Episode 9: Living & Loving Life at Large

I think the garbage cans on the left say it all. After two full months, I can honestly say that I finally feel pretty set up here in Japan. Nothing is exactly as I want it currently however, but things are on the move, and that I can truthfully say is a nice thing. For one, my room isn't set up exactly the way I want it, but I've been slowly making improvements each week. My improvements range from something as simple as putting up a new picture or poster, to building a new piece of furnature, to re-maximizing my space, to outfitting my wall with a map of Japan. As I've mentioned before, keeping my room clean is now not only just something I enjoy, it's also an act of necessity. I don't have too much space here, and with every new improvement, addition, or purchase my room gets just a little smaller. Still, I'm rocking out to the fact that I've received some mail, some packages, and most recently, a new toy and some coffee from my mom and dad. (THANKS GUYS!) Now all I need to do is purchase my new coffee maker, and voila! The world has just followed my room's directions and gotten a little smaller.

About my new toy, here's a nice pic of it. Basically, it's something that normally is supposed to go into a specially designed pair of overpriced Nike shoes that you can get from Apple, and it is a glamourized pedometer. But, man, I have to say, thus far I love the thing. Check out first, how beautiful it looks. Second, you will notice that the transmitter receiver is just a tiny little plug that goes in your ipod, rendering it into a super-powered workout medium of incredible design. This thing measures and records not only my distance, time, calories, and is able to graph it in full colour, but it also voices over and lets me know my distance between songs. It is also programmed to have a POWER SONG, which kicks in if my tempo falls below a certain level. For those of you who are American, yes, it can speak in your foreigner Imperial system speak (Miles, etc.) Now, instead of putting it in my shoes via knife and cutting, you can just stick it under your laces, and make sure that it is taped in as well. Works just as well, saves you $200. Beautiful? I think so. :)

Okay, with that off my chest, I am ready to divulge some of the events of this past week.

First, let me begin with elements of bad news. Nova experienced a gruesome murder recently, which I'm sure many of you have read about over the international papers by now. A young beautiful English woman was murdered by some deranged guy after going to his house for a private tutoring lesson. I myself never met the woman, but I feel really bad for her family. I can only imagine how painful it would be for my family to have to fly over to Japan to collect my corpse. Not really the thing you'd want to think about. Anyway, if any of you are concerned, I will state this now. No, I am not privately teaching at the moment, and if I were, then I would definitely have to do it in a public space. This experience is one that is really sad for all international teachers, and hopefully they find the SOB who's still running from the Koban (Japanese cops) as far as I've heard.

We also had a pretty big earthquake just recently. I personally missed it, and I kinda feel bad since it would have been my first real earthquake, but at the same time, I'm also just glad that it wasn't any bigger than it was. I heard that it was about a 7.0 on the Richter scale at its strongest point, and it toppled some houses and killed one woman. About 80 others were injured in the quake, and it could be felt all over central Honshu in varying degrees. It woke up some of my friends who work for Nova, and Steven really didn't like it. (He lives on the 12th floor of a shakey apartment.) All in all, none of my students seemed too phased by it. Apparently the last big one killed around 6000 people, so they seem pretty content with anything smaller than that.


Another negative thing that happened this week was an injury to my closest Japanese friend, Tomo-san. We were playing a friendly game of Footsal (small field soccer) and Tomo-san resumed his normal position of keeper, since he's pretty good at it, and we started playing as per usual. It was a nice night, and everyone was in good humour. Then, all of a sudden, after resuming a play, we noticed that Tomo-san hadn't gotten up from the ground after his last attempted save. We asked him if he was okay, and he didn't answer. This was bad news, so we all ran over and saw that he couldn't get up. After sitting for a minute, I noticed that one of his shoulders was hanging a little low. I quickly asked Neil for conformation in my observation, and he looked at me and nodded. Neil, being a man of intelligence, quickly kneeled down beside Tomo-san and said "now Tomo, have you ever seen the Lethal Weapon movies?"

One ambulance ride later, and we were back on the field. I scored the first goal of the night, and nailed another couple before the night was through. In case you're wondering, he's doing well, this wasn't his first time dislocating his shoulder, and he should be back playing with us in a month.

Other bad news is the fact that I had to work overtime today, making it a one-day weekend. I'm a little short-pressed on time, and so I feel like I haven't had the relaxing time this week that I would have otherwise enjoyed.

Now, FINALLY, on to some good news.

This week I received my internet access.... YES!!! FREEDOM!!! This will be the first blog post done from the comforts of my own home, and I have to say that though this is a lot fun here in my chair, I kinda miss going to the International Center, getting my can of Ko-hee, and my Cho-ko-rat Su-ko-ne. (Coffee & Chocolate Scone) I would have had my blog uploaded way earlier, but sadly, I had to do some overtime work today and so, I didn't get a chance to do everything that I wanted. My grocery shopping took a hit, and so did some of my cleaning efforts. Still, with the promise of internet, I'm in a great mood.

Also, this week, one of my fellow Gaijin friends got a Mac-book. One more convert in operation "Mac-in-tsu-city." I helped her set up her mac, and gave her some software to get her started. Here's a cool pic of my comp and hers side by side. Wow, I'm really a convert from my earlier PC cult days. If you haven't tried a Mac, just think about no viruses and easier nicer looking software. It's here, it's real, and it's the future. Do it.

In the world of fun and positive events, I would like to add that won poker the other night. After feeling pretty rejected by Lady Luck in the past couple games (2nd place twice in a row) I'm glad that I finally had some horseshoes up my arse. The pot wasn't as big, but it was still pretty decent. So far my winnings are $150 Canadian, and my losses are $40. I'm up, and it only costs $10 a night, so I'm gonna be up for a while. I'm pretty happy about the situation, but no doubt, people will be really suspicious next game, as I've had a pretty good track record thusfar. Also, the nice thing about going out for Poker with the guys is that it's a chance to get hang out with different people. I've made a few friends so far, and probably some good opportunities to travel as well. I'm also friends with a bar owner, which is always a good thing in this neck of the woods.

In celebration for my Nana who turned 97 on the weekend, I would like to leave off her words of advice.

"Eat food every day, and ... knit."

Experience in literal format.

Ja matta neh,

-benjamin


Have you ever had warm apple juice from a can or a juice box that kinda tastes a little bit like pee smells? Well, not only do they have that here, but they also have the real thing. Check it out man! PEE!!!




If these look like deep fried whole baby crabs, that's probably because that's what they are. barf. Of course, I've eaten crab brain since I've been here, so I guess I'm one to talk.

Ahhh... the perfect Japanese family... except... they're not Japanese.... hmmm....

Episode 8: Green with Envy: Japan's Irish live on.

Two months go by, and I'm still at it. I'm actually impressed with myself on this one. I'm normally the 'ideas' person who comes up with the idea and then starts it, but never gets around to finish it, as I'm sure my friends can contest with. Yet, thusfar, I haven't missed a single blog, and during a week that was as busy as this last one, I've also managed to survive while eating enough food. Bonus.

So, that's Tokyo tower in case you didn't know. Erin Go Bragh! Yes, the Japanese illuminated Tokyo tower with green lights on the 17th, just for all the Irish Japanese in Japan... of which there are probably a little less than human's have digits. Still, for such a big phenomenon, one would expect his English students to at least have heard of St. Patty's day. Well, I was sorely disappointed during this week, since not a single student of mine had any idea what green beer was all about. Taking it as a personal crusade, I went about informing many Japanese about the glories of this wonderful 'should be holiday.' On the 17th, I armed myself with an assortment of green clothing, including Green Lantern shirt (go me), Green sweater (thanks Grams), Green pants (thanks Mom), Green Shamrock sporting boxers (thanks Laura), Green Irish pins (thanks Barb) and of course, my first Guiness since I've arrived (thanks God). I took my green-self to a local Gaijin bar called "The Melting Pot" and I began what would quickly become a party until 4am. I made a lot of new friends, Japanese and Gaijin alike, and also got people to begin doing some terrible Irish dancing. With my highland dancing facade safely in place, I was free to slip away into the night so that I could manage to sleep for a couple hours before work in the morning.



The next night however was also a very late night, and it was a going away party for Leigh, one of the Gaijin teachers here who has been a resident for almost two years. She's also Irish, and so we had to have ANOTHER green party for her. Out came the pins, out came the green, and out came the madness. Karaoke style.

Without making it too big a deal, we said our goodbyes at about 6am, while catching the morning train back our stations. Yes, a couple very late nights, but yes, a lot of fun. I ended off the night with a little Boyz II Men rendition of "The end of the road," which I felt was appropriate for the time. I've got about fourty pics from that night, including the good, the bad, and the ugly shots as things became strange once a few English blokes got really sloppy, but I've only included a couple pics in this post. I'd rather leave it as a great night, clean and fun.


Let's see... On top of all that jazz, and my probation observation, which went quite well, things were great this week. I found a lot of excellent signs, some cool pictures, and even made a day trip up to Nagoya yesterday with Karen. We hit up an Anime shop and that's where I got this picture of me posing in a Wanted poster. Thing was, there was room for two people, and so I figured that I'd put my photoshop skills to work, and make Laura my partner in crime. Deal with it Laura, you're a pirate. After the Anime store, we went to Starbucks, and also the (yes, there is about 1) English book store in Nagoya. I bought another little Japanese-English phrase book, as well as Shogun for the second time. I've just had a recent hankering to re-read that 1200 page monstrosity. If you haven't read it, and you like historical fiction, giver'a'go.



I know that there's really not too much to look forward to, weather wise in April, but I have to say that here in Japan, it'll be cherry blossom season in about one to two weeks. With our warm winter this year, it'll probably start a little bit earlier, so I'm thinking that probably around March 27th, Tsu-park will be blooming. I'll be posing tonnes of pictures in the near future so stay tuned and get excited with me! I'd like to add that since the famous Japanese poet Basho was born in Mie prefecture, the haiku is celebrated here as a national event, and this celebrating culminates in Cherry Blossom time with many people breaking out their poetic inspirations to join in the celebration. I got one of my Voice classes in Yokkaichi to write a haiku for an activity, and this is what the five of us over fourty minutes came up with:

Pretty Pink Petals
Resemble my glowing face
Under Tsu's blossoms


On that note,

ja matta ne,

-benjamin


P.S. I've got some other good news! My landline is up and running... so if anyone wants to chat it up, drop me a line on e-mail and we can chat it up for discount rates. Calling with my celly is just too expensive.


ENRISH!!!! (& cool things)


Check out that price!!! Can you believe that a single Cantaloupe comes in a box and costs... $40 Canadian Dollars?!!! What the heck! I really should have filled up on Cantaloupe before I left...





Mmmm... Georgia has a brand of drink that's entitled... "DEEPRESSO!!" Mmmmm... depressing. I think it's supposed to be a de-caffeinated espresso... where's the joy in that? Perhaps it is properly labeled afterall.




Perhaps this is just me, but that whale's drink looks particularly phalic...






"Neither returned goods nor the exchanged are done in our shop. Please acknowledge it." I just loved the phrasing.

Episode 7: Tuesdays are the new Fridays

Wow, another week blows by, and still, I'm excited to be posting blog entries and sharing my enriching experience with family, friends, and anyone who cares to read. I've got some cool pics, and some fun experiences to talk about, so hopefully you'll enjoy it. Without any further ado, I-ku-zo! (Let's do it!)

This last week was full of tons of exciting and fun activies, from Art museums to Temples, to dinners, to mad e-mails. I even found the first donut from Mister Donut that I haven't enjoyed. It's a specialty seasonal donut that has black seasame seed paste and some sessame seeds on it. Without stalling too long on it, let me just say, it is worse than it sounds.


On a different notes, I have to say that with my current schedule of Friday to Tuesday work weeks, I'm pretty much the only one at Nova that really looks forward to Tuesdays. Normally they're one of our busiest days, but that doesn't really bother me. Tuesday is my Friday, my chance to relax for the 'weekend' and stay up late doing nothing important. Some days I make my Wednesday so productive that I may as well be at work, but one thing changed for me yesterday (Wednesday.) I actually enjoyed doing my house chores. Yeah, that's right, I did laundry, vacuumed the house, did all the chores, including Tristan's dishes, and I did it with a smile on my face. Japan and my lady friend back home are to thank for that I think.


That being said, let me now elaborate on the famous temple known as Sen Ju Ji.


For starters, let me begin with temple etiquette here in Japan. It is expected that all visitors wash their hands in the holy water located near the entrances. Normally this water comes out of a stone feature, like a dragon. You use wooden ladle to pour the water over your hands, and then put it back. Pretty simple, right? Well, apparently not if you're name is Jon, and you're a funny guys because then you can manage to inject your arm directly into a dragon's mouth, and make a funny face while people watch in awe.


Sen Ju Ji was built in 1666, and is the largest temple in Japan, with a floor space in its main chambers of over 100 tatami mats. It is sub-divided into several large buildings, each having its own history and stories, as well as dedications. Unfortunately for us, the main temple area has been closed for the past seven years for repairs. It is supposed to be completed within the year, and so if that happens while I'm still here, I'll definitely go back to try and find it. Still, that being said, there were millions of dollars of donation money going to restore it, so I definitely believe that it will be quite the sight. The rest of the rooms aren't supposed to be photographed, but I managed to sneak a quick peek for my peeps back home.

I've been lucky to visit numerous temples around Japan in my previous trip here with my hetero-life partner Chung. Together we ran around Japan like crazy kids in candy shop, and between that experience and this one, I have to say that Sen Ju Ji had a bit of a different feel to temples in the Kanto region, or even in Kyoto. It may have been that not too many people were there that day, but I somehow couldn't shake the feeling that there was little to no soul at the temple. I hope I don't offend any Japanese readers here when I say that, but it was just the way that I felt about it. Almost like it was overcompensating for it's lack of energy in the air. It was still a great trip, and I'm very glad to have gone there.




I also managed a trip to check out some of the Tsu-University art student's exhibits. Some of them were really cool, and it was a free open house for the public. I saw comments in the guest book from French people as well as English, and of course, many Japanese. I liked one artist's work that was mainly a perspective India-ink sketch set, that was to be viewed in cut out feet holes from a certain point on the floor. My phone's background is now this pic on the left. Also, in a strange coincidence, the next day at work, I was working in Tsu-city branch, and I had one of the artists from the exhibit as my student! The next day, I had the museum's curator! Ridiculous!



I also managed to go out for some delicious dinner one night with Ashanthi and some other people. We had Nabe (Nah-bay) which is a special Japanese dinner that is more commonly called a "hot-pot." Obviously this style of cooking comes in numerous dishes, and so we ordered one that we were sure to like. Chicken, mushrooms (big weird ones) and cabbage, some little noodly-things, radish, etc, etc. Quite delicious actually.



I'm trying my best to enjoy foods that I wouldn't normally enjoy back home, and so since I'm not a mushroom fan, I've been eating them when I go out to restaurants just because I want to learn how to eat them and enjoy them. On that same note, we ordered a small plate of Sashimi (Sa-Shee-me) which is raw fish all by its lonesome. Check out the pic on the left for the beautiful presentation. I made a video of me eating some Tako (Tah-koh) which is octopus, and I'll probably include it in a montage sometime soon on youtube.com. For now, you just have to know that the Squid piece was about the size of both my thumbs together, and took a full 4 minutes to disolve/be swallowed. I did it with a forced smile.


Other than that, the soccer game this week was decent. Though it was a cold night by Japanese standards, ten of us still showed up, including Tristan, and we played for a couple hours. Team Gaijin ended up just on top. It was all tied up in wins, losses, and ties until our last game. We managed to score five goals in 10 minutes, and have a shut-out. I guess the cold finally got to our Nihonjin competitors. They're great players, but we've got a couple ringers who are really solid players. I'm not a great player, but I have fun.

Alright, well I don't know if there's anything else I should really mention except for the fact that I'll have a land line by next Wednesday, and internet within one week of then. Perhaps these day trips to the IC will become a thing of the past.

Shigata ga nai,

Ja matta neh,

-benjamin

p.s. I've got a pic or two for you.
Mmmm... Egg Dog. Is it a hot dog, or is it an Egg Bun... only a waste of money will tell.








These pigs looked wicked, what can I say. They're pig cookies! One filled with a green tea paste, the other filled with a sweet red bean sauce or something. They were expensive, and so a picture was all I have to remember those guys by.





Sugakiya! A Raman chain fast-food place here in Japan. After my first visit, I noticed something funny... it was as if the invention of the Spork in Canada has a conjoined-twin cousin here in Japan. That utensil is neither spoon, nor fork, nor both simultaneously... it is some sort of Siamese love child.

Episode 6: Shopping, Improvements and Comforts

*DISCLAIMER*
BEFORE I BEGIN, let me state that I would never ever ever steal a wild monkey from its family and abduct it for my own butlery purposes. That was photoshop! But, due to the numerous e-mails I received, I'll just simply take it as a compliment on my photoshop skills, and not that you think I'm a cruel and unusual person. Now on to my sixth posting!

I really went out of my to spoil my Thursday morning post today. I'm scarfing down a delicious sweet-milk chocolate chip scone, a "green-tea-steam-cake" (it actually wasn't that good, despite the name) and some semi-acceptable coffee from "Vie de France" (A coffee and bakery chain here in Japan.) Things are good here in Japan, and I'm gonna show you guys some crazy stuff from this strange land to the east. (Check the last pic for an amazing name of a hair salon.)

Okay, so check it out. First, because I'm really excited about my own personal gains this last week, I'm gonna have to toot my own horn for a little bit. If you're not in the mood to hear about how I'm improving myself then please, feel free to skip this section, of course, if you choose to read it, perhaps you too may become inspired to improve yourself. We could even become "Improvement Pals!" Alright, well if you remember back to a few posts ago, you'll see that unlike the Britney Spears of late, I am not going into rehab, but instead strengthening my resolve to become a better person. I started learning Katakana, and as of yesterday, I have now memorized over a quarter of the alphabet (about 30 characters out of 105 or so) and I can write them out with good clarity and speed. I've also managed to learn some Kanji (the 3rd alphabet of Japan, about 10,000 characters) and I can write more than 10 of them. That includes how to write numbers, up to 1000, the days of the week, and even the coveted "Fu-rin-ka-zan" phrase, made famous by warlord Takeda Shingen, of the Sengoku period of Japan. (That one impressed my students, let me tell you!) Also, I've been trying to improve my body as well as my mind, and when I came to Japan, I decided to do a simple workout every night. I started with 20 push-ups, and 50 sit-ups a night. Well, I've blown past my previous goals now, and my nightly workout consists of 120 push-ups, 260 sit-ups, and 100 leg raises. Between that, walking, biking, soccer and my low fat diet chalked full of green tea, I think I've been a little healthier here than at home. I still need work on balancing my diet, but at the same time, I'm making progress. Also, I can communicate in simple situations pretty well, even understanding some little nuances that can take a long time to master. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm impressed with myself. THERE, NO MORE tooting my own horn. Thanks for letting me show-off for a minute, 'cause I just needed to get that out of my system.

Right, well back to the topic at hand, "Shopping in Japan!" Where to begin... well, I guess the first thing to describe is the atmosphere. Shopping here in Japan is quite similar to shopping back home in a few ways. First, there are lots of people milling around malls, you see people from all walks of life, and well, people buy things. I think the similarities start to end around there, and the variations begin to come in. I'd like to bring your focus to the concept of music in public places. Now, this is something that could be very annoying to many people, but I personally find it hilarious. You see, when you go shopping in Japan, you must realize that the music you hear is NOT going to be good. No no no, instead, it is "Musak" of old popular songs from North America, adapted for terrible synthesizer. Yes, I frequently purchase my groceries to the melodies of Bon Jovi synth, and that delightfully overplayed "Ooom-bop, ba ba doooo-op, dee bee da da-doo-op" by Hansen ringing in my ears. (If you thought the original was bad, try imagining it with a sharp droning synth sound for a melody.) But luckily, if you look around at music stores, you might find something that catches your eye. They still sell tapes, and also records at certain stores... this picture here is for my mom to check out. Gotta love the Y&R, eh mom?


Music aside, you'll have to deal with the fact that every store is way over packed. Most displays look like they've been orgainzed by someone who's trying to cram more product per square inch than humanly possible. It's like they've perfected a technique to bend space around their product, allowing a single unified front of consumerism to be provided like a Jenga stack. I'm always worried that if I even touch something, the whole display will come tumbling down, probably ending my Japanese experience right there and then. Oh, and they love the colour pink.

The Manequins are definitely different. The words on signs and posters are normally quite wrong, and to top things off, sometimes you'll even see something that'll make you turn your head and say "Eeeehhh??" (a popular Japanese expression for confusion.) Like getting a pig doll to show off your clothes, for example. Now, I don't know if that's simply because it's the year of the pig, or because the shop loves pigs, but in any case, that last picture is for you Barb. (Unfortunately I can't purchase one, in case you were wondering.)


Another difference that you'll notice in Japan is that the cost of alcohol, and also the regulations surrounding its consumption are very different. You can drink alcohol in the streets, in public places, and even on a train (though normally regarded as a little impolite.) One time when many people drink in public is actually coming up soon, known by many to be the Cherry Blossom Festival. Essentially, picture two weeks of people being crazy and drinking in public parks... pretty much straight. You'll see businessmen in full suits next to people dressed up as Spiderman, all sharing booze. I can't wait. I just wish that the cost of beer wasn't so high. (It's about the same as in Canada, but the hard liquors are all about 1/2 price.)


For all of my video game loving crowd out there, unlike back home in Canada, arcades are alive and well here in Japan. You can see arcades in almost all major malls, and also just out on the street. They have huge four player games, new and old classics, prizes and even gambling places at the back. Also, the biggest craze is in arcade games that give you a specialized card, and when you play it, you put your card in the machine, and it saves your progress. Young girls play tons of games where you advance by getting more outfits for your chacter... in some sort of fashion game. Strange, but true. And, incase you were wondering about those arcades on the streets, normally the street ones are gambling huts, specializing in the craze known as pachinko. Now, since it's illegal to gamble in Japan, the crafty Japanese simply circumvented the situation. Let me enlighten you as to how: It is not illegal to spend money on tiny silver balls. It is not illegal to play those silver balls in games that give you more silver balls (like Pachinko.) It is not illegal to trade in silver balls for prizes, should you accumulate enough. And finally, it's also not illegal to trade in prizes for cash value. VOILA! Gambling is now legal.


I also wanted to add that for the first time since I've been here, I rode on a train all by myself. Here's the pic for proof.


Kampai mina-san!

ja matta neh,

-benjamin


What a beautiful name for a hair salon, eh? Fab-lice. Makes me want to go. Do you think they know what lice are? "Yosh for hair!" Hahaha... (Yosh = expression for excellence. If you do something really well, you could say "Yosh!"... I say it when I score goals in Soccer. Totally awesome.)

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.