Camping of the Adult Variety

I taught a full day on Thursday after I came back from Thailand, and after a day of transit followed by 5 hours of sleep, I was so tired during the day I felt like getting sick on myself a couple times. Luckily that didn’t happen. Friday night I went out for drinks with some teachers I work with; it was the first casual drinking gathering I had done so it was great, and when the weekend came I went to Takato for an English camp my Philippine friend, Mervin, had organized.

It was your standard fare of fun and games. We played different games from charades to “gozmondo”, where you’re given 2 ridiculous options to pick from, and debate which one is better. Some examples were: would you rather pee your pants at your wedding and have everyone laugh at you, or would you rather laugh uncontrollably at your Grandma’s funeral? Or: would you rather have to crawl everywhere you go, or have to stand on your hands every time you’re not moving?

I headed team Canada naturally, and we gave a presentation. One dude in our group had been to Vancouver before, and while he told his story, it was crazy! Apparently he was originally going to Toronto, but it was September 11^th. Along the way a fearful atmosphere took over the plane, as everyone knew something was wrong, and they landed in Vancouver instead. Once there, they were trapped in the airport practically all day, watching the shocking footage on TV. He said all flights were grounded and he was stuck in Vancouver for one week. He loved it though and wished he could stay longer, so his story ended on a positive note.

For the most part Team Canada did really good. One activity had us discussing what 10 things we had in common. While other groups did things like “we’re not wearing glasses” and “we all live in Nagano” our group was more outrageous with “we’ve all gone skinny dipping” (suggested by the 60 year old grandma), “we all hate Paris Hilton” and “we have grown and eaten home-made vegetables” among others. At night we had a campfire and ate smores, and Sunday we played the best activity of the camp: a picture scavenger hunt.

I’ve done a similar event before, and this one was just as fun. You get an hour to make photos like “funny faces” or “naked” and got points accordingly. I thought it was quality over quantity and the pictures were put to a vote, but that wasn’t the case and we got last place. Regardless, I think we had some of the best pictures, as you can see some that I posted. “First kiss” was a classic I think.

It was an interesting week though following. As I said before, I’m taking something of a “time management” and “goal setting” thing. The lady I tutor called me, and said her son had come down with influenza, so she gave me the week off. In fact she called me again today and said she’s still sick so I have this week off too. Anyways, I had more time to try and catch up with goal setting and stuff like that.

I listened to some “Zig Ziglar”, a motivational speaker. He has a cool accent and some good stories so that was interesting. I did various other things like trying to meditate. It went poorly though, as they talked about weird things that made me confused and not so relaxed as I probably should have been. (“find your heart”, “match your breathing” and so on…what?) I tried something new too: hypnotherapy. You play a tape, and this dude hypnotizes you and encourages good things. Tracks I got are on things like memory improvement and accelerated learning.

I found out I have an inquisitive mind from his description, and therefore I have a much harder time being hypnotized. This is due to constantly analyzing what is being said, wondering “why” all the time, and constantly monitoring my situation as your senses get heightened. Therefore I wasn’t deeply hypnotized that first time, but it was still a cool experience. I find my body having similar feelings when I’m trying to sleep and focusing relaxing muscle groups and what not. I think it’ll get easier and better the more I do it. (Picture BONUS! can you see what it spells?)

Well that went well Monday and Tuesday, but I woke up in the middle of Tuesday night and spent hours in the bathroom being sick. It sucked. There was something funny in my salad that I made that night; I don’t think I’ll be making salad anymore and just stick to things like bacon and cake :) haha

Thursday I still wasn’t 100%, but I had a great tutoring session. My teacher, Kayo, said she could see the big improvements I’ve made since I’ve started. I find words stick with me a lot easier now so it’s always a good feeling when I leave class. I want to learn to carry that feeling with me through the week and study more. Ya, you can probably see I’ve hit a bit of “information overload” which is all too easy to do when you have access to the Internet.

“Life is like a huge buffet line. You’re only going to have enough room to eat a certain amount, so plan accordingly.” More and more I realize and appreciate how finite life is during my time here. You meet and get to know new and interesting people here for a year or more, and maybe less. During that time you can only visit each other only so many times. Then they’re gone, and then what? Life goes on, that’s what. Learn to cherish your time with people more, and with the things that you do.

All day Friday was a meeting for teachers up in Matsumoto. Surprisingly again, it wasn’t too bad as much as I seem to dread these events where you hear the same stuff over and over again. I’m the only 3^rd year in my block but to be fair I came with only 2 others, Noboru and Patty. Patty went to Nagano City and Noboru went home. Now we’re mostly 1^st and 2^nd year teachers, so I’m the old guy of the block. Except for Jessie, he’s in his 4^th year.

After the meetings, we went out for Mexican food, and I somehow ate 3 main courses: some fried rice from Laos, some soft tacos, and a burrito. I spent a bit too much but wow was the food good. We met up with Neal and had a fairly big and fun party. It was funny how there were about 30 of us out near the main station all being drunk on the street and disorderly; there is a cool atmosphere in Matsumoto where you have more than a couple streets with that feeling, and many people walking around from one drinking party to the next. That kind of cool atmosphere is hard to describe, but I recommend you experience it.

When we got back to Neal’s, we weren’t up long before we were all asleep. Most of the people there were going to an English camp in Iida, and although I was invited, I declined a month back. This turned out to be my first 2 days off in over a week, and I thoroughly enjoyed them at home by playing video games and talking to people back home. Not to mention trying to catch up on some of those goal setting exercises so I could be ready for the next telephone conference on Sunday.

Sometimes I can actually see a routine to my crazy life here, and it’s a bit refreshing. I guess I shouldn’t try to see it as much as I should be making it for myself. I got lots of stuff to work on, but it’s an exciting experience to play around with it. For example at Friday’s meeting they had a presentation on studying for your masters. They brought up European Universities, and how they’re one-year courses you can take for free… I don’t think that would be a bad way to see some of Europe and get “freshened up” with my degree material at all. More planning and decision-makings to come…

"A still more glorious dawn awaits - not sun-rise, but a galaxy-rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns; a rising of the milky way" -Carl Sagan

tnoy

Traveling to Thailand a Third Time

I came back from Australia and my Newfie friend Dougal asks, “What are you doing for the September holiday?” That was the first I’d heard of it. I guess it’s new in Japan, and they call it “silver week.” Of course it’s not a week-long holiday like it and golden week should be, but regardless it’s 3 days off. I only had a month left, and my travel agent was on a holiday himself in Thailand so I couldn’t get him to search. Hokkaido, Hong Kong, and others were in the $1500 price range it seemed.

I looked up Thailand again and it was $700. It was a real Mickey Mouse operation to go though, leaving from Nagoya at noon, 40 minute flight to Tokyo, 5 hour transfer there, then arriving at midnight in Bangkok. Of my 6-day holiday, 2 days would be wasted completely in this horrible transit, but maybe that’s why it was so cheap. Regardless I’d still get 4 days of fun.

I spent most of the holiday with Anna again, and got to meet up with Lily later. One temple that I saw had a sleeping Buddha inside. Nearby he had many pots in a row, where you’re encouraged to take many tiny coins and drop them inside. She’s a sweetheart, but her English does have some limitations at times with complicated explanations for what this was about. Best I could make out; we were giving money to the dead so that they may pay the ferryman to take them across the river Styx to heaven. I thought that was a different religion that did that though?

I think the temple may have had roots with bringing Thai massage and its education to the country, as there were many references and diagrams for it. At times I’m surprised how religious Anna is, but it’s interesting to watch and see how she reacts to things. For example there are many little Buddha statues around Bangkok, and she would often clap her hands together and bow to them. At the grocery store where we bought some delicious dragon fruit, there were flags set up when you can staple a small donation for the temple to, incase you missed worship that day.

There was a small shrine in that big temple where Anna took a flower, and meticulously folded each pedal of it. Later she burnt incense, and shook out sticks to tell her fortune. I don’t know, I was just fascinated by all that; it’s pretty rare to be able to see it in such elegance I think, it’s so foreign to me. If she got a bad fortune, there was a place to go to get holy water to wash it away, but her fortune was so-so, so she was ok. Religion seems to be a product of upbringing, as with many people and cultures. She told me stories of how if she wore a hat near one of the many mini shrines, her mom would give her a smack for disrespecting Buddha and stuff like that. Feet, and the bottom of shoes are also a place of insult and filth.

I was happy to be able to catch a movie this time in Bangkok. The theaters are still awesome as ever; the chairs are big and comfortable, and these ones reclined a bit. You could move up the armrest too if you wanted to get close to your friend too. We ended up seeing “District 9” which may not come to Japan, and I was excited to see on the big screen. I really liked it, but I wish I wouldn’t buy into marketing hype so much as it builds unrealistic expectations, and ultimately disappointment.

Before the movie started we had an hour or so for supper, and I saw a pizza hut. It had been a long time, but it was highly worth going. Anna loves her Thai food and its spice, so it was funny watching her eat pizza; I think it’s extremely rare for her. She coated it in a thick layer of extra spices they had on hand that I didn’t recognize, then of course she didn’t like it so much haha. Naturally, I ate too much, but it was so good, and it had been too long. It’s still funny how you can grow to miss things you didn’t care much for in the past. Neal said there is a restaurant in Matsumoto, that lucky guy. I’ll need to visit him more often.

We went to a touristy street as well, where there were all kinds of little neat things to buy. It was hot though and I’m not much of a shopper. I picked up my gifts for the Japanese office quickly and was free for the rest of the trip. It was assorted fruit candies that are hard to describe. On this street we saw various things like a dude getting a tattoo and ice cream to eat out of a cup made of leaves.

Well I felt ripped off last trip because I was sick, so I made a trip down to the famous Pattaya beach. It was a 2-hour bus ride, and it cost about $3. Once there, I found an amazing hotel. I stayed on the 12^th floor with an amazing ocean view that cost about $40 a night. I couldn’t help but compare it to those capsule hotels in Tokyo where I pay the same amount.

Alas, the weather was perfect and there were no waves. That didn’t stop me from swimming for a while though. The water was a bit murky, and I struggled to remember how it looked in Vietnam. I just remembered the one in Japan a couple weeks prior to be crystal clear. Also, it was a bit itchy to be in the water for some reason; maybe weird little bugs or something, but who knows. The ocean has all kinds of stuff in it.

Sitting on the beach was a bit annoying at times, as there were walking ‘supermarkets’ coming buying asking you to buy their stuff every minute or two. After a while I ended up just swimming at the hotel’s pool where it was clean and nobody to bug me. It was cool too! You could sit at a bar there and be served drinks in the pool. I love swimming so spent a couple hours there.

There’s not a lot to write about when you’re just relaxing. I talked a lot with Anna and we walked along the beach for a while before it got too hot and I needed to jump into the water again. She bought peanuts from a traveling supermarket person, and it was interesting to eat. I’ve never had peanuts like that before; perhaps they had just been harvested as they were a bit soft; still tasty though! Not too salty.

Driving to the hotel, there were all kinds of crazy stores, and going for supper that night we saw the exact same cliental in each place; only middle aged balding dudes. Atleast I didn’t see one of those dudes with an under-aged prostitute as you sometimes hear about. I was looking forward to some BBQ, mostly because I was looking for food I missed that you can’t get in Japan (if the Pizza earlier didn’t give it away) but Anna saved me by buying from the Thai-only menu. It was such spicy, tasty food; I really liked it.

When I met up with Lily again, she was surprised I had a present from Japan for her again. She has been exercising lately at this huge park we strolled. In one of the ponds a huge lizard popped his head up and Anna got really excited. Apparently that’s a really good luck sign or something, but that thing freaked me out.

There sure are a lot of stray animals in Thailand; even the beach was full. It’s cool though that Lily carries food around with her for the cats, and Anna was bold enough to go up and pet them, even if the one scratched her and made her bleed. That reminds me of my sister Patty’s brief adventure in Japan.

I finally got to take the subway in Bangkok. I was surprised how clean it was, and how empty it was compared to the crazy streets above. One of the stations was called “Bang Sue”, which I would find a lot funnier if that wasn’t my mom’s name. It reminds me of those crazy names we saw in Vietnam like “hung long.”

A huge storm rolled in on the last night, and I wished for it to cancel my plane; 4 days was just too short. I ate at the huge outdoor arena I talked about during my first trip. It was sheltered so that was ok, but the aisles were flooding from the downpour. I managed to find that tasty German beer again here, and enjoyed it along with a wide variety of tasty foods. I didn’t want to drink too much before my plane though, so I’ll have to get one of those huge funnels/pitchers the next time I go. There was live music and dancing up on stage. I couldn’t understand it of course, but it was still nice.

My plane left at the cruel hour of 5 in the morning, and I got the wake up call at 3. Thus started the long, hard trip back home. I’m always bitter when I finish my holidays; it’s unfortunate. To get from the airport to Ina was $70, then to get from the highway where it dropped me off to my house, a 3-minute drive away, was $20. An hour taxi ride anywhere in Bangkok will maybe be $3. (pictured: view from that amazing hotel room)

Ya not a whole lot to write about. It was a great trip, and a great break from drama that has found me overseas from Canada and in Japan. “Life is too ridiculous to be taken seriously”, why do people get so miserable over things that matter so little. This was my last big holiday until Christmas I think, my Philippine friends are telling me to visit, and my old friend Jake is living in Northern Africa now sending me amazing stories of his time there. There are always options, now to figure which ones to take. Europe?

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” -Helen Keller

tnoy

Time, and other reflections

Although I finally updated on time this week (yay!) I leave Friday for Thailand and won’t update next week. I had a great week and even better weekend: I hardly did anything, or did a weird experiment on myself. Now I can finally post those pictures from the mud soccer over a month ago now that I don’t have new pictures for once (and my camera is broken). For other stuff I did: tutored Monday and Tuesday, went for sushi with the tutoring family, discussed Wednesday class on Wednesday with some of the students, and ate “romen” with them (like friend noodles, but using linguini instead of ‘traditional’ fried noodles).

Thursday Japanese class, Friday supper with Junko after my students had a singing competition. After, I looked to get a new camera as my last one broke finally from the sand in Australia; and here I leave on Friday! It rained all day Saturday and I didn’t really want to leave the house; it also got really cold. I felt bad because one of the new guys had his b-day party but I just didn’t want to leave the house; I’ll buy him a drink to make it up to him later. On Sunday I did leave the house to get delicious Brazilian food with my tutor but had to be home by 6 to call my friend Matt in Australia.

Which brings me to the meat of all this I guess. Now this is all just free writing, so skip at your leisure. It’s good to get your thoughts down into words and sentences to make sense of it all. I go on and on about being busy, not having time and such, so I think I’ve developed an attitude I’m not overly fond of. A lot of the week was spent in reflection then, and when I saw Matt in Australia, he offered me some ‘coaching’ with time management and things of the like; so I’ll give that a try for a couple months.

I was driving home one day and I wondered to myself: “how was I so depressed, had free time and never really did anything back in Saskatchewan?” and was hit with some weird realization: I don’t know. Is it because I have more friends here? There is more in my surrounding area? I have a job I actually get holidays from? I had no real answer, and through the week I tried to find out if I do have free time. Suddenly I felt like my life now is not so different.

I guess I didn’t go to the gym, partially because I was still sore from Fuji, and I didn’t really eat out save for that one night. I got more done than normal, and I had free time! So now I’m wondering where am I going wrong. They say you should schedule stuff around your priorities, but I don’t even know what those are anymore other than trying new things and having adventures. It definitely isn’t studying, as I shamefully haven’t done much of that after I wrote about the ridiculous amount of time I’ve spent studying already a couple months back and started wondering why.

I still am having the time of my life, but it’s strange to be so confused as to why and what I’m doing different from when I lived in Canada. My mind went blank when I thought of ways to take my new lifestyle back home with me. Do these fun things find me, or do I go looking for them? I think it’s rare that I find them, as opportunities are constantly falling on my lap, and I “don’t have” the time to find others. I’m sure I did stuff to set up this lifestyle though, and I don’t think it would be hard for anyone else to do.

So now maybe I’m at a crossroads. Do I reinvent myself again? The high times are great, but I’d like to understand what they are and why have I been so lucky to get them. What is it that I’m doing besides having a great time? I can’t remember the last time I was even slightly depressed since I started wondering this stuff; it’s literally been months. I don’t know maybe I wrote about it. I often forget what I’ve been up to and check these writings for reminders.

Through repetition, we come to believe things on a sub-conscience level, even if it’s not necessarily true. There is always time. We all have the same 24 hours a day, and the same 7 days a week. I am reminded of an amazing book “Catch-22” where one line was “He loved spending time with him because he despised him, and it made the time seem to go slower” or something to that affect. He recognizes that time goes too fast, and by spending it with this guy, he was getting more out of his limited time on Earth.

I’ve watched a couple documentaries, some BBC-4 science channel stuff, and they talked about time. In our brains are biological time watches. They pulsate and you track it to get an idea of how much time has passed; like a hidden sense. They then timed random people and told them to say stop when they think a minute has passed. Younger people said ‘stop’ before a minute, while older people said ‘stop’ after. Basically as we age our sense of time slows down, so that makes the world speed by faster.

Also going further, talks of the 4^th dimension, where you can see from the 5^th dimension a person’s entire life span from birth to death; not unlike what someone would see in the second dimension as an object passes through; all the thin layers that come together ie years of our life. This gets me wondering about fate, if everything is all predetermined already, and seeing someone is like seeing one long tube of where they go, what they do, and seeing them age through it, is not unlike a sequence in a cult classic movie, “Donny Darko.”

To break from that ‘fate’ though, going another dimension up everything is infinite. Every decision, every thought, every movement is a separate branch in infinite directions and possibilities into its own universe; so really this infinite universe that you control is your own and what you make of it. (oh and we’re not in a ‘universe’, we’re in a ‘multiverse’, but those are in different, higher dimensions on their own)

It keeps going, up to a theorized 10th dimension we exist inside which would explain dark matter; being on a plane of existence we can’t see, but can detect through its gravity seeping over our cosmos; you can only see dimension below you, and detect higher ones through waves… but anyways

I’m fascinated by this stuff of course, but that’s what makes me a nerd. Now that I’m so far off topic I’m not sure how to go back… Life is good! Just trying to figure stuff out, as things can always be better. I know that I’m happy, and I know “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”, but I’m always asking my favourite question: “why?”

"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying.E" -Michael Jordan

tnoy

Fuji: a Mountain of Pain

Late again, but this time it’s almost for a good reason. If I had written this up earlier, there would be more bile and hard feelings poisoning my writing. Now that most of the hurt is over, I can try to highlight most of the best parts, before everything goes to crap.

So ya, Fuji. I think climbing it is on most people’s “things to do before I die” list for one reason or another, although I’m not sure why. It’s not particular huge in comparison to others like Everest, but I guess it’s pretty and peaceful in its own right. I never understood how thrill seekers punish their bodies knowingly like this.

Anyways, a group of teachers got together discussing a trip, and it was a good kick to go and tackle this huge objective which, like the beach the weekend before, has a limited season for being open and gets pushed out of the priorities.

I had gone to the gym a couple times hoping to be better prepared, but it’s funny how things change. I once laughed at the idea of doing jumping jacks or sit-ups as they were absurdly easy to do, but now they work me hard. I feel I got somewhat ready for the mountain, but really it was going to hit me no matter what I did. I’ll just have to rely on my stubbornness and never-give-up attitude.

We started the climb Friday night around 10:30. We drove half way up to the 5^th station or whatever and proceeded to climb. At first the dozen or so of us stuck quite close together, but before we even started to climb we were getting separated. I was lagging behind because of all the pictures I was taking of the beautiful lights down below, and the small clouds over hanging them.

I pushed myself a bit too hard, and climbed quite a ways to the next stop, the 6^th station. Looking up from the bottom, it’s hard to tell how far you have to go, especially when it’s dark. That first stretch was quite long and I considered it about ½ way from where we started, but really it was maybe a 1/3^rd at best. Somehow I did ok keeping up with the leaders of the group, but really our conditions couldn’t be much better.

There were no clouds. There was a bright, full moon. There was very, very little wind. There were few people as the season was “over” to climb. Many times I had no one in front or behind me and could go at my own pace, while we were told normally there is so many people and the que is so long, you literally follow a line to the top. There is a somewhat narrow and specific trail to follow which is “safer” as if you got off it, it got steeper and the rocks were loose. I did that once in a rare case of skipping a clot of people slowly going up, and they gasped which made me giggle. If I have some gas left in my tank, I’m not going to waste it by waiting in line when I have so much further to climb.

For the most part you’re walking up a steep hill. Rarely there were stairs, and for a long stretch you are actually climbing up rocks. I was carrying up 110kg; I’m 100, and my backpack was 10 that had energy drinks/snacks and a winter coat for when it got colder, and boy did it ever. It’s surprising there wasn’t more wind given the shape and bareness of the cliff we were scaling, but when it did hit you, it cooled you to the bones.

So you had this weird situation where you are too hot, but yet you are freezing. I tried to balance that and stay dry as best as I could, but the climb took over 6 hours. My camera was in the front pocket of my winter coat and it was practically dripping it got so wet with sweat through my t-shirt, spring coat and winter coat.

I stopped a number of times to catch my breath and try to slow my heart rate. I was breathing quite rapidly, but once aware of that it was surprisingly easy to take a deep breath and calm down; even if my heart was still beating like crazy. Sometimes I got a bit dizzy too, but I hear that’s part of altitude sickness. One guy went up much faster and was puking for an hour at the top. Poor Neal got the sickness by the 7^th station and had to turn around, suffering from the worst headaches he’s ever had.

Worse yet, my car was locked and he didn’t have the key, so he found a bench to try and sleep on through the cold night while sick and suffering, being woken up by many people walking around and the occasional police officer checking on him.

To the top, it was 3700 meters. We started at around 2000 meters and there were 10 rest stops, even if they were quite horrible. Mostly they were lit areas, and some idiot telling you to be quiet or advertising his $6 instant noodles. Bathrooms weren’t free either but luckily they worked on the honor system that we chose to not honor. If you wanted to go inside these buildings, you had to have booked them in advance; or maybe that was during the busy season. Either way, we stopped at the 8^th station for over 20 minutes as it wasn’t freezing like the top was and we were making great time.

That 9^th stop was practically non-existent though, as that last stretch from 8.5 to the top took over an hour and was mostly in the dark. Most of us had little headlights on, like miners, so we could see where we were stepping or reaching to grab; big lifesavers. I don’t think chocolate has ever tasted as good as that first stop when I snacked on some for the sugar rush of energy.

Easily the best part of the night was during that long, dark stretch when I took one of my many stops for a break on a hard rock. You were free from the light pollution of the rest stops, noise pollution of the people, and could just sit and relax; gazing over at the breathtaking view of the cities, mountains and clouds below you. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen, or maybe it was the exhaustion. Even if it was for a brief moment, it felt like I had found true zen for the first time, and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of life being “perfect.”

It was a bit fleeting, but I’m happy I got a taste of this amazing feeling and experience. I need to learn meditation already. I sat there for a little while, trying to grasp the gravity of what I just experienced, but near the top you kept moving more to stay warm despite your exhaustion. It was cold and I still had a ways to go.

Reaching the top was really anti-climatic. You’re climbing, struggling, feeling pain, and suddenly there is a huge building or temple or who knows what it is in front of you and you have nowhere left to go. Technically the mountain is 3770 meters, but that last 70 meters to the summit is off-limits, as Fuji is still a somewhat active volcano or something. You can walk around in a big circle around the summit, but nuts to that; we were on the East side and were early enough to get a great view of the sunrise.

We got front row seats on iced-over benches, I laid down my rain poncho to try and limit the freeze on my behind, and we sat clumped together waiting out the sun. I didn’t take off my backpack because my back was so wet I got cold quite fast. Now it was an endurance test. The last 20 minutes of the climb there was frost and snow starting to form around the mountain, and it was a bit scary at times, like when you slipped and thought you were going to fall. If you fall down Fuji, unless something specific stops you, you can tumble for a long, long time I think.

I was reminded of ice fishing; no feeling in my hands or toes, shivering violently, waiting. Waiting. The horizon got more orange all the time, and finally the sun broke over a tiny stretch of clouds. Those clouds weren’t much, but enough to block the sun. It was light and I was cold so I decided to go on ahead to get down from this torture. No one wanted to go with me, so nuts to them I thought; I’ll still see the sun in ½ hour when it finally comes out and I (hopefully) won’t have frostbite.

The first 20 minutes of the climb down I shivered violently. There are 2 paths: one for ascent and one for descent. The descent one was worlds different, as they smoothed a path in a lazy snake pattern down the mountain. The first half went great! I stopped maybe twice for a break, and that was mostly to strip off layers of clothes as it got warmer all the time. I was in a great mood, and after I heard how Neal was I wanted to rush down to give him some company and assure him he didn’t miss much. It was after 4:30 in the morning I think when I started.

Well that snaky path goes left and right, and half way down it went rather far to the right, then signs pointed, every 10 meters or so “this way to 5^th station”. Alright that’s where I’m going. It then pointed down a path that I will refer to until the day I die as suicide. It was STEEP. It went down, a LONG way. It had a piddly pathetic guide rope that was too short to hold or grab (decoration), and more signs pointing down this insult of reason.

My first step down this path and I knew it was a horrible mistake; it was a slew of gravel that went up to my ankle; so after my first step my shoes were full of rocks. Because everything was so loose, rocks would tumble down and sometimes they clipped me from behind after clearing a spot.

You didn’t really “walk” this path as much as you swung around wildly trying to keep your balance and not die while skidding and sliding all over the place. If I weren’t so tired, I would honestly believe I was going to die before it was over and I was all alone. It was almost good that I was alone though, given how those rocks tumbled and fell constantly; I can’t imagine having to avoid tumbling ones behind me.

It took me about 2 hours of almost dying to get down this suicide hill, and then I saw a sign saying the 5^th station was another 5 kilometers away. It was dark on the climb up, and the descent trail was getting further way, but the signs wouldn’t lie right? I didn’t know where I was, but why would the many, many signs lie? I could see a big parking lot in the far distance… apparently 5km away. I braved the unpleasant descent somehow and made it to the 5^th station. It looked completely different when I finally arrived from weird jungle paths.

What the hell? I was lucky a dude knew English and told me I was on the wrong side of the mountain. Apparently some designer/planner/cretin/dipshit thought it was a great idea to name these starting locations with the exact same name. On opposite sides of the mountain. And wants my foot up his ass.

Maybe it hasn’t been long enough yet, I’m really angry again. I was so unhappy at the start of suicide hill that I only have 2 pictures on my camera and I’ll try to wrap this up fast before I get angrier. I had to take 3 buses, spend $40, and wait 5 hours to get back to the “5^th Station” that I wanted to be at. During that time I suffered greatly from fatigue, from my injuries, and my sanity. My friends suffered too wondering where I was, why I was so late, and why I haven’t got down the mountain yet. It was about noon when I limped to my car, and a panicked Neal ran over to see if I was ok. I forgot my knee tenser somehow and it was hurting greatly. My mind was literally poisoned with “this is the worst day of my life” infinite loop.

Well, now that that’s over, let’s try and end this trip and story off with a positive note. I got home and had fast food for supper. I fell asleep on my couch watching a movie. I spent all of Sunday in my 'pajamas' watching TV, and playing video games. I got mail from my Mom in Canada that had my favourite candy inside. (Thanks mom!) I had root beer. I had beer. I later ordered a big fat expensive pizza and drank beer while eating it during a movie. Pure. Bliss.

The only thing missing is if I had the energy, or the will, to leave my house, to go to an onsen to sit in a hot bath for a while. Well that’s done and I have my pictures and my memories. I realized I don’t have good luck climbing mountains, as the only other one I climbed in China with Chris was its own interesting/horrible experience. Chris and I could tell you an awful, long story about that ordeal too. I think I’ll retire from ever climbing a mountain again. If “Climb Fuji” was on something of a “to do” list of mine, I can now strike it off, and continue striking it until it left a hole in the paper. It is done, it is over, and it’ll never ever EVER happen again. :) See? Happy note. I’m all smiles right now :D

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are." -Bernice Johnson Reagon

tnoy

Turning Red

Before continuing with my really late post, (oh well, I posted 4 last week, burnt out, and was really busy all week so far) my sister wrote me something that got me confused, about how I got “scanned for swine flu” coming back to Japan. Perhaps I should explain.

I’ve been in many airports now, and all of them have a “thermal camera”. So every passenger that enters the country walks single file so the camera can detect if your body temperature is above 38 degrees or whatever. If so, you have a fever and will be detained for testing. As far as I know, this seems like a super standard screening everywhere and I’ve seen it on the news, and back when I lived in China 5 years ago so I assumed you knew what I meant. Upon reflection I don’t remember if I’ve seen it at Canadian airports, so maybe this is an Asian thing ever since the SARS scare. The news loves to scare people with unnecessary garbage to distract from more important stuff they should be covering, but I digress.

So ya, last week. Unsatisfied with having had to drive and not drink Saturday, Richard and I threw out our trip to the gym in order to partake in that wonderful summer/beer festival in Matsumoto. Because we wanted to drink we both took the train up, and although I’ve known transportation to be expensive in the past, it was put back into perspective.

Going to Matsumoto and back cost almost $20 and 3 hours. I can almost buy a tank of gas for my little car with that much money, and it would have taken about the same time. Although parking is ridiculously expensive in Matsumoto (I spent $30 when Janelle came), I could just leave my car at Neal’s now.

But, Richard and I wanted to be home that night instead of having to wake up early and go to work that way. Being at the festival definitely made up for the annoyance of getting there. I tried that German beer that won some kinda award last year that Neal taunted me with the smell, and oh my it was wonderful. I’m just sad I couldn’t take any home with me; I’ll definitely need to go to Germany sometime.

I later tried a Pilsner which was great in its own right while Richard had a dark beer second, but I was in love with the first one so my 3^rd drink went back to it. Neal made the trip down and we all had a good time sitting out in the busy square, eating homemade German sausage and other treats.

The week came and went, most of it was spent writing blog entries; well over 20 pages. When Friday came I stayed after school (almost the last person out) finishing off that last entry, then rushed home, posted it, then jumped in the car to pick up Neal in Okaya. We were off to the beach!

We talked about it, but never got to do it last Summer just because we were too busy. This weekend was free and we were both busy every weekend after that for months, so we knew if we didn’t go, then we wouldn’t make it out this year. Again. Neal had been to this good beach before, so I assumed he knew how to get there, and Neal assumed since I was driving I had directions and knew how to get there myself.

That first 10 minutes or so in the car was kinda awkward with the “I thought you…” but I didn’t care enough to pursue it further, we were going to the beach! Who wants to argue with their friend over something that petty when both parties clearly think they’re right? Besides you can’t get lost in Japan, you’ll just end up in some city. We drove 300 kilometers practically blind and it took over 7 hours and over 8 stops at convenience stores to ask for directions. My spirits were high though, I know crazy circumstances like this lead to great stories and adventures, plus nothing was going to get me down about the beach; I felt so cheated during my Australia/Thai adventure with that bloody flu.

We arrived at 3:30 in the morning so naturally it was dark. The stars were amazing. It had been a while since Neal had been there and the numerous new signs (in 3 different languages no less) warning of legal repercussions should you set up a tent and camp out got us worried enough to sleep in the car until morning. There were other tents out, but we didn’t want to risk it and let them play the pigeon in the mineshaft.

We got up around 7. I woke up briefly a couple times, as it is what happens in a hot car with the sun beaming in, and each time my little car was surrounded by Japanese people watching the strange foreigners sleeping in this little car; me with my big bright red Hello Kitty pillow in my arms. Of course when you looked at them they scattered like cockroaches when you turn on a light, (so I hear, I dread the day should I experience it) but it was still funny. We got up and the beach was crowded already.

What a beautiful place. Neal tells me the majority of beaches in Japan have had its sand removed and replaced with concrete, so this place is really special. Apparently they do that because of the typhoon coming through, but I haven’t really seen it for myself; it sounds crazy anyways. The water was a nice green blue, and when you were in it you could still see your feet perfectly clear on the bottom.

After a short swim to wash away any sins and bad memories of the arduous journey there, we got some breakfast. Neal cracked a beer. I was compelled to do the same. So for breakfast we had some fried rice, some hot dogs, and about a liter of beer each. Great way to start the day eh?

We walked around a little, and it was a bit reminiscent of Vietnam; we walked a lot then too on a road near the beach. Luckily there wasn’t far to go or much to see, so it was easier to jump back into the water. I thought it was fairly crowded there, and too many surfers for the tiny waves they were waiting to catch. There were enough waves to keep it interesting for swimming though.

We had set up the tent, but the wind knocked it over and broke a pole. Neal blamed it on the beer, but we just put pegs in this time and it held up ok after fixing the pole. Neal took a nap, and I really wanted to too; it felt so good. I heard too many horror stories of people falling asleep though and waking up ready to go to the hospital because their burn was so great though.

So I didn’t really sleep. I nodded off a couple times while trying to read a couple pages from a book, but was awakened by my paranoia, and at one point what I thought was a bug crawling down my neck: it turned out to be lots of sweat. (pictured, me doing a lobster pose with my new sunburn)

I inflated a tube and went back in the water while Neal napped. After an hour of this maybe, I went back to my towel and slept on my stomach this time, with my shirt covering my head and the back of my neck. After about an hour I woke up super dehydrated feeling super hot. It was only 1 in the afternoon haha

We ate, drank liters of water, which was luckily free at the out door restaurant where we had amazing food, and walked around the nearby town after. We found a cool restaurant where the lady inside hand made amazing things like the caramel ice cream coffee float we ate, cheese cake and other things.

I think we went for a swim again, but a lot of this weekend is a time trap for my memory. It was a relaxing way to get away from it all. That night we had homemade pizza and Thai curry for supper at the lady’s restaurant, bought Aloe Vera for my screaming sunburns, and tried to go to bed early.

At the start of the trip I was whiter than the white sands we napped on. I put on a lot of sunscreen: spf 50. I put it on often: about a coat an hour it seemed; or every time we went into the water. I finished that day redder than a cooked lobster and probably in just as much pain.

When we tried to sleep that night, many people came to the beach and lit off fireworks in a big circle around our tent. The women wore kimonos and there were many kids. Needless to say we couldn’t sleep so we sat out and watched the stars for a bit until they left.

In the morning while loading the tent in the car, a model named Sakurako came up and started talking to us. This was pretty rare for a Japanese person to do, but we soon found out her and her friend Fumi weren’t average; they were really cool! We talked and had fun for hours, although we had to move under the shade because I could still feel the sun attacking my burn through my clothes.

We needed to swim before we left so we jumped in again for a quick one despite my wounds. There was a typhoon coming, so the wind and waves were much stronger that morning, and the surfers were more annoying, with a large portion of the beach closed off just for them now by the life guards. They were practically shoulder-to-shoulder; crowded so hard so they couldn’t surf anyways. Crazy people. The waves were great though, while waist deep, they’d come crashing in over my head. I’d jump up into them and had a blast.

So fun, I can’t even tell you. There were many more bikinis out this second day too; tiny bikinis. The beach culture is interesting, the girls had tans and some people had small tattoos; something usually taboo because of the Yakuza mafia stereotype. Our new friends waited at the shore for us, as they didn’t bring bathing suits. We thought it was weird, as they drove over 6 hours from Tokyo and arrived at 4:30 in the morning and didn’t bring swimwear, but then again we drove a bit more and didn’t bring directions.

We had to get going around noon though to get back in time. The girls were heartbroken, but the weather was getting worse. Along the way we ate sushi at a famous restaurant; good stuff. The drive back was a lot better, even if we got lost again and had to take a 2 hour detour to get back; it took over 9 hours this time. Got home, slept. Now I finally have done the beach in Japan and seen the wonderful bikinis.

Well, time to get some sleep; I'm climbing Mt. Fuji tomorrow... if I you hear from the morgue then you'll know why.

"The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things." -Larry Crabb

tnoy

Entertaining Guests

Wow, 4 updates in one week eh? Maybe with this one I’ll finally be caught up… until Monday again that is. So I got back Sunday, right in the thick of Summer Holidays at school. I went to work on Monday, as per my contract, even though I would have no work to do for the next 2 weeks. This way they try to get us to use more of the holidays that we have, but I like to sprinkle them out into trips around the year.

So I went to work, and I actually wore one of those funny facemasks, as I was still sick. I had one of those nagging thoughts in the back of my head concerning the whole swine flu thing. When I landed they gave you a paper: “if you have or develop any of these symptoms…” kinda thing. The funny thing was I had every symptom on the paper, but I just wanted to go home and lay down. The thermal camera didn’t pick me up, so I must be ok right? Those symptoms were so general it could have been anything anyways: “cough, stuffy nose…” etc. Are you serious?

Anyways, Kasuga-sensei is a great guy, and took me to the hospital. There we waited for over an hour while they tested me for the swine flu, then when it came back negative, I got to see the doctor. All I had to do was open my mouth, he saw the swollen red, and I was done; almost 2 hours of waiting for a 2 minute visit. Oh well, I’ve waiting longer for less back home. Maybe I was cranky because I really wasn’t well and wanted to be in bed. At least it wasn’t strept throat; I got that a lot in Canada.

The rest of the week was kinda weird. I got medicine, and in Japan it’s weird! You know how we use gel capsules to hold powder in right? In Japan you just get the powder, then you gag on it while you drink water, trying to get this crap into your stomach. A different experience, but oh well. I went in to work a couple times, but the door was locked so I just went home again and played video games. I could have still been in Australia or Thailand but oh well, I was sick anyways so I’m not too bitter.

Noboru came to visit me too. He went to Russia and had a great time, but now that it was August he was homeless for a couple days until he went home. He stayed over and it was funny because he tried talking with me a couple times but I was so out of it with my flu I’m sure my sentences were a jumbled mess. After a while he left me alone to being a zombie in front of my games. It was so hot out.

On Tuesday morning at 5 we were awakened to a cool earthquake too. It started off small, and usually they stop in seconds. This one got stronger after about 10 seconds and kept going for 20 more maybe. When it stopped we went back to sleep, but apparently a highway was destroyed near Tokyo.

On Thursday, despite being sick still and in Ina, I drove the hour for my Japanese lesson. I was dressed all grubby and didn’t shave, but it was just class right? I guess I forgot, but before I left on holidays I made plans with my teacher to go see the huge Japanese Drums festival in town (Taiko). Because it was a festival, you had your standard Japanese festival assortment of tasty foods, but I also tried the fishing game for the first time.

You get a hoop and it has a sheet of rice paper over it. You use it to fish out as many, or as big of a fish as you can into your bowl. I of course failed right away; if you know rice paper then giving them water isn’t a very good idea. It was still fun to finally try it though; you see it in anime all the time.

The drum festival itself was quite impressive. I wasn’t sure if I was up for 2 and a half hours of drumming action, but it went by fast. Apparently this is the biggest festival of its kind in Japan; over 300 drummers were up on stage. The monstrous one in the center was 2 meters in diameter. It was good times; my teacher Kayo is really cool. I declined to join in the later festivals though, on Friday there was another Taiko show and on Saturday they had the famous fireworks display.

Friday the 14th I was starting to get better, finally after 2 weeks, and ordered Pizza at home for supper. Because it was Obon holiday, a lot of Japan is shut down as families gather and visit family graveyards (families will get one plot to put many urns inside). Because I live near graveyards they were quite lively, and now the tombstones are all clean and shiny, as per tradition. Anyways it took over 2 hours for the pizza to come because of the holiday, but I didn’t mind. What was cool though, my friend Yuri messaged me saying she was in town and wanted to meet.

We only had a couple hours, but we had a great supper of okonomiyaki at a new restaurant for me. That’s like a Japanese pancake that is famous down in the kansai area of Japan. We had a great talk and she loved my new look; I guess the shopping paid off. After we went back to my place where I gave her a cute present from Australia. I taught her how to play a video game (she killed zombies like a pro!), and later we looked over my Australia photos. She went there herself for ½ a year to study for those who maybe don’t remember her.

She left in the afternoon, and I was expecting to see Noboru before he took off, but things got crazy and he went straight to catch his bus to get back to America. I don’t remember what I did that night, I think I relaxed at home again. That night there were crazy fireworks at Suwa lake, but I didn’t go and later I was glad I stayed home like a nerd because boy did it rain hard that night. Just like last year when I went…

It’s so nostalgic and relaxing to be alone with my video games again <3 oh how rare those times have become. I beat one game, and almost beat another, but as of this writing in the last 2 weeks I haven’t found a spare hour to complete it. Well… atleast this blog is getting finished! Haha what a life… no wonder I’m crazy :)

My mom has a friend at work, and her daughter, Janelle, was visiting Japan. We had been in touch because of this, and on Sunday she came to visit. I wasn’t quite sure what we could do around my little place in Japan, but I had a couple ideas. Luckily she’s a pretty relaxed girl and we had fun with whatever we were doing. We started with some delicious sushi train, and then bugged my friend Miharu in the mall beside the restaurant for ideas. She laughed, but she gave us the great idea of going to see the Miharashi farm nearby.

I had been there before briefly, but still got lost. When we arrived, we were able to pick and eat blue berries for an hour in a little field. It was a great time I thought; we ate although we were still full of sushi, talked, and enjoyed the beautiful weather and surroundings. I found out she has never done Onsen either, so I knew I’d have to give her the experience much like I’ve done with my mom, sister and Christine before her.

At the farms there is a really big and nice Onsen. We got a discount for already having paid for the blueberry experience. I took my time in the bathhouse for an hour, enjoying all the many offerings like sauna, bubble jets, outside lounge and so on. There was an old dude in the middle of the floor doing butt flexes or something; thrusting his taint into the air. Disturbing times! Haha almost as bad as that one dude washing and splashing his balls about in a bucket; but I guess this is a bathhouse after all.

Although I took an hour, Janelle took maybe two. I didn’t mind; I fell asleep on a chair while waiting. She came back and had made new friends, as they took us out for supper and invited us over to their second home. Every month they go down to Ina for a bit, but they’re from Yokohama. They were really fun; we had a great time and incidentally gave Janelle a unique Japan experience. The best stuff you just can’t plan right?

Speaking of which, a similar thing happened that Monday. We went to my school so she could get an idea of how things work here as she teaches back in Canada. The school was mostly shut down for the holidays still, but she got the idea. We watched the archery club, and they had us join them! It was great; I love my kids, they’re so fun. She was shocked at just how different they were here compared to back home and how I joked around with them. Then later we sat on edge as the group practiced shooting, and there were kids down at the other end that weren’t really protected in anyway from a stray arrow… nervous times indeed!

Clubs wrapped up around lunch due to the heat, giving the students some time to, you know, go out and enjoy their summer holidays. They’re given so much homework over the summer, and the first days back they’re given tests to make sure they studied during that time. We used this time to get in my car and drive in a very indirect route to Matsumoto. Nagano is quite the beautiful place, if my frequent pictures of the countryside haven’t convinced you yet.

Along the way we stopped at that crazy “bull dog” store where I accidentally bough my brother a sex toy for Christmas and gandered over the amusing offerings. Before we left I bought “Hello Kitty” bed sheets for my bed at home. They’re a strong red, and kitty-chan is all over the place! They’re so awesome… that’s a good sign that I’ve lived here too long though, as I’d get beat up for that back home. That didn’t stop Janelle from being jealous though. They were for sale in “Japan only” and they fit futons, not queen size mattresses. She said she’d look for some on the Internet later.

We made it to the castle, but had to be fast on our tour as it closed at 6. After we met up with Neal, who moved to Matsumoto now for his new job. Incidentally, Ashley and Chris were meeting up with him later, and we had a big party. First we went to an amazing burger restaurant that I was shocked existed in Japan, then to a bar, then to Neal’s place, where we drank and partied until 5:30 in the morning.

Sure it was Monday night and we “worked” the next day, but I was “responsible” by choosing to cut my fun off at 4:00 in the morning so I could drive us back in the morning; better known as “3 hours later.” We played drinking games over some of the many boxes that were strung around, as he’s still very much just moving in. We later played the “never have I ever”, and although some tried to turn the game sexual, I found the best conversations came from unique offerings: for example “never have I ever skydived” or “been to London” and so on. What an amazing conversation game! Great stories came out from everyone.

Anyways, we didn’t have time to eat, just enough time to get home, pack, put my new Hello Kitty bed sheets on to evoke jealousy, then get Janelle to the bus so she could get home. I think I did pretty well for my first time! If you’re reading this Janelle, thanks for coming out! It was fun!

I spent the rest of the day in some weird limbo, not even bothered to check if the school was locked. Somewhat hung over, not really asleep or awake on my new Hello Kitty sheets in my house baking in the blistering heat. The next day, Wednesday, Neal was in town to clean up the final loose ends, and I got to meet the new guy replacing him. We ran various errands, then that night I went to Neal’s 18^th going away party; I guess he made lots of friends in his 3 years here! Haha

On Thursday the 20^th I went to Tatsuno where I spent the entire day writing blog entries, then went to my Japanese lesson. The weekend was back before I knew it and I had to think hard to figure out where my entire week had gone.

That Friday my friend from Kyoto, Noriko, came up to visit me. I went to visit her in June, and now it was my turn to return the favour. I got good practice from showing Janelle around, and having left work early, I went to the bus stop to meet her. She didn’t feel right staying over like Janelle did, so we got her checked in to a hotel then went for lunch. She hasn’t had Brazillian food before, so it was a great opportunity to try.

I think she liked it, and during lunch we made a bit of a game plan for her weekend. Matsui-sensei that sits beside me at work is a good friend now, and gave me some great ideas for things to do. Many of them didn’t resonate too much, so we had more of a relaxing day seeing the city.

We walked to the park and stuff, and then later went to the culture hall near my school. I was shocked! Inside, was a Planetarium. I couldn’t believe it when I read the katakana; I quickly ran upstairs to see what its deal was. That night it was sold out, but I’ll definitely need to come back later for a show. And to think, it’s a 5-minute walk from my house.

We made our way back to my place where we watched a movie, played video games and looked at pictures. She’s a nice girl, but she’s a bit shy with her English I think. I ended up talking too much for the both of us, but it gets tiring. Inadvertently, I tried out a lot of my Japanese and she answered a bunch of questions I had. We called it an early night and I took her back to the hotel; we both wanted to be rested for Matsumoto the next day.

I picked her up in the morning, and upon asking a convenience store for some directions, discovered there wasn’t a single restaurant open for breakfast in Ina until 11. That’s very typical for Japan though; everything is closed until the afternoon almost. I ended up cooking a quick breakfast for us, and we started a 4-hour car ride to Matsumoto. Usually it takes 90 minutes, but this was one hell of a detour, up and over mountains, around the lake and so on. It was really beautiful.

We got to the castle, but I opted to wait outside for her to go around because I paid to go inside the week before. It was a bit of a pity though, as the place was packed it was slow going; and it was a killer hot day. I was in the shade eating ice cream but I was still suffering, I’d hate to think how it was inside that castle with hundreds of people.

After we drove around for a while, we looked at maybe going into a couple museums, but we both didn’t really care too much to go in. We were tired and hot. I ended up calling Neal again, and we all met up for supper. We went for Mexican food, which is really rare in Japan! It was great and after we went to a nearby Matsumoto festival that we didn’t know existed until we walked past.

It was something of a German beer festival, with tall glasses of amazing brew and home made sausage alongside the standard Japanese festival fare. I, of course, had the worst luck in the world because I was driving. Neal told me to just smell one of his beers and I was ready to cry. I knew I’d have to go back before the festival was over. We enjoyed the evening with many people, and made many new friends as drinking parties and festivals like that is a great way to meet people.

On Sunday the 23^rd, we were back in Ina, and Brett had announced a big BBQ party at the party last Wednesday. We went and it was a crazy experience. Not only was an amazing nature park/campground near where I live, but also the food was superb. Standard Japanese BBQ fare again of yakiniku and vegetables, but also others like tangerine chicken and burgers that Brett brought along. At first we were BBQing normal hamburgers, but then the Japanese cooking habits took over and they turned out more like meatballs. They still prepared them in an amazing way though, that you had to fall in love with them.

Later we tried something new: a noodles slide. I guess it’s traditional in Japan. We set up some bamboo slides, and slid somen noodles down them. You try to catch it with your chopsticks, dip it in sauce and eat it. It was really cool! Not to mention tasty. Later, they rolled tomatoes down the slide and if you could catch one with your chopsticks then you got a prize.

I didn’t think we’d be there as long as we were, but we ate, drank and partied for almost 5 hours. Before we got to crack the watermelon with a bat the traditional Japanese way, Noriko and I had to get going so she could catch her bus. It was a good thing we tried to leave early, as after the goodbyes and the pictures it took almost ½ and hour. She made a lot of friends, and many want to visit her in Kyoto. It was great to have her come up and visit me; I had a lot of fun.

I can’t remember how I spent the rest of the day, but that doesn’t matter compared to the fact that I’m finally caught up! Yay! Now I can take a break… until Monday.

"If you want love and abundance in your life, give it away." -Unknown

tnoy