"What Earthquake"? Week 22 Feb 1rst-Feb 7th

What Earthquake?

After spending the night sleeping in my chair I came to a little sore and still quite tired the following morning to the talk of the earthquake I missed.  Apparently at around 7AM both Ryan and Alanna explained there was a rather strong earthquake that rumbled the Internet café where we were sleeping.  I would love to tell you more but I slept through it.  Being a sound sleeper people have always joked, “you could sleep through an earthquake”, I never knew how prophetic those comments would be. They both said it was quite strong and this was confirmed by some other friends in the Tokyo area who also felt it in other parts of Japan.  One member of my training group closer to the epicenter near Narita Airport actually said it knocked things off of shelves etc., but alas maybe its better I slept thru it after all.  After quickly packing up our stuff we headed out into the cold Sunday Akihabra morning, as we were off to meet up with one of Ryan’s high school friends, Gene who lives in Tokyo.  Even more exciting Gene who is a West Point graduate and is now stationed as an officer here in Japan was going to take us to a US military run hotel and conference center for a real American brunch.  After about 45 minutes of navigating the maze of the Tokyo subway system we arrived near the hotel and met with Gene and about 7 of his friends and began the walk to the hotel, which was about 5 blocks away.  Once reaching the New Sanno Hotel we had to be checked in by guys with automatic weapons (the New Sanno seemed similar to a foreign embassy) before entering the posh hotel portion.  From there all of us got seated and then proceeded to spend the next 3 hours eating, drinking and catching up on the previous nights festivities.  The food was great and not only that I have to say it was nice being in a large ballroom with many American faces and accents.  The New Sanno attracts mainly Americans and seems to be magnet for the American ex pat military community in Tokyo.  Unfortunately only active military and their families are allowed entry so sadly this will likely be my only trip.  After feasting on some good American brunch food like Eggs Benedict, waffles, sausage, bacon and the like we set off for Harajuku and Yoyogi Park.  We arrived at the Harajuku section of Tokyo and spent some time walking around checking out the area as well as the famous “Harajuku Girls” who station themselves near the JR station.  The girls who wear crazy clothes with goth hair and makeup attract quite the crowd of mostly foreign tourists snapping their photos.  From there we headed into Yoyogi Park nearby where we saw another interesting “only in Japan” site, namely a large group of Japanese “greasers”.  These guys clad in blue jeans and leather jacket sport pompadours and do highly choreographed dance moves to rockabilly music.  What I find so interesting about Japan is that in a country where “sameness” is such a valued commodity there are pockets of people in the country who work so hard to be different and separate themselves from the group.  I wonder if individuality is something some people really crave even in a country where being like everyone else is a source of national pride.  After exiting the park we began the long journey back to Gene’s apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo.  After nearly 2 hours of trains and subway we arrived at Gene’s large rented house and then headed out with he and his girlfriend for dinner at a local Indian restaurant.  Two couples and me often makes for a bad dinner date for the two couples but we all had a good time and still being quite tired was happy when everyone wanted to call it an early night.  From there we walked the few blocks back to Gene’s said goodnight to the girls and Ryan and I were very excited to watch some Super Bowl pre game reports on ESPN.  All members of the military have access to the Armed Services Cable System, which sends American programming all over the world.  I have not missed TV all that much here in Japan but I have to say watching ESPN on a huge plasma TV was a nice treat.  Even better the three of us agreed to wake early and watch the Super bowl live on TV which was starting at about 8:30AM our time which we did.  The only miscue was Gene kindly agreeing to take Ryan and I on base during half time to pick up some take out Burger King (a rarity in Japan) only to forget his ID making it impossible for us to get access to the base.  Ryan looked as if he might lose it as he spent the 10 minutes en route to the base in Gene’s car providing the laundry list of items he was going to purchase once we arrived at Burger King.  Unfortunately we had to settle for convenience store food instead which we unhappily ate thinking how good Burger King would have been.  After eating we packed up and quickly hustled out at the end of the third quarter since we had to meet the rest of the group at Tokyo Station for our 5-hour bus ride back to Nagoya.  Once meeting up we all slept most of the ride before pulling back into town around 6PM.  All in all the bus was pretty comfortable and we even hit two rest stops along the way.  As with the rest of Japan rest stops here are quite interesting to say the least.  I have never seen so many different things for sale or services provided that I cannot imagine you suddenly deciding you needed to get at a rest stop.  I have never driven down to Sea Isle and decided that I wanted to have my shoes cobbled and by a new toaster oven at the rest stop in Jersey but here all things are possible.  Also were American rest stops are owned by large food chains most of the food was from local vendors at the places we stopped.  Someone spotted a sign marked pizza and when we headed over it turned out the place was called “Pizza Face” or something like that and we quickly decided any kind of pizza from such a place did not sound really appetizing.  Once arriving back in town I headed home and closed out the week by attending Ryan’s first gig at Backbeat.  As he was telling Kazuhiko and Mikka about his DJ’ng career they decided to have him play on Friday.  What was comical was that mostly no one but our regular group was there but watching Kazuhiko a loyal Beatles and classic rock aficionado listening to a searing remix of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Faster, Stronger” was worth the visit.  Also since the crowd was sparse Ryan was kind enough to give all of us our own time on the wheels which I was happy to take him up on.  Even better Mikka took to the equipment and seemed excited to try her hand, when I asked Kazuhiko what he thought of DJ Mikka he smiled over the rim of his beer and gave the thumbs down saying “I don’t like”.  After leaving my Japanese friend Hiro, Ryan and I headed over to Osho the 24 hour Chinese restaurant in town for a post show meal.

Not Exactly What I Had in Mind  While working with my 18 year old student on a lesson about types of jobs one exercise had her having to write down her 2 most exciting dream jobs.  After two minutes of her quietly thinking I asked what she had.  She first said “chef”, knowing she enjoys cooking I slowly nodded and added that perhaps if you were the new chef at a tony and hip Tokyo restaurant that perhaps that could be considered exciting.  When I asked for her second job she paused and then replied, “librarian”.  After laughing unprofessionally for a few seconds at the answer even my student cracked a smile as I explained that it was the first time anyone had listed librarian as most exciting job and that I was more looking for like being the 6^th member of the Pussycat Dolls or the Dragons new third baseman.

"Back to Tokyo" Week 21 Jan 25-Jan 31

After meeting up with Akiko in Sakae on Sunday night for dinner and a few drinks we returned on Monday night for what I had been waiting 4 months for, namely the opening of the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.   I have to say I miss movies quite a bit here in Japan as I was someone who went at least 2-3 times a month at home.  Unfortunately for me new film releases often come last to Japan so Quantum, which opened around Thanksgiving in the States, had its debut here at the end of February.  After being told movies in Japan were quite different than in America I have to say I am not sure what all the talk was about as the Midland Square Cinema across from Nagoya train station was quite similar to an upscale movie theater you would find in the States, maybe a little nicer even.  There were several differences.

Movies on the average are more expensive here than in the US.  A ticket for a first run film will cost you 1,800 yen (very nearly 20 US dollars).  Although this is more than the 11 or 12 dollars I paid in Philadelphia it is not so prohibitively expensive as to keep me from going as some do.

As with the rest of Japan the need to limit liquor and its consumption is not a practiced here so for the first time in my life I took in a film with a large draft beer in hand instead of the requisite soda.  It felt really strange walking to the theater with it in hand as if I was breaking some rule that any minute I would be discovered for.

There is no need as at home to worry about people speaking on cell phones or talking loudly during the film as you would imagine.  The polite nature of the society makes it highly unlikely this is a problem.

When ordering popcorn you are asked whether you want “salty” or “sweet”.  Salty gets you the normal popcorn you get at home minus the butter while sweet gets you what we call caramel corn (nice!).

Lastly when the movie concludes people remain in their seats until the close of the credit roll.  When leaving before it is like you are leaving before the movie is over.

My review of the film is similar to the reviews I had read from the States when it came out.  While Craig is still a great Bond I thought the story was a little complicated and hard to follow and was not nearly as good a film as the previous Bond, Casino Royale.  I felt really bad for Akiko since following a complicated movie in her second language I think was a little tough.  Also I had to laugh when after it concluded she finally admitted this was the first James Bond movie she had ever seen.  Even though she said she enjoyed it I am not so sure.  Again the politeness of people makes it difficult to tell how they feel or what they really want to do.  Even though she seemed really excited to go I think she was doing so just because of how excited I was to see it.

     On Saturday after work I quickly had to run home, change and pick up my bags as a group of about 15 of us were off to Tokyo this weekend to go to a huge club in Tokyo called Ageha.  After picking up my backpack I met the group at Nagoya station and we all boarded the Shinkansen for the 1 hour 50 minute ride to Tokyo.  The longer I am here the more I feel self conscious about exhibiting what is considered common “Western” behavior.  In the case of our group that usually means being too loud in places where the Japanese are quieter.  Although some in our group did get “shushed” for being too loud all in all the ride was fun as we had some drinks as we sped towards Tokyo.  Once arriving in Tokyo we headed to the subway and then arrived at the station were we stored our stuff and walked the 5-6 blocks from the station to the club, which sits on the water on the outskirts of Tokyo.  The place was massive in size with hundreds of people waiting to get in.  The only thing I can compare it to was some of the huge mega clubs I had seen in Panama City, Florida when I went on spring break back in college.  Before even getting in we waited in line for nearly 30 minutes in the bitter cold (sans jackets as we did not want to be saddled with them inside).  Once inside the place was packed with people in each and every of the nearly 10 massive rooms each featuring a different style of music from house to trance etc.  Although I like to pretend like I am half my age by 4 AM I was feeling every bit of my 37 years as I promptly left the group found a bank of chairs and sat down for nearly a half hour nearly nodding off.  Unfortunately the area was next to the pool area (which was open even in the cold) so again without my jacket and in a T-shirt I spent most of the time shivering before heading back to grab something to eat at the large food tent area outside.  Once finding the group we spent a little more time walking around and taking in the music.  Happily at about 5AM myself, Ryan and Alanna headed to the subway to catch the first subway into Tokyo to get some sleep at one of the many Internet Café’s to be found in a section of Tokyo known as Akihabra.  After an aborted attempt at one rather shady one we settled on a slightly nicer and more expensive one were we payed our money and then headed to our “rooms”.  Being just happy to be out of the cold and up now going on nearly 20 hours I grabbed a drink before falling asleep quick in my chair having completed my first night of “clubbing” in Tokyo.

New Name #1  As many of you enjoyed the first name I earned from my students I got a new one this week, during warm up of the children’s low floor classes I have large mats broken into groups likes fruits, vegtables, animals etc.  We go in a circle and get the kids saying “I like peaches”, “I like alligators” and the like.  One of my funnier and bolder 5 year old boys pointed to a picture of a mountain gorilla and replied at his turn “I like Brian” to the raucous laughter of the rest of the class.  The name was amended to “American Gorilla” which seems to have stuck.  Great!

New Name #2  My 10:00AM Saturday group is by far my rowdiest, 3 5 year old boys with boundless energy.  I have learned the hard way that a Friday night out too late with too many drinks is met with harshly when these three arrive ready to go.  As I sat down to begin class again an eruption of laughter when one of the crazier three jumped up and rubbed my newly shaven head and exclaimed, “Potato"!

"Bagels in Japan" Week 20 Jan 18-Jan24

As I begin another blog entry I do so with the knowledge that these things seem to be losing their steam a bit.  The longer I am in Japan I have come to the strange realization that even though you move to a country as far off and seemingly different as Japan your life becomes very much like the life you left behind.  At first in a country were you stand out like I do here it seems like every day is filled with strange and funny occurrences which provide daily grist for a blog such as this.  But as the time accumulates you begin to learn how to hold your chopsticks, how to order food and you begin to do something I would have never expected after being here for only a week, you actually begin to “fit in” in some respect.  With that said I will continue to try and mine any interesting or embarrassing stories that occur in hopes of keeping the blog at least readable.

     This week I got a late start to Nagoya where I was supposed to attend the AEON picnic that is held every other month on the Yada River.  Unfortunately the cold and rain that was forecasted had me leaving late and by the time I reached the train in the early afternoon the rain picked up from drizzle to a fair pace so I decided to head to Nagoya and take a wait and see approach.  After arriving I heard from Ryan they were packing up and heading to Adam’s apartment in Ozone for a post picnic party.  After picking up some food at a “conbini” I headed over to Adam’s where we sat around eating and watching Scarface on DVD before everyone starting arriving.  Once the party got underway I even got into some heated beer pong matches in which Adam and I cleaned up the competition quite handily.  The party was a good time I met some new friends and even got some time on Adam’s Serrado DJ equipment where I happily spun some mid 90’s rap and R&B which depressed me later when people starting sharing how they first heard the Chronic by Dr. Dre when they were in elementary school.  Usually when these discussions start I remain quiet not wanting to let anyone know that The Chronic will forever remind me of the summer before my 5^th year of college (yes 5^th year).  I also headed out into the pouring rain for the quarter mile walk back to the Ozone station to pick up Garreth, my friend from England.  Once at the party Garreth began telling Elijah and myself about a 40 page short story he was writing about 1 night he had spent in a pub in Manchester.  When Elijah asked him if he thought it was a good story Garreth deadpanned and replied, “No mate, that’s the thing its pure rubbish”.  Since the drinking was quite heavy a large group stayed at Adam’s once we missed our last trains back to our respective homes.

     After waking up and parting with friends I headed into Nagoya for a truly incredible find, namely a foreigner market, which had a large selection of American grocery items.  If anyone is planning a trip the following list of items I purchased are not available here so if you want to make some extra money pack your suitcases and you can mark them up 500 percent and sell them to foolish Americans like myself:

2 cans of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup

1 Old El Paso Taco Kit (Strangely looking at the packaging these are imported from Australia where I assume the Aussie’s like their Mexican food.)

1 jar Old El Paso Taco Sauce (Also from Australia, strangely though Taco Sauce to Aussie’s is actually salsa to us, if you like Mexican food the differences are obvious).

4 actual bagels (I thing I truly miss is cruising down the dodgy end of Broad Street in Philadelphia to grab a bagel with cream cheese and a large Iced Coffee with Splenda and Coconut from Dunkin Donuts).  Bagels are almost impossible to find though Philadelphia Cream Cheese is widely available, it’s a cruel game.

1 box of Quaker Maple and Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal.

All though these items may sound trivial when deprived of them I have found I want them even more.  On the good side I decided against paying about 6 dollars for a bag of Pepperidge Farm Mint Milano’s (you have to draw a line some where).

So another week draws to a close in Japan and blah, blah, blah kids cute, scream when they see me, etc.  but anyway I will keep searching for new stuff and hopefully some new material will present itself next week when I head with a large group to Tokyo for the weekend.  On of the things on my to do list was to visit a cavernous Tokyo disco like you see in the movies and apparently our destination, Ageha was the large club used in the movie, Babel so I am looking forward to checking it out.

 Domo Arigato Gozaimas

"That's Mr. Mayonnaise Kewpie" Week 19 Jan 11-18th

Sunday had me heading into Nagoya to meet Akiko and then on to the Elephant’s Nest Bar in Fushimi where my Japanese friend, Yoshi works as a bartender.  Once we arrived we had some fish and chips as well as some Guinness, watched some Premiership Soccer (unfortunately I did not have the staying power to stay up to watch the Manchester United/Chelsea matchup the bar was staying open late for that began at 3AM) before heading home for the night.

     On Monday Akiko and I spent the day in Gifu checking out KinkaSan as the large mountain in the town is known.  This was my fourth trip to Gifu and the town is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Japan.  The town’s natural beauty and close proximity to Nagoya make it a good place for a quick and cheap day trip.  After reaching the mountain via the cable car we spent about an hour taking in the view as well as walking up to take some photos near the castle that sits atop the mountain.  Although we were too late to enter the castle it was a nice day and we got to see some snow on the top of the mountain (never though I would seek out snow).  The rest of the week was quiet in fact I am noticing that the blog is sounding less and less interesting each and every week.  All I can explain is as I get more acclimated to me new home there is less that is really as interesting as it once was.  I actually find myself seeking out strange things just so I will have some new things to right about.  As I said to a friend recently you can only write I went to work, ate dinner, watched TV and then went to bed without making it sound rather boring.  After stopping in to the Backbeat on Friday I took up my friend Dean on a proposed trip to what is known as a “hostess club”.  I do not think I have wrote of these before but these clubs which are rather prevalent in my town especially are basically bars that cater to mainly businessmen and feature sexily dressed woman who serve you drinks and sit and chat with you as you drink.  Although from the outside they appear to be gaudy strip clubs there is no nudity just drinking and the chance to speak to random woman.  Actually once you are here the whole things makes perfect sense.  Since Japanese men are quiet and polite they appear to like these places where woman are essentially paid to be overly friendly while serving drinks to you (it is kind of like a Japanese Hooters).  Also interesting is that there seems to be no shame in going to these places in fact they are the most popular bar scene in my small town on Fridays and Saturdays (I happen to live next door to one of these places).  The best thing is the names of these places since they have very suggestive names and placards outside along with flashing lights, anything to attract young guys to enter (my favorite name is Sweet Cheetah near the train station).  Since I had never been to one of these places Dean agreed to take me to a local place so I could see what it was all about.  And as I said before I figured at the very least it would make for some good blog material.  These clubs feature pricing where you pay for “a set” in where you pay anywhere from 30-50 dollars an hour but it is unlimited “all you can drink” for the time you are there.  Sadly the club we attempted to go to was full so Dean agreed to take me again soon.

Amendment to my Name  As I said before I was given the name Kewpie by several children at school.  That name has been changed now to Mayonnaise Kewpie as Japan’s most popular mayonnaise brand is called. 

I have led with a picture to see if the name is fitting.

"Monet is Big in Japan" Week 18 Jan 4th-10th

Sunday I set out for Nagoya to meet Gwenn and Derrick at the Nagoya City Art Museum for a Monet exhibit that had just opened.  The small museum situated in Shigawa Park next to the City Science Museum has a nice permanent collection of various artists from many different countries including works by famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera who I came to like after seeing his work displayed with his more famous wife, Frida Kahlo at the Philadelphia Art Museum’s Frida exhibit.  For the next two hours we viewed about 40 Monet paintings on display many of which were some of Monet’s most famous works.  Also interesting was each painting listing where it was on loan from.  In most cases the paintings were owned in permanent collections from larger museums all over Japan.  Only one piece was on loan from France itself and in some cases the pieces seemed to be owned in private collections or by large corporations like the Ashai Brewery and large Japanese construction firms.  I could not help but assume many of these were purchased during the high flying late 80’s and early 90’s when the Japanese economy was at its strongest and plenty of cash was on hand to plunk down several billion yen on a rare Monet.  After leaving the museum we headed out to Tiger Café in Fushimi for some coffee and sandwiches before going our separate ways home.  I finished the evening by meeting Akiko in Kasugai and grabbing some Indian food at my new favorite spot, Shanti.

     Monday I went back to Nagoya to check out the Midland Square Building across the street from the Nagoya station.  The building, which appears to be the largest in Nagoya, has an enclosed Skywalk on the roof from which I was able to see for miles as well as snap some great photos of Nagoya from above.  The building houses a modern movie theater on its 5^th floor as well as a high-end shopping mall on floors 1-4.  From there I headed back to Tiger Café for some coffee and to do some work online before closing out the night by meeting up with my new pal Garreth, my co teacher Sam, her friend Margot and Akiko at where else but out new hangout, The Hub.  Even better Garreth made many friends by drinking a little too much and wearing a cocktail shaker on his head as a hat and terrifying Japanese patrons by asking them to join him in a song he created about wearing a cocktail shaker as a hat all the while wearing a cocktail shaker for a hat.

     After another week at school I did the thing that has become most regular for me and headed to the Backbeat with Sam, Sayaka and Hiro for some drinks after work before stopping for a late evening meal at the 24 hour Chinese restaurant, Osho a few blocks from the bar before turning in for the night.  As always I went with my personal favorite, the “Kasugai Seto” consisting of still I claim the best gyoza in Japan, fried rice or “Cha Hahn” as it called her as well as a large bowl or Pork ramen.

  On Saturday after school Sam and about 15 friends as well as myself headed to Ozone to our friend Adam’s apartment for a house party he was throwing.  Adam who is from California plays professional basketball for the Nagoya based Mitsubishi Dolphins and his apartment as you would imagine is cavernous by Japanese standards boasting three bedrooms as well as a large kitchen.  For the rest of the night the group did what you would expect at a house party, drank, and played music with me getting some DJ experience on Adam’s large DJ turntables.  At the end of the night myself and two of my Japanese friends, Hiro and Yoshi split a cab back to Kasugai well after 2 AM to close out the week.

 

I Will Take That as a Compliment

This week while preparing a lesson on food I grabbed some plastic fruit and what I thought were small plates from the storage room to use during my baby lesson.  I thought handing the kids fake food on a plate would be a good way to show how to receive food etc.  As I walked passed my Manager she began laughing and asked what I was doing.  When I explained she took what I thought were plates and explained they were actually small toy cutting boards (who knew they made those) and showed me we did have real plates to use for the lesson.  She then said, “Brian, you always make us laugh with your actions that are both funny and ridiculous”.  Ok, thank you, I think

"Year of the Cow" Week 17 Dec 28th-Jan 3rd

Although I had been planning to travel to Korea over the New Year the cost, the crowds and the like had me deciding to stay close to home for the 9-day break.  On Sunday I traveled into Nagoya and met up with some friends for what was supposed to be a trip to a well-known Mexican restaurant that ultimately we found closed like a lot of things were over the holiday week.   Making a quick recovery we headed to another place nearby advertising tacos and beers of the world and although the food was hardly going to make anyone forget truly great Mexican food it was a nice change and I even happily enjoyed 2 cold cheap Budweiser bottles.  From there myself and my co-net Sam as well of two of her friends visiting from other parts of Japan headed back to Sakae and the safety of our home bar the foreigner friendly Hub, where Akiko met us after she finished with some work she had at school.  In another fortunate turn of events we ended meeting a guy named Garreth from Manchester, England.  We enjoyed some drinks and then headed to Big Echo Karaoke to close out the night with Garreth and I polishing off some smuggled in vodka we bought at the convenience store next to the karaoke bar.  As I write about this week please assume if a day is not mentioned I never left the comfort of my apartment and truly enjoyed the break either working on line, watching movies etc.  Although ultimately at the end of the break I had some guilt about not having done more I have to say it was enjoyable to just do little more than sleep in etc. after how hectic the last 4 months have been in Japan.  And hopefully all the places I have yet to see will fall into place and I will get there soon.  On Tuesday I saw off some friends who had planned a ski trip to Nagano as we had diner at an Indian restaurant in Kasugai of all places.  Although the Mexican was so-so, Shanti in Kasugai was outstanding and although the Japanese food here is wonderful it was nice to have good Indian food for the first time since arriving in Japan.  The following day I woke up late and headed to try out one of the very popular conveyor belt sushi places that are close to my apartment.  The chain, called Sushiro is one of the more popular in Japan and features 100 yen ($1.00) plates of sushi delivered on a huge belt spanning the entire restaurant.  While getting some strange looks when arriving on the crowded New Year’s Eve I sat down and enjoyed some very good and cheap sushi.  Strangely people keep asking how often I am eating sushi but this was only the second time I had eaten it since arriving in Japan.  With that said as good as this place was that is going to change as I had 10 or so plates, two Coke’s as well as some homemade Japanese cheesecake for well under 10 bucks, plus no tipping (sweet!).  For New Year’s Eve I headed into Nagoya to meet some friends at the station who were also returning from ski holiday in Nagano.  Once arriving at the station I met fellow teachers, Loren and Mike as well as some of their friends visiting from Canada and Australia before deciding to go back to the Hub for the New Year’s Eve festivities.  The Hub, which was staying open till 5am to ring in the New Year, was packed for the holiday and we met two other friends, Adam and Ray who were also there.  The night was like pretty much any other New Year’s Eve you might expect, plenty of drinking in a crowded bar the only difference being a small Japanese guy in a cow costume firing a confetti gun at midnight to ring in 2009.  The night ended somewhat early for me as I had a little too good a time at the Hub when I was the benefactor of many free drinks as well as shots of tequila from some Japanese guys we met at the bar (damn the Japanese and their friendliness ).  Not wanting to let them down I drank a little more than I probably should and parted with the group a little ill as they headed off to all night karaoke and I hopped in a cab for the 15 minute ride home to Kasugai.

     After staying home for New Year’s Day watching the party going on in Time’s Square with Anderson Cooper on CNN, I headed back into Nagoya on Friday to check out Oasis 21 near Sakae.  Oasis 21 is a large shopping complex with a glass roof deck and I spent several hours checking out the stores (Pokemon shop was a highlight), grabbing some coffee at the French bistro as well as taking some photos from the roof deck.

     As 2008 drew to a close I have to say the new year had me reflecting on the previous year and how it ended with me living in Japan.  If you would have told me at the close of 2007 this is where I would find myself I would have thought you were crazy, but now settled here with many new friends I have to say I am enjoying things quite a bit.  Also as many of you know my disdain for New Year’s Eve the last two have been some of my best, I rang in 2008 32,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean aboard a plane bound for Madrid Spain and this year found me half way across the world in a bar in Japan welcoming 2009, not bad.

"It's a Quest for Fun"! Week 16 Dec 21rst-Dec 27th

My hopes of rising at 5:30AM were both ridiculous and unattainable as I slept thru the alarm but fortunately woke around 6:30AM to begin my journey to Tokyo Disneyland.  After a bus ride, JR train from Kasugai to Nagoya, Shinkansen from Nagoya to Tokyo and then a 2^nd JR train from Tokyo out to Disneyland I arrived at the park on what had turned out to be a rather gorgeous December day with the sun shining and temps in the near low 50’s.  After stowing my large bag I met up with my former training group in Tommorowland at around noon.  It was great seeing everyone again as I had said in earlier posts it was difficult leaving out little group when we all arrived in Japan.  The stressful week of training in a foreign country formed some close bonds in only a week so it was great to see everyone after Amity had scattered us to schools all over Japan once training was completed.  Right away I was the fortunate recipient of Shaan’s Fast Pass ticket for Space Mountain, as she was feeling a little ill after the previous night, so my first Disney ride in some time was probably the best, Space Mountain.  From there we were able to ride Star Tours (Star Wars themed ride) as well as take in a 3D movie called “Micro Adventures” which we came to find out was actually “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” which I had seen years ago at Epcot Center in Disney World Orlando.  From there we picked up a late straggler, Joel who had also overslept due to his late night at a friend’s birthday party and waited in line for my favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean.  The ride, which has been updated in all the Disney parks, has all the old characters but now includes an animatronic Geoffrey Rush reprising his Barbossa character as well as at least 3 or 4 of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow character from the popular Pirates movie series.  The new Jack Sparrow’s were actually creepy in their realism and we swore they were a real person for a second or two.  The park was gorgeously decorated for Christmas and even though it was mid December the crowds were there to prove it.  I am not sure but one of the people in our group said that entrance to the park was actually suspended later in the afternoon as the crowd reached over 500,000 for the day.  For the remainder of the day I was able to get one more ride on Space Mountain prior to closing, as well as Space Jets and Thunder Mountain Railroad with Ted and I taking advantage of the shorter lines during the Electrical Light Parade.  The only two main differences were the Japanese affinity for waiting in line and the food.  Early on all of us jumped in a relatively short 15-20 minute line assuming it was for some ride we could check off our list only to find out after waiting near 25 minutes that it was a line to gain special seating during the closing character show.  Ultimately we did not win upgraded tickets but I can’t imagine people in the States waiting this long for the hope of better seating at a Disney show.  Also on several occasions we noticed huge lines of nearly 100 people snaking around the park only to find it was people waiting in line for a particular style of popcorn.  I love popcorn as much as the next person but I can’t imagine waiting in line upwards of what seemed to be 30-40 minutes just for chocolate popcorn.  Also lines of near the same amount waited patiently to have their picture taken in front of a Buzz Lightyear plastic life size figurine.  Again the park was similar to what you might find in the States other than the food, which was quite different to say the least.  After spotting a sign for “churros” Shaun and myself hopped in the short line only to determine when ordering that these were not the more typical cinnamon churros but actually “honey-lemon” flavor.  The group who all tried it agreed with my assumption that it tasted like a old foot sprayed with Lemon Pledge.  In fact the taste was so horrific we kept taking bites of the thing just to see if it was actually as bad as we believed it to be (it was).  Also it seems interesting to me that the Japanese never submit a simpler alternative when it comes to theme park food.  After finding a pizza place in Tommorowland we came to find that the two types of pizza where either Chicken and Mushroom or Snow Crab.  It seems like just giving a “plain pizza” option makes more sense as it might be difficult to have the masses determine which they like less on a pizza, mushrooms or crab.  Either way I opted for the crab pizza and have to say it was pretty good.  All in all seeing the foods you would not find on the States just showed how good Disney is at marketing to a global audience, in Orlando its burgers and fries before a ride on a roller coaster in Japan you find omelet rice and Japanese curry.  Upon leaving the park at 10PM we headed back on the JR train and then the Tokyo subway to our capsule hotel in the suburbs that Shaan had booked us all in.  Although it was a great place for the money (about $24.00) the hotel was not near as nice at the capsule I have stayed at twice here in Nagoya in fact my bottom capsule felt like I was trying to enter a dog house as I scrambled on my hands and knees to enter.  To close out the night the entire group headed to karaoke (what else) for a few drinks before calling it a night.  I crawled on my stomach into my “room” and fell asleep quickly after the long day.

     For Day 2 most of the group headed back to the park to tackle the second theme park, DisneySea with myself Krysta and Garnett heading to Shibuya in Tokyo to hang out on what was a not so great cold and drizzly day unlike the previous days weather.  Tokyo is such a large and daunting city to see in a day we decided to stay put and just chill out and really we did little more than hit up the large Tower Records where I happily plunked down about 8 dollars for an English Time Magazine with Barrack Obama as it’s Man of the Year.  From there we exhibited more behavior of Americans (and Canadians) starved for a taste of home as we hit up the TGI Friday’s where we tore into a 3 for All Appetizer which should be called “Three Things You Will Never See in Japan”, mozzarella sticks, hot wings and potato skins.  I swear I had tears in my eyes when I saw real Bleu Cheese being served with the wings, amazing.  After our late lunch we checked out the famous Shibuya Crossing where I am told (need to fact check this) over 1 million people cross thru each and every day before saying goodbye and catching the Shinkansen home to Nagoya.

     Tuesday while not only being the Emperor of Japan’s birthday also happens to be my birthday I stayed close to home and enjoyed the day off before returning to work on Christmas Eve.  I know many of you have asked but the holidays passed for me with little fanfare since without the family and the friends, the plans and the parties you sort of forget its Christmas.  I did however thanks to my great family have many presents to open and did so for a while in front of my webcam on Christmas day as I checked in on the celebrations at home.  On Christmas night Sam and I took the train to Nagoya to meet up with some friends and had a few drinks at the Aussie bar, Red Rock to celebrate the holiday. 

     On Friday Ryan, Sam, Sayaka, Gwenn and I headed to the Backbeat as happily the group keeps getting larger in support of my two friends and owners, Kazuhiko and Mikka.  I was surprised and touched when around 11PM Kazuhiko started to clear the spot in front of me with the assumption that he was either preparing to close or to kick me out only to see him carrying a small cake affixed with 7 candles in celebration of my birthday.  After cutting into the cake the entire group including some of the bar regulars enjoyed the very typical and exotic delicacy of cold draft beer and birthday cake.  An interesting question has been asked of me recently as to what is the best or my favorite part of Japan thus far.  Stumped both times it was posed to me I now may have a good answer.  Perhaps all the castles, shrines and kimonos are great but what is best about being here is two new friends who speak little English consulting an English dictionary so they can properly and precisely write “Happy Birthday Brian” on a cake they made special for you.  I think that thus far has been the best part

It’s Him!  One of the nice things about being in a smaller Japanese town is the possibility of running into your students outside of school.  And from the reaction most children find it akin to running into Barney the Purple Dinosaur outside of school.  While eating at Denny’s (yes, that Denny’s) I was seated at a booth directly next to two young girls and their mother who take several classes at school.  As they watched intently as I ordered and began eating my lunch the older girl presented me with her placemat as they left in which she had drawn a likeness of me.  In it my head is grotesquely large and my face bears a resemblance to some type of half man, half ape being only know to be me by the lack of hair on my head replaced with some dots where hair would normally be.

Happy New Year You Idiot It seems that New Year’s cards are both popular to send and receive during the holiday so I was quite happy to receive one from a girl at school who I had taught in a private lesson.  As I thanked her for the kind gift I realized it was written completely in Kata Kana and therefore I was unable to read the sentiments.  Later in the day I handed it to one of the Japanese teachers and watched as she read it and then began laughing, to translate it said:

Happy New Year Brian (Boo-ryan, how they kids say my name)

Do you even understand Japanese?

Anna

Even though I do not understand Japanese I appreciate the sentiments just the same.

By the way I apologize for the very long post this week as I have gotten feedback it seems some of you would prefer I had a better editor but as happy I am that people are reading and hopefully enjoying the blog it serves me as well so I do not forget all the great, funny or embarrassing things that are happening here.

Catch up with me next week to see what the New Year has in store for me in Japan.