On The Slopes

Still proving that a black man can ski, here I am on my fourth ski trip ever, in Niigata Prefecture in December 2007. I have to admit, I'm starting to get used to this thing we call "skiing".

Letting Off Some Steam

One of the highlights of any visit to Beppu, Oita Prefecture, is a tour of the several jigoku, very hot springs with certain "themes" to them. Take this blue one in the picture above; they call it umi ("sea") jigoku.

The Japanese name for this jigoku escapes me, but it means "blood jigoku".

This one looks like concrete oozing out of the earth.

And this one is something like a clay hot spring. Definitely not for bathing, unless you want nicer skin or something.

Long Time No See... Again

Hmmm... it seems I'm never going to catch up here.

Anyway, things have been going well so far. A few weeks ago I started working a few days a week at a fine private junior high school in southern Osaka Prefecture. After four years of problematic students at public schools who do not care about school, working at this school, where students regularly go on to some of Japan's top universities, is a blessing.

In addition to that top school, I also work at a small private senior high school in the city two days a week. So far, so good. Life seems to be on cruise control right now.

Beach View

A shot of the small beach next to our hotel in Beppu, Oita, November 2007.

How to Pray at a Shrine (Express Version)

This is a shot of the shopping arcade leading up to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, Fukuoka, taken in November 2007. At shrines like this one and Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, there are always a bunch of shops on the road leading up to the shrine. You can buy all kinds of omiyage (souvenirs): snacks, dolls, food, T-shirts, key chains, crafts, ice cream, and so on.

While each shrine in Japan is different, the setup is basically the same. Usually there is a grand gate like this one. Enjoy the architecture, the greenery, the stone gardens, and enter the premises.

Of course, before you go in, be sure to stop by the water well and purify yourself. Rinse your hands using one of the many ladles provided.

After purification, walk over to the actual shrine. You will see some kind of box where you throw in an offering. Five or ten yen will do. After that, if there is a rope hanging nearby with a bell at the top, shake it and ring the bell a couple of times. Put your hands together, silently pray, bow, and you're done.

Gettin' Stress Off My Chest

This past academic year (April of last year to now) has been stressful for me for some reason, more so than usual. Little things that I used to be able to brush off have recently started to really make me irritated. The high school that I work at has always had its fair share of bad kids, but while the crap they always pull (calling me names, throwing things in class, etc.)was easy to combat in the past, this year it has irritated me to the point where just looking at them makes me angry. I come home at night, trying to relax after dinner, and I'm still thinking about crap the students did at eight in the morning that day. I'm sure they weren't thinking about me, but I was thinking about them.

Not only that, but I also had to deal with crap at the company office as well. Again, I brought that stuff home with me, letting it stew in my mind and giving me stress. This has gone on all year, and recently it started to affect my marriage. Last night I had a senseless argument with my wife, taking out my frustrations on her. She still hasn't forgiven me, and rightfully so. It took that for me to realize that I need to seriously find a way to get rid of my stress.

This morning, I thought back to college, when some roommates of mine had an idea for getting rid of stress. They had various problems, so they decided to take an aluminum baseball bat and take turns whacking a telephone pole outside. They hit the thing so hard that the end piece on the bat flew off in rage. They laughed and named the bat "Liberty Bat". They were free from their stress.

With that in mind, this morning I took a few pillows from the bedroom, grabbed a stick, and started hitting the pillows as hard as I could. I visualized the faces of all the people, students, and idiots that did me wrong over the past year, and hit the crap out of them as hard as I could. Man, what a feeling! I felt much better after that.

My advice to you if you have stress: hit something. Don't hit somebody; that would give you more stress. But hit something.

The Road to Dazaifu

This is a picture of the arcade leading up to Dazaifu Temple, during our trip to Fukuoka last November. Notice the many torii along the way. Beautiful stuff.

Japan's lovin' it

Today I was driving around with my wife, and we passed by a McDonald's. The drive-thru line was terribly long, with a line of cars stretching out onto the main street and taking up one of the two lanes. That was very funny to me.

One thing foreigners in Japan - especially Americans - hear about is how we eat so much fast food. Once at the high school I teach at, I started a class by asking the students, "Tell me, what American food do you know of?" The first three responses were Big Mac, french fries, and hamburgers.

It is ingrained in many Japanese brains that foreigners love to eat fast food. And they are not wrong; too many Americans ruin their health by eating fast food too much. But some people say it as if Americans are the only ones doing it. As I saw today, Japanese people love their fast food as much as Americans do.

Welcome to 2008!

I want to take time out to wish everyone who reads my blog a Happy New Year. Enjoy 2008! I will.

Our Honeymoon Trip Pt. 3

A massage table in Vilu Reef. We made our way over to the spa and massage building on the other side of the island four times to enjoy various oil massages. That was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip.

While at Vilu Reef we ate three buffet meals a day at the island restaurant. We didn't eat any Maldivian food; rather, it was European and Japanese style food, perhaps to cater to the Europeans and Japanese tourists that regularly frequent Vilu Reef.

I believe I was the only American on Vilu Reef during our stay. Americans usually do not go to the Maldives, probably because it's too far away, and there are closer options like the Caribbean and Hawaii. Of course, I don't think there are any island resorts like Vilu Reef in those places.

Now, Vilu Reef seems to be quite remote. A few hundred people on an island not even one kilometer in length, far from any decently populated area (not counting the island of about 800 villagers close to Vilu Reef - more on that later). But if that is just too much for you, Vilu Reef has an option - a trip to another, more remote island that can accommdate only four couples! This is a picture of Fandhoo. For no extra charge, we were invited to stay here instead of the "crowded" Vilu Reef. We did some swimming and snorkeling, but other than that, we just enjoyed the scenery. There wasn't much else to do.

A picture of the cottage we stayed at on Fandhoo.

Our Honeymoon Trip Pt. 2

This is me standing in the middle of Vilu Reef. Unlike the first day, the rain was starting to clear out by the second day.

A view from the deck outside of our suite. Notice the view in the background - nothing but sea. By the way, if you were wondering, this trip did set us back a little. We won't be enjoying any more lavish trips for a while.

Here I am, standing outside of our cottage.

Several overwater cottages, neatly arranged. This picture was taken from the front door of our cottage. As you can see, there was a nice lagoon in the middle. We actually swam there a few times, doing some snorkeling and looking at the fish.

Our Honeymoon Trip Pt. 1

To celebrate our marriage, my wife and I took a honeymoon in the islands of the Maldives. This picture is a view of the capital city of Male. We had arrived the night before and stayed in Male for a night because the seaplanes, which take people to the many island resorts in the Maldives, do not operate at night. This picture was taken as we headed back to the airport the next morning.

A view of the seaplane we took to Vilu Reef, an island resort about a 45-minute seaplane flight away from Male.

An overhead picture of Vilu Reef. On the right, you can see the rows of overwater cottages. We stayed in one of them for five nights. It was just amazing.

Here I am, stepping onto Vilu Reef for the first time, and beginning five days of nothing but relaxation.

Matsuri Local Style

Nothing says Japan like a good community festival, or matsuri. Every year, we go with my wife's family to a festival in my city in September. It is definitely a festive time. The people in each neighborhood build some kind of small wooden ark or something, put some red padding and decorations on it, and put a drum called a taiko inside. Then at the festival, the men carry the amazingly heavy thing up, down, and around a local shrine, while boys sit inside, pound the taiko, and chant. Every neighborhood has the same chant and virtually the same taiko design, but that doesn't matter. All in all, it is a good time for the city.

Of course, no Japanese festival is complete without many food stands (called yatai in Japanese). This one sells yakitori, or grilled chicken on a stick. They also have stands where you can buy fried noodles, octopus balls, okonomiyaki (a pancake-like food topped with pork, green onions, and good sauce), candy apples, fried chicken, and others. It's the best part of the festival, in my opinion.

More taiko-pounding fun. Note the colorful festive costumes some of the people are wearing to support their neighborhood.

2007 Hokkaido Trip - Part IV

While driving through Kitano city, we came across a unique place - a fox ranch! It was a fenced-in patch of land with foxes just roaming around. The place wasn't that impressive - the ranch was old, run-down, a bit stinky, and pricey. But there was something interesting about walking around foxes.

The foxes were shy and didn't want to be around people for the most part. However, I managed to sneak up on one that was sleeping and get a good picture.

2007 Hokkaido Trip - Part III

Oshinkoshin Falls in the Shiretoko area. Not that impressive, but the place was crowded with tourists.

A view of the north coast of Shiretoko peninsula.

It doesn't get any clearer than that. You would be glad to know that we didn't come across any bears, or vice versa.

A view of a tranquil lake in Shiretoko National Park.

2007 Hokkaido Trip - Part II

More food from Kushiro. There's a market near the train station where you buy a bowl of plain rice, then you go around to the various food stands and get a bit of seafood from each one put right on top of the rice! This bowl has crab, salmon, salmon eggs, and shrimp.

A view of the wetlands in Kushiro Shitsugen National Park.

A view of Lake Akan in the middle of northeast Hokkaido. I don't know what the big deal was about this lake, but apparently it is a popular resort area. This area is famous for little balls of algae called marimo.

While driving, we came across a rest stop with an old vintage train car. Upon closer inspection, we found that the inside of the car is now actually used as a hotel! I'd be afraid the thing would start rolling away in the middle of the night while sleeping in there.

2007 Hokkaido Trip Part I

In August 2007, my wife and I decided to take another trip to Hokkaido. We went to a part of the island we had never been before, the northeast. We first flew into the city of Kushiro, then drove up to the north coast and explored Shiretoko before returning home.

The sign on the right of this police station certainly reminds us about how close to Russia we were.

There wasn't much to see in Kushiro city itself, but the food was good. The fish on the left is called hokke, which is pretty good when barbecued. We also had a spare rib, chicken on a stick, and some clam.

Nothing like a rice bowl with salmon eggs and seaweed on top to finish off a good meal!