see what everyone has gotten up to since then. Of course, I am still in touch with some of the boys and I see my friends when I get the chance to come home, but at least half of that class I haven`t seen since graduation. Where has all of that time gone? 10 years already? What have I been doing? I spent 2 years working in Birtle/Foxwarren at various jobs after graduation. In 1999, I moved to Brandon and studied at Brandon University for 5 years. After graduation, I worked for the University for a few months before leaving for Japan. I have been teaching here in Japan since August of 2004. Just like that, 10 years have gone by. Unreal. What`s even more weird is that every time I get news from home, it seems more crazy stuff has happened. Someone else got married, got divorced, had a kid, had 2 more kids, got a great job, lost a great job, and on, and on...

It`s really weird to think of how much of my life back then wasn`t even really documented. When I was in high school, there were no digital camers, no one had a cell phone, and the word "blog" wasn`t even invented yet. I remember high school being great fun, but I have almost no concrete record of it. The few pictures that I have at home hardly do it justice. My buddy Casey and I always kill ourselves laughing at some videos we shot with the school camers in 12th grade. I don`t know if they would have been more special or less special if we recorded the amount of stuff kids do these days. I played a ton of sports in high school, captained several teams,and travelled to many towns to compete, but I`m not sure if I have even a single picture to show for it. I don`t know if high school kids now can even imagine what it would be like to go through their day without receiving 20 instant messages, checking their emails accounts, or downloading whatever they have a desire for that day. In 10 years the life of a typical teenager has changed so much. I can`t imagine what I will be writing about 10 years later, in 2017. Will we still even be writing? Will things be completely automated, or will we use voice-recognition tech all day? Will we even have to speak to document things? Will we be able to document data just by thinking it? Who know... Anything is possible, I mean a lot of what we have today couldn`t have been dreamed up 10 years ago. One reason that I am happy with my decision to become a teacher is that I will be part of the first wave of people to see the effects of new technology. I will be a part of the adapting process to the newest technology and gadgets, and I will see how they change the behaviours and lifestyles of the kids using them. It will keep me up to date as well. I`m 28 years old now. What will I be like at 38? 48? 88? It`s gonna be fun.

Anyway, just wanted to rant a bit about how time always seems to be against us. I guess that is my biggest New Year`s resolution: trying not to take things for granted so much, and appreciating every day the good things in my life and focusing less on the negative. Life is just too short, you know?