Burento in Japan

Tuesday, October 16^th 2007

Here I am at Adachi again.  I have class in about 3 minutes, but as I have no internet, I figured I’d write another blog and catch everyone (ie the 2 or 3 people that read this) up on what’s going on.  I figure by this point this has become something that I can look back on after I’m done here.  Which is apparently 2 years away but I’ll get to that.

So, what’s been going on…ummm…pretty much parties for the first part of September.  We did some wakeboarding on Lake Inawashiro, it was AWESOME.  I think I like it more than I like snowboarding.  I made a video of it but it’s too long to put up on youtube.  Just so you know, wakeboarding is like snowboarding but behind a boat.  Completely awesome.  I think I wrote about it in the last blog.  This was the 2nd time I went and I was definitely better, although not great.  I even got up on a board that didn’t have bindings…it was basically like a skateboard not attached or anything.  So wicked.  anyway here are pics http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140531&l=d4412&id=72602319

          After that was the Nagano soccer tournament 3 weekends ago.  It went off pretty well.  Our bus driver was a bit erratic and didn’t know where he was going even though Shaun had given them a month to set everything up and know where they were going.  He actually lodged a formal complaint about the guy in the end, which I thought was a bit over the top.  We left Friday at 6:30 and got to Nagano at about 2am.  Drunken shenanigans were had on the bus.  On Saturday we went 1 and 3, that might seem like a losing record but a ton of the teams play in leagues and practice together on a regular basis and we never got blown out, so we did do really well.  Saturday night was a huge party and needless to say we were all hungover for Sunday.  It was raining pretty hard as well on Sunday and we lost our game that we played in the pouring rain.  It didn’t really upset anyone.  Everyone crashed out for the 7 hour bus ride home and TA-DA that was Nagano (last year I think I wrote like 8 pages for this tournament…this year I actually played a crap ton more than I did last year too).  Pics are here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140374&l=29f47&id=72602319

The next few days after that I obviously got really really sick from the whole playing in the rain thing, but I did make it to the Nihonmatsu lantern festival on Thursday Oct 4, just cuz it’s awesome.  Both Mo and I called in sick on the Thursday but felt the need to go to the festival.  We only stayed for a little bit and then left.  Totally worth it though.  I haven’t scored Mo’s pics yet, but I will. (actually, now i have, here they are, http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143342&l=b7ed1&id=72602319 ). I took a bunch of video.  On Friday I was actually sent home from my visit school cuz I was so sick, but oh ya, that weekend was canyoning and obviously I had to go.  I have realized that I HATE organizing trips.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to go and you know…own the bus and everything, when I say go, he goes, if I say stay he stays.  That was cool.  But other than that…it’s just a bitch.  I had people pulling out on me on the Wednesday, FuJET had already covered their expenses, so it became a huge hassle.  Other people trying to sign up late and then deciding after I had added them that they didn’t want to go…people on the bus getting drunk and telling the bus driver to stop at non-scheduled stops so they could pee.  People coming at me with all types of questions and having to deal with it.  Now it was good to do and I do like dealing with stuff like that despite the stress, but ha jeez.  Anyway, got to Minakami in Gunma prefecture around 12:30am on Friday.  Everyone crashed and we were at the canyoning place by 9am.  So we all got set up, wetsuits, etc etc.  Our group of 31 was broke in 3 smaller groups.  And we all got in vans and went to different canyons.  My group’s first canyon was fox canyon.  Last year, we did canyoning in early September, this year, it was not early September it was early October…when we got to Fox Canyon, last year, for the 2^nd course of the day we all stepped in and were like, wow, hot tub, sweet deal.  This year, I stepped in and was like….OH MY GOD!!  It was fricken cold.  So, we did the canyon, this was the one with the 18m waterfall that you drop down and a swing that you can drop 9m off of etc.  Great times.  After that we went back to the canyons place for a sweet lunch, then out again for the 2^nd course.  Mo sat out the 2^nd course because she hit her face at the end of the first one and being in the middle of her root canal didn’t exactly make her want to go on cuz of the pain she was in.  The 2^nd course we did I have never done before but we chose one with a bunch of rope work so that we wouldn’t be in the water for too long cuz it was COLD!  It was a good time, bombing down waterfalls and abseiling down cliffs.  We had a ton of good pics taken by our guide, but after all that we then discovered the cds they gave us of our pictures were a different group and they had deleted all of ours.  So no pics, which was upsetting.  After the 2^nd course we all hooked up back at the canyons place and had a fully catered bbq of pretty much every meat you could think of.  We didn’t even make it to the last course cuz we were all so full.  SO GOOD.  After the day of canyoning we had no serious injuries, apparently a girl fell off the top of a waterfall not roped in (about 5m) but she was fine. 

From there we went into Minakami and got booze and food for the night.  The drinking started at our hotel and moved to the Full Moon Party after that.  It was a sweet party.  A bit cold, but other than that, awesome.  They had a mechanical bull that you could control and multiple stages with different music that went until 7am.  As well, it was in the middle of nowhere.  About a 15 minute walk from our hotel up a random mountain road with NO LIGHTS.  I’ve never seen that many stars.  The next day we left at 11:30 and got back to Fukushima around 6:30pm.  We had Monday off which was sweet cuz I was sick as hell and so was Mo by this point.  We’re actually still sick now.  I’m starting to get over it but Mo’s still pretty sick and the root canal thing isn’t helping.

            Umm….some negative stuff….at the end of my last entry I put up links of vids from Luke Jurj, a buddy of mine from last year who went home in August.  Shaun and I were contacted by his Mother about 3 weeks ago and told that Luke had passed away.  How?  We don’t know, they’re keeping that private, but the entire thing has really fucked us up as a community.  Luke was hated and hated most of the JETs or at least didn’t get along with them, but for a group of about 12 of us he was a good friend and crazy as hell.  So all of us having to deal with this after half of the people have left the country has been messed up.  I don’t know what else to say about this and I also don’t really think I should be putting much about it up on the net either.  So that’s all I’m going to say about it, just thought it should at least be addressed.

            So, what else…this last weekend was the International festival in Aizu that I was really looking forward to.  You know, going and painting little kids faces and just hanging out internationalizing.  Mo didn’t make it down to Aizu on Saturday night cuz she just wasn’t feeling too well.  And she had her school festival on Saturday and they sent her home early just b/c of how she looked.  Friday night I had gone out to meet our friend Steve’s g/f who is over from Katara, Catara, or something like that, somewhere in the middle east that I have NEVER heard of, it’s pronounced kinda like Cutter but not.  Anyway, Mo didn’t come to that b/c she wasn’t feeling up to it so we spent the whole weekend on different schedules.  Saturday we had a FuJET meeting and went over a few things (it took 2 hours) and then we had dinner and went out for drinks, then more drinks, then everyone went home and Matt Harris and I decided hey, we’re gonna go to a hostess bar (nothing sketchy, they’re just the only things open after about 2am).  Anyway, we go to one, chill for half an hour, then they close.  So then we walk around looking for another one…why didn’t you go home you ask?? Well, cuz we had a few drinks in us and figured we were supermen, actually going home never even entered our minds.  I won’t bore you with the details of where and what we did next, just know that at one point of the evening we were drinking with transvestite philippino/philippina boys/girls (well, they looked like girls).  LOL.  Next thing we know, we walk out of a snack bar and the sun is up and shining….HA JEEZ!  It was 7:30am.  So after faffing around for 45min (we were soo lost) we ended up back at the JETplex in Aizu.  We were supposed to be at the festival to set up at 8:30.  So, I didn’t make it.  Apparently Shaun tried to wake me up but I threatened him with every threat in the book.  So, I was left to sleep.  Even Matt ended up going around noon to make me look even worse.  Needless to say, the ride back with Shaun was a quiet one, although I didn’t get the Dad lecture I thought I was going to get.  Pretty sure that he’s still pretty pissed though. 

            So that’s where I’m at now.  Mo had the last part of her root canal done on Monday, but she’s still really really sick.  We booked our flight to the Philippines .  Leaving Dec 22^nd in the afternoon and returning Jan 4^th (a Friday) which will let us snowboard on the Saturday and Sunday…SWEET!  We’re going to get our season passes to ALTs this weekend coming up as the rounds of Halloween parties are beginning, Aizu this weekend, Iwaki the next weekend and Koriyama the weekend after that.  Also we have a Mid-Year conference coming up….NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.  Apparently even after my Fukushima Orientation work, I’m still required to do a presentation about Developing speaking skills….ha jeez.  I’m the only one that did a presentation for the Fukushima Orientation that has to do one for Mid Year as well.  But Katie and Alex both got roped into it as well, so I don’t feel as bad. 

            Can’t remember if I brought this up in my last blog, but going to school next year is a bust.  Found out that international students to the UK have to apply by October, especially history teachers.  I found this out in the middle of September cuz I thought I’d have a lot of time to apply.  I need to get my High School transcripts, my Uni transcripts, a reference letter from a professor and a reference letter from my employer (meaning my super will have to do it and that scares me).  Both Mo and I don’t want to stay another year, but we talked about it and don’t really think we have a choice.  I can’t get into school in time and if we go home what would we do??  There’s no way we could make as much money as we’re making now.  Rent of just over 100 bux, bills at about 3 or 400 bux.  Where else are we going to find that.  All we need to happen is for the Canadian dollar to drop down…and drop down a lot.  I really wish I could come home, but it just doesn’t seem to be the smartest thing to do.  So…we’re stuck for a bit. 

            Uhh….other than that….nothing’s really going on.  The Viv (my car) I feel is going to die on me.  I had it looked at the other day but was told nothing is wrong…but something definitely sounds/feels wrong when I’m driving it, so we’ll see how it goes.  Maybe Mo will get over her fear of driving here and we’ll grab her a car so that we’ll have 2 just in case something does go wrong.  I feel like it’d be better for both of us seeing as we’re both getting up so early to get her out to her school at this point.  It’s starting to get cold here and I’m thinking about shooting down to Nikko for a weekend as a surprise for Mo.   I think it’d be pretty sweet there right about now.  I’m going to shoot for the weekend of the 27^th.  Good thing Mo doesn’t read this anymore.  LOL.  Well, to those reading this, shoot me a line sometime…I know I haven’t called anyone in awhile, but I should have some time in the near future, so expect an unexpected call soon.

Peace,

Brent