Stirring from Hibernation

It’s strange writing that considering there is still traces of snow and ice lying around, but I’ll probably stop canceling out on so many events soon enough and start keeping myself too busy again. For example Ann is trying to get a visa to come visit me, which requires formal paperwork from me apparently, as she will be my guest. Oh and I didn't take any new pictures, so I'm posting random ones from this year so far.

One formal letter of which included a very detailed itinerary, at a level not even I plan out on my trips. It was a very interesting exercise though, planning future events and such down on a calendar that was easy to see. I’ve always liked the big picture. I understand why people plan ahead now, where as I usually go unprepared and flexible; there really is a colorful selection of upcoming events from sumo to cherry blossoms to festivals. I truly love spring.

I’m glad I don’t have to make one up for my mom as well for her to get a visa, but I may do it anyways so that we readily know our options for upcoming events when she comes for a short 2 weeks. For example, a huge and crazy once-every-6-years festival fast approaches. I’ll talk about it more in April/May when I go with my guests.

The week was relaxed, I think I taught 3 classes in total, and this week I only have 1. It may be hard to post next week because of a conference, but maybe I can write it up on the bus and post it from my hostel or wherever I stay. Today I marked tests, and it was cute how most of the students said they want to go to Canada, when in class only a few said the same thing. Maybe it’s the Olympic effect.

On Thursday Mervin sent me an invite to his “winter sucks” party. With a title like that, I could hardly refuse. He has a nice house, and many people came out for food, drinks and so on. One guy came with 3 buckets of KFC chicken for everyone; there’s something to be said about the generosity of Japanese people. I wish I hadn’t bought supper already, but ended up eating way too much anyways.

One of the talks was with my good bud Dougal again, I hadn’t seen him in months it felt like. He wanted to argue that winter did not in fact suck, but I told him he wouldn’t say that if he was in that accident 2 weeks ago in that blizzard, so that made him stop and think about it despite his passionate argument moments earlier. :) He’s a good guy; it’s fun to joke around again.

I didn’t know what to expect at the party, but Mervin told me he just got a new, and large, TV. After hearing that, I brought some video games just in case. Most people were busy socializing though, so the gaming was limited, and we watched some Blu Ray movies later when it was down to Me, Richard and Erin that were staying the night. “Planet Earth” is an amazingly beautiful series if you haven’t seen it, but it’s so relaxing and surreal we couldn’t watch much than an episode before we were falling asleep, and talks were limited to “wow…”

Mervin and Richard went to Shiojiri the next day for a Valentine’s event, but I went home instead intending to apply for jobs. Unfortunately I was derailed with some pressing things in my e-mail inbox instead. It was a late start on the day, and Michelle told me at Mervin’s the previous night that we should play games, and she came over just for that.

I got a new Mario game for the Wii, and it’s the first time you can play co-op. To maximize the fun, we’d need 4 people. I made some calls, and by 7 I had a full house with Ike, Molly, Stu and Michelle. We had to pass a controller around every now and then, but it worked out fine, as we avoided the cold hallway where people sympathized with my brutal sleeping conditions.

I haven’t laughed so hard and had so much fun in a long time. If you take the game seriously, then you will get angry and not have as much fun, as you die a lot. Most times because of the other players and not the game, as you bounce off each other. So it’s very common to try and make a difficult jump, just to have someone else try and make the same one, leaving you to bounce off their head and knock them into a pit.

Another example was when Ike got a power-up and started bragging, so I picked him up and threw him into a hole :) I guess it may sounds strange if I try and talk about it, so I really recommend you try it for yourself: pure unbridled fun and mayhem. Challenging too. We ordered in 2 pizzas and the hours flew away. Oh how I missed gaming parties with friends.

Sunday was relaxing, I played the game single player, and later got into talks with family and friends back home until 2 in the morning. I should have been applying for jobs again, but atleast my resume is updated now. I wrote down “available in September”

I was talking with Erika and she gave me lots of tips for the transition back out of Japan, and Neal gave me a nice kick in the butt to start looking around for jobs. I only really applied at one place so far, the Canadian Space Agency. I was quite scared to try before, but now I’m a lot more confident in chasing my childhood dreams, wherever they may lead me.

I plan on applying at the European one as well, as you can apply to actual postings as opposed to passively posting your resume into a pool of others for their reference if something opens up. Fingers crossed though right? I can’t think of anything that would be more fun, challenging, rewarding and exciting for me than to work on space robotics, and I will try my best to get in somewhere.

I was talking with Neal today, and since I plan on traveling for a while before I start working again, he wants to come along since we don’t have any summer plans yet. Instantly we were excited at the prospects of hopping around Canada together seeing places that I’ve always wanted to, like the Yukon or Montreal.

It may be expensive, so I should plan more ahead. If only Canada had more of an airline system like Australia or Europe, where you can travel for 2 hours by plane for $50 or less. I guess we should throw together and itinerary; my flight to Calgary (and not Regina) is provided by JET, so that helps me out.

I’m so happy to see the end of winter approaching, and the return of life.

"Nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself." -Liberace

tnoy

The Aftermath?

After the accident, I told myself that I wasn’t going to leave my house until the ice and winter were gone. Sure enough, it rained half the week, effectively washing winter away. Yesterday was a particularly nice day, so I did my laundry at night, intending to hang it outside in the morning to dry, but I woke up to my breath in a cloud and a world covered in white again; it has been snowing all day so far.

Perhaps I may be misdirecting all my frustration and unhappiness at winter in general, but I digress.

Richard’s English class usually had a tea party Tuesdays, but I’m not much for tea and only went a couple times I believe. They changed it up now, and last week they cooked okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes) and takoyaki (delicious octopus balls). I had never made takoyaki before, but considering how much I love them, I’m glad I finally had the chance.

The result: messy, but super easy, like pretty much anything you can cook. There is no way I won’t take one of these $10 cookers back to Canada with me, unless I can buy them there too and save on the luggage space; now I can share a taste of Japan with my friends and family back home. I just need a recipe, which is always easy to find online, and an audience, then I’ll cook some up. It was really fun, the only problem being not burning your mouth by eating them too soon.

I should really make the okonomiyaki too, as they’re almost easier to make. Well, you know how easy pancakes are; you toss a batter together and throw it on a skillet. We ate, drank, talked and were merry.

Richard and I wanted to start going to the gym this week, but after the accident my neck was tender for a day. It was just the one-day, so maybe it’s nothing serious, but we took the week off. Thursday was a National holiday, and Honami invited me to join a Daruma festival in Takato.

“Daruma” was an ancient monk or something, that meditated so much and for so long he reached “perfect enlightenment” or whatever you’re trying to do when you just sit there for hours. As a result, he lots his arms and legs and you can’t tip him over, giving him an egg shape.

Honami tried explaining it to me, but the language barrier was an issue. I guess you write you wish in the doll’s left eye, then when it comes true, you either say thank you or write the wish again in the right eye. Every year you bring your old Daruma back to the temple to be burned like those charms they sell, effectively making sure they have a market of people to buy again the next year. Er, I mean, something about cleansing spirits out of the old something or other.

The temple was pretty, the people were friendly, and it rained on us the whole time. I was in bed that morning debating if I wanted to go out or not. Michelle offered to come and play video games together for the day, but I had told Honami already that we should see the festival since she was kind enough to invite me. I know I promised myself not to leave my house until winter was over, and considering the rain; I thought I had no excuse.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m glad I went. Her husband and her are really, really nice, and we went to a fancy Onsen after. There was something in the water that made you feel all silky too. Later in the waiting room lounge, I watched some TV, which is really rare for me, and I almost would have thought the Olympics started already with all the clips they were showing. Interestingly enough, it was mostly bloopers of painful accidents.

If you couldn’t tell, it feels like I’m arguing with myself constantly about if I should leave the house or not. One day the fumes from the kerosene heater were bad enough, that I left the window open for an hour for the oxygen, and to my shock almost immediately, there was a mosquito in my house. The ice wasn’t completely gone yet; maybe they’re some mutant hybrid mosquitoes. That used to be one of winter’s only redeeming features; killing the hordes of bugs.

My dilemma came up again on the weekend, starting with Friday night when Hiroko was having a wine party. Rich wasn’t going, so I decided not to as well, which turned out ok as the dudes running it wanted $30 to enter. I remember meeting half of them at that last party, so I didn’t feel bad, but I did later when Hiroko called saying her and Pei Fun missed me. I figured I could spend that much on pizza, which I did, and was already eating when she called. I played games by the heater until 7:30 in the morning. Being a bachelor has its perks.

I knew I had to leave my house atleast once during the weekend though, so I went to the Mardi Gras party down south with Rich and T. I enjoyed the road trip a bit too much though, and got into the music, conversation and booze I had brought along. The food was amazing, we had some fun, but in a shocking move of stupidity by me, I got sick. I don’t remember the last time I was silly enough to do that, but it ended up being an early night for me.

I don’t want to catalog what I drank, but it was too much. Funny memories I have include getting sick once, rejoining the party as if forgetting what had just happened, only to get sick again later, and drunk-calling Ann in Thailand. She was confused, and it was kept short when I remembered that my call was probably going to be expensive. I also bought a milk carton of Japanese Sake because Ike said it was good. Maybe that’s when things really went downhill.

Anyways Sunday came and after cleaning up, I had my excuse to not go out to yet another event, a talent show in Okaya, because I was hung over. Unfortunately I was sick enough that I didn’t even want to play games, but drank lots of water and slept instead. I guess it was Valentines, as there were chocolates in my mailbox from Noriko. In her letter she mentioned to enjoy the last of my time here.

She is booking holidays to visit me in April for the cherry blossoms. I got an email from my mom too; she will come a little later and stay 2 weeks. I got an email from a cousin, saying he’ll stop by sometime in May. Ann in Thailand is working on getting a visa to visit me as well. I guess maybe my ‘last call’ has been answered, and I look forward to meeting, and hosting if need be, every one of them.

Time. It whirls forward out of control. I’m trying to get a footing, but feel like I’m trapped in a current, drowning and gasping for breath. Maybe it’s the winter. Maybe it’s the accident. Maybe it's the fumes from my heater. Maybe it’s my weight. Maybe it’s the lack of work/distraction many people use as an outlet to forget that time plummets forward; I only had 2 classes last week, and maybe 3 this week.

I don’t think I’m depressed, because I thought I knew what that felt like; hopefully this feeling is just remnants of that hangover. Sleep it off Tony.

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter" -Edward E. Cummings

tnoy

Stars, Monkeys and Ice

I know I didn’t post last week, but I was still in a bad place mentally. Winter here is still kicking my butt, and my throat was still sore with coughing and other discomforts. Today it might be ok now finally after a month (fingers crossed, knock on wood). I’d hate to use the word ‘depressed’, but it was not fun. I didn’t want to leave my house because of the ice; I didn’t want to do much of anything really except sit beside my heater and play video games. I’ve gone through over 20 liters of kerosene in a couple weeks.

But, things could always be worse, and so it was. Let me employ foreshadowing, and let’s see if you can guess what happened.

Hmmm over a week ago eh. I’m sure I saw the doctor again about my throat. The visits are always short, and the latest one, the 4^th time, he didn’t even look in my mouth, but listened to my chest before giving me the same medicine as last time. If I’m still sick tomorrow or something I’m going to see a different doctor.

Patricia is like an angel messaging me about recycling Noboru’s car. Currently it is stuck in Japanese bureaucracy hell; the owner of which long since gone, and a certain useless-to-me, but show-stopping paper is keeping the car in my small front yard and rusting, leaving little options other than Googling how to find the hidden Registration Codes on the engine block, filing them off, then abandoning the car in a parking lot somewhere. The crazy thing is if we don’t scrap it by April too, we have to pay a year’s taxes on it or something. What a mess.

So anyways, on Friday the 26^th, Richard and I went to Hiroko’s to talk about scrapping the car again, and stayed for the company and tasty Vietnamese food. There is an upcoming wine party for Valentines, and we also talked quickly about things to do for my birthday coming up next month. Maybe I will go to “Round One” in Nagano.

This is the winter season, and I’m still Bah-Humbug about it all, so I started the day in front of my heater playing games again, cussing both colds, while others went out snowboarding and other social things. Sarah, a private teacher from Minowa, was stir crazy in her apartment, found my number on facebook, and gave me a call. I was feeling anti-social and depressed still, but she apparently is a huge video game fan, so I might as well do something that weekend right?

I walked down to the station to meet her, and along the way I passed a poster advertising the planetarium near my house. The shows are rare; 3 times a day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays only, but it was Saturday wasn’t it? Sarah was up for going too.

It was a fun show I suppose, even if the last half was a lame movie about the Earth Spirit and a message to recycle. I love it when they turn the lights down and the bright stars fill the dome. The first half was talking about constellations and stuff again. You know, when they look at a random spot in the sky, and slap and crazy looking picture of what constellation it’s suppose to be?

One time the picture actually looked like something! They put a person in a skirt or whatever on Orion’s belt. Of course nothing matched up, but the way they put it though, there was a small string of stars going in a line down, and poking out the bottom of the skirt, making it look like he’s exposing himself to us in colossal proportions. The other night I saw Orion’s belt again and that small string of stars stood out; I guess now I’ll never be able to un-see the dong.

We went for sushi after, where she got to try out the train and other wonders for the first time, and then later we played video games until late. We were talking and missed a turn, so I thought we could make it up a little later. Unfortunately Japanese roads being what they are, it was too narrow, and then an oncoming car came. Sarah drove into someone’s yard, and his stone fence scratched up the whole side of her car. I felt horrible, but she didn’t seem to care much, as it was being leased or something.

We had some good philosophical chats outside of the video games, and it was just an enjoyable day. Sunday was spent parked in front of the heater again, and Richard came over later to use my computer; his is still broken. He comes over every couple days, so it’s good to have some company.

On Monday I didn’t write the blog because I went to the handicapped school for the bean throwing ceremony again. This is my 3^rd time, so you can read about it in older stories. Basically I dressed up like a demon, while the kids threw peanuts at us, chanting “demons out, good luck inside” for the New Year. That, and as you can tell I didn’t have much to write about and I was still feeling down so I took the week off.

The week went by pretty fast; I taught maybe 4 classes in total. This week I teach 2. The year is quickly winding down and I have lots of free time until April. Most of the week was spent in front of the heater, playing games. I beat both King’s Bounty games, the new Batman one, Bioshock, and tried some others that weren’t so good. Now I’m playing the new Red Faction, Titan Quest, and later Bioshock 2.

I still need to play both the Modern Warfare games, Uncharted games, and Prototype. There is no shortage of games, that’s for sure. Especially since I’ve had so little time for them, many good ones have been backlogged into an “I should get to it someday” list.

Friday came again, but I think we stayed in at my place, I don’t even remember. On Saturday it was Molly’s birthday, and I was very reluctant to leave my house. There are 4 main reasons why I went eventually; I could see Neal and have a proper talk again after over a month, I could try “Round One” in Nagano finally, I’d see the Monkey Onsen finally, and I felt like I was committing Social Suicide with all the canceling I was doing.

I called Neal in the morning, and it was snowing in Matsumoto. He just sat down at his keyboard 5 minutes earlier, and started typing a cancellation email to me. Because of my call, and offer to pick him up and drive him around along with Richard and Michelle, he agreed to come out. We both felt like canceling, and maybe we should have.

It started off innocently enough; we were having good talks and listening to good music while enjoying a drive. We went through a tunnel, and on the other side we were greeted to a blizzard the mountain was apparently blocking. It was really hard to see anything and the wipers weren’t helping much. Good thing we didn’t have to drive for too long though.

The first exit we tried to drive up was impossible. The hill wasn’t very steep, but steep enough that the ice covering it made us slide backwards. I was lucky, and able to control it mostly. Richard and I were giving winter tips and pointers to Michelle and Neal in the back seat. Really those conditions aren’t that rare back home, but having to drive on a hill or a slope is.

I mentioned I had lots of experience with this stuff, but then quickly knocked on wood. Neal joked a bit earlier how I was on my 3^rd car and 3^rd phone now since coming to Japan. I know you don’t want to mess around with these conditions; I wanted a guerilla visit of get in and get out quickly. We found parking, and ended up walking ½ hour uphill to the monkey Onsen in a blizzard. Neal didn’t have a toque, so I gave him a scarf to wrap his head a bit. He was a bit reluctant at first being polite, but one tip for winter survival is to prevent getting cold in the first place. Once you’re cold, it’s much harder to get warm again.

A tip we gave earlier too was with parking. When you pull in, back up and go forward a couple times to pack the snow, that way when it’s time to leave you’re not stuck in a wheel-well of ice. Also to keep a shovel, booster cables, and candle in your car at all times, as it will prevent hypothermia. Richard had more advice about keeping washer fluid and extra windshield wipers. That was new to me, but would have been good in that situation as my one wiper was falling apart.

At first I was surprised and a bit shocked about the Onsen. My assumptions were the monkeys kept to one side, while people bathed in another. Instead, it was more like a zoo in that you go to look at monkeys sitting in a natural hot spring. So when I got out of the car with my Onsen bag in hand (soap, razor, etc), in the middle of the blizzard, I got some laughs as everyone saw how disappointed I was that I couldn’t sit in the hot tub with the monkeys. I hadn’t gone to an Onsen in a long time, and hadn’t showered yet that day in anticipation.

Oh well. We saw many foreigners coming down, and then later we saw many monkeys. As we found out, it was too cold for the monkeys to sit in the hot springs so they were leaving. Sure it may be hot to sit in it, but once you get out you’re all wet. We saw many monkeys shivering and looking quite miserable as we got closer.

We didn’t stay too long, but I’ll agree it was quite cute to see the little monkeys in the hot water, with their heads covered in snow and ice. The wind was howling, and we left after 5 minutes for warmer places. Again the winter survival kicked in again, so I didn’t want us to get too warm. If the snow and ice in our clothes started melting and we got all wet, then we really would be in trouble for that ½ hour walk back to the car. It was cool how my beard completely iced over at the end.

We started making our way back to Nagano city for the main attraction, round one. For $15 you can play many different arcade games and whatever you want for 3 hours. They have a curling rink, a basketball court on the roof, and other fun stuff I’ve heard of before but never seen or appreciated myself yet. Michelle hadn’t even heard of curling before, and the whole trip we were building it up for her.

First we were trying to find the restaurant, and wow was the blizzard getting bad. I was driving carefully, and happy I rotated my tires a couple weeks ago, giving me as much grip as I could get maybe, but I was still nervous. I brake often and early to check the road conditions, specifically that there isn’t ice and that I can stop.

Then there was this van in front of us getting ready to turn and go home. In Japan they always turn on the signal late, but that’s no excuse. I had lots of time, was far away, and was driving slow. I tested the brake as I always do; nothing but ice.

“Shit” I go, as I pump the brake to stop the skid and try to grip again, we had lots of time. “Shit!” I go again. I pumped faster and harder, and my cussing was getting louder and faster. The car skidded for well over 5 meters and well over 5 seconds; it’s hard to tell as time slows down.

My brain over-clocked as I went over my options. I hoped I could save the car, but quickly I knew that was impossible. My thoughts flashed wildly about; I thought quickly of an emergency video of pulling over into the ditch. But alas, have you ever seen a Japanese road before? Think of a narrow hallway.

You have oncoming traffic; definitely not an option, I could go straight, try to hit him flat so the impact is flattened out as per my physics classes running through my head all of a sudden. The last option was to hit the wall/house/fence on the left. My head cycled through house insurance options, and if that was worse than hitting the van. There were no people there, and hitting the van increased the odds of someone getting hurt, so I did what I could by pumping the brakes for the little traction possible to take out the fence and stop the deadly slide.

Because of the ice I somehow made it about half way. My driver side crunched into his passenger side bumper, and then it was quiet. There was a sickly smell, and my hood had folded up.

Checklist: I’m not dead. I don’t feel pain, minus the tightness of the seatbelt. Everyone else must have run the same subroutine, as we were all ok. Now as I looked at my hood folded up awkwardly, I replayed a memory of the only other real accident I got in years ago. I was passenger in my brother John’s car leaving a family wedding at night being followed by our cousins. We hit the deer, I was a bit shocked, but all John did was scream “MY CAR!!”

He jumped out of the car, looked down in front, and the only thing he screamed over and over for atleast 5 minutes was “MY CAR!!” Our cousin Holly came out, tears running down her face in worry, but all John said to her “are you ok?” was “MY CAR!!!”

Who knows how the time goes when you’re in this state. I part of me felt like jumping out and screaming like my brother, but I had many parts of me thinking many different things. Some common sense booted up, and I joined everyone else in the chorus of checking to make sure everyone else was ok, even though we all knew we were already.

I always knew if I was careful, if I followed the rules of the road, and took extra precautions when necessary, I would be fine. In the many, many, MANY horrible driving conditions I’ve been through back home, I was never so much worried about myself, as much as the other drivers not being as careful as me. I remember coming home from elementary school one day in a blizzard when mom had to pick us up, and drive 10km/h with the hazard lights on all the way home.

I can honestly say there really was nothing I could do, and not really anything I could have done better. My faith is somewhat shaken by this, but maybe because I really did do everything I could, and that the only important thing, that everyone is ok, gives me solace.

I went out of the car for a little bit, not really. We talked a little bit with other driver, but not really. Everyone was ok in the van too. The police came, and the officer almost fell down on the road it was iced over that badly. I thought the accident was about 10 minutes earlier, but over ½ hour had passed. Despite feeling calm, my hand shook more violently than during the cold storm earlier. Richard was with for support, and Patricia stayed on the phone in case we needed anything.

Perhaps this was shock. I’ve been through shock before back at my uncle Bill’s house years ago. We were running around in the dark, and I ran up against a metal building. Along the way I went through the electrified fence I couldn’t see. By the time I realized what was wrapped around me while I was touching the metal walls it was too late. The zap was so strong, it burnt my skin a bit and I convulsed on the ground for a while. I spent the rest of the night shaking like I was now.

The guy was quiet but friendly, the police were very friendly, Patricia was on the phone and did translation for us, my supervisor went out of her way to get me an English number to call to report the incident, while the police officer talked with them for over 10 minutes about where we were and other information for the tow truck.

By the time the truck took the car away and Patricia and Tonya dropped us off at the nearest convenience store to call a taxi, almost 3 hours had passed, and I don’t know where it went. We spent the night at Neal’s and he took us home in the morning. I didn’t want to leave the house after what happened, but Richard lured me out with promises of a trip to an Onsen late Sunday night, and it was bliss to relax in it. The rest of the night was wonderful; in front of the heater playing video games, away from the ice and cold.

I’m happy I have extra insurance, and I’m happy I have such good friends here to help me out. Everything seems to be mostly taken care of already this Monday morning, as another supervisor fields calls for me from the insurance agency. Things could always be worse, and despite my car being totaled, I think we were blessed with the best possible outcome; we were very lucky.

"If you only have one breath left, use it to say 'thank you'" -Pam Brown

tnoy

Sore Throats and Sushi

It’s been 3 weeks now with a sore throat. I made my 3^rd trip to the doctor now, so maybe that will be the charm. It’s easing up a bit, last week was the worst when I was trying to eat breakfast, but everything was so swollen I could hardly move my jaw. Well, time to think positive.

It’s been a good couple weeks since I’ve been back I think. My deadline for contract renewal was looming. To take on a 4^th year, you need to be exceptionally good to get an offer, so I’m flattered that crossed my desk. It wasn’t too cold the day I got back, but the week that followed was one of the toughest times I’ve had yet.

I started going to bed wearing the clothes I’ll wear the next day, so that it won’t be so painful getting up in the morning. Even though I fashioned a wind-tunnel for breathing under a pile of blankets, for the first time I was waking up because the blanket in front of my face was all wet; apparently it was cold enough for my breath to condensate that fast. How was I going to live through another week of this, let alone another year? I started to wonder why I signed on for a 3^rd year…

The weekend came, and one of Japan’s craziest festivals came up. I didn’t go. I went during my first year and this year I was sick, so I can direct you to the last time I went. Richard went and told me about it; it was one hell of an adventure. Apparently it was snowing so hard, that it took forever for the fire to start, and then later the car was covered in over a foot of snow when they went to leave. Then they drove around for hours completely lost until 4 in the morning when they gave up and went somewhere completely different to get some sleep.

I was glad I stayed home after hearing this. I bought a couple games on Steam for really cheap, as its service continues to be amazing. I got 2 full games for $11, and then it downloaded and was ready to play in less than an hour. So convenient. That was mostly my 1^st weekend back; huddled by the heater trying to stay warm while playing games.

I haven’t talked to my tutor Kayo yet, so I haven’t had lessons. The mom I tutor is an accountant, and is busy with the New Year’s taxes maybe, so I have over a month off for that too. My Wednesday class doesn’t start until May maybe. It’s been so long since I’ve had a week off to sit at home and play games like I have. Richard’s computer is having problems, so until it’s fixed he’s been hanging out with me using my laptop while I play games on my other computer.

On Wednesday I was really lucky to have a day off for once to finally join a bunch of people at Ike’s place for some home cooking. The man has talent. I had to skip on the homemade milkshakes though, because the cold aggravated my throat, so maybe next time. It was good to catch up with people.

What stood out for me though, was Jessie giving a talk to Stephen, a new Jet, about ways to enjoy his time in Japan. He had such energy, and went on with “you go here and do this, you go here and make friends, you do this” and on and on. I listened closely, thinking “I’ve tried that, I did that, I want to do that but it always fails,” and so on. Suddenly things were really put in perspective.

I remember having that energy, but I’m just tired of hitting my head against a closed door. I’m tired of wanting to play volleyball, but can’t. I’m tired of this damn winter. I’m tired of all the bugs, but the only good thing this winter does is kill them. I’m tired of going to a grocery store, spending an hour looking for something, and then giving up later in defeat.

Of course life is always more complicated than that, but I signed “no” for staying another year.

It was scary at first, but now I feel good about it, and I’m getting excited again for what life may hold after my time here. I’m still too cold and sick (and loving that video game) to really sit down and start piecing a roadmap for my life together yet, but it’s never far from my mind.

Being put into perspective like that helped show me my own warning signs. I still remember that girl that was a pile of negative concerning Japan. It’s good to have role models for the kind of people that you don’t want to be. I learnt something good too from Jessie, how it’s important to pretend you know what they’re saying to you even if you don’t. If you don’t, then people stop talking to you and talk around you. As a teacher I try to weed that out, but never tried it myself.

I don’t believe in living with regrets. When I go over my list of goals for coming to Japan in the first place, either the goals have changed or I’ve seen them through already. I’ve changed a lot since then, it makes sense for my goals to as well. Unless Japan gives me a reason to stay longer, and since you make your own reasons and I doubt it, then I should be home around July/August; so it’s last call for friends or family that want to visit.

So back at the party, Ike urged me to join the sushi-eating contest coming up. I was on the fence, but I wanted to pull through for my team, thinking I could eat my share. On Friday we went up and our block won it all. Normally I eat 12 plates, and that’s a lot of food; but I broke my own record and ate 17. Richard and Michelle pushed me, and I knew I couldn’t let them out-eat me, so we tied at 17.

Ike and Zack had 24 plates each, but Jessie only got to 8 maybe, and tried to make up for it by drinking 7 juice boxes for a higher plate count which ended up not counting. The poor guy tasted only chemicals before long and said he was seeing shapes floating around. The real show-stealer was Chris though. He came in late, and in half the time ate 32 plates of sushi.

The pile was stacked up higher than his head; it was comical if not disgusting. To think my highest record was doubled by someone that wasn’t trying and much smaller than me. Hats off to him :) He won the battle and had his sushi paid for, but our group won the war and earned points for some upcoming cup. I guess I’ll write more about it later when I know.

After we went to Patricia’s birthday party. It was a “posh” party, but I didn’t really care so I just put on a tie over my sweater and wore my nice hat. At a convenience store along the way, they were selling stuffed animals and I bought a skunk on impulse. I liked the black and white, and figure he’ll be a nice mascot for my car.

Most people were sleepy after the contest, but ironically the ones that ate sushi were the ones that didn’t get sick. I tried to mingle for a couple hours, but by midnight my throat was so sore that I bided the time until I could get a quiet place to sleep. Alas it wasn’t to be, as I slipped in and out of consciousness in a ‘quiet’ room for a couple hours, with my throat killing me, wondering why oh why do I go to these JET parties after swearing them off around this time 2 years ago for exactly this reason. It was Patty’s birthday though, and I didn’t want to let down our sushi team.

I felt bad too, a number of people came by and tried to talk to me, but my throat was so sore, and my eyes were rolling around in exhaustion. In the morning I was glad I had some sleep, but Nagano City is still a far ways from home. Along the way we stopped in Matsumoto for lunch, and discovered the annual ice sculpture competition at the castle again. We also got to talk with Neal for a while; he had a good holiday.

The girls wanted to go for coffee, and the re-contracting talk came up. I was the only one of the 4 going home, and the girls, both 1^st years, half-joked by saying “since you’re leaving, we don’t have to get to know you” or something. I knew it was a joke, but in a way it’s not. I know perfectly well how busy it is here, and after 6 months already I still hardly know them, only having seen them like 4 times. Even Stephen didn’t know I was JET, let alone on my 3^rd year.

I’ve always thought of JET as life in fast-forward. The first years are the children, fresh and full of energy, making mistakes everywhere as they have fun figuring life out. 2^nd years and so on are like the parents and elders looking out for the children while still learning themselves; being there to help them along with advice and whatever is needed. When a person leaves, all they’ve done and felt and experienced goes with them; leaving just ripples in a pool that fade out over time.

"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work" -Oprah Winfrey

tnoy

Three Weeks of Thailand Part 3: Chiang Mai

Ah Charming Thailand. One sign said: “MARRIAGE registration FOR ALIENS.” I wonder how much business they get; I want to believe. (The X-Files reference). On New Years day we went shopping a bit more and relaxed a lot after such a crazy night. We saw another movie, ate more pizza, and I got a new, proper bag for carrying around my computer. My SaskTel bag had worked very well for me for years, but it was showing its age. I love this new bag, and since I bought it in Thailand, you can bet it was for a good price.

January 2^nd was also a nice lazy day, though I don’t remember much more than eating, talking, and later catching an overnight bus that night for Chiang Mai; the biggest city 12 hours to the North. Lily helped us sign up for tours again and it was a steal I thought. For example, a 3-day, 2-night trek through the jungle with food, locals and other perks was a little over $100.

It was a long ways away though, and unfortunately I was a little cramped on the bus with my big legs. A little after midnight when I finally fell asleep, the bus made its only big stop of the night, waking me up. Then at 4 in the morning the bus broke down and we had to change to another. When we arrived, we unfortunately fell into a vulture’s trap; the kind of taxis that sit at a hotel or popular demand spot offering rides for way too much money to new people that don’t know better, much like the airport. Sure the ride was only $7, but it should have been $2 at most; it’s the principle of it.

My warning light went off after he dropped off the first people, and then he asked if we wanted to stay at a hotel that he knew; a sure sign of a scam artist like those 3 wheeled tuk-tuks that offer you a ride for cheap, but don’t take you anywhere except to their friend’s shops where they get commission. Anyways, he ended up driving around in circles to make us think he drove far, but our hotel was down the street as we discovered later.

I normally wouldn’t fall for this sort of trap anymore, but we were exhausted after the all-night trip, and I pretty much relied on Anna to do everything for me with her Thai skills. Now she’s wiser to it, it’s how we learn I guess and since that was the worst thing that happened the whole trip I’m not sour about it. It was early in the morning and we were exhausted, but they wouldn’t let us check in until noon.

We attempted to pass time by seeing the area, but didn’t go too far. I got a new book: “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” as I’m a little ashamed I haven’t read it before. It was pretty good, but really short. They finally let us check in early because we were sleeping on the chairs in the lobby.

Chiang Mai is a beautiful, wonderful place. It’s not hot and busy like Bangkok, so walking around it is no problem. In the center there are ruins of an ancient castle or something and a moat. The moat has since had decorations like fountains installed.

In the afternoon after napping a couple hours, we had a tour to a big temple up on the hill. The tour group we were to go with was over packed and didn’t pick us up, so Lily got angry on the phone with them, and before long a guy came in his car on his day off to take us up on a personal tour as a favor to his sister running the other tour.

He was really nice too, now we have another tour guide friend up North. Apparently it was the 3^rd highest mountain in Thailand that we drove up, but it wasn’t too high for a mountain I think. He told us how he used to jog up it every morning, which was still crazy.

Well I wrote quite a bit about temples already, but here we go again. It was beautiful on top the mountain. There were kids giving performances and many markets strung out. Some of the pastel paintings are so beautiful that they’re hard to not buy, but I still have one in my closet at home. I now have lots of decorations that I haven’t hung up yet.

You walk around the large, center pagoda in a clock-wise direction 3 times. Because of an accident years ago, it’s forbidden for pregnant women to do. There was an offering at one side, separated into days of the week, then two for the morning/afternoon, depending on when you were born. At one part after praying, you try to lift a heavy golden elephant with your pinky finger. If you get it off the group, your wish will come true.

Another spot had a strange rock with the 12 Chinese zodiacs on it. Interestingly enough, they got rid of my year, The Boar, so they could put Thailand’s national animal, The Elephant, on it. If you could stick a coin on your animal, it’s good luck. I had no problem, but apparently some people do. Later, there were little leaves of very flat gold you could buy. On the leaf you can write your name and prayers or whatever you like, then hang it on a tree. Later, the leaves are melted down to form a new Buddha statue, immortalizing your words I suppose.

Anna had a really nice bracelet from a temple when I arrived, so I wanted us to get matching ones. In one of the places a monk splashed water on people while reciting prayers or something, and took my hand to give me a bracelet. His English was surprisingly good, and he had a sense of humor for such a humble looking man. He shook my hand vigorously saying, “Good to meet you, welcome to Thailand” and stuff like that. Unfortunately because monks can’t touch women in any way in Thailand, Anna had to get a bracelet from his non-monk assistant for exactly that reason, and as a result our bracelets aren’t exactly the same but close enough.

When we were done at the temple, our tour guy dropped us off near the center of town in the huge market there. There were all kinds of foods, crafts, and whatever including rows of chairs for foot massages. We got a couple bottles of different fruit flavored wine, and then later I bought some silk pillowcases. Not that I needed them in any way, but they were too beautiful to leave at such a low price.

On the way back to the hotel, there was a Mexican Food restaurant. Anna never had it before, so I wanted to share my love of first experiences with her. I bought way too much food of all varieties, and in the end I ate most of it. She liked it a bit, but it was one of those “every now and then” foods, like how I feel with curry and other stuff. I knew she liked spicy, so I got her a side order of Jalapeno peppers.

At first she almost mocked me, with “you say it’s spicy, but I bet it’s not” kind of deal. She took a big spoonful of them, ate them, and looked at me in a “told you so” sort of way. “Ok you win”, I thought, and went back to eating. Not even a minute later, her tough-guy show collapsed into exasperated breaths and a frantic grab for some beer. I laughed liberally at her expense :)

We discovered that Mexican spice in contrast to Thai’s, burns slow and long. In Thailand, it burns hard and fast, but then is gone in a minute. That was interesting, but she still piled food on top of the peppers to finish the rest of her meal. I bought different drinks for her to try too, like a Pina Colada and a Strawberry Margarita, which were mixed really strong, but later she told me to just buy her beer in the future; there’s something to be said about simplicity. So there we had a great Mexican meal with enough food for 3 or 4 people and 4 or 5 alcoholic drinks yet the bill was still only about $35.

Inside there were a couple older fellows sitting at the bar and talking. As soon as they mentioned how expensive healthcare was back home, of course it meant they were American right away. They talked about how cheap it was in Thailand, and how much better the treatment was, with one guy walking out saying “I never had a filling hurt so little” and cost $20.

I remember before leaving Canada, the dentist told me not to visit any Asian ones because they’re no good. What he was really doing was trying to keep his business by trying to keep the superior care a secret; it’s a nice scam the doctors and dentists have going back home.

I was talking a friend here in Japan, and for a simple cleaning they charged him $700 in the States. They told him he had a cavity, and he was like “no thank you!” because they wanted $5000 to have it fixed. You can fly to Thailand, live very comfortably for over a month, have it fixed, and still have money left over at that price; my 3 weeks cost around $1500. But I digress.

In the morning we got picked up and headed into the jungle for the trekking tour. The first day wasn’t too eventful; we stopped off for supplies like cheap flashlights and mosquito repellant. Anna got her first pair of sneakers for the hike that was comically big on her, and then we walked through the jungle for a bit to a small village, passing waterfalls. We stopped at a dam for lunch, and Anna left some of her food out on the ground.

I asked why, and I guess for Karma in the Buddha religion. She said it was for all the spirits of people passed and what not, so they could have something to eat. I wonder if that’s why there is always food and drinks left as offerings at statues. Like I’ve said before, there are all kinds of neat things I learn from watching her, it’s pretty fascinating. You can’t get this kind of cultural experience on just any tour.

We could swim at one of the waterfalls, but I didn’t really have a place to change, and it was really shallow anyways. We saw another temple on top a hill, including a huge Buddha statue maybe 10 meters high. There is such an amazing view from up there; the farmland is something else. I wonder how the statue looks from down below. There was also a huge lying Buddha statue carved into the mountain.

We reached the village with an hour of light left. There we had access to our tour guide’s “7-11”. We were the only two in the group to buy water, while everyone else started drinking beer haha. The one couple went through 12 cans before the sun even went down. The cabins were really interesting, being little more than bamboo suspended above the ground, and using some of the big, thick, strong leaves pierced together by wood splints for a roof.

There was lots of farmland nearby, and what I would call oxen, but apparently they’re buffalo. There sure didn’t look like any Canadian buffalo, but regardless they’re invaluable farm equipment. There was a small stream which double as the water supply and the shower. Anna wanted one, and instructed me to shine a flashlight off to the side and not on her while she cleaned in the cold pond a couple meters away from the campfire where everyone was drinking and talking. I think she was the only one that bathed that night.

And what a cold night it was. It was a nice change from all the hot days we’ve had, but we had to keep close to stay warm that night. I packed my winter coat with me because I knew I would need it when I got back to Japan, but we made good use of it that night. Anna wore the new toque and scarf she made me too.

The huts were big, enough to fit up to 10 people or so, and had mosquito nets suspended above to keep you from getting bitten. I don’t know why or how, but they in Bangkok and Koh Chang had ravaged me earlier and left Anna completely alone. The mosquitoes are much smaller than back home, and after scratching some of the many bumps; sometimes pus came out… which was a first. Maybe that’s why I got sick a little more often than normal.

The second day was really tough; we walked for up to 5 hours, taking breaks in-between of course. Along the way it was really beautiful though, making our way through the mountains and following a waterfall’s path. The path was quite dangerous at times too, being hardly a foot wide on the side of a cliff following the stream. Apparently the rainy season is really popular for this tour, I can only imagine how much more dangerous it would be then.

We swam in the one waterfall for up to an hour. The water was incredibly cold though, so most people hung out around it. I sat in it for a little while, but after 10 minutes or so, it literally felt like there was fire on my skin. It was a strange feeling, perhaps the early onset of hypothermia, or some of my skin cell’s swan song. That’s a phrase I like; in short a “swan song” is the last, and most beautiful thing something does before it dies, like when your ears ring after hearing something loud, saying you’ll never hear that frequency again.

Later on at another waterfall, the tour guide goaded us into sliding down the stream on some rocks. After watching for a bit, I recognized it immediately as canyoning, without the safety suit and all that stuff. I went a number of times, and got even more tired. We continued the hike, walking along fallen trees suspended over the river, and through a small village. In the village a grandma was making cloth by hand using the sort of weaving machines I’d only ever seen in museums before. They have a peaceful life I think, with many animals like pigs and chickens, and people helping each other out; a group was building a house nearby.

Finally with about an hour of light left again, we made it to camp. Here we could sleep in a town house again, or pay an extra $8 and get a private cabin with a mattress and shower. I often have to remind myself how cheap it really is perspective, because at first you hear “250 baht” and you think “Wow! Too expensive.” The shower was totally worth it though, even if there was no hot water.

Also the toilets don’t flush; there is a bit container of water nearby, so when you’re done, you throw a bunch in the bowl to flush. Many times there was no toilet paper either, so you used a spray nozzle nearby to wash off down there; it’s actually kinda smart given how hot it must be normally.

We ate, and drank some of the tour guide’s moonshine. He said it was Thai Rum made from rice, and since it was from rice it tasted like Japanese sake a bit. I was so exhausted though, that I was slurring my words. I really wish I had the energy to sit around the campfire and visit with these cool people, but atleast I saved face a little from going to bed at 8 or 9 by staying up and staring at the stars for an hour maybe. They were absolutely incredible out there in the middle of nowhere.

The 3^rd and final day was much less demanding, so much so that I wish they mixed it up more with elements from the 2^nd day. After a short walk, we got on the river and paddled little boats. Well, one person got a paddle; the other got a big bamboo pole to push off the ground with. It was fairly shallow, so a couple times we would get hung up on rocks. Anna and I were having lots of trouble, and were spinning around in circles more than anything. A tour guide ended up helping out on our boat, which was great.

The first time I got a paddle, the first thing I did was deliberately soak Anna. It was pretty hilarious; the water wasn’t too warm or clean either. Many of the boats splashed each other, but I we all had a good time for over an hour. There were dogs that followed us too, and Anna picked one up to put in our boat. We saw lots of the countryside and cool foliage.

After the boat ride, we went to another place that put us on bamboo rafts. This time a French dude stood in the back helping the guide steer, while Anna and I hung out relaxing. It’s funny to note, that when we entered the place they had a sign saying how you have to use a lifejacket and such but we couldn’t see any anywhere. The ride was bit bumpier at points too, dropping off on some falls and banging into some rocks. It was still really fun though.

Back on land we waiting for a long time for the truck, so I think they just commissioned a cattle truck because we all stood up in the back of it like we were. It took us to ride elephants. Right away Anna bought a huge bundle to feed the elephant with, and it was hilariously big compared to her; she looked like a little bandit carrying it around; she even ate one.

The elephant we rode was a bit younger and unruly, so much so that we wouldn’t move more than 20 meters before we fed it all the bananas we had. It stuck its snout up at my leg, breathing on it expectantly. It wasn’t happy with just one banana either, Anna was giving him 2 at a time. I was tempted to put one in his big nostril. Later it got water to cool off, and sprayed us good up top. It was still a fun ride and we got some good pictures.

After the ride, we made it back to the city, where we went to a “buffalo wings” restaurant I saw a couple days earlier. This was Anna’s first time having “chicken wings” as we know them back home, and I got them at “atomic” spice level, which she loved. Traditionally, Buffalo wings are hot wings dipped in ranch, so that’s what it was. We had more, but I can’t remember what. I just remember she bought some Durian that wasn’t very good and smelt really bad. We left it outside on the patio to not stink up the hotel.

In the morning we went to the train station, and rode a train for 12 hours back to Bangkok. We did this instead of another overnight thing, because many travel books talk about how it’s one of the most beautiful rides you’ll go on and they’re quite right about that. What we did see was breathtaking when we weren’t surrounded by jungle, until it started raining and we couldn’t see anymore. We really got lucky with the rain again though, it happened maybe 3 times the whole trip, and each time it didn’t really wreck a day or anything.

The train ride was also a good chance to read, nap, talk and play video games. I put in “The New Super Mario Brothers” for her, and I’ve never seen someone have so much fun with anything, she even made her own sound effects. Every 5 minutes or so, she would literally turn the power off, take a deep breath, and try to settle down for a couple minutes before playing again because she was so overwhelmed. If ever there were a time to fall in love with someone, it would be then. It was so cute. She loved to watch me play too when a level was too hard for her.

The last 3 days together in Bangkok are a bit of a blur; we didn’t do anything too special, but we did lots. We saw 2 movies, played Settlers twice, tutored English a bit, ate pizza, met her friend and husband a number of times, went to the night bazaar for drinking, talking and eating. We sang Karaoke with Lily; we went to restaurants, and so on. This was also when I first got sick too, and I’m still sick now 2 weeks later and on medication, I got strept throat again after a hiatus of almost 3 years, I wonder if it’s because of Bangkok’s pollution.

The last day, January 10^th was ominous. We held hands tighter and were more quiet than normal. Lucky though Lily called to say goodbye and thanking me for coming, and her friend and husband did the same shortly after. It was a nice little push for me to remember “don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened.” So many nice people, and so many nice memories. It was an amazing 3 weeks.

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill

tnoy

Three Weeks of Thailand Part 2: Koh Chang

On the 26^th we got in a minibus for 4 hours maybe, took a fairy to the island, then went to our hotel along the shore that was 1,200 baht a night ($40). While still cheap, Koh Chang is a bit more expensive than some other places, being an ‘underdeveloped’ area that it is. i.e. it’s not a tourist trap yet like its big brother Phuket. Our hotel was only about a 5 minutes walk to the beach too, where we went as soon as we could around 3:00. The tide was out, so we made camp on a little patch of sand that stuck out.

We were in the “white sands” area, further North from the beach I was at last year (this was where I ate the roast chicken for Christmas with Richard last year). Anyways, the water was more beautiful than I remember, and we played in it for hours. Anna was a bit sad that we couldn’t see fish immediately, but I didn’t mind so much. She still had fun finding the little crab things, and digging them out of the holes in the sand they scuttled into. She brought one to me, but it moved and scared her, so it got away.

We had BBQ supper that night watching the sunset over the water. I got “Cordon Bleu” chicken or whatever, but of course, mom’s tastes better. I still liked it, but I ate way too much. I had gotten used to ordering 2 meals again in Japan because they’re so small; I had some amazing creamy crab soup as well. That was a bad habit I fell on again, causing my recent weight gain.

Like I wrote before, I play a little joke with my students; I say I’m pregnant because of my belly, and they take turns naming my baby. Anna said since my name is “Tony” my stomach/baby should be called “Tonic”. I immediately thought of Gin and Tonic, but it was cute and became the running inside joke of the holiday.

The next day we started off at the beach again. After swimming a couple hours, Anna took a nap while I read “Memoirs of a Geisha” which I finished a couple days later. It’s a good book at first, but with so many of the people being so disgusting and horrible, it was a difficult read. Later the main character comes down with a case of being annoying and stupid that I couldn’t sympathize with her anymore.

After lunch, we rented a motorcycle and scooted around the island for a coupe hours. The bike was only 150cc or something (I know nothing about this stuff) so it worked fine driving along the road, but at a couple steep hills in particular, I had to get off and walk up so the bike could get to the top. Anna has a license so she drove the most, which is fine for me because I like to hang out in the back and take pictures of things we drive by.

Our first stop was the waterfall Rich and I went to last year. It’s still a beautiful place, and the water is still cold, but great to swim in. Again, things just weren’t as busy as they were last year, and we didn’t worry too much about finding room to swim. I can really feel the buoyancy difference from the salty ocean now compared to this fresh water stuff; I need to swim a lot harder to keep afloat.

We made our way to the same beach I was at with Richard, and I’m surprised how much it changed. I think they stopped cleaning it or something, as various things were strung out everywhere; I ended up wearing my sandals to stop from stepping on painful things. I discovered later that it wasn’t such a bad move.

With all the debris, came all forms of life. The crabs were much more numerous, the sand dollars, and even little fish. Anna would corner them along the shoreline, and try to whisk them up on the beach where they were easier to catch and pick up. One dude I saw from Germany had a home made little fishing apparatus, little more that a spool and a hook.

We hoped to make a big circle around the island, and made it half way, but the South-East section of it was closed off, being exclusive to rich grumpy people that didn’t want traffic on their roads or something. We cut our losses and headed back the way we came; I even drove for a little bit on a big long flat stretch. Once back, we swam/relaxed at the Hotel’s pool.

We went looking for restaurants that night, but in the end picked up a variety of different foods from different vendors like Banana Crepe, Roast Chicken, Sausage, Real (and weird) fruit juice, and more. They even had shark on display to be barbequed, but we had enough food.

The next day we went on an all-day snorkeling trip, not unlike what I did with Richard. In the morning it poured and was generally miserable, but by the time we got to our first island it stopped. Colorful fish swarmed the boat, and I was delighted to watch them go crazy over any bread thrown to them. Fins were available for $3, but I didn’t bite. In retrospect I should have just paid the $3 to rent the fins, but out of principle, I didn’t because I’m stubborn, and $3 is a fair amount of money in Thailand.

Anna had a bit of a guided tour around, hanging on a life jacket along with 4 others while a tour guide pulled them along, and showed them things of interest; swimming down and picking stuff up, things like that. I mostly did my own thing, but was still entranced by the colorful fish and coral everywhere. When I was falling behind once, one tour guide gave me a bit of a personal tour, picking up things like starfish for me to touch. All those nature documentaries about those monstrously poisonous and dangerous things underwater make me think twice before I do anything, so that was nice of him.

A couple times it would just be Anna and I lazily floating along the surface holding hands while schools of fish surrounded us. We wore lifejackets because it’s easier to be lazy that way. We reached out to grab fish and pointed out beautiful underwater flowers or whatever. I thought it was magical anyways; the tropics are so pretty. One place was shallow enough for Anna to stand up right on top of the coral. She’s pretty brave with that stuff, like when she goes and catches those weird Geckos and makes friends with them.

We went to 3 different islands, 2 different beaches, and visited the monkey island before going back. At one of the beaches, I got the courage to jump off the ship a couple times. I love to make cannonballs, and because of my size and weight they’re pretty impressive. Anna watched me do one from underwater, then told me not to do it anymore because she thought I’d hit one of the many spiky sea urchins down below. The tour guide picked one of those up for me; they’re crazy little spheres!

We had supper on the porch of the hotel, watching the sunset. The room was so nice, and it had a gecko in it. I didn’t know it, but they make loud chirping noises that woke me up confused and scared in the middle of the night a couple times. I thought it was a bird at first, but you could have sworn it was in the room with you… Sure enough the next day Anna checked behind a wall decoration and found the gecko hiding on the wall.

Well that was my short-lived, but amazing beach adventure. We thought it might be best to celebrate Christmas and New Years in Bangkok, so we came back on the 30^th. We relaxed all morning, I read more of my book, and then around 2 or 3 the bus took us back to Bangkok. It was dark by the time we arrived, but we still were able to play “Setters of Catan”, that amazing game I packed up neatly into my suitcase. Anna loves it, Lily did ok, and Peter had to leave early but had fun too.

It was fun teaching them the game, then have them almost playing their own separate game as I didn’t know Thai. There is resource trading involved, so sometimes cards were exchanged without me being able to offer my lot. We had good talks too, my new hair is a hit. Lily went over again how she thought I was lady boy before, and the one guy plainly said he thought I was gay when he met me last year. Later he made a comment about wanting to eat my big pink head like a hot dog with mustard and ketchup, which was odd. He’s and odd guy though, which is probably why it’s fun to talk to him. I was bright pink from the sunburns for a lot of the trip.

Lily also got me, Anna and Richard presents from her own little holiday while we were gone. She got me a shirt of Saturn, and dangling from the rings are various astronauts like they’re at a carnival. I really like it, she’s a sweet lady.

On New Year’s Eve, Anna wanted to go home for a little bit to see her friends, who were calling her now asking if she was still alive. I wanted to go too, and she insisted to wash my clothes, which I didn’t really object to. It was a long drive out into the suburbs or wherever it was. It was funny that as we drove down one road and saw a pile of garbage in the ditch, she pointed it out and said, “That is Thailand.” I have noticed many people usually just throw everything down wherever they are. There’s no shortage of little plastic bags either with all the street vendors handing them out.

When we arrived, most people were feeling the effects of a party the night before. Regardless, it’s a cozy little town house maybe with many roommates, and a nice eye-opener for me. For example, their burner for cooking was a torch/ring burner thing on top of a propane tank.

Soon after arriving, Anna got busy with laundry while I met some of her friends. The one guy was drunk from last night still, and started pouring me whiskey drinks right away. I like to mix with coke or a carbonated beverage of the sort, but they like to use carbonated water in Thailand; a drink I quickly discovered I really don’t like. We talked a little, but not much with the language barrier.

I met many interesting and fun people. One girl had her husband from Sweden visiting in a couple days, and handed me the phone to talk to him in his thick German accent. Another girl was hung over, and hid in the house from me until she showered and had makeup on later. After saying “hello”, one girl right away said: “I want a boyfriend!” Didn’t I just deal with this when I met the fortuneteller? Atleast this time she was young and pretty. This came up later on the trip too: random girls would talk to Anna asking her “how to get a foreign boyfriend.” I don’t know how to answer that other than “Learn English.”

Anna’s English is not too bad, and I notice it getting better all the time. I guess it helped that I corrected her occasionally, and even picked out some good English study books for her at a bookstore; Thailand has a huge and amazing collection! I only wish half of those books were available for me to study Japanese with; especially the readers. Now that I passed my test, I’m not sure if I want to study it anymore.

With Anna talking in Thai to me all the time, suddenly I have more reason to study Thai than I do with Japanese anymore; and that is simply to have someone to talk to. I learnt many words from Anna, and it was fun to drop them into conversations, like calling Anna crazy (peabaa) or saying I’m hungry (youcaow). The funniest was later finding out how to end a sentence like a lady boy.

The language is divided between genders, with boys saying “clap” and girls saying “ka” at the end of the sentence. Ladyboys finish with a feminine “Haaa”, and the first time I said “Hello” like a ladyboy, Anna’s expression was priceless. It’s fun stepping on harmless culture barriers; I like to say silly things to get people responding with emotion. To me it means hardly anything, but she quickly warned me if I said that to her mom or friends, they wouldn’t let Anna talk to me anymore haha. Some words just carry a lot of weight compared to others.

My tutor Kayo talked about her Australian friends going back because they’d have more opportunity speaking Japanese there than in Japan. I understand their sentiments. I remember when Xiao told me for the first time ever she was happy to speak Japanese because with it she could talk to her friend in South Korea; they met in Japanese class. I guess this is why you go on holidays, to escape that which ails you. A lot of bile came up about Japan again, but hopefully I got it out of my system.

Back to the party, her friend didn’t miss a beat after the boyfriend confession, and asked if I knew any guys that wanted to go out with her. I could think of a number of them; people in Japan, Canada and so on, but I don’t know if they want to start something so long-distance. Again, it’s the culture thing, I remember Richard talking about some Canadians he met on the plane to Bangkok, going on their once-a-year visit to see their Thai wives.

So there I was drinking outside meeting new people while Anna did laundry. The wash machine was full (and even overflowed onto the floor at one point, no harm done), so the remainder she washed out in basins outside. I think this was my first time seeing laundry being washed by hand, and it was really interesting. After letting it soak in a soap-filled basin for a while, she would rub pieces of it together and rinse 3 or 4 times over. It was hard to describe, but I could see pieces of the wash cycle on the machine coming together.

I was fairly fascinated, and it worked really well. Here she gave me another scarf and toque that she made as presents, these ones are red and blue this time. She couldn’t make the maple leaf, so the colors would have to do. Here little place was simple but cozy. She loves coffee, so on my last trip I got her a “Hello Kitty” coffee cup and toy that she displays on her dresser.

After laundry Anna got a coconut ready to snack on. She picked up this huge cleaver that was about as big as her torso, and hacked away on this thing for a while. It was really odd to see this little girl with such a big blade. I’m surprised how much coconut is useless too, as she peeled many layers away; it was really cool.

Later on the drunk guy was passed out and we took out the Settlers game to play it again. We played for a couple hours until I was one point from winning, but the drunk guy woke up and simply put a bunch of food out on the table, effectively wrecking the game. Soon after the girls scattered to get food ready. Oh well. They made all sorts of dishes, from BBQ fish to clams to chicken and so on. The table was full of great offerings, but after putting back snacks and pop for hours I couldn’t eat much.

One girl rolled out her computer and the neighbor came by to set up speakers. They played music for hours while videos played in the background. A lot of it was Thai, but the English songs that did come on were of the girl variety; ie “you’re beautiful” and so on. It was still a lot of fun, everyone was dancing and singing along, and this big dude kept topping my drink regularly.

It was getting late and Lily called, saying she was at the world trade place ready for the countdown if we wanted to join her. An hour in the cab later, we were both exhausted and I wasn’t feeling too good for drinking pop for over 12 hours (mostly pop and not enough alcohol maybe), so we just went back to the hotel. I went to the countdown last year, and figured I wouldn’t do it again anyways. We got there around 11:30 and watched it on T.V, which was far superior as I imagined. Half the channels had different events from Phuket to Chiang Mai to Bangkok, and most of them the audience looked bored while being packed like sardines as unknown artists played songs I hadn’t heard of before on stage.

Finally the time neared. You never know the delay from the T.V. to the real time, as last year’s numerous false starts taught me. At 20 seconds left, fireworks were starting to fizzle around the area, then when the time came the sky exploded. From the large hotel windows (it was an amazing room) we had an amazing view of fireworks lighting up the city. Buildings nearby even had them shooting off the various floors. You could see people come out and stand on the rooftops for a better view, and we stood there with the big windows open, enjoying the fireworks for well over 10 minutes. This was so much better, as after you could just get some sleep after instead of fumbling through a mob for hours.

Well that was the end of my decade. I thought back on all that happened in the last 10 years, with milestones like my first girlfriend in 2000, finishing High School in 2001, moving to Regina in 2002, living in China in 2004, graduating again in 2006, coming to Japan in 2007, and the plethora of experiences that followed that opportunity.

I wonder what marvels the next decade holds for me. Happy New Year everyone.

"It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich." -Henry Ward Beeche

tnoy