Hamamatsu Sago Hotel

... or talked me into confusion--joining their local team), and on my way back home on the winding road, when I spotted something moving on the road. Now in this area, this is a common occurrence. Wild boards (Unoshishi), deer (Shika), and all other forms of life find their way onto the half-wild half-tamed highway that runs through these parts.

"Wild" would describe the ...

... the way, due to the bad directions I probably gave her about where I 'thought I was'. By the time I got into Nagano prefecture (lol!), I got a call from her, that went like this: "Jordan...where are you!? Call meeeeee". Lol hardly formal for Japanese, but I starting liking her in that instant. I pulled over (no cell phones while driving now), called her back, and met her on the way. No one told me my first day was actually going to be at a school-meeting, with everyone from the ...

... smart. They didn't budge, and took our prodding with patience, and eventually we gave up. We came back to test their alertness a few times, but they were always smarter. Of course, we thought we had them beat when we worked together to attempt to move the boulder. No such luck there. We had a good laugh about that after. Oh and I only fell twice, that got some laughs too.
The day was only getting started...for my weekends always have something going on. The Next entry explains the rest.

... vegetables from their garden, and of course, freshly BBQd Ayu. I turned down an offer to go again this weekend, mainly because I was out of town and just exhausted. But this man's house is amazing: it's at least 100 years old, made completely of wood, and smelled great. He lives with his parents, wife, and kids (most whom have taken off for university already, I think).
All in all, an amazing time.

... up along the mountain is the road I take to get to Tomiyama, the smallest village in Japan and my other school that I teach at. This road is SCARY. They are narrow, and constantly winding around the mountain and river edge, offering side-mirrors to give you hints about the oncoming trucks carrying lumber, or the speedy k-cars/trucks timing how fast they can reach their destination on these death-bends. Recently, this road was just re-opened because of a recent land-slide ...

... what I say bigger than life). So we shot the **** at Starbucks, had some funky coffees (at least it was funky for me), visited a music shop and killed time. Bought a guitar strap with some funky Japanese demons on it, and called it a night.
Probably one of the best experiences in Japan so far.

Pictures will follow when I get back this weekend. I'll probably write the entry for this weekend when I get back, as I'll want to keep this a little more fresh than a month past.

... Village. We couldn't, however, decline an offer to shower at Kawabe's place, the gym teacher. Little did I know that we were in for the long haul. The first confusion that took place upon arrival, was the issue of familiarizing myself to Japanese bathing customs. Kawabe's wife, after filling the bath with piping hot water and some aromatic oils, and placing some towels neatly on the site, sort of stood there expecting me to change. I'm still not sure if that is what I should have done, but I ...

... in a sack, stayed away from anything that looked too outrageous, and generally had a good time.
The worst of the day, other than driving, was wasting 5000 (roughly $5) on stupid Pachinko. I had a guy there "help" me to a machine, and I popped in the 5000yen coin, and watched my money trickle away in the form of little metal balls. There were some seasoned pros all around me, so I figured it was something I was doing wrong; there's a kind of 'knob-technique' to ...

... the slightest, and enjoyed this unexpected stint as babysitter... I went for a mooch around Ueno Park on my final afternoon as it was red hot, but I made the mistake of sitting down to watch a band that was playing, and spent the next two hours talking to an old Japanese man about politics (although in truth, he did most of the talking!). He ended every sentence with "you understand?" and would often triumphantly declare "my opinion" after a particularly controversial ...

... Brazilians there looking for work. (SYD, AMY, HOJO: there might be capoeira!!) Apparently, Japan has started inviting in guest workers from other countries to fill jobs that Japanese don't want. Cool by me, however, this has created a media/general populace fear of foreigners since the crime rate has gone up. I'm wondering if it is true - letting in foreigners creates problems. Dunno, scares me to think that I could be considered dangerous, just because I don't ...