Week 41 & 42 in Japan: Bus tour of Akita, last day of kindergarten, 10 pictures!

      Hello and thanks for checking out my blog again.
      The 30th of June through the 4th of July was a fairly awesome week. I remember I got to help train some workers at a big bank in town as a favor for a friend. The workers were trying to practice some business/bank conversation because the bank was going to start a branch in Thailand and needed some of the workers to go over to train the Thai people. I got a 10 dollar book store gift certificate for helping but I was just happy with the experience of checking out a real Japanese business and seeing a little of how it worked. As for the 4th of July I first went to Yurihonjo to teach my last English class of the year there! I felt sad being done with the lessons; teaching there ended up being one of my favorite and most treasured expereiences in JAPAN! Later when I got back to Akita I spent the rest of the day with a friend I made just recently. We didn't do anything 4th of July related because as I found out most people don't know of that holiday in Japan (or maybe just outside the USA)  A much different 4th of July for me but I enjoyed it.
     Over the weekend I went on a bus tour with some of the other international students. We went to so many places along the way but I'll just highlight a few. One of the first stops was at a very old mine (and volcano if I remember right). The mine is mostly inactive now but they give tours all around inside the mine where people used to dig hundreds of years ago. One cool thing I remember is that if there was an earthquake outside, inside the mountain we probably would not even feel it! It was funny cause he said this shortly after I was thinking that maybe an earthquake would trap us inside. Another cool stop we made was the top of mount Hachimantai (八幡平). This mountain peak is over 1600 meters high so it was a really spectacular time. This mountain is actually right on the border between Iwate and Akita prefectures so this was the one part of the tour we ventured outside of Akita. That night we stayed at a place owned by the university. We had great traditional meals and got to relax in the hot springs.
     The second day of the trip was equally as exciting. One thing we did was visit Lake Tazawa (田沢湖) which is the deepest lake in Japan and the 17th deepest worldwide. The lake is really beautiful and never freezes because of how deep it is. Another stop we made was at a pottery place. We all spent an hour or two making clay cups or whatever we dared to make. We only had a little instruction prior to creating works ourself so I felt closer to a kid with play-doh than a sculptor. On the way back we got to tour a rice wine or 'Sake' factory. Akita is known for it's rice products and that definitely includes this alcoholic beverage. We got to go through and see how everything is made and even got the chance to sample and buy some at the end. I could write so much about the places I've listed and I've left out some places but this weekend trip was really one of my favorite weekends in Japan.
     The following week was a busy one. Between classes, parties, and football practice I remember this week feeling especially busy. One one day I remember after classes and my part time job I went to my host family's house for the first time in months for a barbeque they were having. I actually got lost on my bicycle trying to find it because I hadn't been there in so long. The barbeque was amazing with so many different types of food. In the USA usually a BBQ is hot dogs, burgers, chicken, and some chips or something. But this was really a feast and I ate sooo much food like kabobs and lots of veggies, beer, tried new foods, plus sun shiny weather. In addition I had made plans to meet with another group of friends at a bar/restaurant after that BBQ. I have a hard time saying no when people invite me to something. If it is something I want to do I feel like I can make time for it in my schedule. On Sunday I had a football game and we lost by a great margin. The team we faced was from Iwate University and they were just a better team. The seemed faster and bigger but the biggest advantage they had was probably what I would describe as a high level of organization and discipline. I had a great time getting beat up against them and it was a great final game to be in. The loss was a great motivator for the team to get ready for the season in the Fall when the wins and losses really matter.
     Thanks for reading! Holla at me below in the comments~~~~~~~~~

 Little shop kinda in the middle of nowhere found on the hike seeing geysers onthe Tazawako trip.

 Cute dog!

 Last day of teaching!

 Took a pottery class on the trip! My friend Dogina on my right.

 In the clouds! 1600m high with Chenmin

 Group shot :))

 Loved this lake! Great for swimming too(thats for a later blog post)

 my friend Zen

Week 39 & 40 in Japan: Team Shinkan and Yosakoi Festival

       ひさしぶり！Hisashiburi means `long time no see` or `it has been a long time` in Japanese and  so I`m saying it to anybody reading this now :). Week 39 and 40 were cool so Ill tell you a little about them. One cool thing was my football team had a shinkan which is like a welcome party for all the first year new players. So the whole team went to a cool restaurant ate drank and had fun. One interesting thing is that the first year students dont have to pay because it is their welcome party after all. That means everybody else has to dish out a little extra cash. Where we sat at the restaurant was random and I ended up getting the table with most the girls who are the team managers... so lucky right?! Haha but really talking to girls is much easier because young Japanese guys talk so fast and use so much slang that it takes a really high level of Japanese to follow. With girls conversation is usually more simple so for that reason it was nice to get placed where I did. Another thing relating to football is that I had a game against Hirosaki University on June 29th. Hirosaki University is a university in the northern prefecture of Aomori Japan. We won 40-7 if I remember correctly. Also I played well at full back and our inside linebacker got hurt in the last quarter so I got to play defense as well.
       On Saturday the 28th and 29th there was a Yosakoi festival in Akita City. Luckily I was able to go and enjoy it after football practice on the 28th. Yosakoi is a modern dance that is based on a traditional summer dance so it has a super cool fusion of a modern and traditional feeling. A lot of the movements of the dance are traditional and the music is more modern. I had seen Yosakoi various times throughout being in Japan but at the festival there was a lot more of it. As far as the dance performance goes I really cant express enough how energetic it is. The dancing is energetic, their outfits are colorful, the music is great, and the dancers`s expressions is always one that shows they are having a really fantastic time. I have friends in the university Yosakoi club and they are super passionate about it. Even if you are not someone who particularly enjoys watching dance I recommend seeing a Yosakoi dance as one of the top ten things to do in Japan. There are many Yosakoi groups that form at different companies, schools, groups of friends, schools etc. so at the festival there were many different groups that performed. Some with as many as around 60 people and some around 15. Anyways Im sure you can check youtube for some video of the dance but to appreciate everyone dancing together and the energy you have to see it in person!

 Me and the quarterback Koki at the football Shinkan or welcome party.

 I went to my friends rugby game. He plays for a pro team in Japan called the Akita Northern Bullets.

 After the game there was a little party celebrating the win. he gave me a rugby shirt of his from Fiji. The one im close friends with is on the right and his name is Manu (from Fiji).

 I went to the game with a big group of friends but here is a pick of a few of them. me, Ayeon, Teppei, and Hwyeon. The girls are from S. Korea.

 There was a dance event at the university. This a group pick of everybody who danced.

 This is the Yosakoi event. There are often big flags waved like in the picture.

 Some guy had a bunny sitting on his shoulder. it just sat still but was totally real.

Week 37 & 38 in Japan: Kabuki & Shabushabu

       On Saturday June 7th I saw a Kabuki show at the theatre in town. Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance drama theatre show. Kabuki has been around in Japan since the 1600s in Japan so it was definitely a great thing to see in terms of Japanese culture. I was surprised when talking to some of my Japanese friends that almost none of them had seen a Kabuki performance. The majority of the people who were at the show were old Japanese people and some foreigners. Another thing to note about the Kabuki show is that it was all in Japanese with no translation. Not only is there no translation but unless you around a native speakers level at Japanese you likely won't understand a majority of what is going on. I'm at an intermediate level and I went with some friends that were at an advanced level of Japanese but we didn't understand well becase the kind of Japanese the actors use is fairly archaic. One final thing that sticks out about Kabuki is that all the actors are males. Males do the acting of both the woman and man's parts so they wear makeup and talk in high voices and everything. That is the way Kabuki has been and that is how it has stayed. That is definitely one of the things that makes it such a unique theatre show in comparison to theatre arts in other places. I enjoyed the show but it was about 3 hours so it got to be long. Also because I wasn't understanding a lot of what was happening it was a little dull. I knew it wouldn't exactly be action packed when I bought the ticket to go but I wanted to experience it regardless and I'm glad I did.
      Next on June 10th I went to eat Shabushabu with my friends after classes. Shabushabu is thinly sliced meat that you dip in a pot of broth that is around boiling temp. Shabushabu is supposed to be the sound the food makes when you swirl it around in the water. The Japanese language uses a lot of onamonapia like shabushabu. At the restaurant you could order beef or pork which I think is pretty standard, we ordered a lot of both because we got the 2 hour buffet deal. Overall the taste was good but there is not a whole lot of flavor attached to the meat. You swirl it in a broth and then dip it in a sauce but it's not a flavor grenade in your mouth like fried meat can be. Also for people from western countries the meat may be a little pink/raw for your liking even after cooking. My friends probably dip the meat for around half as long as me (maybe around 15 seconds) because they are Japanese and they are worried about eating raw things. Anyways it's not my favorite thing to eat but it was a fun experience and even for the buffet it came to under 20 dollars (although from what I've heard that's an exceptional deal).
      I'm happy I got to share a couple experiences I had with you and stay tuned for my next blog cause I got a lot of fun stuff planned for my summer in Japan :)

 I ended up eating 20 trays of meat. All being either pork or beef. At the point where the picture is taken I ordered I think 8 trays at once because I was eating them real quick.

 My friends with me were Kano, Ebizo, and Hiroto.

 Normally there is a stage set up like a house or boat or something but this scene was a little diferent.

 The theatre was pretty packed. I was on the 2nd floor but I could see well enough. The art on the curtains was pretty awesome.

Week 35 & 36 in Japan: anime trains, class presentation, water festival

       First of all I want to talk about anime trains in Japan. You can sometimes see trains with cool designs of anime characters which is awesome. I saw one on my way to Yurihonjo for my English class. I haven't heard about the anime but it was interesting to see. I think it's cool that in Japan things that easily and usually so simple have something surprising like an anime drawn on it. Just a very small percentage of trains are blessed with something like this but I think it is fun. Something way more common is anime stuff on buses. A decent portion of the buses in Akita city have big paintings from the anime "One Piece" on them. Even the interior of the buses are decorated.
       Next I want to mention that I had a presentation in my multicultural communication class on May 29th. I was in a group with two Koreans Chansu, and Eri, and also a Japanese named Saki. It was a little bit like a science fair where people can move around freely and look at different presentations at their own pace and look at different presentations. The class is all in Japanese so it has been quite a challenge. Each week we usually make groups about a given topic and later that week we have to submit a report on it. This time was a little different because we had to make a poster as a group and do it. The presentation was about whether or not we agreed with using tax money for cell phone reception by building cell phone towers even in remote locations. The topic was kinda lame but it was overall pretty fun. I'll post a little video that somebody in the group made at the end of the blog.
      Lastly there was a water festival in Akita City on June 1st. The festival was all about water and how it is cleaned and different types of water. I took a taste test of four different types of water. One was un-softened tap water, one was softened tap water, one was bottled water, one was some new technology of cleaning water that uses less energy than the others... I think but I can't remember exactly. I got two of them mixed up when I did it but it was fun. I didn't stay at the festival long because I was there by myself and I just happened to be in the area so I checked it out. I just think it is cool how often events go on in the city. Also as usual with this type of thing there were tons of things to do especially if you were a kid around 5 years old.
      You've finished the wordy party of the blog and now you can see the pictures.
      Thanks a lot (^-^)/

 On the 30th I biked to the sea with my friend Shukutei from China. She wanted me to show her the route there so I glady obliged. I'm sort of an explorer so I know the city better than most students (even a lot of Japanese) so people somtimes come to me for this sorta thing.
 From left to right, Saki, Eri, Chansu, and lastly me. This was taken when we were making the poster and eating snacks.

Eri made this short video. I got a little air time at the end :) (Also I see the quality is really bad after I uploaded it to Youtube) meh oh well.

 Water festival

Week 34 in Japan: the best curry shop, baseball game, and free ice cream

For week 34 the first super cool thing was on Wednesday when after work I went with some friends to an awesome curry restaurant. It was my second time there and it didn't disappoint. One great thing about the place other than the obvious which is that the curry is great is that they have the most spicy curry that I know of in existence. There is I'm sure more spicy curry at various places in the universe but this is the most mouth/throat/stomach burning experience that I know of. The second thing that is awesome is that you get to have as much 'Nan' as you want which is the super tasty Indian bread/toast stuff you get with it. The restaurant is called Loc Sumey and it is and Indian curry shop. Also they didn't even pay me to write this.
       On Friday I started teaching again in Yurihonjo city at a kindergarten. Lots of fun and I love the train ride going there and back because it goes right along the ocean for a lot of the trip. After work there before going back to Akita I went with one of the teachers at the school Junko to a coffee place. Again it was my second time at this place and again I want to say that it is the best coffee place... That I know of at least. The place is a super fancy and the coffee is fantastic. The decorations and the cool vibes in the place are partially what make it great. Also the toast and fresh jam or honey is great too. It's a hard place for me to describe but it is awesome and maybe I'll get some pictures. On the way back from Yurihonjo the train was slowed way down because of the strong winds. The train tracks are right along the ocean so it's a great view as you ride but if the wind is strong a lot of times they have to slow the train down. I heard that a couple years ago because of the wind there was a big train crash in the same area because of strong winds so since then they have been very cautious.

       Saturday was actually for me one of my top ten days in Japan so far. Nothing too crazy but it ended up just being really simple and enjoyable. I spent the day with two friends from my part time job Kana, and Hikaru who are both Japanese. Anyways first we took a bus to the baseball stadium in Akita City and saw the Rakuten Eagles against the Seibu Lions. I was rooting for the Eagles because they are Akita's team (along with the rest of Touhoku Japan like Sendai). The Seibu Lions are a team from Saitama which is a city just south of Tokyo. The Lions ended up beating the Eagles 7-0 so that was definitely a dissapointment but still the experience was really fantastic. Being at a baseball game again was truly nostalgic and just an all round good time. One cool thing was that we got free Rakuten Eagles Jereseys when we got there so we were repping our team. Also the crowds in Japan for baseball are so energetic. There are special cheers for each player when they get up to bat. So for example the guy who played shortstop was Fujita, and when he batted people said something like "Fight, Fight, Fujji--ta!". And every single player had there own chant that is created by the fans. Also there were a lot of Seibu Lions fans there and they were the craziest. Runnining around and dancing with big flags and somebody had a trumpet. Soo much team spirit. If you follow baseball you may know Masahiro Tanaka who started playing for the Yankees this year. Tanaka actually came fromt the Eagles so I saw a lot of people with Tanaka jerseys on. Anyways after the game we went to go have dinner at an Italian restaurant my friend had told me about, supposedly it was real Italian food (the friend who told me about it was Italian and she works there). We got there and it was a super nice restaurant where somebody in a suit greets you at the door. Picture us going into the restaurant wearing Rakuten Eagles Jerseys haha. I didn't mind so much but the girls I was with were so embarresed. Turns out we could not eat there because everything was reserved but before we left they gave us free ice cream. Also it wasn't any ordinary ice cream, it was Italian ice cream and was some of the best stuff I've ever had. We each got to pick three flavors, I had Pistachio, Blueberry, and the third kind I can't remember the name of but it was my favorite. It was a really fun thing to have happen to us.. Free ice cream for the win. From there we went to a different Italian restaurant that had a place for us to sit. We had really great food and some good wine too. The girls actually changed out of their jereseys before going to the second place but I was repping the shirt the whole time :). Together we bought a bottle of wine and it was like 2800 yen if I remember right. So just under 30 dollars. It was the most expensive wine I had ever had. Can't say it was delicious but it was certainly noticeably better than some cheap wine I've had before.

I'm behind on blogs but I'm going to try and get more done soon~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I met a dog named Genta outside of the curry restaurant. Golden Retrievers are not so common here so I had to say hi :). If I remember right genta is 12 years old but still full of energy.

 This was a photo sphere I took at the game. I didn't realize photo spheres were so awesome~~

 Another shot of the field.

 People trying to get a look at the players as they head for the bus.

 Hikaru on the left, Kana in the middle and me on the right. I was crying cause the Eagles were losing so badly.

Week 33 in Japan: Freshmen English camp, Japanese Striped Snake

       It seems to me that with it being spring and the weather getting warm the nature of Japan is also coming to life. On my way to school I like to bike down this one way street that isn't super often traveled. I think the street might cut the distance to school slightly but mostly I just like how pretty the route is. When I was biking to school on Wednesday I came to a quick stop when I saw a snake on the road. The snake was a tan-ish color with black stripes going down it the long way. It was about 4 feet long and I found out later by checking online that it is called the "Japanese Striped Snake" and is not dangerous. It was pretty exciting to see the snake though, it was the biggest snake I've ever seen out in the wild. I've actually kinda liked snakes since I was real young so I spent a little time checking this one out and getting a little closer.. it was totally worth being late for class.
       On the weekend starting on Saturday I went to an English camp that was for the freshmen of the International Resources major. The camp was mainly to help the students get used to speaking English and I was invited to join the camp to help out. On my way to the bus I actually met a cool dog. I talked to the dog's owner lady a little bit as we were waiting for the light to change and she said her name was Momo which means peach in Japanese. She was really friendly and so was Momo. I actually see a lot of really cool dogs and want to take pictures of them but I don't want to be annoying so I usually don't. But lately I've been thinking is somebody is out for a walk with their dog they probably won't be bothered by their dog getting attention. Plus I think people love to hear their dog get praised cause everybody thinks their dog is the best dog anyways. Moving on we took buses to a building that was a mix between a hotel and a community center. The room I was in was nicer than the ones the students got so that was cool. I helped out with various activities on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time meeting a lot of new people. The camp was supposed to be for the students to use English only but they ended up speaking strictly Japanese. I guess it kind of couldn't be helped but I tried my best to have people use Engish. For example if somebody said something to me in Japanese I would reply in English. Then in most cases repeat it and rephrase it over and over til they understood. These students are better than average with English but they are still very far from being able to have a normal conversation with. All in all I think everybody had fun and that's most important haha. Also the food was good and although I didn't get paid the cost of everything was covered for me so that was nice.

 Kazuha and I at the camp in front of a stellar painting (see the cows?). I actually knew Kazuha before the camp because she is one of the managers on the football team.

 Here is a picture of the snake. I actually ended up getting pretty close to it. I felt like a super mild version of the crocodile hunter.

Here is Momo and her Master.

 Kind of an awesome dog. That's just the vibe I got.

 Some down time during the camp.

 <---- My Russian friend Sasha. Sunday night there was a fun barbecue outside because the weather was nice. This picture I realize isn't outside but it was from the party.

Week 32 in Japan: Japanese Magician, and Let it Go

      On Tuesday the 29th of April we had class off so lots of people went to enjoy viewing the Cherry Blossom trees one last time, including me. The two clubs i'm in Borderless which is an international club that doesn't really do much of anything usually had a meeting in Senshyu park for hanami. So I started out with the Borderless club and we ate and drank starting at about 12. I ended up leaving that group a little early and at around 4 o clock I joined up with my football team that was once again going to enjoy the Cherry Blossoms and drink together. Since there were lots of people there I actually ran into some other friends later in the night on Tuesday. Shuto, Yuta, Daichi, and Ryouta. Those guys are fun to hang around cause they are sometimes a little crazy. We were doing some sumo matches and climbing trees haha. One last thing about Tuesday that was cool was that there was a magician in the park who I watched. He travels around in the spring time following the blooming of the sakura trees and does his magic shows in places where people view hanami like Senshyu park. So he started in south Japan maybe a month or two ago and he finally made it to Akita. He also said it was his first time ever doing a magic show in Akita. Wednesday I woke up at 6:00am which is of course unusually early for me so I decided to go for a bike ride to McDonalds. I had class at 10:30am and needed to study for a Kanji test so I brought along my stuff and studied at McDonalds. I actually ordered food, ate, and then studied for about an hour. Then because I don't get to eat McDonalds breakfast very often I ordered another meal (a number 8 this time I think) and ate again. I then proceeded to explore around the city on my bike because the weather was great and I was feeling energetic.

      On Friday night I went out with some friends. Lately how it has gone is that me and my friend Sasha who is from Russia go to the dormitories and rally as many people as we can to go hangout or go on some kind of andventure. Friday night we played pool and later on when everybody else disbanded Sasha and I went to Omachi which is the most lively part of town with bars, restaurants, etc open throughout the night. The night we went we were surprised to see lots of police cars. I think I counted a total of eight. It seemed to be that somebody got into a fight or something. We actually saw somebody with blood running down his head in more than one spot. Of course it's not fun to see that somebody got hurt but it was a bit of excitement. We didn't end up drinking more in Omachi because the bars are expensive there and we thought ramen was a better choice :).
      The next day which was the 3rd I had a football game. This time I ended up playing kick offs, and quite a bit as running back. I had a couple good runs and it was a lot of fun but our team lost 0-7. Later that night I went with Sasha and 4 Mongolians; Maral, Temuleen, Dugmur, and Nayaka to karaoke. I think the favorite song for people to sing was the song "Let it Go" from the Disney movie Frozen. I hear that song fairly often so although I've never seen the movie I know it pretty well. That movie is sooo popular in Japan that it is STILL in the movie theatres. Let it go is definitely a song you'll here if somebody is just acting funny or is drunk haha. Then if I join in and they are Japanese friends they are a lot of times aww'd by my pronounciation haha. On Sunday I had football practice at 9am that lasted until around 3pm. It was extra long because we watched all the game footage.
       That's all for this week, thanks for reading~!

 More and more people came throught the performance. Look at how pretty everything is though :).