CANYONING

Went up to the Hakuba area on Wednesday with my boss and three other co-workers to do some Canyoning. The guides took a lot of shots and my boss bought the CD, so i'll post pictures of the day trip when I get a copy of the disc. I won't go into too much detail about what it is, but you'll get a better idea once the pics go up. And, here they are:

Well...good morning to you,too

I lazily got up this morning at around 10:15am and was greeted about ten minutes later with an earthquake that lasted for a good minute or so of shaking. I ran out of my living room sliding doors and was the ONLY person outside. I could hear the cheers of students at what was probably a local baseball game. Earthquakes are so common in this country, people don't even notice them anymore.....well, except for me.


*update* just had another tremor hit here at about 3:39pm (3 minutes ago). Not too big, though I still ran outside. :D

New Ride

Perhaps you remember me mentioning that I was able to talk down the price of a used car with help from an unlikely source....and here's...the rest of the story.

As I'm situated in the countryside and required to drive to work three days a week, the company provides a car for teachers to use. We can also use it for personal use, charged at a rate of Y20/km. BUT...I much prefer to have a car of my own to be used when, where, and how I please. I actually brought over an extra $1000 just for the purpose of getting a car, so it was something I had planned to do. Soooo..I have been looking for a decent used kei car since I arrived. Pickings have been pretty slim and the cars were either butt ugly, had to many km, or were just too expensive. So last Friday I mentioned the fact that I'm looking for a car to my student Kenji and he told me a tenant in one of his buildings was selling a couple of cars. Long story short, I decided to go check them out the next day and later meet with the guy.

I made plans to check out the car first, then would go to Matsumoto to check out the castle there. I arrived around noon, and liked what I saw. It was small, but it was what I was looking for. Kei cars have a much cheaper cost of operation than standard size cars. After I gave it a good looking-over, I went to take a look at the inside and was a bit taken back (to say the least) when I opened the door and was greeted by a snake coiled up in the door well!!! Needless to say, I shut the door and took a few steps back. I called Kenji and asked him to let the seller know I was here. After the seller arrived, I explained there was a snake in the car, which he didn't believe at first. When I opened the door to show him, the little bugger looked at us, then took off towards the engine compartment and out of sight. Greeeat...what do whe do now? We know there's a snake...but don't know exactly where it is....and btw, it was of a posionous variety!

Long story short---er, we couldn't find the snake and the dealer offered it to me (with the snake) for a substantial discount. I eventually accepted, and we shook on it. THEN... in a great turn of events, as he closed the hood (it closed with a loud BANG!), the snake jumped down from the engine compartment and started to slither away at which time he jumped in the car and ran over it. Yep, thanks to that poor little guy, I got a great deal!! I'll be picking up the car on Friday.

Pics:

Notice the sporty fin on top....dual wind guards....turbo with intercooler....and...it's a convertible.... Muhahahahahahahahaha!!

Harumiya (Spring temple)

Yesterday before work I stopped by the other temple I mentioned before...Harumiya. Both of these temples are involved in a festival (Onbasira) that takes plce every six years where huge trees are cut, brought to the top of a mountain, and then pulled and riden down by guys with either a really big sack, or very little common sense. Check out this youtube vid for an idea.

Here are some of the pics I took at Harumiya:

Akimiya (Autumn Temple)

There are two nice temples just a few minutes from my house. One is called Harumiya (spring temple) and the other one is Akimiya (autumn temple). Yesterday I decided to go check out the Akimiya temple to take a few shots before it got too dark (it was nearly dusk). Here are some pics from the trip.

Akimiya temple

Saturday and Matsumoto Castle

Yesterday I decided to borrow the company car and drive over to Matsumoto, a city about 33km away, to check out the famous castle there. From what I have read, it is the oldest original castle left in Japan and is designated a National Treasure (follow link for more info). I also wanted a chance to get out on the road and get a feel for the surrounding cities. It was a pretty nice drive and I only had to stop once for directions. I took a crapload of pictures and will spare everyone looking at them all.

having technical difficulties uploading pics...will get to it tomorrow perhaps along with the story of how I talked a used car saleman down from Y100,000 ($811.82) to Y70,000 ($568.27), with some help from an unlikely source.

Matsumoto pics:

Welcoming Party!!

So last Saturday was my official welcoming party to Global Village. We headed to a little place called YUKI after work to throw back a few and shoot da shit. We stayed til midnight, which I believe was the closing time there, then headed over to the owners house to continue. Me and a few of the teachers were playing poker and blackjack while the Japanese were playing Mah-jong, a Chinese type of chess.....I think. Things started getting weird when one of the teachers, apparently over his limit, got real noisy and started pissing people off (basically a very bad drunk). Unfortunately I don't have any pics or movies of the night (I'm sure they would have been quite enjoyable). By the time I walked home...it was past 4:00 am and the sun was starting to come up so I grabbed my camera and walked over the Mc D's for some Mc Muffins and OJ. I did snap a few pics while walking around by the lake, which I will post here, before heading back home and crashing at around 8:00.

this pic came out awesome...looks like a B&W on the left and color on the right...but actually its just early morning fog. (this is a stitch of 4 photos unedited)
my house is just to the left of this photo (stitch of 3 pics unedited)

somehow caught the bird flyin through

Yes...it's an update : D

You don't need to say anything...I know it's been a while since my last post (errr, over two months actually). Any~waaay, let's not dwell on that. I have lot of info and pics to share with everyone. Where should I begin...well, from my last post sounds like a good starting point.



Uni Life

So as I mentioned before, I was hired to teach at a University in South Korea back in April. Things were good and I really enjoyed the students I had. Buuuuuuuuuut~, yes, there's always a but. A week before I was to get my first pay check, some co-workers (Korean) told me their pay had just been delayed for a week by the boss without their approval. Hmm, that's not good me thinks, but I was reassured that I would not have the same thing happen to me. Weeelll~ to make a long story short, I worked for a total of 6 weeks and was paid for 4 before refusing to go back until receiving the rest...still haven't. : (



Back Home

I'm really glad I started looking for positions elsewhere when all of this started happening and I found a position back in Japan. I went home for a couple of weeks before heading over to Japan (where I am now). It was a short trip but good nontheless. Since I have some nieces and nephews, I've got to try and make it back more often.

I can't remember the last we were ALL in the same photo



You can see why BOTH Erica and Hanna consider ME their favorite relative.





The JOURNEY

For anyone who has made an internationl flight would agree with me that there is nothing "nice" about it. I left Baton Rouger at 6:05 am on Thursday, June 14th and was in for a loong~ trip. I accepted a position at a school in Nagano Japan. To explain it best, that's where the 1998 Winter Olympics were held. I arrived yesterday in Tokyo at about 1:10pm June, 14th and had to get a taxi ride of nearly 5 hours to get here. It was a very tiring couple of days to say the least. I was dropped off at the school and met some of the staff and other teachers, then was brought to my apartment. I'm still pretty tired and that's probably the reason for my bland writing, but i'll leave you with some pics I took today while exploring the area around my apartment. Enjoy...

This is my apartment building...looking to the right....then the left....so exciting!! ;)

I live near a fairly large lake named Lake Suwa. Here are some pics from around there.







Oh, and did I mention..................................

this beautiful view of Mt. Fuji.

And these too......

Oh, and Jason really did win $400 in the casino in Jeju.....u happy now J-dog! lol