Monday, June 21, 2010

Picking up the Pieces

It's hard to believe how difficult this past week has been. I had literally put everything out of the way to spend time with Ann, and her departure left a big hole. Of course there is lots to do and get done, and in retrospect I've done alot, there are still many errands to complete. I've cleaned up my house quite well despite it having turned into a bachelor pad again, and even started giving stuff away.

Neal, Richard and Ike were over Friday night for some burgers, fries and salad. Ike the master chef made many wonderful things that we enjoyed while watching a movie. Neal came over early and we had a good chat, one of the topics being the recent trouble Ann has had trying to get a tourist Visa to visit Canada. I don't want to get into particulars, but let's just say we're all baffled she came to Japan with less trouble than it is to try and visit Canada.

The rest of the weekend was spent at home. I want to write down things I got done, but that's an even shorter list. I ordered some pizza, watched some movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, and even watched some youtube videos of video games I've always wanted to play but never will have time. Games like Dwarf Fortress and X-Com. Atleast I have a feel for the gameplay and story now, and saved myself potential weeks from playing it myself. A small victory perhaps.

It really does feel like I'm picking up pieces from a calamity. Alas it's not the end of the world, and if we can't meet up again in Canada, maybe I can get a job in another country that will allow her to visit me again; but those are thoughts for another time. Today I talked with my supervisor about canceling bills and other things I need to finalize before going home; many of those things require 1 month notice to their respective companies.

Life goes on right? There is much to do.

"Everything is always ok in the end; if it's not then it's not the end." -Author Unknown


tnoy

Monday, June 14, 2010

See You Again Soon

Things calmed down a lot after USJ, as our time together was winding down. On Friday June 4th, there was a leaver’s conference in Nagano City. Ashley was a sweetheart for letting us come up Thursday to stay over, and I got Ann to play Mario Galaxy for the first time. It was an entertaining evening, while Ashely and Chris worked hard to prep for that weekend’s English camp.

While I was at the meeting, Ann walked around the neighborhood, and did some final shopping, getting presents for her friends. The meeting itself was really informative and interesting, and I got handouts to help me during my last… wow only 7 weeks until I’m in Canada again. Anyways, they’ll help with the transition; everything from canceling bills, to garbage disposal, to help on claiming my pension when I get home.

People had a chance to give stories about their time in Japan, and most were touching. Many came down to the basic: ‘we’re all human’, and how understanding that is the first step towards world peace. In the end they played a slideshow of photos from over the years, and while I may not have recognized all of the people, it was clear we all shared something wonderful here together.

That night would be our farewell party at the infamous smile hotel, where we also have our welcome parties, and I marveled at the help-yourself alcohol section. Many parties were held here over the years, and over 70 people attended. Ann came along, and we all ate and drank for hours. Of course with that many people, it was loud and a little crazy, but it was a great chance to say goodbye to many people.

For some reason though, many events were scheduled the next day, so many people had a bit of restraint. For the CIRs: a training session. For some people, soccer for some reason, though I’m not sure why people want to get together and jog circles around a little ball for hours; is this really a sport? For us, we went to Sugadaira for the prefectural English camp, like I attended last year.

Unlike last year however, when I played Telephone with kids for the first 3 hours, we had a complex and confusing murder mystery. Poor Neal and I struggled through the first few groups, before streamlining it heavily, and drawing up many conclusions for the students to ponder. Basically, we did the math and gave answers, while getting the students to check the work. Even with doing that, it was a struggle to complete on time, but later we heard some students enjoyed that game the best, so it wasn’t all in vain.

Ann was a helper, running around and making sure everything went smoothly. I had hoped she would warm up to the students here more after her disappointing teaching session in Tatsuno, where she was shocked and appalled not only at students sleeping in class, but the ones who weren’t would stare at you and say nothing. I admit it’s not an easy job here, and that particular class is maybe the worst I’ve ever had to teach, ever. In fact by comparison, that class they were really good, instead of talking non-stop while you’re teaching; like I said early, I’m glad they didn’t disrespect my mom and Ann too much.

Maybe I’m getting off topic here though, Ann was sad students didn’t try to talk to her, or wave or anything when they passed in the hallway. I’ve never really thought about it, but that is really true. I’ve always been energetic enough to try and engage them, but most times I need to do the engaging. Ann is a bit shy with new people maybe.

I think she enjoyed the second part though, when students had presentations. They talked about various things, and the theme was music. One group had everyone stand up and do the Chicken Dance, so it became Ann’s favourite, along with many other students.

That night there was a ‘teacher’s meeting’, or more specifically, a drinking party. We saw students eyeing up the beer vending machine in the hallway, so maybe that’s why it was turned off. A quick survey in the morning revealed the average time the kids went to sleep at was around 3 in the morning, and I wouldn’t doubt some didn’t sleep at all.

We had one last fun game to play, and I didn’t want to play that word game again like last year. Instead, I remembered a childhood favourite: “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” The students all ask one student at the opposite side what time it is. Whatever time it is, that’s how many steps everyone takes together, until finally the wolf screams “dinner time!” Whoever he touches becomes the new wolf.

Of course there is a bit more to it, but that’s the basics. I wasn’t thinking clearly maybe, and we played near a cliff. While chasing a student, I simply ran into it, and luckily didn’t lose control otherwise it could have been bad. For the most part, I think everyone had fun, and even Ann joined in a bit. When there were no students, we joined a nearby group playing a Frisbee game. They alternated the English activities quite a bit, so it was always fun and engaging.

The students went back at noon, and we started the long 3-hour drive home. I wanted to stop in Matsumoto to show Ann the castle, but she was exhausted and content with having seen the one in Hiroshima. I gave a ride to Wulf too, and we had interesting talks all the way, while enjoying the beautiful day and surroundings.

Now it was Ann’s last week in Japan, and I picked my camera up after getting repaired on warranty. I wanted to cook for Ann before she took off. What started off as simple, aimless spaghetti quickly grew to one of my favourite childhood dishes: Tomato Soup and Noodles. While I wanted Ann to eat it as it was, she quickly added one thing after another. First it was hot chilly peppers. Later, pepper, and then basil, and then even some seafood.

At first I was very taken aback she would alter this simple dish that I love so much, but she was really on to something amazing. Before I knew it, she had eaten way more than me, and could hardly move. Somehow by accident, I had made her one of the best meals she has ever eaten, and I’m happy I was able to do that for her. Pasta is extremely simple and cheap, and can be used in so many ways; apparently that was one of her first times using it for anything, Linguini that is. Another day, I cooked her some of my lemon chicken in the oven.

Wednesday was class match day at Yayoi. For those who don’t remember, the whole school shuts down, and classes are divided into teams to play various sports against each other. This time there was badminton, volleyball for girls only, and softball for the boys. I was drafted onto the teacher’s team.

It has been years since I played, and naturally my skills dwindled a lot. Luckily I was back-catcher, so I didn’t have to run much. We won two games, but lost the 3rd around noon, retiring our careers. I did ok at bat, though my first 5 hits were all caught, I got an RBI later on, then in the last game the referee was terrible and I struck out somehow. I know that sounds biased, but I watched his calls on other players; balls whizzing by at eye-level were counted as ‘strikes’. Oh well, it was all for fun I guess.

Ann came to watch one of the games, but was delayed because she called the Canadian Embassy in Thailand. We’re working on her coming to visit, but are unsure of the documents required, as it seems more complicated than it was coming to Japan. Unfortunately after struggling with those horribly inane automatic phone systems for 30 minutes, and after actually getting to talk to a living person, she was less than helpful; I guess Ann will have to go there in person to get information, as the website is fairly complicated and vague.

For the baseball she did see though, she had a great time, though was sad it was over so quick. Because there were so many teams, 4 games were occurring simultaneously, and had a 20-minute cap. We still had fun, and went for Chinese food for lunch.

From the baseball and the heat, I was exhausted; I slept for 2 hours when I got home. When I woke up, I dawdled a bit trying to wake up, cooked some supper, and went to my English class. I made Mushroom Soup and Noodles this time, my first time attempting it. I think it came out well, and I was partially hoping lightning would strike twice like with the tomato soup. Perhaps it did, as when I came home Ann seemed plenty happy about it.

On Thursday we met up with Sorin for some sushi, so he could say farewell to Ann. On Friday we had her farewell party in Okaya, where Mervin told us of a new buffet restaurant. Ironically, this was a healthy buffet should such a thing even exist. They had tofu hamburgers, whole grain rice, soymilk ice cream and more; it was still good though.

We made our way back to Mervin’s for some video games, and played Pictionary. I marveled at Ann’s growing ability to read, as a few short months ago she struggled a lot, but apparently my compliment came out wrong. Ann’s team won, but we all had fun.

On Saturday, half the people had to leave, while more people came to see Ann off, and to try out her Thai cooking. I told her to expect around 7 people, but she had enough for the 9 that came. It was one amazing dish after another, and we all joked about taking turns sponsoring Ann’s next visa so she could move in and cook.

Thi went so far as to claim she would better appreciate Ann than I, as I had never seen the pumpkin dessert she made before. It was sweet and creamy, and simply delicious. There was soup, curry, salad, fish, noodles and more, and all of it healthy and delicious. I think we all walked away with a different favourite dish.

Many more people said goodbye, and some even brought presents for her. We later drove back to Ina to try and play mallet golf one last time, but were disappointingly out of luck, as they don’t take on new golfers past 3:00. Undeterred, we went to the obstacle course again and enjoyed the park, and surrounding nature. This was Ann’s first time on a seesaw.

Around 6 we all parted ways, and Ann and I went for sushi one last time. She even took some of the wasabi packets to bring home as presents, a marvelous idea really. We tried to watch a movie, but she fell asleep, exhausted from the busy day, and lack of sleep the night before. It’s now hot enough that I need the fan on for me to fall asleep anymore.

Lacking ingredients in the morning, I still was able to make a nice omelet for breakfast before getting on the bus to Tokyo. During our trip, I tried to whip together a DVD of pictures for her, but was thwarted by a dead battery. Considering how much I was trying to do though, it’s good that the computer lasted as long as it did; I’m just sad I didn’t bring my charger to complete it at the airport. I had 10% battery left, but the compilation simply killed the remaining power, so close to the finish line. I’ll have to mail it to her later.

We had lunch, checked in her luggage, and spent our last ½ hour together on the roof patio, watching planes take off. Yesterday, Ann went home. It was a rough 12-hour transit to and from the airport, and a reluctant parting. We had hugged and embraced enough in that last hour, that she was able to go a little earlier, saying she didn’t want to start crying. I didn’t either.

In her 3 months here, I have heard her English getting better and better, and listened as her answer to “How do you like Japan?” slowly change from “so so” to “really good” to “I Looooove Japan!” Some of her experiences rivaled that of other teachers, such as seeing a baseball game, or visiting Hiroshima.

I kept myself mentally occupied during the long commute home, forcing myself to think of other things; job hunting, packing, saying goodbye myself, and the fun we will have together in Canada. I talked with Neal later on the phone, and it hit home when he asked me about Ann: “she’s… gone” was about all I could muster in my speechlessness.

I got a call from her past 1 in the morning, so I assume she got home safe. All she said in her message was “I miss you.” When I go home today, her shoes won’t be there, nor her big smile, nor her warm hugs. What will be there, are thousands of warm memories in my heart.

I’m happy that in our short time together, we were able to see and share many things. I was able to share with her my love of this great place, and we were able to share our love for each other. Soon, Canada will be our next, new adventure.

"Many things in life will catch your eye, few will catch your heart. Pursue those!" -Author Unknown

tnoy

Monday, June 7, 2010

Hiroshima Again, and Osaka Adventures

The drive was long, the rain was torrential, and the highway was terribly expensive (over $130 for one way), but to experience this amazing place again made it all worthwhile. It was also Ann’s first trip there. I suppose it falls into one of my “must see places before you die” should I be pressed to make a list, as its message of peace is unmistakable.

My time is running out; it looks like I might be back in Canada around July 29th when my Visa expires, and so is Ann, as she leaves this Sunday the 13th. They say to make a list of things you want to do before you leave, as it helps with closure, and I definitely didn’t mind going back to Hiroshima.

Our first day wasn’t very eventful, as we were tired from the drive, and it was still pouring outside. We got supper at a sushi conveyor restaurant, marveled at its freshness, and went to sleep. It’s funny that Ann still prefers the restaurant in Ina even after eating fresh(er) sushi, but I can’t blame her as it’s still my favourite place to go too.

We started the next day, May 24th, by riding the streetcar to the peace park. While amazing, and touting a flat fare they aren’t the fastest in the world, stopping every one or two blocks. I suppose it makes sense and I still love them anyways. It stopped just outside the “genbaku dome” (nuclear bomb dome), as its station’s name advertised.

We took our time exploring the area, and we even saw some stuff that I missed with my mom, like a little Buddha statue still standing near ground zero of the blast, and the shadow burnt in on itself. At ground zero itself however, there is little more than a parking garage present now.

We knew weather would be an issue, so we toured the park while it was still dry, seeing the mound where tens of thousands of bodies were cremated, various statues, and the plentiful paper crane displays among other things. Later we moved inside the museum, where they had various free exhibits open. One exhibit was various children’s drawings, of the horrors they witnessed; perhaps more disturbing, but not as graphic as a real photo.

The next exhibit was from a famous photographer as he captured the decades proceeding, as the city that “wouldn’t support life for 75 years” grew from the ashes of catastrophe. After all this, we stopped for a break for lunch before tackling the main museum itself. I was relieved they had a Thai audio tour set for Ann, as it would have been painful to try and describe things like ‘atoms’ and ‘army division’ to her.

Like the last time I went, it was an amazing and moving experience to be there. The only complaint I would have is the hundred of elementary school students coming in wave after wave, screaming and flashing their cameras at everything as kids do. I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to have kids that young in a place like that in the first place, as if they truly understood the information around them, it would give them nightmares. Apparently one of my schools is doing a trip to Hiroshima and not Okinawa this year due to budget concerns. Well, they’re both beautiful.

We both left the museum feeling a little sad, and visited the other huge memorial underground, with the ever-flowing fountain pouring in tribute to the thousands that died begging for a drink. I think we both had seen enough, and hurried back to our hotel before 5:00, as we heard there would be a baseball game playing.

Unfortunately around this time was when my camera died for good. It had caused me problems ever since I bought it last September for my trip to Thailand, but now it wouldn’t work at all. I grudgingly resigned myself to having to spend a lot of money replacing it, but found out it’s still under warranty; I picked it up today after school.

I did manage to squeeze out 2 last pictures at the baseball game, so atleast I can show that. Everything else I'll give thanks to Richard. At the game, our tickets were even cheaper this time at $16, and it was an wonderful again. There were nachos, hot dogs, Philly cheese steaks and other goodies. Ann asked me where my diet was, and I told her it was in Ina. I can cheat one day a week I think, and this outing was too rare and special for me to hold back.

The game wasn’t crazy exciting as it was in Yokohama, but atleast this time our team, the Hiroshima Carp won. During the game, we could see the Shinkansen rolling in the background (the bullet train). Ann seems to love it, and gets excited every time a train rolls by. I can’t blame her either, I still think they’re cool. It’s not like we have them around my 700-kilometer radius in Canada. (A shame really)

What were really neat at the game was the little patio balconies set up. There, people picnicked with their families while eating supper and watching the game. Of course, there were many lunch boxes with rice and other Japanese food, still a novelty for me at huge sporting events; I miss the big greasy cheese burgers you can get at Taylor Field.

On Tuesday we had to go back, but I wanted one last tour around what was quickly becoming my favourite city in Japan. It’s so clean, beautiful and new. It has grass. It has expansive areas where you can find peace without being in a swarm of people. It has wider roads, and uses more blocks than strange winding roads. I love the streetcars. I love the new and affordable baseball stadium. I just love Hiroshima.

Ann didn’t want to see Majima island anymore than I did. Some consider it a symbol of Japan; a red Tori in some water. We figured just seeing a picture of it was enough, so we went up to see the castle. It again was a beautiful area and walk, and had some grotesque trees that survived the bomb. To the museums credit, it doesn’t talk about the war too much, as to not get angry at either side, and instead gives you information about the bomb and how disastrous it is.

That being said, the castle grounds is near ground zero, and housed one of the 6 main war battalions for Japan. The castle was naturally destroyed, but rebuilt into an interesting museum. We enjoyed it, even if it felt like being in a museum and not a castle like the one in Osaka. Strangely enough, it boasted the castle as a symbol of Hiroshima, and something everyone thinks about when they think of the city. I can argue with that, given I’ve never heard of it before, but oh well. I mean, it wasn’t even mentioned in the tourist pamphlets we had; we only knew about it because it was in the corner of maps covering the peace park.

We headed home, but hurried because we saw the storm moving in. 10 minutes into the 6-hour drive Ann needed the bathroom so I gave her a hard time. She said “Tony, I’m a woman, I need the bathroom” or something. She’s cute ^_^ Drive as we might, the storm caught up with us, and during the last hour we were stuck in scary downpours again, with very poor visibility. We got home ok though, and went for sushi again.

I think it was a good week, I hardly recall, but I know we made time for Brett and Kaoru to come visit on Thursday. That weekend we were looking forward to USJ, Universal Studios Japan. It’s a huge theme park in Osaka, and Brett having known this, wore his Jaws shirt. Ann cooked up some amazing food, and Rich and Kaoru’s friend came to join us as well. The girls talked about dresses or something, I don’t know, while the men talked about things like awesome stuff.

While we were gung-ho about video games earlier, we were simply enjoying each other’s company too much to turn the system on. Brett felt a little sad because of this, but I just said, “We need to hang out more.” We were catching up the whole time and it was great. Once you see each other enough though, then you can just hang out, much like with Richard because we see him 2 or 3 times a week. When he comes over, it’s not uncommon to just turn on a funny show or something, just watch it, and not feel rude for not really talking.

Regardless it was a lot of fun and great seeing them again. On Friday after work, Richard, Thi and Mervin hopped in my car and we all drove to Osaka for some USJ. Mervin found us an amazing hotel that was $130 for two people for two nights; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it cheaper anywhere else in Japan, not to mention it was connected to the amusement park. Apparently it was so cheap because he booked online, and people that were booking at the lobber were paying much, much more than that.

Even though the room smelt like smoke when we first entered, it was well worth it for that price; we just opened the windows. Speaking of smoking, there is a ridiculous add campaign on now for smokes in Japan. It features a computer generated body builder smoker, as if it were healthy or something. I look forward to the legally smoke-free venues back home.

So anyways in the morning, May 29th, we met up with our friend Noriko in the lobby, who took a day off and woke up early, to leave from Kyoto to meet us. It worked out great as many rides are designed for 2 people, so now we were a group of 6. Noriko had been to USJ one time before, but she had only been on one ride. For that ride, she waited over 3 hours. Luckily for us, we would be a million times luckier than that.

Not only did we enjoy a beautiful day, but also we rode all the rides and saw all the shows we wanted. We started with a 3D Spiderman ride that was amazing. The effects were all well done, though I was a bit sad I didn’t recognize half the villains he was fighting.

We saw Terminator 2 ‘sequel’ that mixed it up with live actors. We saw peter pan ‘flying’ around high on the air being suspended by wires, we saw huge explosions and fights in a water world show, while getting splashed.

The shows were so good, and the rides were amazing as well. I was scared earlier on of the big roller coaster snaking through the park, but I knew if I could tough it out, nothing would scare me after that. Hell, I think I survived scarier, with “Journey to the center of the Earth” and “Tower of Terror” at Disney Sea. I came to realize however, I am mostly good at mentally blocking out the first big scare. After choking back the horror of the first drop, I am filled with immediate relief of ‘the worst is over’.

This ride let you put on music to listen to while flying around all crazy like. Despite that, everyone around me could hear a loud “OH F@&K!!!!” as we dropped for the second time and I had no mental barriers in place. Needless to say, I completely lost it. I have few memories beyond my screams, my girl screams, my screams of “WHY?!?!”, and trying to somehow escape my living nightmare. I just know my only respites came briefly while spinning in circles, pressing my face back into my skull. I can easily handle that over the many drops.

Somehow, it was over. I could hardly hear the laughs or see the smiles of my friends as I staggered to the nearest solid ground. My legs were heavy, my arms were numb, my throat parched from screaming, and I was dizzy. I don’t think I have ever had that much adrenaline shooting through my body at the same time before. For some reason I weakly said to Ann: “let’s go again”.

Perhaps luckily, we didn’t have a chance to go again, but atleast I felt I knew what to expect. I was so tired I couldn’t get scared for Jurassic Park, even though the ride was little more than lifting you high up to drop you into a dark hole; kinda like splash mountain. For that one I noticed the people in front of me nod to each other before putting on their plastic rain hat. I just put my head down and stuck it out. The picture at the end was funny, but even Ann looked scared. She says she was scared though, because of the T-Rex trying to bite you before the drop.

I think that was it for the scary rides. The others were just plain fun. It was worrying to see the many hidden areas filled with nothing but waiting queues, but I was happy we weren’t waiting in them. The one we did have to wait and hour for was a new ride. This one was a “Space Fantasy”, where you fly through the stars ‘collecting’ bits or something while spinning in circles. While a bit scared at first, it didn’t drop you too badly or anything, and was really exhilarating. This was everyone’s favourite ride, as you slung around a huge Saturn, and other amazing displays.

The last ride we made, was a small kids ride: Snoopy’s race. Sure it was a short kids ride, but seeing the house was worth the trip. I don’t think I’d ever witness a place as magical as that, where drawings from the Peanuts comics came to life. We went mostly because we had seen every other ride we had wanted to already, and we would be finished in time for the light parade.

This parade was longer than Disney’s, and just as exciting. The density of the lights on each motorcade wasn’t as high, but still thoughtful and neat. One great change from USJ and Disney is you have room to move around and do stuff. During their parades, you’re lucky if you can find standing room. At USJ, we were front row, and Ann was waving to the many people parading by.

After the parade, surprisingly most of the rides were shutting down even though it was only 8. We got some food after much discussion, and Noriko went home. In the morning, we went to Osaka’s world-class aquarium.

If I had to compare it to Okinawa’s, I would much rather go there, if only for the main viewing room alone, not to mention the dolphin shows. It was still an amazing aquarium with cool things to see, though the pamphlet I saw walking in had my mind on other things the whole time: nearby, there was an IMAX playing Hubble 3D.

I love space. I can’t tell you how much, or even rational thoughts as to why; I just knew I needed to see that show. Luckily everyone else was feeling enthusiastic, and we saw what we wanted in 2 hours at the aquarium anyways to go. The show was simply amazing given what they had to work with. I remember reading briefly of the challenges they had filming it, and for what it’s worth, I was still immensely entertained. It had a lot of footage of the last servicing mission done last year, and it showed some 3D images that Hubble has taken.

Minds blown, we rushed to the next island over that had Osaka’s world trade center. From the amazing view on the 49th or whatever floor in the harbor, we looked out over Osaka while eating a buffet of wonderful varieties; diet again left at home.

Stomachs full, and rushing to beat the parking meter from rolling over the next hour, we headed home. Everyone was sleepy, but I forced myself to be alert with my responsibility for getting everyone home safely. I think that trip took a little over 4 hours so it worked out.

Who knows if I’ll be back right? Brett said I should stay another year just to do USJ some more times, but I feel at peace with it, having conquered most of its offerings. It has made me sad to think about “saying goodbye” to these places. I much prefer the “see you later”, but realistically who knows. There are many other places to see and things to do in the world; I feel like I have proper closure with these mystical giants.

"A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve." -Joseph Joubert

tnoy