The 6-Month Special

Typical ES classroom

Six months have passed since I hopped on a lousy Air Canada flight to Japan to become an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher).  Teaching English *in English* in Japanese schools had been trying at times.  On the roughest days, I couldn’t even convince myself why the kids need to learn it.

I’m writing this recap as a follow-up of an eye-opening blog from my fellow ALT Villainy.  But his experience was limited to high school, so I’ve written one for the lower grades.  Some of these points are common sense.

After you read this, check out Villainy’s blog here.

My realm is elementary and junior high schools (ES and JHS), so everything between 6 and 14-yr olds.  My classes are, for the most part, small.  I have 11 schools, spanning a large rural to semi-rural area in Miyako, Iwate; I spent more time in my car than in school doing my job.  Finally, I don’t teach in every English class in every school due to scheduling conflicts.

 

#1: The kids aren’t asking for perfection…

But it’s important to try hard.  Some of the kids may not know animal names in English beyond cat and dog, but they are smart enough to know that I’m human.

My most extreme example was my last class before summer break.  I was teaching body parts to 3^rd and 4^th graders.  It was the perfect storm—I couldn’t figure out how to teach this topic, it’s the last week of classes for the kids before break, and it’s my last work day of the school term.  I could tell they lost interest halfway through class.  Then the worst possible scenario happened: I ran out of things to do with 5 mins to go, just idling and eating up time.  Thankfully, the teacher saved the day with “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”, and we rolled deep with that until the bell.

Few weeks later, I had those kids as one of my first classes after summer break.  We’re learning about animals and had a great time.  It was as if my slate was wiped clean.

I have my bad days, and the kids will let me know very quickly that I screwed up.  But it seems they don’t hold a grudge for long.

Having said that, forgiveness doesn’t equal forgotten, so I care not to f**k up too often.

#2: Talk to people

Sure, it may be kind of difficult with the language barrier.  And my Japanese wasn’t that great; I often lack the vocab and grammar to reply back coherently, if at all.  But, you should still make the effort, whether it’s in broken Japanese, retarded English, or hand gestures.

At the end of my 3^rd week teaching, I got a nice kick in the nuts, which could’ve been prevented if I could talk the teacher beforehand.  In the weeks before, the teachers had, by default, given me freedom on how to teach.  Most of those classes were self-intros, but I had a few actual lessons. 

However, this particular school (I won’t name names) gave me a nice surprise.  It’s my first time at this school.  I had a late night preparing some awesome games and props for the lesson.  Within the first 5 mins, I realized I was being turned into an English voice box.  Being ex-military, I had a massive pet-peeve with wasting time (by that, I meant other people wasting my time).  While I kept my cool, I had a rather tense talk with the teacher afterwards, through Google Translate.

Since those growing pain days, I had a much better working relationship with that teacher, and he turned out to be a hilarious and creative guy.  I often steal ideas from him to use in other schools.  I came to appreciate the arrangement, because he does most of the work and that’s less pressure on me.

I don’t necessarily make small talks with everyone in the office, but I do my best to keep my direct counterparts in the loop, even if it’s 10 mins before class.  As my example from #1 shows, the teacher helps make a lesson go smoothly or even pulls out a Hail Mary pass.  No one knows the kids better than their teacher.

Having said that, it helps to learn some Japanese.

#3: Don’t be an awkward turtle…

So break out of your shell!  Remember when you were learning a foreign language or any difficult subject back in school?  Chances are, you were more inclined to keep quiet or hide when the teacher asks a question to the class.

Same thing here.  But with language, you can get better with practice.  Therefore, one of the ALT’s more difficult tasks is getting the kids out of their shells.  “Attack that shyness early”, Villainy would say.  That means the ALT needs to get out of his/her shell too.

One thing I refused to do was chant.  That’s the absolute outermost comfort line I drew.  I avoided every singing activity in my ES textbook like a plague.  It’s not that I am scared or hate singing; I just don’t believe in its educational value.  I’m more a game person.

A few weeks ago, I gave chants a go, after nonstop fail before the summer on having the kids remember names of months.  It wasn’t instant magic, but sure enough, they knew the months after singing the song twenty-something times.

Being an ALT requires a generous stretch in the comfort zone, but I do it at my pace, for everyone’s sake.

Sports Festival

 

#4: It’s better to be yourself

At my company’s on-boarding training, we were painfully drilled to throw away our pride and to be plain silly.  “You need to get inside the mind of the child,” our South African trainer with an Indian accent said every 10 minutes for 3 days (for real, a South African Indian).  Apparently, it means ALTs need to become huge bouncing goofballs.

I'm generally a mellow person, but the kids wouldn't know that on our first day.  Let's say I acted like a silly clown, now I set a precedence that I would need to keep up for a whole year or longer.  The kids may not be good in English, but they can spot a fake like the booty warrior can spot booty.

Yea, #3 says to break out of your shell, but I think there’s a big difference between being adventurous and being a total fake.  I may be mellow, but it doesn’t mean I can’t smile and have a good time.  I just make the lessons simple and enjoyable, and the kids will have fun too.  No need to become a walking game of Pictionary or Charades.

 

#5: Nothing is too petty for the kids

As adults, we’ve been conditioned by social cruelty and take daily letdowns in stride.  You may not think much of it now, but remember the days when you get picked last for flag football or didn’t get invited to someone's birthday party?

Japanese kids don’t think any differently than kids elsewhere:  Petty things hurt.

I had experiences with the good and the bad.  I’ll start with the bad first.  I recall right before summer break when I had an activity on giving directions.  Each kid (only 4 kids in the class) listened to my commands (turn left/right, go straight) and navigated around the classroom.  Somehow, I forgot about one kid and tried to move on, but my teacher reminded me on the spot.  But the damage was done: I could tell he’s hurt.  I knew I screwed up because he wouldn’t look at me for the rest of the class.

In the same class 2 months earlier, I was doing the months lesson and we were talking about birthdays.  One of the kids (not the same kid) had his birthday that month, and I happened to have presents ready as props, so I just gave him one to keep.  I never thought giving an animal eraser (worth< 20¥) would make someone so happy, because he went around and showed everyone after class.

It’s the little things you do that makes a difference, however corny you may think.  Call the kids by name, remember their birthdays, ask about their holidays, go to their sports festivals, etc.  If they ask you to play soccer or Tag with them, go play!  Unless you’re deathly ill (then you shouldn’t be at school anyway), put your big boy pants on.  No gesture is too small or petty.

ES calligraphy class

 

My final thought

This job’s a popularity contest, more so than many other jobs out there.  You’re working with people, and kids especially.  Chances are, the kids won’t become fluent in English under your tutelage, and many of them think that English is useless.  So, they may as well like you as a person.  As Villainy puts it, the absolute last thing you want is to be unlikable while teaching a foreign language.

 

The Wrap-up

This was one of the best summer vacations I've had in years, considering how little planning went into it. Luck played a huge factor, in getting me to places while important festivals and shows were happening (w/o any prior research). Caught up with old friends and made new ones. Lots of new novelty experiences.

 

This's also my first vacation as a foreign resident, and the resources available to me (i.e. Japanese cell phone and address) helped tremendously.

My ALT colleague once asked me what was the best meal I had. My answer was that I hardly remember the food I had, but the people and time spend with them during the meal are the memorable parts. And it's true on vacations: I always value the human experiences and they're what I'll remember (pictures also help).

 

The sad part: vacation always comes to an end, and it's back to work next week.

 

 

D+13: Mosey on Home

The night buses became more atrocious as the trip progressed. This last one was definitely the worst; it's just a normal 4-seater coach bus. During the night, the bus driver turned down the AC and the bus became a sweat cabin. Somehow I survived.

 

Because of my last-minute bookings and the Obon holiday, all direct buses from Tokyo to Miyako are full. The closest I could get was Morioka, about 2 hours away. So, I would have to take a train. My colleagues who've taken it said it was a nice experience, with a different view from the regular scenery on the road.

Now for 3 hours of waiting in Morioka. Since everything opens right when I depart at 10am, my only choices were coffee shops and bakeries. I think I went to every shop in the station area (which is not a whole lot). On the way to the train, I ran into James's girlfriend and made some small talk. She's at work, so I didn't want to hold her up for too long.

The train ride was enjoyable, slow and steady. Best part was that I don't have to do a thing, other than getting on and off. My experience was slightly soured by the train conductor, who informed me that I was in a reserved car, about 15 mins into the ride. So I had to haul my heavy-ass luggage to the unreserved car, where there's almost no seats. Then again, from the horrendous bus ride last night, I was too tired to complain to even myself, and slept most of the way through.

 

D+12: Tokyo Drift-er

Last day in Tokyo and summer vacation. Hate to sound like a vage, but I'm kinda worn out. Having a nice apartment and my own car in Miyako spoiled my adventurous spirit.

At check-out, a father-and-daughter pair was trying to get two beds at the hostel, but it's booked full. They may've missed that it's summer time, and a lot of youngsters go on vacations and travel. Plus, it's Obon week, so the locals are travelling as well. My activities might be on the fly, but at least I had my accommodations ready ahead of time.

On my way out, I ran into Jackie, one of my ALT teammates from new hire training. We went to different branches after Narita. Caught up with her for a bit, seemed like plenty of ALTs are travelling in Tokyo again. From what she said about her workdays, I felt lucky since they're essentially day offs in my branch. 

At Tokyo Station, every coin locker was used, and this's one of the biggest and busiest stations in Japan. Damn summer vacationers and tourists...

Finally made it to Kawasaki (w/o my heavy-ass luggage), where the last planned event of this trip will happen. I had to reserve a spot way in advance like the Ghibli Museum. There's no doubt that the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum was nearby; Doraemon and his characters were plastered everywhere, including the direct bus to the museum. The bus driver's got a sense of humor, told us to ring the stop bell before the museum (it's the only stop).

The exhibits weren't anything special. I thought the Tokyo Tower one's better. But it's more focused on the creator's life and his vision; it just so happened his manga was a big part of it.

I waited almost 2 hours for a seat at the museum cafe. My late lunch had turned into an early dinner. For me, the novelty was worth it. Plus, I got a Doraemon mug.

It's too late to explore the rest of Kawasaki, so I went back and drifted around Akiba. Since the last visit (D+1) was about Gundam, I didn't have time to check out the hobby shops. Of course, a lot of looking and not buying. Somehow, I ran out of cash before every shopping expeditions on this trip. Maybe my wallet's telling me something...

There must be a cliffhanger right before a happy ending. With 10 mins before departure, I realized I was at the wrong area. The terminal in front of Tokyo Station's for JR buses only (mine was not). Past the initial panic, I scrambled. I was determined not to be stranded in Tokyo. I noticed some buses across the street and by chance found one bound for Morioka & Kuji . With my retarded Japanese, I found out it's the right bus.

Saved!

D+11: Fishy Business

As promised, woke up at 3:30am. My dorm mates Bobby (Slovenian doctor) and Paul (German guy) set off in the dead of night to Tsukiji, for spots at the coveted tuna auction. When we got there, we were told that reservations were done for the day, that they're filled at 2am. Ironically, we joked about this during the taxi ride. We're not happy.

 

Since it's too early for the subway to run (that's why we had to take a taxi and wasted 1400¥ each), going back now wasn't an option. To salvage our morning, we pulled a gaijin smash and got into the market through the back gate. It wasn't like we put effort into sneak in; we just strolled past the security guard. Given, we knew tourists aren't allowed until 9am.

 

Afterwards, we had breakfast at a nearby Yoshinoya. We pulled a second gaijin smash and checked out the market more thoroughly. Many times we almost became casualties of the dollies zigzagging around.

I set off for Kamakura after a mid-morning nap. Kamakura is a temple & shrine Mecca; if you like temples and shrines, this is "the" town to visit. My only interests were the big Buddha and maybe a nice vista of the town.

On the way down from big Buddha, I ate at a kebab shop that I spotted earlier. This's probably the highlight of my day. The kebab's great, but what followed was the best part. The owner, nicknamed "papa", is an old Moroccan guy who's been here 31 years. Fluently in English and Japanese, he's rolling an intelligent conversation about politics and success of democracy worldwide, between him, me, and a Japanese couple. Best hour spent in the day; too bad he ran out of Turkish ice.

I was struggling to find things to do; with 1200¥ one-way, I'm not going to Kamakura to see temples or nothing. Enoshima seemed like a happening place. A popular beach spot in the area, the locals tried to make it a Hawaiian resort. Rest of the day was just another trail of tears, walking up and down stairs & hills to take pictures.

I ran into Bobby at the hostel later that night, and went to the 24-hr sushi place that was near my last Asakusa hostel. Sushi probably came from a stall we visited earlier at the market, or 2-day old stale fish reserved for ignorant foreigners.

Verdict: OK sushi. But coming from Miyako, I can get much fresher sushi for much cheaper (7 pcs with beer here cost almost 2000¥).

Met some new dorm mates, a pair of Indonesian students in Japan. From all the people I met lately, I get lots of wows when I told them I work in Japan, and questions start to fly. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

One more day to go...

D+10: Showdown in Little Tokyo

I managed to pull an unprecedented feat in Kansai - 4 days, 4 cities, 2, hostels, 2 major festivals. Nothing short of luck had allowed me to pull this off, especially since everything was planned on ground. Time for the final stop on my summer trip - Tokyo (again).

 

I'm actually glad that there's only 3 days left. I miss the simple life in Miyako. There, if I want big city convenience, I can go to it at my choosing (2 hours away in Morioka) and fade back once I'm tired of it. But when you live in a big city, like Osaka or Tokyo, it's your daily life and there's no escape. Maybe I just miss my big apartment, my car, or not sweating my ass off 5 mins after I leave the house...

Today's main objective: Summer Comiket! It's a convention with lots of fan drawn manga (based on actual series), most of which would make even adults blush. I've little to no interest in doujinshi, but it's an experience to rub elbows (and sweat) with anime fans and legit cosplayers. Plus, I saw it in Oreimo, so I have to go.

Today's preplanned for a change. Due to my last-minute booking, my bus stopped at Tokorozawa in Saitama Prefecture. For those who know the anime "Sword Art Online", the Seibu Tokorozawa Station appeared in the 2nd opening theme. The real thing only has minor differences, mostly for licensing issues. Of course, it's no accident that I picked this stop.

I met up with my Illini bro Lee at Tokyo Big Sight for Comiket, after fighting through various snafus like people. The event's just as it's depicted in Oreimo - floods of people moving in, out, and around the building with absolutely no breathing room, in the blazing heat. There's even a massive line leading into the adjacent FamilyMart. Surprisingly, lines move constantly and smoothly, but it's just huge and slow.

My props to the cosplayers. While the Americans are catching up in recent years, the Japanese are still the masters of the art. In my opinion, some female anime characters just look better on Japanese girls. This's what many American cosplayers still don't get: to look good, you have to cosplay to a character's facial and body type, something you can't replace with even the best costumes.

Not to mention the dedication. And to endure the August Tokyo summer in some of those costumes is truly admirable. The Magica Madoka team I spotted was pretty awesome looking. There's also someone dressed up as the Unicorn Gundam.

Rest of the day was spent catching with Lee and checking out the festivities around Fuji TV station in Odaiba. On the way out of this man-made island, we got stuck there due to power outage on the train line. We think someone may have committed suicide on the train tracks somewhere to cause this.

Oh, I got to see my hated Gundam statue at night. Not bad, but it changes nothing between us.

After my bro and I parted ways at Asakusa, I met some of my dorm mates at the hostel. Before I knew it, I got pulled into an early expedition for Tsukiji Fish Market's famed tuna auction.

Great start for Tokyo leg redux, but a 3:30am wake-up...

D+9: Kobe Bryant

Right before I went to bed last night, I discovered all my clothes in the bag are wet, because of the gay towel. First and foremost, I tossed that POS away in the most hateful manner possible. Then, I got sent on a wild goose chase to find a coin laundry, only for it to be closed (it's 1am).

 

Last day in Kansai, so I was a little miffed by this incident. On top of this, today's the start of the Obon holiday, the worst time of the year (besides New Year's) to be on a train or near a train station. Scoured the entire Osaka Station before I found an available coin locker.

 

Off to Kobe, and no, I didn't see Kobe Bryant there. I was hoping to meet my friend and his new wife there, but no luck. I guess it'll just be another day on the trail of tears.

 

I found a full-size Gigantor (Japanese: Tetsujin #28) statue. This is an old classic anime/manga from the 50's and 60's. Took a bunch of funny photos and selfies for Instagram. Looks like a festival is being set up around the statue, so I may return later.

 

Next was more tourist stuff - Nankinmachi (Chinatown), Kawasaki Museum, and Kobe Port Tower. Chinatown's the same everywhere - a tourist gimmick with exorbitant prices. It's nearly the same setup as the one in Yokohama, except cleaner. I'm a bit surprised by the name though, considering what the Japanese did in the real Nanking about 75 years ago. But for the sake of capitalism and conservative denial, many things can be easily forgotten.

 

Kawasaki Museum was nice. Lots of hands-on stuff, makes me want to get back on a motorcycle again (had a bad accident a year ago).

 

Kobe is apparently home to some famous sake breweries (along with Kirin beer, but no time for that on this trip). So I went to the Hakutsuru Brewery. The self-guided tour was fast, on purpose, because there's almost always a tasting section in any respectable breweries. The yuzu sake was the best.

 

I did go back to the festival at Tetsujin #28 park, but it's lame. Tim from Miyako had me hunt down a keychain. But for something this fairly famous, there's no dedicated souvenir shop around. I accomplished my mission nonetheless.

 

Final highlight in Kobe: the beef. Found this place called Steakland near Sannomiya Station. It's supposed to be only medium grade Kobe beef, but man, it's unlike any beef I've ever tasted (so good). And the dedicated chef will grill and serve the whole meal set from start to finish in front of you. I came up with analogies for how good it is, but they are highly inappriopriate for the general readers.

 

The guy next to me at the restaurant was subtlely macking on these two Asian girls (whom he's first mistaken as Chinese, but they're Korean). Good looking, but like all Korean girls, they look good because of plastic surgery. For someone who's supposedly been in Japan for 15 years, the little bit of Japanese that I heard from him sounded pathetic.

 

Pumped by my successes today, I went for a big gamble: go to the big fireworks show back in Osaka. Despite the sweaty subway train, numerous bug bites, and 2.5km forced march back to Osaka Station after the show, it was worth it. A very symbolic send-off after a mostly successful tour of Kansai.

So yea, everything worked out, even had enough time to buy omiyage. New things to see, good food, cute girls - makes me want to stay if only it wasn't so hot.

Starting to miss simple Miyako. Making my way to Tokyo now.

 

 

D+8: The Pilgrimage

Today's a recovery day. It's also easier since I have to change hostel (result of doing things at last minute). So, I'm exploring Denden Town near Nipponbashi.

 

After saying goodbye to my Korean bunkmate (Nam) and the tall front desk girl, off to drop off my stuff at Bonsai Guesthouse. Easy to find, but the place gave me bad vibes at first. The security's a bit heavy; guests had to be buzzed in and front door is code-locked 24/7. But the staff's pretty friendly. One of the front desk girls made some small talks with me and suggested that I check out Nakanoshima, where the city hall and some historical buildings are. The very first bank in Japan is also there. I figured my schedule's light today, so may as well. Plus, a good-looking girl suggested, so it's hard to refuse.

 

Nakanoshima was nothing special, but I found a coffee shop across the canal from city hall that made a great people-watching spot. And to savor some more GTL. Some people were also doing a photo shoot or a video at the nearby park, looked like it's for running stuff.

 

The main event of the day: Denden Town, Osaka's Akihabara. As a closet anime fan, much like Kirino from Oreimo, I need to go there. The journey was like a pilgrimage - vague directions (from the internet), getting lost, not really know what I'll find there. However, I have high hopes.

 

Although small, there're plenty of distractions along the way - game centers, food, and one-of-a-kind places (e.g. NMB48's HQ). Dropped too much money at various game centers. Watched an impressive rendition of Dance Evolution arcade though; check this out:

 

[Video of funny Asian guy dancing]

 

I was comforted by what I found: Denden Town has the Akiba air, but w/o the in-your-face commercialism. This lets people more freely explore the myriads of shops around, which seems to be a lot more hobby and card game shops than Akiba. Even Animate (the main anime chain store) has huge selections (floors) of cards, nendoroids, cosplay stuff, etc., besides just books, CD/DVDs, and anime porn. 

 

I visited every shop that I had a wimp of interest in, which was every other shop. I even found the old console game shop that my friend Gavin patroned a few year backs. Also found some full-size Dragonballs and punched Mario in the face, yea!

 

Oh, there're maid cafes. The girls were out, hard at work trying to pull in customers. But the talent's lacking here. To be fair, I spotted a few cute ones, and Akiba's talent had gone down dramatically from what I saw a week ago (enough for me to say aloud, "Damn, she's ugly"). And of course, MaiDreaming (a chain maid café) was here too.

 

I had intended to visit a maid café, but I was still sour from the experience during last year's Club Fuze reunion trip (at MaiDreaming #2 in Akiba; now you know why I hate the place). So, I went to the AKB48 café instead.

 

To set the record straight, I'm not a hardcore AKB48 fan, but their music is catchy and I've my AKB48 favs. Going there was purely novelty, plus it's more wallet friendly. Not the greatest service, since the waitress almost spilled my 700￥ parfait. And sorry, no pictures... But I got a free AKB48 coaster.

 

After being misled by Google Maps, I walked a really long way around and arrived at my final destination, Umeda Sky Building. It has a ring shaped observation deck suspended between two towers, and offers a great view of Osaka's skyline, especially right after sunset. What I didn't know is that this place's popular with couples, so I had to swallow that hate. Another scorn to my vacation.

 

As for the view, it was excellent. Osaka literally transformed as the sky went dark and the cityscape lit up.

 

On the way back, I found the underground tunnel that took me from outside of the building to Osaka Station. You bastard...

 

Tomorrow's the last day in Kansai. Onward to Kobe.

 

 

D+7: Tale of Two Cities

I'm branching out today. Arashiyama, Kyoto, and if time allows, Nara. So it's more like three cities, but the first two are essentially Kyoto.

It took a long time to get to Arashiyama, so I tried to make up time by renting a bicycle. I had enough of temples and shrines this trip, so I should only be here a few hours. Take some pictures, get a nice workout in the sun, and leave.

 

This's where my cascade of mistakes began. First was renting a bike. The shop gave me an old lady shopping bike, which is heavy and ergonomically unbalanced. I hate old people riding on the road because they are slow and swerve all over the place. I now understand why no one, especially old people, can ride in a straight line with this kind of bike. Also, the tourist area of Arashiyama are very bicycle unfriendly. Every damn street and alley is accessible by anything with feet or wheels. The bike became a piece of luggage for me to push around.

 

Second was going there in late morning/early afternoon. The sun was blaring, so I was sweating as fast as I can drink water. The heavy ass bike compounded this problem.

 

Third was going to Arashiyama at all. Besides the bridge and bamboo grove, the town just has a shitload of temples and shrines. The main one, Tenryu-ji, is a UNESCO site, which in my opinion is a license to charge unjustified amount of money to see stuff. One of the temples, which advertises itself as having "great view", was a rip-off. All that exercise up sets of dirty winding steps, and I get a vista of trees and the river. On top of it, I had to pay 400￥. So much time and money wasted, definitely an epic fail. But at least I've been there done it, and I'll never come back again.

 

I brushed off these setbacks and headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine, the one lined with a thousand torii gates on its path to some hilltop. I missed out on this last year because I visited my college buddy Lee in Himeji (more details on him within a few days). Best part: it's free!

 

Kyoto's just hot and humid today. The shade from torii gates and forests did nothing to cool me down, but rather blocked any wind that would help me out. And drinks're getting exponentially expensive with altitude. I was pretty delirious at the end, but I made it.

 

Lots of time left for today, so off to Nara. Nara is another "been there, done that" place, but I've never visited at night. At least I won't need a map.

 

On the way there around 5pm, the train stopped suddenly. Intel from FB and other ALTs says a big earthquake in Nara, but it's just the warning system gone bonkers. A little delay's actually good; the festival of lights doesn't start until 7pm.

 

The city worked hard to put thousands of candles at famous sites, with most concentrated at Nara Park. Some spell out kanji characters and messages; some are just cool patterns. Combined with the deer population, it was a major treat for tourists and locals alike. Plus, lots of cute girls walking around in summer yukatas (many unfortunately with their men). Food stalls were set up in front of Todai-ji. I bought this shrimp-flavored pancake crisp with mayo and a fried egg on top. As a kicker, you can even play rock-paper-scissors with the owner for an extra egg. I lost on my first try.

 

It was an ambitious 14-hr day, but it's done. The longest trail of tears to date completed.

 

Almost back to the hostel, I saw something that made my day. On a busy corridor at Tennoji station leading to the Tanimachi subway line, some Japanese dude just whipped out his dick and peed on the wall. He made no effort to hide his penis. Someone told one of the station masters nearby, and he bolted after the guy.

 

I think it calls for a chill day tomorrow.

 

 

D+6: Big Trouble in Little Osaka

Short bus ride into my 3rd stop - Osaka. Unlike many places in Japan, I can't say I've been there done that. Previous visits were more stopovers than stays. I hope to change that.

 

Early recon of my hostel was a failure. When I say early, I meant like six-thirty in the morning. After all, the night bus arrived a little past 5am. The hostel was nowhere to be found. But I found a coin laundry and a nifty little café next door that only serves coffee and tea. As stores began to open, I finally found my hostel along the road that I walked up and down many times earlier. 

The front desk girl is a tall lanky local who's very friendly, so I had another chance to practice some Japanese. At this point, I still have absolutely no plan.

 

I returned to Namba and found a green tea café hidden in the labyrinth of Namba Parks. I planned for the next 4 days while savoring a GTL.

First stop of the day: the history museum.

Wait... what? The history museum?

 

During my first hour in town getting lost on the subway system, I saw an ad for a special exhibition - Japanese knife and sword making, inspired by Evangelion. That's right, another activity due to an anime. Why else would I go to the history museum?

 

The blades' craftsmanship is amazing! Some are Evangelion themed, some are scaled replicas on blades from the anime (in case you live in medieval times, Evas are huge skyscraper-sized mechas), all made by master sword makers. Even the Spear of Longinus was recreated.

 

Next stop's Osaka Castle, a short stroll away. The castle itself is small, compared to the park and grounds around it. Back in feudal days, it made sense to have large buffer areas and moats for defensive purposes. Now, it just makes for another painful trail of tears.

 

The castle was mediocre; Himeji easily puts it to shame. Exhibits were just lacking. However, I played an carnival archery game and got 3 out of 5 target hits, thanks to tips from watching "Top Shot" back in the U.S. I won a toy archery set, but I gave it back and had the girl give it to the next kid.

 

After check-in and a quick nap, I set off for a shrine visit. There's apparently an area near Nipponbashi that has a concentration of small shrines. Thought it would be interesting. After another fiasco with the wrong subway line, I discovered that the place's only a few minutes away from the hostel, by walking. So it's a waste of subway fare. On top of that, it's another disappointment.

 

Earlier, the front desk girl suggested that I check out Dotonbori, which is a popular entertainment area with lots of lights and wacky billboards and displays (such as the Glico Running Man). Of all places I could pick for dinner, I chose... Osaka Ohsho.

 

Osaka Ohsho is abound in Japan, even in Miyako. I went purely for the novelty of namesake; I would not eat there on a normal day. It's not the food is bad, but it's just stereotypical Chinese food at Japanese prices. I noticed the kitchen's mostly staffed by Chinese people. And Dotonbori actually felt more like SF Chinatown, except that the tourists and workforce's nationalities are reversed.

 

Rest of the night was uneventful. I also walked around the adjacent Shinsaibashi, and turned the evening into a third trail of tears on this trip.

 

All that walking today gave me time to think though. Whenever I see couples, I can feel the hate rising. In most cases, there's nothing wrong with them; I'm just having sour grapes syndrome since I'm unwillingly single. However, my current predicament means that it would be socially irresponsible for me not to hate on them. Thus, I had my epiphany.

 

Alright, enough philosophy, early day for Kyoto tomorrow.

 

 

D+5: Level-up @ A-Bomb Dome

Forgot to mention something from yesterday. I only noticed this in Hiroshima, maybe Kansai also. JHS and HS girls love to take pictures with random foreigners, well, the stereotypical foreigners like white and black dudes.

It's an early morning.  After Kazu saw me off at Nishi-Hiroshima, I attended the Peace Memorial ceremony. As I suspected, everyone and their moms and mom's cousins were going. When I arrived shortly after 8am, the park was packed and it became a huge battle to find any open spot to get a good view (for pictures).

The ceremony was solemn and well organized. Various officials from Hiroshima, the national gov't, and other countries came to speak against nuclear war and paid their respects. Somewhere doves were released for symbolism. Finally, children choir sang. It was touching but scorching hot. Luckily, they had free cold water and towels.

I got some free flowers and paid my respect as well, after lining up under the sun for another 15 mins. I didn't pray for the end of nuclear weapons or wars like many; I understand that war is necessary. I prayed for men with the resolve to wage war when needed.

I lingered around the museum, but instead I went into the other building. This's where I'll be until late afternoon. I had a tea ceremony and folded cranes for a while. The origami teacher (an older lady) showed me all kinds of cool tricks to make the crane look different (e.g. multicolored body, long wings). Then, this professor jumped in with some crazy pro skills and made a treasure boat from origami kimono. Once they found out I'm an English teacher working in Tohoku, all kinds of talks and pleasantries started and I got a bunch of origami stuff as souvenirs.

At the event, I also met another older gal (Rieko). Had lunch (Mexican, of all foods) and went to the afternoon memorial events with her. She's really nice, but got a little Fatoma-ish before I left in the night bus. However, she meant well and just wanted to see me off.

The afternoon stuff are all JHS level exhibitions. One of them was light writing with slow-shutter speed cameras. The students here are much more eager about speaking English, and all kinds of pleasantries flew once Rieko introduced me to them. Then again, Hiroshima's an international city and English's way more useful. Maybe someday I can teach here.

I rounded off the evening with lantern floating event. Mostly picture taking, but somehow I ended up waist deep in the river and unwillingly part of the volunteer staff pushing lanterns down the river.

Had a great "homecoming", everything and more. It's the little human experiences that make traveling fun, even to a repeat place.

Onward to Osaka!

D+4: Impromptu Eikaiwa Class

After a restful night in my own room, I set off for Miyajima. This is an island off Hiroshima with the iconic half-submerged shrine gate. It's a very popular place amongst tourists, one of those must-go places when visiting Hiroshima.

Miyajima holds a significant place in my heart: it was my home for two weeks during my study abroad in Hiroshima. I stayed with the family at Daishoin Temple, took the ferry back and fro to classes, and passed many tourists while I went about my day like a local. While my host family's long gone (moved away), I felt the need to connect with this place whenever I visit Hiroshima.

As soon as I arrived on the island, I sat down to my standard Lawson breakfast (onigiri). But it was quickly interrupted by one of the locals - a deer. Those animals know to converge on any open food, and it's often for the best to comply. So I shared my breakfast with him/her. This made me part of the sideshow for the tourists.

With some fumbling, I found the Momijidani course for Miyajima's peak - Mt. Misen. I had climbed the Daishoin course during my previous stay, and remembered it as a 2-km Stairmaster. This's supposed to be an easier route, but the intense heat and humidity made it almost unbearable. I realized It was a big mistake when I was the only one walking up; everyone else paid for the ropeway. But I figure it'll be a satisfying experience once I reach the top.

Fate is cruel. All that hard work, and I arrived at a mountaintop under construction. They're building a new observation deck. Maybe there're signs about it, but I missed them all. Disappointed, but with some no-no rock climbing, I got the vistas that I wanted.

I needed to stop by Hondori for a new day bag. But I detoured and checked out the Atomic Bomb Peace Park first, since it's the 68th anniversary of the bomb dropping tomorrow. Then, I was caught in a flash rain, so I went into the museum (my 4th time) to hide out.

Not-so-ballin' story on the streetcar ride to the Dome. I was sitting next to a fairly good-looking girl on the streetcar. An older lady asked her for directions to somewhere, then the girl turned to me for the answer. Since I'm a tourist, I told her I don't know. But then, the older lady (later on the ride) asked if the next stop was the A-bomb Dome, at which I interjected and said yes. The pretty girl started rapid-firing Japanese. And all I could do was run away; my only excuse was that it's my stop to get off. Besides feeling useless, I felt like Mii-chan's character on the movie "もしドラ" (Mii-chan's one of the girls on AKB48).

I met up with Kazu and headed out for a night of mild drinking at a place called おやじの店. Sashimi, meat, cheese okonomiyaki, and lots of beer. Halfway through, it turned into an English conversation class after the owners (Masa and his mom Yoko) and patrons (2 acupuncture teachers and a jewelry store clerk named Mai) found out I teach English in Tohoku. Mai was very cute with glasses and long hair, looks more like a schoolteacher.

If only the thirst can be quenched tonight...

 

D+3: Trail of Tears

It was the most uncomfortable 11-hr bus ride ever (not that I rode on many buses before). The neck pillow is like a smartphone for me: once I have it, I wonder how I went w/o it. Yet I kept forgetting it.

On ground in Hiroshima early morning, had a snag with the directions to the hostel (because I can't read a map), then met my old college friends (Masaaki and Kazu) for a day trip to Onomichi.

Within 2 hours, I've seen a few bad accidents. First was a semi that crashed into the side of a tunnel. Second was a T-bone accident near Onomichi station that messed up the cars and people pretty badly. Luckily, the latter also happened in front of a police station.

Onomichi is famous for its soy sauce ramen, and it's evident by all the lines leading to the tiny ramen shops around town. We managed to get into the 3rd shop we tried. While we waited, I recalled the story from a few weeks ago at Miyako McD's about a bunch of Japanese high schoolers cat-calling this girl from another high school, while we're looking at these two good-looking girls across the street, one of which tripped and dropped her ice cream earlier. The ramen was magically delicious; it could also be that we're starving.

Onomichi's also known for its narrow streets and being used in dramas about old Japan. Thus the trail of tears began. If you're unfamiliar with American history, the Trail of Tears was a forced relocation of native Americans by the U.S. gov't, during which many of them died. Back then, people still moved about on foot. For next few hours, a lot of walking up and down hills, looked at temples, climbed a chain rope, and more walking. 

Somewhere in the middle, we had waffles (a popular place according to the parking garage man). We also ripped on the trainee waitress there because her stockings tore a bit near her ankle, which my friend commented that it's a trademark of a slut.

The ride back was interesting. We talked about how to hook up with girls, and they learned about sugar mama (since one of them is dating an older woman) and being "thirsty".

Dinner was my favorite - okonomiyaki, Hiroshima-style, with dark beer! But there're lines for that too; we hit jackpot on 3rd try.

Then the unthinkable happened. All that feeding gave me the runs, after I got on the streetcar (Hiroden). With 5 stations to go, luck would have it stopped at every station. It's also at the mercy of stoplights. I barely closed the stall door before it came out. Then, there's no toilet paper...

How'll I get out of this jam?

 

D+2: Two Towers x Mizuki Nana

No clubbing last night, but gave into late night ramen munchies and went to some hole-in-the-wall place... Yokohama-style ramen, if there's such a thing.

Day 2 in Tokyo. Tough choices to make: go to Tokorozawa early to look around, or go to Tokyo Tower (thus the LOTR reference to the 2nd movie). In the end, making it legit to use a LOTR reference made it an easy decision. So, to Tokyo Tower I go.

Like many places in Tokyo, been there done that a half dozen times. I don't care so much for the top of the tower, but rather what's on the 4th floor - special exhibition on Fujio F. Fujiko, the creator of Doraemon! He would've been 80 this year if he hadn't died.

It was spectacular! Doraemon statues and gadgets everywhere, plus other (less known) series that Fujio created and I watched as a kid. And then there's the merch shop. I was pressed for time but still dilly-daddled. More useless spending on its way.

Onto today's main event: Mizuki Nana at Seibu Dome. On the train, I could tell who's going to the concert; they're all wearing something Nana - old concert T-shirts, baseball jerseys with number 7 (Nana is also 7 in Japanese), pins, bags, etc. They're like old war trophies of veterans. I was a noob so I kept my mouth shut. By the time I changed trains at Tokorozawa, the whole train was filled with Nana fans (since Seibu Dome's the last station on the line).

Once on site, I was fumbling around like a noob to find the goods area that I lost my ticket for a minute. I ran around like Foghorn Leghorn after his head got chopped off (Family Guy reference), until I found where I dropped it. My goal here was to get the Mizuki Nana nendoroid, but it's sold out long before I found the queue. Feeling sorry for myself, I chowed down a 550¥ hot dog (almost worth it) and bought a 1600¥ concert light stick. Might as well enjoy the concert...

There was no doubt that the concert was awesome. Seibu Dome was sold out. Nana looked just as good as any of her pictures, and sounded just like her CDs with no lip synch. From opening act, the fans were waving light sticks in rhythm and unison. A few were doing some crazy rave thing, and had rigs for a dozen glow sticks. It took a while, but I was fully into it by halftime when Nana sang "Pop Master".

I took off right before the end, so I can catch the bus at Shinjuku for my next stop. Time for my return to Hiroshima.

 

D+1: Getting Our Gundam On

I arrived at my first stop in early dawn. My warm welcome to Tokyo was being run down a bicycle right outside Shinagawa bus station. It was an adventure navigating through Tokyo's complex rail and subway system, then finding my hostel in the depths of Asakusa. Quick stop at Mister Donut, and off I go.

 

A pie & drink for 320￥, can't find that up north.

 

 

Stopped by the big temple (Senso-ji) near the station first. I've been here half a dozen times before, but there're always something new to see. It's a little before 9am, however it's already bustling with people from all over the world. In the past hour, I've heard Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin & Canto), Thai, Korean, English/American, and various European tongues. Pretty sure I've seen some Filipinos or Malays too. I threw some money in the big wooden box, offered a hearty prayer for safe travels, and out.

 

 

 

To my surprise, I saw the new Skytree not far away, so that's my next stop (there was no plan for today whatsoever). Half an hour of queue and 2000￥ later, I had an unobstructed view of the Tokyo skyline, including the now tiny orange Tokyo Tower. And just my luck, the clouds cleared right before that. For another 1000￥, I can go up even higher. It was already a pricey trip up, so I may as well commit. At least I can say, "Tokyo Skytree, I climb that... But I'm not a rapper".

 

Then something sad happened: dropped my camera yet again. Not only did I drop it, it got thrown. Somehow, the strap got snagged and yanked the camera out of my hand, and slingshot it onto the pavement. Fuck the strap.

 

Skytree is essentially a comms tower, so all the TV stations have merchandise stores below it.  After going a little nuts, I settled on some Doraemon stickers (for school; kids love stickers here).

 

For the afternoon, I met up with a few other ALTs (Tim & Bug) in Shinjuku. By coincidence, a bunch of Iwate ALTs are in Tokyo this week. Of course, we would pick the busiest station to meet, and involved 3 train changes from Skytree, so I was 20 mins late.  Besides the two, Tim's Japanese friend was there too.

 

And we got a new meme - "I think I'm gonna call it a night." Apparently, beard James is also in town and was supposed to meet up with them last night, but ditched them and let them know much later on FB, with that exact phrase.  Hence, it's the joke of the day.

 

Little did I know that we're gonna get our Gundam on today. First stop: Akihabara. Went to the Gundam café and dropped 1500￥ on a watered-down beer. But I got to keep the Gundam mug. And I got to use the Gundam bathroom with the awesome blue button.

 

By now, my phone's dead, and I wasted 1000￥ earlier on a useless battery charger. So Tim's just rubbing it in with all the check-ins on FourSquare.  This would continue all day.

 

Spur-of-the-moment second stop: Odaiba. We're going to see the big Gundam. You know, the one that doesn't do shit (another story from last time in Tokyo). We got there just in time for the dramatic motion sequence, and for me to relive my hate - 10 mins for sounds, flashing lights, moving head, and the gay mist. Tim and Bug had a good time though.

 

Last stop of the day: Yoyogi Park.  A lot of interesting people and weirdos congregate here, but that's more during daylight. Four dudes walking in a giant park in the dark with nothing to see was a fail. As we're leaving, a tall girl with nice legs was walking in front of us. Two black dudes were coming towards her. Just as I predicted, once they passed her, one of them walked behind her and spun around to check out her ass. Not one bit of subtlety.

 

Off to a good start on this trip. Not a lot of pictures, saw some new stuff, spent time with friends old and new, and most importantly, got my Gundam fix that I didn't even know I had. Let's see what I can pull off tomorrow.

 

 

D-Day: Heading South

Yay, it's finally summer vacation!  This is the least I've worked in any job, but I still felt worn out. Unlike the States, summer break is only about a month here. Luckily, I'm free from various school obligations, not like the Japanese (real) teachers.

Since my fellow ALTs are all leaving town one way or another, I was feeling jelly and conjured up a summer trip. Not really "conjured"... the itinerary had been in my head for a while, but I booked everything 2 weeks before because I do things at the last minute (and often pay dearly for it).

Hence, I'm going to Kansai.

I know, I haven't been keeping up the Japan blog. Lots of interesting stuff and drama happened since, but it's too late to catch up. I'm writing now, so fuck off.

 

Checked out Sansa Odori in Morioka tonight. It's a 4-day dance festival/parade. I had the pleasure of dancing this at my elementary school sports festivals. Tonight was literally two and a half hours of colorfully dressed people dancing and drumming/fluting/cow-belling the same 30-sec tune over and over again. But there're thousands of performers and parade floats, oh, and balloons. Rain or shine it happened, and it was constant rain. To my infinite genius, no umbrella.

Like many of my JHS students would write in their diaries, "I had a good time". Off to Tokyo on the night bus.

Special thanks to my fellow ALT (Matt) for giving me a ride to Morioka and the bus station.

 

Ojiiiii-san! (Grandpa)

First FULL week of work.  Since I started teaching, it's been various national holidays and free days in the work week.  It's gonna be full weeks until summer vacation, better get used to it.

 

This week's also what I called Tour de 小学校 (elementary school) week.  I got 8 different schools, just one or two classes per school, all half days, and mostly just playtime.  By the end of this week, I would've finally taught at all my schools at least once.  Finally get to close out my intel reports.

 

It's been a while since I cut my hair, and I look like a hippie.  In Japan, when I ask people to guess my age, everyone so far had started at 24 or mid-20s.  Today, at my morning school, the initial guesses were in the 30s.  Whenever I let my hair grow out, it shows some semblance of a receding hairline, making me look old.  While I wasn't offended (because I'm old), it ruined the shock factor of looking young but not actually so.

 

I shaved my head as soon as I got home.  The age guesses were "back to normal" the next day.

 

An Old Friend

To set the backdrop: 

 

This's my first week of "real" teaching. I mean, sure, I still have plenty of 自己紹介 (self-intro) to do in 6 other grade schools. I was pretty pumped about teaching actual lessons (if you count teaching the alphabet to 1st year JHS / 7th graders). I had an epic fail teaching present prefect tense (e.g. I "have read" the book) to 3rd year JHS students. This's hard enough to grasp for native English speakers, so trying to push this to Japanese kids through a language that they can hardly understand was a death sentence. Luckily, my JTE stepped in and set everything straight again. If anything, I learned to leave the hard stuff to the JTE from now on and just be an English prop; I get paid the same either way. But, I was really bummed out afterwards.

 

 

Earlier in the week, I spotted an old college pal on the desk of my other JHS JTE -- Red Bull! I had forcibly been on the wagon since leaving the States, mainly because I couldn't find it at the grocery or convenience stores. In college, I drank at least one a day, the whole 4-pack on exam nights. This is dangerous indeed.

 

Thursday morning. Quick stop at Lawson's for breakfast (2 onigiri). Right past the front door, on the energy drink shelf, a tall cold can of Red Bull for 275円. I chugged the whole can before driving off the parking lot. I was officially off the wagon, and off to great day at school.

 

By the time I went to bed around 3am, I had (only) 3 cans. My heart's pounding like a jackhammer when I woke up a few hours later for another day of teaching.

 

Saturday Night

Work's been busy, lots of lesson prep.  Still trying to catch up from Golden Week...

 

 

Saturday:

Pretty much continued when I got back from Morioka.  Got a bunch of stuff around the house to do, and actually managed to get everything done.  I even called my mom in the States.  Then need to hit the road back to Morioka, pick up my wingman from Shizukuishi, and meet up with the girl from a week ago.  Oh, and I got a copy of my pizza poster!

Tried to shop for meat (there's a lot of meat jokes that weekend) for my friend's birthday BBQ the next day.  Burgers here aren't like in the States, no frozen patties in a box.  Had to go old school and make the patties from ground beef.  And like most foods here, cost a pretty penny extra than the States.

 

Picked up my wingman and returned to Morioka almost an hour late, and then spent a few more minutes finding the izakaya (because I read the wrong Japanese name on the FB message).  Met some acquaintances from last week, plus the friend that the girl brought.  To set the tone here, I've been going hardcore for past 2 days with 2 hrs of sleep, at a rest stop in my car.  It escalated very quickly: first beer became rounds of sake, and her friend was running me to the ground.  Some point that night, I mixed soy sauce with sake (and drank it).  By the time we stumbled into a karaoke, I blacked out.

 

According to my wingman, I sang Backstreet Boys (a staple song even when I'm not faded), passed out in the cab back to his apartment, fell out of the cab and laid outside in front of his apartment.  I blew it, but I wasn't feeling the vibe from the girl anyway.

 

Oh well, it's only been a month in Japan, so there'll always be another...

2nd Week of School

2nd week of school (teaching) had been a hit-or-miss.  Just another round of self-intro lessons.  I was particularly excited about this week, because of the small schools, which means more 1-on-1 time with the students.  I also had good rapport with these schools from my initial meet-and-greet.

Tuesday:

Coming back from a 3-day weekend, I was ready to rock.  Got to my school about 30 mins early.  Had lots of time to prepare since my only class of the day starts in late morning, even managed to explain to my principal what I will be doing in class in (broken) Japanese.  Here's the twist: my class has every students in the school, 12 total, which had the grade schoolers who are normally too young to be learning English.  And all the teachers and the principal were there.  In the end, I nailed it.  I took what I learned last week with the games and everyone had fun, including me.  Lots of running around, and I was genuinely smiling the whole time.  Still couldn't believe I'm getting paid to do this!

Wednesday: 

Today's the first time that the textbook was used, and I was unprepared.  I just couldn't mate the self-introduction lesson with a "how're you?" lesson (you think it's easy, but not with the way the book presents it).  And it's the first time with a Smartboard, too much tech for 6 kids and an entry-level English class.  But really, it's because I got complacent and over-confident with all those self-intro lesson.  Ended up with a lot of downtime during class, and I was not happy with myself.  But they were so nice to invite me to have watermelon at lunch with them.

Thursday:

Double duty today.  I was determined not to screw up today, and to go into the 4-day Golden Week holiday on a good note.  I got scheduled for a special self-introduction lesson with the whole school (about a dozen kids) and the teachers.  Then, I had playtime with the younger kids before my actual class, played "Fruits Basket", which is a variant of musical chairs.  Anyway, my class was awesome!  I made packs of flashcards with celebrities and everyone had to do mock self-introductions with those faces, including the principal and vice principal (who sat in on my class).  My teacher really likes James Bond (so he got the pack with James Bond in it), and my vice principal knew all the AKB48 girls and anime characters I had.  In the end, my vice principal and I talked about various things and he even gave me some constructive feedback.

Long drive to my afternoon school.  Just in time to have school lunch with the 5th and 6th graders, like all 4 of them plus the teacher.  One girl's already going to cram school, so her English level's high.  Another school-wide welcoming ceremony, and I gave all the kids high fives.  I did the same routine for class and worked fabulously.  However, the best part happened after school.  Ended up spending 2 hrs running around outside and playing soccer with the kids.

Lots of plans for the 4-day.  2nd week and I haven't been to half of my schools yet...

Man vs Nature

At the time of writing, I'm a week behind on the blog.  So, Golden Week was last week, but still plenty to write about.

My work week closed on an awesome note.  I got to know one of my vice principals really well (they're the ones who really run the schools in Japan), and I bonded with the kids at my last school of the week, with like 2 hours of outdoors playtime.  I even taught a little girl how to kick a soccer ball properly, with her scoring the goal I was guarding afterwards (sadly, I was actually defending the goal that time).

 

 

My plan for the 4-day:

• Climb Mt. Hayachine
• Go to Morioka to meet up with this girl I met last weekend
• My ALT friend's birthday
• Fix another friend's bike

Friday:

I woke up much later than I should.  By the time I arrived, it was noon.  I lost half an hour because I missed the access road entrance off 106 and the trail entrance. The weather's also not looking good, but I was determined.

 

About 50 m in, a large tree blocking the path, but I will just shuffle underneath it with some crouching. Then another tree... I will just climb over it.  Then the path's gone, looks like a landslide took it out, but the rocks seem scalable... I will just hug the cliff wall and spider-man my way across.  Success!

At the 5th station, there's a torii gate across a small river, which added to the mystic feel of the mountain. This is the start of the real hike/climb. No idea on the altitude, but it's cold enough for snow to remain. After a pregame dump in the woods, I pressed forth.

At first, not too bad, trails still visible.  Then a few 100m's up was the hillside blanketed with snow. The danger was what's under the snow; it could be flat ground or a large skewer of a branch that'll take out my leg.  The snow also looked partially melted underneath, where I could step through into who-knows-what below. I proceeded slowly.

 

As I climbed up, it's getting colder and the ground was more hard packed with snow.  It also started snowing at some point.  I had extra clothes and food, but my shoes and gloves are wet from earlier (hypothermia risk); it started to dawn on me that I wasn't equipped for this climb, or maybe the trail's actually closed.  However, I'm stubborn.

Past 7th station.  I couldn't see trails anymore, just pink flags.  So I will just connect the dots with the fastest and safest way possible.  I was feeling like Bear Grylls, getting deep in a nature survival scenario; the adrenaline kept me going.

 

 

I said I would stop at 3:30, but it's more like 4 before I backed down.  I was just climbing the most direct and clear path, so I was on my hands and knees a lot, not to mention it keeps me from falling through some thin snow sections.  I gave up when my sanity won: it's getting dark, there's a snowstorm, and I couldn't find any more pink flags.  I believe I had 2 km left to the peak.

When I finally got back to my car, it's almost 6.  I ate "it" quite a few times, but I felt like a bad ass. Looking back, glad I stopped when I did.  I would've certainly got lost in the dark and froze to death, or got hurt and then froze to death.  There wasn't a soul for miles to know I was in trouble, plus no cell signal nearby.  I bid my trusty partner, a hiking stick (found a nice solid branch at the start of the hike, saved me dozens of times), a ceremonial goodbye.  I decided to make a spur-of-the-moment trip to Morioka.

 

The trail entrance at Kadoma was closer to Morioka than Miyako (my town), so I may as well go.  I bought stuff, had yakiniku with my ALT friend nearby (epic fail on the meat ordering; he doesn't like a lot of fat on his meat... giggity), and bought more stuff.  At my final shopping stop, I ran into another ALT from Miyako.

 

I finally got home around 4 am.  I had to sleep at a rest stop because I almost crashed my car, bumped the tire on the highway curb at 60+ kph.  Woke me the f*** up real quick!