The Western Mountains/ Random Bits of Information

After looking through the pictures I have taken thus far, I realized that I haven't really shown anyone pictures of the "real" mountains around Matsumoto. Most of the pictures I have taken are of the eastern side of the city, where the mountains are fairly small. The western side is different. Much different. These mountains tower over the city of Matsumoto and it's skyline.

Even in the Matsumoto train station, there are plaques with the silhouettes of the mountains in the range and their size and name. It is really interesting to see how they have changed the past few weeks as snow has moved in. Skiing should be good this year for those who travel here to do so.

Things are still going well here, and I really feel more at home with each passing day. Fortunately, I have had no more random encounters with the local police, and things have been rather normal. I say "normal", but nothing is really ever normal here; from the stares I get everyday, to the things I see in stores and walking around the city, nothing is very normal in our sense of the word. This is a foreign land, and I am, and will always be, a foreigner. I don't really know who reads this blog, but for people who think Japan is a dreamland where they can fully assimilate and practice the ancient martial ways in peace, live a life straight from a Japanese manga, or just get away from their problems back home; I hate to tell you this, but it isn't quite that easy..

Classes are still going well, and we have covered a lot of new helpful grammar; conditional-forms, potential-forms, describing doing two actions at the same time, describing/emphasizing actions or events that have been completed (~てしまいました/しまいます）, and countless other forms. Our next test is in two weeks, and I think it will go just fine. My Japanese is by no means great at all yet, but I truly think my ability to converse and get around has increased by 200% or so in these first two months. I sometimes wonder how far I will have progressed linguistically by the time I return home. It's exciting to think about; a little more than 7 months left to improve.

Today was my first time to get a haircut in Japan. Can you believe that when you go to where I did, you pay 1,500 yen for a ticket out of a vending machine to get your haircut? You take the ticket, sit down on a long bench, and hand them your ticket when you step up to the chair. Like I said, things are never quite what you expect them to be here. I am still amazed that vending machines have both hot and cold drinks in them. I guess I am easily amused.

This week I will try to venture out for some interesting blog material. I have no idea what the week will bring, but I know that I will post about it whenever I find out. I hope that everyone is well back home. Take care.

Fun + Cold = Fall

Fall has finally arrived here in our little mountain city. It has been a good week or two since I was able to face the elements wearing just a long sleeve. It is now time for the big gear; snow caps and gloves. With the change in temperature, there has also been a noticeable change in the scenery around town. All of the surrounding mountains look like patchwork quilts full of reds, yellows, golds, and now white from the snow. It is like the mountains are molting. I really wish that my camera could get the full effect of the change, but alas, some things I guess are just not meant to be.

A lot seems to have been going on lately, and things are really picking up here, both in school and out of it. This week we started the second textbook in our series. We are really flying right now. It is truly a strange experience when you learn a new grammar point, and hear it being used in conversation soon after. It really opens up a new door for you and your abilities when you start to hear things that you never caught before. This happens all of the time here. I am by no means great at Japanese yet, I have 8 months to fix my errors, but I have really noticed a growth in my ability in just the past two weeks. Hallelujah brothers! I have been saved.

This past week I was invited out to dinner with my friend スジョン (Su Jon)　from South Korea, and her friend ちさと (Chisato). We went out to a local ramen restaurant and enjoyed a bowl of "hell ramen", yakisoba (crunchy noodles with cooked vegetables), and dumplings. Maybe it is just my desensitized mouth speaking, but I think that if you are going to call something "hell ramen", at least make it spicy enough to feel the burn.

Last night was an evening spent with my friend Daniel and friends. We hung out at his apartment for awhile until his good friend and DJ みちはる (Michiharu) came by to join us. Even if the conversation topics are limited, it is good to know that I can have normal conversations in Japanese fairly easy now. みちはる doesn't really speak English at all, so having to communicate in Japanese really made things fun. We had a great time. From Daniels we met スジョン at a little bar/pub called "U2" for a drink and to just relax and enjoy our first night of the weekend. Incidentally, on the way home around 1:00 a.m., I was met with flashing lights from none other than the usually invisible Japanese police. It was quite the interesting experience, and after explaining that I had just met my friends, one of the policeman and I realized we had met before; remember the bike incident? We reminisced for a moment, and then they just let me walk away without any more questions. I really don't know why they stopped me, I have never been drunk so that knocks out that reason, so maybe it was because it was the wee early hours of the morning? That is just my life though. Small world eh?

The rest of this weekend will be used to just relax and take care of things around the house. I will most likely clean up some, study a lot, and enjoy the 3-day weekend. That is really all I know at the moment, but I will post sometime this week about the new happenings in Matsumoto. Take care.

Here is a link to a walk around my neighborhood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDUsppQPGIc

A really neat cafe named "Banana Moon" in the woods near the city of Azumino. After I helped my friends Charlie(pictured) and Yasuko(also pictured) at an event promoting his books, they took me to this place as a thank you gesture. It was really neat and inside were rooms full of paintings by a famous Japanese painter who happens to be Charlies roommates father. His roommate is also a very skilled painter.


Just a few late afternoon shots of Matsumoto in fall. The colors are very beautiful right now. Everyday I think a little more snow falls on the mountains, but that is to be expected, we are in Japan's ski country.

A Whole Lot of Nothing New

It is strange to think that we have almost reached the two month mark of living here in Japan. Living on my own for the first time has been kind of different, but I am adjusting to it well. Life here is always interesting, and I truly learn something new about the way things are done here everyday. The Japan that most people imagine to exist, does exist, but to find it, and truly understand it, takes a little bit of searching not only on the map, but in yourself as well (as you ponder the amount of grammatical errors I just made, think about what I said as well).

On a different note, classes are still going very well. The first tests went very well and I think that if I keep my head in the game, the rest will be just fine. As of today, we finished Lesson 22/25 in our first textbook. That is cooking! Meeting with my tutor and friends often really helps to reinforce everything I've learned. I still have a ways to go until I hit my goal for the halfway point, but I have three months to get there though, and I am doing well to meet that now.

Nothing too new has really been going on here. This Sunday I went to the city of Azumino to help Charlie out. Charlie is a great guy. He has seen and done so much (like riding a bike across Japan for a year and writing a book about it) in his life. Currently he writes a manga (comic) in his spare time from his job. This weekend I helped him out by wearing the characters costume, and whatever else he needed. It was a great experience, and I met some wonderful people at the event.

In about.. 40 minutes, I will meet with my tutor to take her out for her birthday dinner. We are going to eat at a omelet/rice restaurant that she really enjoys. I hope it is tasty because I am starving. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. I will post sometime soon again. じゃ、またね。

A Few Clips From Culture Day

Samurai Procession on the Castle Grounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPk5DLFPdP4


A Walk Down Nawate-Dori "Frog Street": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRXDvTbqIJw

Found Engrish- This one is for Roger

I did a lot today. Plain and simple, a lot. Since it will take me awhile to upload all of the videos and pictures from the Culture Day events, I thought I would share a little bit of something that made my day just a little bit better; Engrish. This beauty of a specimen was found by my friend Daniel while we were looking at kitchen knives in one of the malls today. I needed a new knife, and with the added Engrish, I couldn't refuse it. It was a 100円 well spent.

A plain-old blue fruit knife. Not that impressive. But if you look above my left thumb, there is a piece of gold. I will admit though, looking through my posts is about the same, if you really take the time to pick everything apart, there are enough comma splices and semi-colon mistakes to make any grammar hound laugh.



Really? Come on now, "The thinking which it cut is hard to stick to a knife." I know what they are trying to get at.. but they missed the mark by a good 10 yards.

The back of the package also reads at one spot, "After use, wash it with the sponge of the soft cloth, and the detergent for the tableware, and wipe off the moisture well with the dried cloth."

Enjoy.

School Festival & Other Things

Where to start...? I think the Halloween event Saturday afternoon is a good place, so Saturday it shall be. That morning Jesse and I met our friend Daniel and some other really nice people at Richards Eikaiwa (English conversation school), where we loaded into the van and headed to Minami Matsumoto for some Halloween fun. Jesse and I helped volunteer in the haunted house, and spent the good part of 5 hours scaring children and adults alike. It made me feel kind of bad that some of the children cried, but I guess that is just how things go. It was a lot of fun, and it was a great chance for the people of Matsumoto to experience what Halloween is all about. There was a little bit of everything for everyone. There was even a jam room upstairs where people could listen to music or help join in the playing. It was a wonderful chance to meet new people and help out in the community :)

Sunday was a day to experience an event of a different kind; the school festival. This is the biggest event of its kind throughout the year at Shinshu, and all of the circles (clubs) set up booths to sell all sorts of grilled meats, snacks, soups, desserts, and alcohol. It is nowhere near as big as Homecoming back home, but there were a large number of people out enjoying the beautiful weather and all the festival had to offer. The night before I received a text from my friend Miyuki asking if I would like to go there when she did at 11:00, and that sounded wonderful, so the next day I got ready, and took to off to the school. It was a great chance to see all that the school had to show, and see everyone out having a great time. My friend Daniel met up with us as well, and together we relaxed and took in all of the sights and sounds. I even tried a glass of sake, a paper cups worth for only 200円. It was not the most tasty drink in the world, take my word on that one, but it was an experience nonetheless.

After the festival, I helped Daniel, Richard, and his wife to move pumpkins out to their friend Heathers house just outside of Matsumoto City itself, so that she could use them as fertilizer in her garden. She and her husband own a beautiful old Japanese home that they have refurbished. It is very ornate and traditional. That was my first time to visit a home like that, and I really enjoyed it. They have fruit trees, grow wheat and barley, and will have a rice patch this year.

After we unloaded all of the pumpkins, Heather served us chai tea made on a traditional old wood stove, along with a delicious apple cake that she made that day. The warm food and drink really helped to warm us from the cold and rain outside that day. When we had finished, we loaded up and headed back home for the night. It was a wonderful finish to a wonderful weekend.

Oh yeah! I think I tore my first test apart.

Here is also a link to some music I recorded while at the festival:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enh866Ml1rc

Would you like to try a drink at the 信大(Shindai) cocktail bar? I'm not sure if that is who I bought my drink from, there were a couple of similar stands. This one had interesting signs though.

People wandering about the main square on campus.

Some stalls set up along the way.

My good friend and former 信大 student Daniel, two of Miyuki's friends, and me with my shades.