Maruko Jitsyugo Bon Enkai

Boxing Day 2006 was the end of school, so I went to my visit schools big end of year party. I was suprised at just how expensive the hotel looked from the outside but that really didnt prepare me for what happened once inside. Luckily I managed to meet this cute sports teacher and we got the lift up together. She'd just been to Okinawa on a school trip and somehow thought it was cold compared to Nagano??? When you got to the room you had to choose a flower, so I chose one and it had Kanji written on it, she had a number on hers. I instantly knew I was up the top table with the principle. Yay! Turns out we had to sit through maybe 15 minutes of speeches in which the Japanese on my table slept through (or were they just resting there eyes?).

















After an immense amount of drinking we headed to Warung Jun which is quickly turning into my favourite pub.































Things descened into drunken madness when Boss Tanaka (on the right) English teacher supreme and Takeda (below) appeared.
















Someone somehow found an afro in the bar somewhere...

















... and a pair of 2006 shades...
















... and then things really started to change...















When I took out my camera at the beginning it was like Id just given everyone liquid cocaine or something, they were all saying Sugoi (great!!!). Was a wicked night out, though I didnt feel to good. Now its time to take on Tokyo and survive!!!

Christmas!!!!!

For Christmas Day, I unfortunatly had to work. But afterwards it was up to Nagano for some festive grub. By the time I arrived (7) some were already a wee bit drunk. We all mucked in and provided our own little bits (cheers mum for the stuffing and gravy!!!) and then sat down for the standard game of Charades, with a Kat and Kyla twist.

Had to be at work the next day and managed (somehow) to get up at 6 and then be at work for half 8. Nightmare!

Skiing in Hakuba

So with little trepidation I put the boots back on and headed for the slopes. Even though there was no snow on the drive up to Hakuba (1 hour 30 minutes) you could see it up on the mountains. When we got there and parked up you couldnt see the top of the mountains, just a huge shroud of cloud that was full of snow.




















We passed up through this cloud and the slopes were covered. The first run went well but I felt like a proper novice. It took me a while to actually feel any good. At one point on the second run down; the cloud was so thick you could see nothing. I stopped and this skiier came out of the fog, looked at me and said "Can you see anything?" before vanishing back into the cloud.

















Best part of the day was being up the top and the view.
















I've never skiied on a mountain thats right above a village. It was like skiing down into the village. I thought it was a bit hard going then I realised it was a red (intermediate) run.
















By the end of the day I was totally knackered. So me and my mate headed to the Miso Ramen shop. Its now called super garlic as you have to crush a whole clove of garlic into your ramen (noodle soup).

Night out in Nagano.

Popped up to Nagano for a night out. Amusing night, I was so tired by the end. Kyla you have way more stamina than me!!!

The Foot!

Yo spent last weekend in hospital with an infected foot. This was caused by chill blades, ie ice forming in my little toe, it probably happened when i was asleep. My bedroom is too cold to sleep in now and Ive moved my bed into my living room. Heres the charming photo!

Getting Down with the Kyudo Crowd.

I thought I'd finally end the mystery about Kyudo by showing you how its done. This first photo is of me and my Kyudo Sensei, Sunohara-san. She's really cool and keeps asking me why I wont teach her children. She phoned me tonight "Rich, where are you, you haven't been for 3 weeks, this can't be tolerated!" So with that I headed down to the Kyudo-Jo.








There are four different positions that you need to complete before you can even fire the bow.







You hold the bow over your head then go to a prone position.


















Take aim and fire.












This is just after Ive fired the arrow, and the position your supposed to hold.









Hope you enjoyed the Kyudo Trip!!!

Daisukes Send Off

This is my mates last night in Ueda before moving to the big L that is Landan! And you know all about Landan, dont'cha!!! As you can see I was the only English speaking person there, so I had to use my Japanese to do limited conversation, an example is.

Me: Hmm, Oishi desu (Hmm, delicious)
Japanese person: Hai!

So my limited Japanese increased as I consumed more alcohol. At one point I remember ordering what looked like a kebab and it in fact turned out to be an old favorite of mine...chicken kidneys on a stick. Hmm, don't you just love it?

















Kimu strikes again! The guy on the left is really cool and a little bizarre. Why do the Japanese make the V sign when they have a photo taken?

Insulating my Dojo!

So now that the nights are getting freezing Ive had to take drastic measures to keep my place warm. This is a picture of my bedroom.
















And this is the same picture after I'd bubble wrapped the inside. It eliminates the drafts from the crappy paper sliding window things. It also makes my house look slightly more like a smack den. Yay. When I wake up in the mornings, my pillow is freezing.

















Heres a photo of my living room kitted out for winter. In the center is a Kotatsu, the definition of Japanese Central Heating. Believe it or not, this is how Japanese like to keep warm during winter. Apparently a family will all sit around the little coffee table and keep warm. There is a small heater which keeps your legs warm. Cosy eh?

Crazy Lady!!!

Hey y'all its been a crazy two weeks. I guess I sent you a few emails about it, but I just want to write it all down and somehow make sense of what is a cray and bizarre situation.

Two weeks ago, everything was going cool. I managed to take these shots on a mountain on the way up to a the nearest Ski resort in my new car.

















So this is the new baby, dunno the name yet. Suggestions are welcome. Shes a step up from Sambo, electric windows, aircon, 4 wheel drive blah blah blah, but only half the power. Its a 660 cc engine, half that of Sambo. But she still goes and after two weeks of driving the mileage is amazing, I spent 15 quid and its not even half empty yet.

















So yeah after driving up a mountain for 45 minutes I decided to take a photo of well... some trees from the look of it, there is a waterfall in there somewhere. Its like a Wheres Wally picture, wheres the waterfall??? Speaking of Wheres Wally I went to the Dentist on Friday. The guy came recommended by another JET. Went along, went into the surgery and was generally chatting with the dentist who'd lived in Canada for a while. He asked me if Id been to this certain place, and I said no, turns out it was his favorite strip club in the ENTIRE world. He was really annoyed that I hadnt been there. At the end he gave me a plastic drinks carton, the kind you get at Mcdonalds, but only the size of my thumb. It went in the trash on the way out of the surgery. (why would someone want that). I was going to tell you about the problems Id been having with a mad teacher who during a lesson started massaging my back touching my bum and laughing when I shouted at a student. You might think "hang on, but what if she was attractive?" She bears a strong resemblance to this my friend.




Only thing is you have to imagine shes Japanese, on anti depression and generally looking like shit. Anyway to cut a long story short I told my boss, my boss is her best friend, thus my boss is pissed off with me for "bringing this up" and is now giving me a hard time. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The mental teachers lessons are now being supervised which is a fasttrack to being sacked. Turns out my boss is going through a hard patch "My mother is diseased" is what she said to me today. So hopefully this will have blown over soon. And who cares, the Ski season officially starts tomorrow!!!

Da Chilled Weekend.

After the last two weeks of hell, I thought I'd settle down to a weekend of nothing. And I have done nothing. Went out on Friday night, and got completly wasted, again! But it was cool, got to hang out in a new bar in Ueda and drink Jack Daniels. Went out for a meal at Kappa Sushi. This was one of those Japanese places where food, rotates around on a conveyor belt, tempting you with excess the whole time. At a quid a plate it was a deal. Im really getting on with the whole Sushi deal now, but sometimes things come along which you think, "Why would anyone eat that?" As in the case of
sea urchin, grasshopper, or slightly fried pigs intestine.

So today I thought, hey I have to get some photos for the blog, and it was a really nice day, so heres my brief tour.















This is Ueda castle. The only thing remaining is the castle gate and two towers. I was impressed by the tour which was in the gatehouse, and you looked at Samurai armour.




















I was riding past the moat and thougt it'd be a good picture. The weather reminds me of Canada alot.















This is the Kyudo Jo where I have Japanese archery. Managed to hit the target on Tuesday on my third go. The teachers were highly impressed. I looked at the target and just shouted "Oh Yeah!" but was grabbed by two teachers who forced me to stand in the post shoot stance. Kyudo is all ritual and posture. Actually firing the bow doesnt really matter.















This is the view of the castle from the Carpark. Not much left eh? Apparently its one of a few castles that was able to repel a massive army. Dont think it could repel much these days. I ride through the castle after Kyudo about 10ish. Its a really creepy place.
















This is a view of south Ueda looking towards the mountains. Its getting colder!

Seki Samurai Festival 7th October.

As soon as I found out there was a sword festival going on, and in the home city of Samurai swords, I was immediatly interested. Who aint interested in Samurai swords??? When me and a mate arrived, the party was already in full swing.





Most of the OAP's and the wide-eyed Gaijin seemed placated with them slicing Bamboo. Not me, I wanted to see some blood. I was speaking to one elderly gentleman next to me in broken Japanese and English. I was able to get across that in order to make sure the crowd was fully sated, we needed a cow.

"Cow," he said puzzled. "Yeah, you know Beef, Sirloin Steak. We need a cow to be sliced and diced in front of our eyes. We need to see these samurai slice and dice like they were supposed too."

He was merely contented to watch them slice bamboo. But then I thought it might get a bit more interesting when it looked like they were going to start dueling....










But alas, they were play fighting. If I wanted to see some real blood, I was gonna have to do it myself. Luckily for everyone there, I couldnt get near one. The blades were real nice though. So after that we headed on to...

Mino Lantern Festival.

So after the Sword festival we headed over to Mino for the lantern festival. The city had blatantly benefitted alot from the money coming in from the festival. The village was really nice, would have been a great place for a few drinks but alas we had to move on. Heres some of the best lanterns from the festival.