Kamakura

Hello!! So, I haven't been anywhere new for a while and decided to go out last weekend. I went to Kamakura, which is only 17 mins. from my home station. I had no plan on where to go see when I got there. I just decided to make it up once I arrived :) This plan turned out well for me. I saw the beach, a beautiful temple, and the big bronze daibatsu. It was a pretty windy, so while I walked along the beach it felt like the sand was piercing my skin. Other than that it was a great day and the city is really nice. There is a ton of temples and other touristy things to do there. It's nice that it is so close and I will be definitely going back. I can't wait for all the trees to change colors. That's gonna be a sight!

Hope all is well. Take care. Enjoy the pics.

Later.

Kamakura

OOOOHHHHHH YYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I finally got to go to a big time game convention! It was awesome!!! Here are my pics. The attendance for the day I went was around 68,000. Over a three day period I think it was close to 187,000. Just crazy how many people where there. The other crazy thing is that the place was big enough for all those people. Later

Tokyo Game Show 2007

My first guest.

Towards the end of summer, my high school friend Anthony Wingate came to see what this whole Japan thing was all about. He was here for almost 2 weeks, so I tried to cram in as much as I could for him to see. I had to take him to Osaka and Kyoto 'cause I think those places are just awesome. We also went to a bunch of places in Tokyo and Yokohama. I enjoyed his visit very much and was glad he was able to make a trip out here. We did and saw some things I hadn't before, so that was good. You can find pictures of his trip here:

Tony's Trip

As for everything else it's cool. Work is good and still fun. I am trying to move into a new apartment and that is a little difficult. It usually costs a lot of money to move in to a new place here. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. We are looking at about 5x a single month's rent to move in. Then after that I'll have to buy washing machine, burner, microwave, frig, etc., etc. Ehhhhhh, I know I want to move, I'm just gonna have to wait until I find something that's decent and not gonna make be broke after I move in. Speaking of moving, I'm gonna go look for some places right now. Hope everyone is doing well and you enjoy the pics.

Later

New Era Bowl 2007

Hello,

I know, I know, I've been slacking again. Sorry about that. But this time I have a bunch of pictures for you and plenty more to post if you want more.

Last month I had probably what will go down as one of the best trips of my life. Five of my buddies from college came out to Japan and we all got to play football. We stayed in Kobe, Japan, which is about a three hour ride on the bullet train from where I live. We played in the New Era Bowl in Osaka, Japan. Our team consisted of Japanese college all-star players. We were there as player/coaches. Our opponent was another all-star team with six players from the University of Hawaii. We practiced for one week before the game. Mornings we had to ourselves, afternoon practice, and evenings players from our team would take us out. We went non-stop the whole time. Running around doing everything we had time to do. I think we definitely made the best out of our time there.

The game was so much fun. I hadn't had that much fun since high school. I wish I could have prepared more, I didn't get many reps in practice 'cause had to let the other guys do something. But under the circumstances it was awesome. Oh, and we didn't win the game, but it really didn't matter. I had so much fun that week, traveling, practicing with the guys, going out with all the players, it just didn't matter. That damn game spoiled me though. Makes me want to play again. I got the itch now.

Well, I did say I had pictures and here they are. Just click this link and it should take you right there:
http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/azflash17/NewEraBowlTrip
It's not all the pictures from the trip, but I tried to include the big spots we traveled. We all shared pictures so I have over a thousand on my computer right now just from that week. If you guys want to see some more, I'll find some to throw up there.

Hope you enjoy the pics. Hope everyone is doing ok. Thanks for reading. Laugh, it feels good. Take care.

Later.

Fast Food

Alright, MAC! Yeah it’s not the ideal place I would like to eat at, and I have been trying out a lot of new foods, but at the beginning of my journey I’ve spent some time at MAC. Yes, they call it MAC out here. Even though I have a little money now and I’m trying to eat healthier, I find myself drawn to MAC every once in a while. Reasons why: #1 You can’t escape MAC, no sir. It’s everywhere. It seems like there is one every two or three blocks. #2 Quick and easy. #3 Coupons, Coupons, Coupons. #4 The service is great. Not just MAC, but everywhere I’ve been to eat the people working there treat you like you are paying big bucks for the food. I like that service! #5 And possibly the most important, they pack the fries in. I would say 90% of the time my box is stuffed and overflowing with fries. So, while I am cutting back on the MAC, it’s difficult for those reasons.

I was unable to try the Tomago Mac. They only sold it for a limited time. As well as the Mega Mac. They probably weren’t that good anyway, just some different burgers over here I wanted to show you. They would have definitely shorten my life span. However they do regularly serve the Ebi Fillet (Shrimp, shown above). Boy is that thing tasty. I love it. I just wish it didn’t cost so much so I could get about 3 of them.

M I A

Hello all. Yeah, I haven't been posting stuff for a while on here. Sorry 'bout that. I've been busy trying to get money, a phone, bills, insurance, and other fun things like that together. Speaking of my phone, the pic you see is the very first picture I took with it. I was walking from the bus station going to lift and I saw these かわいい (spelling in romanji - kawaii, means cute) kitties. These strays got the good life. Since I've noticed them, whenever I walk by someone has dropped off some food for them. They were soooooo little (ちょちさい, spelling - cho chisai, very little).

So, before I forget to post it on here, I will be playing a football game on the 8th of July in Osaka. It is the New Ear Bowl and 5 fellow teammates from CAL will be joining me. We will have practices for one week before the game with the rest of our Japanese teammates. Osaka is about 2 1/2 hours away on the bullet train, so I'll be taking that week of work off. YES! However after that I don't have anymore paid days off, hahahaha. I'm trying to get into shape. Mostly trying to gain weight. I've lost quite a bit since I've been here, but it's amazing what you'll eat when you are hungry. I'm getting the hang of it though.

That's all for now. I've done a lot of exciting things and will post some of them up in the coming days. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive, we have a lot of earthquakes here, and I'm lovin' it. Hope all is well. Take Care.

The second picture I took.

Tasties

Ok, I had to put this up. Went out with my principle and a few other teachers last night after a bbq. By the way, the principle is awesome, a very nice and funny man. But anyway, we all took the bus back to the train station and once we got there the boss man wanted to go out for ice cream. I couldn't say no to that. One of his favorite places to go is denny's. So, this is what I got at denny's. Pancakes with carmel, ice cream, powdered sugar, and whipped cream. It was great, beyond great. I might have to start making them for myself in the near future, but until then I'll make a few trips back to denny's. I've never seen this dessert before, let alone try it, so if you have done either I'm mad at you 'cause you should have told me about this louscious dish. Sorry Khoa it's not the actual pic, but it did look like this pic and it's not a box pic.

Public Tranportation

It is a necessity to be able to know how to use this in Japan and fortunately it has not been too hard for me to pick up. I'm gonna let you know about a few things I found interesting about the train, subway, and bus experiences I've had so far.

Coming from the bay area in California, I had the BART train system. I thought it was a pretty nice system and had gotten awards in the past for providing its service. Don't get me wrong the BART is nice and simple to use, but the trains and subways out here are way better in my opinion. The very first thing I noticed was their cleanliness. No graffiti on the windows, no dirty seats, or strange stank odors. Then I noticed how quiet it was. They'll be 50 people in a car and it's quiet. People don't talk on the phone in the cars and talk at a low level if speaking to someone. Usually people are texting on their phone, reading a book, or playing a DS (nintendo) or psp (sony). Soon after I noticed this, I also realized how quiet the actual train was. I thought, this ride is as smooth as butter.

The schedule's can be quite confusing at times, especially for someone who is not use to taking a train. Let's not forget the foreign language barrier. There are a ton of different lines and transfers to take to get to your final destination. They have a few different railroad companies so you may get off a train at one station, exit the toll area, and then have to find your way onto a different company's set of trains. The transfer stations are pretty big and there is just a swarm of people weaving in and out of each other all the time.

With all the people that live here, rush hour is......
funny. That's the only way I can put it 'cause that's what I think every time I've experienced it. It's so funny. The carts are jammed with people. And when I say jammed, I mean JAMMED. You are probably standing and there is no need to hold on to the handrail because you are packed in so tight. When the doors open and the exiting passengers escape, people rush in and if someone stops moving inside and there are still people outside, those outside people get the pushin'. HAHAHA. It's so funny. But everyone seems to be all accepting of this behavior and don't seem to think twice about it. I haven't seen anyone start yelling or fighting because they were bumped, pushed forward, stepped on, or anything like that. I could just imagine this scene in america, somebody would act up and cause some kind of commotion. So every time I'm packed in a car I laugh and smile thinking WOW, this is so cool.

The bus experience as been quite similar, clean, no talking on the phone, quiet. The difference here opposed, to my experience in the states, is that you pay according to how far you travel. If you get on the bus when it leaves the station or near the station, you just get on and pay your fee once you exit. In the front of the bus there is a meter which shows the current fee and everyone exits the front paying that fee. And the bus will give you change. CHANGE !!! It's awesome. I couldn't believe it. You would always have to have correct change in the bay area or end up paying more than you had to. I do think the bus prices are a little high, especially after you've been on for about 15-20 mins. I did like just the flat rate back home.

Speaking of getting change, you can also get change at the train stations. And it's not all in quarters like at the BART, these machines are puttin' out bills. I put in 10000 yen, a little more than 100 dollars, for a 150 yen ticket and got my change back in mostly bills. I don't even know if the BART machine would have even accepted that much money. I thought it was cool that it did that.

Alright, that's all for now. I need to go get something to eat. Hope everyone is doing well. And if you have any questions please, click on comments, and post them.

Later

Tasties

These bad little popsicle type balls have an explosive fruity flavor. The outside layer is like a popsicle, but once you bite into it... it hits you. Very soft, smooth favored ice. Again I couldn't believe a got so many for a buck. If you are a fruity popsicle person, this is a no brainer.

Pick Up Game Experience

So a couple of nights ago I went out with one of my JTs(Japanese Teachers) to play basketball. His name is Yoshiya and lived in the states for a number of years, so his english is excellent. That makes it easy on me, but sometimes he'll speak to me in Japanese so I can practice.

We went to a sports complex to play and for this month the open hours were from 9 PM - 11 PM. Here you have to sign up to play and only a certain amount of people are allowed to join. So, first come, only served. This placed allowed for a maximum on 20 people so we got there early just in case. To sign in you are given little sign in slips with numbers on them, fill it out and give them about 5 bucks. I think that's how the teams are formed. First 5 are a team, second 5 are a team, and so on. I'm really not sure but it seemed that way.

Once it was 9, the players went in the gym to shoot around and warm up. About 15 people showed up. After about ten minutes one person stopped everybody and they all moved to the outside of the court. Then he started leading a stretch for everyone. I was like what's going on right now? Then I heard him counting, looked more closely around and was like oh everyone is stretching, I guess I'll stretch too instead of just standing here looking special. The guy leading the stretch was the manager for open gym. After we finished that he called out for the 1st and 2nd team to play.

While two teams are playing the non-playing team members manage the game. There is a score card they keep and at as referees. That's very nice actually. People can't start complaining about the score at the end of a game 'cause everyone forgot, like in the states. They also keep the time. All the games are timed, so no playing to 11 by ones and you have to win by two.

There are no 'check ball's here. You take the ball out of bounds where it went out. They really don't wait either, hahaha. Just run over there and throw it in.

And if you haven't guessed already, winner doesn't stay on. They just go through a rotation, so everyone gets to play.

I really enjoyed playing, it was a good little work out. I needed to do some running. I particularly liked the idea of the people not playing keeping score and ref'ing. It took me forever to walk home 'cause I was tired but man, did I sleep good that night.

Club Activies

Hello everyone. I’m now in my third week of teaching in a Japanese school and am enjoying it very much. School days for Japanese teachers do seem a lot longer than American teachers. I remember getting finished with practice and no one was at school anymore. Here, teachers are working until 6, 7, 8 o’clock and then here before 8 in the morning. I usually arrive at the schools around 8:15 and stay ‘till at least 6. The reason for this is because I participate in various club activities after school. I try to go to a different one everyday so that I can interact with as many students as possible. So far I have been to the baseball, soccer, soft tennis, basketball, art, sadoo (Japanese tea ceremony), international, kendo, and badminton clubs. I enjoyed all of them, but kendo is something that is completely different from sports I’m used to so I am drawn to that. I already got a huge blister from one day’s practice .

After school activities here are a little different than those in Japan. First off, activities are year-round. No seasons here. You are pretty much playing or participating in the same club all year long. Most of the clubs start roughly at 3 and finish up at 6. Some clubs like soccer and baseball also will have practice in the morning sometimes. That’s a lot of practicing I think for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Teams that have to share facilities like the gym (i.e. basketball, badminton, volleyball) will alternate their workout schedule. One day is like a regular sports practice in America and the other is mostly conditioning training outside. The biggest difference that I noticed between American and Japanese club activities is that a large portion of practice is run by the kids.

Each team has a designated captain and they lead the practice for each club. Before practice they receive a schedule from their coaches for that days work. All of the kids are amazing. They don’t fool around too much. They want to get better and practice. They act as a team and help each other out. I was blown away by the patience they had at such a young age. They don’t make fun of one another if they mess up or just are not very good. Usually they will try and give advice. They will do it until they get it right too. I’ve seen them take multiple reps a few times and man are they patient. I was thinking at the time back home this wouldn’t fly, someone would have been fighting or something by now. They are even patient with me. I was coached for about 30 mins. on how to scoop up a birdy from the floor with a racket. One kid was not going to stop until I got it out, hahaha. And she did a great job in coaching me so that I could figure it out. The kids handle themselves extremely well and seem to truly love the activity they are involved in. They seem to enjoy when I come to visit their respective clubs and they will practice English, so I don’t mind staying a little later.

Side-note: Yeah, the header isn’t the greatest but I really wanted to put something up. Plus I have no experience using Flash or html, so I’m shocked I even got it up. I will try to clean it up if time permits, but probably not for a while ‘cause that crap took forever. Hope everyone is doing well.

Check out my new post TASTIES. I wanted to dedicate a whole page to the foods I discover in Japan, maybe it'll have to wait until I can get a real page. But I will post oishii (delicious) and interesting foods I find out here.

Later

Tasties

This is the first desert I tried in Japan and it might be my favorite forever. Ice cream covered in chocolate (as well as in the center) and then enclosed in a waffle. These things are sooooo goood. They are pretty big too, much more than you would expect. I might start eating one every day.

Hello and Welcome from Yokohama

Hi everyone! Well I finally got something up.

First, I would like to thank you for visiting this page. It's not what I had in mind initially, but it will have to do. I need to start posting stuff now before I get overwhelmed. Second, I'm going to apologize for any grammatical errors anyone finds on here in the future or even in this first post. I will try to catch errors if I can but I'm not gonna go over this like a term paper.

Alright, now that's out of the way on to the good stuff...Japan. It's been great so far. Of course it's been hectic getting situated and figuring out what I need to do to get started, but I've already met some fantastic, very kind people.

The first couple of days were not very exciting in terms of activities. Just the thought of being out here was crazy and amazing at the same time, the company I work for didn't have me do anything except get a place to live and I just accepted the first place they recommend. No it's not the greatest place, but it will do until I get paid. I did a little walking around, a lot of pachinko (gambling game). Didn't venture too far though 'cause I didn't have a guide and couldn't speak enough Japanese to save my life. So I was chillin' in the hotel room quite a bit until my friend Rickey (some of you know him as Rickey Japan) showed up at the hotel. He took me out for my first authentic Japanese dinner in Japan. He also gave me a nice little "point-and-speak" phrase book to practice my Japanese when I'm out and about.

The next week was training. Long days of learning how to teach the kids. All in all pretty easy. Basically be active with the kids.

On April 2nd we had an opening ceremony for the board of education. Here I met the two Japanese teachers I'll be teaching with in the schools. A guy and a girl, both seem really cool. We talked about my schedule and general information. I will teach at two schools alternating every two weeks. Both are fairly close to my house so that's a good thing.

April 5th was my first day of school. For the first week we don't have anything but opening ceremonies and activities so no teaching. YEAH!! Seems like a great school. The teachers are very friendly and it doesn't seem like there will be any problems getting along with them. The kids are great too. Many have come up to talk to me, mostly just hello 'cause that's all they know. And it sounds more like hallow, whatever at least they are talking to me. Some of them call me Tiger Woods. Hahaha. I don't look anything like him, but it makes them laugh so it's ok.

Well, that's it for the post. I could easily go on typing about all the stuff that has happened, but I'm gonna try and get this page together and post at least one picture. Hope everyone is doing well.

Later.