Onsen

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

On the road again.....sing it Willie!

Onsen

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Tea fields

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Country side

Onsen

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Here are some pictures from a hot spring that I went to this past week. It was about 30 miles from where I live. It was in the mountains. It was a very beautiful area with very thick vegetation on the hillsides. The town that it was in was called Kawane. They are famous for tea as well as hot springs!

The end of era

On my last post I talked a little about my old job. I got news the other day that my old boss was ending his 20+ years career at my old work. I can not express just how happy I am for him. Bob, was the BEST boss that I have EVER had, period. I can only hope that more people get to meet a man like him at some point in their life. I miss having our talks about sports, life, and everything in between. I hope that you new job treats with more respect than the last. You are a man that will ALWAYS have my respect. THANK YOU BOB!

Hey, does this mean Bob now has to be a Dodgers fan? HA! Good luck with your new life, I hope that you find happiness.

What's work like.....

An awesome woman named Kim posted a good comment the other day. She asked what my current job is like. After having dinner and a couple of beers I thought that I would tackle this great question.....

I am an English teacher. Mind you I am NOT a real teacher. I have not studied at school to get a degree in teaching like my sister or father. I do have a degree but, it is not in teaching. I want to make this clear from the get go. I was hired to teach because I can read and write English (but I wonder about that sometimes!). And I have a great smile, and no criminal record JUST KIDDING! About the criminal record thing.......

Anyway I teach Japanese people conversational English. I have 8, 40min lessons during a 8 hour shift. My classes are no larger than 4 students per class. My students range from 15 years old to about 80 years old. They come from ALL walks of life. Almost all of them want to learn English , I say "almost" because some of my high school and junior high school students are "too cool" to learn English and say very little in class....BUT there are very few of those students.
My job is as easy as they come, seriously. I get to talk to people ALL DAY LONG. This is most likely one of the best jobs I have EVER had. I am HAPPY and EXCITED to go to work eveyday. I smile all day long. I have a great time at work. It is as simple as that.
I loved working at my last job because my boss was great and most of my coworkers were cool, MOST NOT ALL. But at this job everyone is cool, polite and friendly. After work everyday I can get TANKED if I want and I have PLENTY of coworkers willing to get drunk with me and share a story or two. In a nutshell I love my job.

As for my last job, I had/have A LOT of respect for certain people, and you know who you are, but I was GLAD to leave my last job. I won't get in to details on why.......no you know what F@&K IT! I will. I hope that the people in charge at my last job get their heads out of their asses and make some goddamn changes for the better there....GOD DAMN IT!!!!

Sorry I had to get that off my chest...

Anyway, my job kicks ass, hands down.

I will post some pics later this week, ok?

I can't stand the rain.

Didn't Missy Elliot have a song called "I can't stand the rain?". Dude, I know how she feels.....

God, I really hate the rain here. There is no other way to say it. My Mom always said that hate is a vey strong word to use but that is the only word that will work. Let me try and paint a mental picture of what the "rain" is like here.

The rain that I am use to is cool and cold and smells clean after a hard rain. The rain that I am used to has a slow build works its way up to a strong storm. It is refreshing and it feels good to run in it. Like a cold shower. It can be hard stinging rain or soft fat droplets of rain. In a nutshell the rain that I am used to is.... well..... FUN.

Ah, now for the "rain" here; it stinks, and I don't mean that figuratively. People run in the rain but only to get out of it as soon as humanly possible! It kinda smells like a mixture of ass and sweat. (HA ass-sweat! new word. find that one in the dictionary!) And if that sounds gross, the rain that DOES land on me makes me feel sticky, yes STICKY!! Dude, what's up with that?!!?
There is no "slow" build to a storm either, its like sunny, birds chripping, wonderful (hot) day and then................BAM!!!! Freaking thunder and lighting with BUCKETS of water pouring down for like 25 minutes! Its like someone pouring used bath water on you and I mean really used! It is not refreshing in ANY sense of the word. I never thought that I would say it but rain is a serious pain in the ass!
This has been the norm for about 3 weeks now. And I still have not gotten used to it. Now everyone don't get me wrong I am have great time here but, I just want it to stop raining.

Sigh.

Oh and another typhoon is making its way to Japan, it should be here by this Thursday or Friday. Damn! My two days off! And YES it will be bringing LOTS of rain.



And yes.............. the same rain as described above!

I am OK.

Sorry about not posting after the big quake that we had here. I was very far south from where the epicenter was. I am OK, not to worry. I hardy even felt the thing. And I think that there were only a small number of people that were hurt. Thank God. I don't think that anyone died.
The weird thing was that I was talking with my sisters on the computer and kinda watching a baseball game. And then the game goes off, I was like what happened to the game!?! I couldn't understand what was happening on the news until they showed video of a news station that was in the middle of a broadcast when the quake hit. The anchorman looked like he wet his pants!! All in all everyone was safe.
I hope that everyone likes the pictures that I posted. PLEASE I like and NEED feedback. Even if you don't like it tell me! Later.

This was an AWESOME statue

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

This was at the Hattasan temple in a city called Kakegawa It was HUGE!

Raw fish over rice and udon

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

After the temples we had some lunch at a place called Shoan. I was REALLY GOOD and REALLY CHEAP!

A shrine in Shizuoka city called Gokoku

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

All of these lanterns were wired up to be lit up at night!

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Here some attemps at posting pics

I figure out why Japanese people have so many festivals

So last night after drinking some really good coffee at this cafe about 5 min drive from the house. Hitomi tells me that there is a festival at the local Yaizu shrine. She says that there will be there kids who can shoot arrows from moving horses. I'm like sweet let's do it. So we load up in the car about 8pm and head out. I brought my camera thinking, well at least some pictures of the crowd might be kinda cool. Most of my pictures at large events just don't com out all that well. I don't like using the flash and at night a flash is a MUST.
The festival was OK, there was a SH!TLOAD of people and a SH!TLOAD of them were DRUNK! And then it dawned on me.....Japanese people throw festival for the same reason that every other culture throws a festival......to get FREAKING WASTED!!!! And to over charge everyone for food and beer! HA! It truly is a small world.

Anyway I had to tell you that story to tell you this one. While we were walking to the festival we can across this sumo dojo (a trainning gym) that was having an exibition outside. And my first thought is sweet I can take pictures of big fat guys in thongs!!! YES!
In all seriousness, I really do like sumo and I was really pumped to see them. I took some pictures just as the event was ending. Hitomi and her sister point out a sumo wrestler that was dressed in a very nice kimono. They started chatttering back and forth in Japanese, and told me to come on. I went over and there were a bunch of people taking pictures with the sumo wrestler in the kimono. It turned out that he was a local Yaizu sumo wrestler that had made it to the big time. He was in the big tournament that was in Nagoya last month. He was a big local star! Hitomi asked him if a could take a picture with him and he nodded yes! Sweet!!!!
I was pumped to take a picture with him. And afterward he shook my hand! AWESOME!!! Anyway it was an ok festival I didn't see any kids shooting arrow from moving horses but I did get to meet a sumo wrestler. There is a GOD.

Oh and one other thing, the sumo dude smelled like baby power. Not what I expected, I was for certain he was going to reek of B.O. Never judge a book by its cover huh?
Any way here are the links to some promised pictures remember cut and paste into your browser) by the way if this doesn't work for you for some reason LET ME KNOW!!:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86078854@N00/33626750/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86078854@N00/33626751/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86078854@N00/33626752/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86078854@N00/33626753/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86078854@N00/33626754/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86078854@N00/33626755/

What the f#&k is wrong with people!?!

I was watching the news here in Japan the other day. I could not understand it all but Hitomi filled in the details.
Some guy in his mid 30s logged on to this website that was about killing yourself and other non-happy things. He starts chatting with two people, a highschool girl and another person in their mid 20s. They meet (both people at different times) and this dude kills them both. He turns himself in and says he killed them because it "felt good". Did he have some mental issues, yeah. But dude, what the F#&K is wrong with people. Why the HELL would you meet someone from a website that has to do with death and killing? Damnit, I mean were they planning on getting coffee or something?! God people like that piss me off! Not just the guy that killed them, all of them.
AND I read today that two of the jurors in the Jacko case (Michael Jackson) NOW say they thought he was guilty!?!?! Are you F%#KING kidding me? Why the hell did they waste 5 months of time and money? And why the HELL did they wait for two months AFTER the trial was over to say, "No, he was guilty of molesting a little kid with cancer." I am not sure who is the bigger pervert the two jurors that let him go or Jacko.
Sorry, I just had to vent.

On an unrelated note I was a shocked and sad to hear that Peter Jennings had died this weekend. I think that I was sad because he and other news reporters were the old school we got news. I remember watching news with Dan Rather in the evening when I was young. That was the only way you got news. Now I can find out anything that is going on in the world by turning on my laptop. My how time flies....

Anyway, sorry that there was not too much about Japan this time. More on Japan with pictures next post. I swear.

Let's get philsophical

You say "How deep?" I say "How deep do you wanna get?"

It's a little weird living here in Japan. I feel like a child sometimes but, worse. I have the mind of an adult and 29 years of information and experience under my belt, (and no I am not bragging because it ain't all that much!) But I have to have my wife translate just about everything. Don't get me wrong I am VERY GRATEFUL FOR ALL HER HELP. I would have freaked out about 2 weeks ago without her help. But I can't even order food without her help. I have a better understanding about how a baby feels helpless and useless. I know that the longer I am here the better my Japanese will get but I also know that it will take time before that happens.
The odd thing is how when people speak it seems like I am listening to a CD. I can tune out people without even thinking about it. I am sure that once I have a better grasp on Japanese I will be able to hear and listen to anyone talk and I can also tune them out if I want. (Insert evil chuckle here)

Some random thoughts on Japan:

The beer here sucks,(not to offend those who drinks Coors and Coors light) but dude, it's like sugar water.

Most people on a crowded train give me more personal space than their fellow countrymen. And I love it!

Most little kids are afraid to make eye contact with me. I catch them looking at me from the corner of my eye, and when I look at them, they freak.

Most high school kids are afraid to make eye contact with me. (see above random thought for reason)

Most old people are afraid.......well you get the picture.

The "june bugs" here are the size of humming birds, no I'm serious, don't laugh.

There are only like 12 channels on TV, total, and they all look like those Mexican varaity programs on Telemundo back home. Lots of flashy sets and lots of people laughing and acting foolish.

My father-in-law and his mother STILL can not pronounce my name correctly!

I have eaten more rice in my first two weeks here, than I have in my entire life before Japan.

You MUST shower BEFORE you can take a bath.

The bathtub is 3 and half feet deep.

I saw a guy on the train that had eyebrows so thick it looked like caterpillars were asleep on his forehead.

Japanese style toilets have no where to sit, you have to squat. And many Japanese restrooms have no toilet paper, its B.Y.O.T.P. (Bring your own toilet paper)

At every major train station there are these ladies that hand out little packets of tissue with ads for stuff on them. Maybe that's why they don't have TP in the restrooms......?

A lot of people hang towels around their necks, to have something to wipe the sweat away, but they all remind me of the hip hop artist Fat Joe (who also has a towel around his neck all the time) so I am constantly chuckling to myself.

Everything here and I mean EVERYTHING, is cute.

See you all in a couple of days........does anyone else hear that song "I think I'm turning Japanese." playing in the background or is it just me.....?

Fireworks in Abekawa (or how I almost passed out in a crowd of 400,000

First let me say this about Japanese people, they FREAKING LOVE FIREWORKS. Dude, you can buy big bag bottle rockets in the store for like 10 bucks!!! So the now let me set the scene. The plan was that after work on Saturday that Hitomi, here sister and myself would head from Shizuoka city (where I work) by bus to Abekawa. Which was less than 5 miles away. After I inhaled a store bought plate of tuna sushi and downed a bottle of something called Calpis (yes it does sound like cal-piss) but I swear it is the drink of the gods! We hopped on a bus that was PACKED and started the 5 mile journey. I say journey because it took like 25 FREAKING min. to get there. I kept thinking we could have walked and gotten there faster! But live and learn right? Once we got to Abekawa (it seemed like down the block), I could see a river of people. It looked like river no lie. There were fast moving parts of the crowd and there were pools of people just standing around. The river of people, as I came to find out later, was about 400,000 people "deep".
It was still very humid and warm that evening to begin with but, once we started to get closer to the crowd I could feel the temperature rise. I was already dripping sweat on the bus ride to Abekawa and this made it that much worse. I could smell the crowd, the funk of 399,999 other people not just me! As we "waded" through the crowd I must have bumped into and stepped on at least 30 people in a span of about 2 min.
The fireworks were impressive, and that is a big understatement. I didn't see the entire hour and 30 min of fireworks but what I saw in the 40 min was better than all the firework shows that I have seen in all my life put together. There were showers of green, blue, purple, and gold exploding every 5 seconds. The sound of the fireworks could be felt in your chest. It was like a Vegas night of neon in the sky! In plain terms, it was bad-ass.
So now the downside, I was sweating so much that I drank about 64oz water in less than hour. It was bad, I don't do well in the heat and I do even worse in the humidty. There were many times when I thought my knees might buckle, I was really really dizzy. And no it was not from looking up at the fireworks!! It was uncomfortable and down right miserable! I kept bumping into people and I know I stepped on at least one little kid. I felt so bad.
Overall it was OK. I will really have to think twice about going to another fireworks show here in Japan. My advice to anyone else thinking about going to a firework show in Japan.....get there early.
By the way the firework show was on Saturday. I know that this update is way late but you know what? It's my site and sometimes I'm lazy. But I promise to get better about updating!
Next blog....I get deep and philosophical (did I spell that right?) Oh one last thing if you read this blog, I like feed back good, bad, or otherwise!! Tell what you like, don't like, anything.