Adventure on the (Over) Seas

What a start to my vacation...
I headed off to Nagano on Sunday morning. I was supposed to leave early but plans were delayed which ment I was able to chill with some co-workers on Saturday night and have a little Christmas party.
I was really really excited to come out to Nagano because it was supposed to be something incredible. I was hardly impressed. I think Blue Mountain is bigger than some of the hills. That was mostly to do with the rain which has not stopped since I arrived. Here I am riding the Japanese Alps while its raining all day! Most of the hill was not open because of lack of snow. It seems GLOBAL warming is correctly named. So I was disappointed in my trip to the city because the snowboarding was hardly anything to write on my blog about... Until today!
I woke up this morning to see the white stuff floating lazily from the sky! I quickly changed my mind about going home today and went to see if there was still room for me at the lodge. Its really quite nice with a community fire place and big screen TV. There are also tons of international guests so I am enjoying staying here quite a bit. Turns out there was still a place for me so I went and picked up my baby, new snowboard, and hit the slopes. I was riding with some pretty good guys so it was definitely a challenge for me to keep the pace. I think both the board and I performed well. We went into some pure power runs and I started having a really hard time keeping up cause it was my first experience with the white stuff... Lesson learned don't inhale too quick it burns the nose. By the end of the day I had started to get the hang of it. The good news is that the snow is still falling and tomorrow will be even better. There are a bunch of us heading out first thing. The bad news is that my board is pretty much scratched all over the bottom. I consoled myself by trying to convince myself that it was ok because I didn't buy a board to look pretty but to ride it as much as I could. The gouges still hurt though!
I have yet to take a photo of the mountains or even the Nagano Olympic signs. I just can't be bothered pulling my ghetto camera out of my pocket and waiting at the top of a cold hill for it to finally turn on. I got all the photos in my mind! The visibility is also pretty poor so photos would be quite useless. Sorry for the lack of photos.
It didn't seem like much of a Christmas here because the big day is Christmas Eve and I spent the day on the bus and then the Shinkansen (bullet) train. I finally arrived at the lodge and just passed out. Japanese people do not really celebrate Christmas Day. The big event is Christmas Eve thats meant to be a romantic time for couples. Booerns!
I gotta run and get a shower and then relax with a beer and a book in front of this awesome fire place.
Merry (LATE) Christmas and have a Fantastic New Year!!!

Time is flying by these days. I can not even believe that its only four more work days til my two week Christmas vacation. I am really looking forward to doing not much of anything. I got my hostel all booked up for Nagano and I can't wait to get my board wet!!!
I just tried to load up some more photos but its not working too well for me.
This past weekend was a gong show and a half for me. My boy U-Tan took off for Ireland on Friday so Thursday night we went out for a few pops. I bailed out early but I heard the festivities ended around 5... On Friday night I cooked dinner for my co-worker because it was her birthday last week. It was nice to just hang out and relax outside of work. Sadly she left me to get home to her husband... boohoo!
On Saturday it was my Kindergarten Christmas concert. I was not really feeling up for work that day because I was unable to sleep the night before. It turned out to be a great day though, my students looked great during their performance. It was really hilarious because some of them weren't doing much singing cause they were crying too hard. The parents all loved it though. Afterwards there was a pot luck lunch so I ate plenty.
Saturday the party got started soon after Karate. It was a year end party of sorts and it got messy real quick... I really like the team they are really kind and offer all sorts of encouragement. I found out that I actually fought really well at my test. I guess I am just a little over critical of myself. It even turns out that my hit that caused the damage was not late at all, it was a follow up to a front kick that knocked the wind right out of the guy and while his guard was down I socked him, THEN the fight ended. We went out for Nabe, which is essentially a stew but much better. It starts with a pot of boiling water and then all sorts of great food is added, veggies, chicken, beef, and some pork. There was also plenty of beer flowing. After dinner we went out to another bar in town that turned out to be holding a Christmas party... An all you can drink affair! So the booze started flowing much quicker. My nose was really stuffed so I could not taste and alcohol in my drinks and I made the mistake of asking for more gin... That was not my first nor last mistake that night. Kae came and picked me up but I was simply too drunk... I jumped out of the car at a stop light and Kae found me in a parking lot perhaps being a little sick?!?!? Its anybody's guess...
Sunday I woke up at 2 and wanted to keep sleeping. Kae and I tried to make our way to the movies at about 5 but I couldn't do it. I was still feeling a little under the weather but I had to shape up quick because I had plans to meet some co-workers at 8 for another round... This round got off to a great start. The fellas tried feeding me sake they thought I couldn't handle... Three rounds later their faces were beet red and I was lovin' every minute of it! I was introduced to a Japanese game involving excessive amounts of Tabasco sauce. Counting with 1,2, or 3 the object of the game is to avoid ending up on 30. Each time you count a number you put a dash of tabasco on a piece of food. The loser, the person who says 30, has to eat the piece of food loaded down with tabasco. Luckily I did not lose... I really enjoy hanging out with Japanese people because they can be quite entertaining after a couple of pops...
So here I am with just a few days left of work before vacation and they can not pass quickly enough. My patience is short these days even with students that I like. I know its time for a break! I hope you are all doing well and staying out of trouble!

Its been too long to write about the conclusion of the visit from my visitors... Long story short, they left and I was/am sad that they did. I would have liked a little more time with my mama, but that will happen when she comes for another visit next year. I figure it should become a seasonal thing.
Last weekend I had another Karate level test. It was a little easier this time around but I still can't manage to do the splits and get my forehead to touch the floor... I am not sure us Gaijin are made to do that sort of thing. This time around I was really well prepared to complete any of the required Kata but sadly the opportunity to dazzle did not arise. We did a few routines but they were ones that I knew already so it was nothing that I had recently learned. No kicking, just punching routines. I was a little disappointed about that but life goes on. I am sure what everyone wants to read about is the fight!
Usually at the tests you fight someone with a similar or same belt colour. So I was hoping that the sparring was going to involve the dorky looking guy who was the only other orange belt at the test. I was getting pretty pumped up before the sparring part of my test but that excitement died off pretty quick when I saw my opponent. I am a lowly orange "bar" belt and this guy was a green "bar" belted kung foo master! Shockingly he was also about a head taller and pretty strong looking. How strong I was about to find out...
The fight started and I was getting pushed around like a like a child in the way of a fat man and a candy bar! The guy was strong but it was also the first time I fought someone who had a serious reach advantage as I am one of the taller guys in my Karate class. It was a quick bout but it certainly felt a lot longer than it was. I did land a few good shots but I had to use my legs to hit him while he was using his fists to hit me. It was a really good experience though because after the fight the fellas gave me some pointers that I realized would have worked effectively. The problem is when you are in the middle of a match its really hard to think about stragegy effectively while at the same time protect your head from being knocked off your neck. Its one or the other for me at this point in my Karate career... I have grown fond of the attachment I have with my head, we have been through a lot together so I felt protecting it was in my best interests. My opponent was also pretty quick so you really have to rely on instincts as best as you can when you are in the ring.
All in all I thought that it was a good experience for me and I learned a lot more about Karate fighting. Each opportunity I have to fight for "real" instead of at practice has been really beneficial for me. I learn much more quicker when I know that if I don't pick up on todays lesson the next fight is gonna be much more painful. In class if I make a mistake and drop my guard for a second with a kick on the way the boys pulls up and don't hit me... In a fight, thats what my opponent is hoping I am gonna do and they put everything that have into it. The learning curve is much steeper and the margin for error is much smaller. Karate... Gotta Love It!

In other news I have booked my hostel for Nagano. This Christmas I am going to be spending time getting aquainted with my new love... The wonderful birthday present I bought for myself that I call Cold Smoke. Actually Atomic calls it Cold Smoke I call it Baby. I am getting really excited about snowboarding at the same mountain that the Olympics were held. Afterwards I am going to be heading to the airport and where I end up is anybodys guess... Time will tell what options are available for me.

School is starting to wear me out. I do not have nearly enough patience this close to Christmas to keep my cool some days. This leads to a lot of activity time for the kids. However if I make one more snowflake I might have to jump off the roof of the school onto a car! Its hard to really feel the holidays when each day we rehearse a Christmas performance that none of the kids really seem to want to do... Slowly but surely it is coming together but not nearly fast enough for the Japanese teachers. I feel bad for the kids sometimes, there is so much work for them to do to prepare for the big day. Plus the pressure of their families being in attendance. I am sure it will be great but daily full day practices would be a drag for anyone...

I got myself a haircut. I was really uncertain if I would actually go through with it but sure enough the lucious locks went under the knife on Saturday and by the looks of it the surgery was a success. At least in the eyes of many... One comment was, "Well, at least its better than a shaved head!". Not the best comment I recieved. I think its a pretty traditional Japanese cut. It is starting to grow on me, quite literally! One of the adults I used to teach, Noriko, took me along for the cut. The stylist is the sister of a friend of hers. At first she simply took off about an inch but it literally looked exactly the same as it did when I walked into the shop. I felt that if I am going to pay money for a hair cut it should at least look a little different. I told her that my head was her canvas and she was an artist. How well Noriko was able to translate that to Japanese is unknown. After some humming and hawing she got to it and left a Piccaso on my head! As I said, its growing on me... and if she should happen to go crazy, cut her ear off, and then die, perhaps my head will be worth something.

Alright time to hit the sack. If you are reading this right now, it means you made it to the end of the post and have some time on your hands... mail me and tell me how you are doing! Take care and chat with you soon...