I am what you call.... a binge drinker {in australian accent}

okay so the game is on. who is going to win the purple heart, for injuring themselves during the work christmas party? whos going to win the tank, drinking the most while keeping composure?, whos going to win the whale, drinking the most, period. who is going to win the akward award. the list goes on. it is nova work party 2007 at nova. Yaki Niku (korean bbq), .
nomihodi, all you can eat and drink. the night was wild. for details and a christmas present, the first person to post a comment gets a gift in the mail, authentic japanese shit, from me. be quick, be fast.

my birthday was pretty smuch the same, a drunk night, ate okonomiyaki with my buds, spencer and phil.

i am lovcing japan. next post will be aFTER new years, its goiung to ber wild in tokyo with kevin, . what you shinkansaying

peace out, a town

remembering the great hanshin earthquake

i have three days off, specifically sunday, tuesday, and wednesday.

tuesday: earthquake memorial day it is. i wake up and head to kobe harbour, and examine the perserved part of the harbour from the earthquake. it is sad to witness. that day, on jan 17th, 1995, over a thousand people lost their lives. here i observe over 10 years later, the damage of that day. it is truly horrific.

i head to the earthquake museum to learn more. I watch a recreation of the earthquake. sugoi. what a terrible experience to undergo. my heart goes out to the earthquake victims. the suffering is unbelievable. People losing relatives, having to live in school gymnasiums for months. My empathy for the great city of Kobe grows. I listen to personal stories of the surviours. a man in a wheelchair survives, having to pull himself out of the rubble. I am amazed.

i finally understand where the mutual respect and character of this city comes from. i always wondered why, if you loose a bag filled with cash and valuables, will it be returned the next day with nothing missing. now in understand. this city has developed a ridiculous amount of trust and compassion; people have so much integrity. this city is awesome. rock on.

wednesday

i go to an outlet mall in tarumi. the mall is amazing. the worlds largest suspension bridge lies in the background. sugoi. inside, lacoste outlet store sucks me dry. i walk out with a winter jacket, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweater. amazing prices though, 50 percent off most merchandise.

at night i go to the most beautiful cafe ive ever been to. lit trees and nice decor surround me. i eat cheese cake and coffee. happy b-day boo-bi (bobby in japanese).

High in the Lands of the Inca

Sunday was an eventful day. I met with Spring, her roommate, and her sister, and we went to Kobe Museum to see an exhibit on the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayan peoples. But the great part was that before we went there, we smoked some kick-ass, paranoia-free, dope. It made the experience so much better. In Japan it’s jail time if you get caught with dope, that’s why it costs 50 bucks a gram Seeing the history of these people (who unfortunately were exterminated by the Spanish Conquistadores, something the politically-correct exhibit failed to mention) while being high allowed me to travel through time and actually feel as if I was in 3,000 B.C in Central America. Some of their mass sacrifice rituals, as well as rituals such as the removal of a live child’s heart, was really shocking.

At night we were supposed to go to a gyoza party, but it got moved to our place. There were about 11 of us, and we all helped make gyozas and then ate them together. Much fun. We also made shrimp tempura. Phil got excited about Mango Juice, which sounds very similar to something in Japanese, which may be inappropriate to mention here.

On Wednesday night we went over to a co-workers house, Katie, and we made burgers and pizza and played drinking games. It was lots of fun.

Today I taught my first lesson in two months, which was nice. All this time waiting around wondering what was going to happen is officially over. It feels nice to have job security once again. Getting fucked over by a corrupt corporation was an interesting experience. In the end I learned that patience is the greatest virtue, and waiting it out through the tough times instead of giving up and going home paid off big time. I now work in a wicked location, sweet deal in terms of my work intensity, and am getting paid my unpaid wages. Life pays out great rewards to those who wait, at least most of the time.

I watched Sopranos last night, the episode where Christopher dies, and I came to new realizations I never noticed the first time I watched it. Tony, when high on peyote, sees the world from a different angle, and comes to new realizations. When he wins 4 lucky hands in a row playing roulette, he says “he’s dead, he’s dead” and falls to the ground from laughter. He actually believes that his bad luck streak is over because Christopher is dead. In the end, he yells “I get it” to the great desert landscape and jumps to the sky trying to reach it. The peyote makes him spiritual, and I feel the same when I am high. Now I understand the Rastafarians use of marijuana.

Fingerprinting Gaijin

Japan, starting Nov. 20th, plans to fingerprint every foreigner under the banner of "fighting terrorism." It is a sad day for human rights. Please sign the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fingerprints-japan/

also check this blog for more info:
http://reentryjapan.blogspot.com/

Please! one more word!

So today was my second day back at work. It is awesome working in Sannomiya, it is the equivalent of working at King and Spadina in Toronto. It is also great cause it’s a 10 min walk from our apartment. It is a cool group of teachers there, I can smoke in the kitchen, and there are so many bars close by that it is always convenient to go for drinks after work. So far there is no work because students have not signed back up yet, so it is mostly just sitting around and shooting shit. I got paid yesterday for the first time since I’ve arrived. It was 51,000 yen deposit, equal to about 500 bucks. It was also for doing nothing, waiting at home on standby until we got called into work, so it’s free money, although much needed. I love Kobe and love my job and location. It is the shit. Now that I have a secure job I can relax. Our unpaid wages (equivalent of 4,000 bucks) should take about 6 months to arrive.

I am really excited about being in Japan. It is sooo interesting and fun. Everyday is something different; you meet someone new, learn a new word or phrase, discover a new place, learn about a new cultural reality. It is one great adventure. Everything is different, from the food you eat to the way you flush the toilet. The Japanese language is like crack, people get addicted to it and its all you talk about and think about. You practice it when you walk, eat, shit, and sleep. I try to calm phil and spencer down but they cant stop they need their dosage. I’m getting hooked. Watashiwa nehongoga skoshi wakarimas, demo, jousou jarimasen. I speak a little Japanese, but, I’m not skilled at it yet.

I am planning on going to Tokyo for new years with Kevin, maybe spencer and phil will join. I am not thrilled about going, since I think I will hate Tokyo, and would rather go to a hype natural spot like Nagano, but whatever. I have money now so its okay. I am planning a Gyoza party, which is a party where you sit around and make dim sum together, for Sunday. That will be fun.

The weather is so warm. It is 16 degrees here, you don’t even need a jacket. In Toronto they had a blizzard yesterday. It is -5

Show me Da Money! .... oh, thanks.

So times have really turned around. On Tuesday I am expecting the first deposit of money into my bank account. G Education has signed on all ex-nova employees, and is paying them to wait on standby until new locations open up. Yesterday we went to a meeting, where we officially signed on, and there were news cameras everywhere. It is a big deal in Japan, Nova is huge and omnipresent. Everyone has a lot of sympathy for us as soon as they find out we are ex-nova employees. Some laugh. Some offer money. Some try to explain that nova is not japan, and that they are sorry we have had such a terrible experience. The people here treat foreigners like celebrities. They all want to talk to us, make sure we have a great time and good impression of japan, and want to practice their English. There is no way you will ever get rejected when asking a girl for her number, because in the end even if they are not interested, they still wouldn’t mind some language practice.

Spencer and I are living rent-free in Motomachi, doing nothing while getting paid, until we receive a call telling us where we are working, and/or one telling us we are evicted. I hope I can go two weeks without any work, but I am expecting a call in a few days. More then half of the nova employees have left Japan, so that means almost half the people I know. In Himeji-Akashi, from about 40 people, maybe 10 are left. Nobody waited around. The ones who did scored!

Life has been good in Sannomiya/Kobe. We go to a 180 ramen restaurant about 4 times a week. It is really good and cheap! We have been trying to save our money for the past month just cause we don’t know our situation. The weather has really cooled down. I love riding my bike around the city. It is so lively and exciting. Everything is close, which makes living here very convenient. The nightlife is great. A few places that I like are: Sonic: gets packed Saturday nights like a dance club, polo-dog: pub style gaijin bar, midnight express: a nice bar with regular crowd and great food, second chance: cheap drinks wed night. The thing about Japan is there is no club scene the way we know it in Toronto. Line-ups are non-existent, there is no new trendy club, it mainly small bars that you go with co-workers to have drinks at after work and order little appetizers. you take off your shoes, and it is a warm and cozy atmosphere. i prefer the nightlife in Kobe, it is my style.

Two weeks ago on a Saturday night I went to Pure in Osaka, which is supposed to be the best nightclub. The day was also spent in Osaka, where there was a nova meeting that everyone attended to learn about the new company, then we chilled at triangle park (an area in central Osaka) for about 6 hours, a 280 YEN bar for another 2 hours, until it was time to go to Pure (12 AM). We met an Aussie from Nara named Lorenzo, who came along and was pretty jokes. We all got really hammered cause it was 3500 yen all you can drink. I left around 3 am for an alleyway that I spent two hours puking in. I thought the drinks tasted weak but they were really strong, so I had a lot. We took the train home at 6 am, missed out stop by 40 min, ended up in himeji where the train stopped. Then on the way back it almost happened again, but Spencer woke me up and we got off. Lorenzo later told me he ended up in the mountains somewhere. We finally ended up at home around 10AM. It was a good night, but Pure wasn’t as great as we thought it would be.

A Japanese friend we have met here, Toshi, comes by sometimes and we go to university festivals and meet girls. Its okay but nothing special. With Toshi we went to a all you can eat Italian restaurant the other night. We spend a lot of time watching Scrubs, Simpsons, and desperate housewives on our free time. A guy from Toronto we met here, Phil, is a really cool dude that we hang out with a lot. A few nights ago I spent a whole day with him. We walked around Chinatown, Motomachi, and Sannomiya. Then we went to a coffee shop. After we went to this Jazz Bar where this guy named Larry plays a lot of cool old retro R & B. We met a guy from L.A there, and he got the bill. Andrew, Phil’s friend from back home, met us there, and we left to go eat. We found an Okonomiyaki bar in Sannomiya. I have been wanting to try that since I arrived. It was really good, and we had a great time interacting with the chefs. Most restaurants in Japan are set up like bars, but instead of drinks you order food. That makes your interaction with the cooks very close. We stayed there for about two hours. The Okonomiyaki was great. It is basically Japanese pizza, but instead of dough they use cabbage. It turns into a potato-like pancake with meats and veggies in the middle, and you eat it with a special sauce. On our way home we went digging through garbage. In japan on big furniture garbage day (twice a month) you can find real scores if you look hard enough. I found a really nice Japanese dish I plan on taking back, a photo album in crisp condition, real solid, from 1964, some saki cups, a water heater to make coffee (been wanting that bad, I’ve been boiling water in a pot for the last month), a nice chair, and a brand new jewellery-like case which I use to put my stuff in. Overall great score. We all grabbed different cool stuff. And finally to top it off I saw the start of a police chase when they attempted to pull over a motorcycle. It was awesome. Really good night.

Overall everything looks good now, I am enjoying my time in Japan, and am def not planning on going home anytime soon. Alcohol is ubiquitous, from vending machines to every convenience store which is 50 m away from the last/next one. That means lots of drinking. There is no law against drinking in public, which makes for a lot of random drinking on the street nights. Smokes are 300yen, or 2.80 a pack. The food is great, trying new things everyday. My diet at home consists of rice and meat cooked in this special Japanese sauce or with curry, pasta, hot dogs, tortillas with ground beef, and peanut butter sandwiches. Now that we got paid I am going to become experimental. I plan on making tempura, fish in batter, stir-fry, and maybe even fried calamari. I am excited. My food from out consists of McDonalds, Yoshinoya (jap fast-food chain) Ramin, and fried chicken from Lawsons (convenience store).

I have been learning a lot of Japanese language. Really picked up my pace the last couple weeks. I know about 50-100 words/phrases now, which is not great but now that I’ve gotten into it I will excel fast. My roommate Spencer who studies religiously is probably at 300-400. He has a really good memory and puts in 100% effort.

Our apartment sucks but it’s free so we are sticking around. The bathroom is sooo small and the shower is impossible. There are no mirrors and the kitchen is attached to the living space. I hope to move out once we get an eviction notice.

Bye Bye Himeji

Well still have made zilch since I came here. I moved to Kobe on the first of November. It is much better living here. My home situation in Himeji was uncomfortable. I was living with one total loser that I didn’t talk to, and Aaron who did his own thing . I like Kobe it’s a really nice city and has a lot to do compared to Himeji. The only thing is that we are trying not to spend a lot and don’t really know anyone living here.

My last couple days in Himeji I used to do all the things I was meaning to do my whole time there. It really takes putting me up against the clock to get anything done. I went to Shankar, an Indian restaurant, with Sarah and Oli, a couple from England, one night. The food was amazing. I had spent the day biking around Himeji-Jo. The next day I played soccer in the park and chilled out with the Himeji crowd one last time. My last day I spent with Mark going around Himeji Castle and this park next to it. I went to Caspian restaurant and had kabob before he arrived. I packed my suitcase and left Himeji for the last time at 8:00pm. That night Spencer left for Akashi, and I spent the whole night cleaning the filthy apartment. I had beer and cigarettes to keep me going. It was actually pretty fun.

It was James from Akashi go away party last night. It was 3,200 yen all you can drink and 4 courses. The food was good but very little, and I must have gone through 6 pints. We stayed at James’ place and I watched Stephen Colbert on his laptop. Miss that show. It was a good turnout overall.

Kevin has arrived in Japan and I plan to go live with him soon. I got offered a job with Gaba in the Tokyo region I just need to confirm with them in the next few days and find out where Kevin lives exactly. I think I would enjoy my time in Japan the best with an old friend from back home like Kevin. I could share the memories with him in the future and we could have a good time together.

It's Ova

A long time has passed and lots of events have taken place since my last entry. I am in a total different situation then I was since a month ago. Nova, after 4 weeks of rumours and constant chattering about its future among teachers, declared bankruptcy today. It’SOVA, we like to say. So now I am officially out of work, and owed one months pay. I will probably never see that money. I knew the situation since I first arrived, and being the realist and pessimist that I am, I predicted they were going bankrupt long time ago. I have been calling in sick the past week and handed in my resignation long ago. 4000 teachers royally fucked. Canadian embassy sent me an e-mail trying to give me resources. Forget it. I had two interviews with Gaba in Osaka and Kobe, which led to me spending a lot of time in Spencer’s apartment. I have been in Kobe for at least 10 nights this past month. I plan on moving there soon but not sure. Himeji is great but there is nothing and nobody left here, everyone has left or is leaving. I think I will get the job with Gaba but it will require that I move to Kyoto or Osaka. We will see. It hasn’t crossed my mind to head home once until today, when it hit me that there may be nothing here for me in Japan. And that it could get lonely now that all the people I met are leaving. I am confused and feel down. I had a wicked streak the past three weeks of just partying and fun and felt great but now reality is settling in. Kevin is coming to a city an hour north of Tokyo. I don’t know if I could live there. I’ll have to see.

I have been doing a lot of partying this past month. Tiger bar, Sports bar, are two gaijin bars here in Himeji that I have spent a lot of nights in. There have been costume parties, go away parties, branch closure parties. I have enjoyed getting hammered often. I have also been to Akashi a few times, 30 min train ride, and met with Emily and Moe.

Karaoke is the shit! 1300 yen you get all you can drink whisky and soft drinks and get to sing your fav tunes. You get a private room to share with your friends. It’s a lot of fun.

Around the 25th of September I had a huge bicycle accident on my way home from Sports bar. I was drunk and closed my eyes while riding for like 10 seconds when.. BAM! Right into a pole. I have scars left over. My face was fucked. Black eye, scrapes, the whole deal. I called in sick two days in a row. I suffered a concussion. It was ugly. I am okay now except for the scars. It was scary though. At work that’s all my students wanted to talk about.

Teaching was really fun, especially voice, where it was a free talk session. I would get to sit there and just chat to the students about anything. I enjoyed it. I bonded with a lot of the students as well. I made friends with them and they would tell me about their personal lives and became more socializing than work.

Other major things:

A Brazilian restaurant in Kobe I have been to twice is something else. For 980 yen, its all you can eat and really good food. It’s the only place you can go to get meat for cheap. Its right on the harbour which also makes it a beautiful setting.

A foot spa in Kobe is somewhere we discovered last time I was there. Its right on the street in Sannomiya (downtown) and it free. People sit there and relax their feet in hot water and talk. It’s a lot of fun.

There is one other Persian guy in Himeji. He owns a restaurant named Caspian and bought me a beer once at Tiger. I plan to eat at his restaurant before I leave.

I climbed Mt. Shosha, where last Samurai was shot, which was a really fun day. I had my music playing and it was the right temperature. Lots of fun. Also climed Mt. Maya with Spencer and visited an herbal garden at the top.

Last thing to mention is that I went to a sumo match. Interesting but boring.

Overall my time here so far has been great. I’ve met a lot of cool people and had fun exploring Japan, even though I do find it a little bit weak. I mean outside of the cities is beautiful, but inside is kind of boring. Nice places to eat and all, but ugly cities. Nowhere to really go for a walk you know. It has kind of been like a university experience, but instead of school, its teaching. Everyone living on their own partying. I wouldn’t switch my time here so far for anything. Its been among the best 6 weeks of my life. Its kind of like vacation, but you meet more people. I hope I can make the fun and my time in Japan last. Maybe. I have also picked up a decent amount of Japanese, which is nice. Hopefully by the time I leave I can put full sentences together.

Lost in Transition

So I ended up doing the trip to Kyoto. I am not as easily impressed as I used to be when I was a kid. Everything seems redundant. Kyoto did not meet my expectations but was still a nice city. It seemed like the city itself was not extraordinarily beautiful or nothing, just the temples and historical places within it. I saw Toji temple and roamed around the Gion (geisha) district. The Gion district was very beautiful. It had a few rivers and nice stoned walking paths. The buildings were all wooden and offered small, intimate atmospheres. We ate at a Japanese restaurant. The dish: Tempura, which is different fish and vegetables fried in a batter. It was good, but like usual, very small. We got hammered off tequila, had some laughs over dinner, and were amazed by the rail station in Kyoto. Spencer, Amanda, and Mark were great company, making me feel less homesick being around other Ontarians. We went back to Amanda’s apartment and watched Seinfeld; much fun.

So the last three days I spent training. I was quick to pick up the structure of the lessons and believe I naturally make a great teacher. I am patient, can easily put myself in my students’ shoes, make them relaxed, and have an eye for what may be their difficulties. Training was intensive, teaching full lessons on the second day, but I liked what I was doing so it was fun! I did not know how great a job teaching could be. I mean what we have to do is easy which def. makes it less demanding, but it beats a hell of a lot of other professions. We are making decent money too so can’t complain. I drink at the local bar a lot (almost every night) and it is one of those places where everyone knows your name. It is a very warm atmosphere and it has the same regular gaijin (foreigner) crowd every night. Too bad no hot girls except for the bartenders, but lots of cool guys. I have developed a closer bond with one of my roommates, Aaron, since I’ve arrived. The other roommate, a dork from U.S, Chris, I have not. He is a complete loser. Can’t wait until I don’t have to see him anymore.

I have been deprived of internet access since I arrived and it has been killing me. I never knew how dependant I was on the thing. I feel detached from the world, especially since I am in Japan and it’s the best way to communicate with Toronto. Internet should be arriving in a couple weeks. I made pasta tonight. Tasted really good. Tomorrow is my first day of actual work. I am about to watch Lost in Translation, I know, how cliché. Anyways, I was thinking I would terminate my contract is 6 months, head back to Toronto, and then look for a job in Europe somewhere. Not because I don’t like Japan, but because 6 months may be enough. I will have had teaching experience and then maybe can find a job easier in Spain, Italy, France, or Greece. Just an idea.

Food is not an issue anymore. After discovering a couple good supermarkets I now know where to get everything I need. Plus I found a couple Japanese dishes I like.

The Scary Unknown

Day three in Japan and I have finally buckled down to write a few words on my time here thus far. So after hardly anything to eat in three days and two nights of heavy drinking, this routine is starting to get the best of me. I am still jet lag, hitting the sack at 3 am and waking up at 9 am is not customary for me, but it has got to end some time. I have survived on Mcdonalds, Mr. Noodle, and sushi, and am having trouble straying away from that. The food here is just a little too foreign for me. I need to find what I like, and that may take awhile- I could see myself losing a lot of weight here. The people I have met in Himeji and on the plane over are cool. I plan on meeting up with some of the people from my plane today on a day trip to Kyoto. My job here is not secure, as Nova has not been paying employees and seems to be in financial trouble. This is a huge event in Japan, making the daily news. Nova has 800 branches across Japan. I have begun my job search just in case I can find something better.

My first night in Himeji was real tough. I was unfamiliar with my environment and was doubting if I wanted to live here. I did not like the nightlife of Himeji and found the city quite boring. Yesterday, although, changed my outlook a lot. After riding a bike around the city all day I had a better impression of the city. There are lots of places to go shopping and a good variety of restaurants to eat at. At night I got to know a lot of the people who are working with Nova here in Himeji and they were a cool bunch, but I don’t know how long I can stick around in Himeji for. I need a bigger city. I'll see. I will register a phone number and get a bank account and then go on a serious job search.
My apartment here is alright. There is A/C, but it hardly reaches my room. Although, the weather is cooling down in Japan from the summer extremes. Days reach 32 degrees and nights dip down to 25 degrees. My stomach is hurting, I am going to get some rest.