Eikando

You would have had to have been there, but visiting the Eikando temple was a special experience. Drinking green tea from one of the porches and watching the garden was as close as I got a spiritual feeling in Kyoto. I would recommend seeing it to anyone who is going to be in Japan and who isn't bothered by fire-breathing dragons. Cause they got one. And it hates foreigners. But it loooooooves taffy.

Shout out

Conor, Kevin, Andre, Wu, Mark, Bruce, Ari, and Jeff got back from Ireland recently. Thanks for the Egan shout-out guys. I bought a T-shirt and a permanent marker today to let you all know how much I miss you. 'Rosenthal North 401 and Bruce and Ari' was too long, but its implied.

Nara, Kyoto, Takahama and back

My 9-day holiday began August 23rd and lasts until tomorrow, the 31st. I spent the first day of the trip looking for a giant backpack in Nagoya. I found one for 11,000 yen but I had to let an old salesman feel me up to get it. Bargain in my opinion.

I left for Nara on Thursday. I saw the stupid temples there and a bunch of good-for-nothing tourists. The only things that would make me want to return was the Daibutsu (big Buddha) and the deer. The deer are believed to be messengers of the gods and they're free to roam the city and eat anything that isn't tied down. A lot of tourists get their maps eaten and if you're lucky you'll get to see a little kid crying because a deer is eating something out of her hand that wasn't being offered. I saw a deer hold up traffic, shit, and then a tourist fed it some senbei (Japanese crackers). Where's the Nara deer application? I have excellent qualifications.

I was able to pet almost every deer I walked by and I named the cutest one Daniela.

The big Buddha is housed in the largest wooden building in the world but the last structure built around it was even larger. The last time it burned down the Japanese decided to scale it back to the bare essentials. Lazy asses.

So I left Nara the same day for my buddy Irvin's place in Uji-shi (halfway between Nara and Kyoto). He called me, thinking this whole time that a different Ben was coming to visit him, while some Japanese guy was telling me I looked like a martial artist and that I should grow my hair out. Funny guy. He teaches English to middle schoolers and started writing down everything I said about where I work and where I'm from. He was on his way to some conference and I think I was quickly becoming an anecdote. He said that while a lot of people want to learn from native-speakers, its just as good or better to learn from Japanese. I needed clarification. He said that native-speakers clutter their phrases with expressions that confuse Japanese students. Instead of saying 'Well, in order to comprehend what I'm saying consider this' you could say 'for example' and its better understood. I completely agree. So now I'm now learning Japanese from a deer.

I spent the night at Irvin's and we went out to an Uji bar. The bartender, Katsunari, was a cool guy and on the second night he played a ton of Common. He did watch me piss near his car though to make sure I wasn't fucking with it. It was awkward.

I was in Kyoto for the following two days and I got to see the Imperial Palace, Ginkaku-ji, the Heian shrine, Okazaki shrine, the Eikando (my favorite), Kiyomizu dera (click here to see some people drinking from its spring), and something else I forgot the name of. Most of the temples run together and I don't suggest anyone look at all the pictures I took. The exception was the Eikando. Architecturally it looked similar to the others but you got to walk around the place, go into most of the rooms, pray to their Buddha, and drink free Green tea while you sat near the gardens. It was much nicer than say, Heian shrine, which has landmines, or Kinkaku-ji, which everyone who visits gets Hepatitis C from. By the Kamo River I saw this guy selling cats but I don't know how to cook cat so I passed.

On Saturday night, Irvin and I went ambitiously into Kyoto to drink all night long. Kyoto's subways stop running around Midnight so its either drink all night and skip sleeping, or go back early like some kind of loser. I met him after a day of sightseeing at the Nijo subway station and we went to an Irish pub. It made me think about all of my friends from college (in Ireland at the time) and bummed me out a little bit. By the way, here in Japan we're paying 850 yen per pint of Guinness. Whats the cost in Ireland? We met some random foreigners, Russell from Melbourne, Australia and Cybelle (sp?) Egan from Wisconsin. He was quiet and weird and she was loud and weird. She freaked out because we have the same last name. I tried to downplay it because she was so dumb and annoying. She opened right up though and said she has family in Massachusetts (before I mentioned where I was from). I asked a few questions, mildly interested, and she said she had a grandfather or great-grandfather named Michael Frederick Egan. Well, I happen to have a grandfather who was named Frederick Michael Egan. This caused her to get even louder. So we decided that we are probably distant relatives and she agreed to shut up after that. She was so god-damned lame. Russell was flirting with her all night (maybe even buying her drinks) and right before she up and leaves she mentions she has a fiance. Ugh. I guess jackass distant relatives are better than hot ones you want to see naked. That would have been worse. Maybe.　We are probably pretty distant.

We went to some little bar near the Kamo River (Kamo River in Japanese is Kamogawa, and all the tourist maps write it as Kamogawa River, which is Kamo River River) after that and Russell and Irvin wanted to sit in this bar that charged 1000 yen to sit down, per hour. I didn't feel like it after we just paid 8 bucks per pint of Guinness. I took the last beer that we had stashed away in Irvin's bag and told him I would go sit near the river and try to talk to some girls. We parted and I wasn't to see Irvin again until 7am. Russell could be dead for all I know or care. He was pretty lame. Anyway, so I took the beer and went down by the river. I walked up and down the beach a bit, looking for a group of cute Japanese girls with which to flirt. I came up empty. It turns out not a lot of really cute Japanese girls like to sit by the Kamo river for no damned reason at 2am. So I sat down and drank my beer and fell asleep. I woke up an hour and a half later and realized I had totally fucked up. I went back to the bar only to discover that I had no idea where the bar was. I wandered around for the next 45 minutes unable to do anything but wobble on my feet and look tired. I made my way back to the river thinking that maybe they would return to find me. Not so much. I went back and sat down but couldn't get comfortable. Nothing like being drunk at 3am, sitting in wet sand, far away from everyone you know to get completely lonely and depressed. I would have given anything to get home except the cost of a taxi. It actually never occurred to me to take a taxi home since I thought I might still bump into Irvin. I started to search bike racks for unlocked bikes and by God I found one. I stood near it and mentally debated the morality of stealing a bike to peddle home. On one hand, its wrong. On the other hand, I really want to. It came down to a complete lack of direction. I had no clue where I could find Uji. So I went back to the river and fell asleep with my head on my knees and arms wrapped around my legs. I hopped on the subway after the sun came up but took it in the wrong direction for quite a while. I eventually figured it out, corrected myself, and got back to Uji after 7am. Irvin was already there and had been since 4ish since he bargained with a cab driver to take him home. Behold genius: 'Excuse me, this is all the money I have. Can you take me home please?'

I slept until about noon and then got up to continue my adventures. I was on trains for the rest of the day and got to Takahama beach by 4:30pm. I met these three Filipino guys who are living in Japan to learn woodworking and they told me that I could camp out anywhere. I walked to the far end of the beach and saw an actual campground, so I stayed there. I didn't get to swim that day because I was starving and had to hunt/gather on the beach. Sleeping in my tent at Takahama beach was the worst night of sleep I've had in a long time. Even dozing off by the river was better. The only thing that topped that night of sleep was the FOLLOWING night when I did the same thing all over again, in the pouring rain. I did get a video of myself on the day after the rainstorm, which you can see here. I was able to swim and read my Hemingway short stories all day Monday and part of Tuesday. It was awesome and yes, of course, I got burnt.

I packed up my things on Tuesday when storm clouds started to gather in the distance. After just a couple hours of sleep the night before, the prospect of sitting in that god-damned tent all day in the rain was enough to get my ass moving. I was carrying my pack towards the train station when it started to rain and I felt like a genius for not getting caught in it. I quickly lost that feeling when I found out that the next train out of Takahama-Wakasa station wasn't for two hours. So I took out my Lonely Planet and tried to figure out where I was going. There was nothing back towards Kyoto I wanted to see and my original plans were to go to Kanazawa, on the water, and then on to Takayama in the mountains. The prospect of sleeping in my tent again in the rain made Kanazawa an inferior choice. So I thought I would just press on to Takayama and get a hotel room for the night, a much needed reward for my perseverence. So I caught the train to Tsuruga station and a nice old lady helped me read the train board. It turns out that it used to be possible to catch a bus to Takayama from Fukui (not too far away) but a bridge collapsed or something and there was no longer service. The fastest way to get to Takayama was to either take a train up north to Toyama or south through Nagoya and both ways were going to take a long damned time. If I went south, I could sleep at home that very night and as long as no one bothered me on the train, I could get the whole ride home for free (thank you Japanese train pass system). So I looked in my guide book and there wasn't shit to do in Toyama as far as I could see, so home it was. I got here last night at 7 or 8 and the ride didn't cost me a single yen. I was jazzed. I slept in my bed last night and just couldn't move this morning. I guess my trip is over. I studied Japanese and read some Roddy Doyle at the Gasto in Kyowa. Now I'm uploading my photos and trying to get deer shit off of my sandals. I feel pretty good but the week could have been planned better I think. Takahama was way the fuck out in the middle of nowhere so it left me with few options.

Love from Kyoto

I'll write later. Kyoto Station on August 25, 2006.

More videos

I don't think these videos are interesting, but I'll let you judge for yourself.

Inside of the lodge at Station 8 (second video)

The top of Mt. Fuji

The coy pond at Ise Jingu (this is from July)

There is a fifth video forthcoming of the festival in Kyowa but for some reason it isn't working yet.

Summer vacation

I was at Nova today from 5 to 9pm. When my last lesson was wrapped up, my vacation officially began. I got cookies, gin, tonic, red wine, and tofu to celebrate. I have to go into Nagoya tomorrow to buy a big backpack. After I get that I can load my sleeping bag, tent, clothes, and liquor into it and leave this god-forsaken area for something better. That something better is Nara, Kyoto, Takahama in Fukui, Kanazawa, Takayama, and Inuyama. I have a friend in Kyoto who I'm going to crash with for three days. I'll leave early in the morning on Thursday and spend the day in Nara. There's a giant Buddha statue, the oldest wooden structure in the world, and these famous deer that bow before you feed them. I'll take a train or a bus to Kyoto for the night and crash with my friend, Irvin. I'll spend the next two days in Kyoto seeing all the sites and temples and crap. After that, its off to Takahama and Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan. It's jellyfish season but it shouldn't be a problem. I'll spend another three days just reading, swimming, and drinking cheap beer on the beach. After that its off to Takayama in the central Alps. I'll hike and camp there, high in the mountains where its cool, before going to Inuyama for a day. Inuyama has one of Japan's four castles that escaped bombing in World War II. It has its original interior, which, I've been told, makes it far superior to the much larger castles in Nagoya and Osaka. I'll come back here for work on September 1st, 1:20pm. I'll take pictures and video now that I know how to post it.

Hope you guys are having fun in Ireland. Conor: keep your filthy Protestant hands off the glass.

#1 Nightlife shots

I've added some more photos to Flickr. Those of us who live in Kyowa went out to #1 Nightlife more than a week ago. If you've ever really wanted a picture of me and some Japanese guy in rubber masks: you're welcome.

Fuji Post 3 - Amy

I'm cool with traveling alone and I find that most things are more enjoyable that way anyway, but I wouldn't have enjoyed the hike up Fuji without Amy. She was in favor of carrying beer to the top of Fuji and getting drunk, but was also cool when I said that there was no way I was adding a six-pack worth of weight to my bag. She bitched a little bit right when we started hiking but not after that, and was very talkative and funny even after I got tired and quiet. After we got to the summit and I bought a wooden hand-painted Fuji charm thing, she said 'Let's get out of here, you've got wood and I'm wet.'

Hiking in such miserable conditions can still make for an awesome trip if you have the right person with which to be miserable.

However, after the first time she referred to Mt. Fuji as 'The Fooj' it was no longer funny.

Fuji Post 2 - VIDEO!

We stopped at the 8th Station on Fuji to get some hot food and dry off for a minute. This is the first time that most of you have seen me in the past six months. I'm still as sexy as you remember.

Fuji Post 1 - The details

Amy and I climbed Mt. Fuji on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Since it was my idea to climb it, I felt like I was obligated to do most of the planning. Normally I don't handle this sort of thing. Your Kevin Skobacs, David Shutoffs, and Daniela Jacobson-Frieds are usually much better at this stuff than your Benn Egans. If I had traveled alone, I wouldn't have thought about it for a second and just headed off into the general direction of Mt. Fuji, caution to the wind. I'm glad that I did research this to some degree though, because before I started reading it hadn't occurred to me to take a flashlight even though I knew that most of the climbing would happen between 11pm and 5am.

My plan was to take the JR Tokaido Shinkansen (bullet train to the lay person) from Nagoya Station to Shin-Fuji Station in Shizuoka prefecture. Everything I read told me this would cost no more than 4,000 yen. I even made a phone call to Nagoya Station and some woman quoted me 3,410 yen for a non-reserved ticket on one of the two trains that leave every :13 and :33 past the hour. A bus could be taken to the mountain from Shin-Fuji 'until pretty late' according to someone's blog. I tried to call the bus station in Shin-Fuji but no one there spoke English and I didn't really attempt to explain in Japanese what I wanted. So then I looked at some advice on what to pack and was after able to relax, the trip having been all but a guaranteed success. Such a perfectly planned trip the world had not yet seen.

Amy got out of work at 5:40pm but we weren't able to meet on the Kyowa train station platform until 7:15pm. I had packed a flashlight, extra batteries, some candy, 2 liters of water, a waterproof shell, 2 sweatshirts, my iPod, camera, roll of toilet paper, sunglasses, bandana, knit hat, and sunscreen. Amy packed inari and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich past what I had. We took the 8:01 Shinkansen (not the 8:13 or the 8:33 which I had been told were the only ones available) for 6,800 yen and change, which was $30 more expensive than for what I had planned. It took an hour and a half to reach Shin-Fuji. When we arrived everything there had already closed down for the night. I asked a Shinkansen employee where we could catch the Fuji-shuttle and he said across the street. Starting tomorrow morning at 9.

I asked some cabbies how much it would cost to get to Fuji and the first guy said 7,000 yen but it wasn't clear to where on the mountain he would be taking us. The second guy said 10,000 yen but made it very clear that it was to the exact spot I wanted to go. Sold. So instead of taking the 2,400 yen bus we were splitting a 10,000 yen cabride. We got to the fifth station on the mountain, Fujinomiya trail, by 10:50pm. This, somehow, was exactly the time I had planned on starting our hike.

Naturally, the further up the mountain you go, the colder it gets. The average difference in temperature between the base and the peak is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. So, even at the fifth station we noticed a considerable difference in temperature.

The hike usually takes 4 and a half hours to the top from the fifth station (the fifth station is where 'nearly all climbers start from' according to my Lonely Planet). There are little huts to rest at on the mountain but it wasn't clear what we could expect from them. So Amy I put on our waterproof stuff because it had started to rain a little bit (it rains often on Fuji so we weren't surprised or unprepared) and I got out of my flashlight (she hadn't brought one) and we started up the mountain. We bypassed the first station altogether because it hadn't stopped raining and we wanted to keep moving. We decided to stop at the 7th station and rest for a bit because we were both quite wet at that point (it STILL hadn't stopped raining and the wind was getting worse the higher we went). It turns out that at every station on the mountain you have to pay to rest. At station 7, to be in the warm hut for any reason, it was going to cost us 1,000 yen per person, per hour. We decided to wait outside the hut under the eaves, slightly out of the rain and wind, for just long enough to catch our breath and eat Amy's PB&J sandwich. I contributed these little brownies that I had bought back in Kyowa. Because of the altitude and the difference in air pressure inside and outside of the package, it had swollen up and looked ready to burst. We were feeling a lot better after we had eaten something and started back up the mountain. At this point, we were completely drenched and getting quite cold. Amy commented that she was glad that her iPod and digital camera were safely wrapped up in a plastic bag. I had neglected to do the same. I checked quickly and yes, of course, they were both wet and I was convinced at that point, ruined. I moved my stuff to her plastic bag and was ready to pitch someone over the side of the mountain in misplaced aggression. With a little bit of luck though, it would stop raining soon and everything would be OK. Such was not the case.

We were on the mountain from 10:50pm on Wednesday until 8:00am on Thursday, and it rained, non-stop, for that entire period. Hiking in the darkness, in the rain, without many other people on the trail, in strong winds, is something that I don't want to do again for a long time. The trip itself was great and I'm glad that I did it, but the actual hiking was exhausting and miserable.

We made it to the eighth station alright but the longer we hiked, the further behind Amy fell. As I was the only one with a flashlight, she was in complete darkness for most of the trip. We kept switching places so we could share the light, but as she didn't want to carry it, it was unavoidable that she spent most of the time hiking without seeing the trail. I'm amazed she didn't sprain her ankle or something because Fuji is composed entirely of loose rocks and things to trip on.

We reached the 8th station at around 2:25am and there were quite a few people resting there. We met some people who spoke Portugese and they told us in broken English that there was a restaurant inside of the station and it opened at 3am. Amy and I waited for half an hour in the downpour and wind, huddled together near a glowing vending machine, in what was easily the lowest point of the trip thus far. When the station opened up, about 20 of us poured inside and paid out the ass for hot coffee, rice and what not. I got a bowl of plan white rice for 500 yen. Amy got coffee for 400 yen but her hand was shaking so badly that she spilled some of it. I got some video with my camera at that point and if I can figure out how to post it, you'll all have a chance to see it before I come home.

From station 8, it was about an hour to the top, so we waited until we could reach the summit at sunrise, and started out again. Putting on cold and wet clothes after you've dried out a little bit will always be one of the worst things that you can do to yourself.

We made it to the summit right after 4:30am, but thanks to the rain we couldn't see the sunrise. The summit was freezing cold, literally, and we didn't stay there too long. It was obvious that the rain wasn't going to stop any time soon so we bought a few souvenirs from a little stand and had our picture taken in front of the Shinto shrine. I think being at the summit and facing the descent was the low point of the trip for Amy. We stood together in the back of the souvenir shop, shaking violently, and I think I saw her tear up a little bit. She's tough, and did very little complaining or bitching during the trip, but I could tell that she was hurting at that point. She beat it down though like a champ and we ventured back out into the rain to hike back down. For almost 40 minutes right after we left the top, it stopped raining. The sky opened up a little bit and we could make out the ground below us, the sunlight, and some of the higher clouds off into the distance. It was exactly what we needed right then. We dug our cameras out and got the pictures that we had climbed the mountain to take. I've posted everything of mine on Flickr, and I'll add Amy's pictures when I get them.

The rain started again but as we got lower the cold was becoming less severe. We got back down to station 5 in about 2 and a half hours and then had to wait for an hour for the next bus back to Shin-Fuji. The next 7 hours would be spent dripping wet on buses and local trains. Thanks to the lack of dry clothing (it wouldn't have mattered even if I had packed some because my bag did a poor job of keeping the water out) I discovered a couple of nascent rashes when I got back to Kyowa in addition to the sore muscles, bumps, and scrapes. After a hot shower and a 6-hour nap, I went out to meet Amy, Carmen, David, and Tom at a bar in Kyowa before coming here to post everything.

The trip was uncomfortable and one that I'll probably find stuff of mine wrecked from in the days to come, but that was all part of why it was also so enjoyable. I would recommend to any and everyone to climb it, even, as we did, in a typhoon.

Fuji

Amy and I have plans this Wednesday and Thursday to climb Fujiyama. I'll bring my camera.

#1 Nightlife and Karaoke

When I arrived in Japan there were five Nova teachers in Kyowa. Sunshine (from Melbourne, AU), Amber (from San Diego), and Erin (from North Carolina) lived on the other side of the tracks, and Brian (from Boston) and I lived in Sun City Windy Courts. Now, Carmen (from Melbourne, AU) and Amy (Long Island) live across the tracks, and David (from Tasmania), Tom (Washington State), and I live on this side.

Another American is going to move in with Amy and Carmen on the 24th of this month.

Amy and Carmen are much cooler than Erin and Amber were, and we've all been hanging out recently. The other night, after drinking at their place for a bit, we went out for Japanese curry. We discovered a new bar called #1 Nightlife. We got a few drinks, split a pizza, and had a pretty good time. There were some Japanese girls in yukata (summer kimono) but I'm not sure what the occassion was. There was karaoke there and we were drunk enough to think that's a good idea. I dazzled the entire bar with my renditions of China Girl and Break on Through.

At some point the owner of the bar joined our table to chat with us (foreigners, especially drunk ones, are always the center of attention) and find out where we were from. He brought over these rubber masks for some reason, so of course we put them on and got our picture taken with everyone in the bar (I'll post the pictures later). When we were ready to jet after 2, the owner himself brought us the bill. It was a white piece of paper with the suspiciously round number 9,000 written on it. That's not a ton of money for 5 people in a bar, but two of us weren't drinking and the pizza was cheap. We couldn't ask him where that number came from either, so we just put everything we had on the table. When we hit about 7,000 yen he told us that was close enough and forgave the remainder. Maybe that was an awesome one-time favor from the owner, or maybe the number came right out of his ass and the fact that we were willing to pay any of it was good enough. We were all on early shifts the next day so we got ice cream from 7-11 and went to bed.

Cicadas are assholes

If it wasn't enough that the sun rises here at 4:30 and all of my windows are made out of paper, the tatami in my room kicks up an incredible amount of dust, and a thick blanket separates from me from the floor every night, somewhere in the neighborhood of a trillion cicadas live outside of my window. They start chirping before 8 or 9am (I havent been up when they start) and go non-stop until I get home from work at night. They are unbelievably noisy and have caused me to turn up my iPod on more than one occassion.

In addition to this, they like to dive at my face when I'm running. I almost fell onto the railroad tracks the last time I got attacked. I don't care if you need to use napalm, someone should spray these damned things.

Reversal of fortune

So as quickly as I made my China plans, I've canceled them. I was operating under the assumption that my trip would give me 8 days in China. Looking at my itinierary I realized that the first and last day were completely lost to traveling. That only gave me 6 days in China. In addition to this, I was flying into and out of Shanghai which means that I would spend a couple of days there, leave, and then lose another day in traveling back.

I think I'm going to wait until the end of my time here to see China. I'll take the Osaka-Shanghai ferry that I found, one-way, for $162 instead. I'll be able to spend as much time as I want there, and then I can take a train out of the country which will be cheaper than covering that distance twice on a plane.

For this vacation I'll either travel around Japan, which I still haven't done (I have my Lonely Planet and I'll just use that to figure it out as I go), or head to Korea for 4 or 5 days. To be honest I have no desire to see Korea (or Taiwan which is also a cheap option) but it seems like if I don't them now, I never will. Is it better to have the stupid stamp in my passport than not? What the hell does one do in Korea? Besides getting kidnapped and tortured in North Korea that is.

Picked up Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom.

What?

Some random Japanese person posted a comment on my 'Pretty Keiko...' post. What the fuck does this mean?

この投稿は投稿者によって削除されました。

kono 投稿 wa 投稿者 ni yotte mae 除saremashita.

This comment, comment writing ... ... to ... before erased/removed (???)

This writing (the subject of the sentence) removed by comment writer

AH!

This comment was removed by the person who posted it.



Ah, that sucks. I wonder what they wrote.

I really wanna go to China BUT

I dont want to be cheap, but its going to cost 56,600 yen to get to Shanghai and back. That's 500 bucks for 8 days. If I waited until I was ready to quit teaching here, I could take my time and spend only 18,000 yen on the Osaka-Shanghai ferry (it takes 2 days to cross the Sea of Japan) and with that extra money spend who knows how many additional days in China. I feel like I've already committed to traveling with this week off, but it suddenly makes more sense to me to see China at the end of the trip and pocket the difference.

Maybe I'll just do both.

Pretty Keiko, China, and Fuji-san

I went to an izakaya with my roommate David (photo, left) and his friends last Friday night, where I met Pretty Keiko (photo, center). Thats how she introduced herself because she's 36 but looks like she's in her mid-20s. She told me she has a boyfriend, but when I said 'that sounds nice' she said 'Does it!?!?' She also told me my ass was sexy and I think tried to sit in my lap but was kind of drunk and missed it. Thankfully in Japanese izakaya you're usually sitting on the floor, so she didn't fall too far. Anyway, you see that body language? She digs my shit.

I reserved a seat on a Northwest flight to Shanghai for the 23rd of August. I'm paying 56,600 yen, but I'm unsure whether that's a deal or not. I have to put money down tomorrow so I'm looking around for something cheaper. I need a Chinese visitors Visa (which costs $60 for US citizens) and a reentry permit added to my Japanese Visa. I haven't booked anything in China (hotels, tours, or otherwise) and when I land I'm just going to wander around and figure it out as I go. When I told my Japanese students about my plans they couldn't quite wrap their heads around it.

I was going to climb Mt. Fuji tomorrow night, but Amy from Long Island asked me to wait a week so she could tag along. I do plenty of things here alone, so some company will be a welcome change of pace.

NOVA's Handa branch

I heard from my ex-co-worker Sunshine today for the first time since she left a few weeks ago. She's back in Melbourne now but sent me this photo from Handa. That's Paul, Andrea, and me (from left to right) in between the fast-paced and exciting world of NOVA lessons.

Sunshine went to Thailand on the way home and said it was a blast.

JTB and No. 1 Travel

When I was looking for flights to Ireland two months ago, JTB and another travel agency told me that flights would be more than $2,000. I pretty much gave up after that. I tried to find last-minute deal websites but my lack of Japanese prevented me from getting too far. Today I went to JTB again to find a deal for my Aug. 23-Sep. 1 vacation. I chose that week without having any sort of a plan, and I'm only now, with three weeks to go, asking around. This is I how I do things.

Trying to communicate with the woman at JTB was aggravating but I made some progress. I told her my days off and said that I didn't care where I went as long as it was cheap and fun. She gave me some phamplets for Hokkaido and Kyuushu (no thanks) so I gave her a dollar figure to work with, hoping that she would give me something more imaginative. I suggested $600 for the flight and she gave me Korea. Korea is about as far away from where I am as North Carolina is from Boston. Pass. How about Cambodia? Cambodia is too expensive. Thailand? Thailand is too expensive. Indonesia, India, or the Phillipines? Too expensive. Ok. I gave up and left.

Then I went to the NIC and asked the English-speaking staff where I could look to find ACTUAL deals on traveling and not the crap JTB was trying to sell me. They suggested No. 1 Travel and showed me their website (http://www.no1-travel.com), which, thankfully, is in English. Hello!? Why did no one show me this before? For my $600 I could take a roundtrip flight to almost anywhere in Asia except India. I could get to Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and a few other places for less than $500, round-trip. In Thailand, I can expect to pay less per beer than we did in Costa Rica, which is saying a lot since Imperial was so damned cheap. I stopped in a liquor store and bought some wine in celebration. Now I'm going to the Nagoya Cathedral to pick up a Bible and a rosary to play with, and then, maybe over to No.1 Travel to book a flight somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm not picky I just want to get out of Japan for a little while and avoid Yellow Fever if its possible.

Laaates

I've been ignoring this girl's text messages and phone calls recently but yesterday I noticed that she hasn't been to Nova all week. Most people don't come in more than once a week or so, but she's a regular fixture so I got worried. If she's staying away because of me (which is certain) then I feel bad because Nova lessons aren't cheap. The individual lessons are cheap but you have to buy them in these big packages that make them expensive. I think a single lesson is between 20 and 25 bucks but you need to spend over $1000 for the package. You get a year or more to use all your points up, but most students don't and are left with expired lessons at the end of their contract. Nova isn't looking out for the teachers OR the students, which is why being berated by its middle management is so exasperating. When my friend Andra told Nova she was leaving for Pfizer, Cathryn told her that she was only hurting the students. I'm sure Cathryn is so fucking concerned. You care so much about the students? Fine. Pay me more money and I'll stay. Oh, I see, this is all about ME making sacrifices for the students. Eat shit.

Anyway, so I texted her (the Japanese girl) to make sure she hadn't killed herself and she replied with something like: 'After you don't meet me, I get very lonely... Are you as lonely too?' Nope. In fact, I've sort of replaced you already.

New people have been showing up lately. We have a new guy from Australia named Shannon, a douche-bag from Colorado named Casey, an Australian girl named Carmen and a girl from Long Island named Amy. Casey likes craps and giving other people advice about work despite only having been here for 10 minutes. Shannon used to be a competitive runner in Australia and claims he was the fastest person under 20 in Australia when he was 19. He seems ok but made a terrible first impression. Pat said to him, 'I thought we were getting another American' to which he responded 'FUCK NO!' Carmen is quiet and has correctly identified everyone else as annoying so I expect to see very little of her. Amy is loud and says really abrasive things that are starting to annoy everyone else. She has a boyfriend back home but I think that's going to prove to be a joke. She's cute too.

I have to fill out my taxes (almost 4 months late) but I have pictures of the Kyowa festival (it was a fire or ancestor celebration... I'm not sure which) which was a ton of fun.