Its a girl!

My sister-in-law gave birth to a little (and I do mean LITTLE!) girl on the 18th of Jan. My new nieces' name is Ann! She is a very cute little bundle!
Fo shizzle!

Tokyo sumo Basho

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Well here are aome pictures that I took at my 1st sumo event! And let me just say. . . IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!! I took the local train to Tokyo from my home city of Yaizu. The train ride was about 4 hours to get there. It was a nice ride because I went with two Brits from work. They were very very excited to say the least. (The local train makes a lot more stops than the bullet train.) I think that I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night I was so pumped about going to the event.
The tournament (Basho in Japanese) was held in a city called Ryogoku which was a two transfer train ride from Tokyo's main station. I was very, very nervous about transfering trains in Tokyo. But me and the Brits got there with NO problems! Every time I tried to use my Japanese with people they kept answering in English, D'OH!
We were able to get tickets with no problems as well. We got to the Basho about 11:45am and we were able to watch the young up and coming sumo wrestlers fight. I was about 6 feet away from the ring in this picture. I was told before going to the event that the sumo wrestlers' skin changed color right before the matches. At first I thought that it was bullshit but while I was watching the young sumo guys up close I could see that their skin would get bright red before the match and after the match it looked like a more "normal" color. It was quite amazing.
The Brits and I had to move seats once the big main event sumo guys started having their matches. Our seats were not the best for the main event guys BUT watching the younger guys so close up was a REAL treat.
I think that we watched about 4 hours worth of matches that day! I also ate a traditional sumo dish called "chanko" which was like chicken soup or stew. It was really tasty and cheap! I got a big bowl for less than 2 bucks!
My co-workers (the Brits) fell in love with one of the gaijin sumo stars, named Kotooshu. He is from Bulgaria (spelling?) and he is a BIG and I mean BIG white guy! They thought that he was just the dreamiest!!! Them and about 30 million middle aged Japanese women! HA HA! Thus, during his match they screamed the loudest and embrassesed the HELL out of me! But it was no big deal. They had fun and so did I. I had SO MUCH fun in fact that I am going to try and go to the next Basho in Nagoya in March.

BTW, I was having a bit of a problem with someone posting dumb comments on my blog so I am going to have to shut down the comments section for a while. I am very sorry. I know who this person is and I would just like to say to them that they need to get a life and to go bother someone else! Asshole.

Shizzle.

Main eventers!

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Theses are the top fighters.

View from the "box" seats!

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Flying colors!

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Me and the Yokozuna Asashoryo

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Leg lift!

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

So close to the ring!

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

The Sumo ring

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Squating before the match

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Sumo Pictures

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Here are some of the pictures that I took from the Tokyo Sumo Basho last Thursday. It was SOOOOOO MUCH fun!

Stupid-ass comments by gaijins

I am going to mention all the cool things that will be coming up in the next week and in the next few months in the later part of this post but first I GOTTA go off for a second. . .

There was a comment made by a fellow teacher about 2 months ago that just pissed me off. Before I get into what was said it should be noted that I am not really a "fan" of this teacher. He is one of those people that just talk to hear themselves talk, he's a bit rude, and needs to work on making good first impressions.
Anyway, about 2 months ago he makes this off the wall comment, he had only been in Japan for maybe 2 weeks(I had only met him for the first time earlier that day)! He says to me, "You know it doesn't even seem like I'm in a different country." I'm thinking WTF?! Of course, I tried to play-off the sheer absurdity of the comment by responding, "You think so, huh?" said with just a hint of sarcasm.
My thought was that he was just f*cking with me and that would we would have a good laugh about the stupid-ass comment. Nope. He then proceeds to justify his statement by saying, "Well, other than the signs being in Japanese it's just like home."

OHHHH OKAY. . . I got nothing. I mean, HOW on God's green earth, could I counter an argument of that magnitude!? Yeah, other than the signs being in a language that's not even based on the Roman alphabet, it's EXACTLY like home!
I mean forget the fact that I still POINT and MOTION for most of my communication (I mean doesn't everyone do that in their home country?). Hell, low crime rate, JUST like home. TV shows are just like home. Driving on the right side of the car JUST like home. Even the people look like all the people JUST like home (hell, I "blend" in with everyone here)! No one stares at me like a freak on a daily basis! Food, the SAME as home! Well, except for the signs, can't forget the signs!
Yep. . . I had nothing to counter his super computer logic. Shit, it's like I'm still in California right now!
F*cking stupid-ass gaijins. People that make comments like that need to be sent home. What a dipshit. Well, I shouldn't be to hard on him. . .he is from the "Great North". Heh heh heh.

Anyway, now on to the up coming events next week and in the next few months. I will be going to the Sumo Tourney in Tokyo next week. I am not sure if I will be able to get tickets but I am going to try! I am looking forward to that. I will be taking both of my cameras and I am sure that I will have LOTS of pictures to post! I will also be stopping by a famous fishmarket in Tokyo as well as the sumo tourney.
I will be heading home in March for a little visit. I think I will be home the first part of March. I can't wait to eat my fill of Mexican food! And I ain't talking about that fake Mexican food, I mean the real stuff. . . Taco Bell! just kidding.
Oh, my niece Marisa will be turning 11 years old this weekend. An early HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! to her. and your gift is on the way!
shizzle (from the land that is exactly like home.)

The local art museum

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

I went on a little day trip with one of my co-workers and we went to the local art museum in Shizuoka. It turns out that it has art from that dude Rodin. You know the guy who made that "The Thinker" statue. I guess the guy has a WHOLE wing just for his art work. I wish I knew more but when we got the the museum it was closed! D'OH!!! What pissed off my co-worker was that she asked the bus driver if his bus was going to the museum (BTW my co-workers Japanese is f*cking flawless!) and he was like yeah I am BUT he could mention that the museum was closed!!!! Nope. What a dick. That's OK though I had a blast on the bus! And I now know how to get there on the bus and that rocks.

Some more of Sunpu Castle

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

I had to get a part of the moat in the picture. It is a cool looking castle. Well what's left of it anyway.

Sunpu Castle from the front

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

Sunpu Castle

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

This is Sunpu (SOON-poon) Castle. This was about the only thing left standing in Shizuoka after the U.S. fire bombed the city in WWII. I know this because one of my students at work asked me to help translate a book about personal accounts of the fire bombing in WWII. It was some pretty sad stuff. War is some f*cked up shit no matter how you look at it.

Same fountain but up close

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

It just looked soooo cool! I had to get a picture up close of the water coming down!

A kick ass fountain

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Originally uploaded by Drew In Japan.

This is a really cool fountain in Shizuoka. It kinda looks like that thing from the movie 2001 a space odessey.

HAPPY NEW YEA. . . oh wait I'm late!

Hello, hello all! I am sorry that I haven't posted in like a week but I got a little sick this week and I haven't felt like posting! Sorry. BUT I did make a New Years' resolution to try and update my blog twice a week! Once with pictures and once with a little story (most likely a rant) about Japan. OH I would also like to mention that my buddy from the States Keith has started up his own blog and EVERYONE should go check it out! He lives on the "bottom" island of Japan in a place called Kumamoto! It will give everyone a chance to see life in a different place in Japan, and it will give everyone a chance to get a peek into his life! Here is the link to his blog site:

http://blog.bakuchiku.net/

I am sure that he will be posting a lot more pictures than me, because he just got a new camera and I know he wants to show his photos to everyone! And that ain't a bad thing!
BTW I did eat cake on Christmas Eve. New Year's is more like Christmas because it is a very relaxed day that is spent with family. And I got to watch Pride and K-1 on New Year's eve. Oh, Pride and K-1 are kinda like UFC, ie big dudes kicking that shit out of each other for my enjoyment. . .bless their hearts!
I am a little under the weather right now so I am going to keep this post short. OH I ALMOST FORGOT, I changed the settings on my blog so that everyone can post even without an account with blogger, so I hope that more people will post and I would also like to send a big thanks to everyone who does post regularly (Shawn, Rich, Les, etc)!!!! Be back in a couple of days with pics.
shizzle