Chariots of Fire meets ER

Today was my high school's Sports Festival, when the students (hopefully) show their best school spirit and participate in many different athletic activities. I missed it last year because of a typhoon, so I was looking forward to seeing it this time around. Unfortunately, because of my stupidity, I ended up missing half the festivities.

The very first thing on the schedule was a 4 x 200-meter relay. There were 3 of them, divided by grade, and every time, there were 6 teams of students and a teachers' team. Originally, I wasn't scheduled to participate, but by the third round, some of the teachers were too tired to continue. One of them called me over to fill in. Excited, and without stretching, warming up or anything like that, I immediately went over to the baton exchange area, about 30 seconds before the baton was handed to me. At that point, we were in 2nd place. My goal was to not let us slip into last.

But then, as I started running, I kicked it into a gear that I didn't know I had. I couldn't believe how fast I was going! It was like running on air. I hadn't run that fast since my own high school days. Not only did I maintain our 2nd place position, I almost took over 1st from the kid in front of me. Unfortunately, the anchor, who was after me, couldn't capitalize, and we wound up finishing 2nd. As I made my way back to my chair on the sidelines, teachers and students alike were coming up to me, saying Hayai! (You're fast!) I was enjoying the attention and basking in the limelight.

About 10 minutes later, I was feeling kind of dizzy, so I took a walk away from the festivities to try to calm myself down. But I ended up having to lay on the ground, too weak to stand up. The vice-principal, who happened to be nearby, panicked and went for help. Next thing I know, I was in the nurses room and being told to take a nap until lunchtime. The consensus among the nurses and the P.E. teachers was that running that fast without doing the proper warmups put sudden stress on my heart, which caused me to almost faint. Oh well... I had my 200 meters of glory. Anyway, the moral of the story: do your stretches and warmups, kids.

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye...

I was walking back from the restroom at my company's office, heading back to my desk when all of a sudden, I meet with our receptionist, who tells me that this week would be her last week working for us. Since I'm working at the high school tomorrow, that meant that today was the last time to ever see her, which made me sad. You see, this woman is very kind and friendly, and in a frustrating environment, many times she cheered me up with her smile and great attitude. It's going to be hard to replace someone like her.

Later on, while I'm clocking out, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to say goodbye to her. I'm terrible at goodbyes in English; I didn't know how I was going to pull off a good one in Japanese. The best I could think of was iroiro arigatou gozaimashita (Thank you for everything). Apparently that did the trick, because as I waved goodbye for the last time, tears started rolling down her face. Oh great, I thought. I made the woman cry in front of her co-workers. Way to go. The moral of the story: Even a few kind words can make someone's day.

Hokkaido: The North Country

Last weekend, my GF and I spent time in Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido. Now I've been to 3 of Japan's four main islands. I've been to Okinawa, too, so that means I have only Kyushu left to conquer. Of course, if you want to know about that island, my dude Adam has that covered well on his blog.

Day 1

After landing at New Chitose Airport, we got in the rental car and headed straight for Lake Shikotsu, just west of Chitose. It was alright, but it was just a lake - nothing special. The best thing we did there was eat some buttered potatoes on a stick (jaga-bataa).

Soon after that, we headed straight for Sapporo, Hokkaido's capital and largest city. Sapporo looks like somebody took a city from the U.S., put some Japanese people in it and some Japanese signs, and placed it in Japan. It was great - the wide roads, the huge houses. There was even grass every now and then - rare for a Japanese city. The park in the center of the city, Odori-koen, is pretty nice. We ate some delicious grilled and buttered corn-on-the cob (yakikibi) there. In the end, though, Sapporo was just another big city. There wasn't much there to do that we couldn't do in Osaka.

Day 2

Much of Day 2 was spent around the scenic area west of Sapporo called Niseko. This area is more famous in Japan for skiing, but it's pretty difficult to find some kickin' ski slopes in September, so we just settled for sightseeing and omiyage-buying. We saw beautiful mountains, vast hills and farms, and a marsh. We ate some fresh ice cream, too. Great day, huh. Yeah, it was beautiful, but not that spectacular. For me, the best part was the driving. Hokkaido's about the only place in Japan where you can just go driving, driving, driving and see nature at its finest (and you don't have to worry about traffic while you do it).

In the evening, we made our way to the gorgeous port city of Otaru. It was pretty cool, but, like Sapporo, it was just another city. The best part was the canal that cuts through the port area. With the antique streetlamps and the old European-style buildings, it's a good romantic spot at night.

Day 3

This was by far the best day of our trip. We made the two-hour trip up to central Hokkaido. Our first stop was the city of Asahikawa. While the city itself was your usual Japanese city, they had some pretty good Hokkaido ramen. The highlight was our visit to the Asahiyama Zoo, one of the best ones I've seen (even though its small). We were so close to the penguins that we could easily touch them without sticking our arms out all the way... but, of course, we weren't allowed to, so we didn't. The proximity to the animals was the best thing about the zoo. The worst... the crowds! I mean, it was like Disneyland, and I'm not kidding. We had to wait in lines just to see animal exhibits! It was like an hour's wait to see the polar bears having lunch, and not everybody was able to see it! I can wait an hour to ride a cool roller coaster, but I'm not too keen on waiting an hour to see some bears munch on some fish. It's better to just watch Animal Planet in that situation.

The afternoon was spent in an area called Biei. That place is wonderful. Nothing but rolling hills of grass and greenery and some spectacular views. It's hard to explain it to you; you just have to go there and see it. Apparently in the summer, it is more beautiful because the hills are covered with lavender flowers. This is what Biei is famous for. We spent a lot of time around the area, just taking pictures and looking out over the wonderful landscape. Biei is what I expected from Hokkaido. The town itself is also picturesque. It looks like some of the ski towns I saw in Colorado.

Day 4

Well... we got on the plane at Chitose and headed back to Osaka. Not much of a day, huh?

The trip was great, I have to say. It was too short, though; there's too much to do and see in Hokkaido. You need at least a week to really enjoy everything we saw. I hope we can go back someday. Heck, I would love to move there. Not only is it beautiful, but the people are more laid-back and down-to-earth than in other areas of Japan. Of course, I can't move there. After all, the jobs, and my social life, is here in Osaka. Ah well... I'll just look forward to the next visit.

Heck Yeah, I Can Use Chopsticks!

Last night, I was having dinner at an izakaya with my GF’s family and relatives. After we had finished the main dishes, my GF’s talkative second cousin made her way over to me and asked me a question, one that I’m surprised that she hadn’t asked before: “Can you use chopsticks?”

“Yeah, that’s easy,” I said.

“Show me. Pick up that shrimp.”

At that moment, all conversations in the room went silent and all eyes were on me as the family wanted to see if I, the foreigner, could actually use chopsticks. That, of course, made me nervous. But I just took the chopsticks and picked up the shrimp like I usually would.

As my GF’s cousin watched, she became amazed. “Wow,” she said. “You’re so good at using chopsticks! You’re better than us! How did you learn?”

”Oh, just from my friends when I was living in Hawaii,” I said, kind of embarrassed about the situation, because I assumed they were just being nice, saying that I was good even though they knew I was terrible at using chopsticks. But then, they started showing me their chopstick-handling skills, and it was obvious that I was as good or better at using chopsticks than they were. I was shocked. Now I can say that I’m better at using chopsticks than some Japanese I know.

I can’t take all the credit, of course. Thanks goes to all my friends in Hawaii that showed me the art of using chopsticks.

At least they didn't yell, "Bobby Orogon!"

Okay... I'm sitting in the English teachers' office at school during lunch last Friday. I'm having a conversation with one of the English teachers when all of a sudden, these two boys stick their heads in the door, search me out, yell "KATRINA!" and run away as fast as they can.

As these two knuckleheads make a run for it, I just had to sit back in my chair and laugh out loud. I mean, exactly what were these punks trying to accomplish? Were they trying to make me jump up in rage? Did they think I would break down and cry in front of them? Even now, trying to think of the reasoning behind such an idiotic thing like that makes me laugh even more. Needless to say, those two boys will be pumping gas at the local Eneos for the rest of their lives.

Enemy of the Week

Okay, right now, travel agencies (in Japan, at least) are Public Enemy No. 1. Here's the deal: I haven't been back to the States since I came here 2 1/2 years ago. Back in April or so I decided, "Okay, I'm going to go home in December. No more postponements." Anyway, some time passed, and the GF and I went to a local travel agency to inquire about some tickets to Florida so that I can see my parents. They told us that tickets usually aren't available until 3 months before the scheduled flight. That made sense to us, so we said thanks and left.

Now, here it is, still early September, a good 3 1/2 months before my scheduled departure of December 22. We decide to check online for some tickets. We were thinking that even if the tickets were not available yet, we might be able to find out when they would be available. Come to find out, the tickets are sold out already! What?!? 3 1/2 months beforehand? Makes me not want to trust a travel agency again.

In all fairness, the tickets that are sold out are the lowest priced ones. I can pay some more to buy some tickets... if I could. The thing is, I'm broke. I've bought too many expensive things this year: new fridge, new air conditioner, new computer... that's not even considering my saving up for an engagement ring. I was counting on getting some low-priced tickets home. But to have them sold out before we thought they would be on sale... that's low. Thanks a lot, Mr. Travel Agent. See you by the oak trees at 3:30, and call your momma to get you afterwards.

Between Some Crap and a Hard Place

When I'm not teaching at high school, I'm working at my outsourcing company's office 2 days a week as the human resources/recruiting head. Although it is sooooo tempting to talk about my experiences here on my blog, I won't, because my job is considered a "management" role (even though I certainly don't get paid like it). There's a lot of trust involved, and I've worked hard to establish that, so I'm not going to undermine that.

That said, I've been frustrated lately at the office. Don't get me wrong - I love my job (not as much as teaching, but nevertheless). My frustrations have nothing to do with my duties. I'm frustrated about other happenings in the office. Without going into detail, there's been some friction, some schisms, and just plain not seeing eye-to-eye. You might think, "Herman, if this has nothing to do with you, then why are you letting those things get to you?" Well, you know... I'm in an HR role. I wonder if the problems I'm talking about are not as serious as I think or if they are. I wonder if I'm supposed to step in and try to smooth things out as much as I can, or just sit back, do my specified duties and hope it all goes away. That's the frustrating thing. If I can do something about it, I want to, but I don't know if I can or can't.

You know, I'm probably just overreacting. After all, no office can be a utopia. Yeah, you're right... I probably shouldn't let it get to me. Actually, I feel better already. Someone once told me that we have to vent every once in a while to clear our heads. Writing's my way of venting. So if you were completely put off by this post, I'm sorry. But take pride in knowing that you helped me feel a lot better.

Sweat Team

In case you can't see it clearly, "Perspiration Army Corps Kametani" is written on the outside of this building. Now, I, for one, sweat a lot, especially in these hot and humid Japanese summers. But, you know... I don't think I need an Army Corps to bail me out.

Game, Set, Match

Today after school I decided to take up a teacher's invitation to play tennis with the Tennis Club at my high school. I haven't played tennis since my college days, but I was keen on the idea. Tennis is fun. So I went. Man, did I ever embarrass myself. While I have good foot movement, my racket handling and control is terrible, to put it lightly. I had balls flying everywhere except the opposite side of the court. Against me, those girls looked like Sharapova or the Williams sisters.

The highlight of the day was a doubles match involving me and the three coaches. Guess whose team lost? Right. Now, guess how many games we actually won? One? That's one too many, my friend. I think something like 80% of my serves were double faults. I've crossed out U.S. Open champ as one of my goals later in life. Now I can go back to other things, like wowing the students with my post-up skills in basketball.

Goodbye August

Wow... August went by fairly quickly! That's cool with me... the quicker I can get to fall, the better. But I still have another month of humid and hot weather to deal with. Hopefully September will pass by quickly as well.