Golden Week - funtastic

This past week was the Golden Week holiday in Japan. It's called Golden Week because it's 4 national holidays all crammed within a week's period. If the stars align alright, most people can get most of the week off of work and essentially take an entire week off of work. However, Golden Week or just GW is one of the busiest times of the year. Most people will travel during this time, over the summer holiday in August, and during New Year's. Prices on flights and hotels will double in price and the waits in lines increase ten-fold because everyone in Japan is basically moving around.

This past GW, I had the chance to take Thursday off which was not a holiday and go to Mt. Fuji and visit Fujikyu Highland, Japan's most famous amusement park! It's not nearly as large as Six Flags Great America, but it's got a fantastic view of Mt. Fuji in the background. They have only 4 major rollercoasters, but they are fun enough to make up for anything. In the picture below, you can see Mt. Fuji in the background of some of the rollercoasters. We went on a very clear and sunny day, so we had a great view and the sun was shining bright. However, it began to rain a little bit later during the day, but overall, it was a great day and we were able to ride everything we wanted to!

The next day, we did some sightseeing around Mt. Fuji and a lake called "Kawaguchiko." This is one of the most famous lakes around the mountain with some of the most beautiful views. Well, take a look for yourself below...

So, this was a nice and relaxing trip to the mountain where we had some great weather and great times.

As of recently, I also began taking Japanese lessons from a local tutor who also teaches some of my friends around the area. I am aiming to take the JLPT N2 level this July and pass this time! 3rd time's a charm, right?! Haha, well I sure hope so! I don't want to sit through that test any more than I need to! I truly do feel that after starting the lessons, I have learned so much and am able to read more kanji than ever. I still have a lot of work, but the studying and lessons are really paying off. In addition, my tutor is helping me with job hunting preparation and resume writing in Japanese. Japanese business writing is a whole other beast in itself and will only come with practice and time.

Well, I have some studying and practice, but I am making progress slowly. On another note, my niece has been going through chemotherapy sessions for the past 4-5 months and has been in and out of the hospital. I haven't been able to see her in person, but through Skype and pictures, she looks like she's doing well and sticking it out. For only being 1 year old, she's super tough and laid back. I know she is on the road to slow recovery and continue to pray for her.

This week has been busy as our sister school in Wisconsin is here to visit for the week. This morning we had the welcoming ceremony and tour around the city, so I went around with them translating and helping out. It sure is challenging to switch between the two languages and translate on the spot, but it's actually really fun. If I expand my Japanese vocabulary, I think I could do a lot better. But with the words and phrases I know now, it's enough to get by and do the job. Well, the rest of this week will be packed with activities, ceremonies, and parties, so I'll be keeping busy!

2013...New Year's Resolutions

2013...later this year will mark 3 years in Japan. I've been here for about 2 and a half years now...and it's crazy to think that I have been here for this time. Time flies by so quickly and I've accomplished so much, yet feel like there are so many things to do yet. Late last year, I got engaged and things quickly changed since then.

I have my work cut out for me this year. It will be a jam packed but fun year with lots of change and challenges. I told my BOE a couple weeks that I was not intending to re-contract, to which they were disappointed. I felt bad, but I need to make the decision for my best interest. As much as I enjoy the people I work with and the working environment, it's time for me to continue to move forward in my life. I plan on moving to the Tokyo/Yokohama area after I finish my contract on JET. I will also hopefully have found a new job to start shortly thereafter. I would preferably like to find a job in the marketing/business field. I will also be marrying my best friend and lover in October! Talk about a fun filled year!

I hope that as I have these goals written down, it will help me to be accountable for them and stick to accomplishing them. I also found out recently that my little niece is going to be battling some difficult treatment for AML for the next few weeks and months. All my prayers go out to her and my sister's family. I wish I could be at home to support them and be with them during this difficult time. But I know that they will be able to go on with their strength and support of the people around them. 2013 will be a busy one!

Bunkasai - October 27th, 2013

My school had our Bunkasai Culture Festival this past Saturday on October 27th. It is when all the students gather to perform and compete in dances, singing, and provide entertainment. Since I started working at my junior high school, they've asked me to do a piano performance during the bunkasai. Two years ago and last year, I played a piano piece. However, this year I wanted to do something different and play a drumset solo. So I set up a drumset and played! It was fun! Check it out on my YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asvKi_KRQKQ

Speech Contest: Victory!

So today was officially the speech contest. I felt pretty good about my 1st and 2nd graders but not so much about my 3rd grade lineup. It was a long day which started at around 7:30 and went until 3pm...filled with many speeches and the stresses of students trying to do last minute memorization and many questions...

Well the day was filled with many good speeches and skits. I thought my 1st graders in particular did a great job! In fact, it was their best performance so far! But...unfortunately they did not even place! The competition for the whole 1st grade division was very tough and the level was incredibly high. The same story goes for my 3rd graders. Neither of them placed...but my 2nd grader is a different story! She is always a very solid performer and I knew that she would do a great job no matter what...somewhere in the top 4. But she did even better than that. She won first place! Yes! I was so happy to hear the news and excited that one of my students would be going to the prefectural level.

It was months of hard work and effort...finally paying off all in a matter of minutes. Well, the prefectural level speech contest will be held on October 12th. Until then, I will be practicing and coaching the 2nd grader.

This is a side-note...I had elementary school yesterday and there were many funny moments that occurred...the one in particular is during lunch with the students. We were all doing stupid human tricks, including me showing the students how I can move my ears. One of the girls (they are in 3rd grade) showed me one of her incredibly long eyebrows...it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen in my life. She has one eyebrow that is grown to around 2 inches long...just sticking straight out from her face. She holds it there proudly and doesn't want to cut it. It's her pride and joy...and soooo funny!! Haha, I just had to document this so I wouldn't forget.

Anyway, cheer me on for my 2nd grader at the prefectural level! I hope she does well!

One week of freedom left

This is my last week of freedom! Well, not "freedom" but summer vacation. After this week, I will be back in the routine of classes, school, and other work. Right now, I just have speech contest practice during the summer which isn't too bad at all. On the days I have practice, I go in from 9-11 am and then I'm free the rest of the day. Some days, I don't even have practice! Living the dream...haha

But anyway, I just got back from a trip visiting Sami in Shanghai, China! It was a great time and we really had a blast. Here's the rundown:

August 17th (Friday) - Take off from NRT at 6:15pm and arrive at Shanghai. We went to club Muse and I saw my friend from college who I hadn't seen since I graduated.

August 18th (Saturday) - Hung out around Hongkou and went to the shopping mall in Hongkou. I picked up a pair of khaki slacks. For lunch, we got these flaky pastry things with cheese inside. Delicious. Also ate a bowl of delicious/cheap noodles at the shopping mall. For dinner, we ate

August 19th (Sunday) - Went to a flea market and then went shopping in People's Square. Walked on Nanjing Road as well. We ate dinner around People's Square. Delicious Chinese food!

August 20th (Monday) - We went to the French Concession. We ordered custom shirts. I ordered 3 for a total price of around 200 dollars...very cheap! Usually one custom tailored shirt would cost nearly the price of the 3! We went to dinner to a Hong Kong restaurant. Delicious!

August 21st (Tuesday) - We all went to Suzhou, a historic town a little west of Shanghai. We took a train to get out there. We came back to Shanghai in the evening and took it easy.

August 22nd (Wednesday) - Dave and I went to People's Square to continue some shopping again. Sami was at work so we explored while he was gone. We ate lunch at the mall and had the soup dumplings. Then for dinner we went to a Yunnan restaraunt called "Lost Heaven" ....so delicious!

August 23rd (Thursday) - Our last day! We stayed out very late and didn't get to sleep until nearly 4am. We ended up waking up around 1pm and had to leave for the airport right away to catch our 5:00pm flight.

Then on Friday I had an orientation for the new ALTs that came to Japan this past July/August. I had 2 presentations and was still preparing for them last minute. I stayed up til 3am and then had to wake up again at 7am to get to Chiba. Haha...I was on a serious lack of sleep.

Later on Friday evening, we had a welcoming dinner and everyone was out. Some decided to stay out all night and I was talked into it! So I ended up staying out all night on Friday and then on Saturday I hung out with some friends in Kashiwa. Finally on Saturday evening I got home and was able to relax. On Sunday, I headed up to the beach to meet up with a few friends in the Asahi/Sosa area. It was a new area to explore so I wanted to see what it was all about. I met some cool folks and had a great time.

This week, I'd like to make the most of my free time and check out the beaches again while they're still open for the season!

Summer Vacay!

I'm free!!!

So summer vacation officially started last Friday, July 20th. It was the last day of school and the rest is history after that. However, the day didn't start off on the right foot, haha. I slept in for work for the first time ever. I always used to sleep in for school during elementary, middle, and high school. But I haven't slept in for work yet. I usually get to work around 8am. But on Friday, I woke up at 9:36am....haha....and nobody called me to see where I was! Shows how much they actually care about me! j/k.....That day I didn't have any classes so I didn't miss anything. I was a few minutes late to the closing ceremony and then everything was fine after that.

But the day ended and then it was time for the weekend. My friend, Makoto, got married on Saturday, the 21st! He had the wedding at the Tokyo Bay Hilton Hotel, a very nice hotel right next to the Tokyo Disneyland Resort and Theme Park. It was pretty fancy to say the least. So my friend, David and I headed up to Chiba to spend the night and to relax for one last night with Makoto. We were also going to perform the ukulele as a special performance at the wedding so we practiced that a little bit. After chilling, we headed to the wedding on Saturday! It was very beautiful and even though it was cloudy/rainy, it was perfect weather. Recently, it had been hot....like 30-35 degrees C, but that particular day it was around 24 C. Perfect!!!

So we had the wedding and then later that evening, David and I went out for a little after party. Our friend, Will also met us out. We decided we wanted to stay out all night and so we went to a club nearby called Ageha. The biggest club in Japan! It was an alright night and we headed back early in the morning to get some rest in the hotel after being out all night! Heading back to the Hilton was a great way to get some rest after a long night out. One of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in!

The breakfast buffet was also absolutely amazing. Anyway, I got some rest and then I was able to get some amazing breakfast! Afterward, we headed back to Chiba to hang out and eat some lunch. For awhile now, I have been thinking about and preparing to propose to my gf....I know! Such a sudden mention considering I hadn't talked much about it. But I had been talking about it with my parents and sisters since the beginning of June. The last few weekends, I had gone to some stores and went window shopping. Last week, I stepped in to Tiffany's and found some really nice rings for very reasonable prices. I know, Tiffany's! But they actually have some lower priced, high quality items! I was very pleased. So I had the lady order in some rings for me to take a closer look at and they came in on Sunday. So David and Will came with me to give me their opinion and helped me solidify my decision! I am all set with a new engagement ring! I don't think my gf knows about this blog, so I hope she won't find out from this....haha. That would ruin the whole surprise.

But anyway, we hung out and then now I am back and relaxing for a great summer ahead. Cheers!

2 Years now

It's been 2 years in Japan now...I can't believe it! The time has gone by so quickly. I remember the first day I arrived here. It was soooo hot and humid. The sounds, smells, sights..everything was new! I remember stepping off the airplane and feeling tired but happy to have arrived. I was also anxious because I still had no idea what my living and work situation was going to be like in my new city. All I could think about or imagine were the stories from past JETs and advice from other people. I just wanted to know what MY situation was going to be like.

Well here I am 2 years later and things are much different today than they were back then. Here are some of the top things that have changed in my life since being here:
1. Listening/Reading comprehension in Japanese has increased sooo much! I am now a proud holder of the JLPT 3 certificate
2. I have been able to travel to at least 5 new prefectures since being here (Chiba, Tochigi, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Nagano, Fukushima, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagoya, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Shizuoka, Yamanashi) but I still have many more to visit!
3. I have been able to travel to nearby Asian countries (South Korea, Thailand, and soon to be China!)
4. My organizational skills and class leading skills have increased. I am able to think through for organizing my classes/schools and I am also able to think quickly on the spot.
5. I am engaged to a Japanese woman! I will be getting married soon!

These are pretty big changes/events in my life. Who knows what I would be like had I stayed in the US for the past 2 years instead. Either way, I have no regrets whatesoever of coming to Japan and spending my time here! My regrets would have been much much larger had I not come to Japan at all!

I am loving my time here and want to enjoy it as much as I can. I just wanted to mark my 2 years here as a significant step in my life.

Golden Week Update!

So once again, it's been busy and I haven't been posting much lately. But one of the major things that has happened since my last post is Golden Week. This was in the first week of May, and my longtime friend from America came to visit! As I mentioned in my previous post, we had a very busy schedule and indeed we accomplished a lot during his 2 weeks here! Take a look via pictures!

Our trip started off down in Kyoto. We took an early morning bullet train there...which we just barely made by the way! We got to the station just as the train was arriving to take us up to Tokyo and we had only gotten 30 minutes of sleep the night before...literally! So we both passed out on the ride down to Kyoto. It was a great nap.

 We got there and enjoyed some of the sights. Gus also made some new friends who were drunk at 8am!










Our next stop was Hiroshima. This is us bonding with our new friends on Miyajima, or beautiful island translated. There are wild deer walking all over the island!

 We had to take a ferry to get to the island which was only about a 10 minute ride off the mainland.

 This is the famous shrine in the water...but it was covered up because of construction from a storm that had happened a month earlier...

 We made it to a baseball game! The Tokyo Giants vs. Hiroshima Carp

 Next on the agenda was a trip up to Nikko. There we saw many shrines/temples and also one of the top waterfalls in Japan!

 The last stop was a mountain in Chiba called Nokogiriyama (Sawtooth Mountain). It was a beautiful day outside and a great day for hiking!

 Some great sights from the top of the mountain!

Muddy Buddy

Life has been pretty busy lately. I have been back in the groove of working and getting back on track as the new school year started again this past April 2nd. Before that during spring break, my girlfriend and I made it back to the U.S. from 3/23-4/2 for a short trip back to visit my family and to explore Chicago and Milwaukee. It was a great time! I will update with pics and hopefully videos later!

This past Sunday, my longtime childhood friend (friends since we were 4 years old) arrived in Japan to visit! My gf and I went to Narita to pick him up from the airport. I was so excited for him to come and see what Japan was like...aka the motherland! I have known him for nearly all my life, but there was one side of me that he has never seen...which is the part of me where I'm truly from. We have a full itinerary scheduled out and there was no time wasting as soon as he arrived.

On Sunday night we got back to my house around 9:00 or 9:30pm. We stayed up for awhile chatting and catching up. We also started talking about what exactly we would do during his time here. This is when we realized that no matter how much time you set aside, there never seems to be enough time to fit in all that you want to do. After soon going to bed, I woke up the next morning (Monday) at 6:30am and as I was going to the bathroom he was already wide awake and had notified me that he had waken up bright and early at 4am!

On Monday I went to work as usual while him and my gf went around the city a little bit and enjoyed some fresh sashimi in Katsuura. They also went to a grocery store in the afternoon (at which he bought many many things you cannot find in America). Then on Monday evening we went to a yaki tori restaurant with my friends and gf. It was a great time....we stayed there for awhile and then eventually made it on to some karaoke. So the night began at 6pm and continued on until nearly 1:30am!!! It was a work night for most of us so it was pretty rough the next day (on Tuesday). Gus came to shadow me for a couple classes on Tuesday morning and although he is battling a sore throat and the jetlag, he did a great job getting the kids excited and making the class fun. They had lots of good questions and funny questions to ask. The rest of the trip will be cool as we will go explore other parts of Japan and have no day off! There's no time to waste!

Here is the itinerary as follows:
Wednesday-Thursday: Gus is in Tokyo exploring
Friday: We will be in Tokyo together. I thought there was a baseball game but I was mistaken...no game this night. I will have to tell him my mistake and we will figure something else out to do. Saturday: Head to Kyoto and spend the night there.
Sunday: Finish exploring what we didn't get to see and head to Hiroshima in the afternoon. Spend the night there.
Monday: Finish exploring Hiroshima and then head back home.
Tuesday: I have work and Gus will explore my area and relax/do laundry/get ready for the next part of our adventures.
Wednesday: Drive up to Nikko and explore/hiking. Visit the famous temple.
Thursday: Go do some more exploring and see the Kegon waterfalls.
Friday: Climb Nokogiriyama.
Saturday: Explore Chiba in the morning, then go to Narita to see him off.

Although a 2 week vacation sounds like a long time, it really goes by way too quickly. But we will have a blast and there will be lots of good memories.

The reason this post is called "Muddy Buddy" stems back from a story a looong time ago at Gus's house. We were about 4 or 5 years old and I was at his house. It had been raining a lot and there was some flooding in his yard. His father had us come out to help him drain some of the yard by clearing out the water and opening up some drains or sump pump. I'm not sure on those details, but we were basically in large boots (you know those old LaCrosse boots?) and rain jackets. While we were walking through the yard, I ran into a patch of pretty thick mud which had eventually sucked in my boots nearly halfway up my calves. At this point, I couldn't step forward because both my legs were stuck! As I was yelling for help, his father tried pulling me out but it did not work. Eventually he pulled me so hard that my feet slipped out of the boots, leaving the boots in the mud while I was floating in the air being held by his father. Needing the boots back, he put me back in the boots and got a shovel. He literally dug the shovel under my boots and scooped me out boot by boot until freedom. It's a hilarious moment and his father has called me "Muddy" ever since then. I can honestly say that I remember parts of this from my childhood and although it's not a 100% clear memory, I remember the scenery, the moment getting stuck, and being lifted out of the boots and being scooped out with the shovel!

Well, wish us luck on our journeys!

Takenoko (Baby Bamboo)

So it's been way too long since I've posted anything about my experience in Japan. Well, a lot has happened since winter break. During the holiday, I went on a ski trip to Hokkaido and had quite an adventure. It was a trip with the young teachers around the area and was a lot of fun. I got to fly to Hokkaido a total of 3 times in one trip! Haha...the first time we tried flying in there was a big snowstorm. We weren't able to land so we had to fly all the way back to Haneda. We just had to wait for our destiny....see what we had in store for us. After a full day of waiting, we were able to get on a 2nd flight to attempt a landing this time. This was a flight at 5pm and we got on. We approached Hokkaido and were able to successfully land!

The snow in Hokkaido was amazing...I mean amazing! It was the best powder snow I had ever snowboarded on. Overall, a great trip filled with good food, good people, and GREAT snow!

Then I went on a trip to Mt. Fuji onsen (hot springs) with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. We spent the night in Kawaguchi-ko. Then we went to Shizuoka the next day to visit my grandfather's grave. He actually has 2 tombstones in Japan. One in Nagano and the other in Shizuoka. I did not know that his hometown was actually Shizuoka until this past year. All this time I had thought he was born and raised in Nagano! What shocking news!

Then the 3rd day we met up with some relatives who I had met for the first time that were on my aunt's husband's side. We all had a very nice lunch and enjoyed each other's company. Overall, it was a good new year's. One of my friends who also used to live in Japan came back to visit for a few days so we all had fun hanging out as well.

But to bring you up to speed on what's been going on recently...graduation ceremonies and end of the year events. The junior high school's graduation ceremony was last week Friday. It was a rainy and sad day. The students graduated and though it was gloomy, it was a refreshing next steps for the students. They graduated and will now move on to the next step in their lives.

Since they graduated, the 3rd graders do not come to school anymore. It's been kind of quiet and lonely, but there's still the 1st and 2nd graders so it's not too bad. But classes have been pretty slow. It's the end of the year and not too much going on except for end of the year tests and other organizational/administrative things. The other day on Monday, we began watching the movie "Monsters Inc." I forgot about the movie and it reminded me of the good old days, haha.

Today, I had no classes scheduled as the students had tests. So that meant finding things to do for the entire day. However, my principal came up to me this morning and asked me, "Kento! Today's schedule? What do you have?" I replied by saying that I had no scheduled classes and would be preparing for other classes and my adult conversation class that I have on Wednesday evenings. He then said, "Ok, at 8:45, we go takenoko searching!"

I was actually pretty excited. I had never gone to go hunting for takenoko (baby bamboo). It's actually a lot more difficult than it sounds. In Japan, the season for takenoko is in the early spring. And they can be very pricey as it's very manual to look for takenoko. And you do not always get a lot even after searching for awhile. So we went to a nearby bamboo forest from the school. The process of searching for takenoko is mainly rubbing the ground with your feet and feeling it with the balls of your feet. Those who have done it for awhile will know the feeling and not be fooled by other roots/random tree stumps (as I was many times today). I managed to find one small takenoko that was probably about the size of a large thumb! Haha...but at least I found one. Recently, it's been pretty chilly here considering the time of year in Chiba, so not too many takenoko are around. Hopefully in the next few weeks as it warms up, more takenoko will be sprouting and hopefully I will have a chance to go again and find more this time. My principal found about 4 so we came back with 5 total!

Considering the conditions today, not too bad and a great experience. It was pretty fun and was something I didn't expect to be doing on a Wednesday morning. We spent about an hour out there searching and then came back. Not too bad!