No Words. Only Emotions... and a video.

Awesome Photos. Great as a Slideshow.

7 Days Work, 4 Days Exhaustion

The last post focused on pictures and a movie. I guess that makes it story time again.

September this year, much like last year, has seen me working a lot of weekends. 5 weekend days I've had to come in this month, with an equivalent number of days taken at weird points during the week. Example: two weeks ago I worked a 7 day week for the Sports Festival. The following week, I had the Monday off for a holiday, worked Tuesday (That day is at my other school so weekend days must be made up by the same school) and then had Wednesday off. It was like I was working part time the schedules were so weird.

What all this culminated in, however, was a four day weekend ending yesterday -- more than enough time to make some trouble

Saturday morning, threats of a typhoon delayed our 3:30 AM (Yes AM.) departure to go hiking until 9:30. The trip to Sanjiyoume outside Takato is a relatively brief one. And the park is more isolated than anywhere else I'd been thus far. After driving out into the country, we hopped on a bus -- the ONLY way to enter the park. The imposing metal gate, decorated with cartoon animals denying access to private cars in the cutest most non-threatening way, raised for the bus and we were in.

On the way up, the lively bus driver pointed out the pack of monkeys in a ravine down below, a deer that was grazing by the road, and killer hornets' nest after killer hornets' nest. Yes, they are actually killers. They are bigger than some hummingbirds and each sting poisons you with a flesh devouring enzyme. Between the iron gates and animal slide show, it had begun to feel more like a zoo than a park. A short walk and 5 minutes of set up later, we had Kampai'd (Cheers, Salud, Prost. What have you.) and were cooking dinner at a very reasonable 3:30 pm. The weather had held all day. Typhoon be damned.

At 6 when we woke up, everything was mist. At 8, not halfway up the mountain, we were trudging through pure white. The fog had given way to heavy, dense clouds at the higher altitudes. By the time we peaked the 3,033 meter mountain at 11 or so, we were hiking through heavy clouds; drops of moisture collecting on the rocks around us -- making them slippery. Our rain gear, bags, my Japanese sweat rag (rendering it useless) and even at the tips of my eyelashes had little drops clinging to them. We could hear other groups hiking as they got nearer, but couldn't see them until a tour group of 30 or so Japanese, decked out in full flourescent North Face Gear was right on top of us, both sides apologizing as we pushed past each other on the trail. It wasn't really raining up that high. Where would it fall to? More cloud? But at least the Typhoon had backed down. Despite the clouds, it was light, so the sun was out there somewhere.

Then, on the way down it hit. The rain we'd avoided all weekend finally exploded. In minutes the entire trail was a small stream switchbacking it's way down the mountain. The mud was unavoidable. We just had to put faith in our boots to hold up to the inches of mud and puddles that we had no choice but to shuffle through. Then the lightning started. Kyoko was quick to tell a story of how she had climbed a mountain shortly after a storm and seen them bringing down bodybags of climbers fried by lightning. Thanks. That could have waited til after we all made it out safely. There were no rest stops on the way down, only a small shed. Unfortunately, the small wooden shed was being held on the mountainside with some flimsy looking metal rope, tied to flimsier looking young trees. Rather than spend 5 minutes in a mud slide's easy first casualty, we kept moving.

Remembering a story from some friends stuck in a similar situation out in Yosemite in California, I took off my hood. In Japanese, “If my hair stands up, run.” At one point they also asked whether it was safer to be close to or far from trees. I'm not an expert, but I thought it was unlikely to matter considering how wet everything was.

About 5 hours up with breaks. 2.5 down. No breaks. No stopping. I'm not sure how dangerous all this actually was. It didn't feel too bad at the time as we laughed and joked at our situation, but I've been called an idiot on several occasions since so it must not be great. Feel free to take a stance. But we made it down alive and scooted over to an onsen as fast as possible.

When I got home I realized my house key fell out somewhere on the mountain. Rather than deal with that problem, I opted to run away from them when I caught word of a combined live and DJ “Jazz Fusion” show in Tokyo. It was at my favorite club, so why not?

The next morning, pretty sore and tired from the hike, I drove into the city and caught the bus to Tokyo to dance all night and not sleep. I wasn't really sure what to expect with that tagline, but it ended up being a fun, varied mix of Disco, Jazz, and more electronic music from the DJs and some great music from the live bands. We danced all night.

As the sun was coming up over the bay, we were dancing out by the pool on the deck when one of the girls I with says she's going in. This is a no-no. No one jumped in the last time I was here. Ever the dad, I'm shaking my head. She asked the Security Guard if it was ok. He would have to do something if she jumped, but if she was pushed then he couldn't very well blame her could he? She handed us her bag and took off her sandals and was <ahem> accidentally pushed into the pool. 3 Security Guards laughed as she waved her hands and cheered. A couple people helped her out after a minute's swim, and the whole crowd cheered as a couple copycats jumped in. Before she could put her shoes back on, one guard, needing to make an example of her, had grabbed her by the wrist and was dragging her towards the door, the rest of us close behind.

As the crowds cheered she waved. “Thank you Tokyo!”

And today I'm back at work. The students and teachers think it's hilarious I lost my key running from lightning. Jokes are tossed around the staff room and my Vice Principal shoots me a VERY joking disapproving look as everyone laughs. He loves it. The man at the Village Office handing me the spare after lunch found it somewhat less amusing.

Sports Festival Round 2

So for last year's Sports Festival, you may recall (more likely not) that it got rained out halfway through. This year was much better. Not only am I a little bit more established in the village, and getting along with my kids, it didn't start pouring rain! Until lunch time... but then, as rain is supposed to do in the summer, it stopped 10 minutes later. An older Japanese gentleman taught me that they have a word for that, but I forget now... Sorry.

Anyway, this is mostly a picture and video post. So Enjoy. Quick note: most of the photos are of my elementary schoolers because the middle schoolers were basically running all day and a million shots of kids you don't know running is probably less than exciting.

More Photos Here

The video is a compilation of several videos taken throughout the day. They have small intros, but just as a note, the kids in the one section are asking me for stickers. I had it confused with white. I swear they sound similar.

Hopefully I'll do something interesting enough to warrant a post again soon. Fingers crossed.

Trip Home.

Maybe I haven't already talked to someone who's reading this about specific dates, but yeah, I'm coming home. I'm flying in to Washington on August 15th for 2 weeks. I'll be flying out on the 30th. I'll also be taking a quick jaunt up to NY in there somewhere.

If you're somewhere in the area, I'd like to see as many people as possible so let me know. Email works best.

lhaineroberts@gmail.com

On another note, Tenryu has way too many animals coming out. Yesterday, during normal activity, I saw:
-1 Black, Blue, Yellow, and Red Lizard.
- 10 Frogs.
- 1 Crab on completely dry land in rocks... No idea...
- A spider that, with its legs splayed out was nearly the size of my fist.
- A rattle snake less than a foot away from me during my evening run. And his rattle was just a rattlin'.
- And all the other bugs, mosquitos and crawling jumping and flying things that find their way into my house every night.

See everyone in a month.

Happy Birthday !

Happy Birthday Grampa from the people that couldn't make it.



Here's us outside the Ryokan in Tokyo, and a shot from the Sumo Match the other night. The other Yokozuna lost that night, and a Bulgarian Ozeki (2nd rank) is now 10- 0. Geraldine has more pictures but they'll have to wait until they arrive at my computer. Until then. Happy Birthday!

Golden Week Road Trip: Foodies Read.

Golden Week is a set of three Holidays that fall close together in Japan and -- depending how they fall -- often give close to a week off from work to everyone in the country. It's also the most expensive, traffic filled, and gas price raised 20 cents time of the year. To avoid this, my friend Bryce, his girlfriend Kasumi and I drove down to Kochi-ken on Shikoku, one of the Southern islands of Japan. There were gorgeous beaches, surfing (I wanted to take a lesson but didn't get a chance), but we also had the good fortune of staying with Kasumi's aunt and uncle. Her uncle is a dentist by day, a devoted fisherman on weekends.

Two of the fish caught and eaten that day.
The cousins and myself scoping out the spread.

Below are photos of the beaches, castles, but most importantly, the feast of fresh sashimi, stews and other stuff we ate our first night. Without a doubt, the BEST meal I have eaten in Japan.

The whole meal. Some items pictured like the soup are just one serving for one person.

Three kinds of sashimi, two fish one lobster. Huge clams baked with spices, miso(maybe?) and mushrooms. Seared Bonito marinating in Yuzu Ponzo, Yuzu and onion. Taki stew. Asparagus Tempura. Fried River shrimp. Lobster Miso soup. And that's not even all of it.

Lobster Sashimi served in the shell with two other fish sashimi on either side.
Bryce lifting the fish to reveal the expertly sliced sashimi hidden inside.
Japan is a land of beautiful presentation in food.

Foodies enjoy. In my opinion, this is about as good as a Japanese meal gets.

Looking out from the castle's walls.
The view from the southernmost point of Shikoku.

Engrish

In the States, we like Japanese and Chinese writing. The characters look cool. That's why so many people get tattoos of things they have NO CLUE what they mean, and trust a tattoo artist. Most Japanese who have been to America have stories of encountering a tattoo that says something like, "Construction" or some other similarly important word that deserves a permanent place on our skin.

That said, we can relax knowing that Japan often butchers our Language as badly as we butcher theirs. Here are some prime examples and their locations I've encountered. I've omitted some of the truly filthy ones (like you often see on 5 year old girls' t-shirts) so that I won't make anyone reading this blush. They are punctuated with shots of Cherry Blossoms because it's that time of year and I felt like it.

After having said that, here's a hat some friends bought for me. It's in some of the pictures.

"The desire not be ghettoised as a playground for hardcore perverts is apparent in a dress code stipulating goat costume before S&M gear.

They don't get much better than that, but here are some other fun examples from two of my students notebooks. Now, this is not what they wrote, these are the covers of their notebooks, as purchased.

A cartoon drawing of Alice from Alice in Wonderland and...

"My mind is paralyzed. A wonderful day."

A picture of a blond haired blue eyed baby and a cake...

"New life begins from today. Being surrounded by my favorites... My dream that has begun to move. Let's produce an elegant dining table. Soft light makes foods delicious. The table is fully loaded with every kind of taste. Ever deepening taste of my household dishes. I've come to know true joy. I now live nicely. Ah! An actual sense."

Posted message in a Japanese hotel:

"You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid."

Graduation and Stuff...

Me with my Graduating 3rd years. One is going to the English School!
& Me with Nakamura Kyoko sensei, my JTE.

Graduation was two weeks ago. Unfortunately, it occurred on the same day at both of my schools, but I was able to go to Tenryu's graduation to see off my students there. It was a little bitter sweet, of course, having to say goodbye to my students. But it was certainly more difficult for the other teachers and the students. In Japan, teachers are cycled around usually every 3 years to new schools. This can be VERY difficult for them socially, as it will often separate them from their friends and family by a couple hours drive. So after graduation, there are tearful goodbye speeches from the departing teachers. The students cry. Understandable, considering they spend more time at school then home and teachers, particularly homeroom teachers, end up becoming almost like another parent. I also had to say goodbye to my JTE in Tenryu, Nakamkura Kyoko sensei (pictured). The new JTE will arrive tomorrow.

Me with my 3rd and 4th grade Elementary students after a Christmas lesson
& Me with my beard at the village restaurant after two weeks in India.

Aside from that, I've been keeping busy with goodbye parties and snowboarding. The snowboarding has been fun, and I even went out and picked up a board. It's strange to have something I really enjoy doing in the winter. I'm almost sad to see it go. Spring has really come, and the Cherry Blossoms are blooming around Tenryu. So on that note, this post has a few photos that I've been sitting on for a while. Hope you like 'em.

Me teaching in Urugi with Usami Sensei.


Snowboarding with Kyoko, her two coworkers, and son. I hadn't bought my board yet.

Me Snowboarding with some of the Iida area ALTs. Now sporting my hot new board.

Finally, it looks like I will be coming home this summer for 2 weeks. Those 2 weeks are: August 17th - 30th or so. Block it off now.

Mumbai (Bombay) and Elephanta Island [Sorry. This one has been in Draft for AGES...]

I can only dream of the day I have such a magnificent 'stache.

After a drive back to Delhi, we flew down to Mumbai with the hopes of seeing a Bollywood movie, or maybe being picked up off the street to play a western extra. I want to dance and do a little head shake shoulder move. After a little scuffle with our cabbie, we left our night 1 hotel and hit the street for a market.

This was what I'd been waiting for since I got to this country. A real market, real people shopping for vegetables, fruit, fish (covered in flies) and best of all, REAL STREET FOOD! I ate my first of many 3 rupee Samosas (about 8 cents) and it was amazing. After we wandered a bit longer, we came across some kids playing soccer, who we joined. After I embarrassed myself and fell on the ground trying to kick the ball (It was really, dusty! Another kid did it too I swear!) I just talked to the older kids about America, India, and Japan while the girls talked to the younger kids. It was one of several interactions we had in India where money was never mentioned. There were lots of spectators as we talked and messed around with the kids, but it was a lot of fun.

Me playing soccer with the older kids & Laura messing with the younger ones.

The next day, we saw the kids again, and then transitioned to a different, cheaper hotel. On the way I did my first Yoga. I tried Yoga breathing in College once, but this was the first time I'd been put in front of a teacher (at the Yoga Institute no less) and made to feel completely inadequate with my flexibility. Awesome.

A perspective on sleeper cars... not sure why I look so damn serious... & Cristina pointing out a somewhat important sign.

Eventually we caught a boat to Elephanta island. It's a cool network of caves on an Island off the coast of Mumbai that have lots of statues, many of which are dedicated to telling the story of the Hindu god, Shiva. The first cave was amazing and had all the pictures you see... the rest, should you ever visit, are skippable. It's a World Heritage site though, and def. was one of the coolest things we saw on the trip. Lots of picture from that on the albums. It's the really cool statues in the caves.

Shiva and Krishna's creation story in the caves of Elephanta Island.

Then, we caught a train down to Goa. I will not be discussing Goa except to describe it as like a British Key West. Lots of older folks and a certain Hedonistic vibe. The beach was great though. The following are are links to Cristina and Laura's web albums. They have a few new pictures over mine, so if you're interested, give 'em a look. Maybe one more India update... maybe not. I'm falling behind (by about 3 months) and I have a huge festival in 2 weeks. Send me emails and say hi!

Goa. Me with one of the cows wandering the beach.

Laura's Photos

Cristina's Photos

Hounen Matsuri (Fertility Festival)

I had heard about this one a while ago. And when you hear about a huge wooden penis parade, you kinda take notice. Apparently this one is unusual for Japan too. When Kyoko saw my pictures, she said it looked quite strange.

Choices Choices... & My Chocolate covered Banana.

So basically it's a huge Fertility festival, one of the largest in Japan. The Tagata Jinja (Temple) is a year round shrine for fertility. Young couples go to visit and pray for fertility and even to touch the wooden phalli inside as part of that exercise. But once a year, the huge, 2.5 meter wooden penis you see in the pictures, makes a pilgrimage from its temple, to the nearby temple of what is supposed to be an equally impressive wooden vagina. I say "supposed to," because despite our looking in the temple, we were never able to catch a glimpse of it. If women touch the phalli during this parade, it's the ultimate in fertility blessings, so naturally with all the mid-20's foreigner women I know (I swear all I hear sometimes is talk about babies), there was a lot of that going on.

Some of the other foreigners at the festival.
And a nice, somewhat touchy feely older Japanese man.
& The Famous Shrine being carried in the parade.

Thankfully, the weather also could not have been better. The cold has finally broken and spring is definitely here. The Ume (plum) blossoms are coming out, Sakura are also just starting to show themselves as well.

After the festival, I had a small party at my house. It was a little awkward renting a keg from one of my student's grandfathers, but that's rural life I suppose. And given the drinking culture here, I wasn't too worried. All in all a great weekend.

Here's the Link to the Photo Album.

Snow and Fertility (read: Penis) Festival

I stayed up way too late the other night. A friend in a Town right next to my village, actually separating my two villages, invited me to come to a snow festival. The festival was to take place on top of a mountain in a village called Niino, which had been assimilated into his larger town of Anan. Niino's snow festival is known throughout Japan (or at least Nagano) and even occupies a slot on the top "1000" or "100" Cultural Events in Japan. That sounds like a really imressive list to be on, except for the fact that they love making lists here. "The 100 Most Famous Foods," "The 50 Most Significant Artists," "The Top 100 Rock Formations on This 50 Meter Stretch of Road." There are lots. But seeing as I'm a little more excited about festivals than rocks, I decided to go.

Left: People praying. Right: Little girl praying

Niino is in the mountains, bitterly cold (for Southern Nagano) and their festival is crazy. Essentially, the whole day is spent preparing for the appearance of Kame- Sama. Kame sama is sort of like a mountain god. So the people pray to him, and for him to bless them with a good crop and fertility for the coming year. There are all sorts of coincedences that can work to your advantage at the festival. If there does, in fact, happen to be snow during the snow festival, that means there will be a bumper crop (Lots of food). If you are conceived during the festival, you're going to be very lucky. This, in particular, used to have special significance in the past when the festival had some more Dionysian aspects to it which have disappeared in recent, more conservative times.

Schooling the kid on the good old days. Lighting the Fires with a boat on a string.

When we got up to the top of the mountain for the start of the festival at 11, many people from the village were dressed up in religious or celebratory clothes, while the rest of us were toting around cameras. The promise of craziness was all around in the forms of a huge pile of dead trees and paper to be burned, a mass of huge logs tied together and sticking straight up in the air (also to be burned) and a never ending supply of sake for cheap next to the drum can fires nearby.

Beating on Kame Sama's door.

People prayed. Made music. Prayed some more. I had work the next day and it was already past my bedtime. At about 1, the firefighters had had enough, so they picked up big sticks, and started beating on the side of Kame Sama's house and shouting for him to come out. Niino replaces that side of the house every year. Kame Sama was having none of this though and refused to show his face. So they pulled out a battering ram. The firefighters spent the next 20 minutes or so beating on Kame Sama's house with sticks and ram, but to no avail. So the priest nearby was like, "Hey. Let's start a fire! That will make him come out!" So they sent a little ship up on a wire to start a fire at the top of the logs. Very slowly, the ship would rise, then fall a little. Two steps forward, one step back, just further building the suspense that was already killing me. Then some more people thought, "Hey! I know! I've got it! Let's dance. He's got to come out if we dance!" So the dancing with bamboo leaves began, and they opened a path for Kame Sama. Middle schoolers with torches pushed the tripod toting Japanese out of the way as the fire was building on the logs. And then, he appeared.

Kame Sama appears, then dances!

Kame Sama appeared with his mask, his huge stick (representative of a penis for fertility) on his head, and another huge stick (guess what this one represents... another penis. He does symbolize fertility.) that he carried with him. If I'd stayed long enough, I could have been whacked on the head with his huge stick and had good luck (Just waiting for the jokes there). But by this point, I had about 3.5 hours of sleep available before a 12 hour work day and a 40 minute ride home, so I turned tail. But I will definitely be going again next year.

Kame Sama doing his thing. Kame Sama's first appearance.

I want some of that good luck.