Adventure on the (Over) Seas

The other day at work I headed for the bathroom and opened the window for a breeze. I saw an impressive looking spider web. I also saw a nice juicy grasshopper that I am sure was about to jump into the web. Rather than help out my karma even a little bit I pushed the little bugger right into the web to watch what would happen. I was amazed!!! The spider came running out so quick and had the grasshopper wrapped up in an impressive web in about 10 seconds flat. I just stood there with my jaw on the floor, til I realize just how disgusting that was considering I was in the bathroom!
After wrapping up the grasshopper the spider returned to the middle of the web and started humping it, sending vibrations throughout his web. I can only guess, as I am not an insect expert, that this was done to see just how big a meal he had caught. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Since I was in class at the time I had to cut my sideshow short and head back there. Once class ended though I was right back to the bathroom. The spider was now feasting on his meal. I am pretty sure he had some fangs sticking into this poor hoppers head! Again I was amazed at just how cool this all was and I made a fatal mistake on behalf of the spider. I called others to come and see the show. Well... It seems that Komatsu Sensei was not as interested as I thought she might be given her extreme fear of spiders. I was ordered to execute spidey! I was given the order and the bug spray with the seriousness of a soilder headed into battle. The poor 8 legged friend... Time of death, 5:13 PM. So not only did I murder a hopper, ultimately I had to introduce my feasting friend to his maker as well. Just goes to show, there is always someone bigger in the food chain!
This week has passed by pretty quickly. The events of last weekend caused a ruckas to be raised but that has been dealt with and the aftermath is slowly fading away. I have been busy the past little while trying to get my computer cleaned up and all my files moved over to my external hard drive. I also want to get all the video footage of my travels and such moved onto there so I can edit them and make some cool videos. I have also gotten a copy of my first Karate fight so that will not be long before it makes an appearance on this thing.
Karate is going really, really well! I am enjoying it more than ever now. The fellas have stopped hitting my which is nice. They have decided that because I am a white belt they will not persue an offence when fighting me. Its great, but it is going to end soon! Next week I have a Karate belt test. Sept 10th. I am really nervous about it. I know that the fighting part is going to go over well becasue I enjoy fighting in the ring, but there are a bunch of other things like, kata, stretching, jumping squats, push ups, and one other technique that I have not yet perfected. Everyone has been working extra hard with me though to prepare for the tests so I am sure that I will do fine. Either way, if I remain a white belt thats good cause the bruises have just about healed!
I was supposed to go out for dinner with a pretty lady the other night but she stood me up. Her mother was not feeling well so she stayed home to take care of her. So since I was already at the restaurant I decided to have a bite and ended up having a great evening anyways. The restaurant we were meeting at before heading elsewhere, she works there, is owned by one of the surfers in town. A couple of other people swung round and we passed the time just chatting away. Before I knew it, it was close to 11, I had arrived at 7. I ended up meeting with her the next night after Karate and I had a really good time. I will keep you posted on any developments that may occur there.
In other big news, the internet was finally installed at my appartment. The guy came the other day and installed the phone so I was good to go. I am really happy to have access to the net outside of work. I will be posting up some photos in the near future of the past couple of months around Japan.
Enough writing for me for now. I gotta get ready for my evening class. I have not checked my students writing in quite a while so I want to complete that before they arrive. If you have not yet gotten my cell phone e-mail address let me know and I will pass it along to you. Leave a comment or send me a quick mail. Stay well, but more importantly, stay classy San Diego!

While in Ginza I just strolled around and people watched. I took a few photos that I will post up once I have transfered them onto my lap top and bring it into work. I did a little bit of shopping but mostly I have decided to stop buying clothes until I make my way to Thailand or someplace cheap like that, then I will go on a shopping spree to end the new clothes drought! Thursday night I met up with D.T. in Shibuya and we went for a beer before heading back to his place to just chill out. He had told me how small it was but I was still pretty shocked. He has some interesting roomies to say the least!!!
On Friday we went swimming at the local pool where a kind hearted six year old had to brag all about how great her life is in Japan. The kid could speak English perfectly and is enrolled in a Japanese school so I am sure her Japanese isnt too shabby either. Truth be told, she was super cute and it was hilarious to listen to her tell us about her coloured map and how she teaches all her friends at school English. I do the same but I am overpaid for it! After kicking it at the pool for a while we went out to this super cool park. We met up with one of Ds friends who wanted to take some photos. Sadly everyone kept their clothes on...
The park was pretty cool and I saw the same breed of turtle that I have swimming in the lake. I am starting to be a little concerned with just how big my little fella might get. I am sure I have about 10 years before he gets nearly that big but I am planning on bringing her home with me if I can keep her alive until then! Following our afternoon in the park I hung out with one of D.Ts friends while he went to work. I bought a new belt for the shorts that I bought that are much to big for me. I was in desperate need of shorts so I bought the cheapest pair I could find at the GAP, sizes were not the deciding factor, price was!
Upon arriving back in the I DOT, I met up with some friends and just relaxed a little bit. We were resting because Saturday was the day of the big Beach Party. Its an annual event and well worth the hype! We surfed for most of the morning and just hung out by the beach. I ended up heading over to the party a little bit early because I didnt want to miss the Beach Queen contest. Beautiful ladies strutting their stuff in bikinis, definately an event worth watching! I also ended up in the Beach King contest which was really quite funny... How it came to happen was a little bit entertaining but I will not bore you all with the details.
I was actually really nervous before hand so the fellas did what your buddies are supposed to do when you need help, they bought some beers!!! By the time I got on stage the nerves were calmed. There were five of us up there and the crowd was pretty quiet until the third contestent, which was to my shock and surprise... yours truely!!! The cheers made me turn pretty red which I am sure hurt my scores and was why I finished in third place. I won a CD player that I turned around and gave to a cute girl in the crowd before hoofing off and grabbing my surf board for some more fun on the waves.
Throughout the day ladies were stopping me for photos, it was by far one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me. I raised my celebrity status a few notches around The O-Hama. I saw a lot of my co-workers and had some entertaining exchanges with members of their families. Overall it was a fantastic day that only got better as it wore on. I also saw a student (adult) with her son, also my student, so I hung out with them for a little while. The night ended with me in the back of the tent that had served me the majority of my beer... only fitting that the beers ended up coming with a place to sleep!
The next day my student and her husband were going to take me Motorcrossing, is that right? I however was in no condition to be doing such dangerous stunts so I cancelled. I could not even operate a surf board so a motorbike was out of the question! I am sure it will get rescheduled in the not so distant future.
So much is happening over here for a small town. I am starting to find some new friends and enjoying hanging out with the O-Hama Boys. Things started picking up after my big telephone purchase. School is getting busy but I am enjoying that so its alright. I have realized that time is flying over here much quicker than I thought that it would. Already today its been 5 months in this new place I call home. In fact in a conversation with a friend yesterday I pretty much planned out the next year here and its gonna pass quickly I am sure. In October I have some visitors coming from Korea. November brings the most important woman in my life to Japan with a great buddy. December brings the beach and waves of Bali. January is another relaxing month with a reduced number of classes. March comes with a week holiday at the end and April has another month of reduced classes. May will be a vacation back home for a wedding! Then its the summer time again and that means hanging out on the beach and surfing in boardies!
Life is beautiful!!! There are so many things to write about and so little time. I went to another fireworks festival on Sunday after the beach party which was great. We went with our Japanese friend and his family. He has the two cutest kids ever and it was a lot of fun! The show was not fantastic but it was free and thats all that matters these days. The budget is getting smaller so I need to be careful about what I spend my hard earned money on.
Enough rambling, I gotta get a few things done around here. I hope that everyone is doing well and keeping outta trouble. Enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer!!!

After Fuji there was nothing that could happen this past week that would compare to the feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration. As tired as I was I knew that I only had a week vacation from now until Christmas so I had to make the most of it. We slept on the bus ride home and then made our way back to T.Ks place for a quick shower and change before heading out and watching THE BEST guitarist I have ever seen in my life!!! I am not really one to watch and enjoy live music all that much but this fella was worth the price of admission and some!!! He had the entire crowd mesmorized! He played a collection of Jazz and Blues that had the bar rocking from his first chord to his last.
After the show we made our way over and met up with D.T my aussie homie from Thailand. We had a beer and got caught up a little bit. He is doing really well in Tokyo and I am pretty happy for him. The next day I was solo in the city and The Kluke drew me a map that directed me towards the surfing and snowboarding shop area. It was a huge street dedicated to surfing and snowboarding. I saw so many great deals and at one point almost lit my bank card on fire to remove the temptation to buy things! I am thinking I am going to head back into the city and buy a new snowboard in a couple of weeks. Japanese people are not fans of anything that seems dated so all of last years models are at least 40% off. I am a sucker for a deal, so I am likely going to pick up a board and some bindings.
That night I met up with K.M the teacher that I took over for. We went to a maid cafe. This is where the waitresses all dress up as maids and serve you. For a certain fee you can play rock, paper, scissors with the maid. If you win then there is some reward. If you pay more money and order some food the maid will come over and serve you with a spoon from her knees after blowing on the food to cool it off. I can see how something like that would be really sexy with your girlfriend in your home but in the middle of a crowded cafe, I am not sure who I was more embarassed for, the girl or the guy!
Thursday brought some rain so I read the 4th Harry Potter book. I am officially hooked on the series. I am also officially a loser! After finishing the book I made my way down to Ginza which is the richest area in all of Tokyo. I will finish off the week later...
The sun is shining and the beach is calling my name!!!

I did the deed... It was one of the hardest tasks I have ever undertaken. I survived the beast! This week I am on vacation from work and decided to climb up Mount Fuji with a few friends. I made my way into Tokyo and spent the night catching up with one of my Korean buddies in town for Summer Sonic. After hearing about the concert from him I wish I had gone. The band line-up was INSANE! So many great bands EQUALS high ticket prices though. So I spent some time chatting with my boy Alex and hung out with him in the morning before he departed back to Korea.
We did some quick research on the net before leaving to catch our bus and were able to find out that the average temperature at the top of Fuji is 6 degrees in August. At this point in time we were all laughing and joking because for Canucks thats practically shorts weather! Our laughter did not last long. I was actually debating leaving my winter coat and snow pants behind because I did not want to carry them up the mountain. What a mistake that would have been...
We arrived at the 5th stage of Fuji at 9:45 and instantly added some layers to our shivering bodies. Our hike began at 10 PM. The night was cloud free and the view was incredible. Our path was well lit by the moon. I was not lucky enough to see it but there were shooting stars cruising across the sky all evening. We started out with an ambitious pace which like our T-shirts did not last long. About an hour in I was finding myself short of breath and no longer hiking but rather staggering up the mountain. We had heard that it takes about 4-6 hours to climb to the peak so we figured we would arrive at about 4 AM to view the sunrise. In fact we thought we would have to slow ourselves down closer to the top so that we were not sitting on the summit exposed to the wind for a long time. Slow ourselves down... how cocky could we have gotten, the mountain took great care in that respect!
The thing about Fuji is that it is not a mountain at all, people tend to forget, myself included, that its a volcano. That means the climb is filled with nothing at all to look at. There are rocks of all sizes and thats about it. The stars are fantastic to look at though, outside of that there is more ash and rock than one would ever wish to look at in a lifetime.
By about midnight we were cursing ourselves for thinking that such an undertaking wouldn't be so difficult. Our optimism was slowly but surely fading into reality. Fuji was in fact really, really, really BIG! I have climbed many a mountain but this one, it clearly takes the cake! The route to the top is a zig zagging trail that seemingly never ends. It was difficult to fully satisfy my bodies need for oxygen. My legs were burning in exhaustion after each zig and I'd have to rest before tackling the zag. There are stages along the way to the top and by the eighth I was ready to stop for the night and sleep. Luckily the fellas proded me on. We passed a sign, 30 minutes to the top... Our pace quickened... An hour later our feeling of elation and accomplishment well past us we looked up to see that the trail to the top, littered and lit with headlamps attached to granny hikers kicking our ass up Fuji, was a littler longer than we thought we could manage. I collapsed on the side of the mountain and promtly drifted into a deep sleep. I was awakened by the boys asking if I wanted to climb higher, Fuji San almost saw its first casulty of the season right about then... Seriously, I was sleeping what possesed the boys to kick me and inquire as to whether or not I wanted to climb higher... were my snores not evidence enough of my current state of happiness?
Alas the beast was awakened and we kept on treking, higher and higher we rose and it seemed as though the summit was doing the same thing! Zig Zag after zig zag was continuously being added to the trail ahead of us. We could conquer two stretches of trail only to look up and see that three more had been added ahead of us. Our feeling of hopelessness can not be described in words. Again, we rested!
I was in danger of missing the whole reason why we insanely chose to hike the trail, the sunrise! In my head I had convinced myself in my state of delirium that I had climbed Fuji simply for a nap. I was not waking up for anything. I am happy that T.K. was as persistant and I was tired because I woke up and watched the sunrise, it took about an hour for it to finally crest over the clouds and it is definitely one of the more beautiful things I have seen in my life. Sitting above the clouds enjoying the moment of perfect stillness, stillness because even I could not convince my legs to move another inch, watching nature at its best. Life at that moment truly was beautiful. Then I looked up... We still had to climb!!!
We reached the peak of the mountain at about 7 AM, I think, I stopped checking my watch because it depressed me realizing how long we had been walking for. At the top we all sat down and I drank what was the greatest tasting beer I have ever had. I carried that little can with me all the way to the top and let me tell you, not a drop went to waste out of that can! We smiled, we hugged, we cheered, we congratulated, we laughed, I drank... all this because we were not thinking about how we were getting down! Our celebrations were cut short upon realizing that we were really only half done.
We all took a nap at the top, the sun was shining and it was quite hot. We napped for a couple of hours before starting the decent. The journey down was much quicker than our rise to the top. However around the bottom the trail just didn't want to end. We wanted nothing more than to be back at the base but the trail had other ideas. It wanted nothing more than to delay our happiness as long as possible. When we did arrive back at the bottom there was no cheering, no bands playing, no heartfelt "lets do it again next year", just silence as we looked upon new versions of ourselves from 15 hours ago. Idiots smiling as they start the climb to the top. If only they knew what I know now!
In Japan there is a proverb, "A wise man climbs Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice". I will leave you with this happy thought...
My mama didn't raise no fool!

Today was a tough day because I said goodbye to RA and drove her down to the airport. Even though it was tough at times for me to have visitors I am definately going to miss the two of them. RE took off about a week and a half ago and he missed out on one of the best weekends EVER. My weekend was definately one of the greatest I have ever had overseas doing crazy things. I started out with Friday off...
My only job for the day last Friday was to go and buy ice to keep the beer chilled throughout the dance festival that was being held in the big O-hama. Sounds pretty easy, and it was. I was able to spend almost the whole day down at the beach just riding waves. I am FINALLY standing up on the board. While its not for an extended time period, its still an amazing feeling! I am not sure any photos even exist but when I get my hands on some I will make them available to the blog-viewing public! I arrived late at school and set about completing my hard task of driving the the ice factory and loading up. Upon returning to the school the drinks were iced up and people were getting dressed in their traditional Japanese summer Kimonos called Yukatas. I was even lucky enough to score a loaner from the bosses husband. It was shaping up to be a festive evening indeed!
Back in the day students would never come to class during the city Dance Festival so The Matsu, rather than simply cancelling classes, decided to join the dancing! I am glad she made that decision. I was thinking that I was gonna be really bored dancing around the streets and was hoping that at the very least there would be some pretty ladies on the sidewalks to keep me occupied. They were not needed. I brought along my video camera and these Japanese dudes would go crazy for the cam... The two hours went by sooo quickly! I could not even believe it. A bit of a downer though was that I lost my money clip and some cash. That was not able to keep me down for long though! I will post up some video of our dancing when I transfer it from my camera to lap top.
After the dancing was finished we rocked on back to the school where a BBQ was getting underway. I fired up the grills and we all started cooking the meat! My ice task was coming in handy because the beers were chilled and ready to go. We ate, drank, laughed, then drank some more! This night was one that will likely go down as one of the most entertaining and enjoyable times ever for me.
Saturday was again spent on the water just paddling around and hanging out at the beach. I got back to the school at about 6:30 in time for us to meet up with everyone to check out the annual fireworks festival. It was really cool. While the noise levels dont even come close to comparing to Shanghai and the Lunar New Years, the choregraphy was still pretty cool. After the show we went over to a snack bar and drank and ate for a while. I should mention as I was leaving the beach a car drove past filled with three ladies. This is why I love Japan, they pulled a U-turn and came back to the car park and hung out around my car for a minute. When I finally said hello they went giddy and begged for a photo... Who, outside of celebrities, gets that kind of attention anywhere else in the world? It was a funny situation to observe... At times like that I feel as though I am not actually living in the moment but rather having an out of body experience.
Sunday was the day of the big surf contest. My buddies were entered so I went down there pretty early, 6 AM, and tried to film some of the contest. It was a really chilled out day but I got fried by the sun! It was sunny and hot all day long. More importantly the waves were pumping! At one point they did pause the contest because some mist had rolled in and the judges could not see the surfers. My boys did not fare too well but they had a good time and for surfers, thats the most important thing!
That night was the start of another festival in the T-ra. It was awesome just strolling around and watching the different people (pretty girls) walking about. There were all kinds of different food booths out and about. I saw quite a few students and enjoyed the evening.
Its time for bed over here. I am tired and its late. I will post up some photos in the next little while. This week I am going to finally edit some of the video footage that I have taken and post it up. I am thinking about finally buying an external hard drive to store everything. The extra space might make things easier for me.
Stay well and keep smiling!

Every school wants photos of their teachers to send home with their students. I am a minor (C-lister) celebrity around here. I am thinking about cutting the lucious locks to keep cool for summer. Its unlikely that I will end up acting upon such thoughts though. Here is Katrina in all of her glory. She's from Florida and usually heads down to the beach with us and paddles around in the water. This will likely continue for about 6 weeks then she will start surfing. I need an airplane to match those Aviators!!! That or K.E's car to cruise around in!!! Megawatt smile still in place though...

This coming weekend is one of the most eventful in the big I, as far as excitement goes by living in the sticks standards... Today is a four day week because we have tomorrow off to prepare for the dance festival. Perperations include putting on our traditional Japanese summer Kimonos. I am pretty pumped about that whole experience. I am gonna stick out quite nicely in my Yukata but it should be an overall awesome experience. After the dancing ends my boss is hosting a BBQ at the school. It doesn't get much better than that!
After Friday nights festivities I will arise early and hit the beach for a day of surfing. I have started standing on the board at long last so I am super motivated to continue my attempts at surfing. I am not standing for long but long enough to brush the hair out of my eyes before getting slammed by the wave. We are riding in board shorts these days which feels awesome, the temperature is hot but the water is so refreshing! I should have quite the tan before too long now. Following the day of surf there is a fireworks show being put on. From what I hear its something to write home about, so I am, in advance! I will post up some photos afterwards. The program goes for an hour and a half which sounds really impressive. My boss has bought tickets so we have guaranteed seats. After the fireworks there are all kinds of street stalls selling food and drink. In the city next to us, which is the capital of our area the bigger festival gets started up on Sunday. It runs until Tuesday night with a huge street parade happening that night.
I will not be taking part because on Sunday there is a surf competition that one of the hamma boys has entered. I will be down on the beach filming his runs. I am hoping he does really well. I have been training him all week, by training I mean getting him out of bed early to head down to the surf. Then I put all kinds of good thoughts in his head because if he wins the comp I am gonna beg him to take me to Cali with him. I think the grand prize is a surfing trip. We are not really sure, he just likes surfing and I just want some prizes, so we should both end up happy. I will post up some footage of the contest next week.
Last weekend I went to the Karate tournament but I have not had a chance to put the film onto my lap top. I think I am going to buy a new external hard drive in the near future so I can put entire tapes on them for future editing. In the winter I am thinking there might be much less to entertain me. That would be a good time to work on my video editing skills.
Enough blabbing from me. I am still at work so I should probably get some actual work done!
Later

I decided that it was time to start up a new and improved blog. One that details my travels with a little more depth. My last blog was filled with parties and stories about partying and I am sad to see it shut down, but alas from the ashes... something rises out!
In any event I have been busy as ever over here even though I am hardly working because of the August summer vacation. I have almost every morning free from work so I am able to get out there and surf quite often. I am finally standing up on the board which is great! I am looking forward to continuing the surf well into the winter. I am looking at buying a new winter wet suit in the not so distant future.
We had a new teacher arrive last week and I am sure she is going to fit in well. Interestingly enough, I did not want my boss to hire her because I did not get the best vibe from our telephone conversation. That just goes to show telephone calls should not be used to conduct interviews. I think she is going to work out great. The kids seem to like her which is fantastic and ultimately all that really matters. My schedule has been changed around a little bit which means I have some more free time. I still have a few classes that I would rather not but no job is really perfect is it?
I have some vacation time coming up and I have been debating about what I want to get up to. There are a few options but I think I will most likely end up climbing the tall mountain located in the middle of the island. I hear its not the most beautiful hike ever but it should still be a lot of fun. There are a few people interested in doing that together, I hope it works out. Otherwise I am going to lay low and just surf everyday! Most likely though I will make a journey somewhere... Kicking around in the sticks for a vacation is not that exciting at all!!!
I went to a Karate tournament this past weekend and caught some good footage of my Sempa fighting. He lost his second fight which was disapointing, but I am not motivated to improve my physical condition. I want to enter the tournament next year and hopefully do well. We had two fighters entered and I thought they both fought extremely well but the decisions went the other way. It happens sometimes.
I gotta roll outta here and get some things done this evening. Welcome to the new blog... I'll keep you posted!