Rise and shine, all you goldigger mothers...

Hey, I was just driving home and the sunset was cool so here's the sun going down behind Kama-fuse...


I know, I know, sunset photographs are lame hippie cliches, but hey, it was beautiful. I had a freakin moment out there.

PS I was also singing along to Bowie.

At the time you were a rake and a roustabout

I don't really ahve anything to add for today, except for a few curiosities...

For instance, today the other Higashidoori ALT invited me to go to McDonald's with him because he had some coupons that were going to expire today. We ended up challenging ourselves to finish as much as possible, eaching making it about three full sets in (they're small... the Japanese medium size is the American small). I havent been to McDonald's in maybe three years, but there was something necessary about this, as a Big Mac sounds delicious after two months of FISH NOTHING BUT FISH ALWAYS FISHY FISH FISH.

That being said, nether of us had the shrimp burger.

The past couple days have been cool... at my small ancient school, Oippe (like Oi! then "peh"), pictured below...


...during one of my free periods, I was invited to calligraphy class with the third graders. It was pretty funny, but a lot of fun. I'll post a picture of the result later, if I ever get ti back (I had to leave it to dry). After our first practice with the word we were drawing, the students were told they could check out how everyone else had done. Of course, they all rushed over to see how I had done. I was the coolest kid in third grade.

Today, at that same school, they had a fire drill. Now, Japanese fire drills are unlike American fire drills in many ways. The best way to train a kid to be ready for a fire, of course, is to set an actual fire in the school. This made me a little nervous at first (see above picture of really old school). Turns out it was actually just a fog machine which the fire fighters were using to fill a room with smoke. They then taught the children how to move through a smoky room (which is applicable in any burning building, not necessarily one's school), by having the kids form a line and then squat down and go through the entire room. It was pretty interesting, the kids with their hankerchiefs over their mouths as they exited the smoky den.

At the end, they held a meeting to talk about it. They love meetings over here.


Then they let the kids play on the fire truck:


INEVITABLE.

Oh, another thing of note I saw today: a woman smoking a cigarrette as she drove along with the windows shut and her baby in the backseat.

Cultural difference?

A final PS: the new TV on the Radio album is awesome.

G'night

Do the interns get Glocks?

So this post will be made up of pictures I had wanted to post previously, but hadn't been able to on account of firewalls and not having internet access at home. It's chronologically a mess, but you'll get the picture. We'll begin with my trip to...

OSOREH-ZAAAAAAAN (scary mountain)

Here's the cool little kanji sign posted at the door to the temple complex at the foot of this place:


What is Osore-zan? The buddhists believe that it's where souls go to have their fates decided, i.e. whether they'll go to heaven and hell. The cool part of this idea is that Osore-zan is a physical place, a mountain that is considered the actual gateway to the spiritual world. It's been the site of religious activity for over two thousand years as the sulfur deposits and geothermal activity is pretty wild looking.

Before we step inside the underworld, we'll have to cross the river of the dead, which is passable by this charming little bridge...


... and a two-lane highway. Here's the view from the bridge, looking towards the lake:


This picture was difficult to take because of the horrific smell of sulfur. You get used to it after a while, but your lungs start to burn a little if you spend too much time here. The lake is so full of sulphur etc. that it contain absolutely no marine life. Pretty cool place, if you ask me.


Here's the temple complex itself:


Inside that main temple, you (or a paid professional i.e. priest) can do ceremonies to help your deceased loved ones reach heaven. The alterior goal of coming to Osore-zan, it seems, is to help out everyone you know who is dead. This cna be done in many ways, by having a ceremony done in the temple or one of the many shrines that dot the area, heaping rocks on top of each other, etc. Here's one of the cooler shrines:
See? people have piled up rocks to help the spirits of their loved ones attain heaven. In the winter, oni or demons come and knock down the piles. You can burn incense, offer something to the small buddha statue, or leave money in the little box. On the pile of rocks itself, you'll notice little pinwheels and other trinkets. The trinkets (sandals, favorite objects, etc.) belong to the dead loved one, while the pinwheels are to encourage deceased children to reach heaven. The pinwheels are everywhere, it's a pretty tough tear-jerky to see how many there actually are here.

This picture is sweet:

And if sacrificing to the small buddhas isn't good enough, you can always upgrade:


Here's a view of that same shrine from a little ways off. It give syou a better idea of the weird landscape of this area.




For something a little happier, here are some pictures from my trip to Shiriyazaki, the northeastern penninsula near me. First, the wild (penned-in) horses:




Shrine on an island! Shrine on an island!


The lighthouse at the very end of the cape:


From near the lighthouse, where I climbed a little rock outcrop to get thsi picture of a small buddha statue/shrine and the extension of the cape.


Ok, now the pictures start to get a little out of order, fo' flippin' real. This is from my walk out to the lighthouse, the reverse of the picture you see above:



NEXT CATEGORY OF PICTURES

These are jsut snapshots I took during my daily commute. On my way to Shitsukari Elementary, I took this picture of a small village, which is actually what most every settlement in Higashidoori looks like, sans the ocean.


More local to me, there are lots of rice paddies:


Intersection of some kind. Don't remember what settlement this is.


This is pretty much the first thing I see every morning after leaving my house, as all my schools require me to drive along this road:


NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT WHERE I LIVE

First, a picture of the view from the back of my house. I took this a while ago (early september), so imagine this same thing, only colder...


One of my three non-kitchen rooms. Traditional tatami mats on the floor, traditional sliding doors, traditional lack of a blessed heating system...


Head-on view of my house. If it looks crappy, that's just it blending in...


...And my car! it's tiny, it drives on the left, and it's surprisingly comfortable. Can't wait to see how it handles the snow...


PS my interac boss came up today and took me out to sushi for dinner, which was cool, we talked about random stuff, and he mentioned that he went to a few of my schools today, one of which he said was wicked old. He described as being the sort of thing one sees in a movies about stuff that happened a long time ago... I'm going to try to start taking pictures of my schools and putting them up here, as they are very very different looking. One's a multimillion dollar modern luxury palace 'o larnin', while the other is a glorified log cabin with attached gym.

peace.

I rock like prudential

TUNA FESTIVAL!

So this weekend a couple of ALTs and myself droe northwest to a little town called Oma, the northernmost point on the island of Honshu. It's famous for it meguro, or tuna , and this weekend was the annual festival in the honor fo this magnificent fish. We were kind of concerned about traffic, crowds, etc., but it just turned out to be a little more than what you see above. There were a few other tents hawking food and souveneirs (sp?) which was really cool to see. The main event, however, was the tuna itself, which was being cut up and sold in the main building you see in the picture above. Like the Blessing of the Fleet in Provincetown, each fishing boat has a banner which was hung over the doorway fo this main hall:
Or so I'm told. I don't speak Japanese. These could be advertisements for cellphones for all i know, I'm relying on the translations of the other ALTs that were with me. But like I said, the main event was cuttin gup the tuna, which people were lined up down the harbor to purchase. It was pretty cool, they had a big fish that they just slowly carved up, starting with the big tuna itself and then slowly passing the successively smaller hunks down the line to folks who would cut & then package the stuff to sell to people. Pretty cool:

While we were watching this, a local camera crew caught us off gaurd and began trying to interview one of us in broken English. When they were down with him, they said "next!" and moved onto the next guy, which was my cue to go hide behind some Japanese people. Later on, we were talking with some other Aomori ALTs who we ran into, and another TV crew came at us. THe one they spoke to luckily understood Japanese, and they asked him such interesting questions as "meguro is delicious, yes?" and the perennial "Can you use chopsticks?" Then they filmed this fat English kid eating for about ten minutes. It was at best, awkward.

I know some of you have expressed doubts as to whether I'm in Japan at all, or just in my house playing with my Xbox, so I had one of the others provide undoctored proof of me being in Japan:
Oh, and also, there was a lot fo good food. We ate some barbequed Tuna and Tuna jerky, plus this delicious scallop:

After a while we got kind of bored, so we decided to leave. The Shimokita Penninsula is shaped a little like a westward facing axe, and we were sort of at the most northwestern point. We decided at that point to just drive the hell around the whole thing and do a little exploring. So we drove along the coast, which is very mountainous and there's a lot of cool geology goin on out here:

At one point, wicked high up in the mountains, we found a small rest stop that looked out on these cool rocks along the coast. Huzzah, rocks!

Then we ran into monkeys!


The money shot:

So with our adventure complete, we returned to Mutsu and went out to an all-you-can-drink karaoke place, which was excellent.

I'm cold. I'm going to take a shower now. Take care.

Two albino scouts swim with the ship

Hey, just hanging out on an ordinary monday night. Had a good weekend, hung out with a lot of people, which was a nice change. Friday night and Saturday I was over at the other Higashidoori ALT's apartment, where three of us played some military tactical simulators for a very, very long time. It was wicked fun, the most video games I've played since, well, actually the only video games I've played since being here. There was lots of "Cover me!" and "I need artillery on this intersection!" and "Mediiiiiiiiiiiiic!"

We also made tacos and fajitas. It was a good time.

Saturday night we joined the local gaijin crew for a game of Texas hold 'em, which I had never played before. I came out 150 yen ahead in the end, which was cool. We also watched Peewee's Big Adventure because it is a very sweet movie.

Sunday was spent cleaning etc. It amazing how much time I can kill getting stuff done around the house.

Tomorrow I head off to the school that's the most difficult for me, the one with only 18 students total. This time they've combined the lower four grades into one class, which should help me, but I don't know how effective it'll be for the students. I'll give it my best shot, though. I've prepared like crazy for tomorrow, so I'm not too worried about it. That doesn't mean it can't all blow up in my face.

I've been working out like crazy recently, just because i finally have the time and the routine to do so. The other ALT here makes fun of me, because I live like I'm in prison, playing guitar, doing pull-ups, and making a weekly phone call to my friends and loved ones. Speaking of which, I now have internet phone, which I will try to use more often, probably before I go to school for like twenty minutes so that I can catch everyone at normal times.

Also sent out some postcards to folks whose addresses I have, which is not a lot. Basically, if you are on Facebook or are my grandparents, you get a postcard. There's some pretty sweet Ingrish or just plain bizarre ones that I grabbed, mostly rabbit-focused.

Got excited about having internet access at my house, so I kinda went a little nuts on iTunes music store. Unfortunately, I download from the US store, so I basically have to leave my computer on for a week to get everything I bought. Awwwwwkward.

Well, time to cook me some dinner for the week. Take care.

Base Camp is up and on line

FINALLY

I HAVE INTERNET AT MY HOUSE*
*due to the lack of plumbing, central heating, and an actual bed, "my house" shall hereafter be referred to as "base camp"

I am alive and well, have internet, and now life is truly complete. Accessing the web from this insect infested hole (japan) has been quite a difficult process, but finally, I have succeeded. And I have DSL.

My iTunes Music Store, however, is now the Japan version. If I so desire, I can access all the J-pop and Pixar my heart could desire.

This week has been pretty lonely, but mostly because I've been kind of out of the ALT loop. Friday, I don't remember what I did, I think I cleaned a lot and then fell asleep. Saturday I hung out with the other Higashidoori ALT and then took off when he went out drinking, since the next day I had the...

CULTURAL FESTIVAL
which was kind of cool. At my main elementary school, as I've mentioned, there was a lot of preparation for this day. It counted as a work day, but all I did was hang out and watch plays and dances and stuff. It was pretty cool, each grade did their own play or dance or song or whatever, with an intermission and lots of shouting. They love yelling over here. It makes them genki.

I would've taken pictures to post here, but I think I can lose my job for that, so I won't. Maybe I'll email the Hokubu ones from the other day to folks, now that I cna do that without the principals looking over my shoulder.

Sunday night, post-festival, was another staff "drinking party" (principal's words, not mine). Technically, it was a farewell party for a transferring staff member and a woman going on maternal leave while also my technical WElcome party. We all had to give speeches, and I was made to give mine in Japanese, which went surprsingly well. Spent the rest of the night swilling beer and sake between conversations in some kind of Japanese/English creole. One guy said to me, "to learn Japanese, you need a Japanese girlfriend" and immediately one of the younger lady teachers interrupted: "how old are you???" which made me feel good about myself for a bit. Not that I didn't feel good anyway, after all that delicious sake (made locally, within the village... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm tasty)

So after the all-you-can-drink (nomitai) sushi place, it was on to the official "second party," a karaoke nomitai (if you haven't noticed, these things require a great deal of self-control). Some folks headed home at this point (at least one staggered there), but pretty much everyone kept going. I was made to open the evening with a wonderful rendition of "Let it be" with my fellow English teacher.

Needless to say, I spent a lot of Sunday indoors. These people love to drink, it's a big release (one of the few allowed, it seems, in Japanese culture) since nothing that happens at a drinking party is spoken of the next day. The other ALT and I noticed that the guy who you finally made a connection with at the drinking party is, the next time you see him, the same cold sensei he was before. At least now they know I speak a little Japanese.

Thursday was also boring

It's surprising, really, that for being so far away from home I can get so bored. It's tiring, in fact, more exhausting than working with the kids. The boredom of work (like say, having only two or fewer one-hour classes in an eight-hour day, no preparation to do, no nothing besides sitting here and adding onto the blog or studying japanese etc.) is physically tiring. Yesterday, after a non-intense day at the local junior high, I wanted to work out after school but was just too bored-tired.

It's not like I don't ask around for stuff to do, it's just that there isn't anything to do. So sometimes I go down to the dimly lit, pillow-filled break room and try reading or studying Japanese. Usually I just end up asleep, so i only do that once I'm done with classes for the day.

So here I sit, waiting until fifth period (about two hours off). Lunch is in forty five minutes, though. Yatta, Lunch!

Oh! and Pictures

For those of you with Facebook access, I've managed to put up a few pictures in my profile there. Enjoy. I should have internet at my house by the end of the week so i ought to be able to post pictures here at that time.

Also my cellphone number & new land line, if you'd like to be friendly (and are, officially "Friends" with me on facebook. That section of my profile is set to private). Check the "Websites" section of my Contact Info for instructions on how call Japan.

Why doesn't Adam do anything at work these days?

you know, I'm glad you asked me that question. I've got a three-day weekend coming up, during which time my main elementary school has its culture matsuri (festival). Instead of class, the kids just practice practice practice their dances, speeches, plays, costume changes, singing (two-part harmony is mandatory! I couldn't do that at this age...) No classes means no English, so here I sit.

PAX

I'm having a hard time keeping busy at work...

Nothing much has happened since monday, but I'm back at my main school even though there's no English classes on Wednesdays. I basically spend days like this online or napping in the special "break room" which is decently swank.

Funny story from yesterday: I tried to teach action verbs to the 2nd and 3rd graders at one of my schools, a supposedly innocuous task. I was having them do the action and chant the verb, ("Jump! Jump! Jump! Wave! Wave! Wave!") which turned a little awkward when we got to "Clap!" Like most Japanese, these poor kids cannot pronounce "l" so they replace it with the closest thing in their own language: "r".

Which means I had 8 2nd & 3rd graders yelling "CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!" at the top of their lungs.

So, after a few beatles duets I returned home and eventually went out to dinner with a few other people. I work with one of the other ALT's girlfriends and we've hung out some over the past month. I asked her if it was ok if I called her by her first name at work, since we were friends but she replied that although she doesn't care, such informality would irk the other teachers. At work, then, she is also sensei.

We were also talking about different Japanese and American customs and went over gestures, including:

Daijyobu! I'm okay! [Using wrist motion only, wave your hand in front of your face]

Iie! No! [make a big, adamant X with your arms. This may make sense already, but try using it in conversation and you'll see how awkward it is]

Koko ni kitte! Come here! [same as the American motion for "shoo!" which is very confusing]

Watashi Me/I [point a single finger at your nose, not your chest]

We taught them "knock on wood" and other such things... and also explained that the Japanese style of pointing looks suspiciously like giving the finger.

An aside about special education in Japan

This is from an email I wrote to my mother this morning, but is sufficiently interesting to be posted here...

"They have a special classroom specifically for the special ed children. It's a bit like the U.S. where they are sometimes shuffled in and out of classes. The other kids are actually very supportive: they'll play with and support the special ed kids.

For instance, I was once playing soccer with a couple of children at recess, one of whom had severe Down's Syndrome. This particular child muttered something and walk away a bit and sat down, obviously upset. The game immediately stopped, and one of the girls picked up the soccer ball and brought it over to him. He hugged the ball for a bit, and gave it back when asked. For the rest of the game, the children would pre-emptorily bring the ball over to this boy at regular intervals to placate him.

I also heard this story in training: an ALT in the midst of class noticed that one student was getting extremely tense and upset. This boy began shaking, clenching fists, grimacing, etc. Quickly, the student sitting behind this child leaned over his desk to whisper something in the upset student's ear. Immediately the boy relaxed. Later in the lesson, however, the student began shaking and grimacing again. This time the young girl sitting next to him stood up, walked behind the upset one, and placed her hands over his eyes. Again, he calmed down immediately...

That's the way it is here... the Japanese really take care of their own within their small group units. The sense of community is so strong that individuals within a group most subordinate itself to the least able person in the group. The special ed children are treated exceptionally well by the vast majority of the other children."

peace.

The best part of this weekend was driving through downtown Mutsu City blasting Talib Kweli

A quick note on how the Japanese dress: take American fashion sense, get it drunk, watch it stumble into the street trying to hail a cab and then get hit by a bus. I stole this phrase, but it's a little like they get dressed in the dark.

This weekend was a little lonely. All the other ALTs were at a JET soccer tournament in Nagano or something, so I just hung out by myself most of the time. Played a lot of/guitar/violin, studied Japanese, did a lot of cleaning. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have such a clean house if I didn't have oodles of free time (that's right, I used the word oodles. Deal with it).

Remember how I mentioned that the least senior female teacher serves coffee to everyone? Today I caught myself lacking coffee and thinking to myself "oh man, she's really behind schedule today..." I chastized myself, but still, this country is definetly infiltrating my psyche.

Discipline!!!

So at one of my schools the other day, one of the special ed students was brought into the teacher's room, where it was announced that he had been striking another student with the handles of a jump rope. He was made to stand next to the vice-principal and the third-in-command, both of whom traded muttering... something, I couldn't really understand. Soon, of course, the kid starts crying. He cries for the rest of the day, as he takes his classes in the principal's office, away from the rest of the students, so that he might be shamed for his action.

This is a big difference between Japanese and American school systems. Whereas Americans punish their kids through the deprivation of the freedom of choice (detention, suspension, etc.), the Japanese have turned shame into a powerful weapon. In such a group-oriented, conformist society, public shaming and ostracization (sp? who knows...) is a pretty damaging punishment. And, since they don't have detention etc, it's pretty much all they can do.

I got a haircut

It's no so bad. I thought I would end up with the Asian bowl cut that pretty much all Japanese dudes end up rocking (think anime characters meet the Gap). It's wicked short, I miss being a curly strange dude, but I think everyone here likes me better the harder I try to look like I'm from the 1950s.

I also went to the drycleaner's

Not as exciting, but I'm still proud of myself for figuring this out.