OTAKU

Otaku is a Japanese term for a geeky person. Like someone who loves manga or anime and stuff like that. My friend Ryuta is an otaku.

JAPANESE VISITORS

I must admit, one of my main social weaknesses is my lack of tolerance. I think I'm just not very good at being around people for a long time. I need a lot of space (and that's not just due to body odour), so one of the things worrying me about returning to Northern Ireland, apart from the culture shock, is living back at home. A small house with a family of six, and I'll no longer be King of the Castle :o(Usually a day or two with a person/people is enough before I crave some alone-time. However, I've found the Japanese to be excellent guests. This year Nori, my old roommate from Tasmania came and stayed for ten days. It was great. Not intrusive at all. No mess, no demands, no dirty socks on the floor, no borrowing my best brandname boxers, no 'entertain me, entertain me' attitude and no stress. It was great having him here and I was sorry to see him go.This weekend past I had two Japanese visitors. Ryuta (name means 'fat bear') and Masami (means 'elegant beauty') from Shiroishi and Tokyo. And yet again, it was a great experience. We cooked together, got drunk, played some dice games, and did some hiking. We climbed my favourite mountain, Kurikome-san, on saturday and hiked in a pretty gorge in the nearby town on Naruko on Sunday.
And surprisingly when the time came to say goodbye I didn't feel the usual relief of 'ahh, I can relax again, I have my space', but rather my apartment felt empty and I alone. I'm over it now and the tears have stopped. But it was reassuring to realise I CAN tolerate guests for a few days. Because sometimes I worry that I'll be a terrible 'family man' in the (distant) future since I've lived such a selfish lifestyle for so long.

MAN

In an attempt to prove my 'manliness' I recently held my hand under a surging waterfall whilst placidly smiling. Despite the sub-zero temperatures and arm-breaking pressure of this cascade, I had the inner-strength to hold my (manly) hand under there for three photos (I wasn't happy with my hair in the first two). But it was well worth it and I can be assured that my reputation as a 'man' will last for quite some time. Daddy, are you proud?

BEER BELLY?

People have always made fun of my little beer belly. Understandable, I guess, on an otherwise skinny body. But my usually polite Japanese friends are now also abusing me. I argue that it's a whisky belly and not a beer belly (the tax system makes spirits cheaper over here), but I still feel a little hurt.
So I've figured out a diet plan.
This packet of tortilla chips (99gm) contains 489 calories. However this can of light beer (500ml) contains only 120 calories. So for each packet of chips I don't eat, I can drink 4 cans of beer. Or, if I want to shed a few pounds wieght, I can cut down to 3 cans a day. Now that's the kind of diet I like.

FRIDAY SUNSET

From my front yard.

UNBELIEVABLE

Talking to a teacher over lunch today I asked her what Japanese university students usually do for food. Eat out or cook or go to a canteen, etc. Her answer was that she had never lived away from home. This lead on to her telling me that her parents would only let her study in this prefecture and thus commuted to uni. She is twenty-seven, a junior high school teacher and has never lived alone. She still has to be home by 10pm every night. I think her subjects are social studies and geography. But how can you teach kids about life if you haven't lived?

SPEAK YOUR MIND PLAINLY

Or at least write it on a door.

SOUNDTRACKS

If you're in the mood for buying some new music, here are my top ten soundtracks (in no particular order).

1. Royal Tenenbaums
2. Donnie Darko
3. Lucky Number Slevin
4. O Brother, Where Art Though
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Last Of The Mohicans
7. Babel
8. Natural Born Killers
9. The Beach
10. Lord Of War

HAIKU

Learned bird of prey
Hunts without moving a wing
Master of the wind

KYOTO-SENSEI

Kyoto-Sensei is Japanese for Vice-Principal.
The Kyoto-Sensei at my elementary school is cool.
He often comes to school in a his kei truck (small Japanese utility truck).Our principal is off sick so he's covering all his duties.
Despite that he spent two hours today in overalls digging up the school gardens for new flower beds.
How cool is that!

SHARK, MMM, YUM YUM!

We just had 'shark nuggets' for school lunch. The teachers were talking about it this morning, but I thought they would be 'shark-shaped' nuggets. But don't worry, only the fins are used when making them.

HAIKU

Wings beat the still air
A generous butterfly
Shares the flower's scent

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

The fourth-graders were outside planting some vegatables last week. I don't know what they were, but it looked like fun.

DEJA VU

I knew nothing about this movie before watching it last night. I put it on, half interested, after dinnner. But the gripping camera work soon, uh, gripped me. And the suspense-filled plot had me on the edge of my floor cushion right from the start. A very interesting and well made movie.

DUMB DUMB

As arrogant as I am, on our recent hikes at Dewa Sanzan I genuinely believed we could take the route I wanted despite the numberous warnings from people.
It wasn't until I seen this small waterfall under the snow just a few feet from where we were walking, that I realised the danger.

BEAUTIFUL CRANE, UGLY DUCK.

At elementary school today I had lunch with the sixth graders. After lunch, my student Miharu made and gave me a small pink crane. Very impressed I asked her to teach me the many steps to folding a crane. Fifteen minutes later I had clumsily made an oversized, uglier version of her bird. Then she gave me a bunch of origami paper to practice with, but I can't remember beyond fold three. Doh!

HIKING PHOTOS

I went for a solo hike yesterday. I climbed Kurikoma-san (the mountain near my town) again. Although the weather at the top was terrible it was nice on the way up. I took a few snaps.

The path behind me.
The path ahead of me.
Harsh winter. The remainder of a sign after a long frozen winter.
Colours and patterns on the path caused by the hot spring waters (I think :o))
Mountains and clouds.
Still snow. June 9th and there was still tonnes of snow near the top. These poles mark where the path usually is. Very helpful when the mist gets dense.
After the cold wet hike I went to my favourite hot spring, Kurikoma Sanso, to warm up.Note: This photo of Kurikoma Sanso is from http://www.akitakurikoma.com/

DEWA SANZAN

On day two of our trip we got up early to the sound of the waves. After sausage, eggs, bread and coffee we drove east to climb a couple of mountains.
(Ryuta cooks up some breakfast)I'd heard of a trail leading from Yodono-san to the summit of Gassan (the highest and most famous mountain in the prefecture). Supposedly a demanding but extremely beautiful four hour hike to the top we were keen to check it out. We were told the day before at the tourist information that the trail would not open for another month due to the snow. However knowing the Japanese tendancy to be overly-cautious I thought we'd give it a go. Arriving at Yodono-san we were shocked at the depth of snow still lying. Two men working there told us 'muri' - impossible, and warned of landslides, falling through the snow and underlying rivers and waterfalls. But what really turned us off the climb was that there was no path to be seen anyway. Nothing. Only snow and soft slippery mud on the hills.
(The gates leading into Yodono-san)Not to be disheartened we asked around for any other options to get to the top. Again we only got 'muri' as a reply. Everyone seemed adamant that it was too early in the season to climb this beast, and would rather we waited until the summer when the mountain is full of people.
(Even with Ryuta's fluent Japanese we couldn't understand this strange kanji and carried on with our journey)But we knew there was a ski-resort on the other side of the mountain. It's open right up until July, such is the amount of snow fall in Yamagata but with no other options left, we drove an hour to the resort. Again we were reminded of the dangers when we arrived. But we did meet one youg guy. So we decided to give it a shot.
At the resort they insisted we buy a lift ticket and ride the lift before hiking further. I dont really know why since the path under the lift was very walkable. So as soon as we were out of view from the lift attendant, Ryuta jumped off and I followed. From the top of the lift we knew we were to go in the direction of eleven o'clock. At this height the clouds and mist were already around us so we hadn't many points of reference.
(From the top of the lift there was only snow and mist)We hiked for an hour and eventually came to the summit.
Unfortunately it was the wrong summit. The mist was really heavy, but we knew we were in the right direction. We just didn't know where Gassan's summit was or how to get there.
Looking around trying to get our bearings I spotted a solo skier in the snow below us. Ryuta slid down to him and asked if he knew how to get to the top. 'Two hours that way' said the skier, pointing into the mist.
('This is were we met the skier. He pointe to the middle of this photo.)So off we went, not wasting anytime.
The next two hours were slippery and confusing as there was no visable trail most of the way and we tried scaling the snowy hills to save time.
But after a grulling two hours of hiking through scrub, sliding through snow and hoping we were going in the right direction, we made it to the summit.
(Exhausted at the summit)It was well and truly worth it. In the moments that the mist dissapated and clouds blew aside the views were stunning. Panoramic views showed we were right in the heart of the mountains (and had a long way back). After hot cup noodles and rice balls we passed out for forty minutes. Awaking refreshed and energetic we really felt like kings after achieving our three summits in two days goal. We headed down the mountain sliding on our jackets to save time. But as the clouds once again settled all around us we got so lost all clue of direction and couldn't even find our own footprints. But that's another story for another time.
(The view from the top made it all worthwhile)

YAMAGATA PREFECTURE

West of where I live, on the Sea of Japan, is the prefecture of Yamagata. It has some beautiful nature and scenery including a famous mountain range called Dewa Sanzan. A friend and I took a trip there last weekend for some hiking and camping before the rainy season starts. It is an amazing place.

After our three hour drive west we hiked to the top of Mt. Haguro. It looks like a pleasant in this photo, but in real life, it's a gruelling 2446 stone steps to the top. I tried counting the steps to see if the guidebook was correct. After 300 we stopped for a brea and realising there was over 2000 more ahead of us (plus the return trip), I gave up on counting and enjoyed the scenery instead.
After the hike we found an empty beach (but for one fisherman) and set up camp. The weather was amazing and drift wood a plenty, so we lit a campfire, hit the beers and waiting for the sun to set over the sea. Below is Ryuta exhibiting the effects of one too many hot whiskeys just after sunset.

Drunk or not, Ryuta was still able to cook us an awesome dinner over the campfire. Sausages, eggs, and yakisoba noodles. (My responsibilites were keeping the hot whiskies)

HUMILIATION UPDATE

Like the fool I am I returned again last night for more ping pong with the kids. Sazaki-san was coaching some seniors, and left me to fend for myself against some first year boys (11/12 year olds). I was doing really well and winning most of the matches. But when a thirteen year old boy started teasing the others about speaking English I challenged him to a match. Boom! Humiliation! I could hardly even see his serves, nevermind return them. And it all kind of went downhill from there.

SUMO SHUTTERS

ON WEDNESDAY EVENING

I saw an old man walking in the rain.
He had a tweed jacket and a broken umbrella.
But he walked with a swagger that made me envy him.