Sumo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My goodness what an event! Most foreigners are prepared to find the event baffling and boring. I’m eager to share that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them crash around the ring; the stomping; the pschyological “stare down” and of course, the thrilling throw or tumble of one or both wrestlers into the crowd. Who would dare sit in the front seats? Linden and I saw a photographer get crushed by one wrestler easily over 160 kilos.

We attended one of the three grand tournaments of sumo, which last for 15 days each, and we saw day 12. We got two of the last seats - everything for the final weekend has been sold out for months. This sport dates back 1500 years. It was initially a devotional ritual praying for good harvest, usually down outside a shrine. Now they occur indoors in a pretend shrine.

The decorate ceremonial aprons, kesho-mawashi, are given to the wrestlers by their supporters: starting price 200,000$ CAN and they can become astronomical as pearls, diamonds, or other precious gems are sewn into the silk.

We even got to watch the famous Bulgarian, Kotooshu (his Japanese name) born in 1983 (at 143 kg he is by far the smallest of the big boys) he was scouted for sumo while in college.

Did you know sumo wrestlers live in “stables”? They have stable masters too. Their traditional meal is Chanko which consists of a boiled potpourri of vegetables, meat and noodles.

Walking around the sumo area was the first time I've felt small in Japan. I'm sure all know, but if you exist in this world larger than an American size 3, as a woman, you are large to most Japanese. Ha, my German friend, Simone, from the hike has been mistaken for a man in part because she is so tall (6"1) and wears size 10 shoes.

The picture to the left is the "face off" or the psych out session. Every so often the crowd would go wild and one or the other wrestler would leave and toss some salt. Salt in the ring is said to purify the wrestler, well that and drinking water.

This is the leg stomping. Some sumo's liked to show off and do the splits like figure skaters and ballerinas by arching their leg into high above the 90 degree angle this picture shows. As of 2001 there were 83 official winning moves of sumo (up from 41 in 1920s). I have to say I really could only see "da grab" pictured to the left.

The most perfect “wish I had a camera” moment, was watching a massive sumo wrestler in purple housecoat and hair in the greased topknot steadying himself on his bike (there was quite a number of tentative starts) and gently beginning to peddle. His giant frame, cautiously moving down the street, swerved out to avoid the old, the young, and the gaping tourist. I could hardly stop myself from laughing, which Lind and I did once safely around the corner.

Ah, sumo. What a fun day.

Friends of the Earth

While Mt. Fuji didn’t make an appearance, the forests clumped around the new development offered spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, tress, rural farmingand hydro poles. Oh a poetic juxtaposition! You are never too far from 100,000+ people here. Poured concrete to hold up the mountainsides from falling onto the newly built homes was a nice touch.

Seeing the Pacific Ocean to the left and the right, I remembered I was on an island, a small one at that.

Grievances of urban sprawl aside, it was wonderful to change from city life to country life. The hike lasted 5.5hrs, but including transport and lunch I was gone from 07:00 until 19:30. Arriving at Shinagawa Station to find the group was a bit harried, and picking which hiking group was difficult. Apparently there is quite a community of hikers who travel every Sunday for day trips. Each group wears a different bandana around their necks…and then there were the long-haired US hippies who directed me to Friends of the Earth. I felt right at home.

Our guide spoke only Japanese, and for all but me, this was fine. There were 41 people participated, 12 of whom were foreigners. Of the foreigners I was the only one who didn’t speak Japanese (alas, the only tourist).

We foreigners were a good mix: the ubiquitous American hippies, genetic scientists from Russia, IT headhunters from Germany, a South African philanropist onto wifey #4 (I unapologetically eavesdropped on the saga of his love life for awhile) who incidentally makes fantastic home-made bread and Doug “the psychiatrist” from New England. The latter has spent 20 years of his life off and on in Japan and was quick to tell me that over half his clients are lawyers. Bah! I’ve heard that before. I half-expected him to hand me his card.

Most of the participants knew each other, I was certainly creating a buzz among the Japanese over lunch. I knew this because I was offered food from more people than I can count and I was introduced as “Ash-el-ee the Caan-ahdien” to many who all seemed to know I was staying with my sister...someone talked. (Their vowel sounds are very rounded, no pinched or nasal pronunciation of my name, or Canada, it makes the words sound sing-song). Until this time, I had been walking with Izumi, a sweet woman (beautiful) who seemed very anxious but determined to practice English. I have the utmost respect for that.

My new Japanese walking companions each had a story about living in Canada (mostly Vancouver or Montreal) and about how beautiful the country appeared.

I’ll take a moment to mention how the Japanese adore, revere, celebrate, colour of the Autumn leaves. Linden describes a trip she took in the Fall to some shrine because of the rumoured Fall colours. She said there were so few trees/colours that it made her realize just how exquisite Canada can be in the Fall. The explosion of firery colour is beauty indeed. A number of people mentioned “Ahhh Canada is beautiful colour” or “Canada: the Fall.” I find myself looking forward to the Fall already.

I made some new friends and heard about the active adventure clubs in the area. Wherever you are, the internet certainly makes it possible for you meet like-minded people, or so it appears. I’ve found mountain biking, road cycling, mountaineering, your run-of-the-mill adventure and hiking clubs with a few google searches. If I had all my ice-climbing gear I’d be set for next week’s trip up the ice shafts somewhere in the North, or the 100mile road-cycling day trip hmmm I didn’t bring my gear…

I’m hoping to attend just one more hike before I go. My enthusiasm has peaked Mhairi and Linden’s interest. I was assured by most participants that normally only 20-25 people attend.

To the right, this is my favourite picture. These trees in the afternoon light, absent no concrete and people (I was far ahead of the other members, so it was fairly quiet).

Sisters

hee hee hee hee...

I'm here...hacking into Linden's blog...sleeping her room...generally driving her crazy (oh the good old days of London). That's what sisters are for. Well, that and wardrobe sharing. Oh I lucked out!

(Don't worry Linden will write too)

For those who don't know, I'm here during my January Term to complete my studies while visiting my dear sister. I'm researching electronic waste for an upcoming paper. Japan has a comprehensive recycling program for electronics, the post will even come to your door and pick up your old monitors and take them to a depot for disassembly.

Living here is a great excuse to observe environmentalism in another country. Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm heading out with Friends of the Earth Japan for a 5hr. nature hike outside of Tokyo. Views of Mt. Fuji are promised.

Sometime next week I'll get around to Greenpeace...So far, many of the same concerns are raised here, but to varying degrees. For instance, the public concern over dioxin contamination, a chemical released in the burning of some plastics, is widely publicized (more so than I remember in Canada). Climate Change too. However, there appears to be little discussion of urban sprawl (obviously I can only glean a bit given the language barrier). This is interesting since Tokyo, at approximately 13 million is a bit less than half the population of Canada.

Kyoto Trip Day 3 & 4

Saturday we woke up to rain. Rain, rain and more rain.
So, we decided to take it slow and ate a delicious breakfast of French Toast and Eggs Benedict at our local bakery.

In the afternoon, we travelled to Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to the gods of rice and sake in the 8th century. (Westerns may recall it in Memoirs of a Geisha...she runs through the orange/red archways in one scene). The path of follows 5km and very steep mountainside given exquisite vistas of Kyoto and surrounding areas. Linden and I took 2.5 hours to complete the walk. Its steep! I had many an urge to stop for sake at the occasional lunch/rest houses in front of shrines.

Saturday night we spent in Koya-san. This is in the region of Kii-Hanto and is a raised tableland covered in thick forests (bamboo and Cyprus) and surrounded by eight mountain peaks. It is the center for Shingon school of Esoteric Buddhism. I loved it. Numerous temples in this small town of 3,000. Women have only been allowed in the city since the late 1800s.

We stayed at a beautiful hostel. The traditional Japanese style room, measuring about 14 tatami mats (this is the measure of a room here not sq. meters) with our own table. You can stay in the temples if you have the money, and take part in the prayers and traditional work of the monks.

That night we happened on an "international cafe" run by a French woman, her Japanese husband and their 15 month-old daughter. They are renting the space for the year and have designed it so you are eating in an art gallery of pottery (I thought of you, Katie). Veronique makes the best espresso I have had since coming to Japan. We played with Mayana (their daughter) for at least an hour while they closed up shop. As a reward for our conversation and practiced baby-sitting skills they gave us a lift back to our hostel.

Sunday morning we woke up to at least an inch of snow. As I did not see snow in December this was welcome. We had spent the night shivering (I had complained about the nauseating smell of the gas generator and had shut off our heat) and the winds shook our reinforced "paper" walls. Linden has yet to forgive me for that.

On our walk to Okuno-in (a famous temple on Mt. Koya), we were able to quietly walk through thousands of tombs nestled in the cyprus forest winding up to the temple. The light was a bit flat to take pictures, but it did deter other tourists from a normally crowded walkway. We had it all to ourselves (well unless you count the few thousands Buddhist spirits).


After an afternoon indulgence in espresso and thai currie at the Int'l Cafe, we wandered around more temples and shrines with two new lawyer friends we met at the cafe (A Brit and an Aussie working in Commercial Arbitration with English Law Firms in Tokyo). In the evening we ordered dinner from the Hostel. Many traditional Japanese foods, with no instruction or translation. I cannot tell you what I ate, but it was all delicious and savory.


Monday morning I attended the fire service/ morning prayers at 6am at Muryoko-in temple. Our generator had broken the previous night so I gave Linden my blankets and she opted to try to get some non-shivering sleep. I was unable to sleep from jetlag, I dressed in everything I had with me and sat on the floor of a temple for 2 hours of prayer. It was interesting, but I did feel sorry that I didn't understand much of what was going on through the chanting or the symbolism. An older monk led me to make offerings with the incense and water. The monks are used to observers and make an effort to include foreigners in the service. Luckily, this bleary-eyed traveller noticed that the apples and oranges in the temple were specifically placed around the alters, beside incense...not food for me. The thought did occur to me to eat an orange. Thankfully I am no longer 4 years old and did not act on my hunger impulse.

Monday we caught the cable car down to Hashimoto and onwards to Osaka. We hopped on the bullet train back to Tokyo and for another impression of Japan.

Kyoto Day 1 & 2

Linden met me at the airport. I was dazed and confused (note picture) after a horrible flight...14 hours flying over the NWT and the Berring Strait was interesting but the novelty quickly wore off with the bad food, freezing cabin, and lack of sleep. Lind informed me that the next morning at 9am we would be off to Kyoto. (Note: bullet trains are fast, but you can still see out the windows just fine...Ashley Myth #1)

Kyoto is a beautiful city. At first it appears unassuming. After little exploration it reveals an old world beauty of Japanese architecture and culture. The district of Gion and Ponto-Urcho were particularly pleasant with numerous cobbled walkways and the rare glimpse of traditional geisha.

We started the day off "trapped" in the maze of the train station/subway lins while trying to get food. We then got on the right bus, heading the wrong way and took the scenic tour of Kyoto perimeter...ah well it started off slow. We managed to find an amazing bakery close to our run down hostel...We lucked out with the windowless room with cigarette stained walls but you cannot beat the price. We very quickly warmed to our Kyoto surroundings (including the hostel with the never ending green tea supply)


The temples are numerous. The golden temple, stunningly situated against a forest backdrop draws hundreds of tourists a day seeking the perfect picture of the temple and its image mirrored in the lake. (See Pic)

Lind and I particularly liked the Nijo Castle. It was built in the 16th century and is the only Imperial Palace still intact in Japan. My culture shock aside, I was struck with how the interior designs, even of a palace, lack the grandeur that I am so accustomed to seeing from Europe. I am conditioned to think of ornate chairs and sitting areas when I think palace. I coundn't help myself wondering "where is the furniture?...I know it sounds silly.

We marvelled at engineering of the palace, the numerous rooms for the shogun, the waiting rooms for the samurai, the district lords and the offices and ofcourse, the "Nightingale Floors" encircling the rooms of the palace. Each footfall creates an audible squeak no matter how quietly you walk. The floors were designed such that the joists and the nails create the squeak with pressure applied anywhere along the board. So what did we do? stomped around of course. Calf raises are particularly enjoyable over a squeaky spot. It was fun.

The pic is of us at the top of the wall surrounding the Castle.

There were lots of tourist with young families in Kyoto (Jen? Chris? Autumn? Interested...)

Day 2: We traveled to the famous Zen Rock Garden. This shrine was a joy to visit. The surroundings were lush; even in the winter. This place must be glorious during the Cherry Blossom Season. In the afternoon we did lots of walking and I bought myself a coat, in preparation for our journey into the mountains.

Shibuya (lovingly pronounced Shi-BOO-ya)

So this "Mecca" for commerce is reminiscent of Times Square with plenty of flashing colours to mesmerize the innocent bystander should she or he be so silly as gape up at the 5-story televisions or movie ads. For those who do not know, this area is famous in at least one movie, Lost in Translation (and likely others) for the crossing. 100,000s of people pass through the Hatchiko Crossing and it makes for a shocking swell of movement synchronized perfectly with the traffic lights. Are the intervals timed to the flow of people or the cars? People might win out on this act of urban engineering. It seems to run smoothly.

The crossing is name for a dog, Hatchiko, that came to great his deceased master at the station for ten years. The loyalty was enough for the Tokyo residents to erect a statute in the dog's honour.

I ended up in Shibuya this afternoon because Lind and I met for Indian (her favorite) while on our respective lunch breaks (my first alone venture on the transit system). After she dashed to work, I walked around to get a comprehensive sensory overload (really how many types of music does one need to be blasted at strolling shoppers?) Lind has challenged me to find shoes in my gigantor sizing of *gasp* 9.5, so I forced myself to browse in a few shops but quickly got bored of looking.

Not sure where to set up my “reading” spot dozily spent time staring up at what I think is a toy shop. Impressively large cartoon figures (Superman, and Buzz Lightyear as prime examples) stand 4 meters tall facing the street. It is positioned directly across from the Disney Store…appropriate. Have I mentioned that the magic and love of Disney is very much alive in Tokyo?

I may gradually become enamoured with the fashion here. Odd glittery golden balls, random ruffles and lacy ornamentation wherever you can fit it result in fascinating (and colourful) outfits. As Linden has told me on more than one occasion: “Your tacky meter just doesn’t register after awhile, celebrate the outfit.” Good advice. Sitting and occasionally peering over my coffee mug onto the crowds people in Hachiko crossing I got an eyeful of examples.

More people get dressed up to "live" (vs. the occasional I'm wearing heels because I have a job interview or am going to a concert) thus its very easy to spot the counter-culture peeps. This is not the same as a sloppy dresser. Clothes have a distinct purpose here in Japan.

Getting Lost in Tokyo...

Ashley's Tokyo Metro Line Adventure (coming soon to a theater near you).

So, I leave Shibuya (somewhat frazzled as an overly friendly Starbucks patron had spent 2.5 hours randomly staring at me) and walked into the wrong entrance. By wrong entrance I mean, I entered the station building, but no where near the subway entrance. These stations are structural mazes meant to test one’s lateral thinking or animal instincts: okay so I’m able to feel wind on my hands and smell cigarettes...there must be a way out.

I stared at the Japanese characters for awhile, and realized that IF I had brought the English transit map that Linden had given me I would be able to figure this out. Realizing I wasn't close to the subway I thought...Okay, well “Yamanote Line” sounds familiar. I paid the same fair as getting to Shibuya, surely that’s enough…Did I mention that I was doing this at rush hour?

Inadvertently, and not-surprisingly, I traveled the “wrong” way. I’ll explain what I mean by wrong. I didn’t realize this, but Yamanote goes in a circle. My destination, Ueno, is on the other side. There is no wrong way. However, there is a sliding price scale depending on your destination. You pay your fair at the beginning. Fare adjustment (if necessary) consists of a relatively simple conversation with a ticket agent if you’ve overpaid, or underpaid. It was rush hour...I didn't feel like conversing with Police or Ticket Agents.

The Tokyo Subway Map (Left)

The JR (Trains) Map (Right)

These maps are my 2 best friends when without my sister.

Realizing I needed some time to re-think my plan home I jumped off at Harijuku (Lind loves this area).

Before trying my luck with the Tokyo Transit for a second time, I did some sightseeing down a funky alleyway reminiscent of an exotic version of Toronto’s Queen St. West).

My trip home on the JR line was comfortable, having successfully won my battle for a seat. (I had to compete with an elderly woman for my train seat – For those who might think less of me I'm told this is common in Japan…the elderly are surprisingly spry, as Linden and Mhairi have warned me).

Getting into Ueno I was again confronted by the rush hour river (Think: Finding Nemo and how the turtles had to swim into the Gulf Stream…similar skills at merging apply when entering into rush hour left-leaning lanes.) I nearly smashed my head against the ceiling of one of the tunnels. They have painted yellow warning strips for tall people. At the last second I saw the concrete and ducked.

Finally, the subway arrived.

I gaped.

The people were squished so tight a man’s cheekbone was pressed against the glass doors.

I’m supposed to get on one of these cars?!!

Gob-smacked I backed up and decided I’d try my chances with the next train.

Next train was the same; oh my God I need a picture of this.

I held my breath and shoved my way on. I felt a decided push from behind. Unbelievable, the train station attendant (complete with white gloves) was shoving someone behind me on to the train. A moment of feeling crushed and then I had arrived in Iriya (Pro-nounced eel-ee-ya). Relieved, I let myself fall out of the subway car and chuckled all the way home.

Linden had Mhairi have scolded me for evening daring to leave home without Linden’s cellphone number or my English map. They have even funnier/scarier stories depending on how you feel about crowds.

Ah well, I feel like I’ve passed some Tokyo test. It’s exhilerating.

Walking (Sorry, Biking) to the Left

In Japan, we walk on the left. This may not be an issue for some, but I seem to be inept at this. I’m so conditioned to moving to the right that I am forever avoiding collisions. Forget jaywalking, I am not confident that I will look the correct direction: a formula trauma.

Bikers use the sidewalk. Thankfully, only a marginal number of bikers travel at “my” traditional speed. Thus, being passed by Granny with her bushels of veggies does not necessarily translate into a near-death expierence.

Linden is thinking of getting a bike to make the commute to the subway stations more convenient. The parking system for bikes is far more elaborate than anything I’ve ever seen before, whole buildings converted into bike parking lots with allowable times and attendants to watch over the bikes. I’ve learned quickly that one cannot just park anywhere.

A Full Stomach in Japan

The first thing I needed to learn here were the rituals around food - no eating while walking, sitting on the subway, sitting outside the National Museum...unless you are eating ice cream or anything from a crepe stand (See Linden and Ani in Harijuku)

This is actually harder than I initially realized. I'm careful not to offend, but it's hard to keep my hands from the bag of mixed nuts in my purse.

There are a number of Indian, Korean, Italian and one superb Thai restaurant throughout this city. Apparently Korean food is to Japanese like Mexican is to the Americans. Whether or not that's true, I've sampled all of the above and enjoyed most of it.

Oddly, Japanese food is a little harder to find in our price range. I imagine I'll splurge once or twice for the experience. For now, I'll continue to sample the food in the bakeries (so long as you are not looking for "typical" bread). Mhairi's comment to me was "bread here is atomic, it doesn't grow moldy, get stale, nothing."

Normally I avoid this massive corporate entity when local, small, organic, fair-trade, ANYTHING else is available. Many times in the past, Linden and I have argued as to whether there are enough positives of this corporation that would act as an incentive given other options…good hiring practices, part-time employee benefits, etc. Regardless of my arguments in Canada, I’ve come to appreciate a few unexpected positives while in Japan

1. non-smoking policy,
   
2. a space to read for hours
3. coffee that tastes like something more than water, and
   
4. cheap and large sandwiches (in comparison with the local lunch fair…Starbucks food makes sense on a budget here).

Given the near-universal acceptance of chain-smoking in restaurants and lack of public space I am willing to pay for a java, a breathing and thinking space.

Ashley’s Fashion Non-sense

Longchamp. My learning curve for fashion exemplified. I managed to offend and show my ignorance to my sister when I blurted out that I thought her designer bag was a gift bag from some fancy department store.

In my defence, it is canvas.

Well.
Sort of silly defence.

I suppose I have been curious as to why increasing numbers of women in Ottawa and Toronto seem to like these bags recently. Durability? No, apparently it's designer. Yes, to all my friends who have tried to help me out of this ignorant hole, I’m afraid I’m still walking into one of the many dirt walls trying to find a way out.

The wealth in this city is incredible to behold. I've never known of a Harry Winston store, seen a Dolce & Gabbana store or encountered a seemingly unlimited number of Gucci stores (A tourist attraction if only for the model-like doormen). Japanese seem to love designer labels. Ralph Lauren has an absolute mansion in Ginza. Random boutiques we entered have Manolo Blahnik shoes... It's overwhelming.

A typical scene as we stroll down any major shopping district are women in kimono/or otherwise elegantly dressed/ lunching with big Burberry, (insert any designer label) bags at their feet. I suppose if I'd spent more time in Yorkville I might be less suprised.

I'm definetly out of my element but finding I'm enjoying the wandering.

Busy Busy Busy

Hello,
Well I have been very busy the last few weeks . I am sorry for not updating.
I have a three of my best girlfriends visiting and now my sister Ashley is here for the month of January.
Ashley has asked to post on my blog so I am letting her. Therefore in the next few weeks there will be posts from both of us. I will update about my time with my girlfriends in a bit, but first I will let Ashley post here thoughts on Japan and our trip to Kyoto.
Cheers and Happy New Year.

Christmas Day

So Christmas day was the busiest of my life! You know, normally one spends Christmas day well essentially eating and hanging about the house, well that was not my Christmas day. So after waking up and opening the few presents Mhairi and I had, we headed off to the post office a few subways stops from our house as it had Mhairi’s package from her parents and mine from my Aunty Cheryl. We then went to Ueno so Mhairi could get a coat from this fabulous store where I had bought my coat a few days ago (and fabulous red shoes). We had been planning to go to an Onsen (Japanese hot spring) but since we were short on time we went to a massage spa in Ueno which was lovely, but even then we were short on time. Mhairi and I ran back home after our massages to get changed for dinner and then down to Shibuya we went.
Dinner was wonderful! Lots of laughs, and a good time all round I think. After dinner the whole group of us (Ani, Nina, Suresh, Mhairi and I) went to Shidax Karaoke which was soo much fun as karaoke always is! Then after two hours of song we left and headed our separate ways home.
Once home I talked to my parents, Ashley, my brother Chris, and then Jen, David, Theo and Piper. Each told me how much I am missed which is really wonderful to hear.
Christmas in Tokyo was very eventful and unforgettable!
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
All my love.

Christmas Eve

So Christmas in Tokyo. Christmas eve day seemed to pass by very quickly. By the time I was organized and ready to leave the house I had to go straight to meet a student ( I teach private English classes) and had no time to do my last minute elfish things, Mhairi was kind enough to pick a few things up for me. After my lesson I met up with Ani and Mhairi in Shibuya. We exchanged gifts and had a wonderful Indian dinner. I had made stockings of Ani and Nina so I wanted to make sure they had them for Christmas morning, and I had a little Christmas eve present for Ani.
After dinner, Mhairi and I headed home. We watched an episode of House ( oh I love that show), and got a tour of my house in London via Ashley’s webcam. The house looks so beautiful, as it always does on Christmas. My father read “The Night before Christmas” to Mhairi and I. Mhairi opened up her Christmas eve present form me, and I opened mine (Super Girl PJs!!!) from my Auntie Sue. Busy but very nice Christmas eve.

Yes I do have a camera on my phone...I just never use it cause I forget that its there.
I'm an idiot, but then thats not news!! lol
Okay so just another note, if you choose to make a comment and you are not a member of blogger, then I dont know who you are unless you sign your name. So please sign your name. And if you choose not to....well thats just a little creepy.
Cheers

Cameras at the ready!

This picture just proves that one should always have a camera when in Tokyo. I have seen stuff I can't even describe, this is thing was so funny cause there aint a person in there! I have also seen weird crazy performance art but I haven't had my camera. Luckily, today in Shimbashi, I did.

Pics from around Tokyo

Here are some pics that I have taken around Tokyo.
The one with the statue of Liberty, the Fuji nextwork building with its weird ball, and the farris wheel are taken near one of my schools on Tokyo Bay. The night pics are of Harajuku, and the fuzzy one was taken in Shinjuku at 5am.

Birthday Night

Mhairi, Michelle, Ani, and a sick but fabulous Nina came out for my birthday. I had planned on going to several cool looking cafes in Harajuku and Shibuya, but plans, like rules, are made to be broken. We went to a wonderful little tiny Thai restaurant in Harajuku that was tucked in the back of a little allyway filled with restaurants. The food was amazing!!! We ended up staying there for almost three hours. We did a lot of catching up as we had not seen each other for a while. Everyone enjoyed there food, the place was a great find!
After dinner, around 10:30pm, Mhairi, Nina, and Michelle all headed home to bed while Ani and I headed to a wonderful but pricy cafe in Shinjuku to chill, plan Jenn, Andrea and Isabell's visit through the late evening and early hours of the morning until the sun came up and the trains reopened.
It was 6am when I finally crawled into my bed.
When I awoke at 2pm I have to admit that I was rather homesick and strangly lonely. I went to check for an email from work and found that I had a notice from Facebook of messages on my wall. I had sooo many birthday messages from friends back home. Thank you soo much. Each of your messages means so much to me. Sometimes I feel how very very far away I am and to know people are thinking about you and remembering your birthday (even if facebook sends reminders) can mean more then most people can imagine. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have to give props to the Bull girls, Jen you got in there before Jill....impressive.
And Tem, our phone call lifted me. How I wish you could be here with me.
I had a wonderful birthday. And another big thank you to everyone who made it so special. And to those of you who didn't....I might overlook it, this is the season for generosity of mind and spirit afterall.
Much love

p.s. The pics are from dinner, Harajuku at night, and the cafe Ani and I chilled in until sunrise.

Birthday Day

Well I had a wonderful birthday day.
After waking up and opening my wonderful presents and cards from people in front of my mom and dad on the webcam, I headed off to Ueno park to see the Dali exhibit at the Royal Museum and then to the Tokyo Museum of Western Art which is also in Ueno park. Both exhibits were great. The Dali exhibit was way over crowded. The Museum of Western Art was actually great; they have wonderful Rodin collection with The Kiss and The Thinker - the original small sculptures. They also have some great Monet's, van Gogh's, a Rossetti, and many more famous works.
I had intended to walk through the park but it was raining so I headed home to clean up a little and rest (viewing art takes a lot of enery).

Day 2, my job is still amazing!!!

Hello,
Well it is my second day of work today. I am currently at the office trying to fill time. I have had a great day so far. I called my father this morning to wish him a happy birthday (Tokyo time) and the phone was passed to my neice Theo who told me that she wanted me to come home. Apparently I have exceeded my time allowed away and I need to return. This of course made my heart ach and I promised her I would return, just not anytime soon. God that was hard.
However, the day did pick up after that. I went to my frist school and taught three lessons with another teacher, well he was teaching the lesson, I was just following him around. It was easy and great fun. We started at 10 and were done at 11:15! Then I was on my own time until 3pm when I had to be back at the office for the afternoon (3-5pm). I emailed Mhairi and she was meeting up with two of our friends from Ota who were down to see the Dali exhibit at the National Art Gallery at Ueno. I met them for lunch and walked around Ueno park for a bit, and did a bit of shopping until I had to return to work.
It looks like I have bought a bed off of craigs list. I bed and bookshelf I believe. And maybe a stove if he gives it for the right price.
I think I will be meeting up with my Ota friends after work. They all hate me because of my fabulously amazing job. hahaha! No apologies.
Cheers
p.s. yourtvlinks.com is amazing!!! and I have missed House and Grays Anatomy so much! Mhairi and I have gotten into that show Heros. We watched oh...6 episodes last night. I LOVE TV and I am not afraid to say it!!!

Just a note, keep scrolling

Just a note, I have just updated the blog with 4 new entries, so keep scrolling down to see them all. And I tried to keep the short. I will add pics later

Ueno

Mhairi and I went to check out Ueno yesterday. All I can say is Ueno is crazy. It is also huge! There are these alleyways snaking around the station that are packed with shops that are all open, and they are selling all kinds of stuff. The only thing I have ever been to like it was the massive night market in Chang Mai in Thailand, but it is more condensed, kind of like a carnival with all the people and the venders. There are tones of clothing shops, but most for men, and then there will be the Body Shop, and a Canadian coffee shop, and restaurants, a 7/11, and well you don’t know what is going to be around the next corner. And it looks like it goes on forever. I was working on very little sleep so I couldn’t even comprehend what I was doing. Oh is there a coffee shop in Canada called the Benz? Mhairi and I came home around 7pm (we went to Ueno around 3pm) and I went right to bed and woke up at 8am. I was supposed to meet some teachers from Ota who were coming down to Tokyo to go clubbing but I was asleep. What can you do? lol
Mhairi and I are going to go back today. I will try to take pictures of the place for you all.
Cheers

Now in Tokyo!

Well now Mhairi and I are living in Tokyo. Last Thursday was exhausting as you can imaging I am sure. Three hours sleep, moving, getting lost trying to find the apartment, waiting for luggage to be delivered, unpacking, moving furniture around the apartment, poor Mhairi had to go to an interview. We went down to our agent’s office to sign our lease and when we came back we just passed out.
Friday: Well Friday was my first day of work. My job is so chill. Oh may I love it! I was in the office all day and they had nothing for me to do so I planed out my train schedule and the routes to the schools, and played on the internet waiting for time to pass. Oh and they decided to extend the teacher’s Christmas holidays so I now have the 22 of December to the 9th of January off. And this is paid holiday. Oh so chill. I have said before they I am only in each school for 2 hrs but I have found out that that is a max of 2hrs so I might only be in a school for one lesson (30mins). Man I love this job. There is a little work to be done in regards to creating flash cards and we are working out the new curriculum which is essentially the same as the old, with a few vocab changes and standardizations for fluidity throughout the year. That takes very little time. I am in the office twice to three times a week. The schedule changes a lot so I have one week where I am in the office for three afternoons and one day where I don’t seem to be anywhere…but that can all change. This job is so great and Tokyo is so amazing, I can see myself staying in Tokyo for over a year…who knows man….
Friday Night: So Friday was Michelle’s birthday and seeing as she has also moved to Tokyo from Ota (all the cool kids are doing it), we all (Ani, Nina, Michelle, Mhairi and I) hung out in Shibuya and it was awesome. Man I love Shibuya, it is like being in a moving. Every time I go cant believe that I live in this amazing city. Shibuya is everything I imagined Tokyo to be. We went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. Its great, you order from a machine, give your ticket to the waitress and she brings your food. Fabulous! It was delicious and cheap for Tokyo. Then we went to a really cheap bar that we had stumbled on earlier while we were waiting for Nina. The $2 beers didn’t only draw us, but all other gaijin that were walking by. It was insane! 80-90% of the people were gaijin and it was like a big party. It was great to be around so many other foreigners, especially after the fabulous, but limited, foreign population in Ota. I spent most of the night talking to a Japanese women who is now working as an interpreter and who had just gotten back to Japan from a tour on the PeaceBoat so we spent a great deal of time talking about that and about conflict issues. It was great! She really encouraged me to apply to work on the PeaceBoat. Which is of course more reason to stay in Japan as I need at least 18months teaching experience. Mhairi and I headed home around 11pm, Michelle left a bit later, but she did catch her train. The trains in Tokyo stop running around midnight. Crazy early!
So that’s it for my first two days in Tokyo.
Cheers

Moving and the Last Night in Ota

Well moving wasn’t exactly easy, it never is. But add a language barrier and it is just that much harder. Well the movers were supposed to come between 1 and 2 and they didn’t show up until 8ish….not fun for me who was kept in the apartment waiting for them, not able to leave just in case they showed. But they did come and took all the bags, well first they showed up and then left after they saw our stuff and I was very afraid they weren’t going to come back, but they did.
So my actual last night in Ota. My Japanese friend Chiaki took me out to a little café/dessert shop because she knows about my dream of owning my own café some day. She is so sweet! Well we had a nice dinner of pizza and pasta. The pizza was good, if a little bland, but the pasta was amazing. Seafood spaghetti in a tomato blush sauce and you could taste the herbs! Oh it had so much falvour!! We then had coffee and desserts which we couldn’t finish cause we were so full. It was so nice. We didn’t leave the restaurant until long after our food had been taken away as we kept talking and laughing. And gossiping of course about Nova teachers and students and all that juicy stuff. Poor Chiaki was almost dining of laughter at some points. Great times…. lol! Thank you Chiaki for such a wonder dinner!
After dinner Chiaki dropped me off at the apartment and a few of the Nova teachers and I headed out to the Brazilian bar. It was a much smaller group this time. Mhairi and I were only going to go for one beer as we had to get up early to move, and although one beer only turned into two for me, the party continued again at our place until 2:30am. What can I say, our friends just didn’t want to have to say good-bye. It was fun, or funny, maybe funny is more a way to describe Rob and Tom. Well the next morning Mhairi and I caught the train to Tokyo on only three hours sleep. Oh fun I can tell you...but another time…

Our "Last Night" in Ota

Hi,
So my “last night” in Ota was probably the most fun I have had in Ota. I say “last night” as it was actually my second last night, but it was the good bye party for three of us who were leaving so that is just when we had it.
Anyway…. We went to this bar called Gin. It is in the Japanese style so we sit on the floor on little mats. It’s not that expensive and it is pretty chill - these being the most important things to consider. Well my friend Jacky and I showed up a little earlier then the other teachers and our Japanese friends who work at Nova and their friends showed up shortly after us. It was crazy, so many people showed!!! There were around forty of us in the end, or something like that. I got to meet so many Japanese people and through gestures and broken English we were able to communicate.
I don’t know what some of the Japanese boys were drinking but half of them decided that they were in love with me, and as the night wore on they were less and less shy about telling the extent of their love. It was so funny. Really, I though I was going to die of laughter.
After we left the bar some of the teachers (not the Japanese boys) came back to my apartment and we continued the party until 4am.
All and all it was a fabulous night.