Freedom Returns!

This will be a quick one. But freedom we know and love (and took for granted) in the states has found us once again here in Japan. Sure bikes got the job done for a while. And then scooters were nice for a while. At least you don't sweat as much and stink when you get to school.

But now. Oh now. We have finally gotten our car. Its a NIssan Cube. White.

We got it last night and took a drive out to the coast and went to the outlet mall. Thats about all I have to say about it. We are pumped. Check out some pics.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2673&l=c94bd&id=504402219

In the meantime...

Tokyo & Mo

So I have had this draft for my next blog sitting here on my computer for about 2 weeks now. I would try to sit down and write something every now and then, but I just haven't been feeling it. Maybe I was too tired at times, or the wireless internet wasn't working good enough. I don't know. But know I'm feeling good and I feel I have alot to say.

So last weekend was our second time to go to Tokyo in 2 or 3 weeks. I can say that I LOVE Tokyo. Now I have been to some bigtime cities in my days. Chicago, Houston, Seattle (the "bigness" of that one is up for debate I guess). And in Europe I have been to all the big ones, London, Paris, Rome etc. But Tokyo, man I don't know, there's just something really cool about Tokyo. We went to the top of a 52 story building that had a sky view platform on top. A 360 degree view of the largest city I have ever seen. From the top, 500 some odd stories or so I guess, I couldn't see the edge of the city. nothing but winding streets and towering buildings. It looked like a giant maze.





-A side note: While discussing some differences of America and Japan with a Japanese person at school, I was told that the Japanese however many hundreds of years ago, would first lay out the location of the buildings, then map out the roads. This is why there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why the streets are the way they are. Now I feel like I am usually pretty good with directions, discerning which is N E S & W for the most part pretty easily. But you throw me in a city like Tokyo, or even here in Mito. And I’m running in circles in my head trying to connect streets and intersections in my head.

So staring at Tokyo from 50 stories up really impressed me. I can’t wait to go back again and again. You should go if you ever get the chance.

So Sumo wrestling has always been a pretty easy sport to make fun of. Well maybe not as easy as horse racing or the biathlon. “Swimming and strangling a guy, that makes just as much sense to me.” Sorry had to throw that in there for my Seinfeld friends. That’s a pretty skimpy wrestling outfit that’s also not too flattering.

But after reading the little pamphlet that was nice enough to be in English, I understood Sumo a bit more. And it’s so interesting. Everything in Japanese culture and tradition has a meaning. The colored tassels hanging above the ring. Every movement and word spoken has been done the same way for hundreds if not thousands of years. I mean the ring is still constructed the same way it was the very first time it was created. They still make it out of clay.

The Sumo wrestlers are like rock stars over here. I mean if you could imagine Josh Walters meeting Bobby Knight. This is the kind of reaction you would get. This is the kind of obsession you have of these athletes.


Another thing that makes me tilt my head about Sumo. These guys are huge right? I mean HUGE. Now in my one month and a couple of weeks here I have seen many Japanese people. And I am taller than most all of them. The fact that the National Sport of Japan would include and be limited to men over 6 feet tall and weighing over 250, 300 pounds minimum is kinda wacky to me. Its like everyone else watches Sumo and plays soccer or rides a unicycle. Not sure Ill every figure that one out.


I could go on forever and ever about Sumo, but I am getting bored with myself so I’ll move on.

I know Carla has talked some about the language but I wanted to give some of my thoughts on it. Its so hard. At first, like many times over here, I was mad as to why the Japanese have to make things so hard on themselves. (And everyone else for that matter).

I know you remember the squatty potty. You know they have seen the sit down style. Don’t they realize that its much more comfortable? I mean how are you supposed to watch your iPod while squatting like that. You need one hand to brace yourself against one of the walls, and the other hand to hold your pants back. But even the squatty goes back to tradition. Most new homes in Japan don’t even have sit-down style thrones. It’s a pride thing. As weird as it sounds, they feel that there should be a certain level of suffering in life. If you take advantage of something easier, then you are seen as lazy. There is pride to be had in suffering.

Sorry back to the language stuff. So you know there are 3 different “alphabets” in the Japanese language. Hiragana, Katakana (which is used to write out foreign words) and Kanji (which are the characters that stand for entire words or phrases, over 10,000 of those by the way). I am studying Hiragana right now and it’s coming along pretty well. But I hated it at first. Why on earth would the Japanese need 50 characters for their language when we only use 26 for ours? Why would they make it so hard on themselves? Its like this, The Japanese have symbols and “letters” for all of the sounds in their language. It would be like us having a symbol to use every time we wanted to put “ing” at the end of something. Or “tion” or “ph” and stuff like that. In a way English would be much harder to be learning for me right now because our language, you just have to know what the letter combinations are supposed to sound like. You can’t tell just by reading. With Japanese you know exactly what its supposed to sound like just be reading it. Even if you have never seen the word before.

Its kinda cool like that. In that way it’s easier to learn I think.

So Japan is cool. It’s hard sometimes and really cool most of the time. We have had great weather the past week, although its getting warm enough to wish the schools had air conditioning. This weekend we are going to go to the beach, if the weather keeps up.


In the meantime, I think I’m turning Japanese…

More pics at :
http://oc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2479&l=d0a64&id=504402219

Love and Japan

Hello from Japan! Here are some highlights from my past week.

Toilets. There are 3 kinds of toilets in Japan. I know right? The first is the squatty potty. Just a toilet bowl dropped down into the floor. I am not fond of this style at all. When I need to use the restroom and the only available seat is the squatty potty, I hold it. Now that might seem absurd to you, but I cannot comfortably figure this thing out. I think my thigh muscles are severely underdeveloped. I've asked for tips and believe me I have tried, but it just isn't pretty. The second style is the regular western style toilet. boring. But the third is some futuristic incredibly complicated fine tuned machine. For the first week I left this toilet alone. But since the first week, I have become more brave. Let me show you what I mean.......



This toilet has all kinds of features. The ones I know of from experience are a heated seat, bidet, and flushing noise sounds. Well I won't go into extreme detail, but to start I can't read the toilet. I'm glad I was the only one in the restroom when I decided to play with the toilet. I couldn't stop laughing. That would have been pretty awkward for anyone to walk in on. Lesson to be learned... learn the Japanese Kanji for OFF or STOP.

Tokyo. We went to Tokyo last Friday. I really didn't know what to expect, and I still couldn't give an accurate depiction of what Tokyo really is. We only visited 4 sections and each were uniquely different from the other. We went to Asakusa, Ginza, Harajuku, and Roppongi. The shrine we saw was in Asakusa. There were millions of people there. I felt like a very small calf in the middle of a huge herd of cattle. There were tons of vendors selling souvenirs and all kinds of Japanese food. Then at the end of this line, groups of people burning incense, and getting fortunes from thousands of tiny little drawers. It was a truly unique experience for me, but I couldn't help but think of God and his ultimate plan. You know that phrase (I'm not sure exactly how it goes) but "You may be the only Jesus that somebody meets." I know that's not it but the concept is there. Well until now I kinda thought that was just a butterfly statement. Something that is pretty but just really has no application for my Oklahoma Bible belt experience. But since I have been here that phrase is on a scratched CD skipping in my head. It couldn't be more true. I think about it every time I look someone in the face. Here is the shrine...














We went to Ginza next. Ginza is a really nice part of Tokyo. It is where all the designer shops are. GUCCI, Dior, Coach, and Louis V. If anyone cares. But the reason we went there was to see the Tokyo Apple Store. It was pretty awesome. This is the Security officer telling Zane to stop taking pictures inside the store...












Continued...
Things I miss about America
1. The Ban on Smoking in Public areas
2. Food Variety
3. Debit Cards

Things I like about Japan....
1. Chopsticks
2. Patience
3. No Tipping
4. Price shown includes Tax
It's the small stuff in life.

We went to TGI Fridays in Ginza. It was amazing. FREE REFILLS! I had a bacon cheeseburger and french fries, and in true American fashion I kept eating even though I was full.

Well the reading thing continues to bother me. I've had a small victory though. I can read Katakana pretty well. I practice all the time. For those of you who don't know, the Japanese operate 3 different alphabets. Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji. Katakana is used for foreign words and is the easiest to write. Hiragana is strictly a Japanese alphabet and is a little more difficult. Kanji is borrowed from the Chinese language with some variation. I'm really not sure the exact count, but something like 80 different Katakana symbols, 80 different Hiragana symbols, and over 8,000 to 10,000 Kanji. The kids in Elementary school learn all the Katakana and Hiragana alphabet, and by the time they graduate from 6th grade can read and write over 2,000 Kanji. The writing is so technical that the strokes are only done in order and one order only. Can you imagine? That really makes our 26 letter any way you want to write it alphabet look ridiculous.

It gets easier to adjust everyday we are here. I can't believe we have been here almost a month. Time is so fast, but so slow. Tomorrow Zane and I will finally get our foreigner's cards as well as our bank accounts. We also bought a couch that will be delivered on Saturday. I am so excited about it too!

I'm still waiting to meet a Mr. Miagi. I might just wet my pants with excitement when I do. Love you all.

Turning Japanese,
Carla

The Talented Mr. Kabori...

Until today Mr. Kabori was the Yahoo BB guy. The guy who was incharge of getting all of the new AET's hooked up with internet in our apartments. Last week we went to his house as a group and sat down and drank root beer and talked with him for an hour or so with him. The meeting wasn't really necessary to get out internet setup, he just wanted to meet us.

Mr. Kabori loves Americans. He loves America so much he talks of wanting to retire in America. The fact that he has to be a citizen to move there permanently doesn't really matter to him. It is one of his dreams. After talking to him a bit about his travels to America, we came to the topic of Lawton, Oklahoma. Yea he had been there. Then up came Meers. He had been there too. Carla and I couldn't be live that all the way over here in Japan, we met a man who has eaten at Meers. One of our most favorite places to eat. He shared the same sentiments of the establishment. Small world.

So Mr. Kabori has many passions. He is a Koucho Sensei (Principal) at a school here in Mito. HIs house is full of antique cameras. Some on top of his piano, some under the piano, and some in special cases built to keep the moisture away from the lenses and mechanical elements on the inside of the cameras. He also builds computers. He is an ebay-a-holic and buys parts from all over the world to build computers. In the hours time that we were sitting in his home I counted at least 5 laptop computers, 4 desktop computers, and a computer that he built in a plastic file folder that sits on the bookcase. It has good ventilation so that it doesn't over heat. Not to mention the half dozen monitors that he hasn't found a home for yet. He is passionate about building computers.

On our way home we got a call from Mr. Kabori asking if we knew anyone that could help him build a cabin this weekend. I was with Carla, Matt, Kendon and Marrianne. Realizing the opportunity to have a unique Japan adventure we volunteered in a heart beat.

We showed up this morning at around 9:30 or so, it took us about 45 minutes to get to his land from Mito.



The land he had chosen sits in the foothills of Mount Tsukuba ( pronounced "Scuba"). It is beautiful, rocky, and quite isolated. We were really excited to get started and he was very excited to see us. We started almost right away. Mr. Kabori had already done the hard work, he just wanted us to help put it together. We helped him put up the walls one by one. Picking them up and holding them in place while he screwed them to the foundation he had made all buy himself. He mixed 10 80lb bags of concrete and carried and poured it all by himself.


Then it was time for lunch. His wife had made an incredible spread for us to eat.

Then the supports for the roof. Then the roof pieces followed. They were very heavy and awkward. I am not really sure how 3 relatively short guys and an average height (which is quite short in most cases) Japanese man lifted those pieces on top of the framed pieces we had put in place moments before. But we had done it. You should have seen the smile on his face. Like a kid who had built his first house out of Legos or Lincoln Logs. The same look of excitement and the same feeling of accomplishment. His wife told us that we had helped him make his dream come true.

He was very passionate about that cabin. He had built it with his own hands, he had made exact measurements and cuts. He bled for that cabin. Really he did, he stabbed his own hand with a screwdriver. We were very happy to get to to help Mr. Kabori with his cabin.

Here are some more photos:















After an eventful morning and early afternoon we drove 40 minutes or so through the mountains to the town Tsukuba. There was really one reason and one reason only we went there. Mexican food. There is a little restaurant there called El Torito, its really the only Mexican Food there is within hours of us. It was good. Not great. But good. Its right up there with El Chico maybe. But the fact that we got to taste something very different than what we have been eating counted for alot.





All in all it was an amazing day. We had a blast with Mr. Kibori. We had some good Mexican Food.

This next week is a holiday week called "Golden Week" To be honest I do not know what they are celebrating, but I do know that we have Monday, Thursday and Friday off of work. Which is awesome! Monday we are planning on going to a town called Chiba to go to Costco. For those of you who don't know, its like a Sams club. They have tons of American food which will be good to stock up on. And then Thursday, Fri & Sat we are going to try to go to Tokyo for the first time. It will be really busy so I don't know if we will be able to get a hotel. But we will certainly try.

Until then...

I think I'm Turning Japanese

Please check out more pics at:

http://oc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037&l=3f2f6&id=504402219

No Title Required

So.... I always hesitate to write things because well let's just admit it... I write incomplete and run-on sentences. I am okay with it. For those of you who are bothered by poor grammar...Read no further. seriously.

It is Wednesday night. I am eating the last of my Starburst jellybeans. Im thinking of America.
Things I took for granted in America (List to continue..)
1. Hugging my Family
2. Big Cups
3. Free Refills
4. Being able to read

Things I like about Japan
1. Really courteous drivers
2. Amazing Cell phones
3. Great Food (so far)

So as Zane mentioned... we have been riding our bikes all around town. Well the first day we rode our bikes I kinda got a golden ticket and I mean kinda as in I did. Zane got one too. I can't read Japanese but anyone can read numbers.... and it definitely said something about 20 dollars. So long story short... we asked a few Japanese natives about our prize. This will probably sound as sketchy to you as it does to me, but apparently there is a man under a bridge. He works from 1 to 4:30 on weekdays only. I'm supposed to pay him. We kinda got some mixed answers but the general consensus is not to worry about paying the "ticket". I will inform you later if the "man under the bridge" finds me first.



The cars here are great. One I am particularly fond of is actually called NAKED. Oh what people can get away with in foreign languages! I wonder if that will be coming to a dealership near you?



So, I speak English. I like to pretend (often) that I can speak Spanish. So, if I hear another language I automatically assume it is Spanish. Funny thing though.... in Japan they don't speak Spanish. I don't understand Japanese. So all that to say I often answer Japanese in Spanish. Now that was confusing. But I heard this Vice Principal tell me "Hasta Luego" the other day. I was so confused that I did a double take. I didn't know if I was actually hearing Spanish or if I was saying it my head. Turns out that He spent 3 years in South America...weird. I answered him in Spanish and now he wants to study the language with me! oops.

I'm done for now. See you soon.
Carla

Two Weeks In...

Well I can certainly say it has been quite an adventure so far. We have been here for 12 days or so and are kinda starting to get into the groove of things. I think so at least. You may have to excuse some of my sentences or spelling because I have been talking to kids all day for the past few days and that really dumbs down your English. Not that it was the good in the first place. Its not just the kids either, its everyone you come in contact with. The most simple things are difficult to do. But lucky for us the Japanese people are very very patient and very kind. I can't help but think that back in America, I wouldn't have so much patience with someone that I could understand.

*Before you read to far into this, here is a link to our pictures so far, copy and past into your browser:
http://oc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037&l=3f2f6&id=504402219

We have been very very busy the past 2 weeks. THe 13 hour plane ride from Chicago was just a start. By the way if you ever get a chance, fly over Alaska. After we landed in Tokyo we took a 2 hour bus ride to Mito, where we are living. In Mito we were greeted by many of the current AET's (Assistant English Teachers), And were taken to our apartment. Slept like a rock but still woke up at 5am. The sun comes up here around 4 in the morning so until just recently we haven't been able to sleep past 5:30 or so. It was a tough adjustment to make.

I never believed in "Culture Shock" until this trip. I have been all over Europe for three months, to Mexico and Honduras. Not once did I experience what one would call "Culture Shock". But I can tell you that there is something very different about going to a place you know you wont leave for at least a year. Saturday morning that hit me. Moving somewhere and traveling somewhere are two very different things. As simple as it sounds, I had never thought about that before.

All of the current AET's have been incredibly helpful. We were lucky enough to live two doors down from Marianne, who has been in the program going on 6 years now. She knows everything (so far) and can speak Japanese as if she has her whole life. She has been incredibly helpful. It takes a long time to get things done around here. There is tons of red tape for foreigners. But she has made it easier

It wasn't until this past weekend that we got our scooters. We have been, and at the moment still are riding our bikes most everywhere. The scooters are great. I will try to post some pics of them later. We ride our bikes to school everyday, just like 4th grade. On average we ride about 30 minutes or so to school and back. Which in this city is not bad at all. Mito is very similar to OKC in that it is very spread out.

Because of having the scooters we have been able to go explore Mito a bit more. Mito contains much of Japan's rich history. Alot of stuff has happened here in the past. In WWII it was bombed very heavily. Much of its historical buildings were destroyed by the bombings. Its really pretty sad.

School has been crazy. Both of my schools are relatively large and I teach about 5 classes a day. The kids are just like American kids for the most part, loud, noisy, short attention spans, and really really cute. Some of the teachers I work with speak English, some don't. And that makes it very challenging. But it is pretty fun. I walk out of every class really tired. The teachers I work with are all for the most part really nice and helpful. They are also very kind and patient. There is always a fresh cup of green tea on my desk. I like it more than I did before I came.

THE FOOD... is really pretty good. they have a McDonalds, a KFC, a Red Lobster and even some Italian places. But the good stuff is the authentic Japanese food. We had sushi the other night and that was quite an experience. I had raw Horse, which was actually pretty good if you can eat it without thinking about the ones you rode at camp as a kid. I had Unagi which is eel. That was the only thing I gagged on. I had squid balls which were really good. And I had a delicacy that Mito is know throughout all of Japan for... Nato. Nato is fermented soy beans. Most people describe it as smelly and sticky. Those are good descriptions, however when they said it tasted like feet, I didn't really understand how thats possible. But when I took that first bite, I promise you that was the first thing that popped into my head. In high school, while cleaning out my soccer bag the day after a game, that is what this particular sushi tasted like. Smelly, nasty, wet socks. And every single Japanese person here loves the stuff. All the kids at school, the teachers, the guy under the bridge who you pay when you get a ticket... That's a whole 'nother story.

Things are good, things are hard, but the best thing of all is, I am experiencing something that I can already tell is changing me.

This was stupid long and I apologize for that. But it's the first one and I had alot to talk about. I left alot out too, that stuff will have to wait until next time.

Carla and I will be posting separately so that you can see both of our point of views on stuff. If you made it this far in the post without falling alseep then, "It does, it really does." - If you get that then Hi-5

I think I'm Turning Japanese.