Running... for fun?

Somehow, I thought signing Aaron and I up for the Kannabe marathon would be a fun thing. Since this is Japan, a marathon varies greatly in distance than the actual 26 miles. We signed up with some other folks for the 5K. I mean, 5K is nothing, right? That's only a few miles... we walk or bike everywhere, we're in shape, right?

Wrong! Today Jamila took me out for a getting-in-shape-for-the-marathon jog. Wow, 5K is much longer than I thought. And my normally pinkish face glows absolutely neon when I exercise [this has always been the case- it's not just because I'm out of shape], so plenty of Japanese people were giggling at me.

Despite my lackluster preformance, I am hopeful for improvement. The marathon isn't until late August, so I have some time...

Check out these crazy shirts. Found them at the Jusco. Hilarious!

Kyoto Pt 2

After resting our feet a bit, we wandered around in search of lunch. We found a little sushi window, and ordered. The chef was all on his own and moved pretty slowly. We waited for almost half an hour. Taking our food, we found a little park area on a creek. We took off our shoes, put our feet in the cold water, and started chowing down. The sushi was more than worth the wait-- it was absolutely fantastic! Sitting, eating, watching 3 white duck and a blue heron, it might be the most content I've felt here in Japan.

After a great rest, we were up and walking. Walked right into a major shopping area. Browsed a bit, then wandered over to a large shrine across the street. We weren't sure at the time, but it turns out we were at Yasaka shrine. There were some vendors, so Katrina bought a kimono on the cheap, while I splurged on an antique [?] perfume bottle.

More shopping, then it was back to the station. Ran into Jade and Alicia, so we had company on the way home.

Knowing their defenses were downed by exhaustion, we coerced Noel and Katrina into visiting the onsen. Success! They were easily converted, once again proving that public bathing is a great thing.

Kyoto Pt 1

Much delayed, here is our Kyoto post.

When Noel and Katrina flew into Kansai Int'l, they found a bag had been lost. This was extra annoying because the bag had been a carry-on, but due to a faulty overhead bin, they were forced to check it. The airlines promptly lost it. Grrr!

So instead of leaving early Saturday [June10] for Kyoto, we had to wait til the bag was delivered. Luckily, the airport sprung for Kuroneko [a better and more expensive delivery service]. Excellant. We were on our way and we arrived in Kyoto around 6.

Dropped our luggage at the hostel, then wandered all over looking for food. Food is often concentrated in specific areas in Japanese cities, so it took us awhile before we found such an area. Food was good, then we decided to do some geisha-hunting.

Found the geisha district, but only glimpsed a few as they were stepping into taxis. Thwarted! Then we decided to eat again, and found a super fantastic yakitori joint. Back to the hotel for some snooze.

The next day we checked out, stored our luggage, and foolishly decided to walk to Nijo Castle. Map distances are much farther than indicated. Took us quite awhile, through the heart of modernized Kyoto.

[Kyoto was spared bombing in WWII because the Secretary of War Henry Stimson had honeymooned there and enjoyed the cultural treasures. However, starting in the 60s, Kyoto started building tall, modern buildings, essentially transforming most of the city into an average Japanese city. Read: a concrete landscape. The famous cultural heritage sites are indeed beautiful, but often surrounded by hideous eyesores.]

Nijo Castle has the famous Nightengale floors- very cool and it really does sound like birds chirping. We walked through two of the gardens and enjoyed the landscaping. Deciding we were too tired to walk, we hopped on the subway and went to the Gion area.

Hooray for Haiku

My favorite haiku:

Tickle me Elmo
Run your fingers down my spine
Red monster of love

Resolution and Snack Crackers

After a few days of waiting not-so-anxiously, we got a phone call. A young, very excited [read: hard to understand] male voice was chattering away. Luckily, I caught "saifu" [wallet] and the negotiations began. Just teasing! Much as we should have milked this, Aaron and I agreed to meet the luckless lad the next day in front of the video store.

Next day. Imagine our surprise when a 40-something salaryman rides up on his bike and seeks us out. The voice on the phone had seemed so young, so we were pretty shocked. But this guy was excitable and chattering away about the wallet, so we handed it over. Only to be happily surprised with a bag from Chateraise, a local sweets shop. After lots of "Thank you"s and "Don't mention it"s, we turned to leave when a young kid pulls up. Turns out the wallet was the kid's, and the older guy was his dad. More"thank you"s follow.

Next next day. Turns out the young wallet-loser is the younger brother of one of my students. So we had fun chatting about that. Small world!

The Chateraise bag was revealed to contain delicious snack crackers.

We are now on the lookout for further things we can exchange for free snacks.

Aaron = Lupin III?

A quick recap of what's been going on in the last week and a half:

*Aaron started at the JHS. More on this later. In the meantime, everyone should watch Miyazaki's "Castle Cogliostro" so you can learn all about Lupin III. The only important thing being Lupin's resemblence to Aaron. Lupin-sensei, anyone?

*I did my first Kadoh [Ikebana] club and Sadoh [Tea Ceremony] club to varying degrees of success. Had fun with the students, so I plan to continue.

*I upgraded to the higher level Japanese class. This is less due to any accomplishment of mine and more due to ...

*Aaron and I took over Nick and Jen's Adult Conversation class [henceforth referred to as our Kaiwa class].

*Seattle staple Noel and Katrina came all the way to see us and Japan. More on this soon.

The Hemorrhage Begins

Wah! As hinted at earlier, Nick and Jen left little Wadayama and returned to the green pastures of Oregon. While I could go on a long siloloquy about how much they'll be missed [and it's very true], most know that I am not overly expressive-- especially about sentimental stuff.

Our last night together was really simple-- dinner and chatting. Very nice and a natural way to end our time together in Japan. They'll be missed. Wadayama feels a little lonelier, but we're buoyed with the knowledge that they're just a drive away... that is, only a drive away in a year. Ugh.

Nick and Jen are the first of many to leave. Most of the ALTs take off in late July. It feels a lot like high school; it's sad that it won't be as easy to see our friends, but I will definately be making an effort for the people I really connected with. Bittersweet but tolerable.

Just wish Nick and Jen didn't have to be the first.... guess I got sappy after all.

Coppers!

This weekend marked the 3rd time I have sought out the police here in Japan.

1st time: Kobe, December. A lost keitai prompted a visit to the local kohban. Tons of paperwork, but the cops were pretty friendly.

2nd time: Kobe, later December. Dead car battery prompted a search for anyone who could give us a jump. No cops in this kohban for several hours.

3rd time: Wadayama, yesterday. Walking back from the onsen, we found a wallet. Said wallet was only a few hundred feet from the central station, so Aaron and I walked in. Again, the cops were friendly, but damn if it didn't take a looong time. I explain that we just found the wallet, that no one was around, there was no money or ID that we saw, etc. Then the cops had us witness them removing everything from the wallet [about $2.50 and various membership cards], watch as they logged their findings. Then they give us a "receipt" of the whole thing. And here's the kicker-- if the guy [there was a bank card in the wallet, so they do have a name] wants to claim his wallet, the cops will give him our contact info. The guy then needs to get our receipt and take it to the station to get his stuff.

Now, I've never had to do anything like this in the states. Is this normal? What if the guy had money in the wallet and accuses us of taking it? Should the cops be giving him our information? I'll be checking with my teachers tomorrow to see if this is standard. Not too worried, it just seems a little strange.

Yukiko!

Benefit to being in Kobe for the conference? No surpise- socializing. Got to see/meet tons of people, although I admit that I did spend most of my time with people I already knew.

Colleen and I met up with our pal Yukiko. Yukiko is fantastic-- her English is superb, she's spent time jumping around all over the world, and she's just really friendly. This is especially great, as she had some nasty experiences in her overseas adventures, so her desire to hang out/help out foreigners in Japan is pretty remarkable. She also is one of the most independant women I've met here in Japan. Her life experiences [wow, did I just use that phrase?] are so exciting and interesting. I'm jealous!

Recontracting Conference

The JET recontracting conference is mandatory for first year recontractors. There are only 2 for all of Japan, so the conference I attended serviced nearly 800 ALTs from Kyushu, Shikoku, and the lower half of Honshu. Loads of us, all packed into one hotel. Lucky Kobe had hordes of gaijin wandering around... the Kobe civilians looked a bit shell-shocked.

In general, the conference was about average. Some interesting workshops, some boring ones. The good thing about the conference would be the presenters' can-do attitude. After being in Japan nearly a year, I often find myself worn down by bureacracy. Seeing how optimistic the presenters were, even after 3 years, has jumpstarted my own optimism. I will attempt long-term projects. My kids can do it, and my teachers will support me. Maybe. But I will try.

Desire to improve my Japanese has also been rejuvenated. Let's enjoying Nihongo!