You know winter's a'comin' when...

(1) the heated toilet seats at the public gym have already been turned on.

(2) I've already thought about turning on the heat in my own toilet seat in my apartment.

(3) Heidi (our lovely CIR!) is advising Iwakese to get flu shots early in preparation for flu season.

(4) I've already pulled out my mini-electric heater for post-shower warmth.

Autumn caught me by surprise

In the aftermath of the rain that rolled through last weekend (thanks to typhoon #7, or however many we're up to now) it's been shockingly chilly. I remember the warmth of summer lasting ages last fall, never getting truly cold until December. I shudder at the thought of an early winter setting in...

Now it's time for some links & Shawn commentary:

Woah, Ashton & Demi tied the knot. Let's slap an expiration date on that... anyone? Renee Zellwegger & Kenny Chesney lasted 4 months, Sofia Bush & Chad Michael Murray lasted a whopping 5, how long do ya give Ashton & Demi? It's like celebs these days are vying to win the title of 'World's Shortest Marriage' (I reckon Britney's 1st one must be in the top 10).

A slightly depressing but interesting bit on Japan (sadly, I can't say I disagree).

The "Rape Trap" - the contraversial new device in South Africa. Man, the things people invent...

A bit on Toks:
Tokyo was a wicked time, as usual. We stayed in a business hotel called the Asia Center of Japan in Akasaka. Great location (within a few stops from Shinjuku, Shibuya, & Roppongi), super-friendly, bilingual staff, free bottled water, reasonably priced = sweetness.

Thursday night we ended up at Womb. It was way less crowded than last time we went, thus making it much more enjoyable. There was actually space on the dance floor for us to dance the night away. We met loads of random Japanese, 2 of whom were heading to Ageha on Friday, same as us! As fate would have it, we wouldn't see them again as Ageha was rammed... all kindsa crazies packed in to see Lab 4 (from the UK), Yoji Biomehanika (Japanese, but much more popular in Europe than Japan), & Takkyu Ishino (very popular Japanese DJ). Of those 3 main acts in the arena, my fav DJ of the night was Yoji. He was brilliant! He really played to the crowd & got people into it. Apparently a lot of the Japanese were there for Ishino, but I wasn't so impressed. We got a lovely surprise as we walked outside at 6am: pouring rain & cold. Luckily, our overly-prepared selves (a skill we've learned from the Japanese who are the unrivaled masters) had brought rain coats! So, do I celebrate what dorks we are or how smart we are? You be the judge...

Here's Harry & I in the taxi on the way to Womb.

And me removing my leather jacket just as Nelly's "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes!" came on the radio... (j/k)

And here's a pic at the start of the famous Takeshita shopping street in Harajuku.

Sugoi, ne? I love Harajuku. I took only 3 pics the whole time so enjoy!

Amending my last post...

Ok, so my students do sometimes write about toilet humor...

In another of my schools over a year ago, the 3rd year students had to write haiku in English for homework. Here's what I consider to be the winning haiku, complete with picture (I got such a kick out of this when I read it that I took a pic with my keitai ['cell phone' in Japanese, pronounced 'k-tie'] and copied the poem into my phone...it's still there):



Feces
He's Brown
Smell, Heavy, Big
He is Whirl Now
Mystery




I know that pic is small, but hopefully you can make out that it's a butt with a steaming pile of multi-colored poo underneath.

I love Japan

My 1st year students at one of my junior high schools were required to write sentences about me to practice a grammatical point as homework. As you can imagine, this was clearly not my idea. I prefer my students to not write about me but I suppose I'm way more interesting than Demi, Yumi, & Mark from the textbook so I allow it (I'm Judge Ito, I'll allow it). I usually get bland, generic sentences anyways, like:

"Shawn sensei plays soccer."
"She likes sushi."
"She likes tenpura."
"She likes blue."

It's super fun to correct pages & pages of these btw, you know you want to!

But one of the girls wrote:

"She's a beautiful woman and really cool."

Ok, only partly true (^o^) but it still made me grin like a madwoman. Also for me this really highlights the difference between teaching in Japan versus the States. First off, in the States, I'd never assign something where the students had to write about me, the teacher. I'd get things like:

"She eats turds for dinner and loves it."
"She fondles animals' private parts."
"She has a secret diarrhea fetish."

And so on, but worse. You get the picture. In Japan, even if they were thinking this (which surprisingly a majority of them actually aren't), they probably wouldn't write it. They write super complimentary, nice, nothing-even-remotely-contraversial things. It's times like this where I sit back, sigh, & think, "God I love Japan."

Tokyo clubbing weekend

What a fantastic week this is turning out to be! Monday was a Japanese national holiday, so I got an extra veg day (badly needed after my crazy busy weekend). This Friday is another national holiday in Japan, making this a 3 day work week for me (sweet). On top of that, I'm heading to Tokyo with Harry after work on Thursday for 2 nights of clubbing & a day of shopping. (^o^)

The Clubbing. I'm not sure where we'll head Thursday night yet (I'd like to try out a new club) but Friday night we're going to see Lab 4 & Yoji Biomehanika at Ageha. Their stuff is meant to be quite hard so I'm pysched as I love hard house/techno/trance. I've never been in a club & thought, "this music is too hard," before - only the opposite. And if you've already heard me rave about Ageha you can skip this bit, but I never tire of saying it: Ageha ROCKS MY FACE OFF. Literally. I love that place! It's a huge super-club that has a main arena, 2 side rooms looking onto the arena, a tent area, a pool outside with a bar, & 2 other bars. Every room/space is playing different music so if you get bored of one DJ or the music starts to suck you can move to another spot. It's a sweet setup.

The Shopping. We're gonna hit up Harajuku again & have a look around for clothes. I'd really like to have a go at finding a Halloween costume since there isn't much in the way of good shopping in Iwaki.

My host brother lives in Shinjuku so we're gonna meet him for lunch Friday since he's currently out of work & has free time to meet up. I'm thinking Mexican...wow, I'm drooling...

That's a random pic of me from the weekend before last in my apt before the psychadelic trance party @ Club Freeze. Like my new top? I actually bought it in Iwaki if you can believe it. It's rare I find something in Iwaki I actually like. Yay.

Ah, travelling...!!

I decided it was time for an updated "Countries Visited" World Map, courtesy of this site. According to the site, I've visited 23 countries (10%). You can create your own visited country map, too. God I love maps. They're so badass. I can stare at 'em for ages without getting bored...they're absolutely fascinating, ne. For those of you who don't already know about my map obsession, well...there is is. Btw, this post isn't meant to boast to the world,"Look at my map everyone! Look how cool I am cuz I'm so well-traveled!". It's definitely the furthest thing from it. If you know me at all you know I loathe when people do that. In all honesty I try not to talk about it too terribly much (even though it's a big part of who I am & what I love) because I don't want to alienate people based on that. I've been extremely lucky to have been able to travel as much as I have... so why would I shove that in people's faces? It's a terrible thing, making people feel bad.

An unexpected shower...

I went for a run after work & dark clouds rolled in rather quickly, accompanied by freakish lighting flashes & loud thunder. Annoyed at the thought of cutting my run short since I'd done all that motivating to get myself out there in the first place, I kept on, hoping I would finish before the rain started. 30 minutes into my run I got hit with it. Luckily I only had 10 minutes remaining so I didn't develop any blisters. The best part was, I felt like I'd showered (well, sort of)!

Today's elementary school visit was going rather shittily until lunchtime hit. My 4th graders put on "Dragostea din tei" by Ozone (you've probably seen that wicked video online of that big guy lip synching & dancing via his web cam to it: "Ma-I-A HE, Ma-I-A HU, Ma-I-A Ho, Ma-I-A Ha-ha"...click the link to have a listen), broke into song (all 25 of them), & danced around like idiots. Some of them looked like they had some choreographed moves down! That totally redeemed the day.

i-Pod nano: I want you.

Here's a review of the new i-Pod nano by a couple Kristin knows from high school (cheers for the link, Mary Kay!). Helpful stuff that is. The stress testing section was awesome. I zoned out for the autopsy as I know zilch about the engineering side of things. The new i-Pod nano makes me look at my poor ol' i-Pod Mini with scorn & disdain for its outdated-ness and failings. Poor little i-Pod Mini! It can't help that its now obsolete...

Comment spammers = turds

Argh. Comment spammers need to give it a rest. Thanks to you bunch I'm forced to turn on Blogspot's oh-so-handy word verification (boy some people think of everything, don't they?).

My apologies to my commentors. I hope this doesn't deter you from commenting!

Missing New Orleans

I watched A Love Song For Bobby Long today (one of the ripoffs I got in Vietnam) & it made me mourn for New Orleans. So much history, so much culture, such a big loss...

E-mail from my high school:

Dear Marist Alumni,

As the first response to needs arising out of the tragedy in the Gulf Coast states, Marist will be making available seats to students coming from Catholic schools in the affected areas. We have determined we can accommodate up to 10 additional students in each grade. We will offer these students space among us at no cost through the 2005-06 school year; those who desire may make contributions to the school.

We are advising that students in grades 7 and 8, unless they have siblings for the other grades, would be better placed in area Catholic and private schools that have openings in those grades; we are particularly tight in those grades. We will, though, make every attempt to keep children from a family together, including incorporating a sibling who may not be coming from Catholic school or taking in 7th and 8th graders if they have older siblings enrolling.

I am sure that we are all struggling to comprehend the degree of disruption and devastation Katrina has caused. One constant for families is education, and those who have so far approached us are interested in having their children enrolled in Marist because it is similar to schools that their children were already attending. Our faculty and staff have said, in effect, "Let us open our doors, and we will manage." I am grateful that we can operate out of a Marist spirit of sharing and service.

Thanks for assistance in all forms to the many who are suffering the effects of the hurricane.

Fr. Joel Konzen, SM
Principal
Marist School

----------------------------------------------

I thought that was very cool of them. It even inspired me to make a small donation (no small feat!). (^o^)

The latest & greatest in listserve abuse

Ya'll know how much I loathe listserve abuse. Here's today's (all names have been deleted):

Sept 8, 12:47 am:
It's been said before, and I'll say it again...FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PEOPLE, DELETE UNNECESSARY/IRRELEVANT MESSAGES/TEXT OFF THE BOTTOM OF YOUR REPLIES!!!!!!!!!

And if you accidentally do send a message with all the rest of the digest or forwards still there, at least have the decency to APOLOGISE for your mistake!!! [insert bashing head against brick wall here]

Maybe this should be part of the "welcome to the listserve" email, to help those who don't know any better? Or maybe people who don't truncate their replies and don't apologise should be banned/suspended from posting?

-Angry Inbox Clogger

Sept 8, 12:48 am:
Right on "Angry Inbox Clogger"!!

[complete with Angry Inbox Clogger's entire message attached at the bottom]

-Completely Unnecessary Inbox Clogger

Sept 8, 1:00 am:
calm down. it's not stalking you or trying to kill you. it's an email. it's the internet. just read it if you want to, and stop reading it when you get to the part you have already read. if someone forgets or doesnt feel like truncating the previous message then what does it really hurt, and who really cares? i was tempted to leave your message on the end of this just to make a point, but i didn't want to cause any fatal heart attacks. just take it easy,

-Attempting-to-placate-but-really-just-further-irritating-the-situation Inbox Clogger

Sept 8, 1:37 am:
So who on earth has decided that it's wrong or right to not delete unnecessary/irrelevant messages off thebottom of a reply? I don't see how it be offensive to anyone. It's not like it's an insult or anything. I think that saying: "those who don't know any better", i.e. infering that we are stupid, is much more of an insult. That's not very nice.

I personally think it's a good idea to have the old messages added at the end, that way it's easier to find out what people are talking about if their mail is a bit confusing or is out of context.

Having said all that, I believe that this mailing list is about the exchange of travel ideas, not matter what form they come in.

[also complete with previous messages at the bottom]

-The "I just had to get my 2 cents in" Inbox Clogger

At least another 3 e-mails followed those, all of which were much less interesting. What is with people? Don't they realize that they're doing so many of the things that they preach to other people against doing? I guess the answer is a big, fat, resounding 'no'.

Sipadan Island here I come!

Woohoo! I've sorted out my winter vacation trip & I'm super psyched. I fly into Singapore on 12/17 & won't meet up with Harry until 12/28 in Phuket, so instead of touring the main cities of pennisular Malaysia I decided to get a flight to Tawau in Malaysian Borneo where I'll stay at this badass resort. According to the 'net, Sipadan has some of the best diving in the world & has an insanely diverse marine life. Whale sharks & hammerhead sharks? Woot!

Here's another link...and another. Looks stunning, doesn't it? (^o^)

The price is pretty steep but I decided to take a mega-splurge since it's my last major trip before I leave Japan. Plus, when else will I be in this part of the world with the money to actually afford it? That little voice in my head says, just do it. Besides, there's nothing I'd rather be doing in Malaysia than chillin' & diving at that resort for a week!

Over and out.

Fuji-san Part 1

Ok, here's the long-awaited story on Mt. Fuji... (a.k.a. my own personal Mt. Doom)

FuJET (a.k.a. Ryan McDonald) was kind enough to organize a trip so us Fu'ken JETs could all have a go at Mt. Fuji ("Watch out now!"). The chartered bus pulled away from Iwaki at 11 in the morning on Saturday, July 16, after having picked up the last group, consisting mostly of Iwakese. 7 hours later we arrived at the 5th station (a.k.a. base camp).

The Iwaki posse excitedly gathered 'round for a pre-climb pic:

Back row (L-R): Logan, Nicole, Harry, Leonard, Kristin, Michael
Front row (L-R): Juan, Liz, Me

Fuji-san didn't look so tough from base camp... (although she is & stands 3,776m tall)...

Relaxed and confident, a group of us lounged in one of the base camp restaurants, eating over-priced ramen & hydrating with sports drinks.

The sunset was decent.


We had no idea the adventure that awaited us...!!

At the last minute I caved to peer pressure & bought an official Fuji walking stick, complete with jingly bell. I highly suggest you rip the jingly bell OFF your stick after 5 minutes of climbing when the initial 'aww what a cute bell' euphoria wears off. Also available at each stage are stamps branded into your walking stick for an additional 100 yen each (God bless the Japanese capitalist machine).

We began the climb just after dark around 8pm after some group stretches led by Harry. I think the onlooking Japanese approved. Here's Harry & I about an hour into the "climb" (I use quotes with "climb" because it's more of an uphill hike, albeit a very difficult and loooong uphill hike)...

That was the only picture I took during the entire climb due to several factors: a) it was dark as we were climbing at night b) I looked too delicious for words, red-faced and sweaty from exertion - except for Harry, who mysteriously seems to not sweat - how unfair is that? c) it rained/sleeted the latter half of the climb d) as a result of c, my fingers were too frozen to actually take pictures.

On to the good stuff, yes, it started raining around 2am. Then we got pelted with sleet. If it weren't for the thin air I probably would've been muttering every swear word I could think of & then some. I didn't have waterproof gloves - dumbass move of the century.

As we semi-neared the top around 3am, we hit traffic. Big time. Our super speedy, passing everyone in the fast lane acension turned into stop-and-go traffic. I'm talking inch worm pace here, people. Step, stand for 30 seconds, step with the other foot, stand for 30 seconds. Unbelievable.

This went on for 3 HOURS. What should've only taken 6-7 hours from base camp to top ended up taking 10 hours. Those last 3 hours were some of the worst in my entire life. Freezing, numb hands & feet, getting rained on, can't go forward, can't go back, had to use the toilet so bad I thought I was gonna die... A-R-G-H!

Having gotten separated from Kristin in the maddening uphill rush, Harry & I finally made it to the top around 6am. Too miserable to enjoy having conquered Fuji, we rushed to get in line for the toilet only to find another massive queue. That took another 30-40 mins. My fingers were so cold I could hardly get my pants down & I'd held it for so long I could hardly go. The pain of having held it for so long lingered for the next several hours. Are we having fun yet? (^-^)

Fuji-san Part II

Here's a pic I took from the top (post-toilet run around 7am) of the trail... you can see the line of people ascending - looks pretty cool with all the bright colored gear!

In keeping with the Japanese way, the Japanese were all uber-prepared with brand new, top of the line (mostly North Face) equipment. Truly a sight to behold. I admit I stole envious glances as I blew on my near-frostbitten fingers.

Crappy, overcast view from the top (it looks more impressive on my computer, I promise):

And here's a pic of Harry on the way down with 1 of the 5 lakes that surround Fuji in the background...

Oh, and in case you hadn't realized, we didn't make it to the top for sunrise. And there was no sunrise, only a bleak view & more clouds.

The way up seemed pretty rough, but the way down was almost worse. The path was covered in loose gravel, making it extremely unsafe, ankle sprain worthy, & hard to navigate. Harry & I figured out that half-running & half-skiing on the gravel was the easiest & quickest way down, albiet bad on your knees.

We decended in record time. What took most people 3-4 hours took us 2. I don't mean that to sound as if I'm bragging - I meant that to show you how desperate we were to get off that damn mountain. I liken my climb up Mt. Fuji to Frodo's final climb up Mt. Doom.

My advice for future "fools":
1) Don't climb Fuji during the "official" climbing season (beginning of July - end of August) unless you secretly love stop-and-go traffic (don't tell your climbing partners). Or if you must, do it on a weekday.
2) Waterproof isn't really waterproof no matter what Gore-tex, North Face or REI tells you. Honestly.

In retrospect I'm glad I conquered that SOB of a mountain. One of those character-building feats I suppose. But most importantly I can now use the memory of that experience to make any situation seem astoundingly comfortable & satisfying in comparison.

Witness: I have no job, no money, nothing to eat, no friends, no life, I'm going to die in 3 weeks, but hey, at least I'm not on Mt. Fuji!

Ok, slight exaggeration, but you get the point...

There's a famous saying in Japan: "A wise man climbs Mt. Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice." I disagree. I feel particularly foolish for having climbed it once. I'd have to be severely brain-damaged to climb it again.

Typhoon season continues...

My heart goes out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It sure does look like a war zone over there... hopefully things will start looking up soon!

Speaking of typhoons, the season here has already begun, with another one rolling through today. There goes my working out for today & tomorrow...argh. Rain sucks. Especially when your only mode of transportation is riding not-very-rainproofed on a bicycle that has bald tires on slippery roads. Yaaaaay rain!

Last weekend was packed with activities. For those who really want to know: a welcome enkai for the new Iwaki JETs Friday night, followed by a farewell party for Rob & Charlie at the Black Ship, followed by a lil' mad karaoke. Saturday = recovery day (i.e. vegged out watching movies). Sunday I went to a BBQ hosted by a Japanese friend with a few other foreigners.

Fun tangent: this is my first post in September.