May Madness

Yo yo yo, as they say....probably somewhere.


I've got great news for you all! I passed my Japanese Driver's License test! You know what, let's add a few more exclamation points (!!) to show just how excited I am. I'm so excited because usually they fail us foreigners a few times before they actually let us pass, but I did it in one go. Ohhhh, wait, let me back up a few seconds, you might think that that comment would be a derision against the Japanese License Test system. Well, it sort of is, but let me explain a little bit. I do not mean that previous comment to be mean or say they are racist, it is just a mere fact of the way the system works. So, close your eyes, hold your breath, and let's begin the driving test experience together.

The test includes a 10 question paper test. The paper test? Well, let me give you an example question that isn't exaggerated one bit (though, this is not a real question on the test, because somehow the government would find out, then I would be fined and lose my job, I'm guessing).


"When driving, I make sure not to drive over the Speed Limit." TRUE or FALSE (answer below).
(*True)


Ok, so that paper test was a breeze. Now, the big daddy of the test. You drive on a pre-made, insulated course. You must MEMORIZE the course before driving on it. If you ask the instructor where to go, at any point in the test, you fail. That's it. If you do not enter the car in the correct order, you fail. (Don't forget to start off checking the front and back of the car, to check for cats maybe? Then open the door slightly, check right and left, then fully open it, get inside). If you mess up the order, or, god forbid, turn off the car in the incorrect order, you fail. So, I spent a lot of time memorizing this course, and it paid off. I knew when to check left-right, when to stop, double-check. When turning there is a FIVE STEP PROCESS you must follow, or else, you guessed it, you fail. Look in the mirror, flick your turn signal, look in your sideview mirror, look over your shoulder, scootch the car over a little bit, wait a sec, then turn.

After doing my best to follow my memorized course, we finally ended. The instructor, I kid you not, gave me this assessment. "Well, you were good with safety, but you were slow with your blinkers sometimes. I'll need to think about it." Then, she asked the most important question of all "Where did you get lessons?"

"Hachinohe Motor School."


At this point, I'm pretty sure a huge *DING* went off in her head. Yes, say the magic words, "Hachinohe Motor School," and your chances of passing go through the roof! I did get a lesson with them, which was very helpful. So, half an hour later, after assessing whether or not my good safety technique vs. slow blinkers were acceptable, I was notified I passed! So much for the 4-7 times other people have taken. I win, Japan!

It was also quite nice to get lunch with Marti by the sea. She was kind enough both to translate the test, hang out, and confirm that Hokka Hokka Tei is not a good bento place. Not to mention being an all-around cool person. Thanks, Marti!

Alright, now that I own 2 different driver's licenses, what else could I possible write about? Hahaha, well, I think there was a little scandal going on at one of my schools. Again, names shall be spared, but I think there might have been an affair going on. JUICY, NE! Sorry, I can't say more than that, I honestly do believe the Japanese have a magical way of knowing anything I might commit to this blog, so vagaries is all ya get. Side note, it reminds me of my acquaintance, Bill, who used to think that, in 1st grade, his teacher could read his mind. He described how he would try to only think good thoughts about his teacher, with a maddening look on his face. I picture something like that and this blog. Only type nice things...Only type nice things, only type nice things, only type nices things...


In other teacher news, a teacher I've previously written about, who was denied her vacation to go to New York in order that she could help with a Christmas party for a school of 17 students, has FINALLY decided that she wants to get out of the system. She is planning on moving to LA and working at Starbucks. THANK WHATEVER BEING(S) YOU MAY OR MAY NOT PRAY TO. This made my week. I really hope that it's not just something she's saying and hoping for, but actively working towards.

This past weekend was busy again. I went clothes shopping. Yeah, painful, but one of the things you must do in life if you choose to wear clothes. I went with a small group so I could get advice (oh how I miss the expertise of Nii and Geoff, they would probably be ashamed at what I bought). I even tried to push the time back an hour, to minimize actual shopping time, but the shoppers were too savvy. "No Greg, we won't have enough time if we start at 1, we need to start at 12." "But guys, it's a scientific fact that shopping for more than 2 hours causes heart disease, and leprosy." "But those are curable, so we're going."

I did buy some great "Engrish" T-shirts. I was looking for last-year's best-seller "Touch my Truck" shirt, but I guess they didn't have it this year.

So, after the painful shopping, we went to see Erin's concert at City Hall. Support your friends and their school bands. It was really good. And that's about the best I can do describing music with writing. Suffice it to say, they beat Medway High School's band by 3-4 miles.

After that, we went to an izakaaya to celebrate both Erin's concert, and Wade's acceptance to Graduate School in Singapore. Congratulations to both of you! Then we all crashed at Natalie's house. The next morning, we were awoken by Erin's alarm at 7:15. "Ohayogozaimasu! Ohayogozaimasu! Ohayogozaimasu! (Good morning)" After comfortably falling back asleep, we were then awoken by Nick's alarm "Instrumental doodling." I think that's about the threshold for humans waking up. Two alarms and that's about it. So, we just lay around, played mario kart, then made our way for some doner kabobs. Afterwards, we went to my house to play DnD, got some dinner at a nearby ramen shop, and then called it quits. Phew.

RaNdOm JaPaN:
This weekend Jero, the African American Japanese Enka singer will be playing in Hashikami, a nearby town. This man is like a platinum record seller here in Japan. He's the first person of African descent to break into the Japanese music scene. You can wiki him for more info. Apparently though, it is unsurprising for Japanese people that someone so famous would come to such a small town (like, smaller than medway, I'm talking under 10,000 people), even though he so famous. I find it so hard to comprehend. In the US, the huge bands only go to big cities, to both please a larger fanbase, as well as make more money. I guess here, that is not the case? Regardless, I'm gonna see Jero, I'm gonna see Jero.

Golden Rape Blossoms of Sport

Good afternoon,

Well, I am back in full force here in Hachinohe. Back at my desk, doing my job. Yes, I am the model office worker. Now, into the meat of the argument!

Today I got back from my lunchtime errands just in time to hear music playing throughout my entire building. I guess it's the 80th anniversary of Hachinohe being a city, so they celebrate by playing music during lunch. PARTY!

Yesterday I had a sports event at Shingo Jr. High School. It was fun, if cold and rainy. It was like Field day back when we were children, but with some very big differences. There was, I kid you not, 3 hours worth of speeches. 1 hour before the games started, and then 2 after lunch to wrap up the day. ENOUGH! There is NO NEED for a bajillion speeches. The kids had fun, and they knew they had fun. The school administration need not talk. The students need not break up into teams and share 3 sentences about they felt during the day (which amounted to "even though it rained, it was fun" repeat 48 times). And there is no need for the groups to break up and hear separate talks from several teachers to summarize the summary. NO!

The sports events were fun, though. There were some races (yours truly won his heat in the 200 meter sprint), which were normal. There were other things which are by far not normal. We'll start with the cardboard box sprint. During this race, a carboard box that had it's top and bottom cut out were used. A student got in the box, and then crawled forward (hands and knees on the cardboard, which formed a sort of cardboard tire around them. It was very funny when one girl started somersaulted to make her cardboard tire move faster- especially because you can't see where you are going and end up hitting the other team. They also had a cool event where there were 5 tires in the middle of the field, and the two teams had to bring as many tires as possible across their goal line for points. Screaming children lifting heavy tires was great. Sometimes a team would have a tire and get it really close to their goal, but then the overweight kid from the other team would just jump on top of the tire and weigh it down so they couldn't move it.

Another interesting difference is the scary, Communist-style music and marching that blares during sports day. The students must march in sync with olde-fashioned wartime (at least that's what it sounds like) music. There is even a flagbearer who leads everyone. It's quite creepy, especially with the extreme Japanese discipline that goes on.

On Saturday, I went to the Flower Festival in Yokohama (not the one near Tokyo, the one on the Shimokita Peninsula.) They actually only have one type of flower they are celebrating- the aptly named "Rape Blossom." I decided, for your sake, not to call it the "Rape Flowers Festival," sometimes direct translations from English to Japanese just aren't the best. For those of you who are interested in Nihongo, they are called nanohana [なのはな].

The fields of flowers are beautiful, and they have a very pungent smell. The festival itself was very small. Just fields of flowers, a small "maze," a happy bell, festival food, and a helicopter you could ride (pretty awesome actually, even though I didn't go on it). Oh, I didn't even pull one of my patented "make a list of things with one seemingly crazy item, initially ignore it in the list, and then address it as crazy in the next sentence." I am, of course, talking about the Happy Bell. You just ring it 3 times (not 4 and above, not 2 and under) and have happiness. See, not even that crazy.

On the way to and from, however, there was something crazy. TOFU DOUGHNUTS! Yeah, there's a place that sells these tofu everything. The donuts were so good, surprisingly. Fried tofu with sugar, flour, and egg, tastes very similar to fried sugar, flour, and egg. And what taste is that? DELICIOUS. The inside was just like a cakier, better inside. I enjoyed them much better than regular doughnuts, because they aren't as sugary.

Quick question though. Does anyone know when the incorrect spelling of "donut" was entered into the dictionary as an alternate spelling? It wasn't that way for a long while, and I just checked now, and suddenly it's ok? Well, I'm not ok with that. I spent a long while when I was a kid learning the correct way to spell it, and now you've gone and switched it on me. Shame on you, Merriam-Webster. Shame.

In other news, here is my itinerary from the Golden Week trip. We had to move some things around, but please, look, see what we did, what we enjoyed, the websites we used, and the subliminal messages and witticisms Seth and I wrote to each other while creating the itinerary. It is a rough approximation, for sure, but I just can't write out every little moment of everything we did.

http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/kyoto_map.htm -Extremely Useful Website, map of Kyoto.
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/kobe_map.htm - Interactive Map of Kobe.

Friday (May 1st)
Travel: Night bus
Lodging: On bus

Saturday (May 2nd) –Tokyo and Yokohama
Lodging: Seth`s grandparent`s house
Go to Yokohama
Chill out in Yokohama and enjoy the most DELISH niku-man this side of the Sea of Japan.

Sunday (May 3rd) –Kyoto
Get to Kyoto by Airplane, From Tokyo Haneda to Osaka Itami
Travel: Flight to Osaka Itami, then bus to Kyoto... MONORAIL--What`s it called?--MONORAIL! MONORAIL!!!!

Monday (May 4th) -Kyoto

Golden Pavilion (Northwestern Kyoto)
To there:Kinkakuji can be accessed by direct bus number 101 or 205 from Kyoto Station. A faster variant is taking the Karasuma Subway Line to Kitaoji Station from where the temple can be reached in a short bus or taxi ride.
In the area: Various temples and shrines.
Saihoji (Kokedera- Moss Temple) (Western Kyoto) (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3937.html)
Moss and copying Buddhist sutras.

To there: Saihoji Kokedera is accessible in about a 10 minute walk from Matsuo Station on the Hankyu Arashiyama Line.

To make a reservation, send a return addressed postcard with your name, the number of people in your group, the name and address of your "group representative" and the proposed date of your visit clearly included.
Time and Cost: 3000 yen and at minimum 1 hour.
Arashiyama Monkey Park
Home to some 200 Japanese monkeys of all ages and sizes. It is the animals who are free to roam while the humans who observe them are caged in a box!
To there: Enter the park near the south side of Togetsu-kyo bridge, through the orange torii of Ichitani0jinja. Reaching the monkeys involves a moderate hike uphill. It's a 10-minute walk from Keifuku line Arashiyama station.
Tuesday (May 5th)- Kyoto
Chionin- Biggest Bell, largest temple gate, and head temple of the Jodo sect of Japanese Buddhism (Eastern Kyoto, near the beginning to the Philsopher's walk)
To there: Guide says "Chionin is located immediately north of Maruyama Park and Yasaka Shrine. The closest subway station is Higashiyama Station on the Tozai Line." I couldn't find a Higashiyama Station, the nearest one I saw was Keage Station - Kozai, conveniently near the entrance of the philosopher's walk.


Sanjusangendo 1001 Bodhisattvas (On the walk to Kiyomizudera)
To there: Guide says "Sanjusangendo is a 15 to 20 minute walk or a short bus ride (lines 100, 206 or 208) from Kyoto Station." Map says wicked close to Shichijo Station - Keizan.
Hours and cost: 8:00 to 17:00 (9:00 to 16:00 from Nov 16 to Mar 31) Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time. 600 yen.
Kiyomizudera (Eastern Kyoto)
To there:Kiyomizudera can be reached from Kyoto Station in about 15 minutes by bus. Take bus number 100 or 206 and get off at Kiyomizu- michi or Gojo-zaka, from where it is a 10-15 minute uphill walk to the temple. Also, it is 1 mile from Keage Station - Tozai (Philosopher's walk eki entrance), as well as Gojo Station - Keihan.Definitely walkable, if I remember correctly, from the Gojo Guesthouse. If we rent bikes, this'll be a breeze.
Geisha in Gion- It just happens to be at Shichijo station as well, next to Sanjusangendo and near Kiyomizudera!
Enjoy the beautiful, white faces of geisha while they entertain us with conversation, food, and wit.

Cost: More than we can afford.
Side option? Watch them, walk around, have Japanese friend dress up as geisha to please us.
I'll buy the baby powder! (that's what they use for white faces, right? or is it a whole bunch of sunscreen...)
Ochaya, Theatres, and Restaurants are also prevalent in the area, and therefore merited my capitalization of their first letters.

Wednesday (May 6th)-Kyoto
Toji Temple- Ye olde big pagoda. (City center)
To there: accoring to the website:Unlike most other of Kyoto's attractions, Toji is located south of Kyoto Station. From the station, it can be reached in a 10-15 minute walk. AUTHOR'S NOTE: The map says it's about 1 km from the station. If it takes us 20 minutes to walk that....

Fushimi Inari- Let's see some Tori! (Middle/Eastern Kyoto) Wait... there`s a Kyoto in Lebanon? Dunno if we can make it there and back in time...
To there: Fushimi Inari Shrine is located just outside JR Inari Station, the second station from Kyoto on the JR Nara Line. The train ride takes five minutes and costs 140 yen from Kyoto Station.
It takes about 2 hours to walk the entire trail of torii.
Here we can eat the special "fox udon"
Philosopher's walk (eastern Kyoto)- Includes 5 temples and 2 shrines http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/kyoto_philosophers_walk.htm
See foxes and old professors (with our imagination)
Silver Pavilion (part of the Philosopher's walk)
To there: Possibly take the Keage Station - Tozai stop. The silver temple is at the other end of an extensive walk.
Estimated time: 3 hour

Thursday (May 7th)-Nara
Head to Nara
Spend the night in Kobe
Friday (May 8th)-Kobe

Akashi Kaikyo- Longest Extension Bridge in the World
Where? Hard to miss, it's a 4 km long extension bridge.
Meriken Park- A nice waterfront Park with a small museum, tower, etc. Was devastated by the earthquake in 1995.
To there: Meriken Park is a 5 minute walk south of Motomachi Station or a short walk from Kobe Harborland.
Kitano-cho- Where the foreign traders used to live. At the foot of the Rokko Mountain Range.
Many boutiques, restaurants and cafes.
To there: Kitano-cho is located north of Sannomiya Station and west of Shin-Kobe Station.

Mount Rokko
Highest peak in the Rokko mountain range, provides pleasant green backdrop to the city. Panoramic views of the heavily urbanized Hanshin region (Kobe and Osaka), can be enjoyed from the mountain and are particularly spectacular around sunset.
Various small tourist attractions can be found on Mount Rokko, including a botanical garden, a music box museum, a pasture with flowers and sheep, Japan's first golf course and Rokko Garden Terrace, a pleasant complex of a few restaurants and shops and an observation deck.
Ohel Shlomo Temple- Located in Chuo-ku, Kobe. Googlemaps has it listed (type in Ohel Shlomo, nothing else).
To there: It's a straight shot from the airport. The closest station is Sannomiya Station. We would have to taxi or bus from there.

Saturday (May 9th)-Osaka
Festival Gate
ride a few amusement rides and push kids outta line so that we can ride in the front!

Spa World
largest hot spring in the world! Let's get naked!

Doutombori: Vibrant nightlife area of restaurants and shops GIVE GREG MONEY
"a strip of restaurants and theatres where a peculiar type of Darwinism is the rule for both people and shops: survival of the flashiest"
chase a random pretty woman in an attempt to recreate Harrison Ford's chase of a robotic stripper in Blade Runner... just don't kill her at the end.
see the temple dedicated to water workers and pee on it instead of putting water on it b/c we'll be SOOO SICK OF TEMPLES BY NOW-true that
Give greg more money

Sunday (May 10th)-Osaka
Fly Back

Foxy

Back From Golden Week

Hello Everyone,



Today is my first day back in the office from Golden Week, the week-long Japanese national holiday. Now, I want to tell you all of the things I did, but, truthfully, the impetus for writing in my blog comes from something much more mundane.



I'm learning kanji right now. You know, kanji, the about 50,000 characters that exist as pictures, used instead of an alphabet. It's past time to start learning the "necessary" 2,000 for daily life. THEY ARE KILLING ME. I just got back and started reviewing on the kanji website I've been using. I'm "at" 534 kanji, but as of 2 minutes ago, I forgot about 112 out of the 254 I'm reviewing. Do you know how frustrating this is? Let's practice with your mental imagery. Imagine trying to butter a piece of toast. Now, pretend that the toast is actually a cat with camouflage running around a forest. That's how I feel. It's SO FRUSTRATING right now. And the part that makes it even more frustrating is that I'm just learning to recognize their English meanings, not the two different ways to read them, nor their changes when placed next to other kanji. I'll let you know that this is alphabet number 3 I need to learn for this silly language. FRUSTRATION!

Ok, now that that is out of the way, let me write about my awesome trip. I went to Yokohama (near Tokyo), Kyoto (the old capital), Nara (deer park -yes, I got attacked), Kobe (had some beef), and Osaka. It was a hell of a trip. And now I'm tired from all of that traveling.

**Author's note: I didn't realize I clicked the "save" button instead of the "post" button, so this wasn't put up when I wrote it last week. Gomen ne!