The above statement is a promise. My Auntie Tita came to visit for the weekend. The short story: we went to Harborland, Mt. Maya, and Nara. We saw things. We ate food. 


I will post a much longer and entertaining story when I'm not as exhausted!

Last weekend was Halloween! It felt like it snuck on me fairly quickly, particulary because there wasn't an excess of gaudy Halloween displays in stores and houses and apartments weren't bedecked with fake cobwebs and pumpkins on the front stoop. It kills the child inside just a little bit, I must admit. I also didn't get around to even thinking of what I could dress up as for Halloween.


 A year ago I was sending frantic emails back and forth with friends about our big Halloween plans at the Regency Center in the city, and scouring party supply stores for the perfect accessories for my and Ted's Mario and Luigi costumes.


 This year the extent of my costume shopping involved me running into Tokyo Hands at 8:29 when they closed at 8:30, running up to the non-slutty costume area (which also happened to house a bunch of Christmas costumes... be prepared to see me elaborately dressed as a Christmas tree at all my Holiday parties at home), and grabbing the first costume I could find. The entire process took all of 3 minutes, and within that time I went from "Oh shit, what can I be that doesn't have to be preceeded by the words 'slutty/sexy'" (ie- "Sexy Nemo, slutty robot, sexy horse, slutty pumpkin) to "I'm gonna be a panda!"


I am pleased with my costume decision for many reasons: 1) pandas are ridiculously cute 2) the costume covers my entire body, thus it will keep me warm while my sexy-costumed friends are freezing 3) I can wear it to support Sandoval when I go home to watch Giants games 4) I can probably wear it while skiing and be the coolest person on the slopes. Just you watch.


There weren't any huge plans for the weekend, so most of the JETs went to the Polo Dog in Sannomiya. It was only my second time there, and it was packed. My friend Bridget was DJing, and it's always fun to see the Hanayama and Port Islanders that you don't get to run into every day. Most of the costumes were pretty good, but I have to admit it all felt a bit half-assed to me. Don't get me wrong; it was a hell of a night, but I think the absence of my close friends making me laugh till I had cramps kind of put a damper on the night. Sure, maybe it was homesickness. Anyway, I had a great time, but being claustrophobic and a bit of an old lady these days, I didn't stay much past 11 and managed to make my way home at a decent hour, reeking of cigarettes and Jager. And then I came home to my empty apartment and started thinking about what makes (or should make) Halloween awesome every time.


The greatest thing about Halloween is the blatant disregard for dental hygiene (and possible diabetes), if only for a night. Eat a whole candy bar? Sure. Oh, another? Oh heck, why not! We're celebrating the hallows, right? Oh, and a jawbreaker before bed? What would ghosts and gouls do? They'd say heck yes! And then you're left laying on your bed surrounded by candy wrappers and twitching from the diabetic shock, and your teeth are left to rot over night because you can't get yourself to get out of your panda costume and brush your teeth.
No? Just me?


Ok, I'll be honest, this year that WASN'T me (praise Jeebus), but not necessarily because of sheer willpower. Japan seems to be going through a centuries-long epidemic. It's called "candyreallyisn'tabigdeal-itis." When asking students in class if they like candy, maybe only 3 or 4 kids raise their hands. And when explaining the idea of "trick-or-treat" to them, they have the most confused looks on their faces, because first of all, why are you being so greedy, and second of all, what the shit are you going to do with a bag full of candy? It doesn't make sense. Add that to the fact that candy in the stores is kind of expensive, and you can see why I wasn't able to throw myself into a hyperglycemic coma.


The next best thing about Halloween is having any excuse to scare the pants off anyone, yourself included. We watch scary movies, go to haunted houses, pop out of coffins, have motion-activated Halloween decorations... it's ridiculous! And it works! Although Japan is pretty good at the horror movie thing (see Ringu), the fact that many of my students couldn't grasp why I was talking about scary things made me a bit sad. They just thought Halloween was about jack-o-lanterns and costumes. I had to explain why we first started celebrating Halloween, and how scary things have all become part of the territory. So when I asked my ichi-nensei students to design a scary Halloween character (after showing them many examples and having them all exclaim over how scary they were), I got a whole lot of smiling happy sunshiney anime characters. Where was the blood and the skulls and the rotting carcassiness? 


Le sigh.


Well, at least I am coming to appreciate things more, both at home and here in Japan.


Happy belated Halloween, everyone!

So I promise to write something more Japan-related, like Halloween and other adventures, but right now, I must focus on the subject at hand:

THE GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES!

I am so happy that I am sitting at work breaking the rules by blogging just so I can rejoice. This happens to come within the same week as my new nephew, Everett Weston, being born. My brother must be absolutely dilirious with happiness!

Congrats to SF and everyone who has devoted years to the team! :-)

So the bad taste in my mouth (see previous entry) has been replaced by the sweet taste of victory!


The Giants beat the Phillies today @ Philly, which makes things even sweeter. It was game 6 and was looking pretty exciting, but watching from Japan just means seeing a pitch-by-pitch cartoon rather than streaming video, so I just couldn't wait to get it over with! We won 3-2, which means we are the National League champs and facing off against the Rangers in our first World Series since 1989. That was the "Battle of the Bay," for those of you who don't follow baseball, where SF played the Oakland A's just across the bay. There was a huge earthquake (the famous Loma Prieta quake) in the middle of the series. SF lost. The last time we won a series was in the 50's. So needless to say, we don't have the best of luck when it comes to the World Series, so this is just a small moment of well deserved happiness for the boys in orange and black after years of terrible records and steroid scandals. So let me just have this little moment, okay? :-)


Of course, I am kind of bitter that the best season they've had in recent years has to end while I'm in Japan. It's so hard to keep up with the mayhem with Facebook being my only way to partake in any celebration! No one in Japan really cares about American baseball! So sad I can't be there.


At any rate, I am super excited, and congrats to the Giants and good luck next week! SO EXCITED I CAN'T TURN OFF MY CAPS!

What in the Heidi Klum in lederhosen hell did I just eat?


So I woke up this morning a bit woozy from last night's enkai and nijikai celebrating Culture Fest. The Giants are playing game 6 at Philly, so I wanted to be sure I can watch that, so my plans for the day included not moving from my mattress and laying with my laptop rooting for the boys in orange in black. But I was STARVING. I had drunkenly eaten all my potstickers last night while Skyping after catching the last train home. All I had were ingredients to cook something really yummy, but in my impatience I didn't want to have to wait that long. So at the bottom of the 6th I jogged down the McDonalds down the street in hopes of picking up a McGriddle, which I used to think was gross but suddenly had an intense craving for.


I got there at 11:10, and they'd already switched to the lunch menu. Blech. The rest of the McDonalds menu aside from a McGriddle sounded so gross to me. But then I saw that this month they are offering a special sandwich, called the "German sausage." Interest piqued, I bought a seto and made my way back to the apartment (missing Uribe scoring at the top of the 8th, dang it!).


Immediately upon looking at the box, I regretted my decision. Ew. Sausage in a sandwich? I opened it up to find a Japanese-size sandwich that appeared to have a breaded/fried chicken patty, a slice of round sausage that covered the bottom bun, some cheese, fancy German mustard, and saurkraut. Mein Leben ist beschissen. 


This salty, krauty, fried mess is exactly as it sounds... a salty, krauty, fried mess. The saurkraut  wasn't even tangy, just cabbagey. And the chicken patty wasn't delightful breast meat, it was clearly a mish mash of thigh parts tossed in a ton of salt and then held together by a breaded monster. But I paid for it, and my stomach was angry, and my laziness superseded any pride or dignity I had in me so early in the day, so I ate the thing. Boo.


Ugh. Just don't try this at home, kids.


I expect a comment on my health and dietary decisions from my mom coming in approximately 3 minutes.

Yes, I am eating on my bed.

Stop judging me.

Yesterday I returned from a fun-filled 5-day mini vacation with Dan. In Tokyo! That's right, suckas, Dan was my first visitor in Japan and he set the "Oh my God I'm having so much fun and laughing so hard and eating great food and exploring new places" bar incredibly high. Here is a rundown of the weekend.

Day 1
The Long Wait is Over!

I took the night bus to get to Tokyo, which in itself was an adventure. I had a huge suitcase with me to hold all the goodies that Dan was bringing me from home, so running to the Flower Clock to make it to the night bus was not exactly easy. I also looked slightly crazy, since it was obvious my suitcase was mostly empty, which I'm sure led to passersby wondering why this crazy sweaty gaijin was running down the street in flip flops with a giant archaic looking suitcase dragging behind her. (Have I mentioned that everyone here has shiny hard-case luggage that logically roll in any direction so you don't have to run the risk of looking like a crazy person?)


The night bus was truly a night bus. I was pretty stoked to be riding in what looked like a very cushy (and extremely pink) bus with clean new seats, fleece blankets, foot rests, and stroller-like retractable hoods so bus weirdos don't stare at you when you sleep. However, being stared at by a bus weirdo is not a problem when the night bus starts moving. First of all, they make sure you are off your cell phone. I was in mid-conversation with Dan when I was told to shut off my phone (he was in the middle of playing me "Peaches" by the Presidents of the United States of America, and I think once I started singing along, that was the last straw for the driver). Then they have everyone button the blackout curtains shut, and the driver's helper guy pulls down this huge blackout curtain that cuts off any bit of light seeping from the front of the bus. Forget about having a personal light so you can do some light reading. "You're on the night bus, bitches, and you're gonna sleep." At least that is what I imagine the motto of the night bus is.


Anyway, after my forced sleep, I found myself in Tokyo at 6 am. Being there before the city starts moving is like a scene out of I am Legend. I kept waiting for a zombie to pop out and try to eat me on my way to the subway station, but all I saw was the odd homeless man (sleeping on brand new cardboard boxes... Tokyo vagrants have it made) or gaijin jogger. I finally made it to the hotel to check my luggage behind the counter and charge my phone in the lobby, and then I was off to explore the city until Dan's flight came in. 

I wasn't really sure where to go, so I decided to just head in the direction of Narita and get off at a big stop. I ended up going to the Shoji Temple in Asakusa. The marketplace leading up to the temple is absolutely huge, full of all the stuff you know you don't need but you buy anyway. I exhibited remarkable self-control here.
After that, I decided I'd get to the airport early, which was a good decision because it ended up taking about thirty minutes longer than anticipated. Subway maps are deceiving! When I got to Narita, Dan's flight still had half an hour until landing, but I still stood by the arrival gate bouncing up and down for over an hour. Finally, I caught a glimpse of his face in the crowd, and I couldn't help but give a little yelp of excitement. I didn't care if I got stared at (at home, I would have fully screamed and tackled him, but I had to show restraint after seeing that the most excited people were getting was an excited and silent wave). DAN WAS FINALLY HERE! I was pretty close to crying out of happiness, but again... self control.

It took us quite a while to get back to the hotel, and Dan was so tired that I wished we had a teleporter to get there instantly. Instead, it took almost two hours, and by then Dan had been traveling for something like 17 hours, and immediately crashed as soon as we got into the hotel. So this left me with a connundrum, because I wanted to go out and do stuff, but I didn't want to go alone. I opted to go get a beef bowl somewhere. That is when Google Maps played an evil trick on me.

It guided me through a narrow alley to the nearest Yoshinoya. About two blocks into the alley, I notice that the hotels were extremely close together, and big groups of the "pretty" Tokyo men in their all-black attire and crazy hair were gathered at every corner handing out cards. When I looked at the sign for one of the hotels that boasted a "rest" (1 hour) or a "stay" (overnight), it dawned on me: I was in the red light district. I felt safe, though, as it was clean and well lit and I saw a lot of other people out. It was still early though, so I booked it to Yoshinoya and back to the hotel as fast as I could.

I had to eat my beef bowl in silence so I wouldn't wake Dan up. Then I decided it would be a good time to sleep... so I did. Anticlimactic, I know, but that's pretty much how the day ended.

Day 2
Disney Sea Adventure! Or: It's Raining and I'm Tired and These Lines Are Way Too Long and if I Get Hit in the Face With an Umbrella One More Time I'm Gonna Scream

We decided to go out to Disneyland and try out Disney Sea, since we could always go to regular Disneyland at home. In my mind, I figured since it was forecasted to rain, it would drive away the crowds and we would be able to walk right onto several rides. The complete opposite was true. It was a holiday weekend, so the crowds were probably doubled, and because people were most likely traveling from far away, it was Disney Sea or bust, dammit! So those who weren't decked out in a Disney poncho had umbrellas. Imagine walking in a sea of people all about your height carrying an umbrella. Face! Face! Face! That is the sound of my face getting bashed with an umbrella. Again. There is no real flow to how people are moving, either. Just a big mash of people walking fast, or standing in random clusters, or walking the opposite way of the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream (weilding an umbrella). You get my point?

So, aside from being soaked from the first hour we arrived and dealing with the ridiculous crowds, Disney Sea has an incredible ambiance. They did an amazing job transforming each section to really feel like you were somewhere else. You walk into what feels like Venice (but much cleaner and not smelling like sewage). The rides were touted as being more "grown up" than Disneyland, but I feel like they are much the same. The roller coaster with the loop was a little disappointing, but it was okay since Dan and I discovered there was a singles line and we could skip the hour and a half wait and practically walk on the ride! The same goes for Indiana Jones. We bypassed everyone in line and practically walked on. However, from there it was a bit harder to get on rides. At one point, we checked the line at Tower of Terror and it was FOUR HOURS. FOUR! So we said "iie" to that and "hai" to more beers! We found out that the least crowded eatery was the Mexican food place, and for good reason. This was not Mexican food! You do not put teriyaki chicken in a "tortilla sandwich" and call it Mexican! So yeah, the food was sorely disappointing, but biiru made up for it. We moved on to ride smaller rides with less lines, like Aquatopia (so silly, good thing we had biiru) and StormChaser (what the heck is happening...). We kept waiting for Journey to the Center of the Earth to open, which Dan had wanted to go on since the second we got to Disney Sea. But first, the line was really long, then it was shut down indefinitely. Sad face. We never got to go. We did get to go to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was kind of cool but also pretty child-like, and we wrapped up the day with Tower of Terror, whose line was reduced to only two hours. It was a pretty good ride though! The story is completely different than Disney World's Twiglight Zone story, and I don't remember it being that much fun! All in all, it was a great time. Yes, my feet were pruny and cold all day and my back started getting sore from all the walking, but my fun company made up for everything and it was an awesome day!

We did fall asleep on the train home, though, and woke up in an empty car in Tokyo. Oh well. :-)

Day 3
Gonpachi, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, and Issian

I am fully aware of how long it's been since I've posted! Am I a terrible person? Well, probably a little, but not because of the lack of blog posts. I've just been busy and overwhelmed. Work isn't exactly that busy, but I have been trying to be social, explore the city, take care of some business on the home front, and keep my apartment and desks (I have 3!) organized. So far I'm not succeeding in the latter part, but since I'm pretty far right-brained, this should't come as a shock to you at all.

Things I promise to go into more detail about:
- sushi party (done... see below)
- rafting and canyoning in Shikoku
- salsa dancing at Faces
- Asahi brewery tour and sake festival (in the rain)
- feeling like a total rock star in elementary school

I'll date each entry in the order that they occured so that you can truly feel like you are there with me.

Things I might go into detail about if I really feel like it:
- early 90's fashion making a comeback in Japan
- don katsu is the devil, or maybe the greatest angel in disguise
- finally turning the AC off
- effin' mosquitos
- Stage 2

This weekend was spent on the Yoshino river having a happy time at Happy Raft! 

We left Friday night in rented minivans from Sogoundokoen station. The only person I vaguely knew was Kyle, a fellow Kobe JET. The other JETS were from Hyogo and beyond. Since we were leaving at around midnight, it meant that it was sleepy time in the cars until we got there. Shikoku is an island about 4 hours south of  Kobe, so the plan was to get there and keep sleeping until around 8. It would not only save us a stay in an expensive lodge, but it would also save toll to travel in the middle of the night.


I slept pretty soundly until the sun came up, then I tossed and turned in my minivan seat until everyone else woke up. The first day was a full day of rafting. I was in a raft with 5 others: Kyle, Takeshi, Erica (too!), Emily, and Adina. Aside from being very beautiful and picturesque, the river is cold! No surprise here, but it was just colder than I had expected it to be, considering it is somewhat shallow this time of year and we just got through what was said to have been one of the hottest summers in recent history. 


The raft was guided by Adam, whose nickname at Happy Raft is Smeagol. Was it cuz he wasn't very tall, or because he was from New Zealand, or because he was mostly naked except for a loincloth? (I made that last part up.) We went down several different rapids and even got to "surf" the rapids, where Adam intentionally guided us into the falls and we got dumped on repeatedly and I got both ears full of water. There were all sorts of other antics going on too, including pulling each other out of passing boats, intentionally flipping is off the sides, jumping off rocks, and "riding the bull." The lunch included one of the best tuna sandwiches I've ever had, served on a bagel none like I've had anywhere else. I've tried to find bagels in Japan since then, and had no luck.  So the first day was exhausting but really fun, and I ended it feeling extra happy.


That evening, everyone else went to stay at a lodge 40 minutes away. I had decided to camp, not only to save money, but because I love camping and was told it would be on a nice cushiony field. Nope, it was just a gravel parking lot! I was also under the impression that other people would be camping too, but when I woke up from my post-rafting nap, I discovered that I was the only one in the gravel lot. Alone. By a river. At night. Deliverance, anyone? Thankfully Japan is a really safe place, and if I had to, I could scream for the people at the rafting place, or use my pretend kung-fu skills. Just in case, I had my iPhone programmed with 1-1-9, the emergency number in Japan. Oh, did I mention that I forgot my sleep sack in Kobe, so I was essentially sleeping inside a bare tent with just a pillow and track pants and a sweatshirt to keep me warm? Luckily I can basically sleep anywhere, and I was glad to be at Happy Raft in the morning because I got first dibs on the fresh hot green tea. Plus, I woke up to the beautiful view of the river below me!


Day two was our canyoning day. The same people from my raft did canyoning in the morning. It was a series of sliding down waterfalls, ziplining, swimming, cannonballing, jumping, and general awesomeness. I wish it could have lasted all day! We had to double up our wetsuits because the water up high was even colder than the river. In all honesty, the half day of canyoning was more fun than the full day of rafting! It was also very cool to be in a forest and really feel like we were on some kind of ninja safari (cuz we looked like ninjas in our little outfits!)


After canyoning, we changed into to dry clothes, took down my tent, and then headed home!
On our way we had to stop to get some of Shikoku's famed udon. It was yummy, not surprisingly! Then it was time for more naps, and we were on our way.


If anyone wants to go canyoning when next season opens in July, let me know!