my fellow readers (of course I am speaking in the millions:-))
Well I just need to do it, and I need to do it quick. No, it is not quickly packing my bags and taking the red eye back to the States; I am having too much fun here in Japan, although I think I have a job as well. No, I just realized that if I am every going to be caught up in my blog, then I need to just do a quite summary of events up to today. So here I go. By the way, pictures, pictures, and more pictures from these events will be posted sometime this week. I will post them with their respective post, so be on the look out.
Well I left my last post with my first party with the school, so I will continue from there. That weekend (August 27), I went down to Toyoshina, about a half hour away, to go to a JET BBQ at Brandon's house. There was about 20 people there, or so, and we had a great time at his house cooking meat on the grill, and then we went to a Karaoke place later that night.
The next week (Aug. 29-Sept. 2)we had a hiking day for the first year students. We went hiking in the mountains for the whole day. The location was about 20 minutes from the school. It was a lovely time just to have a beautiful day. However, along the path I did get stung by 3 bees through my wool socks and right on my right ankle. So, for the next few days my ankle was really swollen and I couldn't walk that well.
Also that same week we had the yearly painting day. Painting day is where a student goes to some part of the village to paint a picture all day. Then, for the upcoming school festival, all the paintings are displayed. The teachers paint as well, and with all of my artistic ability, I tried to do a black and white painting of the mountains in the Chinese tradition (even though I am in Japan) with Lao Tzu riding on an oxen on a mountain path. I am not sure how well it will be received, but I know I will be buying a picture frame to hang it in my house after the festival.
The next weekend (Sept 3) I first went down to the Jet Block 3 party near Lake すわ(Suwa). We had a very good time at the いざかいや(izakaiya, bar) and then went to go hang out by the lake till pretty late at night. The next day I went to Matsumoto with Craig to go meet Sarah for lunch. After that, we meet some more people who work down in しおじり(Shiojiri) and went to a pretty cool campsite near おまちし(Omachi City). This was not a proper campsite, but rather just a place off the road that has a cool atmosphere. Everyone (25 people) set up camp under this huge rock that served as our roof. We had a generator going, so there was music playing all night long. At this party, though, I did meet a few people of interest. First, I met Matt (aka Sheep), who the party was for (it was his birthday). Now Sheep used to live in my house and work at my school a few years back, so that was quite interesting. But then, I also meet Randall, who I had skied with back when I came to 白馬(Hakuba) a few years back. Just randomly I heard someone call out the name "Randall," but I thought it couldn't be him. Then when I was able to look at his face, I knew it was him. It was great to meet up with him, and he has helped introduce me to many of the main players up in the 白馬(Hakuba) area.
Ok, I am getting a little tired of writing, but I will keep going to finish up my quick wrap up. In 日本語 Japanese, you would tell me to : 願ばて(Ganbate), or keep my chin up. Okay, now you say 願ばて(Ganbate) with a loud voice. Oh, thank you so much; now I can continue.
So now it is the weekend of Sept. 10, and this was the big weekend for the Block Five party in 松本(Matsumoto). The night began in a place called Sunny Place Cafe, where about sixty people crowded into the little place. For 2 hours we had のみほだい(nomihodai, all you can eat and drink). It was a great time and saw a lot of people that I had met before, and also met some new people. After Sunny, some people went to the Sonic night club, and the other, more cool people, including myself of course, went to the Old Rock to have a few more drinks and just hang out. Once that place was about ready to close, some of us wanted to stay out all night just for the fun of it. So Dennis, Ryan, Craig and I went to Lawsons, a convience store, purchased a few six packs of beer, and then went down to the train station. Now Japan, although they have a zero tolerance for drinking and driving, do allow the public consumption of alcoholic beverages. This makes it nice when you just want to hang out in a park, or by the station, and have a few drinks with friends. Back to that night, so after hanging out at the train station we then found an all night cafe, had some snacks, and just chilled until about 5:30 in the morning. At 5:30 we walked back to the train station and caught the first train back home at around 6:30. I got back home at 7, and then preceded to take a long (five hour) nap.
Now the finally weekend in my quick wrap up. This weekend is for Sept. 17. Earlier during the week I got a call from my friend Randall (remember him) and he told me about an adventure race that was going on in Hakuba. The race was called the HIAQ (Hakuba International Adventure Quest) and included mountain biking, kayaking, and orientearing. I did not participate in the race, but I did work as a volunteer. I got there on Sat. night to the main base camp. It was located on a small ski mountain called みねがた(Minegata) and the camp was located near the top of the mountain. Since there were no housed around, they had a stage set up with both live music and a DJ later that night. I stayed up quite late (I find myself doing that on the weekends) and then got up early, 7, to prepare for the race. My main job was to check people off at Checkpoint 3 during the race, but after everyone had passed my check point I went to the kayaking area to help with the boats. Later that evening, we had the awards ceremony. After that, all the people who helped in the race went into 白馬(Hakuba) to go have dinner at Uncle Stevens. We had a great time there talking about the weekend events. I stayed there Sunday night, because we had holiday on Monday.
Okay, I did it. I am finally caught up on my blog. Now, I can write about events as they happen. Sweet. Cheers.
As mentioned early, pictures will be posted this week under their respective post, so be on the look out.
Well I just need to do it, and I need to do it quick. No, it is not quickly packing my bags and taking the red eye back to the States; I am having too much fun here in Japan, although I think I have a job as well. No, I just realized that if I am every going to be caught up in my blog, then I need to just do a quite summary of events up to today. So here I go. By the way, pictures, pictures, and more pictures from these events will be posted sometime this week. I will post them with their respective post, so be on the look out.
Well I left my last post with my first party with the school, so I will continue from there. That weekend (August 27), I went down to Toyoshina, about a half hour away, to go to a JET BBQ at Brandon's house. There was about 20 people there, or so, and we had a great time at his house cooking meat on the grill, and then we went to a Karaoke place later that night.
The next week (Aug. 29-Sept. 2)we had a hiking day for the first year students. We went hiking in the mountains for the whole day. The location was about 20 minutes from the school. It was a lovely time just to have a beautiful day. However, along the path I did get stung by 3 bees through my wool socks and right on my right ankle. So, for the next few days my ankle was really swollen and I couldn't walk that well.
Also that same week we had the yearly painting day. Painting day is where a student goes to some part of the village to paint a picture all day. Then, for the upcoming school festival, all the paintings are displayed. The teachers paint as well, and with all of my artistic ability, I tried to do a black and white painting of the mountains in the Chinese tradition (even though I am in Japan) with Lao Tzu riding on an oxen on a mountain path. I am not sure how well it will be received, but I know I will be buying a picture frame to hang it in my house after the festival.
The next weekend (Sept 3) I first went down to the Jet Block 3 party near Lake すわ(Suwa). We had a very good time at the いざかいや(izakaiya, bar) and then went to go hang out by the lake till pretty late at night. The next day I went to Matsumoto with Craig to go meet Sarah for lunch. After that, we meet some more people who work down in しおじり(Shiojiri) and went to a pretty cool campsite near おまちし(Omachi City). This was not a proper campsite, but rather just a place off the road that has a cool atmosphere. Everyone (25 people) set up camp under this huge rock that served as our roof. We had a generator going, so there was music playing all night long. At this party, though, I did meet a few people of interest. First, I met Matt (aka Sheep), who the party was for (it was his birthday). Now Sheep used to live in my house and work at my school a few years back, so that was quite interesting. But then, I also meet Randall, who I had skied with back when I came to 白馬(Hakuba) a few years back. Just randomly I heard someone call out the name "Randall," but I thought it couldn't be him. Then when I was able to look at his face, I knew it was him. It was great to meet up with him, and he has helped introduce me to many of the main players up in the 白馬(Hakuba) area.
Ok, I am getting a little tired of writing, but I will keep going to finish up my quick wrap up. In 日本語 Japanese, you would tell me to : 願ばて(Ganbate), or keep my chin up. Okay, now you say 願ばて(Ganbate) with a loud voice. Oh, thank you so much; now I can continue.
So now it is the weekend of Sept. 10, and this was the big weekend for the Block Five party in 松本(Matsumoto). The night began in a place called Sunny Place Cafe, where about sixty people crowded into the little place. For 2 hours we had のみほだい(nomihodai, all you can eat and drink). It was a great time and saw a lot of people that I had met before, and also met some new people. After Sunny, some people went to the Sonic night club, and the other, more cool people, including myself of course, went to the Old Rock to have a few more drinks and just hang out. Once that place was about ready to close, some of us wanted to stay out all night just for the fun of it. So Dennis, Ryan, Craig and I went to Lawsons, a convience store, purchased a few six packs of beer, and then went down to the train station. Now Japan, although they have a zero tolerance for drinking and driving, do allow the public consumption of alcoholic beverages. This makes it nice when you just want to hang out in a park, or by the station, and have a few drinks with friends. Back to that night, so after hanging out at the train station we then found an all night cafe, had some snacks, and just chilled until about 5:30 in the morning. At 5:30 we walked back to the train station and caught the first train back home at around 6:30. I got back home at 7, and then preceded to take a long (five hour) nap.
Now the finally weekend in my quick wrap up. This weekend is for Sept. 17. Earlier during the week I got a call from my friend Randall (remember him) and he told me about an adventure race that was going on in Hakuba. The race was called the HIAQ (Hakuba International Adventure Quest) and included mountain biking, kayaking, and orientearing. I did not participate in the race, but I did work as a volunteer. I got there on Sat. night to the main base camp. It was located on a small ski mountain called みねがた(Minegata) and the camp was located near the top of the mountain. Since there were no housed around, they had a stage set up with both live music and a DJ later that night. I stayed up quite late (I find myself doing that on the weekends) and then got up early, 7, to prepare for the race. My main job was to check people off at Checkpoint 3 during the race, but after everyone had passed my check point I went to the kayaking area to help with the boats. Later that evening, we had the awards ceremony. After that, all the people who helped in the race went into 白馬(Hakuba) to go have dinner at Uncle Stevens. We had a great time there talking about the weekend events. I stayed there Sunday night, because we had holiday on Monday.
Okay, I did it. I am finally caught up on my blog. Now, I can write about events as they happen. Sweet. Cheers.
As mentioned early, pictures will be posted this week under their respective post, so be on the look out.
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