Episode 5: Mountains and Monkeys and Poker, oh my!

Well well, it seems as though you've come back for another blog update. Today will not disappoint, for I assure you that I had a great last week, saw a great load of funny things, and took a lot of pictures. It all begins with an invitation to poker, and ends with the bagging of a monkey for a third roomie. Exciting, no?

Well, let me begin with the Poker game, 'cause it's fresh on the brain. Essentially, it was a 1000 yen ($10 Canadian) buy in, 9 guys, and Texas'hold'em limit rules. Since it was my first time, and I had just cycled over from my place in the rain all the way to Tsu after work, I was feeling a little tired, but luckily I found the place. The location was called amiably, "Hack's bar." The owner, who's name is surprisingly Hack actually plays in the poker game every week, and speaks great english. He's a really nice guy, as are all the other blokes who are sitting around a smokey table with cards in their hands. I made another 8 friends that night, most of which were American, so that was already a bonus. Of course, when I then proceeded to put six people out of the game after an additional 4 re-buy ins, (bringing the pot to $130) I had to be extra kind in order to keep them as friends. Hahaha, don't get me wrong, I'm not a great poker player, but I'm not terrible either. Anywho, I didn't win the game, but I did come in second, getting my money back. I also chatted with Hack for a while, and we both shared a large cup of Shochu on the rocks (something akin to Rice Vodka.) I've been invited back pretty unanimously and so I think I've got my Monday nights from here on in booked.

Besides the poker, I had a decent week with regards to work having my second observation as well as an assortment of interesting and fun students. For those of you who have never really taught before, I must say that when you know your students, teaching becomes all that much better. After a solid month of teaching, I have found that I'm finally getting to really know some of my students, remember their names, jobs, hobbies, and interests. I've even begun to key in on their weak points, and strengths, so that I can adjust my teaching style appropriately. It isn't that I really feel super obligated to try my hardest to teach people for the sake of the company that I work for, but more so that I actually enjoy the process of helping people make headway in something that they feel is important enough to spend $30 for a 40 minute on, especially when they book a Man-to-Man lesson, which is four times the cost. I think that my attitude towards helping people has begun to shine through a little, and my last observation reflected that. My first one wasn't that great, but this last one was, well, "Yosh-a!" worthy.

Also, I really want to talk about my most recent day trip, which was on Wednesday. I took a trip up to a mountain about 1.5 hours train ride away and hiked around with a few people. Neil and Ellen, Leigh and Tristan, and I spent the day on a mission to scope out the beautiful waterfalls hidden amongst the mountains in Yokoyama. I've included a few pictures from the trip, as you can clearly see, and I must say that the landscape reminded me a lot of the Canadian forests that I've hiked through in northern Ontario. Though I can't say that these mountains were more beautiful than the ones in Canada, I can say that they were a little different, and still quite nice on the eyes. Also, the fact that here in Japan there are wild monkeys that run around gets me pretty excited.

After hiking around for a few hours, and also taking a bit of a strole (or a "paddle" as they say in England) through some freezing cold water near the top of the mountain, we began our decent back down the mountain, without seeing any of the fabled monkeys. But, when we were almost down the mountain, what did our wonderous eyes see? Oh yes, a big family of monkeys! After some quick picture taking, as well as some biscuit grabbing, I decided to venture forth to see my ancestral cousins face to red-face.
One of the mothers, being used to people I guess, came up and took a biscuit from me. I was amazed! I had just fed a wild monkey! Also, instead of just letting the monkey take the cookie, I held onto it a little bit so that the monkey had to pull on it, and when she did, she turned towards the camera a little bit, and almost seemed to smile for the picture. Definitely a lucky pic. Anywho, the monkeys weren't interested in taking cookies from anyone else, so I also felt a little special that day.


On our way back down the mountain, I was talking about my cousin Ronnie, and how much he would love to have a monkey, so using all the skills that I've learned from him, Tristan and I bagged one, and smuggled it home into our apartment. Her name is Ampersand, and she's learning how to be our butler.

Well, thanks for tuning in to this week's blog update. I'm sure I'll have some wacky adventures and pictures to show you for next week. Who knows, maybe I'll have found some time to apply for my Japanese License by then, and could be well on my way to owning a deliciously used Scooter.

Ja matta neh,

-benjamin


p.s. Oh, and here are some great pictures that I found while rooting around in some random stores... they definitely contain a good dose of Engrish for those of you who are interested.


These green guys are smiling about something... I don't know exactly what, but I'd definitely point the blame down to their abnormally tight pants, right around the crotchal region. It could be that they were on sale at some sort of "potentcy" stand.



It reads, and I quote: "You are freer than whether to use with what kind of use." Ummm... I have no clue. I love that they've got a recycling sign, a world sign, and then for some reason an airplane symbol? I have no idea what that means! And for a "Storage-Case" (read bag) it defintely has... "Terrific Power!" The thing was a dollar.

For those of you who don't know, big in Japan is only big when spelled with a "Y." Also, Cola isn't Cola unless it's SUPER COLA.





This last one is just of my office at Tsu-minami branch. (My home branch.) I was lazy one day so I bought some curry and had myself an instant coffee in my Panda mug. Oh yes, I've got a Panda mug. And I love it.