Don’t Stop Natto October 24, 2006

Okay, a quick update…
First of all… I think, recently, that I may be turning somewhat Japanese at this point. I finally like natto. It’s nutritious, and, if you hold your nose while eating it, it tastes like hotdogs! Not the good hotdogs, but still it doesn’t taste like fermented sticky beans, which is what it is. I’ll have to post a picture of it, I don’t think I’ll be getting my family to try it any time soon. In fact, I often giggle when I picture myself eating it in front of my brother who won’t even eat inari; stirring the foamy, sticky, sickly smelling beans under his nose. Yummy, yummy!
I also like tako yaki. I never thought I would, but it’s good!
My palate seems to be changing, I hardly crave western style food at all. I eat either rice balls or ramen at lunch almost everyday. I’ve stopped sweetening coffee and tea, and I love pickled ume, yuzu, and sweetbeans.
Anyway…enough about food.
I’m also currently donning a very Japanese hairstyle. And if you look at my Last fm page, you’ll notice that there’s a lot of Queen music on there. “No one’s gonna stop me now!” Queen is unbelievably popular here, especially as a karaoke choice. One of my students asked me to teach several Queen songs to him and his son. That’s why they’re currently my “top band” of the week.
What else…
Reed and I are throwing a Halloween party! I’m excited. We haven’t thrown any big parties here yet. I’m getting all of the teachers to help me a little. It’s nice to have the cooperative effort. This weekend I went shopping with some of the other women at my school. We were all able to figure out how we are going to dress while shopping at a vintage store (which seemed like a good place to construct cosplay attire). They convinced me to buy a bright polyester shirt-dress and a white patent leather belt, so now I’m going to be an Austin Powers-style secret agent. I even bought I cap gun, and some funky plastic glasses. Now I just have to watch the movies to get the lingo straight. Yeah baby, yeah!

Needless to Say… September 11, 2006

I’m sure many of you who read my blog have heard of culture shock.
That’s not what this blog is about.
I could pontificate on the many episodes of culture shock that I’ve had through the years, or bore you with how intimate I am with the turns of that roller coaster called ‘living in a foreign country’, but I will try my hardest not to.
I do however want to mention something that struck me again this weekend. That’s the ‘universal’ of people getting togother and having a good time. It happens everywhere, I think. And the parties that I’ve been to around the world tend to have many of the same characteristics. When I’m surrounded by friends, foreign or national, It’s easy for me to forget that I’m in a foreign country, even if I still have a hard time communicating with it’s citizens.
I do miss home though. I miss other places too. Everyday there’s a reason. And it’s easy to forget how comfortable you were with your friends the night before when your having your picture taken by three teenage girls in the women’s locker room at the gym.

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join The Game and Help Them Kick Someone Else’s… September 2, 2006

You might not hear from me for awhile, maybe not ever again. In a few days my conscription into a war against the forces of evil will officially begin. I’ll be learning how to fight in a manner of hours, and learing what spells I need to carry as well. Right now I’m trying to decide my race and class, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be an undead priest or priestess. I teased Reed that I’m going to name myself ‘uuuuUUUhhhnnn’. But I don’t know, we’ll see. Anyway, once I start taking up the craft of war I will be really busy, my group (Reed and I have met a couple of ‘gamers’ like us) needs a healer/spell caster, and they need me to level quickly. After that the game that has become Reed’s vice and addiction will soon be mine, I’m sure. At least we’ll be spending more time together. Here I’ve been, always trying to distract him from the computer, and now I’m about to become another one of Warcraft’s zombies.

Fuji (Cont.)… August 20, 2006

My legs still feel pretty sore right now. I love that feeling. I recommend that anyone who visits Japan and has hiked a mountain hike Fujisan. It has to be one of the most enjoyably remarkable events in my life. I tried to post some pics here, but the files are too big right now, so I have to figure that out. They will however be on my flickr site shortly.
There is one more thing…
I’ve never been very open about this before, but recently I realized there’s no reason not to be.
I carry my mother with me wherever I travel. She always wanted to see more of the world. And so when she passed away I made a pact with myself, knowing that I would travel, to take her to the many places she never got to see, and leave a part of her in the most beautiful places I can find, from the Adriatic, to the Island of Skye, the blue hills of India, and now the top of Mount Fuji. I guess I have decided to mention this because Fujisan is the best of places I have found so far. Here she will be met by many sunrises, and become a part of what has to be the most beautiful.

Sleep Deprevation, Spry Guides, and Hikers in a Can with Oil and Water August 19, 2006

I’m writing this as the the sun goes down on perhaps the longest day of my life. I have been up since eleven o’clock last night. I saw this sun, that I now watch set, rise from the top of Japan most iconic landmark. And I’m beat, but right now, the guide who set the perfect pace for my ascent, is hiking it again. It will be his third time in a row of hiking for five hours, resting for four hours while sandwiched between other greasy, sweaty, stinky hikers (me included — sardines come to mind when I think of the time I spent at the lodge at station eight), hiking for four hours, watching the sun rise, and then descending the mountain in four hours only to brush his teeth and meet the next tour. Meanwhile the rest of us complain about the lack of sleep, or the measly headache it gave us. This is a good place to mention that I’ve only had seven hours of sleep in the past three days, and it took a lot of Ibprofen to get me up that hill, but I did it, and I wasn’t in pain when I reached the top; I was excited and relieved that the climb was over.
For some people, Fujisan is the first mountain they’ve ever challenged themselves to hike. I wouldn’t recommend hiking this mountain by yourself. Our pace was expert. Most of our group made it to the top without any physical assistance. I observed that other hikers, outside of our group would race ahead of us, only to wear themsleves out and fall behind. Some of those people missed the sunrise. No one in our group was injured, or ill. We all made it, we all had smiles on our faces, and some of us had energy to spare, as compared to many, many other people on the mountain who had collapsed or looked like they were ready to collapse. The one person in our group who needed assistance needed it in the last stage when the oxygen is the thinnest the blood is the thickest and the mountain is the steepest–superlative tough all around. Our guide had to carry her bag, on top of his, and then reached back to lend her support for the final rocky grade when, at four in the morning, it seemed like we were climbing vertically. I will write more and edit later. I have much more to say, and pictures to add, but I’m pretty tired right now.

It’s Not On Fuji, But It’s Called Fuji Rock August 3, 2006

So. I guess some people are really great at keeping up with their blogs. I don’t think I can be considered one of those people. Maybe in the future. Maybe I can aspire to be a better blogger.
Much has happened since I last updated my site. Reed and I went to Nikko, we to the opera, and we went to the Fuji Rock Festival. Summer is also the time of many cultural festivals, and we try to go to those when we can. It seems like Reed and I do something every weekend, but really we don’t. Although our apartment might not look like it, we do occassionally clean house on our Sunday off from work. And we finally went out to the movies, for the first time since we’ve been in Japan, and saw Pirates of the Caribbean.
If you plan on visiting us, contemplate adding Nikko to your itinerary. It is an old city of many ornate temples (built from the 17th through the 19th centuries), and the drive there through the mountains is beautiful. It took us a long time to get there, mostly because we made many stops to look at the occassional waterfall, lake or valley, but it was worth it to learn more about the edo period, and see what Japan looked like back then. I have some pictures set up on my flickr site.
Reed and I recently made another trip to Tokyo to see the neice of a friend perform the role of Choco san (prima donna) for Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. I am so glad we accepted this opportunity. There was an infusion of culture and a perspective on the American original, Italian rendition that I’m not sure would be the same in a non-Japanese performance.
I walked my socks of at the Fuji Rock Festival.
First of all, The Fuji Rock Festival does not take place on Mount Fuji. Although some bands made the mistake of putting that location on their tour scheldule it is actually in Niigata prefecture, at Naeba Ski resort, really close to where we live (1 1/2 hours drive). Thank goodness for reps and agents, or the Strokes would have never headlined that day. We didn’t end up sticking around for their full performance, as they didn’t put on a very good show, after being fifteen minutes late. We decided to go watch the Super Furry Animals instead. We had debated this option from the begining, but after a few suggestions from friends we met up with at the festival, and a member of Broken Social Scene I met that day, and after realizing that the Strokes weren’t putting on any airs for their audience (they didn’t really seem to care at all), we deicided to didtch the headliners for something more interesting. SFA was much more entertaining, they must really enjoy what they do, and care about the audience. We also saw Mogwai, Broken Social Scene, Jenny Lewis, Snow Patrol, Rinocerose, The Transit Kings, The Refugee Allstars Of Sierra Leone, Kodo and The Raconteurs. Thats just what we saw. There were about six stages major stages, and Reed only saw two of them, I saw three. There were tens of thousands of people there. Sometimes getting from one place to another was harder than weaving through Shinjuku Station at peak hours. The grounds were specatularly beautiful. We were high up in the mountains, surounded by tall green peaks. There were flags and decorations everywhere. The only bugs I noticed were huge dragon flys that buzzed over the audience. The temperature was about five degrees (celsius) cooler than Takasaki, and there was a brook you could cool your feet in, running through the grounds. They had built board walks through the trees to help ease some of the traffic along main routes. The food was inexpensive, and good, and there was a variety of international cuisine. I can’t imagine that there’s a better outdoor music festival. I’ve been to several, and they weren’t always good experiences. The first time I went to the Warped tour at Boreal Ski Resort, I had to leave early becuase I was dehydrated and exhausted. I had to leave early at another festival because one of my friends had sprained her neck in a mosh pit (it was her first rock concert), the other I don’t really remember aside from the one thing they all had in common: mud, dirt, and heat. Fuji Rock was a somewhat mystical experience in comparison. I was prepared for the mud and heat, but they weren’t that bad. I guess in other years it’s been worse.One of the reasons they moved the festival to Naeba was to avoid the typhoons that sometimes rack Mt. Fuji, as they did one year during the performance of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, so they must have picked their new location a bit more carefully. It’s a three day festival, but we only got to spend on day there. My friends, Saleema and Dave, camped there for the entire festival. I hope that if Reed and I get another chance to attend Fuji Rock, we can do the same. They offer the campers showers and onsens 24hrs.
We have a vacation period coming up in 10 days. This is the height of the summer festivals. I already have a yukata which I’ve learned how to wear, and I can’t wait to see the fireworks shows.
Reed and I plan on climbing Mt. Fuji this year, and we also want to see more of Kanagawa prefecture, as well as Nagano.
We were thinking of meeting Aaron in Kobe this weekend, but he will be running off to see Hiroshima (can’t blame him, really), so instead we’ll probably clean house and see a movie. I think Tideland is in the theatres now. It takes independent and smaller productions longer to get here, whereas blockbusters are realeased at about the same date as they are back home. So, if we can’t see Tideland I guess we’ll be seeing Casino Royale.
Well I can’t think of more to say right now. Reed is writing about our experiences, so check out his site. And I should have pics up momentarily.

Thanks! June 14, 2006

I just wanted to express my gratitude to everyone who sent us packages over the weekend. Reed had a wonderful birthday, and we are now enjoying the some of the comforts of home. We have enough M&M’s to last our entire stay, I think. But seriously, there’s nothing like care packages to stave off homesickness. As time wears on those comforts are missed more and more, but not as much as our friends and family who sent them.

Tokyo — Map Optional (editing required) May 21, 2006

Je suis trés desolé que je n’ecrirait pas depuis des semaines. Okay, in my French what I mean to say is that I am very sorry to have not written in some weeks. Your right to think a lot has been going on in the past month. Not all of it has been positive, again and unfortunately, but we are smoothing things out.
Enough of that though, what you really want to hear about is Tokyo, right? Thought so.
Yes, Tokyo is a great place, It’s amazing to see children walking the streets at night in one of the biggest cities in the world, but it confirms my next statement: Tokyo is the safest city I’ve ever been to. Where else can someone leave their Louis Vuitton bag in the bathroom of a busy nightclub, and have it delivered to them the next day? I’ve felt safe in a lot of places, but not like Tokyo. The only time I was a little unsure of my safety, it was because of a tourist. Yeah, I can see why Gai-jin sometimes get a bad wrap. I don’t know why some people have to be told that you should try avoid objects of national heritage, like the Kominari-mon, if you partied too hardy the night before and you need to relieve yourself of your japanese breakfast– but according to observation, they do. When someone with long blonde hair and blue eyes makes such an international faux pas, I would say it’s hard not to think bad of foreigners in general, especially if your a member of a culture generally prone to some amount of xenophobia.
There’s so much in Tokyo, so much of it that we did get to see (much that we didn’t) I’m not sure where to begin. I like to walk a city. I like tour tour it on foot, and I like to go wherever whim takes me. I don’t feel I’ve gotten to know a city until I’ve been lost there. If I spend more than two days in one place, this is what I try to do for a day. If the city is a big one, like Tokyo, I choose an area that I like and want to see more of. I usually go by myself, but Reed has joined me on occasion.
I spent my day being lost in Shibuya. I started from Yoyogi Park, where I had spent time with Reed as well as just hanging out with friends. I took some time to look at a map of Tokyo and it’s metro system. After I decided on a general direction to my wandering, I went to the Mieji Shrine. I took the smaller trails, but always straggled within sight of one person or another. After that I went to the small plaza where the Harajuku girls hangout and crossed the street to Omote-Sando. Okay, then it was time to really get lost, especially since the crowds defined this place as well-tracked territory, and I had already spent enough time in Tokyo looking into the windows of expensive, haute couture stores. (Sorry I had to step away from this for awhile, ) I decided to make my way back to the JR Station by the side streets. They were empty.
I hopped on the Yamanote and went south to Yebisu. I had been told by some guy (an Apple genuis at the store in Union Square), that I could find a beer garten here. What I found was a mall, but it was pretty cool. The glass walkway from the station had human-conveyor belts, like at the airport, so I got to replay the sceen from Jackie Brown about seven or eight times, until I was conveyed to the mall. From there I walked around and around, looking all over for a piece of Bavaria. There are gardens, there is Ebisu beer, and a Sapporro museum, but they have not combined the beer and the garden. Oh well, there was a nice european-looking ‘beer station’. By that point I was both hungry and thirtsy.
I was a little self-conscience at first, drinking beer by myself in the mid-afternoon, but then a japanese woman sat down next to me. I definitly felt more comfortable with her presence, as she was very sophisticated looking, drank about three times as much as I did, and ate about that much more as well.
I left there feeling very happy about my life in Japan, and headed for Shibuya. I hadn’t originally intended to stop in Shibuya, but I was looking out the window, and the flashy signs caught my attention, so just before the doors closed I stepped out of the train.
I knew what I would see here, there is a lot of shopping, and some famous high-rise malls, like the 609 building, highlighted in the Time Out guide. I walked around, then decided to buy a cell-phone. I had to then burn some time while they set it up, and my mid-afternoon buzz had worn off, so I went back to the famous intersection, to look for a famous coffee shop. I found one and got in line. Someone came by, took my order and handed me a slip. When it was my turn I took the slip to the register and handed it to the barista. They only offered one size, 12OZ. OKay. He handed me a receipt and I got back in line. When it was my turn again I handed my receipt to another barista, who handed me my drink. Then I went to the second floor and got back in line. I got a seat right in the big window, facing the intersection. It was great. I had swum in this sea before, and now I got to relax and observe all the many faces and personalities from above the melee. I opened my guide book for the second time that day and compared the picture there with what I was looking at. I confirmed that I was there on a much, much busier day than when that picture was taken.
I finished my coffee collected my phone and headed north toward Shibuya-ku.
I found the area near the park that I liked and was familiar with , and decided to explore some more. I made my way east toward Harajuku and Omote-Sando, but not with this intention. When I realized that I must have been very close to Omote-Sando, I asked for directions. I was right so I kept going, until I made it back to the JR station. Now I was heading back to my friend’s house in Nishi-Shinjuku. I felt that I had strayed not to far from the well known areas of town, in an effort to keep myself from really getting lost. As if to prove to myself that it was the intelligent descision for me to have made, I unintentionally got lost twice on the way back to my friend’s house. Once by getting on the wrong train from Shinjuku, and once in her neighborhood (her boyfriend came to my rescue, and I was glad I had a phone number they could call). Anyway, by the time I got back I was exhausted and happy to be munching on sushi and watching the Thomas Crowne Affair with friends. I couldn’t be bothered to do anything else, and thankfully neither could they.

Miso Disappointed April 18, 2006

Seriously studying the pictures, I thought I had narrowed my choice down to what I assumed was caramel. I was told that there was no ‘caramel’, so I pointed to the picture, in question of a potentially palatable flavor. The woman helping me said something in Japanese that sounded like ‘tirimisu’ at which point I was pleasantly surprized although, I admit, doubtful. As she pulled my serving out of the freezer I wondered if I shouldn’t stop her and ask for ‘choco’, or chocolate, my favorite stand-by. But I let her continue to place the serving into the machine that would turn it into soft-served delectability. I held my cup pondering my dicision and thinking that at worse this would be yet another learning experience. I took three bites before the disillusion that I was treating myself to the reinvention of an Italian classic ended. I would have never guessed that miso was one of the 31 flavors in Japan.

“Are You Interested in Dying?” April 11, 2006

“Hmm…” How do I respond? I guess I’d have to say no, not not really but, “I’m interested in textiles!” Reed and I made some lovely tie-dyed scarves today, using old-fashioned techniques.
In response to the stimuli “tie-dyed” the snyaptic charges along the neural maps in my brain create visions of earth day festivals, ‘dead-heads’, and the smell of patchouli. Indigo dying smells like the inside of a chicken coup on a hot day. If you want to know what that smells like it’s similar to Petaluma in August only a little bit stronger.
So how did we get to the point where we were hanging our noses over a vat of bubling, oily, purple and murky green, olfactory nerve deading, liquid ash? Well, we went on a tour to find out more about the region we live in. Turns out that before Initial-D, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, automobiles and semi-conductors, what Gunma was known for was textiles and cabagge. They developed and advanced many techniques for staining materials. Many of the plants used for dying textiles were also cultivated in Gunma, so we visited a botanical garden that focuses in the agricultural history of the region and it’s dye plants.
Indigo was chosen for us to learn how to use out of all the dyes produced in the gardens probably because it is popular and recognizable as a natural dye used in the region. It also sets in quickly and stains well, which is why Reed and I tramped around all day in our least favorite clothes. Thankfully, we didn’t stain anything but the fabric they gave us, and our nails. Neither of us packed with the idea that we’d be destroying clothing once we got here, but we couldn’t pass up this opportunity for which our scarves and our day turned out great.