I only have 24 hours remaining in Urasa, and I have felt like I'll be barely making it out alive because of whatever stomach bug I have. I planned to make the last weekend uneventful, but something inside me had different plans for me. Therefore, every weekend this summer in Japan has been full of excitement.
Here is my evidence:
Weekend #1 (July 9/10) - my second hike to see the snow bridge of the Mizunashi Gorge
Weekend #2 - the Urasa matsuri & fireworks, the bus tour to Hakkai-san, the winery, and the temple in the town
Weekend #3 - Adam visits, we visit Nagaoka to watch Harry Potter, Adam's infamous bike accident
Weekend #4 - torrential rain and floods, Yoshimi visits, we travel around Niigata from Yuzawa to Kashiwazaki
Weekend #5 - souvenir collecting weekend with Adam, Masumi, and Yoshimi all around Saitama, Gunma, and Nagano
Weekend #6 - my class' dinner party, the international potluck, and the volleyball tournament
Weekend #7 - I fall ill
Perhaps the weekends were too exciting, and my body was telling me to stop it. Well, next weekend I'll be in Iowa taking it easy with my family.
Thank you, Japan, for another exciting visit, but next time please don't mess with my digestive system. The last time I visited you, your oysters messed me up for a long time.
The End
Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The Final Week
Although I've ended my summer Text Skills class on a high note with positive feedback from pleased and caring students, I've developed some stomach bug. The peak of these symptoms were Thursday night & Friday morning. For about 4 days before that I had minor stomach problems that did not interfere with my daily routine, but whatever I have made me take notice then. I let the staff and my supervisors know of my condition in case things got worse. Thankfully, administrative director had some medicine that would last me 24 hours. I noticed that, about 30 minutes after ingesting the medicine, I became incredibly thirsty. This made sense as I was tempting fate by not drinking a lot of water for the past week during extreme hot and humid weather.
Unfortunately for me, Friday was the last day of class and the day of the midterm party, which is actually the farewell party for all the short contract visiting faculty like myself. The best food in town was served and I could only enjoy the rice and bite-sized sandwiches. I am happy that my colleagues and my students had a wonderful time. By the end of the party, I was not feeling any symptoms any more. I thought I had gotten past the worst of it.
Now it is Saturday and I am better than the worst of it, but not back to normal. I've put myself on the BRAT diet, with pineapple slices in the place of applesauce (the A in BRAT). I believe what I have is one of two things: 1) a combination of stress & dehydration, or 2) a viral infection. I was definitely stressed and not drinking enough fluids before I got this thing, but it's behaving more like a viral infection. If I still have it by the time I get to Iowa, I'll check myself in at the clinic.
I only have 4 days left here, and I'll definitely have internet connection all day tomorrow. My phone line gets cut on Monday, but I don't know if that applies to the internet as well. All I have planned for tomorrow is to start packing away stuff I don't need for the next 3 days. Monday & Tuesday will be spent returning keys, finishing up all my reports, and getting my final payment and tax documents. Then I'm off to Iowa starting Wednesday morning!
Unfortunately for me, Friday was the last day of class and the day of the midterm party, which is actually the farewell party for all the short contract visiting faculty like myself. The best food in town was served and I could only enjoy the rice and bite-sized sandwiches. I am happy that my colleagues and my students had a wonderful time. By the end of the party, I was not feeling any symptoms any more. I thought I had gotten past the worst of it.
Now it is Saturday and I am better than the worst of it, but not back to normal. I've put myself on the BRAT diet, with pineapple slices in the place of applesauce (the A in BRAT). I believe what I have is one of two things: 1) a combination of stress & dehydration, or 2) a viral infection. I was definitely stressed and not drinking enough fluids before I got this thing, but it's behaving more like a viral infection. If I still have it by the time I get to Iowa, I'll check myself in at the clinic.
I only have 4 days left here, and I'll definitely have internet connection all day tomorrow. My phone line gets cut on Monday, but I don't know if that applies to the internet as well. All I have planned for tomorrow is to start packing away stuff I don't need for the next 3 days. Monday & Tuesday will be spent returning keys, finishing up all my reports, and getting my final payment and tax documents. Then I'm off to Iowa starting Wednesday morning!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Weekend with Students
I dedicated this past weekend with the students since I spent the previous 3 weekends with Adam, Yoshimi, and Masumi. On Friday, I went to a soba restaurant in nearby Osaki, a village closer to Hakkai-san, with my Text Skills class.
Here is a picture of the fancy soba that we ate. Four of us got to split the amount on this tray. Eating more than one row of noodles, I ate enough for three of us. This soba had to be the most delicious soba I have ever eaten. By the way, Niigata is famous for its delicious soba noodles.
Here is a picture of me and the whole class after we had finished our meal. The most memorable events at our dinner was the introduction of loudly slurping the soba noodles correctly. In Japan, it is expected to slurp noodles to enhance their flavor. My Japanese students were assessing our slurping ability by its loudness. They did not bother on telling me how I did, although I'm sure I wasn't loud enough.
Another highlight of the dinner was the introduction of natto, a favorite Japanese dish for foreigners to despise. I had hoped to avoid natto this summer, but I knew I had demonstrate that I could eat it although I do not prefer it. Seven of us non-Japanese attempted to eat natto to entertain the Japanese and other victims of natto. I had two bites because I couldn't taste the first bite, and at first, it was tolerable. Successfully I hid my displeasure of the aftertaste from my students. The one student from China had no problems with natto and continued to consume more of it. The show-stealer was my student from Bangladesh who showed immediate disgust for natto. He had us concerned for a while has he was visibly offended by the food.
On Saturday, all the students and faculty of the summer Intensive English Program got together for a potluck put on by the students. It featured eight tables of international food, including one from the faculty. If I can recall, the tables represented food from Japan, China, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and the United States. There was a competition for the best tasting food. Thailand won, which was no surprise to anyone. But Uzbekistan came in second with its pilov or pilaf.
The biggest attraction of the international potluck were its two emcees, who greeted us in suits, but as they were introducing us to the show, they proceeded to take off their clothes and reveal that they were wearing dresses underneath.
On Sunday, I got involved in the student volleyball tournament. I watched Friday's futsal tournament and noticed that instructors were welcomed to join in at anytime. Futsal is like soccer, for which I have no talent, so I decided that I'd join in for volleyball. I intended to join the Urasa Frogs as I was cheering for them to win futsal, which they did. I showed up a bit early to practice with the Frogs, but the Rising Stars were short of players for practice, so they recruited me. It was to my benefit as we won the tournament! Here is our victory photo:
This was the first time that I had played a serious game of volleyball since 1997 when my Beloit College intramural team, the Hempyre, defeated TKE. It was nice to return to the game with another intramural championship. The only regret I playing the whole tournament barefoot. I didn't wear shoes because my only pair of athletic shoes are meant for cooler temperatures, and the high for the day was in the 90s with high humidity.
Looking back I would have prefered to play with sweaty feet then endure the pain I didn't expect to face. I wasn't in too much pain until the game was over. When I started walking back to my dorm, I noticed that I did more damage to the pads of my big toes than I had realized. It doesn't seem to be too bad, and I expect to be walking on my feet without any pain in 3-4 days.
Another highlight of the dinner was the introduction of natto, a favorite Japanese dish for foreigners to despise. I had hoped to avoid natto this summer, but I knew I had demonstrate that I could eat it although I do not prefer it. Seven of us non-Japanese attempted to eat natto to entertain the Japanese and other victims of natto. I had two bites because I couldn't taste the first bite, and at first, it was tolerable. Successfully I hid my displeasure of the aftertaste from my students. The one student from China had no problems with natto and continued to consume more of it. The show-stealer was my student from Bangladesh who showed immediate disgust for natto. He had us concerned for a while has he was visibly offended by the food.
On Saturday, all the students and faculty of the summer Intensive English Program got together for a potluck put on by the students. It featured eight tables of international food, including one from the faculty. If I can recall, the tables represented food from Japan, China, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and the United States. There was a competition for the best tasting food. Thailand won, which was no surprise to anyone. But Uzbekistan came in second with its pilov or pilaf.
The biggest attraction of the international potluck were its two emcees, who greeted us in suits, but as they were introducing us to the show, they proceeded to take off their clothes and reveal that they were wearing dresses underneath.
On Sunday, I got involved in the student volleyball tournament. I watched Friday's futsal tournament and noticed that instructors were welcomed to join in at anytime. Futsal is like soccer, for which I have no talent, so I decided that I'd join in for volleyball. I intended to join the Urasa Frogs as I was cheering for them to win futsal, which they did. I showed up a bit early to practice with the Frogs, but the Rising Stars were short of players for practice, so they recruited me. It was to my benefit as we won the tournament! Here is our victory photo:
This was the first time that I had played a serious game of volleyball since 1997 when my Beloit College intramural team, the Hempyre, defeated TKE. It was nice to return to the game with another intramural championship. The only regret I playing the whole tournament barefoot. I didn't wear shoes because my only pair of athletic shoes are meant for cooler temperatures, and the high for the day was in the 90s with high humidity.
Looking back I would have prefered to play with sweaty feet then endure the pain I didn't expect to face. I wasn't in too much pain until the game was over. When I started walking back to my dorm, I noticed that I did more damage to the pads of my big toes than I had realized. It doesn't seem to be too bad, and I expect to be walking on my feet without any pain in 3-4 days.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Exciting, Exhausting, and Expensive
What a 3-day weekend it was! It started at 8:00 Saturday morning, leaving IUJ with a couple of Nepalese students to Urasa station to catch the shinkansen towards Tokyo. I helped the two guys from Nepal get their tickets to Ueno while I got mine to Kumagaya. We found 3 seats together and chatted about the train system and how expensive Tokyo is. After 50 minutes, I left them and the train in Kumagaya, where I made my connection to the Takasaki line to Kita Ageo station.
With no room to sit, I stood during the short 30 minute trip past my first home in Japan, Fukiage. I got off at Kita-Ageo and met Adam, who shown to have healed very well from his dramatic tumble near the Mizunashi Gorge just a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't much to do in Kita-Ageo, so we met up with family at the station to head to Omiya.
Adam's family was headed for the train museum, which wasn't too far from Omiya station. This was the first time I saw Anna since she showed Autumn how to walk over a year ago. Anna was very shy, but not too shy for the camera.
Adam and I had as much fun as we could in the urban sprawl of Omiya. Our first stop was the Loft department store, which hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. One surprise for the both of us was spotting a Nova/GEOS school just a couple buildings away. Both Nova and GEOS English schools went out of business a few years ago, but apparently the need for such a school was so great in Omiya that a new owner retained the names and continued the tradition of eikaiwa.
After spending more than I expected at the Loft, we proceeded to the international grocery store connected to Omiya station at ground level. I nearly forgot about that place and I found some Tim Tams to eat nostalgically later. (Actually I just finished the last ones an hour before writing this.) Hunger was striking us so we went upstairs above the station to eat at the old Ninikuya (garlic restaurant) that Jenevieve and I loved so much way back when. I remember being disappointed by its amount of garlic during our Korean years, so the flavor didn't pack any punch. I found it across the hall from its old location and we quickly got a seat. Many of the neighboring restaurants had long waiting lines, so I guess we considered ourselves lucky. I got bibimbap and Adam got pizza with an egg in the middle, sunny side up. We were mildly satisfied.
I asked Adam if he wanted to come to Nagatoro with me and Masumi, but he was so exhausted after getting up early and spending a great deal in the sun and crowds with me that he declined. Back on the Takasaki line, we bid a year's farewell at the Kita-Ageo stop. He will not be returning to the United States anytime soon.
I continued on the train back to Kumagaya, where I easily found Masumi waiting for me at the station. After she bought a dress and we got something to drink, we headed for Nagatoro by car. It was the first time for me to see this part of Saitama on the road. Nothing to impressive until we got closer to our destination.
Nagatoro has a shopping street designed like an old Japanese town. I felt it was a bit authentic probably as much as a Japanese tourist would find Beale Street in Memphis authentic. This picture doesn't let the observer know that it was very hot and humid there.
The best part of Nagatoro wasn't the shopping district for tourists, but the river at the end. Unfortunately we arrived just as the last raft and boat rides down the river were heading out. Since pictures do better just than my tired explanations, here is a picture and a video.
After spending some time walking along the rocky coast of the river, we headed back through the shops, which were closing up, and towards the shrine.
I was surprised to find the temple freshly painted dragons.
Our hunger drew us away from the shrine and out of Nagatoro back towards Kumagaya. For most of the drive, we were trying to decide on a good restaurant. I think Masumi really wanted to impress me as she wouldn't settle on mediocre ideas that I had. We ended up at a place in downtown Kumagaya called Arigato that had an eclectic menu of fresh and organic food. I had one of the best meals I've eaten in Japan this summer, seared tuna on a bed of rice with balsamic vinegar. The flavor was quite explosive, much better than the subpar bibimbap in Omiya. Masumi had some unique soy sauce base ramen, but what interested me more was that she ordered apple cider vinegar...to drink. Apparently fruit flavored vinegar is all the rage in Japan for health. If this is the case in the United States, I've been oblivious to it.
After my horrible 4:15am nightmare and my long day, I was about to fall asleep. Masumi took me to my hotel between Kumagaya station and the nearest Mister Donut. I found the hotel to have great service and a continental breakfast which Hotels.com denied it had. (Now I am only 1 night away from 2 free nights somewhere.) After blogging about my horrible nightmare, I went to sleep to have a much milder nightmare not worth mentioning.
If Saturday seemed to be a perfect day, Sunday proved to be even more perfect. This rarely happens to me. Being that I am so exhausted from this trip, it's hard to convince you of the blissful state I was in during the whole weekend. But here I go anyway.
I left the hotel with about an hour before I had to catch the train to meet Yoshimi at Honjo station. I looked down the sunny and deserted street to see Mister Donut beckoning me. I went in and got myself a few doughnuts, but what shocked me was that they still had Pingu in their advertising campaign. I got so excited for Autumn that I grabbed one of the advertising pamphlets to make sure it was true.
I ate my doughnuts on the platform at Kumagaya station and that's when I started to feel like I was back at home, my second home in Japan. This feeling lasted all day! After the train delivered me to Honjo, I relaxed a little bit until I noticed that Yoshimi was running late. This 15 minute period was the only time I felt anxious the entire weekend, but I knew I could depend on her and she showed up so we could hurry to Karuizawa.
Karuizawa is one of the most famous mountain resorts at the Gunma-Nagano border. Yoshimi and I were here once before together with Jenevieve, Barney, and Emma. Yoshimi was surprised at my memory as the drive brought so much of it back. It was so good that we concluded that this trip took place on a Tuesday. Karuizawa is much more developed than it was the last time I was there, but we weren't there for sightseeing. We were there for the Ghibli store!
Since Yoshimi used to work in Karuizawa, she knew the best place to park and we got a spot very quickly. I was so surprised because there was a traffic jam for about 20 minutes all the way to the town. Once parked, we got a bite of freshly made gelato. I got a double scoop of watermelon and chocolate. There isn't much difference in the taste and texture of watermelon and watermelon gelato.
Just around the corner was the Ghibli store that had an ample amount of Ponyo goods for Autumn. It was also an indication of the difficulty level of Jenevieve's wish list. They had her top 2 items, thankfully for her, but that was about it. After making the first of many purchases for Jenevieve and Autumn with Yoshimi, we walked down the main shopping street to Yoshimi's first part-time job after Jenevieve and I left Japan. Yoshimi looks up to her old boss like a father and he apparently offers her solid advice about business and other topics.
Since we didn't want to waste anytime, we quickly left Karuizawa after that to head back to Takasaki. We had some great mountain views on the way back, mostly of Myogi. It was very difficult to get a good camera shot of our spectacular views, but here's a sample.
Shortly after we passed Mt. Myogi, one of the 3 Jomo mountains (Haruna & Akagi are the others), we passed Popo Town in Yokokawa, Gunma. Jenevieve and her parents visited Popo Town with the Sekiguchis way back in 2000, but I had never seen it. I got a glimpse, and it was bigger and busier than I had imagined it.
And just around the corner was...
Kamameshi! It's the signature dish at a popular highway rest stop between Gunma and Nagano. I was last here with Jenevieve, my parents, and the Sekiguchis. I remember not being too fond of it the first time, but it tasted much better this time. I ate it all up very quickly.
Our next stop was going to be the Takasaki matsuri, but I wanted to make a stop past our old stomping grounds in Yachiyo-cho. I could still fairly give directions to Yoshimi, so she could take us to...
Pearl Mansion 3! There in the top middle of the picture was our old balcony in room 303. While we were headed back to Yoshimi's car, I was wondering if the Sekiguchi's still owned the property. I spotted a gaijin coming out of the apartment complex, which was a good sign. Before he zipped away on his bicycle, I asked him if the Sekiguchis still owned Pearl Mansion.
They do! We met up with them at their new office on or near the site where the old Karaoke Station used to be. It was demolished about 4 years ago and was replaced by a parking lot and an office/apartment building. The first floor is comprised of offices only, one of which is theirs.
We had some beverages and snacks at a nearby cafe pictured above. Because my Japanese isn't so good and the Sekiguchis' English isn't so good, most of the talking was done in Japanese, but Yoshimi didn't have to translate too much. I forgot how much the Sekiguchis like to talk. We were there for at least 2 hours while the Takasaki matsuri was being drenched by a thunderstorm.
After our lengthy talks, Yoshimi and I left on foot to explore downtown Takasaki and the matsuri grounds. Just like our time in Yuzawa, it started with rain, then drizzle, and then it finally stopped. A lot of the downtown area has been redeveloped with much of the shabbier parts removed. For me, the biggest change was the street behind Vivre and Takashimaya, which used to be a quiet street. It was turned into the main street running parallel to the station. Parts of it reminded me of the Hongdae area of Seoul, so I felt a bit strange that Takasaki felt like a favorite spot in Korea.
With no room to sit, I stood during the short 30 minute trip past my first home in Japan, Fukiage. I got off at Kita-Ageo and met Adam, who shown to have healed very well from his dramatic tumble near the Mizunashi Gorge just a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't much to do in Kita-Ageo, so we met up with family at the station to head to Omiya.
Adam's family was headed for the train museum, which wasn't too far from Omiya station. This was the first time I saw Anna since she showed Autumn how to walk over a year ago. Anna was very shy, but not too shy for the camera.
Adam and I had as much fun as we could in the urban sprawl of Omiya. Our first stop was the Loft department store, which hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. One surprise for the both of us was spotting a Nova/GEOS school just a couple buildings away. Both Nova and GEOS English schools went out of business a few years ago, but apparently the need for such a school was so great in Omiya that a new owner retained the names and continued the tradition of eikaiwa.
After spending more than I expected at the Loft, we proceeded to the international grocery store connected to Omiya station at ground level. I nearly forgot about that place and I found some Tim Tams to eat nostalgically later. (Actually I just finished the last ones an hour before writing this.) Hunger was striking us so we went upstairs above the station to eat at the old Ninikuya (garlic restaurant) that Jenevieve and I loved so much way back when. I remember being disappointed by its amount of garlic during our Korean years, so the flavor didn't pack any punch. I found it across the hall from its old location and we quickly got a seat. Many of the neighboring restaurants had long waiting lines, so I guess we considered ourselves lucky. I got bibimbap and Adam got pizza with an egg in the middle, sunny side up. We were mildly satisfied.
I asked Adam if he wanted to come to Nagatoro with me and Masumi, but he was so exhausted after getting up early and spending a great deal in the sun and crowds with me that he declined. Back on the Takasaki line, we bid a year's farewell at the Kita-Ageo stop. He will not be returning to the United States anytime soon.
I continued on the train back to Kumagaya, where I easily found Masumi waiting for me at the station. After she bought a dress and we got something to drink, we headed for Nagatoro by car. It was the first time for me to see this part of Saitama on the road. Nothing to impressive until we got closer to our destination.
The best part of Nagatoro wasn't the shopping district for tourists, but the river at the end. Unfortunately we arrived just as the last raft and boat rides down the river were heading out. Since pictures do better just than my tired explanations, here is a picture and a video.
After spending some time walking along the rocky coast of the river, we headed back through the shops, which were closing up, and towards the shrine.
I was surprised to find the temple freshly painted dragons.
After my horrible 4:15am nightmare and my long day, I was about to fall asleep. Masumi took me to my hotel between Kumagaya station and the nearest Mister Donut. I found the hotel to have great service and a continental breakfast which Hotels.com denied it had. (Now I am only 1 night away from 2 free nights somewhere.) After blogging about my horrible nightmare, I went to sleep to have a much milder nightmare not worth mentioning.
If Saturday seemed to be a perfect day, Sunday proved to be even more perfect. This rarely happens to me. Being that I am so exhausted from this trip, it's hard to convince you of the blissful state I was in during the whole weekend. But here I go anyway.
I left the hotel with about an hour before I had to catch the train to meet Yoshimi at Honjo station. I looked down the sunny and deserted street to see Mister Donut beckoning me. I went in and got myself a few doughnuts, but what shocked me was that they still had Pingu in their advertising campaign. I got so excited for Autumn that I grabbed one of the advertising pamphlets to make sure it was true.
I ate my doughnuts on the platform at Kumagaya station and that's when I started to feel like I was back at home, my second home in Japan. This feeling lasted all day! After the train delivered me to Honjo, I relaxed a little bit until I noticed that Yoshimi was running late. This 15 minute period was the only time I felt anxious the entire weekend, but I knew I could depend on her and she showed up so we could hurry to Karuizawa.
Karuizawa is one of the most famous mountain resorts at the Gunma-Nagano border. Yoshimi and I were here once before together with Jenevieve, Barney, and Emma. Yoshimi was surprised at my memory as the drive brought so much of it back. It was so good that we concluded that this trip took place on a Tuesday. Karuizawa is much more developed than it was the last time I was there, but we weren't there for sightseeing. We were there for the Ghibli store!
Since Yoshimi used to work in Karuizawa, she knew the best place to park and we got a spot very quickly. I was so surprised because there was a traffic jam for about 20 minutes all the way to the town. Once parked, we got a bite of freshly made gelato. I got a double scoop of watermelon and chocolate. There isn't much difference in the taste and texture of watermelon and watermelon gelato.
Just around the corner was the Ghibli store that had an ample amount of Ponyo goods for Autumn. It was also an indication of the difficulty level of Jenevieve's wish list. They had her top 2 items, thankfully for her, but that was about it. After making the first of many purchases for Jenevieve and Autumn with Yoshimi, we walked down the main shopping street to Yoshimi's first part-time job after Jenevieve and I left Japan. Yoshimi looks up to her old boss like a father and he apparently offers her solid advice about business and other topics.
Since we didn't want to waste anytime, we quickly left Karuizawa after that to head back to Takasaki. We had some great mountain views on the way back, mostly of Myogi. It was very difficult to get a good camera shot of our spectacular views, but here's a sample.
Shortly after we passed Mt. Myogi, one of the 3 Jomo mountains (Haruna & Akagi are the others), we passed Popo Town in Yokokawa, Gunma. Jenevieve and her parents visited Popo Town with the Sekiguchis way back in 2000, but I had never seen it. I got a glimpse, and it was bigger and busier than I had imagined it.
And just around the corner was...
Our next stop was going to be the Takasaki matsuri, but I wanted to make a stop past our old stomping grounds in Yachiyo-cho. I could still fairly give directions to Yoshimi, so she could take us to...
We had some beverages and snacks at a nearby cafe pictured above. Because my Japanese isn't so good and the Sekiguchis' English isn't so good, most of the talking was done in Japanese, but Yoshimi didn't have to translate too much. I forgot how much the Sekiguchis like to talk. We were there for at least 2 hours while the Takasaki matsuri was being drenched by a thunderstorm.
After our lengthy talks, Yoshimi and I left on foot to explore downtown Takasaki and the matsuri grounds. Just like our time in Yuzawa, it started with rain, then drizzle, and then it finally stopped. A lot of the downtown area has been redeveloped with much of the shabbier parts removed. For me, the biggest change was the street behind Vivre and Takashimaya, which used to be a quiet street. It was turned into the main street running parallel to the station. Parts of it reminded me of the Hongdae area of Seoul, so I felt a bit strange that Takasaki felt like a favorite spot in Korea.
We encountered the matsuri as this daruma mikoshi was about to be raised and paraded through the streets. It was the first time Yoshimi and I have ever seen a daruma mikoshi. After walking through the rain soaked matsuri for a little while, we decided to look for the Pelican, an Iranian restaurant, under Jenevieve's orders as it was a favorite of hers. If we weren't able to find the Pelican, we would stop at the new Turkish restaurant called Red Lion.
This parking lot marks the spot where the Pelican once stood. In disappointment, we headed back to Takasaki station to find Red Lion. Yoshimi wanted to make sure we could find it quickly, so she asked the police at the station koban for directions. During this time, I waited outside and saw a large group of police, about a dozen or so, standing around close together. Out of nowhere, they apprehended one bosozoku member, perhaps the leader. Five officers had to hold him together and force the rowdy young man into the police car. It was just yesterday that I was told that the bosozoku have disappeared from Saitama and now isolated to Gunma only in the Kanto area.
After Yoshimi got her directions, we found it within 5 minutes. Red Lion was actually a British-style pub, so we walked on because the officers told her that we would also find a Turkish flag, which wasn't flying over Red Lion. Down the street at the end of the block, we found the Turkish flag flying over a corner shop selling kebabs as fast food, almost like the same one I liked in Hongdae. Since there was no seating inside, we decided to skip past it and head back to Yoshimi's car, parked in front of the Sekiguchis' office.
Halfway there, we ran into Mrs. Sekiguchi again. We did our best to resist an offer for dinner that day and settled on having lunch together the next day. Our conversation was mostly about food and planning Jenevieve's visit next year. Mrs. Sekiguchi explained that the Red Lion has taken the place of the Karaoke Station as the gaijin bar. Supposedly the owner had lived in England and the place is stocked with imported beers from around the world. We then learned that the Pelican owner left Takasaki after he divorced his Japanese wife. He married another Japanese woman and relocated somewhere in Chiba. Mrs. Sekiguchi was so sad because it was her favorite restaurant too. The Turkish place and another Persian restaurant do not compare.
When we finally got to Yoshimi's car, we did some evening shopping on the way to Isesaki as another huge downpour struck the area. By the time we finished our shopping for the evening, the rain had also stopped, and we were very hungry. Yoshimi took me to one of her favorite katsu restaurants and they had some fantastic ros-katsu. I forgot how good ros-katsu tasted. After finishing our dinner, we both felt like we could have fallen asleep right there on the tatami floor of the restaurant.
We weren't too far from Yoshimi's place when her friends called telling her that they have been waiting outside her house. Apparently they had miscommunicated, so we rushed to Yoshimi's house to meet them. For about an hour, we chatted over tea and TimTams., but they could tell that Yoshimi and I had a long day, so we agreed to meet the next morning.
Being the great hostess she is, Yoshimi supplied me with ample futon bedding so I was able to have the best sleep I've had since I arrived in Japan this summer. The next morning after we both got ready for another long day, I tried to catch Yoshimi up with our lives with all the photos on our Macbook. She was most interested in seeing Autumn, Jenevieve, and our time in Korea and La Crosse.
Her friends arrived a little after 10am, and Yoshimi and I helped her friend Hiroko purchase some goods from her favorite band, the Hives. Nobody there had much experience shopping online, especially through a Swedish website that used English predominantly. The process of shopping took longer than expected because of technological glitches, translation problems, and Japanese credit cards. Finally we met with success.
For the rest of the morning we were on a mission to buy more goods for Autumn and Jenevieve, but we ran into many dead ends. Items on Jenevieve's wish list were either not available or they were but at the same price if not more than in the United States. We were able to grab a few great things off the list before meeting the Sekiguchis for a two-hour lunch. The food was good and cheap and very filling. I ate enough to last me through the rest of the day.
After that, we said our goodbyes and was nearly time to drop me off at Takasaki station so I could head home to finish marking my students essays. Before I left, I got to more photos. One of Yoshimi and her friends, and the other of Jenevieve's old employer brought back to life on the other side of the station.
Goodbye Takasaki! See you next year with Jenevieve!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The Worst Nightmare in Years
Two nights ago, in the early morning of August 6th, I had the worst nightmare I've ever had as an adult. It frightened me so much that it shook me from my sleep around 4:15am and it took me about 45 minutes to calm down and convince myself that it had no connection to reality at all.
The nightmare began when I was Skyping Jenevieve and Autumn. They were in Maryland and it was Christmastime as they were showing me the new decorations in the Nelsons' house. I felt a little strange because time had passed so quickly, then I noticed that Autumn was about a year older. After Jenevieve dropped enough hints that it was December 2012, I started to freak out.
I remember yelling, "Why is it Christmastime? What year is this? How much time has passed?"
Jenevieve obviously didn't like being yelled at, and she gave me a look as if she's gone over this many times before with me. I was beginning to get a sense that I was crazy, and she began to talk to me in that way. I can't remember what she said, but I was demanding to find out what was wrong with me. However, I do remember her saying, "If I tell you, you're just going to forget again tomorrow and yell at me again." And this is why we were separated. This feeling of separation made me feel even worse: I am losing my mind, I am losing my family, and I have no idea what is going on.
After telling her the last memory I had was being in Japan, she finally told me that's when I started showing symptoms of a late onset of adult autism, which in reality doesn't make any sense. But because I was already told that I was crazy, I knew I couldn't rely on my logic anymore. So I took her word for it. Jenevieve then gave me a look like she was done talking with me and wanted to get off Skype.
Our conversation ended, and I was left alone to deal with this awful situation. I began thinking, if I were crazy, then why is nobody taking care of me. I finally realized that I was not in Japan nor Iowa. I was in Kenosha, so I guess some relative nearby may be looking after me from a distance. I began to feel like Taylor at the end of planet of the apes, completely isolated and devastated.
I needed a breath of fresh air, so I ran outside and almost slipped on some ice covered by a thin blanket of snow. I remember seeing my breath. (This is how lucid and very convincing the dream was.) Looking up in the night sky for solace, I spotted a square shaped UFO flying through the sky. That's when I believed I was crazy, and then I shuttered to wake up.
Now awake, I felt glad that I was back in August 2011, but I was still under the strong effects of the dream. Was the dream my first symptom of this alleged autism? Now that I am sane, I dismissed that diagnosis. Still not thinking clearly because it was 4:15am, I remember having nightmares as a young child and making connections to reality. Perhaps the same was true now, I thought. Perhaps instead of mentally losing Jenevieve and Autumn, I have lost them in another way. I panicked realizing that something awful may have occurred on their trip to my mother's house.
I went online to check any news. I discovered that Masumi finally responded to my plans for later that day, but nothing about my family. I tried calling my mom's house, but Google finally caught on to the fact that I was making free calls to the United States. During this instant, my mind was becoming more logical and was starting to convince me not to make the call. The last fight I had left was logic versus the responsibility of a concerned father and husband, but logic finally one thanks to Google telling me I had to register my account in the United States.
I went back to bed and began being comforted that the whole thing was in my head and that the probability of Jenevieve and Autumn being safe was much greater than not. I was only a little freaked out that I brought some of the crazy from the dream into reality for about 5 minutes. That delay scared me but not enough to keep me awake any longer.
The nightmare began when I was Skyping Jenevieve and Autumn. They were in Maryland and it was Christmastime as they were showing me the new decorations in the Nelsons' house. I felt a little strange because time had passed so quickly, then I noticed that Autumn was about a year older. After Jenevieve dropped enough hints that it was December 2012, I started to freak out.
I remember yelling, "Why is it Christmastime? What year is this? How much time has passed?"
Jenevieve obviously didn't like being yelled at, and she gave me a look as if she's gone over this many times before with me. I was beginning to get a sense that I was crazy, and she began to talk to me in that way. I can't remember what she said, but I was demanding to find out what was wrong with me. However, I do remember her saying, "If I tell you, you're just going to forget again tomorrow and yell at me again." And this is why we were separated. This feeling of separation made me feel even worse: I am losing my mind, I am losing my family, and I have no idea what is going on.
After telling her the last memory I had was being in Japan, she finally told me that's when I started showing symptoms of a late onset of adult autism, which in reality doesn't make any sense. But because I was already told that I was crazy, I knew I couldn't rely on my logic anymore. So I took her word for it. Jenevieve then gave me a look like she was done talking with me and wanted to get off Skype.
Our conversation ended, and I was left alone to deal with this awful situation. I began thinking, if I were crazy, then why is nobody taking care of me. I finally realized that I was not in Japan nor Iowa. I was in Kenosha, so I guess some relative nearby may be looking after me from a distance. I began to feel like Taylor at the end of planet of the apes, completely isolated and devastated.
I needed a breath of fresh air, so I ran outside and almost slipped on some ice covered by a thin blanket of snow. I remember seeing my breath. (This is how lucid and very convincing the dream was.) Looking up in the night sky for solace, I spotted a square shaped UFO flying through the sky. That's when I believed I was crazy, and then I shuttered to wake up.
Now awake, I felt glad that I was back in August 2011, but I was still under the strong effects of the dream. Was the dream my first symptom of this alleged autism? Now that I am sane, I dismissed that diagnosis. Still not thinking clearly because it was 4:15am, I remember having nightmares as a young child and making connections to reality. Perhaps the same was true now, I thought. Perhaps instead of mentally losing Jenevieve and Autumn, I have lost them in another way. I panicked realizing that something awful may have occurred on their trip to my mother's house.
I went online to check any news. I discovered that Masumi finally responded to my plans for later that day, but nothing about my family. I tried calling my mom's house, but Google finally caught on to the fact that I was making free calls to the United States. During this instant, my mind was becoming more logical and was starting to convince me not to make the call. The last fight I had left was logic versus the responsibility of a concerned father and husband, but logic finally one thanks to Google telling me I had to register my account in the United States.
I went back to bed and began being comforted that the whole thing was in my head and that the probability of Jenevieve and Autumn being safe was much greater than not. I was only a little freaked out that I brought some of the crazy from the dream into reality for about 5 minutes. That delay scared me but not enough to keep me awake any longer.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Nostalgia
This morning I had a dream that took me back to the summer of 2001, when Jenevieve and I started our new married life together in the Carriage House apartment on North Bend Road in Baltimore. The dream consisted of me getting a campus and vicinity map of UMBC, and figuring out how to get around. I'm sure this dream was brought on by my talk with Jenevieve last night about my pointless nostalgia about Japan and one of my educational psychology assignments (about interviewing young children) at UMBC.
My dream has freshly informed me that perhaps dreams bring on this sense of nostalgia. It was quite lucid as if I were really there and in that time period, and I woke up with that yearning. This caused a brief melancholy signifying that those were happier times. But my return to Japan has shown me that those time were not really happier times. Perhaps I have misplaced my yearning to be with my family to being at another place in time.
The good news is that I don't feel depressed. I just feel busy...in isolation. I'm discovering a few things about myself. The most important lesson is that I shouldn't really act on my nostalgia. I should just enjoy the dream or fantasy of nostalgia and then move on to living the present moment. Nostalgia was one reason for returning to Japan, but I'm getting nothing out of it. My final test of getting something out of it will be when I walk around Takasaki, where I lived for 2 years.
Another thing I am learning about myself is that my brain finds significance in 10 years gone by. When I was in high school, I had a strong nostalgia for my early childhood. I was 18 dreaming about being 8. When I was in Korea, I was hit for a few months of a strong wave of nostalgia for Beloit College. Those periods of my life were separated by 10 years. And now it's Japan and I'm in Japan, and I'm really staring straight down this nostalgia.
However, I believe I've been nostalgic about Japan more than any other country I have visited. But I am coming to understand that it's not about Japan. It's about the last days of my youth. Japan was the last place I lived before marriage, before a graduate degree, and just before I decided to make my current job my career. Basically, I was the most independent I ever was in my life. Now I'm the most responsible I have ever been in my life, but with no regrets. It helps me see more clearly the relation between responsibility and anxiety.
The best thing about nostalgia is that informs me that I have lived a full and enjoyable life, and I am only 35 years old. Nostalgia also does a great job of erasing the bad memories from days gone by. "Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra" - Jimmy Scott-Emuakpor.
For the science & psychology of nostalgia:
My dream has freshly informed me that perhaps dreams bring on this sense of nostalgia. It was quite lucid as if I were really there and in that time period, and I woke up with that yearning. This caused a brief melancholy signifying that those were happier times. But my return to Japan has shown me that those time were not really happier times. Perhaps I have misplaced my yearning to be with my family to being at another place in time.
The good news is that I don't feel depressed. I just feel busy...in isolation. I'm discovering a few things about myself. The most important lesson is that I shouldn't really act on my nostalgia. I should just enjoy the dream or fantasy of nostalgia and then move on to living the present moment. Nostalgia was one reason for returning to Japan, but I'm getting nothing out of it. My final test of getting something out of it will be when I walk around Takasaki, where I lived for 2 years.
Another thing I am learning about myself is that my brain finds significance in 10 years gone by. When I was in high school, I had a strong nostalgia for my early childhood. I was 18 dreaming about being 8. When I was in Korea, I was hit for a few months of a strong wave of nostalgia for Beloit College. Those periods of my life were separated by 10 years. And now it's Japan and I'm in Japan, and I'm really staring straight down this nostalgia.
However, I believe I've been nostalgic about Japan more than any other country I have visited. But I am coming to understand that it's not about Japan. It's about the last days of my youth. Japan was the last place I lived before marriage, before a graduate degree, and just before I decided to make my current job my career. Basically, I was the most independent I ever was in my life. Now I'm the most responsible I have ever been in my life, but with no regrets. It helps me see more clearly the relation between responsibility and anxiety.
The best thing about nostalgia is that informs me that I have lived a full and enjoyable life, and I am only 35 years old. Nostalgia also does a great job of erasing the bad memories from days gone by. "Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra" - Jimmy Scott-Emuakpor.
For the science & psychology of nostalgia:
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Niigata Highway Adventure
It started at 8:30am at the entrance of my university. We exchanged gifts, Gunma snacks and American macaroni-and-cheese-in-a-box, before we headed out to our first destination: Okutadami Lake, which is up in the high mountains near Urasa. Unfortunately this region suffered from 3 days of heavy rains. Many mountain roads were washed out with debris, including the road to the lake.
Plan B was to head for the Hakkai-san ropeway. Last weekend, Adam received a discount ticket from a friendly young monk at the Hakkai-san shrine but couldn't use it because of his terrible fall. Yoshimi called to check if the ropeway was open. Indeed it was, however the road leading to the ropeway was closed.
Plan C was to head for another ropeway in Yuzawa, and you can tell from my introduction that we made it there without a problem. Unfortunately, as we were about to get on the ropeway, it started pouring out. By the time we got to the top of the mountain, the pouring rain changed to steady rain. About 10 minutes later, it turned to a drizzle and then a mist. Finally after 30 minutes, the rain cleared and the temperature shot up by at least 10 degrees.
Here's a very short video of the mist rising from the quickly heating mountains:
And here is the view towards Urasa, which is nearly as far you can see the valley. The university is behind one of the smaller mountains or foothills on the right. Beyond the mountains in the background and to the left is the city of Nagaoka, where one of Japan's largest fireworks will be held this Tuesday and Wednesday.
After we got back down to Yuzawa town, we decided to go get some fresh sushi...by the sea. So we took to the expressway and headed for the East Sea (or Nihonkai). Half of the trip was surrounded by these tall mountains, and the other half was either flat rice fields or the seaside. It was my first time seeing the East Sea since Jenevieve and I visited Sokcho during our last romantic autumn vacation in Korea to Seoraksan.
Actually the seaside tourist spots of Niigata felt very similar to the seaside restaurant area of Sokcho. Here is a picture of the resort area where we spent most of our time eating and shopping:
Heading back to Urasa, we got a quick deluge of rain...again. But finally we got to see this for the first time. It actually got a little bigger then this after I snapped the photo.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Getting Back to Business
After the excitement of last weekend, I found myself getting behind in my research and my job. Fortunately for me, I have caught up with my job's tasks this morning, so I have been able to relax a little bit. Yesterday, I exhausted myself by waking up at 6am to score 11 final drafts of essays before lunch. After lunch, I taught until 4:15 and then I prepared the next day's activities until 7pm when my brain could no longer function. That was 13 hours of work! Although lunch could be considered not work, it sort of is because we are urged to socialize with the students. Already being exhausted by lunchtime, forcing a friendly conversation feels like work.
This morning I got enough sleep and paced myself well in and outside the class. I think one affective factor to my exhaustion is feeling sympathy for my exhausted students. We're hitting the midpoint of the summer program soon, and I can virtually see the workload on their shoulders. I feel that my improved mood now contrasts with my students' moods, but it's not rubbing off on them. In fact, they may have envied my cheerful attitude today.
By Friday, I should cleared enough time to get cracking on catching up on my research. I'm currently reading through the least relevant part of a very relevant book, but I need to finish the book and read at least 2 other articles to get caught up. I would also like to start interviewing some of my colleagues for practice. I'd say that I haven't had this "can do" spirit for about a week, so it's good to feel motivated and I hope it lasts through the weekend.
In other news, thunderstorms have been rolling through Urasa last night and this afternoon. A powerful storm last night cut the power from our campus for a few minutes. The power returned at exactly 9pm when I make my daily Skype call to Jenevieve and Autumn. Autumn seemed like she wanted to spend more time with me than usual, and that made me miss her even more.
For lunch today, the cafeteria surprised us all by serving bibimbap, a Korean dish. Because the portions were big, I got my fill. However, it induced my appetite and I've been hungrier than I have ever been since I arrived. I got back to my dorm and finished off a package of cookies. Before then, the bibimbap inspired conversations about Korea at the lunch table. I had many enjoyable conversations about Korea, Korean food, and Seoul. And then I felt very nostalgic about Korea. I often had felt nostalgic about Japan when I was in Korea, but this was the first time that I felt that I preferred to be in Korea. This feeling surprised me, however I am enjoying my time here.
Strangely, I had two separate conversations where religion became the topic. Both were raised by students. One conversation was about Shinto, Buddhism, animism, and atheism. Another was about Mormons as one student is an ex-Mormon.
For me, today was a very satisfactory day. A great complement to the very exhausting day yesterday. I felt that I had accomplished an equal amount of work in both days. Here's to the days ahead!
Below is a view from my office hallway looking towards the east side of campus. The mountain in the background is Hakkai-san, which sounds like "Hawkeye" san.
This morning I got enough sleep and paced myself well in and outside the class. I think one affective factor to my exhaustion is feeling sympathy for my exhausted students. We're hitting the midpoint of the summer program soon, and I can virtually see the workload on their shoulders. I feel that my improved mood now contrasts with my students' moods, but it's not rubbing off on them. In fact, they may have envied my cheerful attitude today.
By Friday, I should cleared enough time to get cracking on catching up on my research. I'm currently reading through the least relevant part of a very relevant book, but I need to finish the book and read at least 2 other articles to get caught up. I would also like to start interviewing some of my colleagues for practice. I'd say that I haven't had this "can do" spirit for about a week, so it's good to feel motivated and I hope it lasts through the weekend.
In other news, thunderstorms have been rolling through Urasa last night and this afternoon. A powerful storm last night cut the power from our campus for a few minutes. The power returned at exactly 9pm when I make my daily Skype call to Jenevieve and Autumn. Autumn seemed like she wanted to spend more time with me than usual, and that made me miss her even more.
For lunch today, the cafeteria surprised us all by serving bibimbap, a Korean dish. Because the portions were big, I got my fill. However, it induced my appetite and I've been hungrier than I have ever been since I arrived. I got back to my dorm and finished off a package of cookies. Before then, the bibimbap inspired conversations about Korea at the lunch table. I had many enjoyable conversations about Korea, Korean food, and Seoul. And then I felt very nostalgic about Korea. I often had felt nostalgic about Japan when I was in Korea, but this was the first time that I felt that I preferred to be in Korea. This feeling surprised me, however I am enjoying my time here.
Strangely, I had two separate conversations where religion became the topic. Both were raised by students. One conversation was about Shinto, Buddhism, animism, and atheism. Another was about Mormons as one student is an ex-Mormon.
For me, today was a very satisfactory day. A great complement to the very exhausting day yesterday. I felt that I had accomplished an equal amount of work in both days. Here's to the days ahead!
Below is a view from my office hallway looking towards the east side of campus. The mountain in the background is Hakkai-san, which sounds like "Hawkeye" san.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Adventures with Adam
Immediately after Friday's class, I got ready for my first trip outside of Niigata since I arrived. At the same time, the students and faculty were preparing for their hike to see the snow bridge in the Mizunashi Gorge. Fifteen minutes after they left campus, I also left campus for the train station to take the shinkansen to Kumagaya, where I used to teach conversational English from 1998 to 2001.
Here is a picture of where my school used to be. It was on the fourth floor of the building with the signs on the windows. It closed down in 2007 amid scandals and bankruptcy.
At the Kumagaya train station, I met Masumi, who is one of my ex-students at that school. She's currently living with her parents while she is looking for a job. We also met my friend Adam, who I met as a co-worker at the same school. The special occasion besides our reunion was the Kumagaya uchiwa matsuri, which is the city's special summer festival with the theme of the hand-held paper fan.
On our way to see the main event, we stopped at various street vendors to eat some festival food. Adam and I got Yokosuka takoyaki, which is a special kind of battered octopus ball in that each ball also contained a quail's egg. It was definitely more filling than your average takoyaki.
As the sun was setting we came to the main event, the drum competition. Many of the floats in the videos below were going up and down the many streets around this area of Kumagaya. Finally they all ended up in the same location to compete for the best drumming. Please enjoy the 1 minute video below:
After that we wanted to find a quieter place to sit and talk. We found a coffee shop, but it was closing in 10 minutes. So were left without ideas and spent about an hour wandering around and finally standing in the train station talking about old times and old friends. Masumi didn't want to talk about the present time because it was too depressing.
So Adam and I took the shinkansen to return to Urasa and the International University of Japan. We wanted to talk about a lot of things when we got back, but it was midnight and I needed my sleep. The next morning we got on our bicycles and rode to the Hakkai-san shrine, temple, and lake. I knew there were a few trails around the lake, so we took them but they were quite short and disappointing.
Most mountain hikes on sacred mountains like Hakkai-san start at temples, so we went there and asked directions. We found two different trails. The first one took us to a sacred area where we found the tombs of several kami or gods. That area was quite mystical and beautiful as it was surrounded by lush greenery, waterfalls, and moss covered rocks.
The second trail took us up the mountain, but it wasn't well trodden. The plants and grass on the trail were knee high, which worried me because I've already spotted 3 venomous mamushi snakes, and I didn't want to get bitten, especially in such an isolating trail. I headed back down, but Adam followed me about 5 minutes later as the trail got even more difficult to follow.
We ran into a monk who directed us back to the first trail, but we tried to explain to him that we already went there. Our unsuccessful communication brought out a younger monk who explained in his best English that the trail up Hakkai-san was quite treacherous for the first 3 hours, and that it's not uncommon for people to die on it. We were in no way prepared for such a hike. On the upside, he gave us a discounted ticket for the rope-way which gets you past the 3 hours of poor hiking conditions in 15 minutes.
Adam and I took a fast downhill ride towards IUJ, but we stopped at a watermelon shop on the way. Urasa is famous for it's yairo watermelon, which official comes into season today, July 25th. We got to my dorm, and chowed down on half of it while we watched YouTube videos, including Conan O'Brien's commencement speech at Dartmouth, where Adam read poetry as the Robert Frost poet of the year about 1 week less than a year ago.
The second half of our Saturday was a 20-minute bike ride to Urasa station, a 45-minute local train ride from Urasa to the bigger city of Nagaoka, and a 10-minute bus ride to the Apita mall where we would eventually watch the final installment of Harry Potter films. We had about 2 hours before the movie started, so we ate lunch and met up with two of my colleagues at IUJ. Later, we bumped into about 10 of our students who watched the previous showing of the same film.
We watched Harry Potter: The End, and got a ride back to Urasa with my colleagues. Before they dropped us off to get our bikes from the station, we stopped for a late dinner at the local Italian restaurant and had pasta and pizza. The service there was fantastic, and the food was average. So we biked back until it was too dark to see where we were going, and walked our bikes back to the university. By then, it was nearly 11pm, so we went to bed.
Sunday's plan was for Adam to leave early in the morning, so I could do all my grading for this week and do some research. He planned to bike to the hiking trail at the Mizunashi Gorge, and about 30-45 minutes later he came back with a bruised and bloody face. He had a terrible bike accident as he was making a fast descent on a gravel path with a turn and too much pressure on the front brakes. He needed medical attention. My home has no first aid kit, and I discovered just then that I had no phone service. Adam let me use his cellphone to call my supervisors, and they helped us get him to the local hospital.
After about 3 hours, he was cleaned up, stitched up, and thoroughly examined with a CT scanner and x-rays. The diagnosis was no internal injuries, but he may have scarring on his nose, which bore the brunt of his fall. As we were checking out, his wife arrived from Ageo to help him get changed into clean clothes and to get back home. By 3pm, our adventures ended for the better.
At the Kumagaya train station, I met Masumi, who is one of my ex-students at that school. She's currently living with her parents while she is looking for a job. We also met my friend Adam, who I met as a co-worker at the same school. The special occasion besides our reunion was the Kumagaya uchiwa matsuri, which is the city's special summer festival with the theme of the hand-held paper fan.
On our way to see the main event, we stopped at various street vendors to eat some festival food. Adam and I got Yokosuka takoyaki, which is a special kind of battered octopus ball in that each ball also contained a quail's egg. It was definitely more filling than your average takoyaki.
As the sun was setting we came to the main event, the drum competition. Many of the floats in the videos below were going up and down the many streets around this area of Kumagaya. Finally they all ended up in the same location to compete for the best drumming. Please enjoy the 1 minute video below:
After that we wanted to find a quieter place to sit and talk. We found a coffee shop, but it was closing in 10 minutes. So were left without ideas and spent about an hour wandering around and finally standing in the train station talking about old times and old friends. Masumi didn't want to talk about the present time because it was too depressing.
So Adam and I took the shinkansen to return to Urasa and the International University of Japan. We wanted to talk about a lot of things when we got back, but it was midnight and I needed my sleep. The next morning we got on our bicycles and rode to the Hakkai-san shrine, temple, and lake. I knew there were a few trails around the lake, so we took them but they were quite short and disappointing.
Most mountain hikes on sacred mountains like Hakkai-san start at temples, so we went there and asked directions. We found two different trails. The first one took us to a sacred area where we found the tombs of several kami or gods. That area was quite mystical and beautiful as it was surrounded by lush greenery, waterfalls, and moss covered rocks.
The second trail took us up the mountain, but it wasn't well trodden. The plants and grass on the trail were knee high, which worried me because I've already spotted 3 venomous mamushi snakes, and I didn't want to get bitten, especially in such an isolating trail. I headed back down, but Adam followed me about 5 minutes later as the trail got even more difficult to follow.
We ran into a monk who directed us back to the first trail, but we tried to explain to him that we already went there. Our unsuccessful communication brought out a younger monk who explained in his best English that the trail up Hakkai-san was quite treacherous for the first 3 hours, and that it's not uncommon for people to die on it. We were in no way prepared for such a hike. On the upside, he gave us a discounted ticket for the rope-way which gets you past the 3 hours of poor hiking conditions in 15 minutes.
Adam and I took a fast downhill ride towards IUJ, but we stopped at a watermelon shop on the way. Urasa is famous for it's yairo watermelon, which official comes into season today, July 25th. We got to my dorm, and chowed down on half of it while we watched YouTube videos, including Conan O'Brien's commencement speech at Dartmouth, where Adam read poetry as the Robert Frost poet of the year about 1 week less than a year ago.
The second half of our Saturday was a 20-minute bike ride to Urasa station, a 45-minute local train ride from Urasa to the bigger city of Nagaoka, and a 10-minute bus ride to the Apita mall where we would eventually watch the final installment of Harry Potter films. We had about 2 hours before the movie started, so we ate lunch and met up with two of my colleagues at IUJ. Later, we bumped into about 10 of our students who watched the previous showing of the same film.
We watched Harry Potter: The End, and got a ride back to Urasa with my colleagues. Before they dropped us off to get our bikes from the station, we stopped for a late dinner at the local Italian restaurant and had pasta and pizza. The service there was fantastic, and the food was average. So we biked back until it was too dark to see where we were going, and walked our bikes back to the university. By then, it was nearly 11pm, so we went to bed.
Sunday's plan was for Adam to leave early in the morning, so I could do all my grading for this week and do some research. He planned to bike to the hiking trail at the Mizunashi Gorge, and about 30-45 minutes later he came back with a bruised and bloody face. He had a terrible bike accident as he was making a fast descent on a gravel path with a turn and too much pressure on the front brakes. He needed medical attention. My home has no first aid kit, and I discovered just then that I had no phone service. Adam let me use his cellphone to call my supervisors, and they helped us get him to the local hospital.
After about 3 hours, he was cleaned up, stitched up, and thoroughly examined with a CT scanner and x-rays. The diagnosis was no internal injuries, but he may have scarring on his nose, which bore the brunt of his fall. As we were checking out, his wife arrived from Ageo to help him get changed into clean clothes and to get back home. By 3pm, our adventures ended for the better.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Urasa Bus Tour
Last Sunday, some students and faculty went on a bus tour of the local area. We visited 3 spots, the Hakkai mountain shrine and Buddhist temple, the winery and produce market, and Bishamondo, the old shrine downtown.
Here are all the bus passengers as we got out at our first stop near Hakkai-san.
I am the only person not pictured.
The entrance to the shrine
Getting closer to the shrine
Prayer tiles
View from the shrine to the valley below
Adjacent to the Hakkai-san shrine was a lake created by damming a mountain river
A hiking trail along the lake
Down on the pier, you can see Richard and some students feeding the hungry carp.
Now we are the entrance of the Bishamondo shrine in downtown Urasa.
In the bottom right corner were our tour guides, two high school students.
Bishamondo shrine is approximately 1200 years old.
This is the "dunk tank" where the main event of the Naked Man Festival takes place.
Here's another video of IUJ students participating in the 2009 festival.
Here's another video of IUJ students participating in the 2009 festival.
Water pours from the dragon's mouth.
Apparently there are a lot of dragon's mouths in this area where clean water springs forth.
Although we got to see some great places, it was the hottest and most humid day of the year to date. So most of us were not in the best of moods. Luckily nobody got into arguments. The coolest part of the trip was not captured on camera, but it was the basement level of the winery where the wine was cooled by snow captured from the winter. No air conditioning needed.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Weekend Solo
This will be the last weekend where I don't have much planned for the next month. Next weekend, I will be going down to Kumagaya, where I first taught English as a Second Language. Coming back with me will be a friend and fellow colleague who worked with me in Kumagaya, and we will do some hiking around Niigata. The following weekend, a Japanese friend of mine from Takasaki now Isesaki, Gunma will visit me and we will explore the local festivals in the area. The weekend after that I will be heading to Takasaki, where I used to live with Jenevieve for 2 years. I hope to stop by all our old haunts.
Last night I played some volleyball with many students while many of my colleagues watched. I was fortunate to be on the winning team twice. It was great to be playing volleyball again, since I haven't played for such a long time. The last time was the summer before Autumn was born in La Crosse, but we were playing 4 against 4 with a beach ball. I think the last time I played a real game of volleyball was when we were intramural champions at Beloit College way back in 1997.
This morning, I took a quick and breezy downhill bike ride downtown. There wasn't much to do. I didn't need to take the train of go grocery shopping. I just had breakfast, so there was no need to eat. Because I felt the temperature rising, I decided to bike back home. It took twice as long as it was uphill and didn't have as nice as a breeze. Perhaps I'll take the free shuttle downtown next time. My mountain bike is meant for rural sightseeing I guess.
Once I got into the daily routine of teaching classes and planning lessons, I began to enjoy life here much more. I feel like I have returned to my element, and that's what I thought when I returned to being a student. There isn't much I can get out of being a student in my discipline any more, but I'm not saying there's nothing to learn any more. I can learn just as much teaching in environments like the one I am in now. It's definitely not a repeat of my previous teaching experience in Japan.
Perhaps I'm feeling a bit escapist, but it's nice to get away from the turmoil of American politics and the American economy. There's nothing but bad news, but I guess I could say the same for Japanese politics and its economy. I don't feel like an escapist from my family because I miss them very much, but I get to see them nearly every day. Coming here makes me rethink where to settle down. It's probably going to be in the United States, but when I have enjoyable times like this week, I feel like I wouldn't mind living and working in a relatively stable country like Japan. Watching the news, it seems like most of the securities of living in the United States are on the chopping block.
Last night I played some volleyball with many students while many of my colleagues watched. I was fortunate to be on the winning team twice. It was great to be playing volleyball again, since I haven't played for such a long time. The last time was the summer before Autumn was born in La Crosse, but we were playing 4 against 4 with a beach ball. I think the last time I played a real game of volleyball was when we were intramural champions at Beloit College way back in 1997.
This morning, I took a quick and breezy downhill bike ride downtown. There wasn't much to do. I didn't need to take the train of go grocery shopping. I just had breakfast, so there was no need to eat. Because I felt the temperature rising, I decided to bike back home. It took twice as long as it was uphill and didn't have as nice as a breeze. Perhaps I'll take the free shuttle downtown next time. My mountain bike is meant for rural sightseeing I guess.
Once I got into the daily routine of teaching classes and planning lessons, I began to enjoy life here much more. I feel like I have returned to my element, and that's what I thought when I returned to being a student. There isn't much I can get out of being a student in my discipline any more, but I'm not saying there's nothing to learn any more. I can learn just as much teaching in environments like the one I am in now. It's definitely not a repeat of my previous teaching experience in Japan.
Perhaps I'm feeling a bit escapist, but it's nice to get away from the turmoil of American politics and the American economy. There's nothing but bad news, but I guess I could say the same for Japanese politics and its economy. I don't feel like an escapist from my family because I miss them very much, but I get to see them nearly every day. Coming here makes me rethink where to settle down. It's probably going to be in the United States, but when I have enjoyable times like this week, I feel like I wouldn't mind living and working in a relatively stable country like Japan. Watching the news, it seems like most of the securities of living in the United States are on the chopping block.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
First Class
I just got back from teaching my first ESL class since I left the ESL Institute at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. For a first day, it went well and very fast. If I had paced the classes as I had intended, both would have gone over by 10 minutes. I guess I should explain my classes first.
I teach the same students in the same room for two classes under the umbrella name of Text Skills. Except for the first two days, the first class (essay writing) starts at 1:30pm and ends at 2:45pm, and the second class (reading, vocabulary, and grammar) starts at 3:00pm and ends at 4:15pm. Perhaps these classes feel rushed because I'm used to 60 or 90 minute classes as opposed to 75 minutes.
For the first 2 weeks, I'll have 11 students in my classes and then I'll have 12 throughout the rest of the 6-week program. Of the 12, I have 6 Japanese men, 2 Thai women, 1 Chinese woman, 1 Cambodian woman, 1 Bengali man, and 1 Uzbek man. For the most part, the students seemed to be getting along quite well. The biggest challenge for me seems to be understanding the accents I'm not used to hearing. From my teaching experience, my first impression is most similar to my UWL classes, especially the essay writing classes.
These students differ from most of my UWL students in that they are older and thus more mature. Most of my mature students at UWL were the MBA students, and many students here are business or economics students as well. Their level of understanding the EAP (English for Academic Purposes) classroom culture is considerably higher than my UWL students, and most of them are able to follow my sense of humor. I've kept my humor quite light as this is a very serious program.
I feel as if I have established a good rapport with about half the class, which is quite good for the first day. It usually takes the first week or two to get to that level. I have already noticed a student or two that I may have to work on for better rapport. For now, I just assume they are serious and concentrating students. To give you a hint of who they are, they are from a culture I'm not familiar teaching in.
My classroom is one of the nicer classrooms that I have taught in. It has more than enough room for 12 students and me. It's equipped with a computer and an overhead project, but neither are built into the room. For now, there seems to be plenty of writing utensils for both chalkboard and whiteboard. I won't be using them too much myself as I'm continuing the University of Iowa College of Education's paperless program. All my handouts are online for the students to access. And I made my lesson plans accessible to the students once the class is completed, so they can refer to them as notes.
The worst thing about the classroom is the temperature. You can feel a slight cool breeze from the air conditioning, but it's not enough to halt a sweat. Because of the nuclear reactor crisis at Fukushima, the whole country is conserving its energy, so this is how IUJ helps in the effort. Although I was mildly sweating in the class, once I stepped out into the hall, it turned into a medium sweat. The pores completely flushed when I stepped outside. I haven't been in this type of environment since Korea, but Korea's only this bad for a few weeks. It's like this for months in Japan.
I teach the same students in the same room for two classes under the umbrella name of Text Skills. Except for the first two days, the first class (essay writing) starts at 1:30pm and ends at 2:45pm, and the second class (reading, vocabulary, and grammar) starts at 3:00pm and ends at 4:15pm. Perhaps these classes feel rushed because I'm used to 60 or 90 minute classes as opposed to 75 minutes.
For the first 2 weeks, I'll have 11 students in my classes and then I'll have 12 throughout the rest of the 6-week program. Of the 12, I have 6 Japanese men, 2 Thai women, 1 Chinese woman, 1 Cambodian woman, 1 Bengali man, and 1 Uzbek man. For the most part, the students seemed to be getting along quite well. The biggest challenge for me seems to be understanding the accents I'm not used to hearing. From my teaching experience, my first impression is most similar to my UWL classes, especially the essay writing classes.
These students differ from most of my UWL students in that they are older and thus more mature. Most of my mature students at UWL were the MBA students, and many students here are business or economics students as well. Their level of understanding the EAP (English for Academic Purposes) classroom culture is considerably higher than my UWL students, and most of them are able to follow my sense of humor. I've kept my humor quite light as this is a very serious program.
I feel as if I have established a good rapport with about half the class, which is quite good for the first day. It usually takes the first week or two to get to that level. I have already noticed a student or two that I may have to work on for better rapport. For now, I just assume they are serious and concentrating students. To give you a hint of who they are, they are from a culture I'm not familiar teaching in.
My classroom is one of the nicer classrooms that I have taught in. It has more than enough room for 12 students and me. It's equipped with a computer and an overhead project, but neither are built into the room. For now, there seems to be plenty of writing utensils for both chalkboard and whiteboard. I won't be using them too much myself as I'm continuing the University of Iowa College of Education's paperless program. All my handouts are online for the students to access. And I made my lesson plans accessible to the students once the class is completed, so they can refer to them as notes.
The worst thing about the classroom is the temperature. You can feel a slight cool breeze from the air conditioning, but it's not enough to halt a sweat. Because of the nuclear reactor crisis at Fukushima, the whole country is conserving its energy, so this is how IUJ helps in the effort. Although I was mildly sweating in the class, once I stepped out into the hall, it turned into a medium sweat. The pores completely flushed when I stepped outside. I haven't been in this type of environment since Korea, but Korea's only this bad for a few weeks. It's like this for months in Japan.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Interesting Video
I definitely do not observe this type of Japan here in rural Niigata, but most of my Japanese students have written about their concerns and worries about the future of their country. I sense a lot more apprehension than I did 10 years ago.
First Week of Adjustment
The first two days had the greatest mixture of excitement and anxiety, and after that it somewhat tapered off. Although I'm nearly a week into my brief stay in Urasa, I haven't started teaching yet. Only then will I become more accustomed to life here. The real routine has yet to begin.
So far, I've gotten to know most of my fellow teachers. As a collective, we are an easy going and laid back group with similar interests. I keep forgetting how much I fit in with many ESL/EFL programs. We all have a fascination for new languages and cultures. There's also a great appreciation for nature that nearly everyone shares. And everyone has some type of interest in the arts, whether it is music or literature, "high culture" if you will. So it is very easy to get along with everyone.
Yesterday was the first time I got to meet a good number of the 80-81 students. I will be assigned to a group of 11-12 tomorrow, so I should get to know them very well. Most of the students are younger than me, but not too much younger than me. Like the teachers, they are highly interested in international affairs. We are at an international university, mind you. Most of the students are Japanese, but there's a good number from Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
I probably felt the most relaxed after a good "meet and greet" session followed by some badminton with several students. It was also the first day that I wasn't bothered by being drenched in my own sweat for a good portion of the whole day. That said, it's not too hard to feel isolated as the location is quite isolating and many people keep busy.
I've realized that a big contributor to some anxiety is comparing my current experience with my first experience coming to Japan. Even though I don't expect much of it to be the same, there's a little part that does. But I haven't found much in common at all. Firstly, I'm much more mature than I was then. Secondly, I'm familiar with Japan and ESL education. Thirdly, I'm much more respected because of my experience and the prestige of this summer program. Bluntly, I'm not making as many stupid mistakes and nobody's acting like a jerk. Put that way, I feel much better.
I get a little melancholy because those naive and foolish/fun days are long gone. I'm also distant from a lot of the Japanese culture I was used to--urban Kanto life. Rural Niigata life is almost like a different country that speaks the same language. I guess it sometimes feel like your best friend lives next store, but you can't visit him right now and you've heard that he's changed a lot, so you may be disappointed in a reunion.
Information and communication technology has also made it more difficult to immerse myself into the culture. Before I was excited to jump into Japanese, Korean, and Russian life. I also had the security of having my fiancee/wife with me. This time I am alone and I am in a rural environment. I guess one could say that I am having my first rural expatriate experience. I have been to rural areas in Japan before, but I was just visiting. This is definitely new. I have to learn how to create a lifestyle in rural Japan, but the technology tempts me away from adjusting to this lifestyle.
My previous lifestyle was dominated by research, PhD courses, and child-rearing, which called for me to stay at home or work in the office and not much else. I should take a break from that, but I still need to do some research. I have some course work here of course, but most importantly, the internet provides the feeling of connectedness. Is this connectedness helping or hurting my adjustment to the new lifestyle?
My need to take in Japanese media is almost non-existent. However, Japanese media helped me to improve my understanding of the language and culture. If I were to stay here for longer than 6 weeks, I would consider it. Anyway, it's nearly as accessible as American media online anyway. Because I'm in Japan, nearly all the advertisements I get online are Japanese, so the media is getting to me in some way. I feel a bit disrespectful in that I prefer to take in American media over Japanese as it is less relevant to my context however it is more relevant to me. I believe that if I were to stay here longer that American media would be an obstacle to my adjustment to Japanese life. I'm strongly considering to look into this aspect of intercultural adjustment in my research.
Then there is media that is more or less international like Facebook and YouTube. Although I use these sites in English, they recognize that my server is in Japan. YouTube has especially changed in that nearly all of its recommendations are popular Japanese videos. Perhaps I should look into this to help with my adjustment. I wonder how many new expatriates learn about their host culture in this way.
So far, I've gotten to know most of my fellow teachers. As a collective, we are an easy going and laid back group with similar interests. I keep forgetting how much I fit in with many ESL/EFL programs. We all have a fascination for new languages and cultures. There's also a great appreciation for nature that nearly everyone shares. And everyone has some type of interest in the arts, whether it is music or literature, "high culture" if you will. So it is very easy to get along with everyone.
Yesterday was the first time I got to meet a good number of the 80-81 students. I will be assigned to a group of 11-12 tomorrow, so I should get to know them very well. Most of the students are younger than me, but not too much younger than me. Like the teachers, they are highly interested in international affairs. We are at an international university, mind you. Most of the students are Japanese, but there's a good number from Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
I probably felt the most relaxed after a good "meet and greet" session followed by some badminton with several students. It was also the first day that I wasn't bothered by being drenched in my own sweat for a good portion of the whole day. That said, it's not too hard to feel isolated as the location is quite isolating and many people keep busy.
I've realized that a big contributor to some anxiety is comparing my current experience with my first experience coming to Japan. Even though I don't expect much of it to be the same, there's a little part that does. But I haven't found much in common at all. Firstly, I'm much more mature than I was then. Secondly, I'm familiar with Japan and ESL education. Thirdly, I'm much more respected because of my experience and the prestige of this summer program. Bluntly, I'm not making as many stupid mistakes and nobody's acting like a jerk. Put that way, I feel much better.
I get a little melancholy because those naive and foolish/fun days are long gone. I'm also distant from a lot of the Japanese culture I was used to--urban Kanto life. Rural Niigata life is almost like a different country that speaks the same language. I guess it sometimes feel like your best friend lives next store, but you can't visit him right now and you've heard that he's changed a lot, so you may be disappointed in a reunion.
Information and communication technology has also made it more difficult to immerse myself into the culture. Before I was excited to jump into Japanese, Korean, and Russian life. I also had the security of having my fiancee/wife with me. This time I am alone and I am in a rural environment. I guess one could say that I am having my first rural expatriate experience. I have been to rural areas in Japan before, but I was just visiting. This is definitely new. I have to learn how to create a lifestyle in rural Japan, but the technology tempts me away from adjusting to this lifestyle.
My previous lifestyle was dominated by research, PhD courses, and child-rearing, which called for me to stay at home or work in the office and not much else. I should take a break from that, but I still need to do some research. I have some course work here of course, but most importantly, the internet provides the feeling of connectedness. Is this connectedness helping or hurting my adjustment to the new lifestyle?
My need to take in Japanese media is almost non-existent. However, Japanese media helped me to improve my understanding of the language and culture. If I were to stay here for longer than 6 weeks, I would consider it. Anyway, it's nearly as accessible as American media online anyway. Because I'm in Japan, nearly all the advertisements I get online are Japanese, so the media is getting to me in some way. I feel a bit disrespectful in that I prefer to take in American media over Japanese as it is less relevant to my context however it is more relevant to me. I believe that if I were to stay here longer that American media would be an obstacle to my adjustment to Japanese life. I'm strongly considering to look into this aspect of intercultural adjustment in my research.
Then there is media that is more or less international like Facebook and YouTube. Although I use these sites in English, they recognize that my server is in Japan. YouTube has especially changed in that nearly all of its recommendations are popular Japanese videos. Perhaps I should look into this to help with my adjustment. I wonder how many new expatriates learn about their host culture in this way.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Videos of the Mizunashi Gorge
And here are the videos that provide a better context and the sensation of sound to the blog experience. I took a lot of videos of waterfalls for my father, who's an avid waterfall-catcher...on film.
Here is some evidence of last winter's landslide.
There were many small waterfalls like this one along our hike.
Here's a dramatic waterfall on the mountainside.
Last Friday, the water was shooting up a bit.
Here is a medium-sized waterfall that was big enough to supply some cool air as we hiked past it.
Another small waterfall
Here the rapids look like glacial ice melt.
This is the large waterfall that supplied the very comfortable cool breeze.
This is where that big waterfall met the icy blue water of the gorge.
Behind the greenery is a man-made waterfall.
Yes, this is snow.
But that is someone else's truck with a key left inside.
Take another look at the waterfall and the snow.
Here is the pile of packed snow as solid as ice stacked up next to my colleagues.
We were lucky that what remained of the arch did not fall on us.
Yes, that's evaporating mist coming out from under the snow.
It's difficult to capture the size of the mountain in my little tiny camera.
After seeing the great snow bridge, we turned around to take another look at what used to be a smaller snow bridge.
Near the end of our walk, we followed a trail down to the river gorge.
There's another waterfall from the other side of the gorge making its way to the river.
Two of our group took the plunge while I was filming this.
To maintain their privacy, I filmed in the opposite direction.
Staring at the rapids can sometimes be quite mesmerizing.
Photos of the Mizunashi Gorge
Today I had the opportunity to visit the Mizunashi Gorge again, so this posting will be photos followed by some short descriptions.
The road ended here, so we parked our car. It's the one in the back with the trunk open. I'm facing towards the direction of our university and the small town of Urasa.
Here are my fellow summer IEP instructors walking up the trail.
This is a dragonfly.
A dramatic waterfall lies ahead.
This is a grasshopper.
This is me in front of a waterfall that brought down the temperature by at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Our hiking group hung out here for a while to enjoy the sight, the sound, and the feel.
That waterfall ends here.
The best stuff is still ahead.
What's this?
The videos in the next posting will provide a better idea.
A branch emerges out of packed snow.
Underneath the packed snow, new life is budding from the ground.
Evaporating mist wafts out air much cooler than that waterfall.
The netting failed to contain the mountain.
Nature wins again!
The side of this mountain makes for good desktop wallpaper.
The famous snow bridge!
It was about 88 degrees Fahrenheit at the start of the trail.
It's closer to 80 degrees here.
But it's July!
The snow bridge in its mountainous context.
Walking over a little snow hill to get a closer look of the snow bridge.
Can we trust this man-made tunnel to walk under the snow bridge?
We enter.
From one of the tunnel's windows, I grab this shot of the snow bridge.
But one of my colleagues discovers that, in the darkness, the tunnel's left wall has fallen apart.
So we exit.
The snow bridge has another tunnel.
This is a butterfly.
The other side of its wings are a beautiful cerulean blue.
When it flutters around it keeps that blue color, but when it lands on stones, it disappears in its camouflage.
I get a chance to dip my feet in the glacial icy blue water.
It was about as cold as Autumn's wading pool.
This should last a little longer than my footprints.
Flowers
Can you spot the snake?
It's a mamushi--a poisonous snake that isn't afraid to attack.
You will need to spend a week in the hospital if bitten.
All in all, this isn't bad for the first weekend back in Japan.
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