Some New Photos

Okay, so I haven't had time to do any updating and I'm afraid that I won't be doing much today either, but I thought I'd throw up a few photos for those of you who don't have facebook access.  Here's the first few to get started and I'll put a bunch from my cell phone later.

 Here's me in my Halloween costume.  Even though I look nothing like him (and didn't really make any effort to look specifically like Jack Sparrow) all my students kept telling me I was the spitting image of Johnny Depp... too funny.

This is me in my Shorin ji Kempo garb.  Yes, it's true those kids in the front row are more skilled than me... I'm just a white belt... well it's not the size of the opponent that matters, right?

Back in BC!

Well, I'm home again for less than a month to get everything ready for living in Japan for a year. So much to do, so little time!

Woo Hoo! I am going to Moriguchi for JET!!!

Wow, what a long road this has been since applying for JET last year.  I won't go into all the details right now, but the big news is that yesterday I received official confirmation of my JET placement!  I am very excited, and must say a little relieved that the posting is far away from areas affected by radiation.  I am going to a suburb of Osaka called Moriguchi.  I am still waiting on getting further details regarding the posting, but from the sounds of it, I will have easy access to Osaka and consequently, will be able to get any needed transportation to see all of the sights Japan has to offer.

Golden Week (May 7th, 2011)

I know I haven't really posted anything this week, and although I have had much of the week off from school, I can't say I've done anything really exciting.  Golden Week is traditionally the time everyone takes vacations in Japan since it is one of the few socially acceptable times to take your time off.  The rest of the year, even if you had accrued the vacation days, it would be considred bad form to ask your boss to use them.  During Golden Week, your boss would be taking the time of as well, so the socially correct thing would be to go nuts and hit Hawaii, or Tokyo Disneyland, or wherever your fancy takes you.  Of course, this means that attractions and destinations are incredibly packed during Golden Week because everyone is visiting them at the same time.

Understandably, things are a bit subdued this year, but I'm sure the local destinations are still busy as all get out.  I figured many of my fellow students would be getting out there as well, since they seem to do a lot of that kind of thing, but there's been a surprising number of people hanging around the Yamasa owned housing.  I guess they want to avoid the crowds too.

Consequently, a few of us from the building took advantage of a "coupon leaflet" somebody had and went out for dinner one night.  That has been the extent of my "Golden Week" festivities.  Needless to say, seeing as how we're all starving students, we leapt at the chance to get discounted beef and egg burgers, faster than Oleg can say "Olive Garden."

I, of course, have been studying during Golden Week, taking advantage of the opportunity to let my brain catch up to the current state of the course work, since it is, as a rule, always lagging behind (my brain, not the course work).

I did go for a few runs this week, something I haven't done since coming to Yamasa, and boy am I feeling it.  Serves me right for slacking off like that.  I was hoping I would get around to maybe seeing what was on offer at one of the local gyms and avoid the high impact intensity of jogging, but cost and the lack of my language skills led me to give up, and instead I've just taken up jogging again.

I thought I'd share these pictures with you, since today was an absolutely glorious day weather-wise.  You all know that I don't throw words such as "glorious" around like stray apple-jacks, so trust me, it was pretty darn fresh and sunny and "genki."  I took the photos, though, just as the sun began to set, so it may not look as "glorious" as I am going on and on about.

There is a concrete path around a nearby "lake" and since it's only minutes away from my residence, I've pegged it as my "jogging spot."  Plenty of other kids and old people use it too, so I never feel lonely.  Of course, I attempt a clumsy "half-bow" for politeness as I pass the elderly, which comes off a bit awkward when you're a westerner, and attempting to jog around them at the same time.



Here's a view of the lake in question, ere the setting sun.





Same thing, just a different angle.

Of course, I couldn't miss out on an opportunity to demonstrate differences between Japanese / Canadian culture.  This sign featured at the lake-area gets its message across pretty clearly: don't let your "inu" (dog) leave any soft-serve ice cream-shaped deposits around the track.  What I love about this sign is the fact that the dog is VERY embarrased that he/she had to take the dump in the first place.  In Canada, the dog wouldn't give a damn, and just rudely go about its business.  Things are much politer in Japan, and not only the owner, but the dog him/herself is red-faced.

Here's some of the avian friends to be found nesting around the lake.  I wonder who cleans up after them, and more importantly, do they go red-in-the-face as well?

Many of my friends have mastered the art of taking a photo of themselves whilst also getting some of the scenery in the shot at the same time.  Clearly, I am not so skilled, and this was the best I could do.  I did manage to get the swan in there (barely) on the lower-left.  I figured since you never see me in any of the photos I post, I needed to prove to you that I really am here in Japan, as I purport to be.

Shirakawa (Saturday, April 30th)

Finally, here's a post that isn't all about me studying.  I took advantage of an opportunity to visit Shirakawa village in Gifu prefecture, a UNESCO world heritage site.  As Wikipedia describes it, the village is "well known for [its] houses constructed in architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り). The Gassho-zukuri, "prayer-hands construction" style is characterized by a thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hands joined in prayer. The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter."

We're basically talking about an authentic village of thatch houses nestled in the a valley in the middle of nowhere, surounded by mountains.  The photos below don't do it justice, as it really is a thing of beauty.

Incredibly, it is still a real village and people do actually live in many of these homes.  Here's some pictorial highlights from my visit:



Here's the small suspension bridge, on the approach to the village.



We went in and toured through one of the houses.



It was certainly busy, since today is the start of Golden Week, and although my photos don't necessarily show it, the streets were packed.



The village is known for the "sake" they make at the shrine and sell locally.  It is very strong and has a large amount of actual bits of rice in it, as you'll see in a later picture.



It still seems very isolated even today.  Massive tunnels were bored through the mountains, in recent years, to provide a convenient means for visitors to get here.. I can't imagine how they would have made it here a century ago.

These little rascals are "Surabobo" dolls or talismans unique to Gifu prefecture.  They come in a variety of colours and bring different kinds of good fortune to their bearers depending on the colour.  They are also a little creepy since they don't have faces.  I noticed there were far more of the red version on display (which I believe signifies "love") compared to, say, the gold ones (bringing the bearer weatlth) which is kind of telling.  Maybe all you really do need is love!  I was kind of hoping to find one that brings the bearer the ability to "memorize massive amounts of kanji characters quickly" but it was not to be.

Kirei (beautiful) as they say in Japan.

By the time we climbed up to get this bird's eye view it was raining pretty heavily, and was quite overcast, unfortunately.

Here's that special sake I was telling you about... it's hard to see from the picture but there are bits of rice floating in it, and it is POTENT stuff.  It was tasty (oishii) enough, but I can't see downing more than one of the bowls full.

Cram Session (Sunday, April 24th)

Nothing to report other than I'm cramming for my review test of the first seven chapters of my course.  Wish me luck tomorrow!

Ari to Kirigirisu (Saturday, April 23rd)

For some reason, since I've arrived in Okazaki, it's been gorgeous weather every day except for each Saturday, when it's done nothing but rain - weird.  Very strange weather patterns.

Not much to say, so I'm going to mention an anecdote from yesterday that I thought was pretty surreal.  I had a "Reading" elective class yesterday, in which two teachers spent a full hour with me as the only student, basically reading me children's stories.  The idea being, that during future sessions, I will be able to read stories on my own, but they would start me off with Japanese versions of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" (one of the old Aesop fables, of which the sensei were surprised to hear I knew about for some reason) and "The Three Little Pigs."

Here's some cute Japanese-style animals since I couldn't find any pigs or crickets that resembled the ones in the stories that were read to me.

I'm kind of embarrassed to say I caught myself really getting into it!  Of course, I was into it because I was surprised I was able to follow the Japanese reasonably well, and not because I was into the story itself.  Still, try to picture what was going on in that room.  Here is a grown, 35 year old man enraptured by these two stories, having them read to him by two very earnest sensei (and yes, there were pictures... I noted that in the Japanese version, the triumphant pig with the house of bricks was the cutest and smallest of the pigs).  Pretty funny when you think about it.

All I can say is it serves the damn "kirigirisu" right for singing "la la la" all day instead of preparing for winter.  What a wastrel and layabout!