learn observe interact

all alone again

The season is finally over. That is to say, everyone has finally left me.

Having Tim and Brandi here was a fun time. We covered quite a bit of ground. Actually, no... we covered about a months worth of ground in the two weeks they were here. We were busy the entire time. For me it was awesome, because I like running around like crazy. Which is actually a bit strange. I never considered my traveling style particularly frenetic, but when I look at how much ground we covered I have to wonder. Am I one of those crazy tourists who doesn't actually enjoy any of the sites and just goes for the picture? If I was, wouldn't I have a lot more pictures? In any case, I had a good time. And I guess that's what it's really about. I think it's really that when I'm on a time limited schedule I want to do a lot. Living in a country makes it easy to take things in slowly, but touristing puts you into a constrained block that my schedule-dependent tendencies desire to fill.

In any case, we did a nice loop around central/south Japan; all by car. I think that many ALTs in Japan miss a huge opportunity not traveling by car. It's true that the expressways are incredibly expensive, but even when you add that to the price of gas you're still saving quite a bit of money if you've got even just 3 people. It's true, you're not saving time when compared to the Shinkansen, but you do have the option of pulling off and playing frisbee in the park. It's a nice way to travel with friends.

There are too many stories to tell, but I'll do my best.

***
We climbed Mt. Fuji the 5th day after they got here. Ethan came up from Okayama and we were in high-spirits as we pulled up to the mountain around 10:30pm. While it is the more difficult course to climb all night, we were confident we could do it with no problems. I think we might have been able to... if it hadn't been raining. It started off fairly nice, but quickly moved into a fairly miserable drizzle. The one advantage to this arrangement was that the long string of mountain-hut lights stretching up the mountain was largely hidden from us. Looking up the mountain at the rare times the clouds cleared was depressing, and coming back down the next day revealed exactly how high and depressing looking the mountain was. Starting at night is the way to go, you don't realize how totally screwed you are.

Fuji was difficult, much more difficult than I thought it would be. Prior to going we often used the misnomer 'hiking' to describe the ascent. Mt. Fuji is not a hike. It's a climb, and it's long. Still, seeing the sunrise at whatever elevation (we didn't hit the summit before sunrise, sadly) was amazing. Really quite beautiful, and definitely made the grueling climb worth it.

***
Nara is famous for two things: deer and a giant Buddha. The giant Buddha was really big. The deer wander free through the park, growing fat on the deer-crackers people feed them. The deer were far more entertaining. Actually, no: the people who came to see the deer were entertaining. Everyone went through the same set of reactions. First there was excitement: "Oh!! Deer! And they're not afraid of people! Let's feed them!". They'd then invest 150 yen in some deer crackers, and head in the direction of the deer. The deer would take notice, and start heading excitedly towards the deer-cracker toting individual. Crackers would be fed to the deer, but then chaos would break out. Deer would bite hands, butts or grab clothing trying to get at the delicious deer crackers. Panic would ensue, and the deer-feeder would try and restore order by yelling at the deer. "Hey! Those aren't for you!" The deer would continue their bad behavior, until the feeder would in fear or frustration toss the crackers away and run for their lives. This flow cut across age, class and nationality.

It was hilarious.

After Tim and Brandi experienced this first-hand, we sat back and watched for awhile as other dupes fell into the same trap. Those deer have a sweet deal and rewarded bad behavior. They're so spoiled it's awesome.

***

Saying good-bye's while enjoying time with Tim and Brandi was difficult, but at the same time, perhaps, easier. Distracting at the very least. Now that they're gone, I have a few days to stew. Actually, just 2. The day after tomorrow is the first day of Gunma orientation for all the new ALTs. That means I get to meet some new friends. Let's hope they're at least half as cool as the ones I made this year.

運転免許証

You needn't do much more than search for 'japan drivers license' to see what a pain it can be to get your license here. I may as well throw my 2 cents in the pot.

Living in Japan is easy for the first year. Using your IDP and home country license is a breeze, you don't have to do anything. Unfortunately, after a year the grace of Japan wears out and you're forced to get a real Japanese license. For some this is easy. Countries like Japan that issue licenses through a single, national entity means that those two entities can communicate and agree that they hold potential drivers to the same standard. That means you can just show up, pay some cash and get going. Unfortunately for other countries, like the US, who issue licenses through 50 different bureaus or who don't hold their drivers to the same standard... it means a road test.

The entire experience can be frustrating. The first time I went, I was turned away because my paperwork wasn't in order... (although it actually was). Worst of all though is the amount of time it takes. You have to arrive between 1:00 and 1:30 and you don't get done until at least 6pm. The amount of time it takes has nothing to do with your performance, it just sucks for everyone. Everyone takes their driving test in small groups, and the results for the day are announced all at once.

The actual road test is interesting. It's a closed course, and everyone takes the exact same route and faces the exact same obstacles (save perhaps the stoplight changing). As such, the test isn't even so much about driving skill but as test of doing these certain maneuvers, in this certain order at this specific time. It's notoriously difficult, fewer than 30% of people pass it on their first time. I've met at least 2 people that have taken it more than 5 times each (so far...). Even the 30% number that I dug up on the internet seems high though. The two times that I took the test only 2 people passed each time, out of perhaps 30 drivers. Some days no one passes.

I was really blessed to have passed on my second try. But, it was a good lesson in patience. So much time is spent just sitting and waiting. The second time I took the test I came to the driving center with a book I hadn't read, and left with a book that I had. It was also a bit nostalgic. I was absolutely tickled when I saw my number written on the passing board. The only other person to pass that day screamed, and started crying tears of joy. I could relate to how she was feeling.

Perhaps even worse though is that even if you pass your test, you have to come back again to actually pick up your license... and it takes almost as long. So very much waiting.

But, it's over now and I'm now officially part of the cool kids' club.

updates

http://jet-7.net/gallery/
I updated the gallery. Just 30 pictures, don't get too excited.
I have to admit, that compared to Benin I've been totally lame about taking pictures. I'd say I'd try to be better, but it is a little bit annoying to whip the camera out all the time. I think it's because life here isn't really THAT different than in the US, so it's hard to motivate. I have been trying to take more pictures with my cell-phone, since I do have it all the time. But even that is annoying (mostly because the camera doesn't work very well anymore... one too many drops on the ground I suppose). At least it wouldn't be out of place though. Japanese people take pictures with their cell-phones like every 5 seconds.

Beyond that it's still rainy season, which means bouts of incredible heat followed by bouts of incredible rain. Supposedly it's on its way out, so that's nice. Or is it?

I was checking out the Kurabuchi page on Japanese wikipedia. I'd been quoting our population as around 5400 previously, but it looks like we're actually a bit smaller at 4,683. It was also interesting to know that we have an official village bird, tree and flower (Japanese bush-warbler, Japanese Cypress, and the Gold-banded Lily respectively) It was also interesting to compare the wikipedia articles for surrounding areas (Matsuida has a population of 16,715. I knew it was bigger, but didn't realize nearly 4 times bigger!)

In life we're now just waiting for summer to start. Right now just 7 more days of teaching until the it starts. That's exciting! It's really snuck up on me, and it's even harder to believe that I've been here nearly a year now.

In other anniversaries, it's been now a year since I left Benin. Wow...

the sun gets up too early

Sunrise is currently happening in the neighborhood of 4:30. That's too dang early. Thankfully with the passage of the solstice it means we'll finally be heading in the opposite direction and I can slowly regain my sanity. Actually it's not so bad. The weather is sufficiently cool still that I can close my storm shutters and just let the tiniest sliver of light pierce my room. With that I don't get woken up quite so quickly. I'm afraid it won't last though, and when it really starts heating up I'd like to start sleeping outside. Whoa that no one can weave me a traditional bed overnight for $20 as in Benin. Even so, with the sunrise so early I wouldn't want to sleep outside yet.

I'm still running. My current plan is quite a bit less ambitious than marathon training mode, but it's enough to keep me fit enough that training again won't be difficult. I'm running 3 times a week; 2 hour-longs and a 30 minute on Wednesdays. I hope I can convince one or more of the new people to run with me come closer to fall, as there is a glut of marathons taking advantage of the beauty of turning leaves.

It's hard to believe that last year at this time I was cruising around on my rented motorcycle enjoying my last few days in Parakou. It's even more hard to believe that I've been here that long. It really doesn't seem like it's been that long at all. Crazy, crazy days.

Nothing all too exciting has happened in the past couple of weeks. We had our recontracting conference, where we talked all about... well recontracting. I'd say it was nice to miss a day of school, but it wasn't really. My conference tolerance is pretty low, although for all my complaints this was actually a rather nice one. The speakers in general were quite good, and the subjects relatively pertinent.

Beyond that I've really just been spending quality time with the friends who are leaving oh-too-soon. Hard to believe that some are leaving in a tad more than 4 weeks. Yikes.

sick...

I have a cold, and I blame the weather! (and elementary school). Nothing serious, and nothing preventing me from going to work... it's just annoying. Especially with the weekend coming up. I guess I don't really know which is better though; feeling crappy at school or feeling crappy at home. I guess I'll go with home.

MOS Burger recently reintroduced their 'hot chili'. I don't think I was around for its introduction, but it's changed my life. I mean, it's just chili... but it's chili in Japan and it's somewhat spicy. (By Japanese standards it's off the chart on the level of spiciness) I've always been a fan of MOS, but the chili cheese burger is way up there. Especially when you order extra chili to dip your fries and two onion rings in. (In their sets you can get a potato set, an onion set or an oni-pote set which combines french fries with 2 onion rings... yeah, that's right. Two.)

I can't seem to find a reference to the fact that I finally sought out Burger King in Japan with Brett. There are 6 branches, all in Tokyo. Burger King did try once already in Japan, but expanded too rapidly in a competitive environment. (For fast-food chains we've got First Kitchen, Lotteria, MOS Burger, McDonalds, Freshness Burger and probably others). They're making a new stab by following the Krispy Kreme strategy for Japan domination: start in Tokyo with one store, generate a lot of buzz and expand slowly. Currently Krispy Kreme Japan has been open for about 2 years, but in that time have only 7 stores. Of the seven currently opened, 2 have opened within the past month. They're all in the Tokyo area, and every branch I've visited has had lines out the door at all times.

Burger King hasn't quite gotten that amount of buzz, but they've been busy the two times I've gone. The experience is what you'd expect, down to the same feel and smell of the bun. I was actually a bit surprised. They also have a list of where each ingredient comes from in the burger, with all of the fresh items (lettuce, tomato, etc.) coming from Japan. I think my favorite feature was that you could buy extra packs of BBQ sauce. This seems like a given for a US chain, but I've never had luck at McDonalds asking, pleading and offering large sums of money for BBQ sauce. The only for sure way I've gotten sauce at McDonalds is by buying nuggets.

In further restaurant news, I finally investigated the mysterious "Lumberjack Cafe" that I pass every week on my way to Japanese lessons. It's always tantalized me with calls of 'tex-mex', and it turns out it really is! It was awesome. A bit on the pricey side, but you get quite large portions of food. They even have double size portions called "Lumber size" if you're really starving. I'm glad I asked before I ordered, as the regular portion of 'tacos' (which was sort of a combination of a taco and a taco salad) was huge. They also have sandwiches! I'm excited to go back at some point.

For all my talk of foreign food, I actually do enjoy Japanese food. After all, I eat it almost every day in school lunch. Not to mention various restaurants, peoples houses and others. All my foreign food consumption excitement I think is still being carried over from Benin. I really don't know why I'm still excited at the prospect of finding familiar cuisine readily available.

not feeling useless

Every so often you have one of those days where you don't feel useless here. Today I opened up a new bank account, paid for my car insurance (which was more complicated than it sounds) and sent a cash envelope (you can send cash through the mail here! ... in a special envelope). It was pretty exciting. I'm particularly happy about the bank account. As it was before I had one bank account at a bank that, while is nationwide, doesn't have branches anywhere. In addition you can't use their ATM cards at any ATMs but their own, which are impossible to find and open only at specific hours.

There have been a few times where I've been in Tokyo with no money because of this. Since JR has a better deal on a round-trip ticket for short trips, I usually buy it so I've yet to be actually STUCK in Tokyo with no money... but it's still inconvenient when you want to buy things. One solution I found was the iD system. Essentially it turns my phone into a low limit credit card. It's pretty awesome, as it's accepted at vending machines, AEON (chain) malls, convenience stores and lots of other places in Tokyo. At the very least it has helped me conserve cash, if not sustain my stomach for the train ride home. It's cool, but no replacement for real money. It does have a neat little application on the phone that gives you a quick view of your balance, so at least you know how much you've spent.

Another solution is the Suica card. It was originally designed to be used as a rechargeable train pass, but has since grown into a simple rechargeable cash card accepted in many of the same places that iD is (plus on trains and buses). Around the time I got here they also launched a mobile equivalent that uses your phone as the pass. I set it up, but have yet to get it to work. I'm trying a bit more in earnest now... but I forgot my password... and my the answers to my security questions. Although this may not be a big deal. I didn't realize you could charge your account at a convenience store, so my project for the weekend is to try that out.

All that aside, the bank account is the best. I can split my savings and spending and have a card that will actually work outside of Kurabuchi.

it's summer... or is it?

Just when weather establishes a pattern of soul-destroying heat and humidity, you get a day like today when it's cold all day and rainy. Sadly it looks like the weather is going to continue this cycle of way too hot and way too cold for at least the next week or so. I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly though, as I'd rather have occasional breaks from the heat and humidity before summer finally takes its horrible hold.

Things have been good lately. Lots of stuff to do, between Sanja Matsuri (huge festival in Asakusa), a trip to Disney Sea a Japanese baseball game and hundreds of other small things. It seems like my weekends are never entirely mine though. In that respect I very much miss Benin. There I was busy, but it was the sort of busy that let me sleep as much as I wanted and stay at my house the hours that I wanted to stay at home. Of course along with that came chores that simply don't exist here. Washing my clothes in Benin was a 2 hour affair, having to prepare things entirely from raw ingredients, and frequent market trips.
Even so, weather and business aside I'm having a good time.

Sadly though, we're now entering the season of goodbyes. It won't be but 2 months before most of my ALT friends will leave, or will have left. I guess that means we'll also be getting a ton of new faces, but they'll be annoying and new for at least a few months. Ugh.

This website expresses the views of Lyle Kozloff, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the JET Programme or any other institutions herein named or linked to.