July 31, 2007
this is it...
thank you. first and foremost, a big thank you to angela for hosting it for two years, and letting me keep my 11mb nook in her 2gig cranny. to japan/clair/everyoneinjapan for making it all possible. and to all of you for reading my ramblings. clearly i was doing something right if i could hold your attentions to either subscribe to my rss feed or simply bookmark this page. it's always brought me great joy to discover that someone new whom i didn't expect was reading this blog and it only motivated me moreso to try and keep it up to date as often as possible. though at times i know it was slow, i'm glad to say though that i've kept it drama free and only about the fun instances that i've had in japan that i will always remember and keep close to me always.
but this is the last entry for my blog.
becuase by this time tomorrow, or even more likely, by the time you read this i'll actually be home.
not my apartment in fuji japan home, i mean home home.
in my own home, in my own bed, with family, with friends, with oscar, with trash cans.
i've more or less spent the last few weeks saying my goodbyes to everyone whom i wanted to say goodbye to, and yet even so it feels like i'm forgetting some people. even so, it never really is `goodbye` is it. it's more of a `see you later` kind of feeling to it.
it's hard to actually imagine how many lives you can be a part of and how many of theirs can be a part of yours, and that it never really boils down to it until you see what happens when you have to part ways for a potentially infinite amount of time.
but to everyone i've met, and to every place i've been, and to every thing i've done while here in japan, it's almost surreal that this day has finally come; my last day in japan.
at this time two years ago, i arrived in japan starry eyed and filled with a sense of motivation i have not felt in a long while. a sense of excitement that begged me to run around to look behind every corner to see if there was something new to discover. though the starryness has faded from my eyes quite some time ago, i still find myself with that sense of curiosity and adventure. almost a kind of wanderlust that has been instilled into my very being just by being here.
but more importantly, to me anyways.
as eager as i was to start anew and see what life here had in store for me, there was a slight twang of doubt, a small nagging quesetion of whether or not i could do it, if i could survive. if the very things that i had hoped to accomplish before i came to japan and even then the things i hoped to have accomplished while in japan always worried me in the sense of that i might find myself on this day with a sense of, well, regretting japan.
and as ominous, for lack of a better word really, as that may seem, i find myself here at work on my very last full day with my bags overstuffed and possibly breaking and no real clue how i'm going to get everything home, i can sit here with one of the largest grins on my face knowing that,
i did it.
p.s. i won every one of those bets.
p.p.s. i'm just sad no one actually put any money on them :[.
p.p.p.s. with a heavy heart, and a big hug.
-jeff
Posted by Jeff at 12:48 PM | Comments (2)
July 30, 2007
not quite over yet
at the end of my iaido enkai last night, my sensei offered to take me fishing in the bay near fuji. he told me that he'd pick me up at 3:00am to go and that we'd be back in time by 6:00am or so.
i couldn't fall asleep till about 1:30am last night, and woke up an hour later to go fishing...
we only caught one fish.
and it was a baby.
and at first i was thinking of highly suggesting that we throw it back from whence it came as to, you know, not overfish and what not. then i also remembered that my teacher got 4 hrs of sleep, took his boat, bought ice, and stayed up for two to three hours with me trying to catch fish...
i kept my mouth shut haha.
anyways after that i got back, passed out for an hour again as i was headed up to tokyo to meet up with masaya for the last time.
to my joy and surprise he brought his senpai, hirayama san (or yasu) and his wife (orie). and let me tell you, i haven't seen masaya in a year since he left for germany a year ago around this time. he invited me to nagano to go snow boarding and always opened his door if we needed a place to crash in tokyo. for just that alone, i am grateful. but more importantly he's been an amazing friend and genuine about his effort and want to speak english and be my friend as well.
we had lunch, went shopping, played mario kart with the four of us (awesome btw!) and went to shoot pool.
which i think was the highlight.
we played 2v2 and it was me and hirayama san and masaya and hirayama san's wife. yasu and i were the underdogs, going 0-2 (no thanks to me, the f-up count is me 3 and him 1 lol), but with a turn of events (his wife sunk the 8 ball on the second shot), and quite possibly a miracle shot from yasu san, we tied it up 2-2 and could leave it happy knowing that we (yasu and i) were not completely creamed.
some of the most fun i've had in a long time, honest.
then we made our way up to nerima, where for 4 straight times, the elusive katsu shop has, well, eluded me. literally.
i also learned about this place from yasu a year and some change ago.
the story behind it is that melissa and i came up here after recontracting orientation and we... ended up not ordering the katsu (even though we thought we did)... and then the next time mel and i and chris found it was closed, and then mel, chris, annabelle, and i found it was closed, and then (though i can't remember) but i have this feeling that a fourth time it was closed as well, but i FINALLY got my katsu!!!
huzzah!
and it was absolutely delicious.
but one thing really got to me that i didn't even realize.
for you see i thought that masaya was in tokyo just to look for a job and that he's been here for a long time... and then he told me that he came out here, all the way from nagano, just to come see me.
and you know what else he did? even though it was completely out of the way, he stayed on the train with me to shinagawa and even waited for my train.
that's the kind of amazing guy he is and i only hope that all of you guys reading this will only get a chance to someday meet him.
he's an amazing friend who i'll never be able to forget, and the night that i got to share with them as my final night in tokyo was some of the best fun that i've been able to have in japan and i'm glad it was with them.
though i do admit that my biggest regret was that i didn't take any pictures while we were shooting pool
you know those moments where you and some good friends have a long good laugh that goes on for a long time, only to find all of you with teary eyes, difficulty breathing, a pain in your sides and just the greatest feeling of contentment afterwards?
that's what the whole night was like.
Posted by Jeff at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2007
forever indebted
tonight was my iaido farewell enkai.
as i said before, my only real regret is that i could not stay another year with these wonderful people.
however.
i also realize that coming back home is what's best for me at my current time in life. i need to come home, i need to touch base, i want to continue moving forward in my life, and as much as i love jet, it does not help me accomplish that aspect of my life.
but there's something you all really need to understand.
that before i found this group, almost a year ago, my friend ryan recommended that i join a cultural aspect of japan, that i could not leave without having do so. but nothing seemed right. i tried taiko for a few weeks, however their pace didn't seem to allow new comers to find their place amongst the experienced. desparately i tried finding other medians that not only focused on japanese culture, but also my own interest.
and that's when i was introduced to iaido. that's when i met these absolutely amazing people for the last 7 months. people such as usasmi sensei, watanabe san, iketani san who took me under their influence to start from the very beginning and teach me everything i would need to know. who told me when i was in error (truly the sign of great teachers), and more so caring that i succed at what i did. if any of you ever get the chance to meet these people, i implore you to spend time with them and talk to them, for i can guarantee you'll learn something.
i am forever grateful to this opportunity that was presented to me, and as i said before, my only regret is that another year could not have passed with these people.
thank you. for everything. for giving me a chance. for teaching me. for letting me experience a part of your culture to the fullest and for caring that i understood it and did well in it.
i'll always remember you guys for you will probably never fully understand what you all have meant to me.
Posted by Jeff at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2007
one of the most amazing things about language is...
that if what you want to say comes from the heart, everyone can understand it, regardless of the language it's spoken.
tonight i had my farewell enkai from my teachers at yoshi shou. though only 5 teachers showed up, they were 5 teachers that i was incredibly close to; fukushima sensei, tajima sensei, tomono sensei, oya sensei, and goto sensei.
now most of you may know them from a lot of my stories, but tonight was different. they all said thank you for the last two years, but that wasn't the thing that got to me the most, and i can't quite place my finger on it.
after awhile, and a few pints, i said that i wanted to say something. i told each one of them why they were special to me, why they meant a lot to me, and more importantly that because of amazing people like you, i could have come this far. i don't really know how to describe in words how i felt, but i had to pause many times to stop myself from crying. i once thought of how happy i would be to leave this stinky little town of mine, but tonight i found it so impossible to tell them that i'm leaving even though everyone knew.
even though i knew.
i'm really am glad to have stayed a second year. i'm really am glad to have had the opportunity to meet these wonderful people. and i'm really thankful that these people were the group of japanese people that i was able to meet during my tenure here. it may not have been perfect or ideal, but what situation is you know?
so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. i know that i've been saying it a lot, but i've meant it everytime i say it.
thank you. i wish you all the best in your futures, and thank you all for the wonderful experience that i will forever remember as my time in japan.
i never liked 'goodbyes.' i never will to be honest. but i guess way to put is this:
this is not 'goodbye,' this is 'see you later.'
Posted by Jeff at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2007
感謝しています。。。
i had my last iaido lesson tonight, and i was honestly touched...
it's been a great 7 months, and i've had a fantastic (said with a british accent) time! a big thank you to usami sensei for taking me under his wing, for showing me a part of japanese culture that i was so desparately seeking, for taking time out of his day to help me get my uniform and talking with me, a big thanks to watanabe san and iketani san for teaching me one on one, and a thank you to john for inviting me to participate.
my greatest regret in leaving japan, is that i only had 7 months with this wonderful group, but i am forever grateful for those 7 months at the same time.
お世話になりました。
Posted by Jeff at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2007
what to say?
what to say indeed.
last night was ryan's last night in japan. though he isn't leaving till the 26th, he's heading to tokyo as i'm writing this.
now the thing is, i know it's not the last time i'm going to see him cause, well, i'm flying to wisconsin 8/4 to drive down to tuscon with him arriving 8/10, but, well...
if you know me fairly well, then you know this will shock you a bit (in a good way of course), that the two people that i've met on jet that i've bonded the closest with were not asian at all. i mean don't get me wrong, i have a fair share of asian friends here, but ryan was (cause he left) the kind of guy who almost felt like family. i mean we've traveled all over south east asia together, we've done trips to tokyo, kamakura, nikko, we've chatted on end, karaoked for 4 hrs, eaten till we felt like dying, and more or less done it all.
i don't think words i can say here will describe just how amazing and how important our friendship is to me, and i know this all sounds cheesey, but i really do mean every word of it.
even though i know i'll see him in 10 days, i want to wish him the best in his life as a grad student at ua, and hope nothing but good things for him. he's been an amazing friend whom i've had the great privelage of getting to know him far beyond the shallow layers of acquaintances.
and i look forward to our road trip across the country.
oh yeah, i know what to say now.
thank you.
Posted by Jeff at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2007
today is just absolutely gorgeous!
just got back from climbing mt. fuji with aga.
we started out at 10pm taking a total of about 6.5 hrs to reach the top, stopping 1.5-2 hrs at the rest stops inbetween mostly because we didn't want to wait at the top; which is freezing if you didn't know.
oh yeah, and it was pouring rain and windy as hell ;P BUT there was one really nice moment when the clouds parted and you could see the stars, twas nice.
not much to say except that i've been up for about 26 hrs, and still running on a bit of an o2 high.
all in all, glad neither of us had altitude sickness, and glad we both got to finally do it.
we're both alive, in one piece, well minus the times i 'died' about 11.5 times and her 5.5 times (slipping on the rocks, and falling on our arses), i swear my ankles and knees are completely shot..., and the time when we completely went off trail with a group of japanese tourists and a veteran climber (3 times she said), but eventually forged our way back!
but despite the rain and wind, we got to see a sunrise and a feeling of accomplishment... and finding that there is a post office at the TOP of mt. fuji.
you've got to be kidding me.
but as we made our way down, and an interesting sense of comradery overcame most everyone on that mountain. that we were all bound into this one crazy idea that `hey, we can scale mount fuji!` whether it be coming to the top together with the veterans, the hardcore groups who are dressed from head to toe with rain gear and head lamps and full rucksacks, or greeting each other on the way down from the youngest of children to the oldest of grandparents, to the other foreigners and the japanese self-defense force (who are prime examples of politeness and respect for those older than you), or from returning from your all night trek and seeing all the eager faces tackle the monumental task that you just finished not so long ago.
there was this genuine-ness of everyone's personalities and demeaner that put nothing but the largest grin on my face as i realize that i truly am going to miss all of this as the days roll down.
and finally after the long journey back, i parted ways with my white k-swisses, the shoes that have been with me for the last two years, who have seen just as much as i have, who have climbed the great wall, scaled the temples of angkor, walked along the streets of thailand, and back again, have been retired into a bin outside of fujinoimya station labeled `burnable.` perhaps the only real fitting end.
Posted by Jeff at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2007
a few points of good news!
quite possibly the best one i've heard so far: my brother is going to be there when i get home! that really made my day.
the runner up, but still good: after a year abroad in germany, the masaya is BACK! hopefully will get to see him before i leave.
the shocker: dad sold the bright gold 1985 dodge caravan le. it's gone!!!!! ZOMG!!! /disbelief!
...it only took 22 years! damn thing just wouldn't die.
update!:
bluebook value was at $322. in case any of you were wondering...
11 days. see you all soon!
Posted by Jeff at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2007
元気で
today was the last day of school for the first quarter.
in addition to every beginning and ending of each term, the school likes to do opening and closing ceremonies respectively, but this time there was an extra little slot for me.
it was for my farewell speech.
i told them all that the only reason why i didn't want to go back was because of them. that english is within their reach and that all they have to do is try. that i hope that they have found a place in their hearts for me because they all have a place in mine...
and then i spent the last three hours or so talking with my students, as many as i could find, taking 13809752908520937520935782035 pictures in the process... everyone telling me to write, thank you, to take care, to try my best, to come back, to not go back to america...
it's hard to believe that two years is finally coming to a close neh.
it was a good day today.
one that i'll never forget.
Posted by Jeff at 12:33 PM | Comments (1)
July 19, 2007
i needed this
just something to remind me that there are fun times back home to be had!
me: 880 during games is a bitch eh
mike: yeah
me: you going to carpool with mike or something?
mike: nah
mike: mike's coming from san mateo
mike: hmm
mike: i should leave now
mike: to make sure i get a parking spot at the bart station
mike: yeah i better leave
me: oh you're off to fremont then?
mike: nono
mike: i mean
mike: i'm gonna park at the oakland coliseum bart parking lot
mike: so i don't have to pay for parking at the coliseum parking
me: i... should have known
me: lol
mike: lol
and we'll leave this one anon... for obvious reasons. but it does answer the question: why do people really want an iphone?
anon: zomg hello from the toilet at work!
me: LOL
me: how long have you been waiting to do that?
anon: a while hhaha
me: just make sure to wash your hands
me: though, knowing you, you probably have your iphone in a sort of anti-scratch film thin case eh?+
anon: psh, my poo is super sterile
anon: not yet actually
me: lol
me: i think i need to quote that
me: just cause
me: anon of course...
you know, even i don't want to know. :P
Posted by Jeff at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
i don't want to leave :[
though one of my kids (aoi) just came up to me and asked if she could take a picture with me before i left, and she was really shy and nervous about asking me... :[
Posted by Jeff at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
the last day, and 500yen... epilogue.
i passed out at 3:50am, and woke up at 5:25am. i grabbed my stuff, said `thanks` to ryan, and headed home. i don't remember a lot of the train ride. when i got back, i showered, and headed to work.
final train ticket home: 500yen.
total spent: 500yen.
man i am tired.
Posted by Jeff at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
1 day and 11k earlier... part 5/5
last day, here we go!
like i did last year around this time, i met my japanese teacher from ucsd, itou sensei, in nagoya. this year, she is in japan again, and again, i made my way out to visit her.
i think the best i could say was that it was really really good to see her again. kind of, another year come full circle. we were able to talk a lot, and mninus her dismay at my japanese getting worse (serious, i've completely forgotten things i should have remembered first year), we had a really good time; i introduced her to the joys of unagi pie!
though, i do apologize that i spent a lot of the time talking...
but a big thank you to her for helping me figuring stuff out and a big thank you for lending me an ear. i was, and am really happy that i got a chance to meet up with her again, especially to be able to in japan nonetheless! we had a really late lunch, and i bought some omiyage for my teachers as i said goodbye with a hug and boarded the last shink that i would ride this time in japan.
subway fare back: 150yen.
late late lunch: 1000yen.
omiyage: 1050yen.
shink ticket: 7560yen.
but for me, it's not quite over yet...
upon arriving at mishima, i transferred to the izuhakone to finish the final leg of my trip. a dinner and karaoke session with ryan at our favorite restaurant owned by our friend teru, tony's to da max.
izuhakone ticket: 210yen.
now i was completely unprepared for what happened next.
when we walked in, we were greeted by souichiro and teru, but for once it was a serious kind of greeting, almost a finality to it all. he lead us to our usual seats and we found two packages, three items in each written out towards ryan and me.
teru and souichiro told us to open them, and we found a good luck charm that teru said would protect us so long as we kept it with us. a t-shirt that none of us knew how to read, but we agreed that the meaning of it all was that it's `too all the good friends that we've met and all the great memories we've shared, and that it never is `goodbye,` only `see you later`` and the last bit, that almost moved me to tears. almost. teru gave each of us two cards and wrote a personal message on both.
we chatted the night away, almost 5 hours there until we had to say goodbye.
he told us this meal was on the house.
but ryan and i weren't finished yet. what insued was a really good reason why concerts are usually no more than 2 hours long.
we karaoked for four hours finishing at 3am!
and it was good.
though it wasn't free, but it was relatively cheap: 1700yen.
it's the first time i missed the last train home, the first time i voluntarily took the first train home, and the closest i've pulled an all nighter in japan.
we made it back to ryan's place, and i promptly passed out.
total spent: 10670yen.
Posted by Jeff at 10:47 AM | Comments (1)
2 days and 25k earlier... part 4/5
almost there! bear with me on this one!
annabelle and i got up early again, as chris opted to sleep in again. we made our way to inari shrine in hopes that the day would be good enough to visit the fushimi inari shrine and it's famous 1000 tori gates or so. if any of you have seen memoirs of a geisha, this that scene when she's a child and running around, well, 1000 tori gates.
breakfast at a small french bread shop: 140yen.
train ticket to inari station: 140yen.
upon arriving at the station we exited to find only that we are greeted by a HUGE tori gate.
1
we continued up the path only to find another tori gate.
2
beginning our hike, we soon ran into the scene from memoirs of a geisha: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15... i got bored around of counting around here. :P
in summary: the maps there of the local area are absolutely useless. you will not find where the heck you are at any given point in time, let alone the correct path to follow in hopes of finding your destination. there are no signs, just, a lot and i do stress `a lot` of tori gates... and every path more or less looks the same with a stone walkway and, well, a lot of gates.
oh yeah, and the punks sell 500 ml bottles of everything for 250 yen.
i bought one btw: 250yen.
annabelle and i walked around and were practically lost (i.e. maps useless) until we finally found ourselves back where we started, 2 hours later and unanimously agreed:
if anyone ever asked `oh, did you see the [insertwhateverisfamousthere]?`
we'd say `yes.`
making our way back to kyoto station we had lunch at an italian place before meeting up with chris. we walked the nishki market (packed and free samples galore!) and chilled in a book store (i read my favorite book, the things they carried by tim o'brien) while having danta! twas a happy way to end this trip by just relaxing and not feeling in a rush to get anywhere.
train ride back: 140yen.
lunch: 2000yen. <--- we were STARVING!
subway fares: 590yen.
and finally back to kyoto station, with bags in hand, and for chris to accomplish is ultimate goal.
now a little background information: chris LOVES ramen. he fell in love with it (as far as i'm aware) when he arrived in japan, and it is his meal of choice. that being said, we told him in the isetan nearby, there's a floor of ramen shops.
his ultimate goal: eat 3 bowls.
which he did might i add.
annabelle and i joined him for the first bowl, but afterwards we went to have green tea parfait...
chris joined us an hour later, quite possibly the happiest i've seen him, ever.
dinner that night: 450yen.
we headed back to the station where we bid each other farewell; for them, they were heading back to work and i was off to local it to nagoya in preparation for my continuing trip, like i said, quite possibly the busiest weekend for me, ever.
oh yeah, and because of japan, omiyage: 2600yen.
with that, i jumped the train to nagoya, local, and found myself there at 10:40pm: 2520yen.
running through my memory, i found my capsule hotel, grabbed a quick dinner at some random katsu place, and promptly passed out, giving into the exhaustion that i had been fending off for the last three and a half days.
capsule: 3900yen.
cheap dinner: 1200yen.
total spent: 13930yen.
Posted by Jeff at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
3 days and 33k earlier... part 3/5
we all agreed upon sleeping in today as the day before was just a bit much.
though chris continued to sleep in heh.
annabelle and i headed back up to nazenji to get some pictures (we took a shot in front of nazenji, and, i kid you not, 3 groups took the exact same shot after us!) as well as walk the path of philosophy to ginkakuji. and guess what! BLUE SKY!!! we have a picture of said triumphant moment!
breakfast at conbini: 140yen.
subway fare: 250yen.
the walk was pretty cool. i mean it was along this old canal that had both this paved walkway and a kind of cobblestone walkway
with the japanese maples and cherry blossom trees canopying the surrounding areas created quite the effect. the small shops and cafes that lined the walk way before ginkakuji left you with a very mom and pop homey feeling that gave you a warm, almost nurturing embrace that made the humidity not as awful as it was.bottom line, it was nice.
there was one cafe, that if you're walking north from nazenji, that it smelled of baked apples and cinnamon, and it had a red canopy with the words `coffe & cake` written above with alabaster walls. cakes were 150yen, but we never had time, it's about halfway up the walk on your left. i hope someone (or myself one day) gets a chance to go there.
and finally we arrived at ginkakuji: 500yen.
walking around it, there was a nice rustic pavillion near a pond that i thought made a good shot. we walked around the garden a bit after that, and personally i thought it was gorgeous. i really really really love japanese maples and how they canopy over everything, almost more efficiently than american maples (if there is such a thing lol). but i think the conversation we have sums it up:
me: wow this is really nice!
annabelle: yeah, you ready to head out?
me: wait what? we haven't even seen the silver pavillion yet!
annabelle: uh... yeah we have.
me: when?
annabelle: remember that rustic old pavillion near the pond?
me: ...
annabelle: ...uh, yeah.
me: can we go back so i can get a picture in front of it? :D
next up was lunch. and i have to say, it was all kind of awesome! an udon shop called `omen` that is located behind the bus parking lot. they serve udon sets where everything is given separately: soup, noodles, veggies, sesame seeds, all that good stuff! i think pictures speak a lot better than i can...
lunch at omen: 1250yen.
btw, annabelle REALLY likes gobou.
i mean i do too... but she ate it all :[
(i'm just giving her a hard time, i had my share heh)
next on the list was kinkakuji, the golden pavillion, almost, the symbol of kyoto (in my eyes anyways). we jumped the bus to meet chris there; kyoto has quite possibly one of the poorest metro systems in japan that i've seen... BUT to compensate they have by far one of the best bus systems i've seen!
bus ride: 220yen. <---- good call on that btw annabelle!
souvenirs: 3000yen.
we met up with chris at kinkakuji and made our way to the gold (painted, seriously) pavillion to take the picture that everyone and their mother takes when they're there. serious. i mean everyone AND their mother was there!
i will say this much though, i liked ginkakuji a lot more than kinkakuji. i mean not only is the surrounding garden nicer to look at, but the fact that it's not silver, a much more rustic, authentic kind of look fit in a lot more with the surrounding areas than kinkaku which stuck out a bit like a sore thumb. i mean it was nice, but silver wins this one.
kinkakuji: 300yen.
heading south, we followed another one of the kyoto walks towards ryoanji temple, which apparently has another famous rock garden.
ryoanji temple: 500yen.
to be honest, it was nice, i still preferred nazenji a lot more because it was smaller, but i mean let's be honest, the real reason people come here is to, well, sleep.
now off to arashiyama for annabelle's adventure! last time she was here she got a taste of tofu ice cream, and was really looking forward to coming back here for that. so we boarded this little private train (i have a picture of me on the tracks, that's how little this train line is) and made our way over. the big plus about this train is that no matter how far you go, it's a set price.
/co-jrlearnsomethingfromthis!-ugh: 200yen.
upon arrival we headed south towards the bridge only to find that it wasn't there. we were losing daylight and all was looking in despair until we headed back across the bridge towards the station we arrived at and annabelle had a moment of, er what's that word... you know, when you all of a sudden are able to remember something?
i really need to get out of this country...
anyhoo, we made our way across and suddenly she sprinted ahead exclaiming, `HERE IT IS!!!!`
tofu ice cream: 250yen.
now i know what you're thinking... tofu ice cream? and i know what else you're thinking... yes, it very much so tastes like tofu.
it's not bad, really.
we made our way back to shi-jo for the gion festival in hopes to find a tonkatsu place (ahhh comfort food). the gion festival was absolutely nuts though, i don't think i've ever seen so many people packed along the streets before, but after a long and tiring search, we found what we were looking for! mmm katsu <3.
train ride back: 200yen.
katsu: 1300yen.
finally we wrapped up the night along the river side. it was a gorgeous night with performers all along the banks, but especially this one trepe that performed a kind of jazz that i must say, really really fit the atmosphere; almost like it was speaking to me.
p.s. thanks for the beer chris. twas good.
total spent: 8120yen.
Posted by Jeff at 09:50 AM | Comments (1)
July 18, 2007
4 days and 62k earlier... part 2/5
awoken by a 4:05am wakeup call, but it's all ok, you want to know why (not like you have a choice^^)?
cause i got to ride the NOZOMOI for the first time AND aboard the brand spanking new N700 shink BABY!
/dies! and it has that new shink smell!
/diesagain!
just ask chris or annabelle, i was giddier than a japanese high school student who just found out that new disney merchandise dropped!
but twas all for naught! as we pulled into kyoto station and tackled the great beast which has eluded me for two years in a never ending chase across the isles of JAPAN (ok not really, but bear with me)!!!
cost of shink ticket: 13000yen.
after grabbing an early breakfast, we set off!
breakfast: 380yen.
first on the list, a temple north of kyoto station. h...something or another... (yes this is actually how cultured i am), but followed by 1001 and buddhas! 1001 was cool, it was a singular large buddha surrounded by 500 similar buddhas on each side, each more or less the same, as well as deities in front of the army of said buddhas! too bad we couldn't take any pictures though.
1001 buddhas: 600yen.
making our way northward, we found ourselves up at kiyomizudera temple, the only temple from japan nominated to be one of the new 7 wonders of world; my bet is because it has that ultraviolet purifier where the 3 fountains are... i could be wrong though.
chris drank from the far right fountain, i the middle, and the little 5 year old girl after me spit it all out haha.
kiyomizudera temple: 300yen.
lunch: 1000yen.
souvenir at a really really nice pottery shop: 4200yen.
we grabbed a quick lunch and headed up through gion, the yasaka shrine, and through maruyama park where chris proceeded to make friends with the ducks by sheltering them from the typhoon rains that were hitting us.
he then proceeded to tip the umbrella onto said sheltered duck, drenching him (didn't check to be honest) thorougly... this lead to the question:
do ducks get annoyed by the rain?
making our way north, we found ourselves at chion-in temple, which though i went, soon learned afterwards that it was a lot larger than we had anticipated (but i think most of it was under construction). in the pouring rain, most everything starts to lose a bit of appeal seeing as how it means standing longer in the rain (i love rain though).
our final stop of the day was nazenji temple, where, i must say, this was probably my faovrite of all of them. nazenji is noted for their zen rock gardens and with the ambiance (love that word) of the rain it was just so tranquil and calming that, quite literally, chris fell asleep.
nazenji temple: 500yen.
with that, we headed back to our hostel and checked in.
subwayfares: 1000yen.
hostel checkin: 6300yen.
where we proceeded to find a place to have dinner. everyone seemed to be up for homestyle cooking so i made some phone calls that went like this:
guy: hello, thanks for calling, this is waraji-te.
me: yes, good evening, i was wondering if we could make a reseravtion please (inet said to have a jp speaker to make reservations, i was nominated in a purely democratic election).
guy: sorry, we're full.
me: ok thanks. /hangsup.
me: yeah, so they're full.
chris: well what about tomorrow?
me: ... <--- why didn't i think of that?
guy: hello thanks for calling, this is waraji-te.
me: yes, um, good evening... you've never heard me before and i you, but i was wondering if i could make a reservation for a party of 3 tomorrow night?
guy: ...sorry, we're closed tomorrow night.
me: ok... thanks. /hangsup.
me: yeah... they're closed lol.
annabelle: well what about monday night?
me: ... <--- why didn't i think of that... again!?
guy: hello thanks for calling, this is waraji-te.
me (faking an accent): hello, yes, good evening to you sir, would you happen to be able to take a reservation for 3 on the evening of the day that is known as monday?
guy: mmm... sorry, we're closed for the national holiday.
me: i see... thank you again. /hangsup.
we eneded up on indian food, ajanta, A+++ btw!
dinner: 1700yen.
total spent today: 29000yen.
Posted by Jeff at 03:54 PM | Comments (1)
5 days and 72k earlier... part 1/5
quite a long weekend, and quite a lot to report upon which i'll try to divy up into a per-day kind of entries! and just for fun, let's see where my money went...
day 1, 7/13:
yes it's friday the 13th, but as my mom said `13 is a lucky number for us chinese.`
whether or not that's true or not, i think i've just settled over accepting that as fact, and thus it has never really bothered me since.
today was the day of the leaver's ceremony for alts (my job) from shizuoka prefecture. naturally we are divided into municipal/private and kencho, well i guess not naturally, but you get the idea.
and in case you were ever wondering, wearing a suit and tie in july, in japan can get really really hot.
so getting back from work, i changed, and headed out the door again to a simple ceremony of the municipal/private jets who are leaving. we were also asked to give a speech in japanese.
bus fare to and back from the station: 600yen.
train fare back and fourth: 710yen.
now i can teach 21 kids, i can teach 41 kids, and i can talk to 50+ of my peers without a hitch, but for some reason, i could not stop shaking as i gave my little 3 minute speech (memorized!) in keigo!
afterwards i headed home, and then up to tokyo where i met annabelle and chris for this really really nifty soba/izakaya spot in ebisu, nakamura gen, that's apparently run out of a normal looking apartment building with no signs or anything. you just walk up to the door and push.
originally we all thought it was a soba specialty shop, but they really only have one soba item on the menu... and a LOT of alcohol.
minus the 3000yen price tag, it was a pretty cool experience.
train ticket to tokyo: 2520yen.
2x unagi pies (for itou sensei, my jp teacher who's visiting family in nagoya now) and some random onigiris and waters for my trip up: 2500yen.
random train fares: 600yen.
oh yeah, and the waitress was cute.
:o
total spent: 9930yen.
Posted by Jeff at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2007
happy 2 year birthday BLOG!
two years ago on this day, i started rambling on about anything that i found interesting or amusing during my time in japan that i thought only i could understand.
little did i realize i actually have quite a few people who enjoy reading my ramblings.
to all of you, thank you for your patience and your (sort of) stalking (just kidding).
big heart for the blog!
Posted by Jeff at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2007
oh happy 365!
the 365th entry of my blog!
a few mondays ago ross got this excellent picture from tokyo, a good scandalous picture... and, like any good chap, we passed it around and all put it on our cell phones.
now that isn't the problem, the problem has occured three times, but i think the best of it has to have been tonight during iaido practice, but first, the other two times!
1. during the interview test, i used my cell as a timer, and as such, when i opened my cell in front of my students... there's that picture.
2. i got a jp message from my iaido sensei and asked my jte to translate it. after awhile i said, 'nm' and pressed 'exit' to which it cheerfully displayed said picture to my jte.
3. and this is the best. at iaido practice tonight, i sat down and my sensei comments on how i'm earlier than usual today and that he sent me a txt. likewise, i reach for my phone and open it to the txt message and as i'm exiting it i notice he's looking over my shoulder.
usami sensei: so... i see you're taking pictures with your phone now!
me: ... yes...
sensei: can i see it?
me: ...
sensei: ...
me: ...no?
sensei: ...
me: ...
sensei: ...
me: ...
sensei: ...
me: ...
sensei: ...
me: ...
sensei: ...
me: ...
...
Posted by Jeff at 11:13 PM | Comments (1)
!!!
i got my shodan!!!!
received it from a 91 year old master of iaido...
and on another note as of 11:43am japan time, i am FINISHED of ALL obligations / responsibilities of my job. all finals are done, all grades are done, all i have to do is sit back, write two speeches and some thank you letters, and finish up my english room project, and i am OUTTA HERE!
and more and more kids are coming up to me and thanking me for all the fun times... and giving me letters...
even though it's only 3 of my kids total who gave me letters :[
/sniff...
Posted by Jeff at 11:06 PM | Comments (1)
it feels kind of like this
this guys is cool. it's what the last two years of my life have kind of felt like, minus the dancing... well dancing in front of the camera.
Posted by Jeff at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
a real update part 2
books:
i finished `travels` by crichton and i have to say, it was a great book, probably one of the best i've ever had a chance to read, and i (seebs more so) HIGHLY recommend that you all take a look when you have the time (or you can just borrow it from me!)
currently i'm reading `the adventures of sherlock holmes` volume 1 of 2, and i must say, it is a fast read, minus the english bits (you know, lift instead of elevator, hoover instead of vacuum), finished up the first story, a study in scarlett, and am almost done with the sign of four.
something amusing:
me: man fuji kind of... you know... smells...
tomono sensei: well, it's kind of like miso.
me: ...
both of us: hahahahaha!
cause you know what it doesn't smell like?
and as ryan asked for, something good:
i gave my final exam to my business english kids today, a small elective class of only 5 kids, all whom i've taught with the year before in oc, and all really good kids.
as the last bell rang, i asked them all to stand up, and gave my last few words of advice to them:
i told them that that they shouldn't listen to english teachers (or any teachers for that fact) who say `you can't do it` or `your level is just low,` that 1. if they believe that they can do it, that they can, and 2. that if their pronunciation and syllables are good, they will have 0 problems and definitely impress everyone they speak english to. and finally that i was happy to have them and how proud of them i was and that i wished them the best in life.
they clapped
and two of them wrote me letters :[
i'm not going to cry...
Posted by Jeff at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
a real update.
on monday night, as i made my usual round towards mnr (monday night ramen), i came down to the platform at fuji station and turned right and saw a kid with headphones on who looked up and we both looked away. and then i thought, wait a minute and we both looked up at each other.
it was manabu!
for those of you who don't know (and i think that's all of you), manabu was a 3rd year student who graduated in march of this year. little side twist, during graduation, i was taking pictures with all the 3rd year students that i got along with or that wanted to take a picture with me, but i could never find manabu.
i mean come on, our daily greeting at school was a handshake, a one handed hug, and a slap on the back (well ass really, but that would sound kind of, you know, three letter word, rhymes with `hey`) heh. i really respect this kid cause he's polite, friendly, and tries really hard at even speaking english to me.
i learned that he's studying ecology at a university in fuji, that his twin brother (didn't know!) is studying the same thing and that his older brother is in gifu studying as well. he's apparently doing really well, though not practicing kendo anymore, and learning french and basketball.
and apparently he's taking 20 classes.
anyways, with a quick picture from my cell (didn't have my digi) i wished him the best of luck on his studies and told him to enjoy the time he has now. he wished me well as well and we parted ways.
though i'm not sure that we'll get a chance to meet again, i am genuinely glad to have been able to see him one last time before i left japan.
i wish him the best, and know he'll go far in life :)
Posted by Jeff at 10:29 AM | Comments (1)
July 07, 2007
dad thinks
i sound like guy.
what do you guys think?
oh yeah, and the magic trick he does is pretty nifty too.
Posted by Jeff at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)
July 06, 2007
wow
ok i think last night had to be the testament to `lost in translation` so to speak.
so as most of you know i've been studying iaido and i'm hoping to get shodan for it before i leave for japan. i txt'd my teacher before i dressed asking if it was alright to take the exam next week as i didn't think i'm ready for it this week. anyways, i've been practicing for about half a year and last night my teacher finally says `do you want to try for it tonight?`
keep in mind i said earlier that i asked for permission for next week.
so i thought `sure, why not.`
but first a little back story: about a month ago, my teacher gave me:
1. a katana diagram labeling all parts of the katana to which i had to memorize
2. a smaller sheet of the names of the six forms i had to do
3. an official request to attempt shodan
so i practiced the form once in front of the two other students (watanabe san, and i honestly can't remember her name, but she drives a 318i... and that's just minus points). and then i finally got down to doing it. upon finishing though, he asked me to take the written exam, i.e. the parts of the katana... or so i thought.
i left about 2 spaces blank and then i noticed another section which i thought was necessary for nidan, or the second level.
nope... i was wrong.
he sat down and told me what i had to write down the form names, and i admitted that, well, i didn't really study the names of the forms at all. so we sat there in a bit of an awkward silence, and at that moment, i realized:
he wasn't showing me the name of the forms just to show me what i had to remember. he was showing me the names of the forms because i was going to be tested on them!
good. job. me.
Posted by Jeff at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2007
ok, really really over this time
it's official.
i have taught my last class (the last time i said this, i meant more as in official ciriculum) but this was it.
it was 15 home room and as i tried to find words to say how i felt, one of my loudest students, hideto, started to clap, and everyone else got to clapping... i was touched. i won't lie... this is only the second time it's happened and i'm glad to know that my time here wasn't in vane...
that you get this sense of closure, from that first day i stepped into the classroom to this final day two years later, it's almost all come full circle, and all that remains is 26 little days...
Posted by Jeff at 04:20 PM | Comments (1)
if only it were so simple
me: so asked my vp for a letter of rec
me: and he said `write it yourself, then we'll look at it and sign`
me: any ideas where to start?
ryan: To Whom It May Concern: Jeffrey C. Chu kicks ass at life. That is all. Sincerely, Akira Suzuki, Vice-Principal of Yoshiwara Commercial High School.
me: lol
ryan: seriously though
me: what do you write about since i don't really work with them?
ryan: Do you know how fucking sweet that would be if you got him to sign that and you actually submitted it to a company?
ryan: Do you have access to your successor's app? In it are his letter's of recommendation. Use them as a template.
me: i have access to my own letters of rec
ryan: Most rec letters don't stray too much from the same old form of: he's really cooperative, a team-player, yadda yadda.
ryan: Then use those
ryan: and change them to include how you nailed your current job requirements
me: lol
me: DID I?
me: XD
ryan: according to the vice=principal (which is you), you sure did lol
me: LOL
he's so happy when i put him in the blog :).
Posted by Jeff at 09:24 AM | Comments (1)
happy fourth everyone
the date posted says the `5th` but that's japan time, it's the fourth back home.
trust me.
so i know for any of you who've come to read this blog that most of my entries are kind of random bantor of things i've done, little musings of my own, and conversations that got me to laugh, and links that more or less put a smile on my face.
but this time i'm thinking i'll give you guys something a little more serious in tone.
please bear in mind that i'm not really articulate.
last night i had planned to have dinner with brian and albert, but due to brian's test marking and the pouring rain, we all agreed upon a later date to catch up and chew the fat so to speak. that said, i found myself lying on my spongy blue couch (which i still argue is the best couch in the world) with itunes on random and the rain just falling in buckets outside (i love the rain btw).
and then it hit me.
i'm going home.
now you have to understand that last night as i was staring up at my roof, it's never been `you're going home in x months and x days` everytime i look up, but for the first time it was. it was the thought that, as weird as this sounds (to me anyways), two years have passed and now i'll be going home in 27 days.
i was talking to ryan about this and he said, `you think that's nuts, i have 20 days left!` that's just shy of three weeks, but it really put things into perspective.
i'm really leaving, and i know that sounds redundant, but it's not like when i left home for uni, and it's not like when i left uni to come home. this little stinky town has been my home, i've spent the last two years of my life here and now it's all going to come to an end as i pack up the last of my belongings and tie up every lose end here. i've never really just thought about everything in the sense that this is just a page in my life. this has been my home, and despite all the quirks that come with it (damn you shower), i still feel the most at ease here and now i'm on the verge of just letting it go, passing it on to the next guy after me.
all in all, it leaves me with a kind of emptiness, a thought that unlike when i was running through undergrad and everyone tells me that these are going to be the best years of your life, i'm actually aware of it now.
and that makes me sad that it's all coming to a close.
but the thing is, i know this is the time that i should close this chapter in my life, i know what i'm doing is what's best for me, i just can't help but feel a kind of pain that weighs down at the bottom of my heart.
maybe this doesn't make sense to you guys, maybe it does, heck i don't even know if i can really say i even understand my own ramblings.
it's amazing to me how everyday we are imparted with the wisdom and advice of our peers, our seniors, and yet we never really understand them, fully understand them, until you find yourself in a situation that demonstrates that you really don't understand them.
and even words.
i can finally tell each and everyone of you that this truly is the textbook definition of bittersweet.
Posted by Jeff at 09:08 AM | Comments (1)