Where I'm At

You know, I really do mean to update this blog more than once a week, but all my computer time has recently been taken up by Warcraft 3. A testament to the greatness of said game, as I beat it years ago and still get totally addicted to it again.

Otherwise, life goes on. I got a job, kinda. It's Tuesdays at a kindergarten out in the countryside. Great kids, easy work, good pay. The downer is that it's way the hell out there. We're taking just over an hour commute time, meaning that I'm up at the ungodly hour of 7:15. But the transportation money is comped and I get to take in more Japanese scenery.

The company that hired me mentioned the possibility of another position opening soon as well. If so, I think I'd be able to make enough to live, working only two days a week. Sweet!

Of course, this requires a slight (massive) cut in my living expenses. No worries, I'm moving. My capoeira instuctor needs someone to fill an empty room in his apartment, splitting the $700 rent. That'll cut my rent almost in half, as well as nearly eliminating a lot of my bills. It'll also save me tons of time going to and from the gym, as it's in the same building. Bonus, pretty much all my friends live there too. It'll be like college all over again, without the studying.

Speaking of college all over again, I did a few days temping at Kinki (say it!) University. They have this English conversation cafe in one of the student unions and needed someone to fill in for another teacher. It was probably the best job I've ever had. Since the school is about 99.9% Japanese, the students don't have much chance to interact with foreigners. This is a real problem for English and international students, as they don't get the opportunity to apply what they study. So the school goes and hires a few native speakers to come and run an English conversation group. The pay isn't much, maybe $15/hr, but the work is so easy. Just sit around and bullshit with a bunch of college kids. No students? Talk to the other teachers, read a magazine, eat, whatever. The kids are ace at hacky-sack too, they spend hours out playing in the bitter cold. It's just like being back at UF, killing time on campus between classes. Hopefully they'll offer me a regular position there, then it's frisbee all day!

Looking to the future, I'm working on a trip home. It seems the first week of May is some crazy world event now. Here in Japan, it's Golden Week. That's a string of public holidays that gives everyone the week off. Mad travel season, ticket prices are through the roof. But this is when I wanna go, because back home it's graduation time. I'm looking to partake of the festivities with my dear friends at UF and my other dear friends in Capoeira Brasil. Not to mention trying drag a bunch of my Japanese friends back to Florida with me; they could use the experience. In any event, it looks like tickets are in the $800 range. Ouch. I coulda sworn last time I went home it was only like $650. Oh well, such is the price of globe trotting.

Snowboarding

What a day! Wake up at 4:30, ride my bike to Sony Tower, hop in my friend's car, and ride off to the slopes of Shiga for a few hours of hurtling down snow-covered hills on a piece of wood.
I haven't been snowboarding in about two years, and boy, have I missed it. Damn Florida for not having the two essential ingredients for this winter sport; snow and mountains. It was a little rough going at first, I pretty much forgot how to do everything the first run down. But once I got to around my fifth plunge, I was back on the horse. Or at least I was as good as I was the last time I went.

One of my new students offered to take me with her and her friend. They drove and provided me with the necessary gear, save a board and boots. Getting on the road at 5am wasn't exactly my cup of tea, especially after only about an hour and a half of sleep, but it did get us on the slopes early. Being a Saturday, it wasn't long before the lift had a pretty sizable line and the hills were crowded with people getting ready for their runs. By then I was decent at it enough to not hit anyone, despite a few close calls.

The day was good, for the most part. No rain or snow, partly cloudy. But it sure was cold. There was a bitter cold wind the whole day that would almost knock you over. We held strong until about 2pm, when the cold and fatigue overtook us and we decided to call it a day. Here you can see me trying to smile with a frozen face.

We went to a prefecture just north of Osaka, called Shiga. Everyone in Kansai goes there or Nagano for day trips, both being right around the corner. Shiga is also popular in the summer, as it's home to Lake Biwa. It was my first time seeing the big lake, and it was really quite beautiful in the snow during sunrise.

In the end, I think it was worth the hundred dollars I spent today. But I doubt I'll be doing it again for a few months, it is a little bit expensive for a hobby.

Yamayaki

What a great concept! Set a whole mountain on fire! Alas, it was not what I had hoped.

Nara, a beautiful city just east of Osaka, is one of Japan's oldest cities and a former capital. It has a huge park surrounded by amazing temples and gardens. This park is also filled with free-roaming, greedy deer. A great place to stroll around for a day visit.

Last weekend was yamayaki, which means "mountain burning." The origins of the ritual are uncertian, as it's been going on for quite a few centuries, but it probably has something to do with cleansing and purification. One of the mountians (I forget which one) just outside the park is reserved for burning when January comes around. On the night of, a group of monks from one of the temples marches through the park and up the mountain, then sets it on fire. There's a little fireworks show beforehand to get the crowd warmed up for the big blaze.

I had great expectations for this event. How could burning a giant mountian side not be killer? I will tell you; it took forever! They started fires on the side and bottom of the hill, but the thing just never went up in flames like I had imagined. I watched it for a good fifteen minutes and the fire had moved maybe 20 feet. By then my toes and fingers were numb and I needed to get the hell out of that cold. I just grabbed a few snapshots and bolted back home to sit in front of my space heater.

This picture shows the extent of the fire by the time I left, the little light on top is the top of the mountain.

If only they had doused the field in gasoline, or perhaps brought in flame-thrower squads, the show would have lived up to it's name. I would have paid to see that.

The New Year's Post

It's still New Year's vacation time around here, and damn cold, so I've been particularly lazy the last few days. But I did manage to get out for a little ringing in of 2006. Nothing spectacular, I wanted to try a more traditional Japanese New Year. So I bugged a friend to take me around Kyoto for the night. Thanks to the train companies for runnning all night at least once a year, I would have had nowhere to stay otherwise.

It was really different to see Kyoto in the dark like that. The temples usually shut down by 6pm, so night visits are pretty uncommon. But for New Year's they were open all night. They were also packed. The whole city was filled to the brim. It was like a giant nightclub; everyone dressed their best, crammed into a few narrow paths, drinking and taking pictures. Not to forget the obligatory yatai stands marking the festival grounds and selling all kinds of deliciousness. Too bad I had dinner before going, because I love that yatai food.

The Japanese burn little ropes on New Year's called hinawa. The tradition is to get the rope and start it burning at the temples, then take it home and use it to start the first fire of the year. I don't think many people do that now, since most houses don't use open fireplaces for heating and it might be a little dangerous to bring burning ropes on the train or in a car. But they do light the ropes and carry them around all night, kinda like glow sticks.

We took the usual route up to the temples and trough the big park that connects a few of them. We had some snacks and drinks, took some pictures, watched the end of the Akebono-Bobby fight (Bobby won) and checked out some of temples' New Year's offerings. Shionin (I think that's the name) has the biggest bell in Japan, which they ring 108 times on New Year's Eve. 108 is something like the number of Buddhist sutras or forms of suffering or something; it's a Buddhist thing anyway. Good show though, they really ring that bell!

We ended up getting stuck in the crowd when midnight came, there was no space to move. I heard a slight countdown, starting at 5, but my clock was fast so I was into the new year already. We broke out of the crowd and I got a nice bowl of soba, the one thing you have to eat for New Year's. After the noodles, we walked around a bit more and went home, since it would take forever to get out of the city. I ended up home around 3:30 and went right to sleep. Happy New Year.