Week 3 begins with my enjoying my new (not purchased new but new to me) bike here in Kasugai. As my outgoing teacher has now departed Kasugai I have become the default owner of the hand me down NET bright orange bike. I started out this morning taking full advantage of the freedom by riding through the rainy remnants of the typhoon that passed over Japan last week by riding to the coffee shop in the shopping district of Kasugai. As I said last week I previously had to walk to most of the stores and restaurants so the bike allows me to reach there in 10 minutes or less. I spend the remainder of my first day off taking my first ride into Nagoya in another desperate but fruitless search for free WIFI. An interesting find in Nagoya was something that had been explained to me many times but I had never been able to visualize, namely the Japanese Internet Café. Since the trains to my town much like those that serve the Philadelphia suburbs stop running at just after midnight I was wondering how I could enjoy a night out in the big city without suffering thru a $60 dollar one way cab ride. One option certainly is the capsule hotel, which is little more a grouping of super small pods in which you climb into and sleep for the night. These hotels which run about 30 dollars a night have showers, coin lockers and are popular for the “salary men” who miss trains back to their towns. The second option is the internet café in which you pay by the hour, are taken to a small private changing room size room which has a large recliner, ottoman, computer with WIFI as well as a TV and DVD. These small rooms, which even boast slippers, headphones, locks on the doors as well as a hangar for your coat, are real tiny sleeping quarters. For roughly 400 yen (3.85) an hour you are even given a cup for which to use the ample drink bar, which is stocked with soda, coffee etc. With showers, clean bathrooms as well as vending machines serving hot Nissan cup of Noodles, sandwiches etc. many Japanese stay till the bars close at 3PM then head to the internet café to sleep and hang out until the trains begin running around 6AM. So for fewer than 15 bucks it is a safe option should you decide to take Japan up on some of its nightlife. After checking out the Internet café I spent the remainder of my first night in Nagoya walking the city, trying Mos Burger (Japanese hamburger chain, good!) and having a Guinness at the Elephant’s Nest English Pub in Nagoya. The Guinness, which was a welcome taste of home, was the first thing I found in Japan that was quite inflated in price, my pint cost me 1000 yen or roughly $9.50. After returning that night I was back on the train to Nagoya the following morning to meet my friend, Garnett from my Amity training group. The 1-mile bike ride from my apartment to the station was without incident other than the scare I put into an elderly woman who was unloading a van on the sidewalk near the station. To explain all people in Japan ride on the sidewalks exclusively on their bikes, while this makes for easy biking ones must watch always when walking the streets. One of the first skills you need to master is when exiting a store or restaurant you almost need to look both ways when stepping onto the sidewalk so as to see if any bikes are approaching. And while there are many more bikes to concern yourself with say during rush hour in Nagoya then 11AM on a weekend in Kasugai you need to keep an eye out. The fright I put in to this poor woman was compounded by the fact that most of the trip to the Kasugai station and the JR train to Nagoya is downhill so once I get rolling with the help of some good traffic lights I can usually give one good pedal and coast a good portion of the way rather easily. As I neared the station before it flattens out slightly I saw this woman unloading something from a van not realizing I was flying towards her. Realizing she was not to see me I began slowing up, the problem is she walked unknowingly from sort of in my way to right in my path just as I was decelerating, which I did not expect. As she still unknowingly moved into my path I hit the brakes hard making a loud squealing sound. As she heard the sound she tore around in my direction and immediately let out a shriek that I feared would raise the policeman from the small office they maintain near the station. Not only that she went into a modified fetal crouch position right on the sidewalk as if a runaway locomotive when heading right for her. I was so surprised I could not even summon an “Excuse me” to calm her down instead I just tore off towards the station. I did laugh as I thought of her relating that story to like her grandkids later that day. I am sure it was like a tall tale type story, “He was a mile high and a mile wide if he was a foot, he had red eyes and smoke pouring from his nostrils, and he nearly killed me”. After having a less exciting train trip I again made it to Nagoya for Day 2 of my three-day weekend and met up with my friend, at the Hilton Hotel. From there we decided we were looking for some more “gaijins” like ourselves and we headed to the Hard Rock Café across the street for some lunch. I know this sounds lame but the food was really good and cheap, a burger platter with fries, soda, soup and a salad set me back only 10 bucks and as I have grown to love no tipping in Japan. After eating we headed out into Nagoya and decided to walk the 2 miles to the Atsuta Jingu Shrine in Nagoya as unexpectedly most of the other attractions in town are closed on Mondays (Aquarium, Toyota Museum etc.). The shrine, which is one of the most revered in Japan, is the final resting place of the Kusanagi-no Tsurugi what is known as “The Grass Mowing Sword”. The sword, which is said to be over 2000 years old was used by Prince Yamatotakeru-no-Mikoto in his fight against the rebels. The prince became trapped in a field after the rebels had lit fire to it. The prince then used his sword to cut through the field and thus quell the fire and save the day. Atsuta actually translates to “hot field” in Japanese. The unfortunate part is the sword is never shown to the public because of its age and value. Either way the shrine was said to be nice respite from city life as the shrine is covered with trees and sounded like a nice way to spend the afternoon which it was. After leaving the shrine we headed via the train back to Ozone to watch the Dragons beat the Yakult Swallows at Nagoya Dome. After the game Garnett headed for home as did I before stopping in to grab a beer at the bar named Backbeat I spoke of in the last post. This time I ended up speaking to the owner and his girlfriend, Mina for over 2 hours over 2 Ashai's and a glass of Shochu. We seemed to hit it off and it felt good to make two new Japanese friends. They even agreed to introduce me to their Kiwi friend, Dean who they said speaks English as well as Japanese so we could talk better next time. It is funny how in Japan you will meet people here who will say they know other white people like you and then offer to introduce you as if obviously you have to meet someone who looks like you. Having just read On the Road by Kerouac I couldn't help wonder if I was living like the title character, Sal Paradise and his friendship with the crazy and wild Dean Moriarity. The remainder of the week was much like last week, long but enjoyable hours at school trying to become a competent English teacher. I also met the replacement English teacher who is very well trained and cool so she is helping me quite a bit. The only big news was while stopped at a vending machine sipping a soda meeting a guy from California named Ryan who I struck up a conversation with. He is also an English teacher and we exchanged numbers promising to meet up and maybe grab a drink.
The last night of the week finds myself and my new teacher heading to Nagoya to meet Ryan. After some trouble getting together we met Ryan in Sakae and headed to a club called Maverick for some drinks. Since I am a teacher of children now much of my time is spent making games the kids can play in class. One popular game is a scrambled list, so to best explain my random night unscramble the following to get a sense of what I did:
1. Japanese girls doing a choreographed Rhianna-style dance.
2. Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi.
3. a 7 foot tall American basketball player
4. 17 cans of Kirin Beer.
5. 1 Red Bull and Vodka.
6. Sleeping in a recliner in a room with 50 other Japanese guys.
7. "Here is your complimentary pair of boxer shorts".
8. Where is Exit 5 off the Subway?
9. One coin operated locker.
10. The two fingered dance Uma Thurman and Travolta did in Pulp Fiction.
Best Reply to the Blog: This goes easily to my cousin, Matt who while laughing at my own story of mixing soy sauce and green tea powder related his own story from Asia of sipping a mild lemon soup at a meal only to be told it was a bowl of soap for washing his hands. Awesome story!
Newest Japanese Thing I Never Thought I Would Try: Saw people eating rice and beef bowl then getting a raw egg and breaking into the bowl. Actually tried it this week at lunch, not bad!
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