Last weekend, after a long Saturday of work, Gene, Nat and I had the unique opportunity to visit one of Japan's oldest, rarest, and weirdest festivals: The Naked Man festival. And just in case you ask, it's not a festival a showcasing pictures of Naked Men or even some Japanese sexual fetish. Located in a small town near Okayama and on the coldest day of the year, the festival features thousands of everyday Japanese men wearing nothing but a raggedy piece of loin cloth fighting over sticks being thrown in the air. And when I say thousands, I mean that literally and I mean that they are all cramped into a temple room about the size of half of a basketball court. Yes, it's sweaty, steamy, awkward, and strangely quite amusing. The crowds, which are nothing to scoff at in terms of size, are all shouting along and heckling (which is very UN-Japanesey in that they are usually the most polite of audiences). The festival is just a huge mess in all honesty. We were scrambling through a raucous crowd just to catch a glimpse the men, who were all pushing and shoving each other in the most amicable of ways. After finally reaching a decent vantage point at a nearby fence, the men were by then leaving the temple and running through a small court yard and threatening to break down the fence, at which point dozens of police officers ran between us and the fence and (politely, which is strange) asked us to step back. And then they proceeded to throw cold water at the freezing naked men. Weird? Yes. Okay, Okay. So that was about 20 minutes of the festival. I sit here writing this not fully understanding what it is I witnessed with my eyes. Why do they fight over sticks thrown in the air? Is it for honor? Is it for the emperor? Is it to show who is most awesome in a loin cloth? I forgot to ask along the way. Either way, it was an experience I'm not like to forget and hey, who can turn down the sight of Naked Japanese men? Not I.
Otherwise, the rest of the weekend was filled with us doing some socializing. We went to a really cool local bar with Gene after the festival. Me and Nat taught him to play the greatest card game ever, VC, while we sipped on some Cuba Riba's (Cuba Rivers AKA a Rum and Coke) made with real Ice and bottled cokes. Good times. The next night, I went out with Natalie, Rachel, and some of the other coworkers for a nice dinner, drinking, and some Karaoke. We met some cool new people as well. The week was pretty uneventful otherwise. There was one moment in my week that was just super interesting however.
The past Friday, my school had about 4 trainees (for Japanese Teaching positions) roaming around the office. Along with 6 other permanent staff in a small school, you can imagine how crowded my school was. Usually at lunch, we usually eat lunch in the teachers room which is just about large enough to fit 5 people comfortably. So instead of eating in that room, we all gathered into a classroom where there were more chairs and just a little more space. I sat at the head of the table and the other 8 Japanese people sat 4 to either side of me and we all proceeded to eat our lunches in the most awkward of silences. The trainees were nervous around my manager, not wanting to look the fool in front of a potential superior. The manager was nervous in that she didn't want to look a fool in front of a potential employee. The Japanese teachers were nervous because perfection is demanded of them when they are in front of potential colleages. And me, unable to keep myself from breaking into laughter at being in a room full of silent nervous Japanese people, at the head of the table, with all eyes gravitating towards me, and with a sandwich (that last part being notable in that Japanese people don't eat those). It was just too funny in a situation because I'm in Japan. I could've felt awkward at being the only foreigner but why? Only in Japan and while working for a Japanese company will I ever be able to experience such a situation. All of that combined to make it memorable in my eyes. When asked why I couldn't stop smiling, I told them that it was funny that I was the only foreigner there. They all laughed and proceeded to loosen up a little bit. A little bit. Just a little bit. It proved to be a fun lunch, but once is enough for me.
This past weekend was also another good weekend and definitely one for the books. We went snowboarding for the first time. It was a really fun experience and once again we went with some really awesome people in Gene and Yui (who organized the trip. BIG THANKS). We went to nearby Mt. Daisen in Tottori prefecture. It is Japan's second tallest mountain. It was a very nice picturesque area with lots and lots of snow. I won't go into too many details of the trip but it was great fun. Snowboarding is one really difficult sport to learn in a 4 hour time frame. After a lot and a lot of falling and mistrials and embarrassing moments, I was finally able to go in a straight line and not fall. But of course, 4 hours isn't really even enough time to learn how to board in the most basic of ways. I'm usually pretty okay at picking up sports but this was my first sport ever that involved a board of any kind. It was just something I wasn't used to doing. Learning to Ski was a whole lot easier considering that I have a bit of a background in skating, but balancing on a board is something I've never been very good at. Either way, I learned and I can do it now, but I paid the price. My body is sore in dozens of places that I never knew existed. It was all in good fun though. We laughed, we took pictures, drank beer, and even had an epic snowball fight to commemorate the end of our run. Afterwards, we headed back to town and ate Dinner at Yui's awesome restaurant; Kushu Kushu (9494). Great times. I'll be headed to Osaka next week to hang out with Lou from Korea. Can't wait!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A Very Japanese Valentine's Day
Although I've never been too keen on Valentine's day, that was before I was with Natalie. "Valentine's day is just another stupid hoax of a holiday that is for evil companies like Hall Mark to steal our hard earned pennies and to make us single people feel worse about ourselves" are words that have come out of my mind. And people that are in a relationship take advantage of this holiday as a way to celebrate their love for one another and by stressing over what to get their significant other. Overall, it just seems to be a stressful holiday for everyone. People either end up loving this day, hating this day, or just dreading it's inevitable arrival. So this year, Natalie and I decided to skip all of that and treat ourselves to one amazing weekend together. Spending Valentine's day with her is all I could ever ask for as she is the most wonderful, caring, and beautiful person I could ever ask to have by my side on a day to celebrate love. After much consideration on what to do, we decided to splurge big time, spoil ourselves and book a room in a fancy hot spring luxury Japanese hotel.
On Sunday morning, we headed out to Shikoku Island again and finally arrived where we headed. The whole train ride there was long but ultimately enjoyable as it wound it's way through some amazing mountainous terrain. When we got to the station, we were treated to some splendid views of the surrounding mountain valley. Tall mountain peaks on either side. A river with crystal clear blue water below us. A quaint mountain village. This area had it all as far as peaceful retreats go. After some difficulty figuring out which bus to take and trying to avoid the lying (by Japanese standards) taxi driver, we were finally on our way to the hotel. Along the way, we stopped by a really nice Japanese restaurant that offered fresh Soba noodles and more incredible views of the valley. After a very winding bus ride, we finally arrived at our hotel and man, we were not disappointed. When we were shown our rooms, our jaws simply dropped. It was a large modern room with traditional Japanese style. It had large windows with an absolutely breathtaking view of the mountains and the river below. The room also had a private outdoor hot tub and a massage chair. It's hard to describe just how awesome it was but it was literally more than I had ever dreamed of. But hey, we were paying for it. The hotel was also famous for having a really awesome Onsen, or natural hot spring baths. To get there, we had to take a cable car down into the river valley and then we were treated to a really nice outdoor bath with more brilliant views of the surrounding area. The water in the hot spring was naturally heated and was also silky smooth. It was complete relaxing experience. So yeah, we spend the rest of our day in this manner; Bathing and relaxing.
We were also treated to our first Kaiseki in Japan. A Kaiseki is a traditional luxury Japanese course meal. Although Natalie was feeling sick, It was simply a ton of fun to what each course would bring us. The food was delicious, fresh, and impeccably presented. It was the epitome of Japanese aesthetics and perfection. Although the food was more geared towards a Japanese person's taste buds, it was still a wonderful experience. A similar breakfast awaited us the next day. So yeah, we spent the day relaxing and being pampered in an incredible environment. Overall, it was a very memorable night's stay. RYOKAN!!
So that was the romantic part of my weekend. Before ever going to the hotel, we spent Saturday cooking some really awesome Mexican food, which is something we've been craving hard. Natalie whipped up some amazing Spanish rice and guacamole while I whipped up some fresh salsa and pico de gallo. We cooked the ground beef together, heated the tortillas, and had ourselves a really nice company with Gene and Yui that night. We had a great time laughing and sipping on some Corona's. It felt like Summer more than Winter; always a good thing.
And then there was the weird...So last week, on a particular train ride, an older woman struck up a conversation with me. She said that she had seen me around and had wanted to practice her English with me. Overall, she was quite nice and polite so I didn't think much of it after a brief 10 minute conversation. So this morning, she came up to me again struck up another conversation. Nothing to see here, except that she busted out some pictures of her vacation in Switzerland and was showing them to me. That was the first sign that she was being weird. I mean, who carries hard copies of their travel pictures around with them? She was obviously trying to show me these pictures specifically. I went along with it anyways. So when it was almost time for me to get off, she reminded me that it was Valentine's day and proceeded to reach into her bag. While she was reaching into her bag, I was thinking, "uh oh...I know where this is going. How am I going to get myself out of this one?" So yeah, she had wanted to give me a Valentine's day present which she had bought at a foreign goods store. Yeah, so I declined the gift as politely as I could, said my good byes, and left the train. I felt bad, but what else should I have done? In my culture, receiving a Valentine's day means that you're good friends with someone, someone's mom, someone's lover, or that someone likes you. I had only spoken to this woman for what probably amounted to a total of 15 to 20 minutes. In Japan, women often give V day gifts to everyone in their lives but I mean come on, I had just met her. I thought that it was really creepy and that accepting the gift would be very insincere and would have misled her into thinking that our short conversation was more than it was. It was just a weird encounter and I definitely count on bumping into her. Just creepy, and very Japanese.
Happy Valentine's day!
On Sunday morning, we headed out to Shikoku Island again and finally arrived where we headed. The whole train ride there was long but ultimately enjoyable as it wound it's way through some amazing mountainous terrain. When we got to the station, we were treated to some splendid views of the surrounding mountain valley. Tall mountain peaks on either side. A river with crystal clear blue water below us. A quaint mountain village. This area had it all as far as peaceful retreats go. After some difficulty figuring out which bus to take and trying to avoid the lying (by Japanese standards) taxi driver, we were finally on our way to the hotel. Along the way, we stopped by a really nice Japanese restaurant that offered fresh Soba noodles and more incredible views of the valley. After a very winding bus ride, we finally arrived at our hotel and man, we were not disappointed. When we were shown our rooms, our jaws simply dropped. It was a large modern room with traditional Japanese style. It had large windows with an absolutely breathtaking view of the mountains and the river below. The room also had a private outdoor hot tub and a massage chair. It's hard to describe just how awesome it was but it was literally more than I had ever dreamed of. But hey, we were paying for it. The hotel was also famous for having a really awesome Onsen, or natural hot spring baths. To get there, we had to take a cable car down into the river valley and then we were treated to a really nice outdoor bath with more brilliant views of the surrounding area. The water in the hot spring was naturally heated and was also silky smooth. It was complete relaxing experience. So yeah, we spend the rest of our day in this manner; Bathing and relaxing.
We were also treated to our first Kaiseki in Japan. A Kaiseki is a traditional luxury Japanese course meal. Although Natalie was feeling sick, It was simply a ton of fun to what each course would bring us. The food was delicious, fresh, and impeccably presented. It was the epitome of Japanese aesthetics and perfection. Although the food was more geared towards a Japanese person's taste buds, it was still a wonderful experience. A similar breakfast awaited us the next day. So yeah, we spent the day relaxing and being pampered in an incredible environment. Overall, it was a very memorable night's stay. RYOKAN!!
So that was the romantic part of my weekend. Before ever going to the hotel, we spent Saturday cooking some really awesome Mexican food, which is something we've been craving hard. Natalie whipped up some amazing Spanish rice and guacamole while I whipped up some fresh salsa and pico de gallo. We cooked the ground beef together, heated the tortillas, and had ourselves a really nice company with Gene and Yui that night. We had a great time laughing and sipping on some Corona's. It felt like Summer more than Winter; always a good thing.
And then there was the weird...So last week, on a particular train ride, an older woman struck up a conversation with me. She said that she had seen me around and had wanted to practice her English with me. Overall, she was quite nice and polite so I didn't think much of it after a brief 10 minute conversation. So this morning, she came up to me again struck up another conversation. Nothing to see here, except that she busted out some pictures of her vacation in Switzerland and was showing them to me. That was the first sign that she was being weird. I mean, who carries hard copies of their travel pictures around with them? She was obviously trying to show me these pictures specifically. I went along with it anyways. So when it was almost time for me to get off, she reminded me that it was Valentine's day and proceeded to reach into her bag. While she was reaching into her bag, I was thinking, "uh oh...I know where this is going. How am I going to get myself out of this one?" So yeah, she had wanted to give me a Valentine's day present which she had bought at a foreign goods store. Yeah, so I declined the gift as politely as I could, said my good byes, and left the train. I felt bad, but what else should I have done? In my culture, receiving a Valentine's day means that you're good friends with someone, someone's mom, someone's lover, or that someone likes you. I had only spoken to this woman for what probably amounted to a total of 15 to 20 minutes. In Japan, women often give V day gifts to everyone in their lives but I mean come on, I had just met her. I thought that it was really creepy and that accepting the gift would be very insincere and would have misled her into thinking that our short conversation was more than it was. It was just a weird encounter and I definitely count on bumping into her. Just creepy, and very Japanese.
Happy Valentine's day!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
February Current Events
Phew...! Now that that's out of the way, I can get back to blogging unhindered. So what's going on in Nikola and Natalie land?
- We've recently made the decision to stay in Japan for an extra year. However, we'll be moving to nearby Hiroshima. I'm really excited about this because me and Nat will be so much closer. Also, Hiroshima is a true city. Yeah, it's not huge but it feels bigger than it actually is. There are too many times when Okayama and Kurashiki just feel like a morgue. Nothing to do. The only thing really keeping us here are a couple of friends that we've made, and hey, Hiroshima is still close! It was a tough decision but we feel like staying in the far East is best for our mental health and for our future. The money is fantastic. Quality of life is great. We're healthy. And most importantly, we're happy. This way, we'll have more time to get our things together so that when we do step back into the western hemisphere, we'll be in a better place.
- Speaking of the state of things, we recently watched a documentary called Zeitgist. I think it's about 4 or 5 years old but it's just as relevant now as it was back then. It talks about the state of the world and where the world is headed. It's a fascinating movie. It really gets into the science, economy, and psychology of why our world is broken and why it's headed down the path that it is. I'm not going to go into any details but I highly recommend this documentary to anyone who is even remotely interested in what's going on in the world today. Our situation is dire and although ignorance is bliss, it's also important to be informed. Needless to say, I am highly worried about where our world is headed and I can't say I have much faith in human resolve (and that includes me). Also, check out inside job for a good documentary.
- After 2 months of being essentially headphone less, I finally decided to splurge and get myself some nice headphones. Man, I sure missed music. I love music and I can't believe that I went so long without some jams in my head. I've kind of always secretly wanted to do this but here are my top albums and songs of 2011 (in no particular order)
- Albums (Artist - Album Name): Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Radiohead - The King of Limbs, Destroyer - Kaputt, Cults - Cults, Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues, James Blake - James Blake, SBTRKT - SBTRKT, Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde, M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, Cut Copy - Zoonoscope
- Songs (Artist - Song Title) - SBTRKT - Wildfire, Cults - Go Outside, Destroyer - Chinatown, James Blake - Limit to Your Love, Radiohead - Lotus Flowers, Radiohead - The Daily Mail, Girls - Love Life, M83 - Midnight City, Smith Westerns - Weekend
- Winter has come and has hit us in the face full force. Now, I know that this has been mentioned numerous times and in numerous places but FUCK, Japan, get with the program! It is the year 2012. Not 1220...B FUCKING C. Seriously, I mean, Japan, the third strongest economy on the planet. Inventors of making raw fish taste good and of sneaking around with star shaped throwing apparatus. Inventors of Obese Italian Mustachioed Plumbers who save the planet and of 80 foot tall robots who have laser swords. Inventors of Instant fucking Noodles. Okay, rant over, but Japan, why haven't you installed insulation into any of our homes. I mean seriously. How hard is it to essentially insert some cotton balls in between our walls. And don't get me started on the lack of central heating. Why do my nipples have to suddenly be able to cut glass cleanly every time I go to the bathroom? Aye. I'm cold. That is all.
- Been watching Season 6 of Dexter. It has been great so far. I'm loving that show. I'm sad that we'll have to wait another year for a new season but we'll start Breaking Bad soon and then Game of Thrones Season 2 is coming in April. I cannot wait for that. I also recently finished Oliver Twist. It was a good book and it definitely went into the "dickensian" aspect of life in the 1800's. Well, it was written by Charles Dickens. I thought the book was obvious brilliantly written but there were times when the book just put me to sleep. I give it a solid 7 out of 10. Brilliant dialogue but not much happens. I'm almost done with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I've really been enjoying that one. It's quite fun. The only con is that the author loves to describe the indescribably infinite amount of fish in the ocean, of which I've heard of about 2 species; Tuna and Salmon. What to read next?
Playing Catch Up
I feel bad for having neglected my blog the last month or so, but between work, busy weekends, and sheer laziness, it has been hard to keep this thing on the right track. I've been treating it like it's a chore and it really shouldn't be that. It's just that I've done so much lately and I want to write about each thing that I did and do it justice. Basically, after our Tokyo trip, I was so exhausted physically and mentally that I just couldn't bring myself to really sit down and write about my trip. And then recently, we had a surprise visit from Natalie's mom. So, that in essence, is why I haven't really been able to keep up. This weekend is the first weekend I've had in a while where I feel like I have time to do it. I think that there is probably too much to write right now, but I'll just make a short (ish) list. Mostly because I'm lazy and also because I just want to catch up. So here goes:
Tokyo
After New Year's, the rest of the Tokyo trip was just as enjoyable as the first half was. One of my favorite highlights was going to nearby Hakone, where one can catch picturesque views of Mt. Fuji. I feel really lucky to have been able to see it in all of it's glory because in pretty much any other season, she's impossible to see. Although I'd like to climb it sometime in the next year or so, seeing it was amazing. It truly is a beauty. It's elegant and imposing all the same. I think everyone should see it up close. Hakone itself was also a blast. Amidst all of our USA chants and general idiocy, we got to enjoy train rides along mountain sides, bus rides, cable car rides, tram rides, and even a boat ride in a pirate ship replica (where we got to take a picture with a Japanese Pirate headed for Montrose). It was a good time.
In Tokyo, we also got to see the emperor's speech. I'm not sure if I should feel lucky about that one but he apparently only makes a public appearance twice a year and his palace is also only open to the public twice a year. So yeah, we got to see him in his full bullet proof glass protected 2 minute speech making glory along with what seemed like 2.2 millions of our closest Asian friends (and I mean close). Although some Japanese may not like the state of things in the government and some may like it, they got on thing right: Miniature Japanese flags for everyone!
We did quite a few other things as well such as visiting the Onsen spa in which there is a recreation of a late Edo village inside. It was worth going there just to see Anup and Andy wet their panties when they placed their feet in a Doctor fish bath. We also paid a visit to dirty 6th street in Japan. Yes, I'm talking Japanese Exodus and Spiros (back when those places were popular: what's the equivalent now?). Natalie got some free drinks. We almost got hacked by a gypsy. Atit and Andy almost went home with 50 year old prostitutes. We met a Japanese guy and a Japanese Korean who taught us hilarious perverted Japanese words. And we topped it off by celebrating in good ole' McDonald's.
Other highlights included visiting an Izakaya that was cheap and played only Beatles music. We also visited the restaurant in which the Kill Bill fight scene restaurant was based on. C for food but A- for atmosphere.
Overall, it was a great vacation. I loved hanging out with Nat and the guys and I'd love to do it again. Tokyo is an amazing place that just gets my blood pumping in a way that only a great international city can do. I definitely left feeling like I only scratched the surface of what such a place can offer and it made me realize just how much I miss living in a big city. On the way back, we took the Sunrise Limited overnight train back to Okayama. That was really cool in that it was a really clean and modern overnight train. It was a vast difference from the ones we took in Thailand. The only downside was that they didn't give us a mattress. We had a compartment but just a thin little rag of a carpet. What the fuck! Who do they thing we are?
Work
Work has been typical of work. I mean, I get up everyday and go do my job. Who knows if I'm a great teacher, an average one, or a terrible one? The only person I have to judge by is me. I've never observed any one's lessons for the most part. But yeah, I feel really comfortable right now. I mean, stress has just completely gone out the window. Yeah, some classes are harder than others and sometimes even the good ones are worse than usual. But who cares? I see them once a week. I'm doing well right now. But enough about me, work has been marked with some rather big changes lately.
First and foremost, my co-worker left our branch to become a trainer. That was a big change because I've worked with her for 7 months and she's been really cool to work with. This means that a new teacher came through. So far, she's been pretty nice. I haven't really had a chance to get to know her much but hopefully she'll be a good person to work with. The atmosphere in the office has been quite different from what I've been used to and some even bigger changes are coming. In the meantime, I'll just keep working hard and waiting for my chance to improve my situation.
Other Travels
So 3 weeks ago, Natalie's mom surprised us by telling us that she would be coming all the way to Japan from Dallas to visit us and to take a much needed vacation. We were definitely got caught off guard but we tried to make the best of it anyways. We would've liked to have a coinciding vacation but either way, it ended up being a good time. It was really nice to see her and to spend time with her.
We started the mini vacation by basically showing her around some of the sites in Okayama that I've already talked about. We were also able to check out a couple of new places. One of the places we went to was on one of Japan's 4 big islands: Shikoku. We went to a place called Yashima. In Yashima, there is a folk village where traditional houses from all over Shikoku have been transported and somewhat restored for tourists like us to enjoy and climb into. This place was totally off the beaten path and kind of a bitch to get to but it ended it being completely worthwhile. The weather was picturesque and the village was nestled on the side of the mountain offering up good views of Takamatsu city nearby. The whole village was basically deserted. Zero tourists.That's got to be a miracle in tourist laden Japan. We really took our time and explored every little nook and cranny that the village had to offer. We saw ancient lighthouses, an old Kabuki theater, old granaries, old homes, and old store houses in all of their ancient Japanese glory. There was even an old wooden bridge for us to cross (thankfully it was reinforced with steel cables). It was straight out of Indiana Jones. On the way out, we got to eat Udon, which that area of Japan is famous for making.
The following weekend we went back out near Shikoku to Inujima Island, another art island in the same vein as nearby Naoshima. Inujima is much, much smaller and harder to get to but man was it amazing. The whole island only has about 50 residents but it contains one amazing museum. Inujima was the site of a copper mill that was built roughly a hundred years ago and was in operation for only 10 years. Left abandoned, it was recently turned into a contemporary Art museum. It's not one of those museums where you walk around and admire a painting by Picasso or Monet and move on to the next nearby piece. This is one of those museums where the space is the art. Yes, there were some nice modern art pieces to see but the fact that these few (and brilliant) piece are housed in a real, crumbling, and largely left intact copper mill makes it that much more interesting. Combined with pictureque blue skies and it made Inujima island unforgettable. The island also has a few other tiny little art paces sprinkled about but none are as memorable and satisfying as the mysterious copper mill. Naoshima and Inujima will always by a highlight of my stay in Japan. The best part is that there are still a few art islands for us to visit.
The rest of the week was spent eating delicious foods and enjoying the company of Natalie's mom. Good times.
Tokyo
After New Year's, the rest of the Tokyo trip was just as enjoyable as the first half was. One of my favorite highlights was going to nearby Hakone, where one can catch picturesque views of Mt. Fuji. I feel really lucky to have been able to see it in all of it's glory because in pretty much any other season, she's impossible to see. Although I'd like to climb it sometime in the next year or so, seeing it was amazing. It truly is a beauty. It's elegant and imposing all the same. I think everyone should see it up close. Hakone itself was also a blast. Amidst all of our USA chants and general idiocy, we got to enjoy train rides along mountain sides, bus rides, cable car rides, tram rides, and even a boat ride in a pirate ship replica (where we got to take a picture with a Japanese Pirate headed for Montrose). It was a good time.
In Tokyo, we also got to see the emperor's speech. I'm not sure if I should feel lucky about that one but he apparently only makes a public appearance twice a year and his palace is also only open to the public twice a year. So yeah, we got to see him in his full bullet proof glass protected 2 minute speech making glory along with what seemed like 2.2 millions of our closest Asian friends (and I mean close). Although some Japanese may not like the state of things in the government and some may like it, they got on thing right: Miniature Japanese flags for everyone!
We did quite a few other things as well such as visiting the Onsen spa in which there is a recreation of a late Edo village inside. It was worth going there just to see Anup and Andy wet their panties when they placed their feet in a Doctor fish bath. We also paid a visit to dirty 6th street in Japan. Yes, I'm talking Japanese Exodus and Spiros (back when those places were popular: what's the equivalent now?). Natalie got some free drinks. We almost got hacked by a gypsy. Atit and Andy almost went home with 50 year old prostitutes. We met a Japanese guy and a Japanese Korean who taught us hilarious perverted Japanese words. And we topped it off by celebrating in good ole' McDonald's.
Other highlights included visiting an Izakaya that was cheap and played only Beatles music. We also visited the restaurant in which the Kill Bill fight scene restaurant was based on. C for food but A- for atmosphere.
Overall, it was a great vacation. I loved hanging out with Nat and the guys and I'd love to do it again. Tokyo is an amazing place that just gets my blood pumping in a way that only a great international city can do. I definitely left feeling like I only scratched the surface of what such a place can offer and it made me realize just how much I miss living in a big city. On the way back, we took the Sunrise Limited overnight train back to Okayama. That was really cool in that it was a really clean and modern overnight train. It was a vast difference from the ones we took in Thailand. The only downside was that they didn't give us a mattress. We had a compartment but just a thin little rag of a carpet. What the fuck! Who do they thing we are?
Work
Work has been typical of work. I mean, I get up everyday and go do my job. Who knows if I'm a great teacher, an average one, or a terrible one? The only person I have to judge by is me. I've never observed any one's lessons for the most part. But yeah, I feel really comfortable right now. I mean, stress has just completely gone out the window. Yeah, some classes are harder than others and sometimes even the good ones are worse than usual. But who cares? I see them once a week. I'm doing well right now. But enough about me, work has been marked with some rather big changes lately.
First and foremost, my co-worker left our branch to become a trainer. That was a big change because I've worked with her for 7 months and she's been really cool to work with. This means that a new teacher came through. So far, she's been pretty nice. I haven't really had a chance to get to know her much but hopefully she'll be a good person to work with. The atmosphere in the office has been quite different from what I've been used to and some even bigger changes are coming. In the meantime, I'll just keep working hard and waiting for my chance to improve my situation.
Other Travels
So 3 weeks ago, Natalie's mom surprised us by telling us that she would be coming all the way to Japan from Dallas to visit us and to take a much needed vacation. We were definitely got caught off guard but we tried to make the best of it anyways. We would've liked to have a coinciding vacation but either way, it ended up being a good time. It was really nice to see her and to spend time with her.
We started the mini vacation by basically showing her around some of the sites in Okayama that I've already talked about. We were also able to check out a couple of new places. One of the places we went to was on one of Japan's 4 big islands: Shikoku. We went to a place called Yashima. In Yashima, there is a folk village where traditional houses from all over Shikoku have been transported and somewhat restored for tourists like us to enjoy and climb into. This place was totally off the beaten path and kind of a bitch to get to but it ended it being completely worthwhile. The weather was picturesque and the village was nestled on the side of the mountain offering up good views of Takamatsu city nearby. The whole village was basically deserted. Zero tourists.That's got to be a miracle in tourist laden Japan. We really took our time and explored every little nook and cranny that the village had to offer. We saw ancient lighthouses, an old Kabuki theater, old granaries, old homes, and old store houses in all of their ancient Japanese glory. There was even an old wooden bridge for us to cross (thankfully it was reinforced with steel cables). It was straight out of Indiana Jones. On the way out, we got to eat Udon, which that area of Japan is famous for making.
The following weekend we went back out near Shikoku to Inujima Island, another art island in the same vein as nearby Naoshima. Inujima is much, much smaller and harder to get to but man was it amazing. The whole island only has about 50 residents but it contains one amazing museum. Inujima was the site of a copper mill that was built roughly a hundred years ago and was in operation for only 10 years. Left abandoned, it was recently turned into a contemporary Art museum. It's not one of those museums where you walk around and admire a painting by Picasso or Monet and move on to the next nearby piece. This is one of those museums where the space is the art. Yes, there were some nice modern art pieces to see but the fact that these few (and brilliant) piece are housed in a real, crumbling, and largely left intact copper mill makes it that much more interesting. Combined with pictureque blue skies and it made Inujima island unforgettable. The island also has a few other tiny little art paces sprinkled about but none are as memorable and satisfying as the mysterious copper mill. Naoshima and Inujima will always by a highlight of my stay in Japan. The best part is that there are still a few art islands for us to visit.
The rest of the week was spent eating delicious foods and enjoying the company of Natalie's mom. Good times.
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