Tokyo

A couple of weeks ago I went to Tokyo with a few other JETs.  It was a last minute decision to go so I had to take the Shinkansen down there rather than the night bus.  we all managed to stay with a friend of one of the people I was traveling with, and hung out with them for a couple days.

I went to Edo Castle, Shibuya, Akihabara, Harajuku, Meji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, and Odaiba.

Back to Hakodate

I'm riding the ferry to Hakodate today.  When I left my house snow was starting to stick on the ground, and that looked kind of nice.  But on the ferry over all I can think of is that it really looks rather dreary today. 

Shingo Village and Lake Towada

I went to visit a friend's house in Shingo yesterday, and spent the night there.  Today we decided to go see Lake Towada as well.

Shingo is a charming village of about 3,000 people, and is the burial place of Jesus Christ and his brother.  Allegedly Jesus didn't die when he was crucified, but rather his brother Isukiri took his place while Jesus fled to Herai (now Shingo), Japan to become a rice farmer.  He lived to be 106 years old and had a wife and two daughters.

Lake Towada is 40 minutes south of Shingo.  The temperature was hovering just a few degrees above freezing so we didn't explore it to much.  We did go hike a small portion of the Oirase River immediately adjacent to Lake Towada which was absolutely gorgeous.

Chocolate

Last week a student gave me a piece of chocolate, ever since then I've been eating all the chocolate I can get my hands on.  Winter must be coming. 

Happy Drug

Near my house there is a store called Happy Drug.  In Japan most drug stores are called something like Happy Drug, Mega Drug, etc.  I wonder how much business a store in the US would be getting if they decided to call themselves that. 

Japanese Parking Garages

I had the experience of learning about how a different type of parking garage works in Japan.  Space can be an issue sometimes so to solve this problem they just build up.  You drive your car into a lift and the attendant puts it on a shelf.  When you are done it comes out facing the other way so you can just drive out. 

Misawa Air Show

Yesterday I saw an air show at the United States Air Force base in Misawa.  The US air force did a few things, but the Japan Self Defence force put on the majority of the show.  The groups name is Blue Impulse, and it was amazing.



Blue Impulse wasn't the only thing that was there.  The Air Defence Force Symphonic Band was playing as well as a taiko group.

Seiryu-Ji Temple

Yesterday I rode my bicycle to Seiryu-Ji temple.  This main temple was built relatively recently in 1992.  It has one of the tallest wooden pagodas in Japan  at 120 feet high.  It also has one of the tallest statues of Buddha in Japan, it was built in 1984.  The temple has two ponds, a large hidden bell that nearly gave me a heart attack when someone rang it without me realizing it, and two ponds one of which has a statue of Kobo-Daishi, the founder of a major sect of Japanese Buddhism.

JET bucket list

Well, here is the first draft of my list.  I realized that if I only stay for one year I probably won't get to see everything that I want to.  Even if I stay for two I might not get everything knocked out.  So I decided to prioritize what on want to see and try to do them in order.  Here it is:

1. Kansai region - this region is what people tend to think of when they think about historical Japan.  This place is filled with old temples, castles, Mt. Fuji, and lots of other cool stuff.

2.  Sapporo ice castles and Niseko ski resort - Niseko is one of the best ski resorts in the world.  The Sapporo ice festival would be awesome as well, how cool would that be to sleep in an ice hotel.  If I can only see one thing then I would definitely pick the ice castles though because at the end of the day I can go snowboarding in a lot of great places here in Aomori.

3.  Australia and New Zealand - I've always thought that it would be cool to go see places like the Great Barrier Reef or the filming sights of The Lord of the Rings.  A plane ticket from Tokyo is half the price as from Portland, and I will never again get the chance to go there without having jet lag. 

4.  South Korea - Lots of cool things to see here like Seoul or Gyeongju, also it's cheaper than Japan. 

5.  Hong Kong - I have no idea what there is to see here but lots of other JETs visit here and seem to really like it. 

6.  China - I would probably combine this with a trip to Hong Kong.  Some nice scenery when you get outside the cities.

7.  Taiwan - probably would also roll this into a trip to China, mostly for the reason of 'why not see it if I'm already there.'

8. Thailand - Come with an empty suitcase, leave with a few custom tailored suits.  Also, food!

9.  Okinawa - The Hawaii of Japan.  They also have an aquarium that has whale sharks. 

Trains in Aomori

A lot of trains in Aomori have little blue trees.  I think it's a cute logo.  It stems from the word Aomori itself.  青 (ao) means blue in Japanese and 森 (mori) means forest.  So blue forest 青森. 

Work: Day 1

Today was my first day at work. I made sure to get there about 15 minutes early, and I had actually beat most of the other teachers, including the principle there. I think though that it was because it is still summer break.  I started to work on my self introduction speech for the entire school as well as a  more in depth class presentation as well as a few group activities.  At the end of the day the principle showed up to shoot the breeze with one of the teachers and when he saw me he said 'Oh, you're still here?  You could have gone home an hour ago.'

Hirosaki

Yesterday I made a spur of the moment decision to visit the nearby city of Hirosaki. Hirosaki castle is a famous castle Located in the city. It was first built in the beginning of the Edo period of Japan in 1611, but burnt down in 1627 when it was struck by a bolt of lightning. In 1811, toward the end of the Edo period, the government allowed the castle to be reconstructed as a reward for Daimyo Yasuchika's service to the shogun.

Lucky for me, the government will be doing renovations on the castle and it will be closed down for ten years so I arrived just in time. Normally there are four festivals during the year; one for each season. Their summer Neputa festival was closed this year due to an accident, but hopefully I will be able to see the other three before it closes.

After the castle I went to (read: stumbled upon) Saisho-in temple. It had a five tiered pagoda and a graveyard. Not much else to say about it.

Hakodate

Visited Hakodate in Hokkaido.  The first stop was in a fish market.  Then to a fort where the Shinsengumi, a samurai police force, fought when the Meji government (ruling government in Japan in the late 1800's) decided that they were no longer necessary and needed to go.  Finally I ended the day at a park with old foreign government consulates that were converted to tourist spots

Nebuta and Tachi Neputa

Nebuta is one of the biggest festivals in Japan, folks will come from all over Japan to watch the giant paper floats.  Additionally anyone is allowed to participate in the parade, shouting chants and jumping around.  Nebuta ended the next day with a fireworks show over Aomori Bay.

Tachi Neputa is a festival in Goshogawara, a nearby town.  Tachi means vertical in Japanese, and the floats are indeed upright.  Some are even three stories tall.  I'm honestly surprised that some of them didn't tip over.

All boys leave home someday, it said so on TV

For those of you who don't get the title, it's a Pokemon reference.  Waaaaay back to the original red and blue versions of the game that was first released back in 1998.  I read that line for the first time many years ago.  Seems surreal that today is the day.

Screw DM, I'm going on a root beer binge

Root beer doesn't exist in Japan.  In Japan it's what they make their cough syrup taste like.  Normally I don't drink soda but today my pancreas is going to be working overtime.

I'm going to Aomori City

Just found out that I will be going to Aomori City.  Really excited I got placed exactly where I was hoping for in Aomori.

Three days until the MCAT, then one month to the day after that I'll be heading off to Japan!

Aomori

Today I just found out that I have been placed in Aomori Prefecture.  Being placed there is kind of funny.  When I applied I listed Nara Prefecture as my first choice and I actually didn't even rank Aomori, however last year for Christmas my parents gave me snowboarding lessons.  I found that I loved it and after doing a little bit of googling I had found that I really wished that I had put Aomori as one of my top choices as they have a lot of places to go snowboarding there.  Oddly enough, that is where I got assigned.  Kind of funny how life works out sometimes.

I haven't been assigned a specific city yet, but I am hoping that I either get placed in or around Aomori City as it is near two ski resorts, and they have a major JR station and an airport there so it would make traveling much easier.

I'm In

Today I got an email from the Japanese consulate in Portland notifying me that I have been placed on the sort-list for departure on August 2nd provided that I graduate on time (I don't see why I wouldn't), and submit all of the required documents on time.  I'm really excited to see where I am placed.