going to 本城　(Honjo)

I am back, and now back for good

2007-01-12T10:03:00.000+09:00

So, many things have changed in my life since I moved back to Japan, and more importantly since I have written anything in my blog.

Now I don't tell the story as well as my fiancee, but now I am getting married. Is that short enough? Maybe I will post the whole story, with more details and fun stuff, but not today.

This past Wednesday, I went to Nagoya City. It was a fun day trip and enjoy the photos.

ok, some edited photos

2006-02-23T14:01:00.000+09:00

Ok, here are some photos that I have edited. Some were just made black and white. Some were made partially black/white and color. And then others were given a "pop art" feel. Any comments are good comments, so leave them if you want.

slater

cool news

2006-02-23T08:54:00.000+09:00

Well, my week is almost over (I mean my work week; I still have two days of skiing ahead of me). So, this week has been busy, and it might be a late night at the office tonight. Next week, I will be starting my first adult class here in Japan. My first class will be for five weeks in a row, and will have around 20 people. Not really sure who is going to come, but I think it will be a real fun time. So this week, I need to put the finishing touches on my material for the first class. Now it is a little difficult to know exactly what materials to put on the worksheets, but after next week it shouldn't be too difficult. Like most things, I just like to have a general idea of what I want to do, and then I just wing-it.

Well also this week, I have had people over for dinner two nights in a row. On Tuesday, I had a couple of Japanese friends over for dinner; Kesami and Michiru. Both work at the restaurant on the top of the mountain in the next town over. I meant them at a party we had at the restaurant after I did a Christmas event a while back. They can speak English, and I can speak a little Japanese. So, now we trade English and Japanese lessons once a week. I hope that this will improve my Japanese. I cooked pasta, homemade meat sauce, and a salad.

Then, last night, I had a group of friends from Toyoshina over for dinner. This is the regular Wed. night dinner club, and this week it was at my house. It is always fun to have dinner with these friends. This week we made gyoza (stuffed Chinese dumplings), salad, Cha-han(Fried Rice), and dessert; very good I might add.

So, for three night in a row, I am doing dishes. And my back hurts. Do you wanna know why? It is because my kitchen counter tops are 26 and a half inches high (about mid/upper thigh on my body). This is extremely low for me? So usually I have to take a break from washing every 10 or 15 mins. For reference, most kitchen counter tops are 36 inches high in America. What a difference.

This week I have also been playing with my photo editor on my computer and have come up with some interesting photos. These will be posted later today.

AND NOW FOR THE COOL NEWS. On March 13, I will be in a movie playing a Russian diplomat. The movie is called "Silk" and is directed by Francois Girad ("The Red Violin") and will be staring Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean), Alfred Molina, and Michael Pitt. You can go to http://imdb.com/title/tt0494834/ and see a little information about the movie. On March 5 or 6 I will go to Matsumoto to have my costume fit. Right now it is being made in Italy. Pretty cool, huh.

slater

ok, tomorrow

2006-02-21T15:38:00.000+09:00

Well, how much times flies by here in Japan. My weekdays and weekends just go so quickly, I simply don't know where times goes. Maybe in Japan, time moves at a different pace, or maybe I am just having a fantastic time (although no scientific investigation has yet to take place, I think it is the latter of the two).

Any who, I have been working on some photos and trying to do some creative things. It is a lot of fun, and after I finish working on a few photos, I will load them up tomorrow. Critiquing and praising is always welcome.

Also, I will post some information on a pretty cool thing that I will be doing on March 14, my birthday. All I have to say is that I love living in Japan. As you say in Japanese, 明日ね(あしたね, ashita ne); translation; see you tomorrow.

a beautiful morning

2006-02-10T09:44:00.000+09:00

It was a beautiful morning and I had a little time before work, so I ran into my house and got my camera. I got two really cool shots.

The first photo shows a the blue sky with the sun shining over the mountains; this photo was taken about 8 in the monrning and is looking westward.

The second photo was taken at the same time, but is looking eastward. As of now, I am happy with this photo, but not thrilled. I think that I could do a little more. First, I think I need to straighten the photo a little. Second I need to work on the over-exposed highlight in the top right corner.

Well in additon to these two photos, I also was walking back into my house, when I caught a look at my car and the ski rack on top. For some reason I just wanted to take some up close pictures. These are the photos directly from my camera, although now I am doing some digital darkroom editing on them.

slater

in the next couple of days

2006-02-08T13:23:00.000+09:00

Well I have been a little busy this week working on projects and such, but within the next few days, I will write a couple of different posts. I have some good stuff to talk about.

slater,

another excellent weekend

2006-02-06T09:48:00.000+09:00

As usual, I had another fantastic weekend here in Nagano, Japan. The week just flew by; all of the sudden, I realized that it was Friday morning and another weekend of skiing was just a day away. Who could ask for more.

I left for Hakuba early, early on Saturday morning. The traffic wasn't bad getting there, so I got to the chair lift at about 7:15. This morning, though, there were quite a few cars in the parking lot; Needless to say, I was a bit surprised. Most of the time when I get to the lift early in the morning, the lot is empty. So I went up to the ticket office to purchase my two day pass, and then I realized why it was so busy.

This weekend, there was a race taking place on the mountain. While most races are exciting to watch, this one was special. It was a two day Para- Olympic style event where racers had some sort of handicap. Some racers only had one leg, some were blind, and some had no use of there legs. So how did they do it?

Well the racers with only one leg just had one ski. It was amazing to see them go down the mountain. The racers that were blind would ski with a buddy. Although I didn't see them race first hand, I have been told that their buddy will ski ahead of them and use a microphone to tell the blind racers whether to go straight or turn. And finally, the racers with no use of their legs would ski sitting down on a special sit with a complex spring/balancing mechanism that was attached to one ski. All in all, I was completely amazed by the skill of these skiers. Sometimes I have a difficult time just skiing one two skis with use of both of my legs.

Any who, this weekend I was also shown some new tree/avalanche gate runs on Happo O-ne. Now that I have my new skis, I am getting quite a bit better at navigating these runs. However, skiing through the trees and stuff is a lot of hard work; much harder than skiing on the groomed runs. But to tell you the truth, there are a 100 times more fun. It is a whole different world when you feel like you are just alone in the mountain.

Well here are some pictures of the handicap skiers.

slater

Jan. 2006 posts

2006-02-01T07:08:00.000+09:00

So far, I have added many new posts to my blog, including a good number of pictures. So you don't miss out on any of my posts, make sure to visit the archived link on the right hand side bar to view Jan. posts. On Feb. 1, they will be archived and removed from the front page.

slater

skis

2006-01-31T20:36:00.000+09:00

Yep, I have three pairs of skis now. I came to Japan with only my ski boots, and within 6 months I have acquired three pairs of skis. Here is the run down

Atomic ETL 168cm with Atomic s310 bindings:

I purchased these skis used from a friend that I met in Hakuba. It was coming to the end of Sept., and I needed to get a pair of skis before the ski season started. Luckily, I found a guy that was moving back home and needed to sell a pair of skis, so I bought them. These are pretty good skis, for carvers (see below). They turn pretty well on the groomed track. They were a good choice for my FIRST pair of skis.

Volkl P40 178cm with Rossginol bindings:

These skis were free; zip, zero, nada dinero. I went to a bar one night with friends from Toyoshina, about 25 mins from my house. At the bar there was a live band playing, and my friends was friends with one of the guys in the bad. After the show, my friend and I went to the musicians house to because my friend was going to get a snowboard. When we got there, his house was like a ski shop. At first he brought out two snowboards, and then he said, "wait, I think I have another one." In total, there were three snowboards and a new pair of bindings; my friend was given 2 snowboards (one of the brand new) and a pair of new bindings. However, in addition to the 3 snowboards, he also had 2 or 3 pairs of skis. One pair was too short (brand new Atomic 156cm), but the other were the 2 or 3 year old Volkl P40s. He ended up giving me the P40s; pretty cool if you ask me.

These skis are quite fun, and fast on the groomed stuff. They are a little too thin to go off piece. Also, these skis are designed for the moguls, something that I have yet to really get good at. I guess having these skis will give me a good excuse to get good at moguls.

Volkl Karma 177cm with Marker 12.0 Free Ride bindings:

These are the skis that I bought new from a great shop in Hakuba called Rappi. As I started skiing more and more this season, I realized that I wanted to do more than just ski down the groomed track; I wanted to go off-piste and into the powered. The carving skis would just not allow me to do this. When I would try, I would just sink in the powered. Also, I wanted to start doing some easy tricks, like switches and 360s. Once again, carving skis are not designed for this.

So in come Fat Twin Tips. Fat refers to the fact that the waist (center) of the ski measures 87mm; most carving skis measure between 67mm and 70mm in the waist. Since the waist is wider, that means that the tip and the tail of the ski are wider. The wider or fatter skis allows one to "float" on top of the powder, which is amazing. Now, I would mention that my skis are classified as freeride/all mountain skis: skis that are able to do the park (half pipe, kickers, etc) as well as the powder. Some powder only fat skis can measure up to 125mm in the waist; that is huge!

The second difference in these skis is that they are twin-tips. Twin-tips refer to the fact that the tip of the ski and the back of the ski are similar; both ends are rounded and flair up. As I was thinking about it, it is almost like a smaller version of a snowboard. A snowboarder can "switch" (pull a 180 degree turn on the ground) between goofy and regular stance with ease because of the snowboards flared up ends; now I can do the same on my skis.

In total, with the fatness and twin-tips of my new skis, I don't think I will ever go back to skiing on carvers anymore. I just don't see the point. I can do everything I can on my new skis that I could do on my older skis and more. So, I think I will see the pair of Atomic skis, but I just might keep my Volkl P40s so that I can practice my moguls. Oh yeah, these marker bindings I got for my new skis are amazing; they are made out of titanium, so they are light. When I start doing some serious back country skiing this spring, this will be nice when I have to climb up the mountain with my skis because there is no ski lifts to take me up!!

slater

白馬(Hakuba) in the morning

2006-01-31T14:00:00.000+09:00

So, I bought a season pass to go skiing in 白馬(Hakuba), as mentioned earlier (I go every weekend!!). On my first weekend of skiing this season, I got to the slopes at around 7am. I was so excited that I couldn't help but leave real early in the morning. I am glad that I did, because I got these wonderful shots of the sun rising over the mountains.

slater

town pictures, 筑北村

2006-01-31T09:25:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures from around my town I took maybe a month or so ago. If you remember, I know live in 筑北村 (Chikuhoku). The village named changed back in October when 本城村(Honjo), 坂北村(Sakakita), and 坂井村(Sakai) merged together to form one village.

For some reason, I really like the picture of the cement truck going down the road and the women walking down the path with her dog.

slater

nikon d70s

2006-01-31T09:14:00.000+09:00

As I mentioned, I bought a new camera here in Japan: the Nikon D70s. It is an amazing camera. This is not only my first SLR camera, but it is also my first DSLR(Digital SLR). SLR stands for "single light reflex" and deals with the ability of the image coming into the lens to be reflected 3 times, I believe, directly into the view finder. Not sure of all the details, but I know that it is a good thing.

So I have always wanted to have a cool camera, and now I do. However, using this new camera is a learning experience every time I take a picture. There are quite a few, by which a mean a thousand, options to adjust the camera before taking a picture. Compound that with all the post-production possibilities and almost anything is possible.

Below are a few pictures of the camera. In addition to the body, I also purchases two lenses: a 28-80mm Nikkor DX and a 55-200mm Nikkor DX (Nikkor is the name of the Nikon branded lenses; DX refers to the fact that the lenses are CPU controlled. A CPU lens can send information about aperture, zoom, etc to the camera body, which then stores it in the meta-data for the picture.)

Oh yeah, I should mention something that I read on dpreview.com (an excellent digital photography website). Konica Minolta will no longer be making DSLR cameras under their name. They plan to sell all their assets to Sony Corp. From a Konica Minolta press release: "In photo business, represented by the silver-halide photography such as color film and color paper, we have produced JapanÃ¢€™s first photographic paper in 1903, and JapanÃ¢€™s first color film in 1940, thus pioneering joy of photography for more than a century. In 1984, we introduced the worldÃ¢€™s first compact washless photofinishing system known as a minilab system. The minilabs contributed to the expansion of worldwide photographic market by making photos closer to consumers and amazingly shortening delivery time." It is just too bad.

slater

this was pretty cool

2006-01-30T16:32:00.000+09:00

Well here at school, every now and then a teacher is asked to give a demo class. Usually this is nothing special, at least as far as I can tell becuase I usually can't understand the entire lecture of the class. Well it was different with 野村先生(Nomura Sensei) gave his demo class (He is the guy in the background in dark blue). Before I go on, I should also mention that 野村先生　was the champion for the Matsumoto area.

So what is he doing in the picture and what was he champion of??? KENDO. Yep, Kendo; it is sort of like fencing except for pratice they use bambo swords. These swords weigh a good amount and I would image hurt a little more than the thin metal blades used in fencing, although I have never tried.

Any who, it was quite fun to watch this demo class. The Kendo pratice begain by a short meditation period followed by a short lecture. I knew that they were trying to clear their minds before the Kendo pratice matches, but I am not sure the exact instructions during the lecture. If I had a guess, it might be don't get hurt as these large and heavy bambo poles are being swung at your face, or something similar.

And so it begain. Students put on all the gear: a helmet with a metal face guard, a plastic torso/chest guard, some padded gloves, and their own swords. Putting on all the gear took a little time, as there were plenty of things to be tied, and straps to be straped.

The fighting began. Although this was my first expereince with Kendo, I think I would know how to beat a Junior High School Samurai if I was forced to fight one on my walk home from school. (I do live in the mountains, so there are some traditional Samurai that have seemed to survive through the ages. The trick to not confronting them in a death match is to give off loud grunts to show you status. The louder and deeper the grunt, the better.)

Back to the strategy. In all the matches, it went like this. The two would face off for a couple of seconds. "A" would make the first move. "B" would block the move. "B" would deliver the fatal blow to the top of the skull or to the side of the neck and yell "Huggghhh," or "haaaaiiii." And repeat.

Yep, that's the trick. Just wait for the other guy to make the first attack, then block, kill, yell. Quite easy.

click on my ads

2006-01-30T15:04:00.000+09:00

I am trying something new. I have put some ads on my blog through Google Adsense. I don't think that the ads look too bad (they do blend in pretty well). Plus they might help me earn a little extra cash. So, just click on the ads when you visit the site and see if you find anything interesting. Already, I have found some cool websites that might even make my blog a little better and more exposed.

slater

skiing, skiing, and more skiing

2006-01-30T09:13:00.000+09:00

Well, my first winter in Japan has been filled mainly with one thing:skiing. I have skied over 20 days this season so far (and it is only the end of January!!). On Saturday, when I went to the lift station at Happo O-ne, I used my last two day tickets in the ticket book (every time you go skiing with a season pass, they take a ticket out for each day). I was wondering how I was going to get my second ticket book for next weekend. At first, I thought I would have to go through quite a hassle that weekend. Stamping and writing my name numerous times. But to my surprise, the I was just handed a new book. And then there was skiing.

Well I have only been skiing for 4 years, but this is my breakout season. I have skied so many days, that I have improved dramatically. And on Saturday, I started to get a little bit more adventurous. At first I started skiing a few easy tree runs off the cat track next to the women's downhill run. Not too bad, and I felt pretty good. However, sometimes I just can't make the turns quick enough, so I have to stop and reposition myself. So the day was off to a good start. I did some more runs, and was pleased to find a little powder here and there.

And then I saw it. The open face of Happo. Of course it is out of bounds, but I saw a few people go down it. So I said to myself, I can do that!!. I took the lift up, skied under the rope, and I was there. It was just beautiful. I meant a couple of Australian snowboarders who were also going to ski the open face. I went down. I skied through amazing powder. I felt like a pro. Once you got down the bottom you had to maintain your speed as you traversed along a hill until you hit a cat track to take you back to the lift. As I was getting back to the cat track, I took a high line to keep my speed. I saw the cat track, and then I saw that I was going over a drop of about 5 feet. I couldn't stop, and as I went over the drop I did a half flip into a huge pile of powder. I flipped my skis over my head and kept on skiing. It was great, and to boot other people saw my performance and were impressed. I did the same run two more times; sweet.

Well I think that Sat. was my best day of skiing so far in my season (I think I say that every weekend, which is a good thing). Next weekend will be more of the same.

slater

powder

2006-01-28T13:56:00.000+09:00

this run is so sweet!!first 2 times this season and more to come:)

New Direction for BLog

2006-01-26T15:21:00.000+09:00

Well, well, well. I have found it quite difficult to write for this blog. Can't really point at any specific reason; well maybe laziness. But that doesn't matter because this blog is going to go into a new direction. It will be transforming from a text based blog to a PHOTO BLOG.

A Photo blog, you ask. Well it is fairly simple (the name explains all). Photos will tell the story. There might be some text alongside photos. However, photos will be the main content. I have done this for several reasons.

First, it seems that I would never want to write for the blog.

Second, I bought a new digital SLR camera (Nikon D70s), so I am taking a lot of pictures.

Third, I found this great, FREE, photo hosting site. It is absolutely amazing. Not only can I store over 2.0 gigabytes of photos, but I can also do something really, really cool. I can take a picture on my mobile camera phone, attach it to an email on my phone. Add a little text. And then have it posted to my Blog. Remember, this is all from my mobile phone. Pretty cool, I think.

Well I think that this will be a viable plan. However, I do need you help. I need you to leave comments and such. Read my Blog so that I know I am doing something worthwhile.

Slater,
Zach

mobile post

2006-01-24T08:52:00.000+09:00

testing mobile post!!

testing zoto photos

2006-01-24T08:40:00.000+09:00

This is a test of my new free Zoto service.

Testing Zoto

2006-01-24T08:38:00.000+09:00

Testing Zoto

Flickr

2005-12-15T13:24:00.000+09:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

edits in progress

2005-09-20T11:37:00.000+09:00

Due to the fact that I write most of my posts on the fly and without much brainstorming, I have noticed that I make some grammatical errors. Since I caught up my readers in the last post, I now can go back to previous posts and add, replace, or cut out confusing sentences slash words. Although I will make many changes, please just leave a comment if you would like clarification on an event.

i just need to do it

2005-09-20T10:52:00.000+09:00

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.

my first school えんかい(enkai)

2005-09-14T09:49:00.000+09:00

This particular post covers Aug. 24, 2005.

After my first few days of classes, I had my first えんかい(enkai), which simply means a party. I was pretty excited about this event, and I was not disappointed in the least. Now, the traditional Japanese えんかい(enkai) occurs a bit different than most parties, as I shall explain.

Now, usually every Wed. we have a meeting after classes are done in the office. All of it is in Japanese, but nonetheless I sit there and listen, and usually do some work on the computer. The meeting started at 3:30 and ended at around 4:45. After which, I went home, took a shower, and got changed. I arrived back at school at 5:30, to check my email and stuff before the party was to begin at 6:00. At around 5:50, my Japanese teacher told me that I needed to give a speech at the opening of the party. I thought to myself, ok, that is do able, but then he added one slight caveat: it needed to be in Japanese. While I had given my intoductin in Japanese, I had an idea what I would say, but I did not know how to say it. I told him this, and so we got on the computer and he translated my English in Japanese. So all is well.

At 6:00 on the dot, everyone assembled at the party. The actual location was on the school grounds in a little building that sits off center in the middle courtyard. During school, this building is used for counseling and such, but it also serves as the teachers’ party house, which is quite cool. I don't think you would ever have such a place at any of the public schools I went to. So then the party began. First, Mr. Yamanagishi served as the Master of Ceremonies, first introducing the vice principal, and then the principal. First the principal gave his speech, all in English, which welcomed me to the school. I felt honored and really happy that he had taken the time to write and give this speech (If I can find the text of this speech, I will post it). And then it was my turn. While the principal had probably spent a significant amount of time and effort into his speech, I had spent all but 10 mins. Although I spoke a little slow Japanese, I believe that all of the teachers understood what I was saying, so I was pleased. Although I don't have the translation, here is the speech that I gave:

ここにきて、１かげつ、しかたっていませんが、みなさんが、わたしを、うけいれてくれて、なんねんも、いるような、かんじがします。みなさん、とても、ナイスで、かんたんな、えいごや、にほんごで、こみゅにけーしょんができそうです。よろしく　おねがいします。

So then the party began, and it was a really good time. The food was really good, a huge variety of dishes. And of course there was also a bit of alcohol, which included ベール(Beer), さけ(sake), and しょちゅ(shochu), which is a type of Japanese disstled liqur. Everyone was eating and drinking and having a good time, until it was a few minutes before 8:00. All of the sudden, all the teachers got up, and then went to the health center and turned on the TV. At first I was a bit confused and perplexed, but then I understood what was happening.

Well it seems that there is a Japanese show on TV that goes around to small villages all over the country to talk to the residents and explore what the town had to offer. After seeing this show, it reminded me of across Indiana, except with a weird Japanese kind of humor that I have yet to understand. I digress. The reason all the teachers wanted to see the show is that on this episode, there were coming to さかきたむら(Sakakita Village), which is the town that I live in and one of the two towns that make up the Junior High School. So, for a half hour, we watched the program and it was a great time. After which, we went back to the party, had more food and drink, and also had a great time. Cheers.

first week of classes and such

2005-09-06T14:19:00.000+09:00

This particular blog covers Aug. 22. Well my first week of classes at せいなん(Seinan) Junior High School went quite well and it was very exciting. Starting on Monday there was a school assembly in the morning. The school assembly served many functions, and included speeches by the class leaders from each grade, a musical performance, a speech by the principal, as well as my speech. Once again, I had to give a speech. This time, though, it was a mix of Japanese and English. During the English part, the Japanese English teacher translated for me. Here is the speech I gave:

おはよう　ございます。はじめまして。わたし　は　ZACH SUNDSTROM です。わたし　は　AMERIKA の　INDIANA から　きました。はやく　しょくいん　の　なかま　として　かつやく　できると　よいと　おもいます。よろしく　おねがいします。 I am very excited to come to Seinan J.H.S. and to become a member of this group. It is with great pleasure that you have accepted me into your school community. Being so, I hope to achieve numerous goals during my stay in Nagano. First and foremost, I will strive to become an effective assistant language instructor.　Hopefully, the students will understand the fundamentals of this English language in the areas of not only reading and writing, but especially in the area of conversation. Being a native English teacher, I believe, will provide a valuable asset to the classroom. Furthermore, through team teaching with うすい　せんせい, I hope that the classroom will not only be informative, as it ought to be, but that it will also be a fun and exciting learning environment. Beyond my important role in the English classroom, though, my opportunity to be at Seinan gives me a chance to interact with you the students. Not only will I be a teacher in the classroom, but I also hope to participate in club activities. I love to play all types of sports, including volleyball, soccer, and swimming. Furthermore, I have other club interests, such as music and art. Finally, I hope to start an English Club where we could do fun activities related to the English language and English speaking countries. In summary, I hope to be an interactive participant in and out of the classroom. However, I do have one request to all the students. That one request is to talk to me, ask me questions, and ask me to participate in club activities. I am sure I will be happy to oblige. ども　ありがとう　ございました。

It does seem like I have to give quite a few speeches, but now I am building up a bank of pre-written speeches that I can use on a short notice. Sometimes I am only given a few minutes to prepare before giving a speech.

During my first class for each grade I gave a little PowerPoint presentation that included many pictures and facts about me. Once I got through with the presentation I still had a few minutes to spare that I didn't plan for (as if I planed for anything). So I had to think of something for the students to do. Well I didn’t want them to have to listen to me any longer, so I asked them to pair up in groups of two and think of a few questions to ask me. A lot of the questions were like "What is your favorite Japanese food," or, "How old are you?" But, in at least the first or second question, each class asked: "Do you have a girlfriend?" To answer the question, I at first looked a little confused, and then I began to count to 5 on my hand. It seemed to get a kick out of the students.

The rest of classes seemed to go real well and I felt that I was getting the hang of the whole teacher thing, even without formal teacher education. Classes are fun, and the kids, at least 99% of the time, want to learn English. Well, my next post awaits.

nagano orientation, and an unexpected trip

2005-09-06T08:10:00.000+09:00

As per my previous blog, the next few posts will be updates from a while ago. This particular post is starting from Aug 19 and I will not use かんじ(kanji) in this blog. かんじ(kanji) are Chinese characters. For example, Monday looks like 月曜日 in kanji, but Monday looks like げつようび(getsuyoubi) in hiragana. Until I learn more kanji, I will not use it. If this plan is good, please leave me a comment. If this plan is bad, please leave me a comment. I am hear to serve my readers, because I know there are so demanding.

On Friday morning, I went into school to give my official introduction to the teachers of Seinan. Although I already new all the teachers by this point in time, it was a ceremony that was quite special. It began when I went into こちせんせい(the Principal's) office to wait to enter the main office. As I entered the room, all the teachers were standing at their desks and then the speeches began. きょうとせんせい(Vice Principal) gave the first speech, followed by こちせんせい and then I gave my speech. Although I will not give the full translation, here is what I said in Japanese: "おはよう　ございます。はじめまして。わたし　は　ZACH SUNDSTROM です。わたし　は　AMERIKA の　INDIANA から　きました。はやく　しょくいん　の　なかま　として　かつやく　できると　よいと　おもいます。よろしく　おねがいします。" After this speech, I then left for the train station with my English teacher 臼井せんせい(Usui) for my weekend trip to Nagano.

Now I had to go to Nagano for a couple of reason. In the morning/afternoon, we had the official Nagano Orientation meeting. While being the first time that all new Jets in Nagano were together, as well as quite a few second and third years as well, on the whole the meeting was pointless and very boring. The only highlight was the visit by the governor, たなかさん(Tanaka), who is a very nice man. I don't want to get into Japanese politics, because I don't know a lot, but I do know that　たなかさん(Takana) is a very interested politician not only in Nagano Prefecture, but in all of Japan (I am sure if you google Tanaka, you will find lot of information, like he was a very famous author and left writing to become the youngest governor in Japan). I digress. There was light at the end of the tunnel, though, and that was the party after the meeting.

The えんかい(enkai), or party, took place at the Washington Plaza Hotel which is located downtown. The いざかや(izakaya), or bar, offered something called のみほだい(nomihodi). The concept for のみほだい(nomihodi) revolves around everyone paying a certain amount, usually around 3400 yen, and you can eat and drink as much as you want for two hours. At this place, the food was buffet style, but it was very good food and tasted nothing like an Old Country Buffet or anything like that. Plus, you served yourself your own beer. However, you did so with an automatic machine. First you place your glass under the spot and hit a button. The glass raises and then tilts to a 45 degree angle, the perfect angle for pouring beer. Once the glass is halfway full, the glass moves to a 90 degree angle, which is also the proper method. Just as the beer is an inch and a half from the top of the glass, the beer stops and then a nice head is put in the glass. For me, though, I thing the Japanese like a little too much head in their beer, so I would stop the process early.

Beyond the wonders of the automatic tap system, and there are certainly more I could mention, I also did get to meet a look of other Jets at the party. This was probably the best thing about the entire ながの(Nagano) Orientation . At the party, I did meet the girl who lives and works in はくば(Hakuba). If you remember, I went to はくば(Hakuba) a few years ago to ski with the Indianapolis Ski Club and now I meant someone who lives where I want to go every weekend this winter. Sarah, who also loves the winter, is also a huge skier, so it was great to meet her. I should note that most Jets it seems are snowboarders, which is not bad, but sometimes it is hard for skiers to ski with snowboarders. After the party was over, I went back to Peter's place, with whom I roomed with in Tokyo, and we barely, by 1 min, made the last train. The next part of my busy weekend was a surprise to me, but nonetheless a welcomed and happy time.

As I said earlier, Friday at the party I met Sarah who lives in はくば(Hakuba). Saturday, I got a text message from her asking if I wanted to back to her house with a couple of other Jets. I could not pass up the opportunity. Sarah and her friends picked me up at the station and we drove to はくば(Hakuba). Now, when I was in 日本(Japan) a few years back, when we went to ながの(Nagano), we took the same highway that we took on Saturday. So during the whole ride I remembered a lot of the same scenery. However, once we got to the actual town and were able to see the mountains, I instantly remembered はくば(Hakuba); the only difference was that the scenery was green instead of covered in a blanket of white. That night, we went to dinner at Uncle Stevens, which is said to be the best Mexican place not only in ながの(Nagano), but in all of 日本(Japan) as well. It is also another place that I visited a few years back.

That was my first weekend with a lot of traveling and fun times, but there is certainly more to come. Now it wasn't too bad sitting down and writing all of this, but it did take a little more time than expected. However, I was surprised at all the details that I could remember. Well I don't have access to my computer right now, so I will have to update the pictures later.

a proposition

2005-09-06T08:00:00.000+09:00

Although I don't consider my self a lazy person, I have been quite inept at updating this blog. I really enjoy writing for it, and hopefully people enjoy reading it. I think the problem lies in the fact that I have yet to get into the habit of writing. I propose, and my proposition is still early in the works, to write a little ever morning before classes. I usually get to work around 7:30 or 7:45 and my earliest class never starts before 8:40. So, instead of just aimlessly searching the internet, I will just write a little to keep this up to date. Weekends, however, will take a little more time on Monday morning, but this plan ought to work out nonetheless. I think that if I can get my weekend summarized on Monday, then I shouldn't get backlogged during the rest of the week. If anyone else has a suggestion, please just leave a comment. P.S: after I finish this blog, I will begin the summary writing from the past couple of weekends.

what a busy week

2005-08-26T08:39:00.000+09:00

I have had a very busy week, with the start of classes. Also, last week I went to Nagano city and then ended up going to Hakuba. Hakuba, if you do not know, is the place to go skiing in Japan. So, during the tail end of the summer, I am already thinking about the snow and mountains. Oh well, I am sure that there could be worse things. Today I am going hiking with the first year students, so I won't have the chance to update the blog more today. However, before we left, I was able to write this short statement and to also inform everyone that I have added a guestbook to this blog. The guestbook allows visitors to leave their name and comments. The link to the guestbook is found on the right hand side of the screen and look like the following: My Guestbook. Until next time, which should be Monday with a couple of new posts and sets of pictures, Cheers.

a matter of notification

2005-08-18T08:43:00.000+09:00

Recently I have been receiving some anonymous comments on my blog, so to curtail this, I am now only allowing registered users to leave comments. I don't think this ought to be a problem for anyone. If there is a problem, then you should now how to contact me via my email address.

Cheers

some pictures

2005-08-17T14:41:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures that I wanted to post with my last blog. The first picture is at the Hotel during our first Jet conference. The second is the view from the top floor of our hotel. The third is of the Shibuya intersection. And the last pictures are of my house.

it has only been 3 weeks?!?!

2005-08-17T09:12:00.000+09:00

Well I cannot believe it, but it has only been a few weeks since I took the plane from Chicago to Tokyo, Japan. I have done so many things, and have had such a great time that it almost feels like I have been living here for a few years.

Where to start, where to start. Well I guess a good place to start would be the beginning. Tokyo, specifically the area of Tokyo named Shinjuku, is where my adventure began. After arriving at Narita airport, all the Jets from the Chicago flight were quickly led through a series of stages throughout the airport to drop off luggage and check it. I think that I was the first person in line, and so some of the stages were not ready, but nonetheless it went fairly quickly. The only hitch was that once we got throughout the entire process, we had to get on the bus for an one and a half. Once we got to the hotel (Keio Plaza), it was nice to finally have a bed and a shower.

During the time in Tokyo, there were a lot of meetings and introduction ceremonies to attend, which at times could be quite boring. Nonetheless, there were times where we could go out and explore the city. One day I went to Shibuya, where some 1500 people cross an intersection every five minutes. I have been there before, but it was fun going there with a couple of my new friends. Another night, all the new Nagano Jets went out to an all you can eat/drink party for a couple of hours. It was a great time to get to know the people in my area.

On our final day, which was 木曜日（Wednesday）, we got our luggage together and headed out towards Nagano Prefecture. The bus ride was nice, but it was also a littler nerve racking at times. The anticipation of going to our new homes was quite high some times. First we had to drop off a couple of people near Lake Suwa, and then we stopped at a rest stop to have lunch. After which, we went to 松本 (Matsumoto) city, where I was dropped off. To pick me up was the head of the Honjo Board of Education (BOE). He was a very nice man, but did not speak any English. Couple that with my lack of conversational Japanese, and this made for an interesting car ride. However, the ride to Honjo was nice, and it really showed me what a beautiful area I live in.

Once we got to my town, we went to the school, where most of the teachers were present. It was nice to meet them all, but at the same time I was a bit nervous. However, everyone was very nice and they put me to ease immediately. After the short meeting, I went back to my house to have things explained to me, ie how do you use the washer and stove top, etc. Finally, that first day in my house, I had the rest of the day to put things together and to relax. And, as I will be writing later, I have had a lot of time to relax my first few weeks in 日本.

Right now I am having some difficultly posting pictures, but hopefully I will be able to change this soon. Also, since this is my first installment of my adventures in Japan, another one will be coming later today or tomorrow. Until then, cheers.

my first blog in 日本（japan）

2005-08-01T16:04:00.000+09:00

Hey Everybody

I have just arrived in Japan not just a week ago, and it is really difficult for me to sort out all the details of what I have done. Given the vast majority of events, and the little time I have to write, pictures and stories will need to wait until the end of this week (I'm sorry about this). One reason for the delay is the fact that I need to set up the Internet in my house and this might take a few weeks. Until then, I will be using my laptop at school to update this blog. I think tonight I will have some free time to write for my blog at home, and so within the next few days, I will be updating with vast amounts of details and pictures. Until then, Cheers.

fun times before departure

2005-07-18T11:29:00.000+09:00

It has been a while since my first post, but I thought I should update everybody on my pre-departure activities. Besides all the packing and preparation for my trip, I have been trying, and quite successfully I might add, to have some fun with friends and family these past two weeks.

Two weeks ago (that sure seems like a long time ago), I had a going away party with my sister, who is going to college next year. At the party, we had great weather, food, and of course beer (Redhook Blonde). I had a great time talking with all the guests, although it was a little difficult to eat. Then, the next night I went out to Broad Ripple with my cousin and John Meyer. Although I have grown a little tired of the Broad Ripple scene, it was exciting to hang out with these two (See picture).

And then, this last weekend I went up to Ann Arbor Michigan to see a whole bunch of friends (Tom, Jeanette, Corey, Becky, Jayme, Kaur, and Jen). Friday night we all went out to a local watering hole and had a good time at the pool table, although Becky just about got us kicked out of the bar (Just kidding). Then Saturday night was an amazing time; Becky and Jayme put together this amazing wine tasting party. Not only was the company great, but the party was very informative as well (See picture).

It is late, and this next week ought to be fairly busy, so I must go.

If you are reading this blog, please write comments!!!

pre-departure preparations

2005-07-12T07:43:00.000+09:00

Well I can't believe it, but in a little more than a month I will be moving to Japan to start a new job as an English teacher. Right now, though, Japan seems like a mysterious dream that will surely never come true. It probably won't hit me until I actually arrive in my new country and move into my new apartment.

During my stay in Japan, I hope to use this blog as a personal diary. I really have never kept such a log, but in doing so I will attempt to save an electronic copy of all my experiences, however small they might be, so that I will not forget anything. Before I leave, though, I will try to start writing about my pre-departure routine and everything else that moving to Japan entails

Cheers

going to 本城 (Honjo)

I am back, and now back for good

ok, some edited photos

cool news

ok, tomorrow

a beautiful morning

in the next couple of days

another excellent weekend

Jan. 2006 posts

skis

白馬(Hakuba) in the morning

town pictures, 筑北村

nikon d70s

this was pretty cool

click on my ads

skiing, skiing, and more skiing

powder

New Direction for BLog

mobile post

testing zoto photos

Testing Zoto

Flickr

edits in progress

i just need to do it

my first school えんかい(enkai)

first week of classes and such

nagano orientation, and an unexpected trip

a proposition

what a busy week

a matter of notification

some pictures

it has only been 3 weeks?!?!

my first blog in 日本（japan）

fun times before departure

pre-departure preparations

going to 本城　(Honjo)