We had a party after school with some of the ESS students. At first they just wanted a party, and so I steered them into the idea of throwing a party for the other teacher responsible for ESS, Matsubara sensei.

Matsubara sensei is going to leave our school in a couple of days to have her baby early next year. She’s going to take two years off on maternity leave, and then come back. I was a little surprised that you can do that. She gets paid for the first year, but the second year is on her dime. At least she’ll have a job to come back to when she’s ready. Very interesting.

We gave her a card and joked around with her for a while, but the classroom was so cold that we couldn’t party too long. I got the students out of there after about an hour, and in that time they had consumed an incredible amount of food. Those girls can eat!

Now I’m home getting ready to cook up a pot of nabe. Kuniko took her car in to work today so that she could drop off the vegetables that we got from her father yesterday. I’m not sure when she’ll be back, so I’ve got the house warmed up and dinner at the ready.

These days life has been pretty good to me. I was thinking of the harder times after I left the winery and took off to join the internet revolution down in Silicon Valley. From that point until I walked off the job at RealCapitalMarkets in Carlsbad in 2002 things were pretty tough – financially, emotionally, you name it.

Soon after leaving RealCapitalMarkets I took a who-cares part time job at Barnes & Noble to try to make ends meet as long as I could. At one point I interviewed for a web job at an auto parts place, got the job, and then told them that I would need three weeks to travel across the country with my good friend Brian Haven. They told me that I couldn’t have the job after all, so I ended up spending a month with Brian Haven on the road – driving all over the map from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic That trip was a defining point for me and somehow really opened up my ideas of what I could and couldn’t do with my life.

My aunt and uncle helped me by putting me up at their place for most of a year while I sweated the interview for a job in Japan, and plugged away at my part time job. In my off hours I hiked like a maniac – covering all the major mountains in San Diego and east towards the desert. Each night we would eat big dinners and drink lots of excellent wine, tequila and beer. Once I found out I got the job in Japan I spent time getting ready tying up loose ends for what I expected to be just one year in Japan.

Since I arrived here, it has been non-stop adventure and I always feel like I’ve got the best job in the world. No stress, but definitely a challenge. I’m constantly working my brain over studying Japanese.

I was thinking the other day that someday I might look back at these three years on the JET program as the best of my life. Then I wondered to myself – why does it have to end once my JET contract ends? Maybe this is just the beginning.

Saturday was a nice relaxing day for me – I didn’t have to work (unlike Kuniko), and so I spent the day studying, relaxing, and not doing much productive. When Kuniko came back around 2 o’clock we started getting things together for a couple of her friends who were coming over.

Our visitors tonight were Matsuo and Tomomi-chan. They came over just as I was putting the finishing touches on the tacos, and we all sat down and had a shot of tequila to get started. They downed the shots all at once, and then dug into some chips and salsa while they looked at our wedding pictures.

We had red wine with dinner, and I think the tacos were a hit, too. Something about the tacos tonight – they tasted especially great. It might have been the Mexican cheese, or maybe it was the meat… I’m not sure.

We joked about the pictures and even watched a little bit of Team America while eating. They seemed up for anything. Tomomi-chan is planning on getting married next year, so she’s excited about that. I haven’t met her fiance yet, but Kuniko describes him as “skinny”.

We walked them back to the station pretty early, and then did just a little bit of shopping before coming home to clean up all the dishes. I think we used every dish we had during dinner and dessert. Amazing.

Sunday we got to sleep in just a little bit before Kuniko was off to work again to supervise her club activities. I spent the day watching two movies and doing nothing meaningful – it was a nice break. Once Kuniko got home we went out to her father’s farm to pick up some vegetables for her class. Some of the students at her school will be cooking oden, and so they wanted some cheap vegetables to put in there. Kuniko’s dad was happy to supply them. It’s always cold out on the farm, though – we were in and out of there pretty fast.

We went over to her parent’s place afterwards for dinner and some relaxation. My folks had sent letters and presents for Christmas, so we gave them those and Kuniko translated the letter for them. They looked very happy and a little overwhelmed.

Now we are back home and heating up the bathtub for a nice hot soak. This week is going to be nabe week for us at home in an effort to simplify the menu and fill up on hot soup. I can’t wait – it’s been a while since we’ve had nabe.

We had a weird schedule at school today – the students didn’t have to come today at all, they were just supposed to meet us at the local exhibition hall for a musical performance. The teachers came in at the regular time and got prepared for meeting within their school year groups to talk about grades for this term.

Since I’m not attached to a school year I had the staffroom pretty much to myself for most of the morning. Every once in a while somebody would come in that had forgotten an important paper, but that’s about it. I really enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Around lunchtime I walked out to the exhibition hall. The students were arriving by bike and on foot, and everyone gathered up in front of the big gates. I chatted with a few students, and for the most part everyone seemed pretty excited about the show.

We went inside and sat down for the show. It was billed as a Taiko drumming performance, but they did play a lot of other instruments, often at the same time, making for a much more interesting show. They played the ocarina, the marimba, and also several different flutes. They were really in sync, and most of the students were awake throughout the two hour performance.

The more I listen to Taiko drums to more I like them. They play a big part in a lot of movie soundtracks, so I often find the sound familiar. When they play the vibrations run through your whole body – there really is a physical connection with the music.

After the show I split for the train and met up with Antoine in Sannomiya. We eschewed the normal meeting place because of the temperature and instead met inside the Belgian beer place. I took the last two seats at the bar and was stuck sitting next to two foreign English teachers who were busy complaining bitterly about their living conditions. At least one was a NOVA teacher, and she sounded especially unhappy. Her companion, another woman who sounded like she was from Australia, didn’t so much complain as listen. She was an older lady and seemed a little more composed. When her friend left for the bathroom she talked to me a little bit and seemed nice enough.

They left soon after that and finally Antoine made his appearance. We sat and had a beer at the bar and then headed to a Chilean restaurant that Kuniko and I had spotted a couple of weeks ago.

We went inside and were seated by the owner, and old Chilean guy that speaks pretty good English and Japanese, as well as his native Spanish. I never know what language to use in those situations. My Spanish has rusted away and if I try to think of a word it usually comes out in Japanese. I ended up using English and that worked out just fine. The waiter was Japanese, but he wanted to use some English, and so we really had a confusing blend of two languages going on there, too.

As for the food, it was delicious. We had empanadas for appetizers and then I had the steak while Antoine had chicken on skewers. My steak was reasonably priced and much larger than most Japanese steaks. It came with an octopus salad on the side and fried potatoes and a salad. There was some spicy sauce imported from Chile too – yum!

During dinner we were talking about all kinds of things and comparing notes about life in Japan. Suddenly while were talking the old Chilean guy pulled out a guitar and started to walk back and forth through the restaurant singing folk songs. We laughed at that, and our conversation had to pause every time he walked by us, singing at the top of his lungs.

Despite the music, everything else was great, and I think that Kuniko and I will have to go back sometime. We paid the bill and then headed toward the station. Antoine was still hungry, though, so we stopped in at a tiny hole-in-the-wall izakaya. The people there were really surprised to see us. At first they said that there was no room, but some of the customers were about ready to leave anyway, and they made room for us by splitting.

We sat down and ordered some food and drinks. The owners seemed pretty impressed that we were in their place – I get the feeling they don’t get too many foreign customers there. We found the place only by walking through some dark backstreets, which is the best way to find interesting restaurants and bars in Japan.

We stayed only for a little while, when we left the owner and the wife followed us out onto the street to say goodbye. They were really nice.

From there I split up with Antoine and took the train to Akashi. At Akashi I met up with Kuniko who was coming home from a little party of her own. We took the train back from Akashi together and then got home and crashed out. It was a pretty busy day, but we should get the chance to relax a little this weekend.

Today I had no classes and spent the day studying at my desk. I could end the entry right here, but that’s not so interesting. Let’s see if I can dredge up some details.

After school ended I met up with some of the ESS members who had come to the wedding and some that hadn’t, and I showed them the pictures and handed out some souvenir pictures for them to take home. They gave me a wedding present – a photo album. It was really nice of them. The photo album is actually for a new baby – there’s a little area to put in their birth certificate and vital information, so either they made a mistake or they want us to get busy.

A very rare thing happened when I got home today – Kuniko was already there waiting for me. She was cooking up a delicious (healthy) dinner – miso soup, tofu, and some gyoza. We had some magical kanten in our soup, and then snacked on a little dessert before going out on our mission.

The mission was to get a new hard drive for the computer (mine is the one I brought over from America almost three years ago, and I’m getting nervous that something might crash). We also went shopping at Carrefour for a taco party that we’ll be having on Saturday.

On our way to Carrefour we stopped at the gas station to fill up our plastic drum with kerosene. The gas station was packed! It looked like those old photos from the 70’s… cars were lined up into the street. Other gas stations weren’t so busy, but when you see that many cars lined up you’ve got to start thinking a little bit. What is going on here?

Now we’re back home, and I’m about ready to go in and take a hot bath. I got the hard drive up and running in two minutes, and I have 250 more gigabytes of space. I’m moving over my pictures and other irreplacable things to have some backups.

Tomorrow I’m meeting Antoine in Sannomiya to catch up, and then Saturday is the taco party. Another action-packed weekend…

Today I had a new set of students come over with Miyake sensei for an English conversation lesson. These are also students of hers, and they heard from the other students that it was fun, and so now I’ve got six different students dropping by once a month.

Again, it was very easy, and we introduced ourselves, and looked at wedding pictures. The students are second year high school students, so their level isn’t as high as the other ones. They were also a little more scared than the other ones, but in the end they did OK. The first lesson is just to get them a little more comfortable with me and the learning environment (my living room).

As usual Miyake sensei brought loads of omiyage, and we had some to give back to her, so that went smoothly. After they left I went down to the yakitori to catch some dinner, since Kuniko was stuck at school to attend a concert by her students.

The place was empty except for one other guy – he’s a regular but he’s in a different crowd than the other guys. We chatted a little bit and he seemed like a really nice guy. We spoke about 99% Japanese, but he’s interested in learning more English. As the yakitori got busy around us we chatted and watched TV and compared notes about different cultures.

We exchanged email addresses and then took off – the master was getting really busy and his part time help was late. By the time I got home Kuniko was just getting home. Perfect timing!

Once again it was up early this morning, take a nice hot bath and then head outside into the cold winds. Now that we have a heater I can’t imagine how I survived without one. For a while there I was living without an electric blanket, too. What was I, nuts?

I showed the pictures from the wedding to various people who were dying to see them. Tsutsumi sensei, Miyake sensei, the school nurses, and various other people really enjoyed looking through the book. It was fun the first few times, but after a while I got a little tired of seeing and explaining the same pictures. There’s no end in sight, though. It is fun to give people a taste of what the wedding is like. Everyone comments on how happy we look. Naturally!

I put in lots of study time today and even though I spent more than eight hours studying I still felt at the end like I could have spent the time better. Isn’t that weird? I enjoy studying so much I’m almost bummed out when it is over.

Tonight for dinner I served up cheese that my family had brought over from America. We had three different cheeses with Ritz crackers and some other little toasted breads. I served it with raw ham and roast beef, and then some vegetables. We also split a bowl of chili beans, and opened up a Nouveau Beaujolais. Success!

Kuniko is in the bath now and I’m waiting my turn. It’ll be early to bed tonight, and then off to the cold winds again tomorrow morning. We did buy some new warmer underclothes today – maybe that will help a little bit.

If I’m avoiding all television, newspapers, and web pages it must be because Survivor is wrapping up it’s season. Even in Japan I got nailed last year when I was checking the weather and inadvertently found out who won. I’m determined to avoid that fate this year. I’m downloading the episode now and have only opened a browser to write this entry.

Today it was cold and windy around Futami. The wind seems to be blowing even more this year, and it just pushes all that cold air in your face. Once I got to school everything was fine, though. My routine is pretty set, and so I made myself at home. Since I had no classes I did some revisions on the English language school brochure based on the vice principal’s input. I’m an old hand at doing that stuff from my time at Synapta making web pages according to the client’s wildest desires.

I also had time to go to the bank and do some shopping during the work day. I got some money from my account and then walked over to Seiyu to get some choice goods for Christmas.

Around 4:30 I left school and came home, and the wind was still blowing. I bought a couple of groceries for dinner (takoyaki), and also took a look at a new digital camera that I’ve been dreaming of. There’s a lot of electronics on our wishlist – all expensive things. I need a backup hard drive for all my files and pictures, so I had better get that first. We’re also looking for a DVD player that will play American DVDs on a regular TV, and eventually we want to get a new TV. The one we have now is about the size of a cat’s forehead.

Hey look over there on the right! I put a link to the photo gallery so you can browse through the latest photos over there. I’ll probably end up putting most of my pictures over there from now on, but since the wedding I’ve been a bit averse to photography.

This morning Kuniko and I put on our best clothes and drove out to her uncle’s house to hold a ceremony to remember her grandfather, who passed away two years ago.

Kuniko’s dad invited us to come along, and I thought it might be a good way to see a ceremony that most foreigners don’t get a chance to observe. Better yet, I could see it as a member of the family.

When we got there, we walked in and sat down in the room that was somewhat dedicated to a memorial shrine. We had pillows to sit on, and we watched as a priest that looked remarkably like Marlon Brando in “Apocalypse Now” smoked cigarettes and chatted amiably with the older folks around him.

He started the ceremony by explaining what was going to happen, and as he was doing that his cell phone rang. He hurried to grab it and even looked briefly at who it was before closing it again. Not two minutes later it rang again. Come on man – you are performing a sacred memorial ritual – turn off the phone.

From there he sat in front of the shrine and started reading a sutra. They passed out little books for us to follow along – and it even had little cheater characters to help kids and Americans figure it out.

After almost thirty (30!) minutes of chanting we passed along a small burning incense container. Everyone prayed, took a pinch of incense and burned it, and then prayed again. I had some borrowed prayer beads from Kuniko’s dad, and I think it went pretty smoothly. One thing that I thought was interesting was the financial offering that everyone had brought. The money was to offset the cost of the priest, the food, the bus to take them to lunch, etc. The priest read each name to the altar, as if letting the deceased know who had paid (and who didn’t!). That was an intersection of money and religion that creeped me out a little.

From there we had a cup of tea and some snacks, and then walked out to the family gravesite. It was my second visit, and we lit more incense and washed the gravestone. Then, we were done. I chatted a little bit with the priest. He was a nice enough guy, and he spoke in clear, easy Japanese so it was easy for me to understand.

I got a chance to meet some of Kuniko’s other relatives – uncles, aunts, etc. There were a lot of older people at the ceremony – not many young folks. It was nice to meet them and they seemed like nice enough people. They are not really close to Kuniko and her sister, so we don’t often have a chance to say hello.

After getting back from the gravesite, everyone else was going to lunch. We were heading back, but before we left they gave us a portion of the offerings that everyone had left on the altar. We brought home a big set of bath soaps, lots of fruits and little cakes, and several boxes of rice crackers.

In the afternoon we did some Christmas shopping at Ito Yokado, and then took a nice long nap. Now we’re getting ready to have some udon noodles for dinner and do some last minute cleaning before the week starts.

I’ve got an easy couple of weeks ahead. These are the classes that don’t matter – and rather than doing lessons for my first years the teachers want them to work on their winter vacation homework in their classrooms. That frees up my schedule – a lot. I have only two classes over the next two weeks. Nice!

It was kind of a last minute invitation, but Carrie was throwing a year end party of her own in Himeji at a Persian restaurant that she likes, and she invited Kuniko and me to attend. Kuniko and I met up in Himeji a little bit before and did a little bit of shopping, and then headed to the restaurant. As it happened we walked by a nice sized grocery, and so I ducked in there and scored some foreign foods – Knott’s Berry Farm jam, and bottles of Bass Ale for only 198 yen each.

I had been to the Caspian restaurant before with Carrie – the guy that runs it is really nice and the food is delicious. Since then he has changed locations, but the food was still great.

We introduced ourselves to the group, mainly comprised of people that I didn’t know. Some of them looked pretty hardcore. Carrie is a member of a soccer team, so most of the people there that night were also members. Kuniko and I ordered up Guinness, and Carrie’s boyfriend seemed impressed. Carrie and her sister ordered pink Chu-hai drinks.

They started bringing out food slowly, and we ate quick a bit. There were lots of tasty curries, rice and different meats. There were also some good salads with chicken and sauces on top. Of course he had naan bread, and some tortilla-like things that were good to stuff meat into.

Kuniko moved from Guinness to tequila, and we kept everyone entertained on our side of the table by talking about the pitfalls of Japanese for learners, and telling some not-so-amusing stories. When we finally ran out of stomach room. There was a little bit of food left on the table, and it still looked really good. Because we had arranged an all-you-can-eat thing, we couldn’t take it home. It was such a waste. We moaned and gnashed our teeth as the owner picked up the foods and squished it all together into an uneatable mess. I swear he looked happy to do it, too.

We caught a train back home with an ALT that I vaguely know from Perth, Australia. Her side of the conversation was punctuated with an abnormal amount of “Yeah, yeaaaa-h”‘s. Afterwards I was doing little impressions of her for most of the walk home.

We did just a bit of shopping and then headed home to crash out. Once again we went to bed with loads of food in our stomach.

Well the Santa job was a lot of fun. As expected the mothers from the apartment complex were very thorough. They sent a couple of moms over to make sure I was awake 30 minutes before game time, and then they sent some five minutes before to look over the costume and escort me over there.

When I got there I waited outside a black curtain, and when the moment came I stepped out into a group of 30 or so suitably surprised kids. I walked over to the front with a couple of “Merry Christmas”‘s and “Ho Ho HO!”‘s. Once I got to the front of everyone, they had a Santa Claus Q&A session. That was a first for me – I wasn’t expected to be grilled by little kids in Japanese.

The age range of the kids varied a lot, but everyone seemed to be in elementary school. The questions were fun – “Are you single?” “How do reindeers fly?” “Where are your reindeer right now?” “How did you get here?” “How do you get into the houses?”

I did my best in Japanese and I think everyone understood. It was pretty fun. Then they had each kid come up and get a present from me. I read out the name, and then the kid would come up, snatch the present, and run for it. The organizers wanted to get a picture with each one, so they would have to go chase down the kid who was already tearing into his or her gift.

It made for a long gift delivery session. Each kid took the present and ran, and then everyone would scramble to gather them up and bring them up to stand next to me. I would smile and wave, but I had so much fake hair on my face I don’t think anyone noticed.

After still more pictures we sang “Silent Night” in Japanese (I faked it). Then they ushered me out of there and I was back in my civilian clothes in 20 minutes. Thanks to double sided tape I lost quite a bit of eyebrow hair, but overall it was a success. Too much fun.

I’m sitting here dressed as Santa Claus waiting for the apartment complex ladies to knock on my door. I thought it would be a good time to write an entry for the blog.

It’s finally the weekend, and Kuniko and I got to sleep in a little today before she had to go off to work. Yesterday was a nice, easy day. Work went well (only a half day for me!) and then I came home and bought a DVD for us to watch – it’s one of our favorite movies – Team America: World Police.

We ate sushi and watched the movie and went to bed early last night. We skipped the bath and instead opted for the warm bed.

Once I finish my Santa gig I’m going to spend time cleaning the house and then relax a little bit. We may go over to Himeji to party with Carrie tonight – not sure if that will happen, though.

A full Santa report later on!

I’m wrapping up a week of half days because of the student exam period. I’m going in, having a cup of cocoa, heating up by the big kerosene heaters, and then studying for about four hours. Then I’m out the door and on to household chores and some relaxation at home. It’s nice to get a chance to catch up around the house.

Today I organized the photos that we got back from the wedding place. I put them into some sort of order and in the next few days we’ll go looking for an album or albums that can handle the capacity that we’re talking about.

Tonight Kuniko got home a little early so we went shopping together for some vegetables for a stir fry. Afterwards we walked over to make a reservation at Kentucky Fried Chicken for our Christmas eve dinner. There’s just two of us, so we only need four pieces of chicken to go along with the fondue that we’re going to do. Unfortunately they are only accepting reservations for these giant sets for big families, and so we’re left with the daunting task of waiting in line for fried chicken on Christmas eve. Crazy.

Strangely I’ve been really tired lately, so I might hit the sack early tonight. Kuniko is parked in the kotatsu watching TV, and we’re both looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow is Friday – finally.

Last night on the way home from Kobe, something weird happened. We were walking over to the vending machine before the next Sanyo train showed up. We suddenly noticed a crazy lady, making weird sounds, holding a cigarette, and kind of chasing some other lady around. The other lady was trying to get away, but the platform was crowded and the crazy lady kicked her a few times. People all around looked shocked and stood back, just in case the crazy lady went after them.

Kuniko and I went for the nearest train conductor, but by the time we explained the situation and brought him over, the crazy lady was propped up on a wall doing nothing but staring into space. The conductor looked at her for a while, and then just shrugged and went back to his train.

When the next train came, everyone got on board and watched the crazy lady standing there spacing out as we pulled out of the station.

What a strange situation. Obviously things are different here in Japan. If the crazy lady started kicking me or Kuniko I would probably have had to do something physical to keep her away and protect ourselves. The lady who was getting kicked just tried to escape. Either way, the crazy lady was dangerous to other people – why is she walking around loose?

There’s (comparatively) a lot of crazy people walking around Japan that probably should be in an institution somewhere. There is a crazy guy that stands on the Sanyo platform all day long – he must buy a ticket in the morning and just stand there. He was this strange smile but he doesn’t really look at anyone, he just spaces out. Anyway, it makes you think about some of the more subtle differences between America and Japan.

This morning we slept in a little bit. Since we weren’t making bento lunches today we enjoyed a little extra sleep. I could still taste the sake on my breath from the night before. Yuck.

I was at school early again, and the place was quiet, and warm thanks to the heaters. I heard from Yamamoto sensei that they left around 10:30 from the yakitori the night before, and that they did get a chance to chat with some of the regulars before they left. I was glad about that.

Two of the youngest teachers in the first year group, Ageshi sensei and Matsumoto sensei, came in this morning with bags of stuff. They had spent the last three days in China, and they brought lots of souvenirs. I was totally surprised – I didn’t know anything about the trip. As it turns out, Matsumoto sensei took two years of Chinese in college, so they were able to get by without a guide. It sounded like a fantastic trip, and I can’t wait to see the photos. I scored a couple of Chinese Snickers bars as omiyage, and we are all drinking authentic Chinese oolong tea, which is in a box strangely similar to Lipton tea sporting the English phrase “Iron Buddha Tea Bag!” on the side.

I wrapped up a project to update the school brochure, and so now I don’t have much else that I am required to do the rest of the week. I’ll be able to spend some time studying and relaxing, and that is a very welcome thing.

As I was leaving I talked to the vice principal about my hours during the exam week. I thought it would be a good idea to clarify what my hours have been like, and I think it was good for both of us to have a talk. He had been thinking that I should stay until two or three p.m. during exams, but after crunching the numbers it is more like noon on exam days. I took advantage of his newfound enlightenment and left early.

I went into Kobe early, bought a textbook, looked unsuccessfully for a DVD player that will play American DVDs, and then met up with Kuniko. We walked together to the wedding place and picked up a huge bag of photos, and then we walked all the way to Kitano to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Graciani.

It has been more than a year since we ate at Graciani – the last time was my birthday. We had really been missing it. The place was pretty quiet, and we sat down really hungry and left really full. The meal was delicious. We started off with little pie appetizers stuffed with different vegetables, then had some really tasty rolls filled with crab, peppers and cream. Next up was sweet potato soup, and then we had some sauteed fish with mushrooms. The main course for me was tender pork with little white beans that I couldn’t identify, floating in a sweet mustard sauce with vegetables. Kuniko went with the beef which I ended up getting about 30% of. It was so good.

We had a cheesecake for dessert with fresh fruit and homemade chocolate ice cream, and then we hit the road and walked gingerly back to the station. The train was starting to get full with rush hour traffic, but we weren’t too crowded in there.

When we got back we did a bit of shopping at Ito Yokado, and then looked at the pictures. I have to say that the professional pictures really look great. We’ve got almost 400 pictures, and we’ll have to sort them out and get them organized. There are some awesome photos in there. I’ll work on that a little bit tomorrow during the afternoon – I get to leave early the rest of the week!