the teachers hit nozawa

last friday, 10/22/04, i went with my teachers to nozawa in nagano prefecture for a huge party. we stayed in a ryokan, which is a mom and pop style Japanese inn. i paid quite a bit for the trip and was slightly disappointed when we entered this tiny rigged-up structure that looked like time had forgotten it. the rooms were clean, but not lavish. no beds, futons in the closet you spread out which is standard in eastern hotels.
drinking tea after arrival with takano sensei.

there were 12 of us, 9 men and 3 ladies, who carpooled, arriving at dusk. i wanted to sneak in an onsen [onsen is a natural hotspring] before dinner so uchiyama sensei and i headed to the bath. the smell of rotten eggs was undeniable. it’s the natural sulfur in the water which is why these baths are so good for you and why it is so difficult to guess the age of Japanese people i think. after dutifully washing i head into the tiny room only to be disappointed because the water was nearly boiling. i couldn’t get in. neither could the other teachers.
changed clothes and headed for a private tatami room up stairs for the festivities. this is where the whole experience made a 180. we ate the most unbelievable spread of food you can imagine. some of these pics are mine and some were taken by another teacher nicknamed zen chan.

we had four big boats of various sashimi. i was in heaven...and then they brought out the next boat of lobster sashimi. it was cut into scalloped ribbons and piled back in the cracked shells. the taste was sweet and tender, literally melting in your mouth.

here we are grilling matsutake mushrooms, an expensive delicacy confined to autumn and winter. they smell a bit like leather and taste very earthy.

this is some sort of kai [shellfish, no duh.] it was a bit chewy and too many ventricle-like appendages for my taste. the pot is nabe, a winter stew. this one had odd fish. and a huge plate of tempura.

this is a crab broth that had chunks of meat floating in it. delish.

me eating a fish head...where's my biscuit?

we drank...

and drank... [it's absolutely true, you never, ever pour your own drink]

until we were silly...

and even sillier...

i brought a Halloween game that drove everyone nuts and put us in stitches.

then back to the guys room for some more.

then on to a bar down the street. can’t believe they ordered more food. i stuck to the liquid diet.

which may explain why i have no idea whose slippers these are or why i was wearing them. you can get away with some horrible shoe fashion though. flip-flops and socks, no problem. bedroom slippers in public that are 3 sizes too small, don't worry.

the next morning we roused at 8. although i wanted to skip food for sleep, i couldn’t pass up the chance for an authentic Japanese breakfast; runny egg patty doused with ketchup, a grilled whole fish [tasty but tough to eat], miso soup, rice, juicy persimmons, whole little fish mixed salad, spicy roots and green tea. great hangover food [joke.]

started off shopping in nozawa.


went to bathe in an onsen at one of the most beautiful places on earth. this one was on the edge of a mountain overlooking a valley full of autumnal colors. all these birds flying by, steam rising off the water. awesome. it’s been ranked as the 4th best in japan i hear.
this is a pic of the guys side. there were too many naked ladies for me to snap any shots.

in front of the ladies entrance.

then on to fruit and vegetable markets.
we hit up a vineyard and winery where i stocked up on gourmet pasta sauces, homemade salad dressing and good red wine.


then on to an apple orchard. this is when the day really started reminding me of the weekends mom, ben and i would spend in the mountains in Greenville.
also stopped into an odd antique shop with a mean knife selection. had a blast. and doing this kinda thing with the colleagues really builds a bond.
oh yeah, at the vineyard we were standing on the edge of the road when a car came speeding around the curve. one of the teachers was facing me, not looking. i put my hand on his back to gently move him out of the way when i realized the driver was looking at his cell phone, not the road, and wasn’t slowing or swerving. i grabbed the teacher by the jacket and jerked him towards me, losing both of my shoes, we go staggering as the car whizzes by brushing his back. i thought i was gonna puke i had so much adrenaline. he thanked my profusely telling me he could go home and see his family again and on and on. he even bought me lunch at this awesome raman shop.
it's great traveling with these people because they know all the out of the way spots that i could never find if i hopped a train to nagano for the weekend. they are all so gracious and fun...the type of people you can truly enjoy being around. and imagine how much more i'd like 'em if i could understand what they're saying!

earthquake pics

we had a few more this morning that were able to be felt. not so bad this time although they did cancel classes [for the students...teachers report as usual. dang it.] my friend yara lives in tochio, about an hour northeast of here. she took these pics last sunday after the big one. they are all of the main road leading from her small town to nagaoka, the second largest city in the prefecture which is about an hour and a half from here.

earth celebration

a while back i wrote a novella about the earth celebration on sado island featuring the kodo drummers and a romanian brass band. i made several friends there including a japanese guy named kei. his english was great; he spent a year studying in australia during college. luckily for me he is also a photographer since i lost my camera while there. he recently mailed me some pics from that weekend...

these are the drummers in action during a fringe event. photography was prohibited during the actual nighttime performances.


a parade the musicians did through ogi village, where the festival was held.



liz and i on the morning after a huge bonfire party that stretched until sunrise.


the beach where we camped with a bunch of other friends.

Updates...

all my classes were cancelled Monday and Wednesday due to the quake so i’m finding time to update, update, update…

-i mailed in my absentee ballot a little while back. many of the teachers here were so interested in the candidate list and the bubbling in. they are all really well informed on american politics. i’d say amongst them kerry has a slight lead over bush.

-met my neighbor recently. [it was getting to be quite eerie that i never saw anyone in my building.] he’s an attractive, 29-year-old petroleum salesman who moved to joetsu from tokyo for 2 years for work. we chatted in his place over a bottle of chilean red wine for about 3 hours. don’t go there…he has a serious girlfriend back home. his english is superb. he had the vocabulary to discuss everything from politics to reggae music. and his apartment is a bachelor pad and a half. although it’s constructed similarly to mine, it is exponentially more luxurious. unfortunately, his high-tech flat screen tv fell and broke during the earthquake. he’s been a huge help deciphering labels and pamphlets for me.

-don’t freak out… i got hit riding my bicycle on the way home from school the other day. night school got let out early b/c they were canceling the trains in preparation for the typhoon. it wasn’t serious, just plastered my face against the passenger side window and screwed up my bike basket a bit. there is some inherent fear here about auto accidents. the saying goes, if you cause an accident and someone gets hurt, you’ll be paying for the rest of your life. i think the woman driving was worried i might sue. although i assured her in japanese that my bike and i were fine and i was in a hurry to get home and outta the storm, she checked me and my bike over, then got out her wallet and stuffed some money in the pocket of my hoodie before scurrying off. strange.

-the dreaded tomatoes, onions and mayonnaise that have long plagued my palette are no longer so much of an obstacle. they are all so prevalent that resistance seems futile. last night at a swanky café down the street i ate raw beef slices smothered with a flavored mayo. it was not unlike tartare and it was delish. onions invade everything here…grilled with chicken on a stick, fried in tempura patties, floating in miso, swimming in curry. i’m actually starting to like them. ordered the onion sauce with my 'hamburg' last night. and i triumphed over tomatoes recently at ppc pasta café. we had a pureed pumpkin salad that was mixed with raisins, capers and tomatoes, served on a lettuce leaf with a mayo drizzle. it was a fabulous marrying of bitter and sweet. i’m not a big enough girl to go for the new tomato mcgrand they’re rolling out at mickey d’s though. the huge ad campaign would make you think that putting a tomato slice on a cheeseburger is a novel idea.

-broke down and bought a cell phone yesterday. very proud liz and i sorted this out solo, although it did take us nearly 4 excruciating hours. you can imagine…

-this week i’m planning to forego lesson plans in all my classes to have halloween parties. actually three teachers will be out this week so i’ll be conducting those classes on my own...if we have classes. what better way to win the hearts and minds of the students than throwing a party with candy and games while the authority is away?

i know you all love food as much as i love food...

a grocery store down the street with great engrish.


this man was set up out front selling tako yaki, balls of batter, egg and spices with a chunk of octopus in the middle smothered with a sweet brown sauce and bonito fish flakes. they're great.


a few more tokyo pics...
dining in an izakaya where everything, plates of food and drinks, were only 300 yen, an unreal bargain.


there were vendors lining the streets around asakusa temple.
this man is making little layer cakes that are pressed into the shape of koi.


this vendor is making fresh fruit lollipops.

he's wrapping chunks of strawberries, pineapple, cherries and melon in a corn syrupy mixture. i opted for strawberry. it was sickeningly sweet. i scraped the sugar coating off and just ate the fruit.


random unknown odd things for sale in markets.


these fish are common in udon and soba noodles. you just drop them in boiling water a couple minutes before your noodles and voila...


they have replicas like these out in front of most restaurants showing the dishes. they always bare a remarkable resemblance to the food you are served. we're finally getting to the point where we don't have to tow the waiteress out front and point at these models to order.

an earth shaking experience.

i felt the ground slightly shaking under my feet. my eyes darted around to see all the cords on my lights that are dangling from the ceiling dancing. it stopped as unexpectedly as it had started. i had just begun to second guess myself and what i had just felt when it happened again. this time the slight tremors kept escalating until the earth was letting out a terrifying belch of energy. it was about 6 pm here. we were heading to a live music club in the entertainment district to see a punk band. i was getting ready for the night and was rifling through a pile of shirts. as the shakes worsened i found myself dropping to my knees as standing was difficult. all these thoughts are racing through my head…what did we learn in elementary school to do during earthquakes…under the table or in the door frame. i saw my kitchen table bouncing across the floor so i crawled towards the door. i’m on the fourth floor of a 5 story building. if this apartment collapses my best bet may be to go up instead of down…this street is lined with tall buildings that would bury any bystanders…where’s the nearest open space. there is a cacophony of sound as things bounce and crash. all my toiletries come spilling out of the bathroom, glasses in my cabinet are clanking and falling. the balcony doors are rattling. quickly prioritize…what should i try to hold in place? i put my hand on the tv as i notice all the wine bottles on top of the microwave are teetering towards the edge. dishes are falling out of the drainer. i pull myself up to grab some of the bottles when i think, ‘if these all fall on me, that’ll be serious.’ these things are racing through my head in the span of probably 30 seconds which seemed like an absolute eternity. as the tremors subsided, i was left poised on all fours in the middle of the floor, panting, out of breath, with enough adrenaline pumping to excite a horse. i scurried to the phone to call liz. she was fine. we chatted in disbelief. it was nearly impossible to believe your eyes and your equilibrium. talk about a force of nature, out of control, making you feel weak and insignificant. what to clean up first. as i was putting dishes back in their places it started again. the scariest thing, i’ve come to realize, is that you never know when these minor shakes will escalate into a full-blown 6.8 earthquake. you just brace yourself and hold your breath until the vibrations die out. aftershocks. they continued as i straightened my place and finished readying myself for the night out. then there was an aftershock that didn’t die out. it rumbled harder and harder and things got louder and louder. here we go again... the first things to crash were the 6 bottles on top of the microwave. i dove that way but was too late. thank goodness i have a short mini-fridge; none of the bottles broke. they just rolled around clanking. the cabinet above the sink flew open sending spices and tinfoil and Ziploc baggies flying through the air. my sliver ware spilt, chopsticks, forks and knives clamor to the floor. cups fell off the shelf, one wine glass crashing to the floor and splintering everywhere. my vision is absolutely messed up. things are shaking so severely my sight seems smeared. a spindle of music rattles off the shelf spilling a hundred cds across the floor. i have several bookcases lining the walls. i’m sitting, holding the two shorter ones, attempting to keep the bottles and food from falling. i’m watching the 6-foot shelf on the opposite wall wavering like laundry on a clothesline in a breeze. papers and books falling. several empty bottles on top are hopping dangerously close to the edge. no time to catch them…i have to move as my bamboo plants spill, their vases dumping their water all over me, the bed, the floor, everything on my shelves and coffee table drenched. i hear things crashing in other apartments and people talking in excited voices. the box holding my jewelry teeters off the edge sending everything flying. i watch the refrigerator dance across the floor. by this point i’ve nearly given up on trying to catch things. my mind is racing…how long can the building withstand this insanity…i’m gonna die in a stupid earthquake…when will the shaking stop? and just then it did. it’s difficult to gauge how long the earthquake actually lasted. i was paralyzed. an eerie quietness took over. i watched the water dripping from the edges of shelves. after a while i started to hear people snapping out of it. chattering outside. balcony doors opening and shutting. emergency vehicles barreling by with sirens blaring. tried to call liz, the phone’s dead. what to do first. i pull all my important papers out of the water as i toss towels into the puddles that have formed. hurriedly dry off my computer, camera, cd player. pile the broken glass in the sink. push the tv back onto its stand and wheel it back into the corner. this time i left the bottles on the ground, the cups overturned, the toiletries piled in the bathroom floor. hung up the bedding to dry. finally i get through to liz…she’s in shock, i’m cussing the mess that i’m surrounded by when the earth starts moving again. it was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes. not again. merely the earth sighing, not roaring. luckily. i’m anxious to leave my apartment and the mess. i head downstairs and out on the street people are everywhere. they’re carrying sleeping bags, standing in circles with book bags piled in the middle, examining breaker boxes with flashlights. i was surprised to see so many cars on the road too. as i rode my bike towards the club i passed a hostess bar that had apparently lost electricity. parading out front were about 50 hostesses dressed in miniskirts and stilettos all chattering away on cell phones as men in suits scurried around. of course, i didn’t have my camera on me. the concert was delayed but eventually got going. liz and i recounted what had happened in the lulls between songs. we continued to feel tremors through the night. this all started on sunday evening, it’s now monday morning. i was awakened three times last night as my bed vibrated in time with tremors. one was strong enough to prompt me to get up out of the bed and move the bottles off of shelves and cordon the plants in the bathtub. i read on cnn a few minutes ago that this one measured a 5.6 on the richter scale. from what i am able to gather from the news and others, there is a serious possibility of another earthquake of similar magnitude within the next ten days. my school's gymnasium has been designated as a safe spot.
all in all there were more than 340 quakes and aftershocks. they didn’t just shake up the apartment. they challenged my sense of reality. the word ground is used to talk about the basis on which many things rest, metaphorically; an underpinning for knowledge. you ground yourself when, through introspection, you bring yourself back to what’s important to you, concentrate on your foundation. these uses of the word are derived, i’m guessing, from the fact that the ground, as in crust of the earth, is supposed to be a solid and stable entity; a strong base on which to build and grow a society. well, there goes my etymological theory now that i’m convinced the ground isn’t unyielding. here’s to reality checks…

a few more pics...

earlier this month there was a huge ALT soccer tournament in nagano. here's part of the girls' team.

sports all day...partying all night...


other random photos...
grocery store shots. only a small section of the curry aisle. the japanese do love their ka ri raisu.

the strange pickle section.

a bunch of random fish chunks.


another karaoke night...you guys would be embarassed to know how much we've been singin'. shameless...


shingo wearing an anpan man mask. anpan is a bread that's stuffed with sweet azuki bean paste. they make all sorts of rolls that look like this mask. i'm not sure why people get such a kick out of dressing up like a pastry.

weekend of October 8

it was liz:s b-day so we had a bunch of friends come into town and we raised some serious hell. friday nite we got dolled up and i took her out for a nice italian dinner and some good red wine, a big DOC cabernet, served cold of course, like all the reds in the country.

we sat at a bar up against a huge window that looked over a rock garden and waterfountain. the lighting in the restaurant was exceptional and the ambiance was youthful and trendy. started with broiled sea scallops with a tomato coulis. then had a beautiful cheese plate of parmagiano-reggiano, roquefort, gouda, camembert and pecorino served with hot crusty bread. the gorgonzola gnocchi is also worth noting. the menu was in italian with japanese translations so we were able to decipher quite a bit.

saturday about 15 of us met at what's fast becoming our comfy, everyday hangout.


we headed to a noisy bar\restaurant around the corner. they do all you can drink for 1800 yen, which is a serious bargain. you can imagine the mayhem. we tore up the japanese bar food, ie cheese wrapped in egg rolls, grilled chicken on a stick, fried noodles, clams in a hot pot, stuffed fried eggplant, etc.
this is lizzie giving her birthday speech.


michelle and i philandering with our favorite waiter.


then we hit took over a dance club around the corner.

sunday i went to the maintenence man at my satellite school:s house for a bbq. too much fun.

it was mostly the p.e. teachers so there was very little english floating around. between charades and my dictionary though we were all able to make decent conversation. they grilled rainbow trout, cabbage, onions and weiners [not quite hotdogs, not exactly sausage] and chunks of beef and pork. they also made a vat of tofu, potato, carrot soup that was awesome. the beer was flowing before i arrived about 1. at 2:30 out came the sake. as the guest of honor, i was given the biggest glass and it wasn't allowed to go below half empty. we also played a bunch of silly games like pass the weiner down the line with a toothpick held in your mouth.


the losers all jumped up and did this.

UPDATE: apparently someone was just telling me they looked like monkeys...some comedian does this move and looks ridiculous so everyone who loses must mimic him...i don't get it either.
then after some folks had left, the party moved inside and more wine and grilled squid, avocado salad, and all types of other snacky foods.
Kimura san, the maintenance man, is beside me. his house is unbelievably beautiful.

the hostess stayed busy in the kitchen and i spent quite a bit of time chatting with her [and trying to convince her she should quit cooking and come sit and have a beer.]
what a riot.

we had monday off cause it:s a national holiday, sports day. we didn't get very active. liz and i drug ourselves outta bed and onto the living room floor for movies.