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Thursday, July 29, 2004
staircase to heaven
So this past weekend (Sunday and Monday), I went to Amanohashidate with a group of friends - 3 other English teachers like myself (Brian, Kaori, Genevieve) plus our generous host, a Japanese salary man. Amanohashidate... what a mouthful. (quickie pronounciation guide for non-Japanese speakers: ah-ma-no-ha-she-dah-tey) My friend Brian, in his almostly cliche-esque friendly Hawaiian way, invited me. Brian: You should come with me and some friends on this trip to Amanohashidate. Gar: What time are you guys going? Brian: We're leaving at 7:30. Gar: At night? Brian: No, the morning. Gar: ... Fortunately for me, I pulled my lazy self outta bed on Sunday and went. I blame God and my conscience. Wake up, ya bum. .:. Sunday Sunday morning started out a bit rough... mostly on the account that I didn't go to sleep early like I planned. It was a Kaori's birthday, so a group of friends (including me) stayed out all night singing karaoke. I stumbled home at about 5:30AM, just enough time to take a short nap, pack my gear, and head back again to the train station. Everybody met up at Shukugawa station (close to Ashiya, where I work) at 7:30AM. Brian's friend, Hajime, picked us up and we were off. It took about a two and half hour drive to northern Kyoto prefecture, but when we arrived, there was this. 
Sunny skies, clean air, and a clean ocean... I was instantly happy I came on the trip. 
I tried not to think about the crazy North Korean dictator being only around five to six hundred miles away. 
It was hot, so everybody went into the water to do some snorking. By everybody, I mean to say, everybody except me. I suck at swimming, so I mostly just 
Still, I didn't feel crabby at all. 
Hajime and Brian taking a break. After about a couple of hours of swimming, relaxing, and a bento lunch, we all piled back into the car for a drive to our weekend accommodations. Hajime works for a fairly large Japanese car insurance company, so one of the side benefits is that the company owns a condo in Amanohashidate that employees can periodically rent and borrow. When I asked Hajime if ever comes to Amanohashidate with his co-workers, he responded with a laugh and a short reply in slightly-accented English. "No. They are all too hard-working and boring." Haha... works for me. 
Genevieve, me, Kaori. If it looks like I'm squinting, it's because I am. The sun was too damn bright for my Chinese eyes. 
Beautiful. Shouldn't water always be clean? We arrived at the condo, swam in the pool, and played some tennis. After tennis, there was some more showering, and then soaking in an onsen (Japanese hot spring). After a whole day of water activities, I felt: 1) Clean. 2) Wrinkly. 
Left side, front to back: Gar, Hajime. Right side, front to back: Gene, Kaori, Brian. Dinnertime was at a local donburi restaurant. It was small, but the staff and decor had a nice, friendly atmosphere that you don't often get being in the city. After dinner, it was back to the condo, more karaoke, cards, drinks, and a foot operation - Kaori had gotten several rock splinters in her foot, so they had to be removed via needles and tweezers. Everybody played part - I, the surgeon; Gene, the tweezer-user; Brian, whipping boy (everytime it hurt, Kaori squeezed and/or hit Brian); and Hajime, light man. Hooray for group effort. I fell asleep shortly after. .:. Monday 
I woke up, and enjoyed the view from the 14th floor. Blang, blang... so this is what it's like to be a baller. 
The condo. After some early morning breakfast, we borrowed bicycles from the hotel and biked to a viewing area where we could see Amanohashidate from the mountains. It took about 30 minutes, but it was easy ride... pretty flat. Unlike Lance Armstrong, I still possess my jewels and multiple-hour bike rides on a narrow seat "crushing the kids" aren't too appealing. 
At the base of the mountain was this temple. I took a quick peek in and some photos. About a block behind the temple was the route up to the mountain viewing area. There were two choices: train or chair lift. Guess which one I picked. 
Once I got to the top, I was a bit disappointed that the sky was a little cloudy, but the view was still fantastic. Amanohashidate is ranked supposedly as one of the 3 best views in Japan, and it lived up to the hype. 
The word hashi in Amanohashidate means "bridge". The narrow strip of land with the beaches on its right in the photo is the "bridge", which coincidentally, is also the route we biked through. 
Obligatory group shot. Where is the "bridge" going to? According to traditional Japanese belief, if you look at the view upside down, the "bridge" appears to be going up in to the sky - hence the name Amano (heaven's) : hashi (bridge) : date (ascending/upward). So how do you see the landscape upside down? I'm glad you asked. ... ... ... 
The Japanese guy who named the place must have really like sake. Those crazy monks. After some ice cream, it was time for us to leave. 
Back down the mountain. Before leaving Amanohashidate, we visited one more beach by the condo for a quick swim and shower. It was a good trip and occurred to me suddenly again, that I've been in Japan a whole year. Coming out Amanohashidate, there was a lot of beautiful scenery, farmland, and my favorite... the ocean. Nature naturally reminds me of the One who created it all. So on the beach, I decided to build a tribute to Him for the blessings of the past year. 
I didn't use 12 stones, but I hope He doesn't mind. There were a lot of rocks in the water, and I found the exercise of building it to actually be quite therapeutic. We left Amanohashidate around 4:30PM. We arrived back in Kansai about 6:15PM. For a guy who sells car insurance, Hajime sure drives pretty fast. 
.:. Funniest part of the trip: Multi-lingual confusion and hilariousness. Brian is happa (half-Japanese & from Hawai'i). Kaori is nikkei (Japanese Canadian & from Vancouver BC). Hajime is Japanese, but his English is very good (TOIEC score: 700+). I'm me. Kaori is perfectly fluent in Japanese and English. Brian speaks a lot of Japanese because his Mom does. I speak some Japanese 'cause of the host fam. Imagine the confusion of the Japanese people in Amanohashidate when they ask us questions in Japanese and we answer in Japanese, but talk amongst ourselves in English. Asian Americans/Canadians... the cultural bastards of the world. Mono-ethnic and mono-cultural peoples of the world: We're here just to add confusion to your lives. .:. Random: Fellow traveler Hipstomp is trucking around Seattle. | (0) comments 
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
digital music player hunt
An update of this past post... after a lot of thought about my needs for a player and my budget, I've narrowed down my selections to this final set to my (hip.hop) audiophile happiness:
.:. Interestingly enough, iPod Lounge featured an article which pretty much matches my own research and testing (AKA playing with the display models in Japanese electronic stores). If it sounds like I'm close to buying an iPod... *GASP*... I am. The last rumor I'm attempting to lock down, is that one store claims that there's a way to force the Pocket Vaio to play MP3 files. Still hunting that down... .:. I went to Amanohashidate (lit. "Bridge Up to Heaven) in northern Kyoto prefecture this past weekend, on Sunday and Monday. It was a fantastic trip; I'll post pics next time. Here's a good page about it (warning: Japanese) and this page is nice too for quick reading. | (0) comments
Friday, July 23, 2004
pop music musings
In between adventures with teaching English, food, avoiding obnoxious gaijin, and just plain commuting to work everyday, there's always one thing about Japan that never bores me: it's popular music. Pop music here in Japan, (or J-Pop as it's affectionately known) is a multi-million dollar industry, with a business model that makes American music companies drool. Can you imagine CD singles priced at $12 that contain only 2 songs? Can you imagine a steady stream of CD singles released every week? Can you imagine CD albums priced at an average of $26 to $39? Can you imagine every commercial, sporting event, or show on TV having music "borrowed" from a current popular artist? (with the name of the artist and the song shown in small letters at the bottom for your consumer pleasure) All of these things are reality here in Japan and the Japanese pop music industry is quite a beast. My friend Mel once made the observation that the average lifespan of a pop song here in Japan is ridiculously short compared to pop music in America. Back home in America, you might hear the same damn song for 6 months of the radio... here in Japan, so many new songs are released at a constant rate that even the most popular songs only last in regular rotation for about 3 months (there are exceptions, but those are for the really popular songs). Insane, eh? .:. Though Ayumi Hamasaki is probably the most popular J-Pop singer in Japan, I don't really consider myself much of a fan. Whole research papers could probably be written about her influence on Japanese womens' fashion, though... a pretty telling sign of a pop star's Did I mention that Japan freely uses the term Idol to describe pop singers? Yes, even before "American Idol" was blitzing American airwaves, it was a common term here. (for more discussions of idol-age, I refer to Dave's entry.) Other "idols" of note: Amuro Namie (jailbait), Hikaru Utada (beautiful voice, writes own songs), Nakashima Mika (great voice too), Misia (another great voice, huge range), Aya (more jailbait)Koda Kumi (often missing clothing) Oh, and don't even get me started on Morning Musume... a whole group of jailbait. (translation: Morning Daughter) .:. Enough rambling. Just chill and listen to some Tommy Heavenly 6. (right-click save as). She's like a Japanese Lisa Loeb... we all know that girls with librarian glasses are meccha kawaii (really cute), eh? I like the lyrics of this song... (borrowed from here) "Hey My Friend" by Tommy Heavenly 6 furitsudzuita nagai ame ga agaru I have waited long time... yeah iradachi wo kakushite (The long, continuous rain stops I have waited long time... yeah I hide my irritation) kyou mo nibui zutsuu no you ni hibiku Noisy sound out of my head phone BEDDO ni nagetsukete (Even today, the noisy sound out of my head phones echoes like a sharp headache & I fling myself into bed) hikizuru you ni arukidasu ashita e to kon'ya mo utsushidasu inori no silhouette (I begin to walk to tomorrow like I'm dragging myself Tonight also, there's a silhouette of a prayer that's projected out) Hey my friend naze darou anata no koe ga kikoeru Hello myself kakureteta hikari ga mieta ki ga shita ah (Hey my friend I wonder why I can hear your voice Hello myself I felt that I could see the hidden light, ah) surechigai miushinau to mou wakaranai I lose my way without you deguchi ga mienakute (I didn't know that I passed it by and lost sight of it I lose my way without you The exit isn't visible) nantonaku nakisou ni naru no I don't know where my heart is... sunao ni narenakute (Somehow I get teary I dont know where my heart is... I can't be straight-forward) owaranai yume ya genjitsu ga dou toka saegiru mono ni torawarete ita kedo (The endless dreams, reality, etc. I was caught up with the interruptions) Hey my friend tsumadzukanai ikikata nado nai kara Baby i think... kazaru dake no PURAIDO nara iranaiah woo... (Hey my friend we stumble over life, so Baby i think... If it's just a flashy pride, I don't need it ah woo...) aoi sora wa soko ni aru no? where are you babe? I lose my way without you kono kiri ga haretara... (Is the blue sky there? where are you babe? I lose my way without you When this fog clears...) kawaru nanka ni mune wo odorasete itai subete ga detarame ni mieru kono sekai de (I want to make my heart dance because of something that changes Everything in this world appears to be in chaos) Hey my friend naze darou anata no koe ga kikoeru Hello my self michibikareru you ni mieta mirai ga aru no dakedo fumihazusu michi ga chikaku ni aru nara need my friend anata ga kidzuita toki ni wa oshiete (Hey my friend I wonder why I can hear your voice Hello myself In order to be guided, there's a future that's visible But, if a stray path is close by, hey my friend tell me when you realize it) | (0) comments
Monday, July 19, 2004
Beaches, Beer Gardens, Birthdays
This past weekend was really busy... I'm still recovering from everything. Yesterday was a triple header of going to the beach, a good-bye party, and a birthday party... all with 3 different circles of friends I have in Japan. Pics later... the internet cafe I'm using now ain't so good. This computer has to running Windows 97... (shudder) .:. Remember my dreams about dead fish? Finally, an interpretation... disappointment. (thanks to eugenia for the site link) Hrmm. | (0) comments
Thursday, July 15, 2004
God show me the way, because the Devil trying to break me down
The only thing that I pray is that me feet don't fail me now And I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs I want to talk to God, but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers To the victims of Welfare for we living in hell here hell yeah Now hear ye hear ye want to see Thee more clearly I know He hear me when my feet get weary Cuz we're the almost nearly extinct We rappers are role models, we rap, we don't think I ain't here to argue about his facial features Or here to convert atheists into believers I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers The way Kathie Lee needed Regis, that's the way y'all need Jesus So here go my single, dog, radio needs this They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes But if I talk about God, my record won't get played, HUH!? -"Jesus Walks" by Kanye West .:. I'm both surprised and not surprised the above song isn't popular. .:. Kansai no natsu tenki atsusugi dayo. (Kansai's summer weather is too hot...) | (0) comments
Monday, July 12, 2004
empathy is your strongest teaching tool
For those of you have been keeping track of my time here in Japan, you probably know that next month, August, marks officially the end of one year of my being in Japan. True, I signed my contract in September, and didn't arrive until the end of September... but yeah. The above compliment was written in my contract-end evaluation by the head teacher of my school. My contract-end evaluation (it happened about a week ago) consists of several unseen reports from the Japanese staff at my school, reports from my school's titled instructors (head teacher and assistant head teacher), and the nerve-wracking part - a live observation of myself doing my job as teacher. I suppose it's a little Big Brother-esque, but basically it consists of Neil (my head teacher) sitting in the classroom next to me and listening in as I teach a lesson. To your average reader, the above comment might seem a bit cheesy, except that I hold a lot of respect for man who made it, especially in a professional regard - Neil is a very good English teacher, which makes sense when one takes into account both that he studied teaching at a university in the UK and he's been in Japan for almost 5 years. Anyways, I guess it's very Asian of me to not know how to take a compliment except to say thanks, and the oh-so-cliche, "You flatter me". It's never been a direct goal of mine to go out of my way and get compliments from people, but I have been putting a lot of my effort into working hard at my job - which is essentially helping people. People often wonder why I leave out "learn English" and why I don't say that my job is "helping people learn English", but maybe my spiritual convictions have prioritized "helping people" over "helping people learn English". I could be Grammar Nazi Supreme, but as I've mentioned in previous posts, sometimes the only reason people come to lesson is that they want some to talk to. Such a simple thing, but you'd be surprised how many different people from how many different walks of life want it - housewife, salaryman, police officer, firefighter, doctor, student, unemployed father, university professor, cook, salon stylist, etc. People come to my company's English conversation for a lot of reasons, and working these past 11 or so months has taught me a lot about them. Every student's motivations for learning English are different, and in my opinion, the methods and approaches I as their teacher need to reflect that. During my post-observation, Neil and I talked one-on-one about my time as a teacher here in Japan, and also, just philosophizing about teaching in general. I can remember that when I first came to Japan, I was shocked a little bit about the corporate aspects of my job, and for the longest time, all I could do was be cynical about working as an English teacher (admittedly, that'll never stop on this blog... cynicism. heh heh.) But when I began to focus on the important aspect of my job - the students - my attitude about work became one of enjoying it rather than complaining about. Neil commented that he himself had noticed that change in me, and said that my focus on the fact that my students are people (empathy) is one of things that clearly separates bad teachers from good teachers. Fortunately for me, I fall into the latter category rather than the former. I guess all of these words are a long way of saying that after 11 months, I've discovered that I enjoy teaching and that it's also nice to be recognized that I take pride in trying to do it well. Here in Japan, God has sort of eased me into this little surprise of "teaching", and perhaps, it's a sign that I might be stepping through another door in my life. Life is filled with lots of doors... (thanks to Stone for the pic) A conversation I had recently with a student when class had finished: Student: Sensei, itsumo anata no lesson dai suki na! (Teacher, I always really like your lessons!) Gar: Haha. Honto? Arigato gozaimashita. Boku wa Nippon ni eigo sensei dakara, honto sensei ja nai to omou... (Haha. Really? Thank you. Because I'm an English teacher in Japan, I think I'm a not a real teacher...) Student: Chan-san... honto sensei ni naritai desu ka? (Mr. Chan... do you want to become a real teacher?) Gar: Hmmm... tabun. Demo... ah, taihen iu... (Hmmm... maybe. But... ah, it's difficult to say...) | (0) comments
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Friday, July 09, 2004
short post
Things have been busy, and I got some pics I'll post later, but life in Japan has been fairly mundane, despite the busy-ness. I came home a couple of days ago and found two packages - one was my prize for winning the bookmark contest (two photobooks of Spain, certificate, and letter). The other had me more stoked - some CDs and DVDs, including a copy of "Lost in Translation" (Thanks Ryan, u rock!) I'll post a more full review of LIT later, but all I can say is that after watching it, Sophia Coppola has pretty much faithfully recreated both the feeling of being alone and the feeling of being a foreigner coming to Japan for the first time... yep. On a side note, Suntory Whiskey is a real "generic" brand of whiskey here in Japan, but what it lacks in quality, it makes up for in quantity... and low price. heh heh. Mata ne. | (0) comments
Sunday, July 04, 2004
(interrogation scene from the move Three Kings)
Interrogator: What is the problem with Michael Jackson? Marky Mark: what do you mean? Interrogator: What_is_the_problem_with_Michael_Jackson? You understand my question? Marky Mark: no, I'm not sure I do. Interrogator: The king of pop... whooo-hooo. heee-heee. Marky Mark: Yeah, Michael Jackson. Interrogator: I come to Egypt and I see picture in the newspaper... 'Hello, with the white glove, I'm Michael Jackson in my hotel room with my chopped up face.' Your country make him chop up his face. Marky Mark: I don't think so. Interrogator: Michael Jackson is the product of a sick f*ckin country. Marky Mark: That's bullsh*t, he did it to himself! (sounds of Marky Marky being hit) Interrogator: You are the blind bullsh*t, my main man! It is obvious... a black man, makes the skin white and the hair straight. And you know why? Marky Mark: (pause) ...no. Interrogator: Your sick f*cking country make the black man hate himself, just like you hate the Arab and the children you bomb over here. .:. I've seen the movie "Three Kings" before, but I had forgotten about the above scene until recently, when it was used on the Blue Scholars album at the end of a song as an intro for the next (it's at the end of track 9). I haven't felt really the need to write much about the US, Iraq, Saddam, oil, and American foreign policy, because most of everything that I've wanted to say has already been said to some degree by fellow bloggists Dave, Lot, Akito, and of course, Noam. However, as an American living and working in Japan at the moment, it's been an interesting experience to view the events of American foreign policy and the Iraq War from an outside perspective. Japan has been one of the strongest allies of the US, though of course, I would argue that it's out of self-interest. The present circumstances of a loony North Korean dictator pointing ICBMs with nuclear warheads at this country has made Japan a US ally out of self-preservation. Conservative Japanese politicians have correctly pointed out that in the event of a war in Asia, it's likely that Japan will be on its own - no other Asian country currently possesses very strong ties with Japan, though Japan's strong economic relationships with both China and South Korean is a sort of small deterrent. On another note in reference to the above dialogue is the idea of self-hate here in Japan... but I've discussed that at length already, haven't I? Dyed hair, colored contacts, use of (white) foreign celebs to push products... ...(IT IS OBVIOUS). Oh yeah, Happy Fourth of July to all the people I love in the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." You're what makes life in America great - not English, supersized fast food, SUVs, or wide spaces. | (0) comments
Friday, July 02, 2004
Wu-Tang is for the children
heh heh. The world and human existence is filled with lots of things that make me cynical about life. In fact, it's quite difficult for me to sometimes believe that anything good can truly exist in this fallen, corrupt, and faithless world. However, the one thing that God has blessed my life with is the opportunity to work with children. (not mine, just other peoples) Working with children here in Japan has been quite fun, because frankly, teaching English all the time to adults can be quite a monotonous existance. Kids often have both the energy and appreciation for simple things that us grown-ups lack. It's hard for me to imagine housewives and salaryman getting all excited over a round of playing "Memory" by matching flashcards or I had one little 5 year old girl who got so excited playing my very own game, "Hop to the Whiteboard on One Leg to Write the Letter", that she had to keep leaving the classroom to go pee in the bathroom. Now that's what I call a proper level of enthusiasm for learning... Children everywhere are generally the same, but I have learned a lot about kids here in Japan over the course of the year. Since becoming the kids' program coordinator at my school several months ago, I've been able to learn a lot in between cutting out flashcards, drawing pictures, and making funny animal noises. Some fun and random observations of my kids:
People like myself who enjoy working with kids aren't very common, though. It's an unfortunate side effect of the English language teaching business here in Japan that most foreigners aren't too keen on working with children. Many teachers fall clearly into the despicable category of wagamama-na hito (selfish people), who don't give a rat's ass about whether people are learning... so naturally, they abhor children. I'm glad my home school of Ashiya is free of those types. I hope it stays that way. The irony of course, is that among all the potential students an English teacher might see, a teacher can have the greatest impact on the kids. Since for most Japanese people contact with foreigners is still a rarity, I've been more conscious lately of doing my best to make sure the kids have fun and a good experience learning English. Realistically, none of them are going to become fluent English speakers by just seeing by some Chinese guy with a shaved head once a week. Sure, maybe they'll learn some ABCs, how to write their name... but the most important things is if 10 or 20 years from now, they can remember that learning a new language is something that's supposed to be fun and not scary, then my time with them has been worth it. I guess ODB was on the right track. .:. Albums in heavy rotation: Dilated Peoples Neighborhood Watch Blue Scholars Blue Scholars | (0) comments
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in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
the facts.
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