Tales of the Field of Cranes

testing

2011-11-09T15:48:00.001-08:00

testing NetworkedBlogs reposting ability, please ignore!

Paris syndrome, Culture shock, and CIRing

2011-06-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

Why am I here? What am I doing here?

No, this isn't some silly existential angsty post. Rather, I want to know WHY am I in Japan. I'm a CIR, a coordinator of International relations. My job is private but my contract and duties are modeled after my co-worker CIR who has her job through JET, the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme. If you have heard about JET at all, you know that our jobs are mostly teaching, but the program is ostensibly about international exchange, making Japan more "internationalized".

I recently read about "Paris Syndrome", where a tourist comes to Paris and has a mental crisis; they were led to believe how beautiful it was, and are overcome when they find out how rude the locals are, or how dirty it actually is. It appears that the biggest cause of this is the mass media in that tourist's home country portraying Paris as an ideal city, not showing the less pleasant side.
According to the article linked below, 'Paris Syndrome' strikes Japanese (I would love to tear apart this person's style of reporting, is "a dozen or so" out of the "about a million Japanese that travel to France every year" really count as "striking Japan"?) is "especially prevalent" among Japanese tourists is due to the idealized image of Paris in Japanese movies /advertising, so therefore they have extreme culture shock, not only because it was so different from their home culture, but because they were expecting something completely opposite of what they found.

When I came to Japan I didn't ever feel like I experienced culture shock. Maybe it was the fact I heard about the area from my predecessors, or we can blame it on my Buddhist studies where everything is not only connected, but existence is 100% interdependent. I understand that our cultures/manners/customs are different, but I'm the sort of person that focuses more on similarities. I'm here specifically for my hometown's sister city program, so part of my job is to be a representative for Hood River, teach people about my home, in other words to simply be a product of my environment.

I've noticed that a lot of people here give very simplified, idealized explanations of their home countries to Japanese people, even those with high Japanese ability. Outside of work, I won't hesitate to start up a conversation about things I dislike or don't make sense in the US ( or in Japan), but of course within the limits of your job, it's better for me not to trash the US Federal Government; not only would people not likely understand, but if someone asks me a straighforward question about something in Oregonian culture, I give them a straightforward answer. I know speaking without reservation like that is NOT a Japanese thing to do, but that's precisely why all us CIRs and ALTs are here. Because we are NOT Japanese. I've also noticed some people saying "I want to act as Japanese as possible". Sure, that may make your life easier, but you are here to expose the locals to other cultures and ways of behavior. Obviously there are some things you should pick up, basic manners and greetings, but you shouldn't let your personality be that influenced simply by living in a new situation.

I think that my role here is to effectively reflect who I am, and teach people about my country without sugarcoating and excessive complaints, to ride the middle way so the locals can see (hopefully understand as well) the way I think; we don't get that idealized Japan, I am right in the middle of countryside Japan, and I think we owe it to our hosts to show them the same courtesy when they ask about our country.
If you are a CIR/ALT and all you teach them is the Disneyland version of your country, you aren't doing your job. You're spreading misinformation (such as the example with Paris Syndrome), not making Japan more internationalized. Sure, they might have that sugar-sweet description of yours memorized by heart, but if it doesn't reflect on reality then they are learning about a country that doesnt exist. They might as well be reading a science fiction novel. At least that way they understand they are reading a fictional story about a fictional place, not taking an idealized account at face value without ever having a chance to realize the truth until they get there and see it for themselves.

Why are you here?

Inspired by THIS article, ran across it recently somehow.

"Advice for my successor"

2011-06-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Stolen / excerpted from Just Another Day In Japan

Don't be afraid to admit your mistakes and make the necessary corrections. Who do you respect more - someone who thinks they're always right, or someone who is humble enough to admit when they're wrong? Very true.
Study Japanese. Not only does being able to read and communicate make life easier, but it's also a confidence boost. And it will help you with your job.
Even if your Japanese isn't that great, don't be afraid to go into interesting-looking restaurants. If you hesitate, you may finally go in months or years later and realize you've been missing out all that time. There are a few restaurants in Tsuruta that I still haven't been to. I also found a lot of cool places in Hirosaki or Aomori
Explore. Even small little nothing streets sometimes hide cool shops or restaurants
Try new foods. Except shirako (白子). Don't try that one. 100% agreement
There's a whole bunch of bulky stuff in the closets that I've never used before, and most likely neither will you. But since it's such a pain to dispose of, it's become a game of hot potato, and the loser will be the ALT who's living here when the school decides to find a new place for its ALTs to live (or stops hiring or housing ALTs).
There are some pretty cool JETs, but don't get caught in a clique. You're in Japan, so hang out with some Japanese, too! I definitely feel like I've seen this. Groups of JETs who don't hang out with other JETs, or with Japanese people.
If you go to the Indian place in town or the one near the station often enough, they will give you free stuff on occasion. No matter how often you go to the ramen shop down the street, they'll never give you anything on the house.
That food isn't what you think it is.

Goin' Goin, Back Back to ....

2011-05-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

After a year and a half of Japan, I am finally indulging myself and will be returning to Oregon from June 30th to July 14th. Of course I want to see my family and friends, but I blame the new Airblaster DVD. It was filled with awesome scenes of Oregon summers, biking around PDX, forests, and most of all swimming and camping in the woods. There's no way I can stay away from that! I get to see the Fourth of July fireworks over the Columbia River, go trek up Oneonta Gorge, possibly camp at Lost Lake, and maybe even hit up the Oregon Country Fair!!

Comment on here if you want to hang out, I'll keep in touch. Trying to figure out my phone situation for when I'm there, so I'll give you a call! I'm down for doing all the Oregon things!

Must-do-list

Hood River Taqueria
Lampoei's
Pirate's Cove
Cliff Jumping
HR Skate Park
Nicholas Restaurant (Lebanese restaurant in PDX)
Kaze Sushi (I have a feeling Kenji makes better, more authentic cuisine than Okalani)
FULL SAIL ALE
Maybe bring my DJ controller with me so i can spin on the 4th

That's all for now!

Where I've been

2011-04-11T21:05:00.001-07:00

A month after the tsunami, the general feeling among Japanese citizens is distrust and dissatisfaction with their government, especially with the amount of time it took for relief efforts to reach affected areas. The government’s reaction reminds me of Hurricane Katrina, it took almost a week for the Japanese Self Defense Force to get deployed, and now they are completely overwhelmed with the amount of work that awaits them. Prime Minister Naoto Kan was scheduled to visit a shelter in Miyagi Prefecture but he canceled his visit at the last minute. His reason? It was raining. Right now the US Military is using Misawa Air Base in eastern Aomori Prefecture as a starting point for distribution of supplies to shelters, but their reach is limited as they aren’t allowed to go south of Miyako City in Miyagi prefecture, even on their free time.

At the moment, volunteers and charity organizations are the biggest help to the victims, my friends in Aomori City have started collecting donations and bringing them down to Minamisanriku, a town of about 17,000 that was completely devastated by the tsunami, over half the town is deceased or missing, it is one of the three towns that are on the news in Japan the most. A family I know runs an English school called Ortiz Global Academy, and their relief efforts are known as OGA for Aid; they are renting several 2-ton trucks and doing trips down and back constantly. First they brought clothes and daily supplies like toothbrushes and soap, but now food and water are the highest priority. The Ortizes are an amazing group of people and it doesn’t surprise me one bit how quickly they jumped into action, what does surprise me is the outpouring of support from the local community. One hotel donated an entire truckload of bedding and blankets, and another person promised 10 tons of fresh vegetables. Our biggest benefactor may turn out to be the US Military, Erwin Ortiz has a friend in Misawa City who knows many of the top brass at the base, and we have received over 12,000 liters of bottled water from them, there is still an entire warehouse full that we can take down. We also managed to connect with Misawa Helps, a group of volunteers from the base.

I was in Aomori City Tuesday night dropping off donations from my co-workers and I heard that they needed drivers and volunteers for their mission the next day; I came to work for an hour, took care of a few e-mails and then brought it up with my supervisor Eriko Kudo who graciously allowed me to use a few days of my yearly vacation time, and I left immediately for Aomori City. We loaded up a small refrigerated truck with vegetables, then they took off ahead of us towards Minami Sanriku while I went with the larger 2-ton trucks to pick up water at Misawa Air Base. We were delayed with loading the trucks so we had to spend the night in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture. On Thursday, we took off at around 5 AM and reached our destination at 8 AM. OGA For Aid has been using the Hotel Kanyou as a base for local distribution, we dropped off a few hundred liters of water there and continued on to reach several other shelters, most of which were simply large houses where people could assemble and receive supplies. I still have a hard time putting my feelings about the disaster into words, everyone has seen pictures of destroyed houses, but it’s quite another thing to drive around the area and realize that the destruction covers almost 600 km of the coastline. There are things I never thought I would see, boats on top of buildings, a collapsed railroad bridge with the tracks falling off the side, countless cars smashed beyond repair. In the words of Angela Ortiz, “Every village has its own individual mix of buildings and rubble, but they are all heartbreaking in their own way”.

The most incredible thing was not the destruction, but how much they have started to recover. The Japanese Self Defense Force has been clearing the roads, rebuilding small bridges, and laying power lines to reach the affected areas. However, there is much left to do; as of now there are still some houses where the roads are blocked, people can only walk down from the hill through the forest or by climbing over rubble, due to house insurance and liability issues we can’t clean up unless we are specifically asked to by a homeowner. The tsunami also destroyed most of their agriculture near the coast, I saw rice fields covered in several inches of sand and some of the bamboo is dying or dead from exposure to salt water. The people still manage to smile through all of this, I will never forget the looks on their faces when we opened the back of the trucks.

People still have hope in the affected areas but the news is starting to move on from the disaster, and I am worried that large-scale support will diminish as the world’s attention continues elsewhere. If anything, Japan’s relief efforts need to increase in scale, most of the families in Minami Sanriku are surviving off one shared liter of water a day, and we want to increase that to 4 or 5 liters, especially as summer approaches. The Japanese way of thinking about supplies is very day-by-day, in normal times people go grocery shopping every night, only buying what’s needed at the moment; this mindset makes it hard to assess exactly what their needs are, if they say “We have vegetables, we don’t need them anymore” it more than likely means “We have enough vegetables for today”, so Angela Ortiz has been staying down there, going to the different shelters in order to take inventory and see for herself what exactly they need.

OGA for Aid’s biggest problem right now is logistics, we have an unbelievable level of support from the Aomori community but are running short of people who can take time off work to drive the trucks, one person has been down 5 times! The big earthquake the other day also presented new problems, it damaged the Tohoku Expressway, the lifeline for supplies and food from Tokyo for everyone in this area as it’s the only road with a speed limit higher than 50 km/hr (about 35 mph). Also, due to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, all roads heading into the prefecture have been closed, including the southern leg of the Tohoku Expressway. Money is also an issue for their efforts, they have been having problems accepting donations through Paypal; the account was shut down for receiving too much money, Paypal considered it “suspicious activity” but the situation was soon remedied by creating a new account. OGA needs as much as they can get as they are currently renting their delivery trucks at a cost of $400 a day. All we can do now is go forward, looking for help anywhere we can get it. OGA for Aid has done so much thanks to so many people, they have received boxes of donations from as far away as England.

I have to use my vacation days in order to volunteer on weekdays, and Elementary School classes are starting so it will be harder for me to help, but I am willing to do as much as I can to help this country recover. There are many reasons for my desire to assist; first I am here as a cultural ambassador and representative of the USA and wish to show them the love in our hearts; I am also a quarter Japanese so I feel a bond with the people here, many times I see elderly women in Tsuruta and they remind me of my grandmother Amy, kids remind me of pictures of my cousins; finally, I have a fun, rewarding job in an amazing area as well as a place to live and I feel I owe it to Japanese society to repay them however I can. I want to send love and hope to every person affected by the tsunami; OGA for Aid may be a local group helping one town, but my dream is that we inspire countless numbers of people within Japan and around the world to do whatever they can to contribute to the rebuilding of the coastline.

You can find more information about OGA at their website, http://oga-international.com/ or on the OGA for Aid Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/OGAFORAID

Go see the world while you're young!

2011-03-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

I was lucky to have early exposure to other cultures. In 4th grade, my parents took me out of school for 4 months so we could go on a road trip through Baja California, Mexico (Don't worry, my mom did a great job homeschooling me during that time). I had taken a few months of a community education Spanish class, and ended up being the translator for my parents quite often. Very strange to be poorly translating for an 18-year old soldier at a border checkpoint holding a M-16 (although I hear that nowadays the military gives them unloaded rifles as they don't have money to spare on ammunition, but you still don't want to play the risk). I saw many awesome things; waterfalls in the middle of the desert, amazing snorkeling, fishing and sea harvesting (there was one beach where you swam out for 3 minutes, then kicked upright with your flippers for a few seconds which blows away the silt, exposing possibly a hundred clams which are apparently the largest West Coast bivalve, and definitely one of the tastiest), touching whales, seeing a dilapidated Mexican zoo, not to mention the awesomeness of all the food available. I've been down there several more times, the last of which was in college with my friend Brendan, and I turned him into a Baja addict by exposing him to windsurfing and kiteboarding, along with the laid-back lifestyle of a beach bum.

Last week, all of the English teachers in Tsuruta and I taught a crash course for Tsuruta's middle school students who are going to Hood River on Friday. I thought it went very well, their average English level is far better than last year ("Sorry!" to my friend in the BoE whose daughter went last year), and they aren't afraid to ask questions about English, or goof around despite their low level (I got into a discussion with one student about siblings, and he mentioned he had a sister the same age as me, I asked another student next to me if he thought the sister was cute, he said "oh yes very cute", I shot back with "Cute? Not if she looks anything like you" and all of them got it, bursting into laughter). As always, a week of 2 hours extra work every day is a little stressful, but definitely fun. I wish I could say I had all the names matched to the faces, but with 18 students and only 10 hours of class time total it's a little tough. As I read their host family information, I see how Hood River might be a similarly eye-opening experience for them. One student is staying with a Mexican-American family, one at a Mormon family who has 6 kids, one host sister who has a million hobbies (cooking, rock climbing, reading etc.), and one whose parents own a coffee roasting and distribution company (he will never be able to drink the coffee in Japan after his week in HR!).
I am completely certain these kids will have a positive, life-enriching experience in my hometown, they even get to visit Meadows (Maybe the #1 reason I wish I could go back home with them.. Just kidding Mom, I love you!) I really do wish I could head back with the kids though, it would be nice to have someone who could really be a good tour guide in both English and Japanese. This year the school is sending the Music teacher, who can understand spoken English but isn't that great at communications. Also, the Vice Mayor is going, and he speaks next to none. I will probably end up printing pictures this year (last year the English teacher who accompanied them asked me to print off over 400 pictures, I ran out of ink in the printer and photo paper countless times in 2 days), so I'll be able to see what they thought was interesting enough to capture.

I'd love to travel again and visit somewhere else, but I'm not sure where I want to go.

I'm lost

2011-03-07T04:07:00.000-08:00

Partway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest blue,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

I find myself at a crossroads here. As I get more into DJing and wanting to do events, I am realizing that to progress, I need to know all my music like the back of my hand; at the same time I have picked up my saxophone recently and am noticing how much I have slid backwards in these many months that I haven't practiced.

My first dilemma is within DJing. Without a doubt my heart is in Hip Hop, but I have a real love for underground Hip Hop, and I don't think that will lead me anywhere in Aomori; I have also fallen in love with drum and bass and dubstep, and there isn't much room for crossover between the two.
Sax is troubling me, because I absolutely enjoy playing even though I feel I'm a poor player now. Unfortunately I feel that I need the framework of a group in order to progress, and I don't know where to start looking for potential members. Playing solo is alright for practice, but I crave group synthesis.

Basically I only have so much time, but too many interests. Maybe once snowboard season ends I will have more hours in the week to dedicate to music.

Hm whoops, as I am writing this my friend Yusuke texted me and said he'd be down to play sometimes. Let's see where that goes.....

Celebrity (in Japan) Jeopardy

2011-02-16T04:38:00.000-08:00

Did Jeopardy and managed to stump my adult students!
Questions the other english teachers knew but the adults didn't that surprised me

This novel, TV series, and movie was based on a series of posts on the message board 2channel
This dam-builder is the state animal of Oregon
(hint was beatles people for $1000, taken from the most recent Jeopardy episode with that computer) "SO I SING A SONG OF LOVE" THIS WOMAN, ALSO THE NAME OF JOHN'S MOTHER (most surprising thing about this was how soon it got answered despite being the "hardest" beatles question)
This is the only non-American movie to ever win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
This Ghibli movie was based on a fantasy book written by an author from Portland, Oregon

Questions no one knew (am I too nerdy????)

This Tokyo suburb is the setting for two movies, one of which has the english title Whisper of the Heart
This famous onsen featured in a 1906 novel about a young teacher who moves to the countryside

Can you answer any of these?

Upcoming: Hirosaki Castle Snow Festival!

2011-01-31T18:18:00.000-08:00

Happening from February 10th (Thursday) through the 13th (Sunday), all day until 9 pm! Lanterns go up at sunset. You can take the ￥100 bus from the station if you don't have a car, but it ends at 5 pm.
I have heard this is great from my friend Zack of Aomori-mori. Last year they had snow sculptures up to 9 meters high! It looks amazing and I am definitely going this year, let me know if you are interested!

Here is the official page (Japanese only)

back(side) on my grind

2011-01-17T15:39:00.001-08:00

Fantastic weekend of snowboarding, 8 hours yesterday and quite a bit the day before. Finally feeling confident about spins and boxes, now time to step it up and throw down spins on the tabletops and slay the rails. Last year was the first time in my life I didn't go riding/skiing at least once, so right now I am 100% back in my element. Cranked up forward lean, widened stance and tore up the じょっぱり black diamond. Met new people, wore myself out.. Went BIG at the end, but way sloppy, in the words of my friend Kyle "Go home you're gonna kill yourself".. whoops. Trying too hard to clear the massive tabletop, I didn't even see many locals able to get over it, so now it's become more saddle-shaped. Loving life, Zen 1 out.

as the world turns

2011-01-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

A new year dawns, finally back to my birth animal, the Rabbit. Had a fantastic winter break filled with snowboarding and friends, relaxed a lot. Nothing but fluffy snow so far, none of that cascade concrete that I don't particularly miss. The black diamond twin chair is sweet, there's an epic tree run there with some perfect little gaps, nice tree jibs.
Aside from snowboarding I am doing more DJing, played to a packed house at Gold Rush on New Year's Eve, was really funny, this one Japanese guy wanted me to play Radiohead and Yesterday's New Quintet, blew my mind that he's into Madlib. Next up is Club O Pod in Hirosaki, my buddy does promo there. Looks like it will be another hip hop mix, he told me "My DJ choice is dubstep.. but when I play dubstep, there are no customers :( " So I might have to throw in a little more mainstream-ish dubstep in my mix for him, some Rusko or Skream. I think I'll probably do my deadmau5/pitbull-->deadmau5/perfume mashup, might be the right place for it. Trying to increase my library of Japanese music, the crowd always seems to blow up when I play 卍LINE (Manji-line), I have got a few other artists that I find amazing but wouldn't be able to spin; Ego Wrappin' is an awesome modern Jazz/pop group that is fairly unknown. All in all things are still going great over here, really cold but keeping warm.
Zen1 out, keep ridin, keep it real, rough rugged and raw like Com' Sense

Last () of the year.

2010-12-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas finally came, as did the snow! I spent a nice night at Naqua Shirakami's hotel for free, definitely made getting the season pass worth it. Speaking of the season pass, I have been up riding 3 times already and am loving the conditions here. Naqua is a little bit of a bunny mountain but still some good powpow up there. I'm diggin the gondola, nice long ride down, hopefully the park will be dope too. Getting ready for my DJ set on Friday, gotta clean house for people who are going to crash @ the pad.
Awesome Christmas presents! L eila portable hookah, Timeless DVD Set (1 of 4000 but Missing the Verocai DVD MOM) RIP 2 J Dilla, always was waiting to see this, had the EP for a while. iPod for all my music in the car, sweet! finally gives me a reason to properly tag all my music, and then wait for it all to copy over. Awesome cookies and caramel corn from my grandma, along with some Kona Coffee, love you Amy! Looking forward to a new year filled with spring riding, more DJing, and tons of fun
Lizz-out

Ambitions of a Rider / White Powder and Lines

2010-12-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

First off...
Finally the ski resort is open!!!!!

The bonenkai was ridiculous, lots of drinking and a few things happened that are unspeakable (of course this is to be expected)! Decent food, my first time onsen-ing at 2 AM with a drink in my hand, then one in the morning to wake up.

This last weekend I ate way too much, 2 christmas parties and snowboarding on sunday. So much delicious western food, and I got a bag of chips at the white elephant party saturday night. I also brought some home-brewed kombucha, it sat around ignored for a few hours until someone noticed me drinking from the container, and asked what it was... soon after I was passing out samples, explaining how to make it. I think I might be starting a trend here, getcha brew on!

Went to the Tsuruta High School's English Day event, made chicken and eggnogg with the kids.. Man they have no idea how to cook, one student had just finished rubbing the bird down with this butter/herb mixture, then tried to wash his hands with really cold water, he freaked out "why are my hands all white?????" Even one of the teachers in charge didn't know how to cook the recipes even though we did the same ones last year.. The gravy never turned smooth, and afterwards I remembered why - When it says "add 4 cups of chicken broth" she read it as "add 4 cups worth of chicken broth CUBES", so it was only oil and flour, no wonder none of the kids wanted to try it! I did see the students at my table putting the Japanese-style gravy on their cake, I must have been at the weird kid's table.

Getting ready to DJ for New Year's Eve, got my playlist built but still need to assign cue points, give me a few hours and it'll all be good.
Thinking I need to take a "mental health day" in 10, bounce to the slopes and lay down some carves... heads I go, tails I go....

One year!

2010-12-10T00:53:00.001-08:00

Off to bounenkai (end of the year work party) number two! Update coming soon.
On another note, I need to take more pictures, I just feel like I've ewhausted my immediate area of its potential〓
Time to go on a photography drive before everything is blanketed in snow〓

Roll with the changes

2010-11-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

Life is slowing down in Tsuruta, first decent snowfall of Winter. Looks like it might be gone in a few days but its nice to have a little practice with my scoobie, its a much more solid drive than the Ford Explorer I used to drive in Oregon. Took a little excursion last night, went and bought dinner from MOS Burger; then drove out on an orchard access road, first time driving on snow-over-gravel, but wasn't worried at any time. Then took the B4 on some donuts in the parking lot; now I understand what my friend was saying about how they are a good way to learn snow driving, you really get a feel for what your car can and can't handle in terms of lateral G's, torque, and so on. Upgraded the car stereo so now it can control my iPod, great purchase although with all the extras needed it ended up being more expensive than I thought. Time to take the camera out tonight and get some good snow photography if it doesnt start raining like the forecast.
I'm gonna be here for another year! Definitely excited, hoping I can get all the Oregon Ducks in Japan together for some Neputa festival-ing in August (that's how much I love it, already making plans!). It didn't take me much thought to sign the contract, I have family and friends I love in the USA but most of my closest friends are all scattered out, and the job situation still doesn't look great, so the plan is lay low in Aomori, pay off my loans and snowboard all winter long.

I have been DJing lately, really getting into it; building sets in my free time etc..　Coming across some good Japanese music, dancehall-ish reggae, electronica, jazz. DJed at the halloween party, was fun but was screwed over by Japanese DJs.
Bunkasai was good too, made slow-cooked chili verde pork and applesauce on the side, all with donated apples! The Japanese locals didn't know what to think of it, but said "delicious".

PRAY FOR SNOW

"bread so big you can't forget - Tsuruta!"

2010-10-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Long break of no posting again! I don't know what came over me. A LOT has happened since July, so let me try to summarize the major points

My buddy Josh coming out during Nebuta Festival season, so I took some time off work and we drove all around the countryside.

He brought out two skateboards! One was my beloved Sector 9 supercruiser, the other was a Zip Zagger.. that little beast is fun!

Around the same time: Said goodbye to many JETs with whom I had made many great memories.

Hello to the newbies!
Met more awesome people from the NW!

The weather finally cooled down enough for me to start jogging!
Getting a group together to buy season passes.. SO EXCITED FOR THE WINTER!
Crazy Aomori scavenger hunt.. and camping event
A Hip Hop club opened up in the town next to me.. unfortunately its only open for special events but I want to push the owner to get a freestyle open mic event going on...

P.S. the title of this entry comes from a cypher that me and some Japanese guys had going on outside in the street.. this was what some homie said about my town!

I volunteered to DJ for a halloween party and got caught up in Everest of Apples, a charity group in Aomori. Looking forward to working with you guys and accomplishing many things! Their non-FB website is here but the information is a little outdated, that will be my next task for these guys!

Also: Finally picked up a USB/Audio breakout dongle, and it makes DJing with my VCI-100 absolutely a blast!

I went to an awesome International Foods Festival in Ajigasawa, and ate a few things I had never tried before

What's coming up for me

Tsuruta's Bunkasai - Culture festival.
Halloween party for EofA!

oh no that means I need a costume.. I always struggle with this part.

Hopefully lots more trips into Hirosaki
Another event coming up at the cluuub
Possible trip to Maui??

Summer Heat

2010-07-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Oh man it's been hot lately. Temperatures are in the 20's (celsius) and humidity is high, sometimes 95%! Not very helpful when all your laundry has to hang dry. I figured out how to get to the beach (still not quite 100% sure I can drive by myself and get there), and I've been snorkeling LOTS. By that I mean saturday and sunday last weekend, the weekend before that, and Wednesday this week. The highlight of my experiences was finding an abalone which I immediately grilled (delicious!) and then another day finding a working fishing pole at the bottom of the ocean! The Japan Sea is nice, it seems saltier than the other places I've swam but it's fairly warm, somewhere between the Columbia and the Pacific Ocean, so you can just keep swimming all day.
The one thing I do miss is being able to swim in fresh water. All the rivers / lakes (really irrigation reservoirs) are too dirty to go in, I would LOVE to be relaxing at Lost Lake.
Most of the English teachers around here are making their preparations to leave, but I'm still here for another year. I'm sad to see everyone leave, I didn't get to become as close of friends as I could have, but I'm excited for the new batch coming in a few weeks.
Always looking forward to change!
--Alex out

6 months!

2010-06-05T06:59:00.001-07:00

The new leaves are starting to show in Tsuruta! The cherry blossoms have come and went, and I am nearing the 6-month mark for my time in Japan. Many things here are new to me, in winter everyone turns off their house's water and drains the pipes completely. Houses older than 30 years generally don't have insulation so pipes freeze overnight if there's water still in them, something I've experienced a few times. One of my best experiences here was giving an english crash course to a group of 17 middle school students headed towards Oregon. All the English teachers banded together and taught the students phrases and gestures that might be helpful during travel; we also played quite a few games letting them practice their new vocabulary. I would have liked to go back to Hood River with them, but their smiling faces and pictures showed that they didn't need me to guide them around Hood River, their host families helped them out a lot! One of the hardest parts of this job is the range of students, I teach from preschool up to 6th grade, sometimes on the same day! So I go from teaching the names of colors, food, etc to teaching phrases, meanings, and reading/writing in the course of a few hours. Also, I teach at 6 different elementary schools, the largest has about 58 students in each grade, while the smallest has about 50 students total! Along with the range, it's hard to remember everyone's names. At the elementary level, I work with 43 different teachers, and over 800 students! Factor in the considerably small number of sounds in the Japanese language, and it's easy to see why names can be a headache for any foreigner, regardless of experience with Japanese!
The change in lifestyle hasn't been as great as I expected; I came to Japan only a few months after graduating at University of Oregon, so I went from a life focused on classes and learning to one focusing on teaching. This is my first full-time job, so it's a little strange to be sitting at a desk 35 hours a week. The only break is one hour off at noon for lunch, but it seems like cigarette smokers can go to the smoking area (that's right, inside the building!) whenever they want. Also, there's no overtime pay. Luckily, workers in the Town Office have an even better system, known as "daikyuu": Instead of being paid more for working more, you are awarded time off that you can use whenever you want, at a 1-to-1 basis. For example, all the English teachers in town have a weekly conversation class for the area's adults, and we get one hour of daikyuu for this, so we could go home at 3 instead of at 4 on Fridays, or sleep in and come to work an hour late. The office atmosphere is also a new experience for me, in the mornings almost everyone is serious and focused only on work, but by the end of the day things start to feel more relaxed, people greet me with smiles, and start cracking jokes in the high-speed Tsugaru dialect that's near incomprehensible even to other native Japanese speakers, let alone me with my 3 and a half years of study in College. Every day I learn new things, and in my free time I am dedicating myself to learning in order to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Right now, according to my online study site, i know almost 1,000 characters, which puts me at the level of a middle schooler. Kind of frustrating, seeing that I just celebrated my 23rd birthday, but not bad for approximately 4 years of study!
I'm lucky in that I have a nisei (American-born child of Japanese emigrants) grandmother and I majored in Japanese at University of Oregon, so I've been prepared and warned in advance about many of the common cultural faux pas that first-time visitors encounter. Often in my classes, we would look at essays about Japanese customs for reading practice, so I came well versed in the manners and rituals regarding chopsticks, exchanging business cards, and greeting people (Japanese has several sets of verbs and words to address people, depending on your relative social/business standing). I've passed the gaijin charenji (foreigner challenge) with food, having grown up eating sushi and all sorts of Japanese food, learned a few Japanese recipes during my college years, and have grown accustomed to starting my day with a bowl of white rice topped with natto, fermented soybeans whose odor can be described as somewhere between "footy" and "ammonia", but I think the flavor is nutty, a little salty, and goes great with the little packets of soy sauce and mustard that usually come in the packaging! One of my favorite breakfast meals is natto sauteed with some chopped garlic, and then combined with scrambled eggs and cheese to make a cross-cultural breakfast sandwich!
Outside of work I have plenty of opportunity to relax, now that it's warming up I am starting to go for runs and work off some of this winter weight. My mom came to Japan for two weeks, so I went down to Tokyo for the weekend to meet her, which was a huge change from the slow-paced farmland life up north here. After that, we traveled around Aomori Prefecture; we saw the Japan Sea (between Japan and Korea), saw the cherry blossoms in Hirosaki (the most popular spot in all of Japan), visited Lake Towada (the largest caldera lake in Japan, three times the size of Crater Lake). She went back to Oregon on the 8th of May, and it seems like the sunny weather left with her. Now the constant gray skies, a common sight in both Oregon and Tsuruta, have returned.

No offense meant

2010-05-26T03:03:00.001-07:00

This may be the most gay (homoerotic) ad I've ever seen. I'm really glad it's for cigarettes.

Note the shaved legs and booty shorts

A new experience

2010-05-23T02:49:00.001-07:00

Friday night I ate living fish〓

自然の美しさを生かそう！

2010-04-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

"Bring the beauty of nature to life!" - Our theme for Earth Day this year.
The snow has all but disappeared, and now the drab, grey skies remind me of Oregon; thankfully there's a LOT less rain. This weekend I went out to Kanayama-yaki, a pottery gallery and restaurant, where me and a friend made pizza by hand, then they were baked and brought to our table! So delicious. I also witnessed the Japanese Tradition of the job transfer - once a year, the head of the organization (in this case the Mayor) decides to shuffle people around, so my former driver / maintenance man at the Office is now working at the Middle School; the same thing happens to teachers (but I think this is decided at a prefectural level), so some may get sent to neighboring towns, or even as far away as Aomori (45 minutes by car!). Of course they have no say in all of this, and the Japanese system of Lifetime Employment guarantees that they won't complain, since work experience is usually non-transferrable (that's right, if they worked at a bank for 10 years and became a senior officer, quit and tried to work at a different bank, they'd have to start from the bottom again, but that's a different story), so they follow along and start anew, in a job they may have no experience in. In the yakuba hardly anyone changed, but a friend of mine moved from the Daily Life section to the Agriculture section; the changes can be far worse in an actual company, people could be moved around the country into departments they have no prior relation with. If the bosses actually took notice of people's various skillsets, strengths, and weaknesses, this system has the potential to be a great benefit, but overall I think it's fairly inefficient; the company isn't hiring new people but still has to spend time training employees for tasks they might only be doing for a year. I think only maybe 3 or 4 people changed positions here, which isn't that bad.
So now I have no assigned driver, and on some days I might even be driving myself!
And now, Pizza!

Waiting for the Spring

2010-03-25T17:08:00.001-07:00

IMG_1724
Originally uploaded by flashywordz

It's March, and still snow is falling. The weather has been getting a little milder, no harsh winds and blizzards, and the temperature is usually over freezing during the day. I've also managed to get out and around the ken, down to Hirosaki once for a cool "Raibu" (the garaigo term for a concert). I found an awesome car, owning a Subaru makes me feel like an Oregonian, although this particular car was never made in America :D
AWD and Twin Turbo makes for a very nice ride. I already managed to get it stuck in the snow, trying to drive down an orchard road for a "shortcut" to another road. Hilariously enough there was no snow on any of the asphalt roads that day, so I could have saved time by driving the long way to where I was going. Instead, me and my "Driving Instructor" had to walk maybe a half mile through the snow and down some train tracks, and then call a taxi to take us back to his house, where we grabbed shovels, gloves, and our winter gear. When we got back to my car, we had to dig for maybe a half hour, the snow was deep enough that it lifted the body of my car off the ground, no contact with the wheels.
I also had the fun experience of my mac breaking down, but now I have a shiny new MacBook with a Japanese keyboard, and I can finally play Counterstrike again. I even went so far as to install the Starcraft II Beta (I have waited SO LONG for this!)
Overall it's been a good winter, not TOO bonechilling cold (but there were times where I wore my down jacket inside!).
I am patiently waiting for the sun.

"Start every verse with something to quote"

2010-03-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

"Those who try to repair what's natural in themselves by conforming to society are simply learning about the customs of others in an attempt to reconnect with what was already in themselves to begin with."
"Correct oneself and that's all. The happiness of being whole is called achieving one's own will.
In the past, what they meant when they referred to those who had achieved their own will wasn't referring to those who had chariots and wore crowns, but to those who had no use for such benefits, but were happy nonetheless."
Zhuangzi Chapter 17
Sorry everyone, I have been neglecting my blog.
What's new in my world? This week, along with all the other English teachers, I have been teaching an English crash course for a group of Middle Schoolers headed to Hood River. This class is outside regular work hours, so I've been having 11 hour work days lately. It's definitely a lot of fun though, the kids have lots of energy but are old enough to apply that energy as enthusiasm towards learning. Sometimes I feel a little drained, but it's nice to be doing work that directly relates to International Relations. The temperatures have finally risen above freezing, I can see the asphalt in all the streets now!

2010-01-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

Just had my first Hulk. Delicious!

Out Of The Inaka

2010-01-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

Alright, I finally made it away from Tsuruta-machi for a weekend. I got in touch with another Oregonian, who works for an eikaiwa school in Aomori City (about 300,000 people), and I took the train on Saturday night. I went to a cool little izakaya called Matchan, and then barhopped all night. The next day we went to eat at an italian restaurant with decent pizza! After that I came back home, and got caught up in my new favorite PS2 game, God Hand. Its a beat-em-up with a difficulty level I describe as Contra meets Demon's Souls. It's also got a great soundtrack and sense of humor in the plotline and dialogue, reminds me of Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo.

I finished three novels in the past few weeks; Natsume Soseki's Botchan was pretty good, it's about a college graduate who has no jobs available in Tokyo, takes a position as a math teacher in a remote area of Japan, and has all sorts of troubles trying to fit in. The kids tease him horribly, some teachers ostracize him. I feel a little like Botchan at times, but I am definitely sure I do better at my job than he. I also read Yasunari Kawabata's short novel "Snow Country", about a Tokyo businessman and his relationship with a geisha in a remote ski/onsen resort town. I thought the plot was OK but the characters annoying, but Kawabata's prose is amazing. I finished up with an oregon classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest, which reminded me of all the crazy people walking the streets of Eugene. I've seen the movie but this was my first time reading the book. The Chief's memories of the Columbia River before the dam made me sad that I was born too late to see Celilo Falls.

Tsuruta nightlife

2010-01-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

Ken Kesey and a beer by candlelight.

In my igloo!

スパー礼賛　(In Praise of the Japanese Supermarket) The First

2010-01-18T04:26:00.000-08:00

Nike and Converse running shoes, but no Chucks? Heresy!
The only American brand of clothing I could find in the Superstore was Grateful Dead branded sweatshirts.. homesick for Eugene.
Whale Bacon? at $11 for maybe 30 grams, I think I will wait until I can find some at a restaurant, or at least until I find some that's not fake pink (however, the fake pink is a delicious necessity in kamaboko).
Tarako EVERYTHING: Mayonnaise, salad dressing, furikake (rice topping) pasta sauce.
Only white bread. And the same sized pack (half a loaf?) is sold as 6, 5 or 3 ENORMOUS slices.
Camo do-rag? Yes, please! I need something to wear with my huge down jacket and boots (bubblegoose and Tims)
Mario Kart arcade cabinet! Also, students telling me "I saw you playing Mario Kart last weekend". I feel like Botchan at the dango or soba shops.
Fresh-made Takoyaki any time I want. That's all that needs to be said.
A hundred kinds of beer/shochu/nihonshu(sake) that all taste the same.
$1.50 for 3 stalks of asparagus, but a bundle of 3 24-inch long, 1/2 inch wide negi (spring onions) for $1.

A New Year

2010-01-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finally settling in that I will be here for 20 more months. Wow, this will be the longest I have ever spent at a single job, no pesky school and moving to get in my way. I am looking forward to it, I head that the longer you stay here, the more rewarding the job gets! Not to say that I don't like it now, it's a lot of fun, but I still sometimes feel a little lost; for example if things go wrong usually I am good at improvising a fix but I don't really know what to do. The other day I tried to show the Sesame Street DVD but their player didn't like my disc, and I hadn't brought any materials as backup, so I panicked for a little bit before I finally came up with something.
My teacher-neighbors are back, so I have people to hang out with again! Still struggling to meet the locals though. My co-worker tells me that the adults my age just hang out at each other's houses and don't go out to spend money. Totally different mindset from the US, people are out emptying their wallets in order to have a good time, and then wondering why they have no money left for rent or food. In the US, we even have something called a "Credit card",where people can spend money they don't even have yet!
In other news, I have put my earrings back in! The preschoolers are fascinated by them, I don't know if they have ever seen a guy wearing earrings around here. I am being careful to only wear the solid ones, no tunnels/eyelets.. I want to make it less obvious that my ears are stretched. Hopefully no one at the office complains!

Can You Tell Me How to Get, How to Get to Sesame Street?

2010-01-06T17:23:00.001-08:00

Today I showed Tsuruta "Infant School" the Sesame Street DVD "Imagine That!". I bought it from Amazon, so I vaguely remember that it was older, and I watched it for the first time with the kids. I could definitely tell that it was made before I was born, so when I got back to the office, I looked it up, and WOW it was made in 1969, only one year after the first season aired.. No wonder Ernie, the Grouch, and Elmo weren't major stars yet, Big Bird didn't even appear at all! I decided to sit down and read the LONG Wikipedia article on Sesame Street, and I thought I'd share with you some of the more interesting tidbits about Sesame Street

As of 2009, the series has received 118 Emmy Awards, more than any other television series

An estimated 77 million Americans watched the series as children. (That's almost a quarter of our nation.. CTW had a lot of power in its hands..)

It premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running children's program on US television.

As author Malcolm Gladwell has stated, "Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them". Sesame Street was the first children's show that structured each episode and made "small but critical adjustments" to each segment to capture children's attention long enough to teach them something

It was decided, by recommendation of child psychologists, that the Street scenes, which CTW researcher Edward Palmer called "the glue" that "pulled the show together", would never feature the human actors and Muppets together because they were concerned it would confuse and mislead young children.

The producers went back and reshot the Street segments; Henson and his team created Muppets that could interact with the human actors, specifically "two of Sesame Street's most enduring Muppets: Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird". These test episodes were directly responsible for what writer Malcolm Gladwell calls "the essence of Sesame Street--the artful blend of fluffy monsters and earnest adults".

The producers of Sesame Street used laboratory-oriented research to test if what they were producing held children's attention. The researchers involved with the show found that preschoolers are more sophisticated television viewers than originally thought.

Fifteen writers a year worked on the show's scripts, but very few lasted longer than one season. Norman Stiles, head writer in 1987, reported that most writers "burn out" after writing about a dozen scripts

Entertainment Weekly reported that by 1991, Sesame Street had been honored with eight Grammys.

Although the series had been on the air for less than a year, Time Magazine featured Big Bird, who had received more fan mail than any of the show's human hosts, on its cover and declared, " ...It is not only the best children's show in TV history, it is one of the best parents' shows as well"

Sesame Street was not without detractors, however. In May 1970, a state commission in Mississippi voted to ban Sesame Street. A member of the commission leaked the vote to the New York Times, stating that "Mississippi was not yet ready" for the show's integrated cast.

In 2003, one of Sesame Street's international co-productions, Takalani Sesame, caused some controversy in the US when the first HIV-positive Muppet, Kami, was created in response to South Africa's AIDS epidemic.

I don't know why I can't find info about this, but on Imagine That, there was a clay stop-motion short starring "Arnold", later of Hey Arnold! on Nickelodon.

Behind the scenes video of Sesame Street was never allowed until 2000 when PBS affiliate WLVT in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, aired, for the very first time, footage of the cast and crew as they rehearsed and recorded an episode

On November 10, 2009, Sesame Street celebrated its 40th anniversary that included a segment with First Lady Michelle Obama interacting with the Muppets.

Research[citation needed] by Sesame Workshop in 1989 discovered that "many preschool children failed to recognize that Kermit felt happy about being green by the end of "Bein' Green".

In 2002, CTW introduced Kami on the South African co-production Takalani Sesame. Kami was the world's first HIV-positive character on a children's show! Despite outcry from US politicians (since CTW is partially funded by the US Government), Kami has been named a UNICEF ambassador for children and has appeared in Takalani segments alongside Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, among others.

This is it!

2010-01-03T18:53:00.001-08:00

Holidays!

2010-01-03T15:55:00.001-08:00

IMG_1500
Originally uploaded by flashywordz

I haven't updated in two weeks! Things are going well here, I ate a delicious cake for Christmas, and appreciated the presents I got. Over winter break I mostly relaxed at home, watching movies/TV (20th Century Boys, Venture Brothers, Dollhouse, Gurren Lagann), and reading books (The Attention Revolution and Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way). On New Year's Eve my supervisor took me to her aunt's house where I ate some amazing food, got drunk on gold-flake sake, and harassed her children relatives (Souta, who is 7 and in one of my classes, is very wild outside of the classroom. I think he liked that I had so much energy too). I also introduced the children to the American tradition of fireworks on New Year's eve, but for some reason none of the bottle rockets actually shot into the sky, they all just exploded right on the ground. Maybe the wind was too strong?
The next morning I nursed my hangover while watching a live stream of Times Square.. So glad that whoever was running the music had some class, John Lennon's "Imagine" was the last song playing before the ball dropped. Sad that more people haven't taken the song to heart.
The next morning I watched the Ducks try their hardest against OSU. Here's to another amazing season for U of O. It's strange but i found that becoming an Alumni made me an even bigger Ducks fan. Maybe hot having football tickets readily available is a part of it ahah!

Happy New Year to everyone out there, may you find whatever you're looking for!

IRON CHEF: Instant Ramen

2009-12-21T02:45:00.001-08:00

1. Watch the movie Tampopo.. Seriously, you will love it.
2. Throw away that disgusting flavor packet. Use Miso, or if you can find dashi powder (should say hon-dashi or ほんだし、本だし) I think they actually might have it at rosauers, mix soy sauce and hon-dashi in your ramen to taste.. you only need a LITTLE of both.
there are other kinds, like Shio ramen (salt flavor) that is just dashi powder.. be sure and read the outside so you don't put WAYYY too much dashi in your broth
3. TOPPINGS! This is what really separates restaurant ramen from what most poor college students make. Chaa-Shuu ramen is really popular here, the closest thing you can find is the BBQ pork slices, safeway's are nice and fatty, and they usually cut them nice and thick. Green onions, frozen corn (best when microwaved a little first to defrost them, with butter and garlic for deluxe), a beaten egg (put it in while the pot is still on the stove if you dont like raw egg), canned bamboo shoots, kamaboko (the closest english description is fish cake.. basically Hot Dog-like texture but made from ground up, pressed fish.. they have it in the freezer at sunrise) get some of that chinese Hot Chili Oil, put a little splash in your ramen.

Snowy times in Cold Tsuruta

2009-12-20T21:29:00.001-08:00

IMG_1372
Originally uploaded by flashywordz

Almost 2 feet of snow has fallen already! I asked my driver Kamata-san how many centimeters of snow falls each year, and he replied "No, no, not centimeters.. Meters." I'm tempted to copy Temira and get a pair of cross-country skis.
The kids have been lots of fun, I am finally going to the same class for the second time. I teach at all the elementary schools and all the kindergarten/Pre-K, so I have many different classes of children.
All the other English Teachers will be gone after tomorrow, so I will have to make more Japanese friends. I hear the only proper bar in town is closing after the year ends, so I will have to sing lots of karaoke.

Pictures

2009-12-15T19:48:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures I took on my nightly walk, these are all from last night:

More pictures (and full-size) available at my flickr page

Being One

2009-12-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post something different, some fun mental stimulation. I will periodically be updating my blog with quotations from the Zhuangzi, an esoteric Daoist text from the 3rd century. If you have ever listened to Alan Watts, these ideas may be familiar.. I might also post some quotations from the Bodhicaryavatara, the Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, written by Shantideva in the 7th Century; a Bodhisattva is one whose mind has the ability to transcend their body into Nirvana, but consciously chooses not to, instead utilizing their boundless compassion to delay the final transcendence until ALL living beings have become enlightened.
I am using the free, online, translation available at http://www.daoisopen.com/ZhuangziTranslation.html
and for the Bodhicaryatavatara
http://www.shantideva.net/

When Yang Zi was on his way to the state of Song, he spent a night in a local inn. The inn keeper had two concubines, one beautiful and one ugly. The ugly one was highly valued while the beautiful one was treated like dirt. When Yang Zi asked him why this was so, the young male servant at the inn replied:
"The beautiful one sees herself as beautiful but we don't pay attention to her beauty. The ugly one sees herself as ugly but we don't pay attention to her ugliness."
Yang Zi said:
"Remember this, my disciples: Behave in a virtuous manner, but get rid of any idea that you're behaving virtuously - then where could you go that you wouldn't be loved"
Now some quotes from the Bodhi

Anger destroys all the good conduct, such as generosity and worshipping the Sugatas, which has been acquired over thousands of eons.

It is better that I die today, than have a long, corrupt life. For even after living a long time, I shall have the suffering of death.
One person wakes up after enjoying a hundred years of pleasure in sleep, and another person wakes up after being happy for a moment.
Does happiness return to either once they have awakened? It is the same at the moment of death for one who lives a long time and for one who lives a short time.

Those who wish to protect their practice should zealously guard the mind. The practice cannot be protected without guarding the unsteady mind.
Untamed, mad elephants do not inflict as much harm in this world as does the unleashed elephant of the mind in the Avichi Hell and the like.
But if the elephant of the mind is completely restrained by the rope of mindfulness, then all perils vanish and complete well-being is obtained.

Hello from Tsuruta!

2009-12-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I still don't have internet at home so I haven't updated my blog, I figure I should post at least one update a month, if not more!
I work in the Town Hall and also teach English to the Elementary Schoolers around the area. I have only been here for about a week so I am still trying to figure things out, but it's been great so far. The kids are so cute and full of energy, and I guess it's been a LONG time since anyone who spoke Japanese came from Hood River; there is a CIR from the JET program (run by the Ministry of Education) here, and all JET CIRs have to speak Japanese, but all you need for the sister city exchange is a college degree; you actually need a 4-year degree for ANY work visa to Japan. I am so glad to have found a job in my major!
Life is good here, things are very slow in Tsuruta this time of year, but Hood River is very similar. The weather is similar to HR as well, cloudy and rainy, and we are also close to a large mountain, but Mt Iwaki is only about half the height of Mount Hood. All the kids here are so cute, they are really excited to have a new teacher. The other day there was a little girl who was jumping up and down and waving at me throughout the entire class

PICS

2009-12-03T00:17:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures! I put them up on Facebook, but you can see them without joining. If you DO have Facebook, please add me!
Japan pictures!

YATTO YATTA!

2009-11-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

I'm here! Sitting in my chair in the Town Office, no work today, just touring the town, getting my bank account set up. Tsuruta really reminds me of Hood River, we are close to huge mountain that's already a little snow-capped. The rice fields are all bare, but the pine trees are evergreen! Yesterday I went with Eriko, my supervisor, and Karen, the JET ALT to a park near Lake Towada. We saw the LONG wooden bridge (the longest in Japan), but it's closed for the season. We also saw a cool little jinja (shinto shrine) and an area with a Buddha statue and 33 bodhisattvas. This place is awesome!
EDIT: After doing some quick internet research, I have determined that the smaller statues are 33 incarnations of Kannon-sama. Or Kwannon, or Avalokitesvara if you're into the Pali.

Sign at the airport says "Please show me your alien card." I feel like a V.

2009-11-29T01:48:00.001-08:00

and other observations about international travel

Old Japanese grandma with a Nintendo DS
Our airplane has Recaro seats. Must make it go faster.
Me gettin completely ignored / passed over when everyone got food on the plane. Not even a drink for Alex.
How much the attendants apologized once they realized what happened.
On our inflight video showing our progress, the map shows Eugene and Baker, but not Portland.
Seeing RIP Slyme on the radio playlist and then having to listen to it :D
Another channel was just Bebel Gilberto's album All In One.
Re-reading the hand book and noticing there is a "menstrual leave" clause for female CIRs. Really? Yes.
ALL national holidays are paid leave :)
My "hourly wage" is calculated by ¥3600000 divided by 1820. You do the math.
Realized that I'm actually allowed do this job for up to 5 years...... Holy sh*t...
Ah, the Great Circle route. SF-Tokyo takes us almost to Alaska, far north of both Oregon and Aomori-Ken
A dude tried to use the seatback pocket to hold his paper cup of coffee. Good thing he was reading a newspaper otherwise his pants would have been soaked.
Awwww there's an animal planet show about the Humboldt penguins at the Oregon Zoo. Can you say nostalgia?
As far as airplane snacks go, rice crackers > peanuts hands down.
The travel guide says that MiniDisc players are popular souvenirs from Japan. Wow, was the guide written like 10 years ago?
Frst time on a plane when I'm over 21. I'll be damned if I'm not having a drink. Authentic Asahi スーパードライ= うまいだよ

Goldfish crackers? I eat Mola Molas and Tuna

FOOOOD

2009-11-25T16:43:00.001-08:00

Can I survive for a year on oyakodon? I think I've made that more this month than any other dish.

Ready to go!

2009-11-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

I leave Saturday morning at 6 AM. Looking forward to it SO much.

I'm ready!

有為転変

2009-10-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

There is nothing inherently existent, and there is nothing permanent in this world. Thinking that a thing is permanent is known as the root delusion in Buddhism, for nothing is truly constant, unsupported by conditions, everything in existence is conventionally and inescapably linked by karmic bonds, not inherently, but because there is no way something can exist separately and distinct from the rest. Therefore everything is always changing, flowing from one state to the other, often with indistinct boundaries. When does a seed in the ground stop being a seed and become a "plant"? These designations certainly exist, but only because man, through language, has categorized and attempted to compartmentalize all of existence, in order to make order out of apparent chaos.
And thus, things change in my life. Finally got news about my departure date, my visa is coming in the mail and I start work on the 1st of December, until the 31st of July, maybe 2010, maybe 2011… I really feel ready to go now, and I have a month for final preparations. I really think I won't need to do much though. Let's just say I'm not too attached to Oregon any more.

Lunch.

2009-10-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Nikujaga and rice, Easy!

Japanese Gardens!

2009-09-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

I went into Portland the other day to send my mom off to Brazil and spend more time with my girl; I ended up going to the Japanese Gardens with my good friend Jordan, you can check out the pictures here on facebook

If you are reading my blog posts on facebook, you should follow the link to my actual blog and leave me a note in my comment box!

Getting ready for Japanese Cuisine!

2009-09-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Miso/soba stew, hiyayakko tofu, kyuuri salado

Delicious!!

new thoughts

2009-09-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Finally got confirmation from the University, paid off my student account, and now I'm expecting my diploma to arrive soon! I hope I'l be able to start work in Japan by October. I'm lookin for some arubaito (part time work) for the time being but there's slim pickings in Hood River now that all the tourists aren't swarming the area. Maybe I'll take a server job or work pizza again. Anything that pays, right?
Things are starting to slow down in Hood River which is sort of nice, but I am missing the busyness of Eugene, even if it's full of bright eyed naïve freshman. Lately I have been enjoying myself more in Portland. The Hawthorne district is way cool! Plus my girlfriend just got a veiled chameleon!

some thoughts

2009-08-10T04:45:00.001-07:00

Wow, things are coming to a close. My last week of classes begins tomorrow; not even a full week, just 3 days! The week after that I have to move out, Sunday the 23rd! I'll probably move early, I'd like to hang out in Hood River and maybe get some pictures of the landscape to show off in Japan. The weather is starting to get cold, reminding me of the feet of snow that await me. I've been browsing the Web looking for videos and photos of Tsuruta, and I've found a couple cool ones, one of "Yayoi painting" which is more of a mosaic technique involving gluing seeds and beans, and also some cool rice field art from nearby Tsugaru. I am sad to leave all my friends behind, but I plan to keep in touch with all of you, and maybe meet up with some friends who also are planning to go to Japan. I have a house too, if anyone wants to visit!

cleaning out the cupboard

2009-08-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

I move out of here on August 23rd, and I thought I should try to eat everything here before i leave, including a big bag of white rice. So, I'm going to eat white rice dishes every day. I started off yesterday with some tamago kake gohan, and then some shrimp cha-han (fried rice) later. Today is going to start with bacon omurice. Sounds delicious, no?

upcoming

2009-07-20T23:31:00.001-07:00

1 month here, 1 month at home, 1 year in Japan!

Summer Dreamin'

2009-07-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Oregon sunshine streams through the window, lighting up my room and reminding me this is the last Summer I plan to spend in Eugene. I applied for a job in my hometown's sister city in Japan, and recently found out I'll be leaving around late September. Tsuruta町 will be a big change, presenting lots of interesting opportunities, and I'll miss lots of people that I love here. I'm excited to be around to enjoy the end of summer, although I do have a few things left to take care of before I go. I'm working on a Finance class online, and have one class not yet started. I was supposed to go to my first meeting of JPN 399: Reading Manga, but class today was canceled, which gave me the impulse to write instead. Lately I've been trying to read more Japanese literature, and read some Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows and some of his short stories, so I'm excited to study manga. It will also be nice to start having a class in person, getting ready for the daily schedule of a job. My thoughts about Japan seem so muddled together, but I've made up my mind a while back that this is what I want to do. I wonder how much my experience at U of O will help me with my duties in Tsuruta, and I'm intrigued by this country creature known as Tsugaru-ben, the local dialect. I hope I will be able to manage a room full of excited children, but I remember how fun teaching about magnets in Science Wizards was. Lots of fun times await me, and I'm off to conquer the day!