well alls well that ends well. that's what i always say. just thought i'd give you an update while i'm thinking of stuff. geeze not much is going on past climbing that mountain on tuesday. amazing view. a good time was had by all.

i hate to say this texas, but i think i'm ruined by all the mountains around here. i like climbing mountains, i'm no good at it because i wheeze and whine all the way up, but man its a great hobby to me. oh, nothing to do, climb a hill.

*fun with english friday*
yup, here is another episode of "fun with english friday". i acually forgot all the goods at school, so this is a little off the cuff. i asked the kids this week in one of the classes to write me a message and introduction. one kid gladly wrote:

You do not have a gerl friend.
So, good luck.

i was utterly appeased by that. A+!! so i got at least one of my students in my cheering section. i think he/she meant to say "good luck teaching" or something. but i like it this way. some kids drew pictures of me, that was nice. one had a beard and the other didn't. a little wierd, but hey, they're kids.

some other subject, yet undefined
well, to be honest i've been a little shy around here on the blog. i was looking at people who linked to wimpkiller the other day and i found this guy who said, and i quote,

maybe what gets me is all the crap about finding the "REAL japan"... its fairly subjective- but what most people succumb to is simply the same ol' wow! wacky japanese peope! hahaha - type of mentality. I am thinking specifically about idiots who can't get over the concept of love hotels, or japanese tv. just cause things aredifferent (and with japan, mostly better) does not mean they are wacky or quirky.
I just think the whole concept is so boring. I sure as hell don't know everything about japan but then again I have not made a webpage trying to explain thet entire friggin country with broad simple concepts on a geocities webspace. You got to remember that about everyone who makes those pages is a functional illiterate in Japan- they can no more make "true" observations about the society as a whole than a fresh-off- the boat foreginer can when they come to say, lincoln nebraska

now, having then my blog be linked under such statement made me feel really idiotic because maybe i did make a broad generalization of japan in my blog and communicate it as "the REAL Japan". i apologize if i did. i actually got kind of down about this and felt sort of stupid. buy then i got to thinking...

i have a degree in Japan! a Bachelor's in Asian Cultures and Languages (Japan) to be exact. i can make any broad assumption i want. i can say anything because, in fact, my observations, though subjective, are grounded in the fundamentals of asian studies academia. BAM! i knew my degree would do something. i can use it to say shut-up to some anonymous commenter on some guy's live journal. i feel awesome.

well, now i bid you farewell becuase i'm awesome. at least the black barroness thinks so. bye bye!

so there's a place on the map -- map coming soon, dad -- where there's a cautionary label which reads "Caution-Monkeys". i think i said it before, but to me that's sort of like a label that says "hey, free money laying on the ground". coincidentally, johanna saw this label as well so we decided to head north towards the sea of japan on a bonafide monkey hunt. with map in hand and a typhoon headed towards japan we head out on saturday morning.

we drove about 2.5 hours until we reached the place on the map where the monkeys the most violent. the drive was incredible because halfway in (around Amanohashidatte) the road just hugged the coast, literally hanging over the sea of Japan. pretty spectacular. maybe its my fear of drowning, but i'm never unimpressed by the awesome power of the ocean (in this case sea). its huge. it could kill me. it's one of the most powerful things i think i've seen.

did i mention a typhoon? well that was hitting the southern islands but we were catching a little drizzle and a lot of wind. the wind was crazy.

we stopped about the 2.5hour point because we wanted to see the amazing view of the coast and we ended up following this trail around into some woods, then we back tracked and took another trail and it took us down to this rock formation that was just getting poinded by waves. amazing.

but we had not seen any monkeys at this point, and according to the map, this was prime monkey territory. so we pressed on since it was only like noon and we wern't done with our adventure. so we drove further along the coast stopping rather liberally when ever the road afforded to marvel at the ocean. and i broke johanna's nose somewhere along the way.

we got lost in this town because i wanted to find an onsen. turned out we drove though a town's festival. everyone was in yukata (kimono) things with those wooden shoes. and the typhoon-like winds were blowing, for the sake of being redundant it was like Karate Kid Part II, when the typhoon is coming and the town has to take cover. so, we didn't hang around that town any more because we felt weird being foreign and not in matching japanese outfits...didn't even exit the car.

but we did stop at this SeaWorld type place. statues of penguins and walri decorated the place, but no life was to be found. it was like the world's most depressing amusement park. the buildings we're corroding and rusted, and it was basically empty. and the little pools for penguins and such we're all grimey. and with the typhoon coming it sort of looked like the final scene Karate Kid II because they had all these bridges and stuff. it was also the sort of place that you'd have to free willy from because of substandard living conditions.

we drove all day weaving through mountains and marvelling at the cliffs...which looked like the kind that Daniel-san had to get the bonsai tree from in Karate Kid II. i was in search of an onsen (natural hotsprings) but alas, that failed. well, it got dark and by the time we ended up getting all the way to Tottori by the time we were ready to retire but we passed up the nearest hostel so we had to backtrack.

i must confess, when calling the hostel i told the guy that johanna and i were engaged so that we could get our own room with no one in it. don't worry, seperate beds...chill out. but it was pretty crafty. but we were ripped from the day and i fell asleep as soon as we got there while the rest of the hostel was out barbecuing and drinking. i was too tired to play, and no one at the hostel was friendly, it was sort of uninviting.

dr.jones! dr.jones!
took our time driving back the next day. but we were done by one pm or so. we did stop at this pretty amazing park/temple with this amazing waterfall that preceeded a shrine. in the spirit of Indiana Jones we went up to the shrine and peered into the back of the shrine....

deep inside the natural crevice of the rock, behind the yellow altar were statues. pretty creepy, to be honest. you see, these are the gods of the mountain and people come pay homage to this statue hidden in the mountain. maybe its more tradition than spirit worship, or beseechment of the mountain god, but from a Judaic-Christian background it was really different to peer into a cave and see the gods of the mountain that are prayed to in some form or fashion. gives me the jibblies honestly...

there was also a trail leading away from the shrine that said 2200m with an arrow point up. a 2km hike? i wasn't up for it that day because we had hiked so much but i ended up doing it with the Kaibara-krew yesterday. an impressive view 655m up and a 2200m trail. what does M equal? i like to hike, even though it kills me and i whine all the way up, i enjoy it.

a summary of the monkey hunt
our monkey hunt failed, but this wasn't the last one. we even at one point walked around with bananas to lure those rascally varmints. but i think japan has caged them in and kept them off the road like in Jurassic Park (it really did look like JP at times). but as we all know, they'll get smarter...so i don't think this was the last monkey hunt. next time we'll have nets or guns to shoot the crap out of them. sound like fun!? alright well tune in next time where i will not talk about meaningless trips i did.

a map is coming soon! and who knows, maybe stuff i'm actually thinking! yeaaah! well take care and thanks for tuning in.

ok. here's my final post...and as i write this, i realize i need a new methodology on posting. i post a lot of meaningless stuff...but to me it has some significance. but to the reader, i realize its mundane details, like how big and cool the kyoto station is, for example. so i'm going to revamp how i post about my trips. and maybe give you, the reader, the nitty gritty. just to let you know, so without further ado i present my wednesday (its sunday).

just a lone man on the train to kobe
being another compensatory day for me i went to Kobe, partly on my own desire to run around on my own after going with people everywhere, but also sadly on what i consider business but my Board of Education sees as a personal endeavor. you see, in Kobe i need to talk to the American Embassy and get a re-entry permit for my visa, so i can leave the country at some point in the future and get back into the country no problem. Also, i wanted to get my Texas Driver's License officially translated so that i could begin the steps it takes to get my official Japanese Driver's License....but of course, there was a catch.

i realized as i was an hour away from my home by train, on my second train, just a stop or two away from Kobe-Sannomiya that i didn't have my passport. stupid me. its pretty hard to get your visa tweaked without your passport. its also hard to get into an american embassy without your passport i bet. also, in order to get the driver's license translated i needed my passport. do'h.

so i walked around Kobe with nothing to do. i saw the pacific ocean, really it was just sort of a harbor, not international waters or anything. i saw either the a model of or the actual Santa Maria, as in the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. i couldn't read the sign to tell which one it was. it was pretty decrepit though. and no wonder those guys wanted to kill Columbus, it was tiny.

the cultured me sees gustav klimt

at the art museum in Kobe they had a Gustav Klimt exhibit. its advertised in every trainstation in the prefecture so i thought i'd check it out since i enjoy the style, and secretly .. between you and me, i like to walk around art museums because its tranquil to me and i get to think. this art exhibit wasn't so tranquil. it was wednesday and packed out. i had to wait in line for things. rediculous.

-- pause to talk to the people in Austin. if you're in austin, texas get yourself to the Harry Ransom Center on the University of Texas campus because its cool. and its free. and no one is there usually, sometimes kids so its like Ferris Bueller's Day Off...what more could you ask for. [/rant]

well, Gustav was alright. the guy was kind of weird because he dressed up in these wizard like robes all the time. a bit odd. and honestly, i wonder what makes drawings of women masturbating equal art. it seems like just a pre-photography pornographic endeavor rather than art to me.

well that's my super trip. lots of travelling. more than any guy should attempt, but i went around and took another trip this weekend. that will be under a post called: MONKEY HUNT. so stay tuned. what happened to the conbini challenge? i don't know. i'm lame.

its friday already and i haven't finished this series of posts, i might have to just cut it short...ahhh! i actually almost left this weekend to go play but rain has stopped me! cursed rain!

well where are we at? oh, "what did you do monday?"
A: monday in japan was a national holiday translated as "Respect for the Elderly Day". so i went to Kyoto with the Kaibara crew. Kyoto is heralded as japan's ancient capitol because the imperial power moved its headquarters from Kyoto east to Tokyo. Thus, Kyoto is somewhat of a cultural epicenter. it has a lot, and i do mean a lot, of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Pagodas to boot....

it was about two and a half hours by train from Kaibara trainstation to Kyoto (via Osaka). it may take awhile and not get you exactly where you want to be, but i really like the trains. call me crazy. its just nice not to have to drive and you have to be on time...something my americanism doesn't like, a cruicial deadline to be somewhere or else i'm sleeping on a bench in a trainstation. and the cost was $20 USD to get there...thus began my expenses.

from the Kyoto trainstation we took the subway over to where the Lonely Planet said the Imperial Palace was. sounds like starwars doesn't it? well much to our dismay the palace was closed because it was a national holiday. and coincidentally all national monuments and tourist joints are closed on mondays. are you kidding me! mount rushmore doesn't close on the fourth of july! or on secrataries day! puh-lease. well this palace was huge! like acres wide and most of the ground is made of anti-ninja ground. a small gravel that makes it impossibles for Ninjas to sneak around undetected. actually there is a castle in Kyoto that the emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu (who built Supertown's castle) had designed with trap doors, booby traps, and "singing" floors that would creak when you walked so that you couldn't sneak attack. man, very very sneaky.

after the closed tourist destination we followed the lonely bible planet and did the "Kurodani to Yoshida-jinja Walk". its a series of five or so temple/shrines that take an afternoon to walk. you even walk through a few graveyards (shrines). at one point we saw some buddhist monks in training practicing their chants. this felt really japanese. ironically, cars would pull up to the temple to pay their respects at evening prayer, then they'd drive off. the contrast was quite disturbing and yet picturesque of the japanese society - an ancient tradition of prayer and a desire for beauty in worship versus the modernization of japan and the loud automobiles that rumble across the rocky grounds. the sound technology and modernization completely covering the cry for salavation (to Amida Buddha). that just sort of struck me as a picture of japan.

the funnier part of the story is that when the monks finished chanting practice we headed out but we were walking right in front of the monks path. and they started chanting again! we'd shuck n' jive but they'd stay on us. it was really really creepy to have monks stalking you while chanting...through a graveyard nonetheless. but we pulled out the triple deke and sent those monks hurrying back home.

long after that we finished the temple walk. it was dark, which the guide book expressly advises not to do because the graveyards can be scary at night. gimmie a break! graveyards at night! sign me up. i was just ready to stop walking. my body can't take much o' that.

well we grabbed some taxis and some food after stopping off at a drum circle on Kyoto University campus. i wanted to drum so bad, but i didn't want to be the guy who says "oh can i play?"...rawr.

after a series of closed things we played around at the Kyoto Eki (train station)...dude, this thing was cool. it was out of the future of course, but it was a phenomonal piece of architecture. plus it doubled as "the" make-out spot for young japanese couples. heck, if i was dating i'd probably go there to kiss as well. appropriately, of course.

after the train station we took the subway back towards the palace to find our hostel for the evening, the Uno House. this was my first hostel stay ever and definitely not my last, it was awesome. and i was pretty stoked i made the reservation in japanese. this hostel is listed in the Lonely Planet (of course) as having "a convenient central location and casual atmosphere. Sure, it's a little noisy and run down, but you can't beat the price." it was all those adjectives. but it was great. we met some germans, italians, brazilians and british.

quite a nice crew folks. but we didn't stay there long because we went downtown to eat and drink. but behold! festivities!

the Hanshin Tigers (the local Kansai team) won the championship monday night. actually, they didn't win the championship, but based on a easy mathmatical calculation they have more wins than anyone else in the league can acquire so they are teh champions, or "ACHIEVERS" as one t-shirt put it. so there was much rejoicing and singing in the streets. quite a party. we ate food in an african restaurant (first african food experience). it was decent. we watched people in osaka jumping off of bridges and stuff...into water, that is. and vandalizing of course.

it was a late night back at the hostel. saw more of of the imperal palace. then went to bed. slept well for 5 hours or so and then left the hostel for more touring. we went for breakfast at this swanky coffee shop...cheap and good food! awesome. then we went to the palace again because we thought it'd be open. but we missed the 10am tour by ten minutes...the one that you have to make reservations for! had we know this ahead of time, we mighta seen some palace, but alas, i did not. so our tourism did not stop! we caught another taxi.

our next stop was the Kinkakuji Temple, or Golden Temple. this was like a fulfillment of education for me. in all my studies of japan i've heard "golden temple this, golden temple that" so to finally see it was neat to have a tangible graspe of my studies at university. now its not just a text book. pretty interesting to see a temple made of gold.

after that i had to get going back to the Yama, sasa-yama that is, because i had an adult class to teach in the evening. all in all it was a good trip to Kyoto...like i said, it was sort of a fulfillment of all my studies in college because i've heard so much about all these temples and all this culture that i finally understand a little more.

ASK ME ABOUT POSITIVE IONS ANYONE! NO NO NEGATIVE ONES TOO!

so this week i've done a lot. and you're the beneficiary of my story. it'll be long and i won't type it all in one night so i'll give you three posts over the next few days so that you can catch up on my life.

sports day!
i worked all day saturday and sunday for this sports day. saturday was training and sunday was the actual sports festival. it was awesome.

the day started out with rain and the little kiddos had to march in the rain. it was pretty depressing but they stuck it out and were real proper in a japanese sort of way. bowing in the rain. pretty interesting image. but then the rain cleared way and the fun began.

i was just a cheering section sorta. playing with the kids. fun. i actually ran in a relay with the second year teachers' team. i was last, running 100m. talk about athletic prowless! i won the race! i was running like heck and all my lilttle junior high kids were cheering me on. i finished in style - moonwalking across the finish! we totally murdered those junior high girls. teachers win! yeah! in retrospect, the moonwalk was a little too much...i don't think anyone liked it. but hey! meet american culture japan! it's not just winning, but winning in style. isn't that right?

the funniest part of the day was when these girls did this little cheer and they all dressed in black t-shirts to look all hard....well, one girl had a big pot leaf on the front of her t-shirt. it said "Marijuana Pickers of the World Unite" or something like that. i about fell outta my shoes! that would never fly in america at a school function where your parents watch. but i didn't want to embarrass her and tell her what it means.

i don't get it. it seems like some people in my town don't know what marijuana is. i mean you see pot leaf t-shirts in the supermarket. and then one teacher has a pot leaf air freshener in their car, with the optional "doobie" shaped air freshener as well. inappropriate for a teacher! am i right?

i also had some kid tell me that the gundam (baseball-like) cards are his defense. it was neat that he showed me his hobby but creepy because i think he thought these cards determined his spiritual saftey at sports day. maybe i'll investigate that more.

that night i skipped my school's enkai, since there's one next monday, and went to Kaibara (of course) and (of course) the night ended in Karaoke. good as usual i think. this is a side note, and how i'll finish this post, i've developed a craving for ice cream. seriously, i could eat it for every single meal right now. and here you can only get it in small portions...but you can get green tea icecream...which is soo good.

alright, that's where i'll end it. maybe add links to pictures later (?) but stay tuned because in the next post i leave the Supertown! JAPAN WILL BE CONQUERED!