On Monday, after checking out of our apartments and saying goodbye to Nishi-chiba (the name of the neighborhood where we lived), Nicole and I jumped on the bullet train for Niigata. As we raced past the skyscrapers and ventured out into the open rice fields and verdant mountains of the countryside, it finally hit me. I'm leaving Japan!
Now we are at Yumi's house in Tsuruoka. Her family owns an organic farm, so everyday we eat the rice and veggies that her family has grown. Yesterday we took a small walk to their plot of land and ate cherry tomatoes off the vine ... so delicious.
Their house is in a little village outside of Tsuruoka. We are surrounded by lush, green ricefields and thick groves of bamboo. Last night there was an earthquake and the house shook, but no serious damage, fortunately. This morning we woke up to sound of pouring rain ... it is the end of the monsoon season, and the rain cools the temperature nicely. Much needed because there is no air-conditioning out here!
Tonight, Nicole and I are checking into an onsen in Yunohama.
2008年7月24日木曜日
2008年7月19日土曜日
CLEAN ... GO ... Goodbye?
I am sitting in the middle of piles and piles of stuff ... once again it's time to pack and go. How many times have I done this? Too many to count ... I'm not ready to leave.
The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy. I completed all of my student evaluations (61 of them!) just in time for the goodbye party. We went to a really delicious Chinese restaurant. We had tons of yummy food, beer, and lots of bittersweet goodbyes. They presented me with a big card that everyone had signed. It was really special!
The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy. I completed all of my student evaluations (61 of them!) just in time for the goodbye party. We went to a really delicious Chinese restaurant. We had tons of yummy food, beer, and lots of bittersweet goodbyes. They presented me with a big card that everyone had signed. It was really special!
2008年7月6日日曜日
Almost time for Tohoku
It's getting close to my last day of work, and that means I'll be leaving soon for Tohoku (Northern Japan). This time, Nicole will come along! Yippee!
Here are some photos from my last trip north to Tsuruoka. I love that place ...
Of course, no trip to Tsuruoka would be complete without a trip to Ajiwai, where they serve the "Ajiwaimen" special. It's a HUGE bowl with miso/sesame soup, pork, green peppers, other random veggies, and TONS of bean sprouts. And ramen noodles, naturally, but you just can't see them. They're in there somewhere. I have only finished the Ajiwaimen once, but I may have done permanent damage to my stomach muscles ... it's just so huge!
Speaking of eating, this is Taka with a mouth full of food! Yummy. Look at those cheeks. Taka is Naomi's baby, Yumi's sister. What a cutie.
Saturday night was the big night out for us. Martin met up with Yumi and I at Doutor's (they have a Doutor's coffee shop in Tsuruoka now; how cosmopolitan!) and we proceeded to call up the whole gang for a little reunion. Alex came in all the way from Yamagata City (3 hours away), Maruyama arrived after his late shift at the post office, Shunsuke left the farm early (he's a soybean farmer), and Toko arrived fully decked out in his rockabilly gear, as always! He is the lead singer of a rockabilly band called 'Memphis Mafia'. I was a guest singer for a couple of shows back in 2001. Martin brought his girlfriend, Yuko, a very nice lady, just beautiful and great. Jeff also joined us, an American who teaches at East High School in Tsuruoka. They were a few other guest appearances, mostly by former students of Yumi's and of Martin's. Kako's is a very popular place, after all ...
We had such a great time! I truly felt so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people, just fantastic, generous, funny friends that drop everything when I'm in town. We laughed so much!
Lots of photos were taken. In fact, this is a photo of Martin and Jeff looking at the photo they just took of Yumi and I. Here are some of the highlights.
Yumi being silly ... it is so hard to get a normal photo of her!
Finally, we managed to get one. This is Yumi talking to one of her former students, who also worked for her mother.
Yuko laughing. Nice action shot!
A friendly kiss on the cheek from Toko. Look at that hair .... and this is the same guy who sits on the PTA board of his son's junior high school. Rock on, Toko!
The last photo is of Toko and Shunsuke talking with Yumi who snapped the photo, I think. Everyone traded cameras at one point.
Thank you Yumi, Martin, and everyone for a great trip. I'll see you in two weeks ... can't hardly wait.
Here are some photos from my last trip north to Tsuruoka. I love that place ...
Of course, no trip to Tsuruoka would be complete without a trip to Ajiwai, where they serve the "Ajiwaimen" special. It's a HUGE bowl with miso/sesame soup, pork, green peppers, other random veggies, and TONS of bean sprouts. And ramen noodles, naturally, but you just can't see them. They're in there somewhere. I have only finished the Ajiwaimen once, but I may have done permanent damage to my stomach muscles ... it's just so huge!
Speaking of eating, this is Taka with a mouth full of food! Yummy. Look at those cheeks. Taka is Naomi's baby, Yumi's sister. What a cutie.Saturday night was the big night out for us. Martin met up with Yumi and I at Doutor's (they have a Doutor's coffee shop in Tsuruoka now; how cosmopolitan!) and we proceeded to call up the whole gang for a little reunion. Alex came in all the way from Yamagata City (3 hours away), Maruyama arrived after his late shift at the post office, Shunsuke left the farm early (he's a soybean farmer), and Toko arrived fully decked out in his rockabilly gear, as always! He is the lead singer of a rockabilly band called 'Memphis Mafia'. I was a guest singer for a couple of shows back in 2001. Martin brought his girlfriend, Yuko, a very nice lady, just beautiful and great. Jeff also joined us, an American who teaches at East High School in Tsuruoka. They were a few other guest appearances, mostly by former students of Yumi's and of Martin's. Kako's is a very popular place, after all ...
We had such a great time! I truly felt so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people, just fantastic, generous, funny friends that drop everything when I'm in town. We laughed so much!
Lots of photos were taken. In fact, this is a photo of Martin and Jeff looking at the photo they just took of Yumi and I. Here are some of the highlights.
Yumi being silly ... it is so hard to get a normal photo of her!
Finally, we managed to get one. This is Yumi talking to one of her former students, who also worked for her mother.
Yuko laughing. Nice action shot!
A friendly kiss on the cheek from Toko. Look at that hair .... and this is the same guy who sits on the PTA board of his son's junior high school. Rock on, Toko!
The last photo is of Toko and Shunsuke talking with Yumi who snapped the photo, I think. Everyone traded cameras at one point.
Thank you Yumi, Martin, and everyone for a great trip. I'll see you in two weeks ... can't hardly wait.
2008年6月30日月曜日
3 weeks to go ...
I just realized that I only three more weeks of my job. Whoah! What happened? How could it possibly go this fast? ........................... I`m not ready to leave.
Right now I`m at work and Jessica is out there, somewhere in Roppongi or Ginza, doing some sightseeing/shopping. We are meeting up tonight so we can go to Tokyo Hyatt. We weren`t able to go to Shinjuku over the weekend. Our ages caught up with us and we went back to Nishi-Chiba, but that was after seeing Asakusa, Hanayashiki Amusement Park, Omotesando, Harajuku and Shibuya. However, Jess plans on staying in a capsule hotel tonight. Me? I`ll head back. I love my mini-apartment; I certainly wouldn`t trade it for something smaller! Plus, it`s kinda fun for Jess to have a little solo adventure in a foreign city. I remember how proud my mom felt after going all the way to Hiroshima and back, by herself! You go, girl.
Right now I`m at work and Jessica is out there, somewhere in Roppongi or Ginza, doing some sightseeing/shopping. We are meeting up tonight so we can go to Tokyo Hyatt. We weren`t able to go to Shinjuku over the weekend. Our ages caught up with us and we went back to Nishi-Chiba, but that was after seeing Asakusa, Hanayashiki Amusement Park, Omotesando, Harajuku and Shibuya. However, Jess plans on staying in a capsule hotel tonight. Me? I`ll head back. I love my mini-apartment; I certainly wouldn`t trade it for something smaller! Plus, it`s kinda fun for Jess to have a little solo adventure in a foreign city. I remember how proud my mom felt after going all the way to Hiroshima and back, by herself! You go, girl.
2008年6月28日土曜日
Jessica!
Jessica arrived on Thursday night, flying in FIRST CLASS from San Francisco. Ah, the perks of being a flight attendant. Did I mention that she flies for free?
It was wonderful to see her walk down the stairs at Nishi-Chiba station, but also a little strange. Two worlds collide sort of a feeling. My Bay Area life meets my Japan life ... it was strange for only a couple of moments, however. Now it just feels incredible, to have one of my best friends here!
Last night, Jessica came to my school and we went out with my students. There were about 12 of us, all gathered around a table at an izakaiya (Japanese pub that also serves tapas-sized dishes), drinking and laughing. Sugoi!
Today we are going to Asakusa Temple and then will walk around Shibuya, Harajuku, Yoyogi, Omotesando. Naturally, we'll go for one drink at the Tokyo Hyatt, where 'Lost in Translation' was filmed, which is in Shinjuku. That's where we'll finish the night by spending the night at a capsule hotel (if we can find one at a reasonable price).
Exciting!
In other news, Yumi sent a futon and blankets for Jessica to use while she is here. Thank You, YUMI! Yumi is my Japanese best friend, and lives in Tsuruoka. She also sent a CD with photos on it. So, I finally have photos to share with you from my trip to Tsuruoka at the beginning of this month. I'll try posting them tomorrow evening.
It was wonderful to see her walk down the stairs at Nishi-Chiba station, but also a little strange. Two worlds collide sort of a feeling. My Bay Area life meets my Japan life ... it was strange for only a couple of moments, however. Now it just feels incredible, to have one of my best friends here!
Last night, Jessica came to my school and we went out with my students. There were about 12 of us, all gathered around a table at an izakaiya (Japanese pub that also serves tapas-sized dishes), drinking and laughing. Sugoi!
Today we are going to Asakusa Temple and then will walk around Shibuya, Harajuku, Yoyogi, Omotesando. Naturally, we'll go for one drink at the Tokyo Hyatt, where 'Lost in Translation' was filmed, which is in Shinjuku. That's where we'll finish the night by spending the night at a capsule hotel (if we can find one at a reasonable price).
Exciting!
In other news, Yumi sent a futon and blankets for Jessica to use while she is here. Thank You, YUMI! Yumi is my Japanese best friend, and lives in Tsuruoka. She also sent a CD with photos on it. So, I finally have photos to share with you from my trip to Tsuruoka at the beginning of this month. I'll try posting them tomorrow evening.
2008年6月24日火曜日
Rush Hour
Okay, okay. I know I keep mentioning the trains, but I had an especially crowded commute this morning. So I decided to share a video clip with you. This is an example of how crowded it can get on the morning rush hour trains. Thankfully, mine isn`t quite as bad as this clip, but it`s close!
2008年6月23日月曜日
Week end/beginning?
Most Tokyoites (or most Japanese, for that matter) work for the weekend. Ah, yes ... that one day, SUNDAY, where everyone piles into their cars for a drive to the supermall. That`s where I ended up on Sunday, wandering aimlessly around a supermall in Funabashi called LALAPORT or RARAPORT (depending on which sign you read). Here is a small list of some of the things I saw:
1. A massive line for Krispy Kreme doughnuts (very popular here all of a sudden). When I write massive, I mean about 200 people ... no joke.
2. A really cheesy boy band that performed on the mall stage to a packed crowd (well, everywhere was crowded, but ...). The funniest part was when one of the guys started rocking out, then realized he had forgotton to put the capo on so it was completely off-key! The crowd was very forgiving, actually. I think it was because they probably were just happy to find somewhere to sit down.
3. A restaurant that was dedicated to all the different types of bread dishes found around the world, but served them Japanese-style (aka COMPLETELY WRONG, like with rice and filled with red kidney bean paste or corn/mayonnaise).
4. More `Hello Kitty` dressed children than you could shake a stick at.
5. An entire section of a department store featuring `Billy`s Bootcamp` exercise videos. Apparently, this guy has a serious following in Japan! That reminded me of the petite, middle-aged Japanese housewives I see at my gym. I belong to the YWCA in Ochanomizu, and that place fills up with aerobics-crazed ladies in the evenings. They just love bouncing around to bad euro-techno!
6. Oh, and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie, too. Not bad, but not that great either. But it was refreshing to hear only English for two solid hours.
It was a good day.
1. A massive line for Krispy Kreme doughnuts (very popular here all of a sudden). When I write massive, I mean about 200 people ... no joke.
2. A really cheesy boy band that performed on the mall stage to a packed crowd (well, everywhere was crowded, but ...). The funniest part was when one of the guys started rocking out, then realized he had forgotton to put the capo on so it was completely off-key! The crowd was very forgiving, actually. I think it was because they probably were just happy to find somewhere to sit down.
3. A restaurant that was dedicated to all the different types of bread dishes found around the world, but served them Japanese-style (aka COMPLETELY WRONG, like with rice and filled with red kidney bean paste or corn/mayonnaise).
4. More `Hello Kitty` dressed children than you could shake a stick at.
5. An entire section of a department store featuring `Billy`s Bootcamp` exercise videos. Apparently, this guy has a serious following in Japan! That reminded me of the petite, middle-aged Japanese housewives I see at my gym. I belong to the YWCA in Ochanomizu, and that place fills up with aerobics-crazed ladies in the evenings. They just love bouncing around to bad euro-techno!
6. Oh, and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie, too. Not bad, but not that great either. But it was refreshing to hear only English for two solid hours.
It was a good day.
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