Fuji | 富士山 --> "As long as we stay positive, nothing bad can happen."

It goes without saying that climbing Mt. Fuji was an unbelievable experience. I feel so lucky that opportunity fell into my lap to go on this trip, with friends, so soon into my time here.

Most of our climbing was done at night. To say that we "climbed" Mt. Fuji is a bit of a misnomer, since it was technically hiking and not rock-climbing, but the steep graded scrambles that comprise much of volcano's surface require both hands and both feet in order to ascend.

Mt. Fuji has 10 stations from bottom to top. Most of the stations have some amenities ranging from outhouses, to tatami mats to rest on, to incredibly overpriced food and canisters of oxygen. We started at the 5th station, which is where the car road ends, so the last outpost of humanity before your world is nothing but loose gravely dirt and other mars-like rock faces (and the hundreds of other climbers.)

Sometimes it felt like enternities between each station. The endless uphill climb requires you to go slow and take baby steps or your legs will give out. Every so often one of us would yell "kyuukei!" ("break!") and we would stop on the slopes for a few minutes to rest our muscles. That was also when we pulled out our snacks and water. (That was also usually when I felt my sweat grow cold on me, such a gross feeling.) I was drinking constantly to try and lighten my load. Two liters of water weighs a ton.

It's not like I ever seriously wanted to turn back, but there were times when I didn't feel the motivation in my legs to keep going. My friend Michelle said something like "do this hike for someone. Think of someone you love and use that as your motivation to keep going." So, mom, this hike was for you. Because of all you've done for me, you gave me the motivation to keep going.

Despite our labored breathing and the often single-file trail, we were still able to converse. We talked about family, friends, life in Japan. Michelle kept saying positive things, and I was so inspired, I said "I feel like as long as we stay positive, then nothing bad can happen." After a moment Chelsey said, "that's the greatest thing I've ever heard." So that became our motto for the trip.

At one of the 8th stations (oh yeah, that's right, there's not just one of each station, there's like, four or five, those tricky tricksters) we began to see the sunrise on the horizon. At this point we knew we couldn't make it to the summit by sunrise, but it didn't matter.

Watching the sun slowly rise while ascending a mountain brings on a peaceful high that's hard to describe. I guess viewing something so beautiful, which you know was created by nature and not by humans, makes you feel more connected to the universe.

We started where the ground was green.

In what literally looked like the phoenix spreading its wings, somewhere along one of the 8th stations, the sunrise happened.

And then it was light, and we saw that we had been climbing on Mars the whole time.

A series of three torii gates marks the summit of Mt. Fuji. Two hours later, we had passed the second one.

This is the last one. I'm really-really at the top now!

12,000-something feet. (3776 meters.) Highest point in Japan.

The way down was gruesome (read: endless endless switchbacks in foot-deep loose red dusty dirt with dozens of other hikers kicking it up into your face such that you need to wear a mask to avoid getting dusk in your eyes/nose/mouth and to avoid getting sunburned, all while jamming your toes into your shoes with every downhill step) but afterwards, we were overjoyed to drink a cool beverage, take a nap, and relax in a hot spring in the cute town of Fujiyoshida. I'm proud of myself that I did it, and overjoyed that I got to share the experience with other Gunma JETs. Gunma prefecture has one of the most active ALT communities in all of Japan, a fact I'm grateful for every day. If it weren't for them, this trip wouldn't have happened.

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I'm having a great time at work, although I have my daily share of confusing/embarrassing/frustrating moments, as do in all aspects of my life. But that entry will be for another day.

Shibukawa Dashi Matsuri

WA-SHOI! WASH-OI! わっしょい！Just a day after we Gunma newbies had to be forcefully torn apart from each other kicking and screaming (okay...maybe that was just me...) we had the great and glorious fortune to be semi-reunited at the biennial Dashi Matsuri, occurring in my MY VERY OWN CITY, Shibukawa! I was astonished and elated when as many as 30 Gunma JETs showed up to the festival on Saturday, and another handful on Sunday!

What is a dashi you ask? You're looking at one! Dashis are large floats with people on them, hitting drums and bells, playing the flute, or in the case of preschoolers, just going along for the ride. But these dashis aren't your run-of-the-mill Goodyear-tire parade floats, they are completely human-powered--meaning that dozens of Shibukawans pull each dashi, holding onto two long ropes, parading it throughout town!

Each dashi has a creepy mannequin which can be raised or lowered at the top of it. This mannequin represents a past emperor or a character from Japanese folklore. Pulling the dashis throughout the city is traditionally supposed to cleanse the city from demons and bring the city together in a spirit of community. In Shibukawa's dashi matsuri, each dashi is maintained and represented by one neighborhood of the city! The one in these pictures belongs to 寄居町, Yorii-cho, one of Shibs' many neighborhoods. I heard my neighborhood, Shimogo, practicing drums and flute every night the week leading up to the festival. I also live right by the community center, so I got the see the dashi being all gussied up. :) The dashis and the peoples' happi-coat uniforms have corresponding colors (in this case navy blue.) Sometimes, four or five dashi converge in an intersection, starting what I call a DASHI FIGHT:

AND let's not forget about the crazy two-lines-bash-into-each-other-and-jump-up-and-down-dance!

R.B. and S.C. get in on the fun.

Matsuris like this remind me of a few things:
a) how much Japanese value "everyone working hard and doing the same thing for the good of the team." You're not an individual so much as you are a cog in a machine. No one person is glorified or highlighted; it's all for the team.
b) How much modern technology and incredibly old tradition are beautifully intertwined.
c) How culture shapes our perceptions. By changing my lens and viewing this as normal rather than exotic, by recognizing that little kids grow up with these kinds of festivals every summer, I can see how it contributes to why they are the way they are today. I think it concurrently breaks down and reinforces the "humans are all the same inside" idea.

So that's that! Now that the weekend is over, I have a full week of school (but no classes yet...more on that later) until ~*~ThE FuJi ExPeRiEnCe~*~ next week. Yay!

Prefectural Orientation

I've only been here a couple weeks, but man oh man have I been up to stuff! Even "normal" things like driving to school, getting gas, or going to the grocery store are still kind of an exciting adventure for me. I often make observations or think of insightful things I want to put in my blog, but of course when I don't write them down, I forget them. But here's a quick run-down of the past few days, as well as some cultural observations.

Last Wednesday, I visited my friend Stephanie (who's also from San Diego) in Takasaki. She lives five minutes away from a big mall called AEON (the biggest mall in Gunma maybe?) so we walked around the mall and got food. Unfortunately, since we hadn't received our paychecks yet, we didn't buy much. My favorite-Japanese-store-of-all-time FrancFranc is still desperately out of reach. But hey, what are possessions except tangible reminders of how grounded we are to money. I got a pillow for my "couch" (THOUGH I STILL REQUIRE MANY MORE.) Then we walked to Stephanie's apartment, which, don't be fooled, is in the suburbs and *not* in the big city. I helped her clean out her closets, whereupon I had the amazing luck to stumble upon not one, not two, but THREE dream-catchers, MY FAVORITE THING EVER! Stephanie was nice enough to let me have them, so now I have one in my car and two in my house. :)

Thursday and Friday were our newbie JET Gunma Prefectural Orientation in Maebashi. We had workshops and info by day, Karaoke and drinking by night.

CRAZY KARAOKE PEEPS IN THE HOUSE

Practicing calligraphy. This kanji means "flower."

Learning the koto! I didn't think I would really be into it, but I totally was! I would love to take koto lessons if they have them in my city.

A group of Gunma JETs (from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, and the US) wearing yukatas (not kimonos, which are only for winter. Yukatas are made of cotton and are lighter for summer.)

Me with Gunma-chan, Gunma's lil' horsey mascot. Gunma means "group of horses" so there you go.

Maebashi Hanabi Taikai

Maebashi = 前橋 = "before-bridge" = name of capital city of Gunma
Hanabi =　花火 = "flower-fire" = fireworks
Taikai =　大会 = "big-meet" = big event

I met up with my friend Saori who was my "student" when I TAed voice lab/choir at UCI. I'm lucky that she happens to live 20 minutes away from me. :) Thank you Saori for a lovely evening.

Bats

The posts are piling up. One per day! Didn't think I'd be posting this often. I'm assuming they'll thin out soon enough once life settles into a routine.

I am going to make a whole post all about my work but I will save it for another day because I want to upload the pictures I took of my schools first.

Today was the first day I felt brave enough to listen to music in the car as I drove to and from school. I use a little tape-player-tape-thing to play my iPod, but either because the tape thing sucks or because my car is from 1999, the quality sounds like what comes out of a dinky cell phone. And every time the road curves or I make a turn, it skips. But it's better than nothing so I'm happy. :)

Tonight, I went for another little walk around my neighborhood. I decided to follow the river south instead of north this time. It was dusk, but not too dark yet, and I was happy to find a path that led me down to a little park by the river. It was adorable, and I sat by the river a while, watching it flow. However, that's when things started to get creepy. Walking along, I continuously felt like I was walking into cobwebs, like I felt little strings or fibers on me. I also kept feeling like little gnats or mosquitoes were in my face. There were these random weird-flying small birds swirling around the area. A lot of them. I also saw a hobo pulling his underwear up from where he had been peeing. (Yup, Japan has hobos, and apparently they hang out in this little park!) I decided I wasn't so keen on this area anymore and decided to go home. Those weird birds were still flying around me. Their wing motion was so...odd...not like a bird at all. And that's when I saw and realized that they weren't birds. THEY. WERE. BATS. And flying closer to me every second. I freaked and quickly quickly walked home, crossing my fingers I wouldn't cross paths with one of them. I still felt cobweb-y and dirty when I got home. I might go to that area again during the day, but not at dusk or later.

Not bad, iPhone. :)

In my apartment, I have big maps on my wall of the entire state of the California, the greater Los Angeles Area, the San Diego area, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Sometimes I just sit on my bed and look at the maps. I was looking when my eye glanced on "Los Gatos." Of all the memories, it was walking in Lake Vasona park with my Aunt Mary and my mom that made me cry. For some reason, and more than ever before, I intensely feel that I am going to miss my non-nuclear family--my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am going to miss them at Thanksgiving. I am going to miss them at Easter. As if missing my mom and my close friends wasn't bad enough, I add them in too, now. I can see this being the toughest part of sticking out the winter here in Shibs. But it's all part of becoming an independent citizen of the world, right? Your family is still there, even when you're not together.

Disposition

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may find myself; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances." -Martha Washington

I saw that on a piece of literature from Tokyo Orientation. It verbalizes what I've been feeling since coming here. It's useless to try and compare any aspect of my life to anything else, past present or future. It's my life and I am going to own it.



Tonight was the first night I met Brandon and Crystal, the other newbie JETs in Shibukawa who just arrived tonight. It's shaping up to be a great year with everyone! :) We have one more coming towards the end of August. Tonight was also the first night I was introduced to the pleasure of warikan, which means everyone-pays-the-same-regardless-of-who-ordered-what. Kind of annoying because my meal cost $6 and others' meals cost $15 and we all paid $10. Since when is this system a good idea? -__- But the $4 that I lost was made up in the free vegetables I've been given at work :) Eggplant, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers! I need to use them before they go bad!

Soon I will post pictures of my schools and write about my first workweek at them. :D

Them

Got gas today without an explosion. Woohoo!

But after that brief show of pride, I had my first meltdown. I went to the Post Office to withdraw money (using my American debit card, which I had previously validated as I always do when I go abroad) but the ATM repeatedly declined my transactions. Having only around $40 in cash left on me, I was scared and suddenly overwhelmed at the thought of not having access to my money. Apparently that was the straw that broke the camel's back, because all of a sudden I was mad at the world. Mad at everyone for judging me for wearing shorts. Mad at every worker for speaking much too fast. Mad at needing a car. Mad at the afternoon heat giving me sweaty hair and ruddy skin. I was even mad at the car who stopped in the middle of the road for me to jaywalk in front of it because WHY ARE YOU THAT NICE YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST LET ME WAIT UNTIL THE ROAD WAS CLEAR.

But I ate a butter and jam sandwich.
And drank milk tea.
And I went for a walk in the setting sun by the river with my iPod. The air was cool and I felt much better.

Cellphone quality but okay.


"Never mistake your comfort for your safety. Never think of anyone as 'them.'"

Kitchen Paper

Beware of Japanized-English-words. These are basically Japanese words or phrases that technically come straight from English but that don't correspond to any word or phrase we would normally use. For example, what we call air conditioning is what the Japanese call エアコン (eakon), or basically "aircon." When I'm talking with English-speaking friends, we use the Japanese version, saying something like "thank god my apartment has aircon." Can you imagine one of us saying that back in the states? We'd get stares. Here are a few other examples:

Paper towels-->キチンペーパー(kichin pe-pa-), "kitchen paper."
Gas Station-->ガソリンスタンド (gasorin sutando), "gasoline stand."
Stroller-->ベビーカー(bebi-ka-), "baby car."

Rain

It would be pouring my first day driving to and from work by myself. And 0% of the cars had their headlights on. (I completed the drive both ways crash-free but chickened out on getting gas. Baby steps.)

Takasaki Matsuri

Takasaki is a city. Like a city-city. It reminds me of Nagasaki in a small way. And not just because they both end in "saki." Which, by the way, means "small peninsula." Nagasaki is "long small peninsula" (accurate description,) and Takasaki is "high small peninsula" (not accurate at all.) Go figure.

It wasn't until I was taking the train back home, watching the rolling countryside and listening to Nujabes (the only music I listen to on those trains,) that the memory of why I'm here kicked in again. Why I actually wanted to do this for so long. It's quite easy to forget. It's quite easy to romanticize the past and future and stew in the present. It's easy for me to let the day-by-day hassles and worries overcome the fact that I am, at this moment, a living breathing opportunity.

Typical 日本 through a smudged train window.

Car Speed

So when I drove (for the first time in Japan) today, the speed limits were 30, 40 or 50 km/hour, depending on what street I was on. I remember going 50 and it felt fast because the roads are so narrow. However the speed limit meant nothing to me because I didn't know how to put it into miles. I went home and did the math. In order to achieve the 70-75 mph speed limit I drove daily in California, I'd have to go 110-120 km per hour here. And the fastest speed limit is 50. #inakalife #narrowroads #that's why it takes 40 minutes to drive 11 km

River Walk

I wish there were public trashcans. But I get why there aren't.

Compared to last year, I care less about what people think about me here. Last year I was like...oh god, they're staring at me and noticing my gaijin-ness...they're probably wondering what I'm doing here and why I'm in their country, taking pictures of "normal" things like they're special, and not knowing the social codes and not speaking fluent Japanese. I've seen it in reverse in the states. People getting treated with suspicion and contempt because they aren't "American." It's inhuman. The difference is, here in Japan they are still friendly, kind, and helpful on the outside, and keep their opinions to themselves. This year I feel like saying, accept it people, I'm a member of this community now and that's that. You can think what you want but that isn't going to change the fact that I'm here now, teaching English to YOUR kids. Oh, and thank you for letting me experience your beautiful country.

I've got to say though, doing "normal" things takes up so much more mental energy here. Everything is new. Today I drove to school (just for practice), I drove to Daiso/Torisen, Besia, and the other Daiso/Torisen, and then went home, and it felt like a full day's work. Just driving and doing errands. Because it's so new and a little intimidating to me.

There is more of a stigma attached to being a foreigner in this town compared to Nagasaki because at least Nagasaki attracted tourists and private English teachers. (Although I can count on less than one hand the number of times I ever saw another white person there, it's still a big city.) Shibukawa, as far as I can gather so far, is a collection of neighborhoods, some "suburban," some not so suburban. I live in a valley with no garden patches or rice fields or unpaved roads, but I will work up a hill in an area that does. Because my work neighborhood and my living neighborhood are different, I don't know if I'll ever experience the common ALT phenomenon known as "running into your students at the store" or "having your neighbors bring you produce." Both ALTs who live in my complex told me that they've never spoken to their neighbors. WELL I DID, TODAY. This middle-aged overweight Japanese man, I saw him coming up the stairs, and I said, "konnichiwa." But that doesn't mean he'll bring me vegetables.

I would enjoy the familial closeness of being placed in a smaller community, but I would be more isolated and experience much more inconvenience than here. On my walk tonight I walked to the train station and bought my tickets for tomorrow, easily, in about 20 minutes. Then I walked along the river and looked at the bridge and marshy banks. Shibukawa is not as beautiful as Nagasaki but it is still a nice place.

First Days

After a whirlwind 5-6 days I finally have internet!

Tokyo Orientation was July 29-31 at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. It was amazing to see all the JETs from all the different countries including parts of America, Ireland, the UK, Australia, Jamaica, and even France. I spoke French with the 3 French JETs (who are also fluent in English!) There were over a thousand of us, and that's only half, since the rest will come in group B this Wednesday and group C later on. Every day brought meetings, workshops, and ceremonies--general preparation for the life we're about to live and the students we're about to teach. The first night, I went out with some Gunma (my prefecture) people to Karaoke in Shinjuku. I love Karaoke and it was fun bonding with the new people :) (Only to get ripped apart from them days later as we went out to our respective cities.) The second night I was able to meet a group of my friends in Shinjuku where we went out to eat and walk around. I'm so glad I got to reunite with them and I'm surprised that I almost didn't even want it to happen because it was too much work coordinating it without a cell phone. But it ended up being fine! I love Tokyo but I think living there would be overwhelming. I love public transportation, convenience, and an abundance of things to do, but the slower pace of the suburbs suits me fine as well.

View from my hotel room

The Opening Ceremony was very formal.

Shinjuku at night

My fwends.

On Wednesday we took the 2-hour bus ride into Gunma where we all met our Contracting Organizations at the government office in the capital, Maebashi. Having been mostly indoors all day in Tokyo, the humid heat was stifling. It's hot, but I prefer it to winter's cold. After a few nervous introductions, my supervisors, along with my two neighbor-fellow-ALTs Chris and Laura, took me into my-town-that-doesn't-quite-feel-mine-yet of Shibukawa. I'm so accustomed to the first thing I see being the train station, but since we've been driving EVERYWHERE, I still haven't even see it yet. We signed some papers at city hall and at the Board of Education, where I met some more people. Then we went to my apartment so I could settle in and unpack. I tried so hard not to use the air conditioning, but the heat is so crazy intense that I broke down. I try to use it in short intervals, and not while I'm asleep, though I usually wake up in the night from the heat. I went to Daiso (my favorite store!) and the grocery store that night to get supplies, then some of the Shibukawa new & old ALTs went to dinner at a ramen place where they apparently go frequently. My first real Japanese dinner!

View from my front door area

My place.

Yeahhh, that bedspread came with the room. -__-

Thursday was another day of errands, trying-and-failing to get a cell phone because I don't have alien registration card yet, getting a bank account, signing more papers, and paying more fees. In Japan, bureaucracy is king. So much red tape to get through everything. Friday we visited my schools for the first time. They are small and some parts are a little dilapidated, but cute. I am very excited to be there, although the system is pretty foreign to me and nothing like an American elementary or middle school. This time was my crowning glory of awkward Japanese conversations and introductions. Most normal people who learn languages end up developing much higher listening than speaking skills, but because I'm weird, my speaking skills are higher than most other peoples', while my listening skills are worse. But when Japanese people hear my speaking, they assume I'm pro at listening, which I'm not. Also, I got offered a 2nd ice cream which I refused to be polite, and a split second later I remember that it's the polite thing to accept the offer, not refuse it. Whoops. But anyway, they gave me a cabbage. Gunma is famous for cabbage. Friday night I was lucky enough to go to Numata Matsuri (festival) with Helen, a departing ALT who has been here 5 years. Not only that but we went with her Japanese friends so I got to meet some real Shibukawa genuine Japanese people for the first time. :) The matsuri was really great: big dashi (...like floats?) going through the streets, dozens of people carrying wooden mikoshi, along with every type of street food you can imagine. I met some more of the gaijin (foreigner) community and watched all the different events. Summer is matsuri season!

Whee!

A dashi

A mikoshi.

Today I drove for the first time! It's not thaat scary except for you always have to be on guard to not accidentally drive on the right or turn wrong, and the roads are way narrower, and I still have to get used to the dimensions of my car. The turn signal is on the right, and I keep pawing at a phantom one on the left, as well as pawing at a phantom shift on the right (it's now on the left.) If you zone out and go on autopilot for a split second you'll end up in the wrong lane (which I almost did a couple times but caught myself.) I gotta go to know my town and the rules of the road. Also, if I want to stay two years, I've got to get a Japanese license, which means taking this crazy strict road test (most people fail at least 3 times, some people 6 or even 10 times.) Yikes!

Now I'm gonna go for a walk and try to scope out the station. I live 10min away.

I've gotten most of the housewares I need for my apartment, but still need some other things like an iron and some other storage things. But I think I am gonna wait until my paycheck...16 more days!

I'm gonna go to Takasaki Matsuri tomorrow and *hopefully* meet up with my friends who live there!

This is not like Nagasaki at all except for that people speak Japanese and the signs are in Japanese and stuff.

Enough word vomit for today. Future entries will not be like this.