Glen's Visit

Glen's trip was short so we had to do as much as possible in the time he was given and also around my schedule. He arrived Saturday evening, on Sunday we went to Tokyo, Monday we went to my school and then Tuesday we went to Nikko. I love Nikko, it is an escape from the concrete and rice paddies of Saitama and Tokyo. 

Nikko is the end of Japan's version of the Romantic road. Nikko is a national park (日光国立公園) that houses some UNESCO world heritage sights: Nikko Tosho-gu (a Shinto shrine built in honour of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and Rinno-ji (a Buddhist temple under repairs right now). At Tosho-gu, there are the famous monkeys: hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil, and the sleeping cat. It's beautiful and I love going to Nikko. It's too bad that we didn't get to go up to Chuzenjiko via Irohazaka. Maybe another time.

On Wednesday we went canyoning at Okutama! Okutama is a mountainous area in Tokyo prefecture. It was my first time going there, but definitely not my last. Since we were the only two people who went canyoning, we got to do things that others don't. We jumped lots, did flips and abseiled. At the end of it all, the owner of the company gave Glen the pictures and movies they took for free! Nice deal. After getting back, we carved pumpkins with my neighbours, one of which had never carved one before! That was fun. We had bought tiny orange pumpkins from Costco.

On Thursday we went surfing in Onjuku. It was pretty chilly and the surf was small, but I caught a lot of waves. I don't think Glen was so successful, but hopefully he had fun. After surfing we chatted a bit with the owner of Flying Sumo Surf shop and shared a pumpkin beer. This beer was soooo delicious! It has something ridiculous like 7 kg or 7 lb of pumpkin per barrel, it tasted like pumpkin pie! 

On Friday we met up with Cory and his wife Yuko in Tokyo. We went to Shinjuku Gyoen park, the Imperial Palace Gardens (which were closed) and Asakusa. 

That evening we had Shabu Shabu to eat with my coworker and her husband. I ate way too much, which is par for the Shabu Shabu course.

On Saturday I had to work all day at a debate tournament, so Glen went to Tokyo by himself. My students finished 8th out of over 25 teams! I was very proud of them and in awe of their abilitiy to keep doing debate.

The next day Glen had to leave stupid early, like 5:30 am or something, to get to the airport. I accompanied him part way and we said our good byes. At which point he continued on his way to Korea.

Mount Akagi Hike (October 19, 2013)

Last weekend, I went to Gunma prefecture with a former coworker and my friend Michelle. We left home around 7:30 am and drove to Mt. Akagi (赤城山), arriving at around 10 am. My coworker, a retired chemistry teacher who works part time, drove us. The weather was not so good and rain was threatening us all day. Luckily, it didn't rain until we got back!

The drive up was rather perilous. Mountain roads are extremely narrow and curvy, meaning that you can't see much and cars/trucks/cyclists/people pop out from seemingly nowhere... The ride up the mountain was so curvy that my friend was car sick. I was fine, just a little nervous. 

The hike was about 3 hours, it was more of a walk than a hike. The colours hadn't changed yet but it felt like winter on the mountain. There are a bunch of mountains in the area as well as a pond and lake. Apparently there are bears and deer. I saw signs warning to beware of bears and every hiker was wearing a bear  bell. Not that it means much. Everyone seems to wear bear bells, regardless of bears existing or not. We saw physical evidence of deer but didn't see any real animals.

At the end of the hike, we went to Akagi Jinjya (shrine). To get to it, we crossed a remarkable red bridge (You can see it in the pictures). The city where this park is located is called "Maebashi" or　前橋, which means in front of bridge. Perhaps it is referring to this bridge. The shrine was on a peninsula in lake Onuma. Onuma lake is a crater lake and apparently in the spring, you can find skunk cabbage there! Ha ha. It's rare and special in Japan. It was really pretty and picturesque. Before entering the shrine, it is customary to cleanse yourself: First you wash your left hand, followed by your right hand, next you wash your mouth and finally you rinse the ladle. The decoration for the "cleansing water" was a cool dragon (you can also see that in the pictures). Outside of the shrine there was a place where people write their wishes on wood blocks, a lot of them were asking for cute babies. I don't believe this shrine is a fertility shrine. In Shintoism, it is believed that gods live in the mountains, so the shrines in the mountains are built for the gods of the mountain.

Here are some pictures from hike:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100942110@N04/sets/72157636714546346/

 

ALT Soccer Tournament, round 2

This past weekend I participated in another ALT soccer tournament. This time I went by Shinkansen instead of by car. It was really quick, but expensive. The train took only 1 hour, but the cost was ¥5000! Despite the cost, it's still fun to travel by Shink. I met my team, the Saitama Saiborgs (men and women), beforehand and we travelled down together on the Friday night. 

Our hotel is nestled in the mountains at the base of a very small ski hill. This year we got the same hotel room as last time and I even slept in the same bed! The room is really big- it slept 9 girls with lots of room for more. There were four beds and a large tatami mat area for futons. Friday night passed by tamely and everyone woke up excited for the day of soccer before us. Breakfast was included, but it wasn't very good. Powdered eggs, slices of pressed ham, buns, cabbage salad, and rice. Bleh.

The girls tournament had 7 teams participating in it, we played on half fields with 6 players a side (including goalies). This is a much different game than traditional soccer. I think it was way more running! Because Saitama had so many girls signed up, we entered two teams: the Saiborgs and the Psychoborgs. I was team captain of the Psychoborgs. Mostly the girls had never played soccer before. I wasn't sure how we would do...

The tournament was planned such that each team would play the other teams once. So 7 teams = 6 games guaranteed. This meant That on Saturday we played 4 games and Sunday we played at least 2. Living up to our name, the Psychoborgs were fantastic! (Saiko = best in Japanese, a clever name :p). We played four games, won 3 and tied 1. We ended the day in first place!!! I was really impressed with my team, we kind of came together throughout the day and we got better as the day progressed. I was a crazy yelly person... I hope no one took offense! 

On Sunday we played our last two games, one of which was against the other Saitama team, the Saiborgs. That was a fun game. At one point everyone was laying on the field laughing because the goalie dove into some animal (probably monkey or dog) poo. Hehehehe.

It was hilarious. We lost one game and beat the Saiborgs. Honestly though, everyone was hungover and sore from the previous day. We weren't in very good shape. We even started a black toenail club. 

At the end of the 6 games, we were in 2nd place, so we went to the final!

In the final we played the team we tied in our very first game. Unfortunately we really didn't have any steam left. People were injured and just too tired and sore to run. I was very frustrated. Still we managed to tie and bring the game to a shoot out end :( We lost in the shoot out and finished 2nd place.

My team gave me the trophy to take home. I guess they didn't take my yelling too personally.

This is everyone from Saitama, including the boys. The boys had to team up with Tochigi because there weren't enough guys for a team.

The winning (2nd place) team! Very tired and relieved to stop playing!

Our cheer: "Heeeeeeeeeerrrrrreeee's Psychoborgs!" Followed by screaming and pyscho faces. Hahaha.

Japanese Dating Culture part 1

I am by no means an expert on Japanese culture, let alone the very specific aspect of modern dating culture. However, I have eyes and ears, so I can observe the happenings around me. For the most part, my observations are from my friends and from school. So any way, full disclosure, I'm just running off of my own observations and answers I've received to questions I have asked. 

So here goes- I have a lot of single guy friends in Japan, all of them Japanese. This is weird to me because they should be married, it's a cultural expectation. They are all nice, most of them normal, and they're all independent with careers. They do all have one thing in common, they all have a major hobby: break dancing. Perhaps this is why they're unmarried, They are unwilling to give up their fun time for a girlfriend. I asked one friend if they could not balance the two: break dancing and girlfriend, or perhaps combine them. My friend responded that girlfriends expect you to spend time with them, fully concentrated on them. This particular friend had just ended a potential relationship because the girl wanted him to quit dancing. So I asked about the latter idea, having a girlfriend interested in dance. I thought this would be ideal, but it seems to not really be true. For this particular friend, all his buddies are break dancers too and he doesn't seem to want to mix his friends with his girlfriend. 

This brings me to my next observation: girlfriends and social circles are separate. I have asked my guy friends why they don't want their friends to befriend their girlfriends (make sense? Hahaha). They couldn't really tell me why they wanted to keep friends separate from their girlfriends. I guess it's a privacy thing or a fear if looking weak, guys don't want to share everything with their friends or girlfriends and they don't want their friends to see how they are with their girlfriends. In Japanese work culture, spouses or partners are never allowed to come to work parties or events. Home life is separated from work life. So I guess unlike in the west, lives are more compartmentalized in Japan. Another example of this compartmentalism: my married friend's wife did not meet his friends until 8 months after they were married. Usually friends would meet the wife at the wedding, but they had a small destination wedding with just family members. His closest friends had never seen or met his wife! Also, he does many activities, like play soccer, hiking, triathlons, running and biking, without his wife... So he has 3 or more compartments: work, home life, friends.

Another observation I've made, and I think this is well known, in Japan, you don't just approach strangers. If you see a girl or boy you like, you can't just approach them if you've never been introduced. You need a go between, or a mutual friend to introduce you. Online dating, as far as I know, is not terribly popular, possibly for this reason. A popular service is a matchmaking service or omiai (お見合い) parties, where single men and women are brought together to make a match. These parties are for serious individuals only, they are for people looking for marriage. A more casual occurrence is the goukon (合コン), a dating party. These can be organized by matchmaking companies, or by friends. 

A goukon is like a high school group date. What seems to happen is one person decides they want a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but they don't know of any potential people. So they talk to a friend, and the friend talks to another friend of the opposite sex. Then they each invite (usually) single people and set up a meeting at an izakaya. There is usually an even number of boys and girls, and that way people can get to know each other in a friendly group atmosphere. No pressure. Of course there has to be drinking for this to work. It seems that there can't be a relationship without a confession of love, and for that to happen (read: true feelings to be spoken), people need to be drunk or very tipsy. The goukon starts with self intros, and then everyone just drinks, eats, and talks. If some people hit it off, they can exchange emails and the party will have been a success.

I'm lucky to have taken part in a real goukon (that was a smashing failure) and some goukon-like parties held for one person. My first experience involves a girl in her late 30's who wants to get married and pop out some kids. She asked her friend to introduce her to his friends, in order to find a match for her. In true Japanese style, elaborate parties were organized involving the girl looking for a guy and the potential matches. These were unique as they involved a get together at one guy's house, no alcohol was involved, but there was lots of food. The first meeting, the girl introduced herself and the guys introduced themselves. Mostly, the boys talked amongst themselves, but at a few points conversation was centred on the guest of honour. Then there was a second meeting where the girl cooked for everyone. I guess this was to show off her domestic skills. Unfortunately, none of the boys were interested, and no emails were exchanged. It is getting a little weird now, because these parties keep happening even though the boys have no interest. The organizer and his single friend are very persistent.  The girl is interested in one of the guys, but I think he likes someone else (the drama!).

My authentic goukon experience involved my friend (male, in a relationship), who was asked by his sempai (a more senior employee) at his office to introduce him to some girls. In this situation, my friend's hands were tied, he couldn't say no and he has to participate, even though he already has a girlfriend. He asked my friend (a girl) to find two single girls (one of which was me), and my friend's colleague brought another single friend to form our goukon. 3 girls, 3 guys. The girls and my friend all showed up on time for the event, organized at an izakaya. The other two guys were late. Bad first impression. But it didn't matter, they eventually arrived and the party began. It was kind of awkward at first, as it was just the boys just talking and joking around. Both guys were talking up/teasing my (taken) friend a lot, I guess they felt threatened by his body (he's a break dancer...). Eventually everybody warmed up and introduced themselves and food and drinks were ordered. Once the drinks came, the party settled down and everyone relaxed and started talking. Unfortunately one of the guys was a yakuza (or a wannabe), and it became clear once he started talking like one and talking about his buddies. The two single guys were not very respectable or interesting characters. I didn't realize this fact until after, the subtleties of Japanese proper behaviour are lost on me. No matches we're made, but I learned some new words. 

That's enough for now. In part 2 I'll try and address what happens after meeting the potential girl/guy in Japanese dating. 

Japanese Hospital Round 2

To the outsider, it would seem like Japan hates me. Lots of bad things have happened since I moved here. Lots of good too, but naturally, the bad things stick out. 

Bad thing 1: Nanna dies (September 29, 2012)

Bad thing 2: First time in the hospital (November 12, 2012)

2nd time in a hospital diagnosis and finding out that surgery is inevitable (November 15, 2012)

3rd time in hospital, briefing before surgery (November 22, 2012)

4th time in hospital, 1st time admitted, surgery (November 28, 2012 - December 4, 2012)

Bad thing 3: Grandad dies (May 25, 2013)

Bad thing 4: Hit by car while riding bike to work on a Sunday! (September 15, 2013)

It was this last bad thing that is the occasion for my second hospital experience. In Japan, bandaging and care is way overdone, I think. At least concerning bandaging and hospital stays. However, medication is a slightly different issue. They prescribe tonnes, when only a little is necessary, but you have to go to the hospital to get it. OTC items (in the west), like antibacterial cream and allergy medication, are not available here without a prescription. Any way, I digress.

So I got hit by a car on my way to work. The car hit my back wheel and after that I don't really know what happened. The driver opened his car door and asked if I was okay a couple times and I said, "I'm fine." But I really just wanted to get away from the situation and get somewhere dry, because if it wasn't enough that it was a Sunday and I got hit by a car, there was a torrential downpour. I moved my bike from the road and the guy was gone. That's a crime in Japan. It's called hikinige (ひきにげ), hit and run. If you get into an accident you must call the police. I can't even file a report because I have no information about the guy, just his approximate appearance and car colour. Also, I had to pay my medical bills (luckily not too much) and I fixed my own bike. Ugh. The medical was covered by national health insurance (70%), but usually for car accidents, it isn't because the other person pays. I feel ripped off. 

Any way, I didn't go to the hospital, I just went to school and got some teachers to open the nurse's office so I could get some bandaids. The next day was a holiday so I wasn't back at school until Tuesday, with some lovely cuts and bruises. The teachers told the vice principal what happened and then I was pretty much forced into going to the hospital. At the hospital, a clinic really, I had my wounds sterilized and got some antibiotic ointment applied, three X-rays, and a tetanus shot. Not to mention 2 types of pills and some medicated compresses. All for some cuts and bruises. 

This is my bandaging pre-X-ray.

This is the bandaging post X-ray. Haha. So much stuff! 

There's a foot to foot comparison. The bandaging lasted a day before I removed it and replaced it with bandaids.

Additionally I was supposed to go back for more sterilization, but decided not to because it would cost more money and it seemed unnecessary.

There you have it. Hospital experience 2.

Izu Peninsula - Kawazu

It's a Friday night and I'm sitting in my Japanese room at Kokoronodoka (心のどか) hotel in Kawazu (河津). I've been to Izu a number of times, but this is my first time in Kawazu. My Japanese inn has a spa- complete with indoor and outdoor private baths. It's wonderful. I had a bit of stress getting here because of the trains. Today it rained, so of course JR was delayed. Therefore I arrived just before the hotel check-in closed. Before I arrived I got a telephone call from the website I booked through, saying that if I wasn't there by 10 pm, I wouldn't be able to check in and I would still be charged :/ STRESS! Hahaha. But everything worked out.

On arrival, they took my bags and immediately set me up with a yukata, showed me the baths and then the room. The room is really nice, small but perfect for me. It includes a tv, Internet, air con, tea, filtered water, a kettle, etc. 

When I woke up the next day, I checked the surf report, and it was bad. No surfing this weekend :( But I didn't come all this way for nothing, so I finally took the time to walk around Shimoda and explore a bit. Shimoda is famous for being the first port for the Americans in Japan. It was in Shimoda that the Americans succeeded in getting Nagasaki and Yokohama ports opened to them as well. So Shimoda has an interesting history. I only walked around, in the future I will explore the museums and temples. I did part of a walking tour along Perry's road, Perry being Commodore Perry who established the American presence in Japan. After walking around Shimoda, I went back to Kawazu and hit Imaihama beach. This is a nice little beach, with sand and reef. Sometimes you can surf there, but it's less consistent than Irita. Apparently after the installation of terrapods in the water, the beach is a lot calmer and the waves just don't come any more. I wasn't able to surf there this time, instead I went body surfing! It was a lot of fun.

I retired to my hotel around 7, ate some food, went in the onsen and then got my fill of Japanese television. The next morning I was going to try swimming or surfing again, but there was thunder and lightning and stormy weather. So I just decided to get an early start on my way home. It is about 4 hours by local trains. 

I would definitely stay at that hotel again. It was quiet and the room was very nice. The owners seemed quite nice too. 

Shimoda's Port

View of Shimoda from Shimoda Park.

Me at the entrance to Kokoronodoka.

Fuji san Photos!

I have posted the photos from Mt. Fuji on flickr.

Here are my friends photos:

Sari's photos from Mt. Fuji

Here are my photos:

Wei's photos from Mt. Fuji

Enjoy!


Also... For the record, on Monday September 2, 2013, there was a tornado in Koshigaya, that could be seen from where I live. It caused damage and injured some people. I don't think anyone died though.

Today, September 4, 2013, we had a 6.5 M earthquake. It was quite strong. The weather has been really crazy too. Sudden thunder and lightning storms, rain storms, etc. As I type, another thunderstorm is starting.

It's crazy!

Fuji San!!

It was a little last minute, but I managed to climb Mt. Fuji (富士山). I can check that off my bucket list. The Japanese often say that only a fool climbs Mt. Fuji twice, I kind of understand where they're coming from.

Originally I was supposed to climb Mt. Fuji with a couple friends at the beginning of August. However, the date that was selected was the day before my trip to the Kita Alps. Sadly I had to decline. Then, about a week ago, my friend messaged me out of the blue, asking me if I wanted to go to Fuji this weekend (Aug 30/31). Of course I wanted to go and so we went. I arranged to meet them in Utsunomiya, from where we would start. I got to the station at 8 pm and hopped in the car. Car wouldn't start. Dead battery. So the Japanese equivalent of BCAA was called and about 40 minutes to an hour later they came and jumped the battery. People here don't carry jumper cables in their cars. If only they did, it wouldn't have taken so long to get going.

We started on our journey to Yamanashi prefecture, but first stopped to pick up an extra battery. We were afraid to turn the car off, lest the car wouldn't start again!

We finally made it to Fujiyoshida City (富士吉田市), home of the Yoshida trail that goes to the summit of Mt. Fuji. There are 4 routes up the mountain and they start in different prefectures: Shizuoka or Yamanashi. The most popular is probably  Kawaguchiko 5th station (we started there) because it is most easily accessible by bus. Other stations include Subashiri 5th station, Gotemba 5th station, and Fujinomiya 5th station. We arrived at about 1 am, and attempted to get into a business hotel. Unfortunately the hotels nearby were full, so we parked at a Lawson and slept in the car. It was the most uncomfortable sleep ever. The car was small and parked on the side of a busy highway with lots of big trucks. Every time one passed, the car would rock. Despite the unfortunate conditions, we managed a few hours of low quality sleep and were up by 4:30-5:00 am. We ate, changed, and headed out to the 5th station to start our ascent.

We started hiking around 6:30 am. The morning air was cool and the wind was beginning to pick up. The first part of the trail, ~ 2 km, is fairly easy and relatively flat, the last 4 km is up, up, up. So at about 7 am we began climbing in earnest. When you looked up to the top, it didn't seem too long... But it was. 

Before the 6th station, the wind picked up and started to blow clouds of dust and small rocks. The dust would get everywhere... Including in my ears, nose, eyes, mouth and down my shirt. Ugh! After the sixth station it was all uphill. There was no respite. The view from Mt. Fuji is gorgeous, but Mt. Fuji in the flesh (or rather rock) is not beautiful. We rested often. After about 2 hours we ate. At the huts everyone was sucking back oxygen or eating ¥600 cup noodle. Ridiculous! 

After we reached 3100 m, it was noticeably more difficult to climb. Breaks were more frequent and breathing was heavier and faster. At the eighth station, not sure which one, I saw a child puking. Altitude sickness. Mt. Fuji is not a destination for serious hikers. It is full of people that do not know or practice proper hiking etiquette. For example, most people were carrying silly Mt. Fuji walking sticks, but they would drag them behind them, almost hitting or spearing the people behind them. Many people looked quite out of their element and did not come well prepared. I saw lots of children, which I think is quite inappropriate, because I had a lot of trouble with the wind. If I had trouble, how well would a kid cope? There were also lots of obnoxious Americans on the mountain, from naval or Air Force bases. Bleh. It upsets me to think I would be lumped into the same group as them. The things they would say were rude, they spoke as if they thought no one could understand them. It's a little presumptuous I think. 

After about 5.5 hours we reached the summit. It was freezing at the top. The wind was VERY chilling. I loved it. I completely enjoyed the feeling of being cold. I loved wearing my coat and gloves too. It's a feeling I won't get for another few months, so I relished it as best as I could. At the top of Mt. Fuji there is a shrine and some huts that sell hot food (at outrageous prices) and souvenirs. I bought some lucky charms from the shrine and my companions bought food. After refueling, we walked around for a bit and went to the crater. The wind was so strong that I was afraid to get close to the edge. My battle with the wind was truly epic, and it didn't finish until I was down the mountain. 

After taking the requisite photos, we started our descent. We followed the Yoshida trail down, but the descending trail was a different route than the one we took up the mountain. I wish we would have taken the same path down as we did up... The trail was just 4 nasty kilometers of switchbacks. The ground was a loose dusty/sandy/gravelly concoction that got in my shoes and socks. It was very unpleasant and terrifically unscenic (I made that word up).  I definitely had to grit my teeth and bear the descent as it wasn't fun at all, except for the points when we were completely surrounded my clouds. You couldn't see anything around you and it was so cool! 

2.5 hours later, we finally finished and I finally used the bathroom. I didn't want to use the toilets on the mountain for several reasons: they were pay-per-use, they were very stinky, and they were squatty potties. So I held it until we arrived back at the fifth station where real toilets awaited us. After we got back to the car, I immediately took off my shoes and socks and dumped all the rocks and sand out. Ugh! My feet were so dirty!! I brought wet wipes and used a lot to clean my feet, legs, ears, neck and face. It was nice to get rid of all that dirt.

We hopped in the car and headed down the mountain and stopped at the first McDonald's we saw. The boys ate a lot, I wasn't that hungry and I had "juicy chicken Shaka Shaka". Basically it's a chicken strip in a bag. You dump a packet of seasoning in and shake it ("Shaka Shaka"). Then you tear off the top part of the envelope and eat the chicken. It was okay...  After that we got gas and headed back home, fighting sleep the whole way. We were seriously tired!

Pictures - Mountain Climbing!

I've finally gotten around to uploading photos from my camera! Of course that means I found other forgotten photos. Ha ha ha.

Instead of uploading everything here, I've made a flickr account and you can view photos there. Also, if I have a future large dump of photos, I will put them there rather than cluttering up the blog. I know, I know, the pictures make it interesting... But it's a pain in the butt to upload them all individually. Eventually I might switch to picasa, as it is a google application, unlike flickr, which is Yahoo. We shall see. This will all become easier once I get real internet at my apartment!

So click the links to be instantly transported through the internets to the appropriate pictures!

My first foray into Japanese Mountain Climbing, Mt. Tsukuba:

Mt. Tsukuba

My second climb, Mt. Jimbao and Mt. Takao:

Mt. Jimbao and Mt. Takao


And the most complete photoset, the photos from my trip to the Kita Alps!

Kita Alps

Some pictures from the mountains

These are some photos from the students. I will upload my pictures soon!

Japanese Northern (Kita) Alps

This past week I took a trip with the wondafogill club (mountain climbing club) to the Northern Alps (北アルプス). It was a 4 day, 3 night affair and it was lots of fun. I learned that I probably can't do group hikes because I like to go at my own pace and by my own schedule. I also learned that most Japanese are totally into the gear and accessories. I think they spend hundreds if not thousands on clothing and equipment for hiking, not including camping gear...

Day 1: Departure

We had to leave soooo early. I left my apartment at around 5:40 am and woke up at 5:00 am. Blah. In Japan this past week, Obon was occurring. This is a week long holiday/festival/event that occurs every August. The gist of it is that during Obon you welcome the spirits of your deceased ancestors back to the family home from their graves. Apparently the spirits travel by way of river, riding on an eggplant or a cucumber. They come back to the ancestral home for three days, so many Japanese people travel to their ancestral homes to welcome and pay respects to the spirits of their deceased family members. Essentially, it's a terrible time to travel, because everyone is travelling somewhere... So anyway, we left really early and the group met up at 6:30 am to start the trip. All the girls were outfitted in cute mountain climbing clothes, carrying huge backpacks which I doubted they could manage (they surprised me though!). I, on the other hand, looked very uncute, as always. I just can't stand the thought of spending so much money on climbing clothes that will get really dirty and gross... But I digress. Anyway, we started our journey all together at 6:30 am and eventually arrived at our destination, Kamikochi (上高地), at around 2 pm. During that time I found myself standing on the train a lot because it was soooo busy. Good just before a hiking trip. Haha. Kamikochi is a national park. It's gorgeous! It is nestled in the mountains at 1505 m. From there we hiked an easy trail of about 11 km to our first stop, Yokō (横尾), we stayed at a  mountain lodge (yamagoya, 山小屋) there. The elevation at the lodge is 1620 m. We arrived there around 5 (ish) pm, set down our packs in our room and entered the bath (ofuro; お風呂) toute suite. It was a little awkward for me because I was with the students, but I did my best not to see them naked or let them see me naked. Nudity in the bath is an accepted thing in Japan, but coming from prudish Canada, it's something I'm highly uncomfortable with when I know the other people in the bath. After our bath, we had dinner, hamburg (Japanese adaptation of hamburgers, they don't have buns), fish cakes, miso soup, salad, rice, and pickles. Of course I didn't eat the rice. I was really excited for dark so we could look at the stars. I haven't seen a nice night time sky for a long time and I wasn't disappointed. There were so many stars and we could see the Milky Way! I saw satellites and many shooting stars. We went to bed pretty early, 9 pm but we were up at 4 am to look at the stars again. At 4 am we could see a cool cluster of stars, I'm not sure of its name. The night sky is different in Japan, all the constellations were in the wrong places!

Day 2: The Climb

Official wake up time was around 5 am, but I had been away on and off since 4 am. We had breakfast at 5:30 am. It was a traditional Japanese breakfast, miso soup, rice, salmon, omelette, pickles and salad. Pretty yummy. After breakfast we packed our bags and set out at 6:30 am. This day was truly a day if climbing. Our first ascent was to Mount Chogatake (蝶ケ岳), 2625 m. It was about 3.5 hours of climbing up. It was hard after just waking up, but I was placed at the back, so going was slow, and it wasn't to difficult. We kept climbing to a peak at 2664 m, called Chousou (蝶倉), meaning butterfly spear. The name is fitting because there were tonnes of butterflies! It was gorgeous. From there we climbed down and then up to Mt. Jonendake (常念岳) at 2857 m elevation. The ascent to Jonendake was very hard, but fun. I got to a little rock climbing. The rock was perfect for climbing because it was very grippy. I had fun, but the trail was very difficult, so I think the students suffered a bit. From Jonendake, we had to descend a very tough trail (it looked like a rock slide) to get to our lodging for the night. The going was very slow, which I hate because I'd rather tear down the trail, it's harder, more tiring and even a little more dangerous to go so slowly in my opinion. The heavier and slower your steps, the more chance to slip. Needless to say, on the descent, there was lots of slipping, by me too, on account of being at the back. I guess I'm surprised at the lack of agility and balance that the students have. I expect them to be more mountain goat-like, but they were very slow and tentative. After a grueling 50 ish minutes of downhill on loose gravel, we reached our lodging for the night at Jonen-goya (常念小屋), at 2466 m elevation (a 300 m descent!). This lodge was a lot more rustic than the first one. I guess it's to be expected, because it was in a more remote location. I don't know how they get their supplies... It had water, electricity and toilets (Japanese outhouse style... Squatty potties - especially cruel after a day of hiking. It hurt my thighs so much to use them!). The toilets and power outlets were pay per use. Crazy. They sold soft drinks, ice cream and beer. Of all things to have in the middle of nowhere, there is always beer, in cans and Nama beer (on tap), and edamame. The beer was pretty expensive. There were no baths at this lodge :( I was filthy but we had to make do with sponge baths using wet tissues. Hahaha. Dinner was again, hamburg, fish cakes, rice, miso soup, salad and pickles, plus little mini jellies for dessert. Once it got dark, we went out again to look at the stars. From our vantage point on the mountain, we could see fireworks from an Obon celebration. In the village below. Fireworks and beautiful stars. It was quite cold at night so I couldn't stay out too long. I stayed long enough to see Venus, some satellites and a shooting star though. Then I left the others to go brush my teeth before the rush for the sink. We were in bed by 8:30 pm. Lights went out at 9 pm, but I fell asleep before that. I was sooo tired. I didn't even say good night, because I fell asleep so fast! I think we walked about 13 km on day 2.

Day 3: The Long Haul

Day 3 started off with a 4:30 am wake up call. I lounged about until 4:45 am and then got dressed and went down with the girls for breakfast at 5 am. Breakfast was Japanese style again. We had whole trout (head, eyes, and fins all attached... They were tiny though), scrambled egg and ham, pickles, salad, miso soup and rice. We departed at 6:30 am and climbed up and down along the ridges to Mt. Higashi-Tenjo (東天井岳), at 2814 m. I think it was en route to this peak that we encountered snow!! When there was snow that was easily accessible, I laid down on it, as on a beach. It felt so good. From there we hiked up and down along the ridges to Mt. Otenshodake (大天井岳), at 2921m! This was the highest mountain we climbed. Before we got there, we dumped our packs off at Daitensou (大天荘) to go to the summit and then we returned and had lunch. We had to bring our lunches and snacks with us, I being somewhat knowledgeable about proper nutrition for such activities and also being raised as a camper and hiker, brought trail mix, beef jerky, seaweed and dried plums, and soy joy bars (high protein energy bar type things, I brought peanut soy joy bars), this proved adequate for snacks and lunches. It kept me well supplied with steady energy. I also brought those nuun tablets for my water. I mixed the smarties that Nancy and John brought me and ate the beef jerky as well. Canada was definitely with me on this trip. The students brought not so smart snacks: candy, chips, cookies, bread, rice balls and cup noodles for lunches. I feel like most people in Japan make these mistakes. But what can you do? Any way, on this day, everyone ate noodles for lunch, except me. I felt odd, but oh well. After lunch, we departed along the ridges to our next lodging, Enzansou (燕山荘), at 2704 m. The clouds had rolled in during lunch and the sky was very threatening looking... Sure enough it started to rain. We got to our destination before long and stowed our bags. The rain stopped pretty soon and we were able to make our last ascent to Mt. Tsubakurodake (燕岳), at 2763 m. This last part took about 30 minutes up and down. The students were very tired but the strange rock formations and the views were very rewarding. This as well as the knowledge that it was the last climb up made the students pretty happy. Also, we didn't have our packs, making the climbing much easier. I didn't bring my camera because it was cloudy and rainy. I should have because it was still breathtaking at the top. After that little side trip we returned, got cleaned up and enjoyed the gorgeous toilets at the lodge. I finally was able to relieve myself properly on a western style toilet. At the other lodges we also had to dispose of toilet paper in a bucket, but here it was fine to throw it in the toilet, making everything smell nicer. We also didn't have to pay per use, so I used the beautiful bathrooms as many times as I could before we left. We ate dinner at 6 pm and everyone was starving. for dinner we had... hamburg! hahaha. I had never deigned to eat hamburgs in the past year and the. All of the sudden, I ate them three times in a row. There was also white fish, delicious steamed vegetables, salad, pickles, miso soup and rice, with oranges and almond jelly for dessert. It was delicious. During dinner there was a man who talked to us about the food, the lack of rice, the number of people staying (it was more than expected), and the etiquette for wild life and the surrounding area (at least I think it was about that... It was all in Japanese so I couldn't catch it all). After his speech, he played an alpenhorn! Crazy! After dinner we set up our beds and I storm watched for a bit. There was a fantastic thunder and lightning storm. The mountain was surrounded by clouds and you could hardly see anything but the flash of lightning. Gorgeous. A little later it cleared up and we were treated to 3 simultaneous fireworks displays from the towns below, as well as a lightning storm and a beautiful bright moon and lots of stars. This happened all at the same time! After that we went to bed, really tired from the day. The students and I shared a large bunk type room that was meant for 8 people (there were 6 girls plus me, 7 of us in all). There was an upper and a lower room and we had the upper. The 7 of us were squeezed in very tight, I don't see how we could have had an 8th person, and keep in mind, 6 of the 7 people were tiny Japanese girls! Any way, it was not a good sleep for me, it was very warm, a little noisy (because of all the other people in the surrounding bunks) and we had our heads the opposite way that I wanted to sleep. In the middle of the night I ended up turning around. I slept a little better after that. The senseis (teachers) shared a bunk room meant for 4 people next to us. I imagine they were much more comfortable than we were. I'm not sure how far we travelled, I think it was around 15 km though.

Day 4: The Descent

Wake up call was a bit later on this morning, 5 am. We had breakfast at 5:15 am. It was salmon, hibiki (seaweed, with beans and lotus root), pickles, eggs, rice and miso soup. After breakfast there was an optional climb back up to Mt. Tsubakuro, to see it in nice weather. I and the climbing sensei, Taguchi sensei went, the students were all too tired, and the other teacher was also suffering too. So we made the ascent together and we did it quite quickly, in 19 minutes, as opposed to the usual 30 minutes. This time I brought my camera. The views from the peak were gorgeous in the early morning light. We descend quickly too, the whole trip, up and down took 40 minutes, with time spent for pictures and conversation at the top. The usual time is 1 hour up and down again. Shows how slow the students are ;p When we returned to the lodge, we picked up our packs, took some final photos and left. Our trip was downhill the whole way- 5.5 km in length and 1600 m elevation drop. Our final destination was Nakabusa Onsen, for a much needed bath. We hadn't bathed since the first night. Everyone was looking and smelling a little worse for wear... We made the club down in about 3.5 hours. It was tough, my legs were like jelly by the end and everyone was walking funny. For the final stretch, the students and I ran to the Onsen, it's our usual way to end a hike, by running down the last bit and ending on a high note. At the Onsen, we showered and soaked in the hot spring water and ate lunch. Then we caught our bus down to Hotaka city. Once we got their my cellphone once again had reception. Back to civilization! I have to admit it was nice not to have cellphone reception in the mountains. It was a true getaway into nature. Our trip home started at 12:30 pm and I didn't get home until 10 pm, thanks to stupid JR trains. All but one train we took were delayed. It was very frustrating and tiring. I hate travelling during Obon. 

It was a really fun trip and I got to connect with the students in ways that we don't often get to do. I'm very pleased I could go. At first, I was worried because it is technically against the rules, since it is a liability. I'm not an actual teacher, nor am I covered by insurance in the same manner as Japanese teachers are. The Kyoto sensei didn't want me to go (because if something happens, it falls on him), but the hiking sensei wanted me there, so in the end it was agreed that I would "meet the group by coincidence." I have to wonder though, if I didn't go, it would have been 2 male teachers with 6 female students. A little inappropriate... I can't imagine that would fly in North America. 

Pictures to follow!

Summer Days

Summer has hit Japan, but it appears to have abated for now. I am quite glad that the heat and humidity have decreased. I can't stand waking up in a sweat. 

Let me see, I left off at making umeshu. It remains untouched, I have no clue as to whether my sugarless version will work. After making umeshu, I took a day off of work and hopped on a train to Ito city. I stayed in a lovely ryokan (a Japanese traditional inn, this one came complete with hot spring). The inn was great but it was quite far from my intended destination. On the Friday I hopped on a very expensive train to go to Shimoda. In Shimoda I found a surf shop that would rent me a board and a wetsuit. The owner is a Japanese pro-surfer. He was super friendly.

Surfing Day 1: 

I rented a board at Real Surf Shop and they gave me a ride to the beach. Once we were there Suzuki-San, the owner/surfer told me about the beach we were at. When you go to a beach for the first time you have to get your bearings, look at the geography, the slope of the beach and also note the crowds. Since this was before peak season and a week day, the beach was pretty empty. Suzuki-san showed me where beginners should go and there I went. The weather was really cloudy and it threatened rain at any point. At this point I hadn't been surfing in over a year. I was pretty rusty. I caught a few waves. At Irita beach, when the tide comes in, the waves get mushier and mushier. So as the day went on, I wasn't doing so well in the surfing department. To be fair, no one else was either. Eventually I caught a really nice wave and to my surprise, people watching from a beach house began to applaud. How embarrassing. Later some of them came out and introduced themselves. Eventually it started raining and I turned in, not wanting my bag and clothes to get wet. 

I called Real Surf Shop and they picked up the board, the wetsuit and me from the beach and even dropped me off at the train station!! So nice!

I took the long (and expensive) train back to Ito and as fast as humanly possible derobed, showered and got into the in house Onsen back at the ryokan. It was sooo nice. Perfect after a day of surfing. After that I went to find some food and I found myself at a family restaurant, eating and reading my book (the hunger games! So addictive!). After that it was raining so I returned to the ryokan and went to bed.

Surfing Day 2:

My second day of surfing was a gorgeous sunny/cloudy day. I went to Real Surf and rented a wetsuit again but this time I didn't need the board. One of the guys I met the previous day brought an extra board and he let me use it. He was there with his wife and some body boarding friends. He and his wife apparently spend every weekend in Shimoda during the summer. They sleep in their vehicle next to the beach. I would totally camp on the beach except that it is illegal :(

So the second day was spent surfing, my new friend gave me lots of advice and tips. Now all I have to do is practice practice practice. I surfed for about 6 hours and ended up with a nasty sunburn on my arms. Japanese sunscreen is really bad. 

After we called it a day, I once again returned to my room in Ito and promptly jumped into the Onsen. I think it really helped me from having too much surf pain. Haha.

After the hot spring I searched out some food and had a simple dinner and then I walked around a little bit. Ito is a beautiful city too, not as good as Shimoda though.

The next day I set off for home. The train journey is stupid long, approximately 3 hours... But totally worth it. 

This was the first trip I've done by myself and I loved it. I was a little nervous at first, not having anyone to help me out or depend on, but I was fine. I will definitely do solo trips in the future, it's just so easy. 

The trip was great and it left me with strong cravings for irita beach and surfing. My next big purchase will have to be a surfboard.

Making Umeshu

'Tis the season in Japan! The season to make umeshu and umeboshi, that is. Early summer is when green plums (ume) are unripened, yet ripe for the picking so they can be pickled or soaked in booze to produce tasty concoctions that will be ready months down the road. 

This time of year, the grocery stores set up whole displays devoted to the do-it-yourselfers in Japan. They sell all the necessary items for making umeshu and umeboshi - liquor, rock sugar, glass containers, pickling containers, salt, and akashiso (perilla). My Facebook was full of proud posts by moonshine making English teachers. Naturally I had to get in on the action.

This year I have tried making two kinds of umeshu, aka plum wine (or fruit liqueur): one without sugar (not sure how this will work or taste...) and one with some sugar. Both batches will be flavoured and coloured with akashiso leaves. I must admit that I'm not very good at following recipes. I immediately begin to alter them as I read them. So in the case of my plum wine, they loosely followed recipes. Well the sugared one loosely followed a recipe, the sugarless one, not so much. So it remains a mystery as to whether they will work.

To make your own umeshu you need approximately 1 kg of unripened green plums, they recommend approximately 500 g of rock sugar, approximately 1.8 L white liquor (any tasteless one will do - usually it's vodka or shochu, I used 35% shochu that was sold right beside the plums), a 3-4 L airtight glass vessel, and anything else you want to throw in. I threw in akashiso as well. First you must sterilize your container, I did it with boiling water... The jury is out on whether it actually sterilized the thing. I should have just taken the easy route and used the liquor to sterilize it, but I digress. Also, you must remove the stems from the ume, they are "innie" rather than "outie" stems, so you need something small and pointed to help dig them out. I used a tiny fork. You also must wash and dry the plums taking care not to use any blemished plums. At this point I washed and dried my akashiso as well. 

** warning ** apparently you shouldn't eat the unripened plums because they are acutely toxic. I found out the hard way. They are very astringent little buggers. They will most definitely cause you to feel as though  your intestines are drying up and dying. I assure you the discomfort is temporary and not too bad. It just hurt. Perhaps if I had eaten more, I would be in worse shape. Anyway, now you know.

Having prepped the vessel and the fruit, it is time to layer the ume in the vessel. Since I didn't use sugar the first time, I layered plums with akashiso until the vessel was half full. Then I poured the liquor on it until it was an inch (2.54 cm) above the fruit. With the second batch I did add some sugar, so I alternated plums, akashiso, and rock sugar. Then after pouring seal the vessel and hide somewhere dark and cool for 2-3 months (longer is better, especially if lower sugar was used... I think I'll have to age the sugarless one a year or two).

Of course after I did all of that, I had to post it on Facebook ;) Hopefully my experiments will workout. We shall see in at least 6 months!

It's worth noting that most households make their own umeshu and umeboshi. I didn't bother with umeboshi because it is more intricate and much more can go wrong with it. Plus I haven't ever eaten umeboshi before, I don't even know if I like 'em! Umeshu on the other hand... The nectar of the gods. It's delicious. This is all part of the curious drinking culture that Japan has. Often it seems that people cannot show their true selves or say what they really think unless they are drinking. Work places all have enkais (work parties), girls have joshikais (girls' night parties), and at Christmas or New Year, there are extra fancy enkais called bonenkais. In addition there are welcome parties, goodbye parties, transfer parties, etc. And at each party there are second or third parties. It's nuts. I've seen fights break out at enkais, apparently it's normal because this is the only time that people will address their problems or frustrations. The next day, no one talks about it. What goes on at an enkai and its afterparties is sacred and it seems to serve as a release for people. I've also heard that if a boy wants to confess his love for a girl, they have to go drinking together, so the true feelings can come out. Crazy. Umeshu is ever present during these frequent yet special occasions. :)

Happy Father's Day

Dear Dad,

Another Father's Day has come. I think this is the first one we've ever been apart for. I wish I could be there, but I can't. It sounds like you spending the day well, any way.

I want to thank you for everything. You're always there for me, always willing to walk with me, always making sure the fridge is well stocked for me, beating me up in karate... I appreciate everything you do and I miss you a lot!!

I especially miss you when I go for walks by myself or run out of food ;) 

Happy Father's Day Dad, and thanks for everything you do. I really appreciate it.

I'm thinking of you on this day and remembering all our times together :) I'm also remembering your funny smile, crazy accents, and silly jokes. I also miss your BBQ prowess!

Love you!! 

XOXO

What I've been doing.

The past couple of weeks have thankfully been busy. Two weeks ago I played in a soccer tournament and last week I went hiking with my students. It's left me a bit tuckered out.

On my birthday I went out for lunch with my friend and her boyfriend and then headed into Utsunomiya for some hanabi, or fireworks. It was a nice quiet way to spend the day. The next day my friend, who plays in a community orchestra, was performing, so I went to see her. There was a soprano soloist for the first half of the program. She was excellent. She sang selections from various Italian operas. The concert was in honour of Italian music. The latter half of the performance was just the orchestra. They did very well, although if you asked my friend, she would say the opposite. 

The next weekend I joined the Saitama Saiborgs for a football tourney in Nagano. There was both a boys and a girls team, naturally I played for the girls and I got some friends to come along and play for the boys. My friends and I rented a car (a hybrid Toyota Prius) and drove up instead of getting the Shinkansen. It was a little far to drive in one evening so we stopped at a place in the mountains called Sakudaira and stayed at an onsen. My friend failed to tell me that there were no rooms nor beds. Where we slept was a common room. We slept on recliners! I'm pretty sure I was the only girl in that room, amongst snoring men. Hahaha. I didn't mind. Before we went to sleep we got to soak in a hot spring.... It feels sooooooo good, even if you have to be naked. The next day we had a full day playing games. The girls played 3 games, with 6 people per side. The boys got to play 4 games with a full team. We tied our first game, won our second game and lost our third. We should have won the last game, but we had no ball luck. I had 3 beautiful shots: 2 hit the corner post and cross bar and one hit the cross bar. It was a frustrating loss... The boys lost all of their games. They unfortunately had to play some very serious teams that belong to various metro leagues. After the games, we went back to our hotel for another much needed onsen soak. The second night we stayed at a real hotel and there was a dance with all the players. It was fun. I got really sunburned despite all the sun cream I put on. I guess I sweated it off. The next day I was really sore. Everyone was really sore. We had no subs for the girls. Luckily we just played one game. I also refereed in between playing and cheering for the boys. After Saitama had definitively lost, we headed back home, though not before I tried driving in Japan! Success! No one died!

The next weekend on Saturday I went for a long hike with the "wondafogill" club, aka mountain climbing club. We hiked 4 mountains, 25 km, total ascent of 1400 m. It was gorgeous and really fun. Every time the mountain climbing teacher sees me he talks about my debut with the club.... They were very surprised at my agility. It's quite embarrassing because now the whole school knows. During the hike we have an assigned formation, Taguchi-sensei leads, followed by the 1st graders, then my coworker and her boyfriend, then the 3rd graders, then the 2nd graders, and finally, me. He put me last!! I guess it's a compliment, but it was painfully slow at the back :p. the last mountain we climbed was a well known local mountain in tokyo, Mount Takao. It was a very steep walk down. On the way down, you can visit the temple and shrine of Tengu, a mountain god. He was originally a bird of prey, so some statues of Tengu are men with wings and beaks, and other statues are of a man with a long nose instead of a beak. Tengu used to be thought of as a disruptive demon and a harbinger of war, but now he is a god of the mountain or forest. He can be dangerous, but is generally protective. 

The next day my friend took me to the ocean! I haven't seen the ocean in months! We went to a town called Ōarai. It is a beautiful seaside town. The first thing we did was wade in the ocean. There were lots of surfers out.... Definitely gotta go back! I also managed to drop my iPhone into the ocean. As a result, I bought my first ever bag of rice. When I got home, I didn't have any rice, so I stuck the phone in a bag of quinoa. The next day I bought some rice and left it in there for a few days. Luckily it still works!! Not perfectly, the volume controls seem to be out of order, but the rest of the phone works like a charm. I'm so lucky. After wading in the sea we went to the aquarium, which is famous for having the most number of sharks in Japan. There were hammerhead sharks! I really enjoyed the aquarium, it was very fun. I saw a capybara for the first time. It's a large animal that looks like a guinea pig (a giant one) and likes to swim. It's from the Amazon river area. We also watched the dolphin and sea lion show. It was great. They had four dolphins and a pair of seal lions. All of them were very talented. After the aquarium we went for a little exploration on the beach. I found a bracelet that once belonged to Ayaka and a little glove filled with sand. The water is very clean in Ōarai and it isn't too crowded. Can't wait to go back. On our way back, we stopped at "Mentai Park", a fish egg factory that appeared on TV and is now a destination. Mentaiko (明太子) is essentially an eggbsack from walleyed cod that is flavored with Mentai spice. They had free samples at the factory, so I tried some and was pleasantly surprised. It was quite delicious! I didn't buy any though... 

So that's my update. Next week I'm off to go surfing, hopefully. I'll be visiting Itō city, a coastal town with lots of onsen. Yay. Also, the rainy season (梅雨) has started :( It is very, very, very muggy. Bleh!