Holiday vacation- part ii (Taketomi)

I loved the tiny island of Taketomi, about a 15 minute ferry ride from Ishigaki. We were originally trying to make the ferry for the jungle island of Iriomote but somehow missed it, so we ended up taking a short day trip here instead.




Hibiscus and bouganvilleas lined dreamy crushed coral paths, patient, slow-moving water buffalos pulled carts of tourists around, and the sparkling white sand beaches had the clearest waters I have ever seen. The colors of nature seemed to be saturated to the maximum: shiny black cows dotted bright green pastures and the clear blue skies formed a backdrop to the Mediterranean-like red tiled roofs.





The tiny island only has about 350 residents, and the rules for preserving the island are pretty basic- no 2-story structures, no asphalt roads (all roads are made of crushed coral so definitely no street lights!!), no selling of land to outsiders, and all houses must have walls made of natural materials and the traditional red tiled roofs. There are hundreds of "shisa" sculptures on roofs, gateways, and entrances- little lion/dog-like creatures that are supposed to be guarding homes.

Kondoi Beach is a beach that people dream about going to. We laid out on the beach for hours, but I think Paul got pretty burned!! The other beach, Gaiji-hama even had star-shaped sand! (They are actually the dried skeletons of tiny marine creatures).

Thoroughly relaxed, we came back on the ferry and had a fanastic Christmas Eve feast at Garlic Busse, a garlic-themed restaurant. Paul and I exchanged Christmas gifts at midnight- oh so romantic...

Holiday vacation- part iii (Iriomote)

Christmas day!! We tried our luck to go Iriomote again today. It seemed like this island was domed for us from the beginning- we missed the ferry the day before, and unfortunately, the guy we were trying to contact to do zip-tours through the jungle was out of town. Then, the ferry that we wanted to take was cancelled due to rough seas, so we had to take another ferry that went a different route. After waiting another hour or two, we finally got onto the right ferry, where we were tossed around in those choppy waters for the next hour!!! We docked and then were shuffled onto a bus, not knowing where it was going and drove another hour on a winding coastal road (no roads go through the interior of the island). Iriomote is 90% covered with dense jungles and there are few residents. We had no idea what was going on and ended up getting off at the port that we were orignally supposed to arrive at, thinking there would be an information booth we could go to. Apparently not- since the ferries weren't running, no one was working at the port either... A helpful woman found us a map and pointed us in the direction of the Urauchi-gawa, the Amazon-like river that runs through the island. There are boat trips that take tourists to waterfalls and hiking trails deep in the jungle, so we headed off for that. It was a little frustrating not know what was going on but we just started walking. It was a nice way to see the island, I suppose.

We walked about an hour until we finally got to the river's mouth. The guy at the booth told us we had just missed the last 3-hour boat trip that was going to the waterfalls and we could only take the short hour-long river trip (they both cost the same!!) Man, after all that! If the weather/water was warmer, we would've rented kayaks and explored the river on our own, but we settled for the boat ride, admiring the impressive mangroves and cool rock formations. It was nice to relax our tired feet, but it was also a pretty anti-climatic way to see the interior of this jungle that we had heard so much about!

Holiday vacation- part iv (food)

This trip had probably some of the most delicious food I've ever had... However, I was really surprised at the lack of fresh fruit!


We had a lot of the usuals, but somehow they just seemed more tasty, perhaps from the tropical environment we were in.... fried octopus/squid, ice cream, pizza... and then there were some new dishes- we tried a really weird salty seaweed delicacy called "umi budou" (seagrape) nicknamed "puchi puchi" for the sound it makes when each caviar-like "grape" pops in your mouth (also used to describe bubble wrap!). We feasted on Malaysian seafood hotpot, Filipino-style pineapple pork, dim sum, sashimi, and noodles. There were even a few western style cafes which had great drinks (coconut cappuccino), desserts (bananas foster), and bagels!


We tried many of the Okinawan dishes- "yaeyama soba" (noodles served with pork in a clear broth), "goya champuru" (a stir-fry of bitter melon with noodles & eggs), and "rafte", which is fatty, tender slices of pork that has been simmered for so long that it basically falls apart in your mouth... there was another version of this that we had a Garlic themed restaurant that was made with the famous Okinawan beef. I didn't care for the local beer (Orion) so much, and I thought the "awamori" (Okinawan "sake"- it's actually a type of shochu) was nasty. Paul had a few tastings (he said it tasted like scotch) and we even found a bottle of this awamori in a store with a curled up Habu snake at the bottom!!! We ordered "tako raisu" one night, thinking it would be rice with octopus, but no, it was "taco rice"- Mexican-style beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and salsa on a bed of rice.

Our hotel had a free breakfast every morning which I dubbed "bread fest"- it consisted of unlimited coffee/tea and all the bread you would/could want. There were the same few varieties every morning served in big baskets- white, "cheese", "cinnamon"?, and the most interesting- "ben imo"- a bright purple bread made from the purple sweet potato. In addition to the carb fest, scoops of potato salad were also offered, and on Christmas morning, there were even rice rolls with miso soup.

Everyday, we would spend 20 minutes at Hot Spar, the local convenience store- like 7-Eleven but with pretty good, fresh packaged lunches. We would load up on provisions for that day's adventures, buying fruit, drinks, cookies, snacks, and of course, the main meal- lunch. We chose from an assortment of sandwiches to bento boxes of rice with fish, vegetables, fried chicken to noodle salads to onigiri (rice balls).

After dinner one night, we found the Banana Cafe, a very hip bar/lounge/restarant, so we decided to stop in for a drink. I wish we found this place when we got there! It looks like a place right out of Nolita, with the dark wood furniture, candles, broken tile floors, and eclectic menu. I couldn't help but take a picture of the sign outside posting its hours.

One of my favorite snacks (and smells) is of the pancake-like "fish" sweets that are made on the streets throughout the year. They are filled with custard or red bean paste, served hot off the griddle, and just perfect anytime.

Holiday vacation- part v (back in the big cities)

We didn't want to leave our warm paradise! As the plane lifted off from the little island runway on the way back to Osaka, I snapped a few parting shots....






When we flew into Osaka's Itami Airport, we were met with a cold, pouring rain- we both had low blood sugar, our bodies in shock from the huge temperature difference, plus I had left all my Osaka maps and info on the plane... Without any hotel reservations or anything, we tried the "Iove hoteI" thing. After wandering around some shady neighborhoods, we eventually found a very tacky, 80's era hoteI. The amenties were pretty nice- huge room & bathroom, all kinds of lotions and soaps, free porn, karaoke machines, zoned lighting, etc..., but there was a slight skeevy factor there. We did some shopping in the morning (I heart MUJI) and then just wanted to get out of there.





Thank goodness Kyoto is only about 45 minutes away. We found a pretty nice hotel which had slashed its nightly rates 50%, so we decided to stay 2 nights, giving us some time to relax. Back in the "big city", we were having trouble adjusting to the throngs of people and having to wear a coat again, but it was pretty fun to walk into fashionable stores and people watch. After a whole day of shopping, we met up with Jason for drinks and Himalayan/Indian food.... yummy!!! We were saving our energy up for the next day- the Monkey Park!!















The snow started falling in Kyoto the morning we left, but with Bryn's hourly forecast texts, I knew that it had already started snowing the evening before in Miyazu. Since it was also the first day of Japan's busy holiday travel season (the country is shut down from Dec. 29- Jan. 3), the station and trains were packed. We had to stand the whole time, but we had gotten the 2 hour express train, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been... The closer we got to Miyazu, the more beautiful the scenery got. It was a winter wonderland of soft white undulating fields and snow covered trees and tiled rooftops. It's nice to be home....

Busy December weekend!!

The holiday parties came and went.... if I ever hear Mariah Carey's version of "All I Want For Christmas" one more time...... (I used that song as a listen/fill-in-the-blank activity in almost every single one of my classes)....

First came a holiday party for my 2nd year English students- we listened to Christmas songs, made Christmas haikus, played Christmas word games, etc. Many of them had told me that they wouldn't receive Christmas presents, so I gave out wrapped little Christmas goodie bags for each of them and a mixed CD for the winners of the games. The students were ecstatic over the little candy canes (Paul brought what seemed like hundreds of them in his suitcase).


The big Miyazu High School "enkai", the faculty-only party was held at the Amanohashidate Hotel on Friday night, after school. It was a fairly expensive event- we each had to pay to go- it was approx. $85-$90/person. This was a very foreign concept for me since most American work related holiday party expenses are paid for by the company. Regardless, it was my first official enkai, and it was truly an experience. When we arrived, we each randomly picked an origami paper crane from a tray. A number was written on the underside of its wing, which we had to find on the seating chart- the huge tatami banquet room was lined with rows of cushions with trays of food in front of them. I found myself sitting between one of the young social studies teachers (never talked to him before but found out that his English is amazing) and one of the guys who works in the school office. There was unlimited sake and beer and the food on the trays was constantly being replaced by women in kimono rushing back and forth from a hidden well-stocked kitchen. Since we are not allowed to pour our own drinks, everyone was milling about pouring drinks for eachother and everyone quickly became pretty wasted. Sitting on the floor in a respectable manner was pretty much impossible after about 3 minutes of sitting in any position, but as people got more and more drunk, it was easier to sit back and become a bit more casual. There was even a BINGO card on each tray- which was a fair way for everyone to try to win the many wrapped Christmas presents on the stage. (I didn't win anything, but the gifts seemed to be more functional rather than luxurious- paper shredders, binders, etc.) Unfortunately, I had to leave early because I had to go to my volleyball enkai, which was being held at Azitos the same night!



Paul met me at the volleyball party and we were surprised to see that it was a Christmas/costume party. Keita, the volleyball coach, was dressed as a sexy Miss (Mrs.??) Santa. More drinking and another game of BINGO for the Christmas exchange- as each person won, they got to pick a gift from the pile of anonymously wrapped gifts- and then had to proceed to hug each person in the bar. I was the first winner!! Surprisingly, popular American-style gifts like gift-wrapped liquor didn't go over so well, as we found out. The pattern was kitschy, tacky, & random. Nonetheless, lots of fun.







The next day, Saturday, was spent running around, cooking, cleaning, and preparing for my OWN Christmas potluck party that evening. Paul & I made cornbread, a pasta salad, rosemary potatoes, and had tons of snacks and drinks ready. It was a pretty mellow event, a nice mix of Japanese friends and foreigners. Instead of using BINGO as my form of exchanging gifts, I introduced the "White Elephant" idea (stealing gifts, etc.). I wasn't sure if the Japanese were going to be too polite to steal gifts from eachother, but it ended up being a really fun time! There was tons of leftover booze and food, so I'll definitely have to have another party soon (plus, there was a party in Kyoto the same night and guests were stuck having to decide between the two parties)...

Not to be beaten, the Yoshidas who had been at the party late the night before, had planned a day of cultural fun for us on Sunday. Kumi, Becky and Leigh were all at their kimono class in the morning- apparently they were getting their hair and makeup done to go with their gorgeous kimonos and then were going to be paraded around town for the next 12 hours. Masami picked me and Paul up from our house and we all met up and drove to their friend's house. The Yoshidas have these amazing artistic friends, from sound artists to kimono painters to tie weavers to this guy, a very mellow, talented man who sculpts Buddhas, mostly out of wood. It was a long, gorgeous, bump, curvy drive up to the mountains where this guy lived, in a wooden house with a wood burning stove with fantastic views. We hung out in his wodshop and checked out his amazing work, and he told us stories (in English) about his travels and experiences living in India, America, and beyond. As if that wasn't enough, we then proceeded to drive another long, curvy, gorgeous drive to a sake factory, where we got to sample a few different kinds of sake. It was great, but I was exhausted after a long weekend packed with nonstop activities. I felt so bad for Becky & Leigh, who seemed to look as if they were going to faint from exhaustion and starvation, all bound up in those thin kimonos!

Finally, we had the ICC (International Club) party at Miyazu High School. Paul and I had a great time putting it together- lots of Christmas music, decorations, games (Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph), and a gift exchange. We were all munching on popcorn, chocolate cake, hot chocolate, apples, cheese and crackers, etc. while making Christmas cards and decorations for their family and friends. It's probably the closest experience many of them will get to a western Christmas party...

"Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! " (Happy New Year!)

Happy new year everyone!

I have so much to catch up on... here's a condensed summary for now until I can get all my photos and stuff uploaded:

Paul has been here since mid- December and will be here until mid-January. The end of December was packed with Christmas parties- school, volleyball team, and my own little party at my house. Paul and I flew to the tropical islands of Okinawa for Christmas, shopped in Osaka & Kyoto, then came back to snowy Miyazu for a very traditional, cultural New Years. We are in shock at how cold it is, especially after basking in the warmth of the islands- our bodies are in shock trying to get used to the 40 degree temperature difference!!!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and you got to spend some quality time with family and friends!

Time for the diets to begin!!!!!

Osaka.... again!

So Becky and I went Christmas shopping in Osaka a couple weekends ago. It was a good time, except for the fact that I had to drop all of my shopping spree money on the new 15" Macbook Pro laptop rather than cute coats and dresses as originally intended. oh, and gifts for friends and family too. The left hinge on my beloved titanium laptop finally snapped (apparently it's a common problem- the fact that it lasted almost 4 years is amazing) and it was time to get one.... luckily, I qualified for Apple's educational discount but still.... what a purchase!!!

In the spending frenzy, I also ended up buying myself a very Sex in the City cream-colored belted trenchcoat (from Uniqlo). Of course, we ate tons of delicious international food (bagels, MEXICAN!!!!!!!!, THAI!!!!, etc.) and it was kind of fun being in the hustle and bustle of a big city, especially for the holidays.

Great architecture, great hair. Oh, and uh, yes. that's Starbucks, the place I hate. However, I was suffering from the low blood sugar and it was the only place that was open. I know, excuses.....

POSSIBLY THE BEST SIGN I'VE EVER SEEN...

As you can tell from the title.... this is POSSIBLY THE BEST SIGN I'VE EVER SEEN.

No explanation needed. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
(Thanks to Becky who took the photo in Hokkaido.)

Enjoy, and remember, smoking is bad.

Happy Holidays!

Wait, it's the middle of December? Didn't I just arrive in Japan? Wait, I've been here for almost 5 months?!?!?

For a country that doesn't get the actual holiday of Christmas off, they sure capitalize upon it enough... the twinkling Christmas lights, gaudy decorations, and the cheerful nonstop Christmas songs playing at the grocery stores, malls, and even on the street loudspeakers... arghhh, it's too much.

And I'm hosting a Christmas party this weekend... Right, so last night, Eric, Bryn, Jannie, and I went to the 100 yen store in Omiya and stocked up on all of our Christmas needs. Well, I picked up a (very misleading 525 yen) fake tree and some decorations, while the wholesome twins (Bryn & Jannie) picked up MORE decorations for their respectives tree(s). Unfortunately, there's a party in Kyoto the same night thrown by some good friends, so it's going to be a split of Tango (country) v. Kyoto (city) people.

So this is the interesting tidbit I learned this week. Apparently the song "Auld Lang Syne" which most of us Westerners sing at the START of the New Year, is sung at the end of the year here in Japan, in addition to be played at graduation ceremonies and at the end of the day when stores close! It is a song to remember the god times, to close out the year, day, or whatever.

Paul gets here this afternoon and he'll be staying for a month! I hope to have time to update the blog more during his trip this time, but we'll see. We leave for Okinawa next Thursday and will spend Christmas there. Then, we'll go to Kyoto and Osaka for a few days. We haven't decided on any New Years plans, but we both agreed it's overrated and we're excited about spending our first holidays together.... I know, I'm getting sappy. Maybe it's all the Christmas songs getting to me...

Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see my baby
Standing right outside my door
all I want for Christmas is....

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

More photos of the beautiful countryside/seaside near me

It's been awhile since some of these pictures were taken... Miyazu Bay at sunset...

...and the coastline of Amino (near Becky)


...and persimmons being hung to dry.

Japanese Life: Extreme Differences....

It's getting cold... the lowest I've seen so far is about 4 degrees C (about 39 degrees F)- which, of course, is NOT too bad.... but remember my no-insulation problem in my apartment? In the summer, it was about the same temperature as it was outside- well, it's the same thing in the winter. Seeing my breath INSIDE my apartment is not one of the things I want to wake up to, but it's an accepted fact here.

Again and again, I've asked people here why they don't put "insulation" in their homes- I see new homes being built all the time, but they all just shrug- it's the way it's been for thousands of years- we don't mess with tradition. The EXTREME positions the Japanese takes are appalling....

Here are some of the extreme differences I've noticed since I've lived here:

1. Japanese electronics and technology are constantly evolving and getting faster, smaller, and more advanced and efficient. However, the concept of insulating homes to conserve energy costs (cooling AND heating) has not been accepted.

2. Same thing with toilets- on the one hand, you have these beautiful toilets that sing and make noise, have heated seats, and sensors and different washing levels (soft, strong, spray, squirt, etc.) and then you have the basic, drop toilets on the other hand.

3. The garbage system: I sort EVERY single piece of garbage into like 10 different bins, from combustible to paper to recyclable plastic to non-recyclable plastic to plastic bottles to metals to styrofoam, etc... but everything you buy here is individually wrapped in plastic, then wrapped in pretty paper and stickers, then put into a plastic bag, then placed inside a nice shopping bag.

4. Conserving: water, energy, etc... There is a huge emphasis on saving energy (except for the cooling/heating part)- the lights in the hallway are never turned on at school until you can barely see.... but this I found interesting. The overpoliteness of the Japanese has manifested itself at the toilet level.... If there is more than one person in a public bathroom or something- one of them will FLUSH the toilet WHILE going, to mask any sounds- of course, using more water than necessary, but god forbid someone can hear you go pee!!!!

5. The discipline issue- parents do very little disciplining of their children in order to be a "nice dad" or a "nice mom"- so they spoil their kids rotten, let them do whatever, get whatever they want, and save the disciplining for the teachers, since they see their children more often than they do. This puts a lot of unexpected and unnecessary pressure on the teachers, who can't give their attention to all of their students.

6. The repressed society: Conformity, conformity, conformity. Masses of salarymen in black and gray suits shuffle back and forth from work to home to work, pretty well-dressed OL's (Office Ladies, or "secretaries") clicking away at keyboards, hordes of smiling uniform-wearing students on trains and buses.... Right now, the look of almost every "conforming" Japanese woman / lady is to wear a nice fitted sweater, knee length skirt, and tall boots. Every city seems to look the same. And then you have the outrageously colorful mohawk sporting hoop skirt wearing teenagers of Harajuku and other big cities. You've got these slutty teenage girls wearing short shorts (Daisy Dukes) with over-the-knee boots with blonde hair and buckets of makeup, the guys with crazy hairsprayed hair and ALSO wearing makeup (apparently the girls like the "pretty boy" look). Oh, and women are thought upon as pretty things that reproduce, sex symbols, but not really human beings. So men can just treat them like shit and it's ok. And women take it because, well, that's what they've been told. Men can take mistresses and all that and women just stay at home and cook, clean, and deal with it. You don't talk about sex and porn or anything because that's not "proper" but the underground scene is bursting. There's porn vending machines and booths on main roads, sex shops, love hotels, and fetish-inspired restaurants, bars, etc.

7. The teeth. I don't know what to say about this. I've heard that messed up teeth is "cute". You'll see thousands of beautiful, put together Japanese men and women on the street- great outfits, accessories, hair, the whole thing... then they open their mouth, and you're just like WTF!!!???? Either they have scaffolding keeping their teeth together, or they're just sticking out every which way.

8. The "SMILE": The Japanese are probably the most polite people I've ever met. They go out of their way to help you out, make sure you're happy, greet you with a smile, and follow you around stores to make sure you can find everything you want. However, underneath it all, they could be SEETHING, SCREAMING INSIDE, but outside they've got this cute smile and cheerful voice. The "smile" is Japan's way of masking any sort of feeling they have- whether it's anger, confusion, sadness, or whatever- because expressing their opinions is not allowed.

OK, that's all I can think about for now... For more interesting things about Japan, check out this amusing and informational
website. (Thanks Sono for forwarding to me).

I'm not necessarily complaining about these aspects of Japanese culture- I guess it's a bit of culture shock (or as JET likes us to call it: "culture fatigue"?) and when you compare certain things with the customs of your home country, you're certain to feel frustrated and confused. So, I guess all I can do now is... smile!!!

More food....

On a lighter note.... I went to one my favorite izakayas the other night...

Edamame, sashimi (w/ maple leaf garnish!), pumpkin tempura, fried chicken gizzards, fried octopus, grilled alligator (a bit chewy, kinda pork-like), salad, fried pig ears (ugh... very cartilage-y), cucumbers w/ miso paste, and a slice of ice cream cake for the ladies...

Mecha oishiii!!!

Late Autumn

This is an excerpt from a nice article in The Asahi Shinbun.

I recently stood under a colossal ginkgo tree... Underfoot, a thick carpet of red and yellow fallen zelkova leaves covered the rich dark soil. It will not be long before the whole tree will be ablaze in gold.

Autumn is coming to an end.

A special sense of melancholy accompanies this transition from late autumn to early winter. Autumn is the harvest season, when the branches of trees are laden with fruit, and ears of rice bow under the weight of ripened grain. With such images still vivid in one's mind, one naturally feels somewhat desolate when that season of plenty comes to an end.

"The plants that once bloomed with flowers and the trees that once bore fruit are all withered now. Having completed their year's work, the trunks and branches of trees are now bare, and readying themselves silently for their long hibernation. In nature's cycle, nothing compares with the quiet beauty of late autumn."
--"Machi Bugyo Nikki", [Shugoro] Yamamoto

By their presence, the trees that are about to complete their annual cycle seem to invite us to look back on the past year. Calendars will turn to the last page.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 30(IHT/Asahi: December 1,2006)

Hiroshima Controversy

After returning from Hiroshima, I was talking to one of my Japanese English teachers, and she was telling me how most of the AETs that she has worked with has visited HIroshima, but many Japanese students today have not. In the past, it was a mandatory field trip for primary or junior high students to visit the Peace Park and learn about the atomic bomb, talk to "hikabusha" (survivors of the atomic bomb), and raise awareness about the atrocities of war and advocating peace. She has been there 3 times, as a student and once as an adult, but her teenage daughter has never been. If she wants her daughter to learn about Hiroshima's history, she would have to take her there herself, at her own expense.

With the rise of international nuclear activity and tensions, it seems that everyone is on guard. So, can Japan be part of the world's leaders, discussing global conflicts while maintaining a peaceful viewpoint? Nowadays, the government is steering schools away from the Hiroshima field trips and is "encouraging" the schools to go to Tokyo, where Tokyo Disneyland is a symbol of a modern Japan, to visit the Imperial Palace and grounds, and enjoy the bustling capital's entertainment and shopping. (And what student is going to argue with this??) Even if some teachers still wanted to take their students to Hiroshima, pressure from the schools and parents keep them from going- in the fear that they would be thought of as "too liberal" and "non-conforming".

Any comments?