Tonight after work, Mr. Hayashi, Miss Kageyama, and a Japanese History teacher joined me for sushi on the town. Earlier they had taken me to McDonald’s for lunch, which was quite funny. It was weird to be the only American in a McDonald’s. Everyone watched me to see my reaction to the food – almost like they were making sure that they got it right. After that, I was definitely up for some sushi.

The first place we went to was already sold out of fish, so we went to another sushi place, and I let them order up the food. We ended up with a wide assortment, but my favorite was the tuna sashimi. We also had eel, scallop, mackerel, egg, and deep fried tofu. We had a couple of giant beers with dinner, and so everyone was feeling good and more food came along. They brought fried chicken, and a sausage platter – I guess they weren’t sure I was full from the sushi.

Afterwards, we went to the history teacher’s favorite bar, where they serve Guinness. It turned out it was served from the bottles, and without the little widget, so I had to make do, but it still tasted great. The servers all knew the teacher, and so we had free appetizers while we drank. We had fried shrimp, edame beans, pizza, and Chinese dim sum. The pizza was my favorite – maybe a little too cheesy, but otherwise quite good. The bar itself was as close to a dive as I’ve been to in Japan, in a rough neighborhood. We sat in the smoke-filled back room, and listened to a strange mix of American music, like Radiohead, Bryan Adams, and Whitesnake.

We finally stumbled out of there, and on the way back to the car, passed by a strip club. Standing outside the club were various women trying to reel in customers, but one was a foreigner – she looked American. She had seen me coming and I could tell she was a little embarrassed. Outside of my meetings with other JETs, I’ve only seen a couple of foreigners. She probably stands out there every night and sees a foreigner once a month. I said hello as I walked by, and she gave me a grin and said hey. It was an odd moment – it’s a big event to meet a foreigner, but to meet one in that circumstance was really weird. I guess they put the foreign girls out front as they are considered more exotic. I think they do the same thing in the US.

Miss Kageyama drove everyone home, as she was kind enough to drink juice all night, so we all got home safely, and ready for work the next day.

Today I woke up refreshed and ready for a hike – a real hike. I’ve been walking all over Japan; without a car it’s the only option. The exercise is great, but without any hills to climb, I’ve been getting antsy to go upwards.

I researched a hike in Northern Takasago, the same town where my high school is. According to the pamphlets I read, the mountain, Mt. Takamikura, is this area’s version of Mt. Fuji. I started by taking the train into the area, and then set my GPS so that if I got lost, at least I could find the station. As it turned out, that was a really good idea.

As I started out from the station, I made an immediate wrong turn, and after consulting with some people on the side of the road, I turned around. Luckily, I had brought the pamphlet about the hike along with me, so I could show them that – the title was in Japanese. Once I got on the right road, it was about half an hour to the base of the mountain.

At the base of the mountain, there was a large shrine, the Kashima Shrine. It was a beautiful old shrine wrapped into the hillside, surrounded by trees. Apparently it was a bit of a destination for other people, as there were about twenty or so Japanese people there going through the rituals. I admit that I don’t know shrine etiquette, so I observed quietly, and tried to figure out what was going on. The smell of incense was strong, and because it was a partly cloudy day, some fog would blow through every once in a while.

After taking lots of pictures, I had a short conversation with the people that worked there, and figured out where the trailhead was. The trail ran behind the shrine and up the hillside, through some strange jungle-type brush. After about a half an hour of climbing, the trail turned sharply, and there was a rope tied to the top of the rocks. That’s it.

Apparently the people that designed this trail felt that rather than cutting out switchbacks to make the ascent easier, climbing a rope like Batman was the better option. Since I was already halfway there, I climbed the rope, and once I got to the top of the rocky hillside, things settled down into a nice easy trail again.

At the top I was able to enjoy a great view of Takasago, Kakogawa, and even Himeji. I could see pretty far out into the ocean, despite the cloudy weather. The view was worth the climb.

After enjoying the view for a while, a couple of people passed by and said hello. I was able to find out where there was a trail going directly to my train station, instead of going back the way I came (I didn’t want to go down the rope). The rocks were wet with some earlier rainfall, and it was difficult to maintain your footing – I fell down twice.

As I got back to the base of the hill, there was a bus waiting right there. I jumped on, since it was going to a station closer to my home. Unfortunately, I didn’t check my money situation before I got on. I had the equivalent of a $100 dollar bill on a city bus, and that doesn’t work well. Fortunately, I had some change, and I was able to get off without causing an international incident. The driver was a little confused, but then so was I, so I’ll call it even.

Once the bus left, I turned on the GPS, and it was only 1.3 miles to the station. I figured there was another nearby, but I thought that it was best to stick with the sure thing and I hiked the 1.3 miles. From the station it was a half hour train ride home, where I showered and relaxed.

Upon further reflection, the hike probably wasn’t such a great idea. Without literature in English, I’m really unprepared for terrain and weather. Without knowledge of the local flora and fauna, I don’t know what could be around the corner. In California I could identify dangerous things – rattlesnakes, poison oak, etc. Here, it’s just guesswork. Once I get the internet connection going, I’m going to have to do more research and learn a little more before I go out.

Yashiro. It was called the “concentration camp” by others that had survived. Yashiro is the name of the town that was hosting a four day mandatory seminar for all the new Assistant Language Teachers. I was told there was nothing to do there, and it turned out to be the truth.

Rather than bore you with the details, a few short memories will suffice to summarize the entire seminar.

During the day they pounded us with information, much of it repetitive. The food was bearable, and sometimes quite good. We did our own dishes. We lived in rooms shared with three other people. I got a good poker group together. The showers were communal. The beer vending machine ran out on the first night, so everyone went to the nearest convienence store where the clerks all had an expression like they were being taken over by aliens (which they literally were). I was the number two ranked ping pong player in all of Yashiro. Somebody had bought a large beer… 2 Liters of beer. Oh, and never drink with English women… they can drink Irishmen under the table.

All together, it was a good time, and it was nice to meet people in the same situation. I think I’ve got a few poker regulars, and certainly I have the space to accommodate a poker party now and then.

I’m glad the experience is over – I was really happy to get back to my modest apartment and get back into a routine.

Andrew worked through the night, and the apartment looks great. He even took out all the trash, and really straightened up the place. It was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get all his stuff in, so he’s going to have to ship some to Australia.

I went into school and practiced English with Miss Kageyama. She had made sandwiches for herself, me, and Mr. Hayashi, so we sat around during lunch and had some great sandwiches. These were primo sandwiches. Crust cut off, small slices of bread around the edges to make sure none of the insides came out. There was a mix of egg salad and tuna salad with ham and cheese. I’m not sure how it worked out that we got a free lunch, but I wasn’t complaining.

Afterwards, we went into town and I opened a bank account. Initially there was a delay while I had my personal stamp, called a “hanko” made. The stamp is used for all banking transactions – my signature is not considered to be a reliable form of identification. I asked Mr. Hayashi about that – anybody could get a hold of my stamp, but not many people could forge my signature. He just shrugged – it’s the way it has always been done. Now my account is open, and I’m ready to start putting paychecks in there.

In the afternoon the apartment was inspected by the landlord, and it was deemed habitable, so I’m all set. I spent part of the evening moving things around, but it will be a long time before I can get it all the way I want. I leave for a teacher’s seminar in Yashiro tomorrow, and I’ll be there until Friday afternoon. I’m just going to have to wait for the weekend to really get organized.

I found the nearest large mountain, so naturally, I’m making plans to climb it. There is a shrine on the top – bonus! I’m aiming to climb it on Saturday or Sunday.

Today I tried to sleep in a bit, but it wasn’t in the cards. Around seven o’clock, I got out of bed and ended up taking a walk around town, and taking some pictures of the nearest temple. The temple is called the Mukuriya Shrine, and it is fairly large. I spent some time photographing it, and then I went back to the apartment to check on the packing ordeal.

Andrew is sure that it will be no problem to leave tomorrow morning, but I’m not as optimistic. He’s got a lot of extra stuff that I will probably have to deal with. Two of his students, Haruna and Hidemi, came over and were hanging out for a while. I took the opportunity to jump on the train to Akashi, and I spent most of the day walking around exploring. I ate at a take away sushi place for only 180 yen, and finally headed back to the apartment around three o’clock. The students were still there – they had cooked up some natto for lunch, and they even left me some to try out. I’m guessing that it’s an acquired taste – I’ve never eaten anything quite that strong.

After the students left, Andrew and I walked down to the liquor store so he could get a parting gift for Mr. Hayashi – a bottle of Booker’s whiskey. It was around 5000 yen, which I think is an OK price. The store had a couple of bottles of tequila – excellent! They had Jose Cuervo (ugh), but they had silver label Herraduras, which would work just fine.

In the evening, some friends of Andrew’s came over to wish him well. They brought Kentucky Fried Chicken, and it was just as greasy here as it is in the US. They brought a japanese wine, which actually was quite good. I’m saving the bottle, and hopefully I can pick up some on a more regular basis.

Andrew is packing all night tonight to get things ready for his departure tomorrow.

Today we went into Kobe to have a big dinner at a French restaurant that is a favorite of Mr. Hayashi. The trip itself was easy enough, and I was impressed with the train station at Kobe. I also bumped into quite a few foreigners like myself – I’ve been used to being one of the few. Before going to dinner, Mr. Hayashi wanted us to go to a “trade show” and check it out with him. We followed him through a giant shopping mall, and eventually found our way to a tiny conference room in the back of a spooky building. Nobody was sure if we were in the right place, but when we opened the door, there was about eight Japanese in suits, waiting for us.

I’m not sure what the event was, but it wasn’t a trade show. The people put us each on a machine and measured our bone density. Then we sat down and read some pamphlets (all in Japanese… I faked it). Afterwards, the president of some company stood up and talked for about half an hour about his products, which as far as I could tell, are algae based foods and supplements. He passed out green tea as refreshments, and I figured something was up when all the employees watched us while we drank them. There might have been algae in there, I’m not sure. Then they passed around pills that they wanted us to eat. I skipped that – a couple of weeks ago I was at home in California, now I’m downing pills with a bunch of Japanese people I don’t know… how surreal is that? Afterwards, they passed out some kind of sports drink that had something to do with blueberries and bees. I drank two of those, figuring I would be out late tonight and I needed something to keep me going. I was willing to put up with a lot since all the teachers were springing for dinner.

After we snuck out of there, I threw away the crap they gave me, and we took a taxi into another part of Kobe to eat dinner. The restaurant was in a part of town that used to be full of foreigners. The architecture was European, and the neighborhood was very cool. There are restaurants all over, and the streets are very narrow. Lots of young people were running around, and it had a good feel. I snapped a few photos, but since we were on the move, I’ll have to come back to document the experience a little better.

The restaurant was in a 102 year old house, and the food was quite good. Mr. Hayashi had called ahead and our menu was already set. The food was excellent, and for the first time since I arrived in Japan, I used a fork, knife and spoon. The waiter was very concerned that everyone used the right utensil at the right time, and I had fun throwing him off and moving things around. Everyone was very serious at the table, and we could have used a couple of shots of tequila to loosen everyone up. After a couple of rounds of drinks, things started to get moving. The cameras came out, and we took a ton of pictures. I understand the restaurant was quite expensive. I’m probably not going back anytime soon.

Kobe seems like a great city, and I’m eager to go back and do some more exploring on my own. Tomorrow I’m sticking around the apartment to help Andrew pack, and then the next day he’s leaving early in the morning.

So the typhoon came through last night, and most of it happened when I was sleeping. The wind picked up quite a bit, and it was much cooler than it had been, but nothing dramatic. Somehow I was picturing the tornado from “The Wizard Of Oz”. A different kind of tornado is taking place in the bedroom, as Andrew’s packing has shifted into full speed. The place is a certified disaster area.

Today I’m walking down to the train station in Futami to meet one of our English teachers (one I haven’t met yet). There are advantages to being the only foreigner around – I’ll be easy to identify at the train station. We’re going into Kobe to meet all the other teachers for a big expensive dinner. Mr. Hayashi has organized this one, so I’m sure it will be quite nice. It’ll be my first visit to Kobe, and I’ve heard great things about the town.

Last night we were invited to a neighbor’s house for dinner, and it was a great time. Their apartment has the same layout as mine, but they’ve been living there a long time. We had fried chicken (in small pieces, so it was easy to chopstick), sushi and rice, and ramen noodles. They had some chili pepper flakes that they put into the ramen. They kept the beer coming, too. We sat around the table, watched a small part of a baseball game, and talked in English and Japanese. Their son, who helped translate during Andrew’s visit to the hospital, was there and we talked quite a bit in English. His grandmother, who works as the “tea lady” at my high school, was there as well. We ate big, and then came back. Andrew has been up all night packing, and he’s leaving soon to go out shopping with another ALT, Jamie.

Andrew should be packing up his modem soon, so that means I’ll be out of touch for a bit. I’m going to try to sign up on Monday with Yahoo Japan for internet access. Hopefully, I’ll be back online soon!

Mr. Hayashi mentioned that there is a typhoon watch tonight and tomorrow. I’m not watching TV or reading the newspaper (mainly because I can’t understand them), so I didn’t know anything about it. If the storm watch is still official tomorrow, I don’t have to go to school. I guess I’ll hunker down at home and watch the rain come down. I’ve never been in a typhoon and apparently this is a big one. I hope my raincoat is up to the challenge!

I’m off to get my alien registration card with Mr. Hayashi. I got the new tatami mats in, and they look great. The doors are also installed, so things are getting back to normal around here. Andrew will be doing some crazy packing over the next few days, so I’m just trying to stay out of his way for a while.

Andrew is cancelling his internet account and sending the modem back in the next couple of days. I might be offline until I get set up. I’m thinking I can do some internet at school, but I don’t want to abuse the chance. More soon!

Justin’s Links on living in Japan.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to Andrew – he was groaning in pain. We did a quick medical assessment, and we thought that he either had a urinary tract infection or he was passing a bladder stone. He was in serious pain, and bathed in sweat. I dug out my international driver’s license, but in the end we called some friends of Andrew’s that live in the neighborhood.

They came over in a few minutes, but they spoke very little english. We translated what we could, it was pretty frustrating. After a few minutes we called 119 (that’s right, they have it backwards here) and about 15 minutes later an ambulance came. By that time, the pain was beginning to subside, but we convinced Andrew to go to the hospital anyway. They went off in the ambulance, and I jumped in the car with one of the neighbors and we went to the hospital.

We got to the hospital and talked with the doctor, and I think he misunderstood – he gave Andrew medicine for a stomach problem. Since the pain had diminished anyway, we went back home, and Andrew is going to see an English speaking doctor when he gets home next week. It was quite a late night adventure, and I was bushed when I finally got home. I need to practice my medical Japanese words in case I find myself in need of a doctor!

I’ve gone back to the last couple of days and posted some images from the trip over. I have a ton of photos, but I just picked some representative ones to get the general flavor of the moment. Enjoy!

As Andrew wraps up his time here, he has invited some of his former students over to say goodbye. Today we had an appointment for the people to come and remove all of the tatami mats and all of the doors. We’ll be mat-less and door-less for almost three days. Right now the house is kind of open, but I suppose we have the bathroom door if we need privacy. This all coincided with six of Andrew’s students arriving to say goodbye. They will be attending the school next year, but I probably won’t be teaching them – they are all 3rd year students, and I will likely be teaching 1st and 2nd year students.

Andrew cooked up some spicy pork that we had over noodles. I have discovered that Kim Chee is a great way to spice things up over here, and Andrew used a lot. These poor girls were burning big time – I think we went through five liters of soda just to fight the fire. It was cool to meet the girls and talk with them a bit. They’ve got a great attitude about learning English. I understand that it’s somewhat of a dorky subject, and to excel in English is almost a guarantee that you are not cool. I’ll try to change that a little bit this year.

Yesterday, we went to the local summer festival, in Kakogawa. Apparently summer festivals are quite popular here in Japan, and my timing was such that I get to attend this one. Andrew put on his yukata and we drove over to the nearest shopping center and parked our car. As we marched towards the riverside, there were a lot of people heading the same way, and along the way we met up with two of Andrew’s former students, Hidemi and Haruna.

We walked along the main drag after laying down a tarp, and enjoyed Japanese fair food. The big favorite around here is takoyaki, which is octopus tentacles cooked into a batter in a ball shape – for 500 yen you can get a plate full. They had many other types of food, and since it was so hot, shaved ice was very popular as well.

Once it got dark, we enjoyed some fireworks put on by the Kakogawa Fire Department. The fireworks were better than the 4th of July displays that I’ve seen – some seemed fairly dangerous. The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed, just like they do in America.

While walking around, I find that I stick out quite a bit. If you look around at the people walking by, many of them will be looking at you – some friendly, most indifferent, but curious. I find that everywhere I go, I’m under scrutiny. It’s a strange feeling. I did get some free food because I lingered near a booth – they offered me the food to try – maybe just to see my reaction. Everything I ate was great – I’m not going to starve to death over here.

After the fireworks we went to a CoCo’s restaurant near my apartment. They are a chain in America, I believe – it was funny to see them off the beaten path in Japan. They bill themselvers as a “California Restaurant”, and it was like eating in the most bland restaurant in the world. Jamie, a JET teacher that has been here a year, went nuts when he saw that they had quesadillas on the menu. The quesadilla was not that great, but he was pretty tortilla starved, and chowed down quickly. Afterwards we took Hidemi and Haruna home, and went back to crash.

Sorry for the delay in updating the site. I’ve brought everything up to date, and so you’ve got a lot of reading to do. I’ve got my internet connection working now, but I’m jumping on and off depending on when Andrew is online. Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoy the updates!