Journal 5 - I see a little sillouetto of a man, scallamoosh, scallamoosh will you do the fandango ....

"I see a little sillouetto of a man, scallamoosh, scallamoosh will you do the fandango .... "

Ah Karaoke; what fun we had. Hello again all, hope you're all doing fine. Another week has passed. I just realized that today is October 18th. I arrived in Japan on September 18th ... wow a month already. Let me see, where did I leave off last ... oh yes ... Our hero, that's me, had mentioned that he was going to experience his first night of Karaoke in Japan. Well, I did and oh what fun I had. I must say, it's very different. First of all, it's not an open bar like we have. You don't write down the song and hand it up to the person in charge and wait to sing. What you do is rent a separate room. You choose a song and enter the code into a little remote control. Very high tech. If you want drinks or food, you just call up the front desk like you're ordering room service and they'll bring it to you. Yes, much much different. Unfortunately, renting a room also means paying for it, so a night of Karaoke in Japan can get very expensive. But, I was fortunate enough not to pay because it was a welcome to Yaizu night for Joe ... So, I scored big time. We were only there for a few hours though, because it was a long weekend, so it was very busy. So, we ended up going to another bar for some beers. One of the customs that's going to take a bit for me to get used to and don't think I particularily care for is, when you go out with a group of people, no matter what you eat or drink, the bill is split evenly. So, you could end up paying a lot of money for one beer. Solution? Drink lots!!!

The rest of the week was my normal teaching week ... it was fun with the kids because it was Halloween week for them. So, there were a lot more games then normal. My Saturday class loved it, they were really getting into it. We have a Halloween version of Old McDonald, which allows the kids to roam around acting like monsters ... so I got them to put on their scariest face and walk around growling and snarling ... Yeah, well at least I tried; they laughed when I was doing it. Course, now that I think about it, I don't recall actually putting on my scariest face and growling and snarling ... So, what were they laughing at? Hmmmmm!!!! Anyway, moving on. So here's something interesting; I knew Japan was very expensive and I also knew that things like fruit and vegetables can be even more ridiculous. Well, did you know Honey Dew mellon can cost up to 5000 yen (about $50)? One of my students works in agriculture and he offered one to me (very common to get gifts around here). So, naturally I accepted the gift because of course it's the polite thing to do. When he told me afterwards how much one of them goes for, I nearly died. I tell ya, it was good, but not $50 good.

So today, my day off, I decided to go farther away from here and see more of Japan. I was going to go to a city called Kamakura, but realized it was too far. So, I went to a city called Hakone which is closer to the mountains. I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Odikara and then took a 15 minute train to Hakone. I had absolutely no clue where I was going, what I was doing or anything. So, instead of doing my usual walking around for an hour and then getting back on the train, I decided to ask someone. Luckily I found 2 Americans and asked them. Well, it turns out one of them had been there before. So, I asked what there is to do and she told me there's a day pass I can get that takes you all around the city. It's not like a normal train pass, this allows you to take the bus to 1 location, then take a boat ride to another location, then ride the gondola up the top of the mountain to see sites, then back down and then you can take the train back to your original destination. The whole thing cost about 3000 yen. So, I thought, what the hell, something different. I went to the tourist information, grabbed my english map and my ticket and away I went. It turns out, I had the best day ever. I actually ended up hanging out with these 2 Americans, don't know if they wanted that at first, but I don't think they minded after a while. I tell ya, as much as I enjoy travelling on my own and getting into the culture, there's nothing like being able to talk to other people who speak the same language. You need that. So, the first thing was the scariest bus ride ever. The bus was full, so I ended up standing the whole way. It was the windiest road ever and obviously this driver didn't care, because he was nuts. I nearly fell on an old gentleman sitting down below me. I think I added another 10 years to his life. When we finally reached our first destination, we got off the bus (nearly lost my lunch), walked around the area for a little bit and then got on the next tour which was the boat ride. Normally during this ride, you could take amazing pictures of Mt Fuji, but again it was behind clouds. It's as if that sucker was saying "Quick hide, Joe's coming". Oh well, the ride was nice anyway. I think I want to go back in a few weeks, when the leaves start changing. The next tour was the gondola. This allowed us to take amazing pictures of the entire area ... again, would've been amazing if that damn Mountain wasn't behind clouds. At the top, was a huge sulphur mine ... yup, didn't stay up there very long. Apparently you can get yourself a black egg and it's supposedly good luck to eat it. Yeah, I'll just throw salt over my shoulder thank you very much. We got on the gondola ride down the mountain and then took the train back to the original destination. There we ended up walking around the city and then decided to go for a drink ... Had some Sake, finally. That was very good. Then it was heading home time, well first here to write you guys, then home. All in all it was a good day. Oh, by the way, I finally got myself a camera ... but, ummm I forgot the computer chord to plug into this computer so I can send you pictures. Sorry!!!! next time I write you guys, I will definitely send some pictures.

Anyway, I'm thinking this is extra long, so I better close now. I hope all is well with everyone. I just want to say welcome to the new email addresses I recently added. Sorry, I didn't get it sooner, but now you can enjoy the adventures of Joe.

Take care everyone,
Joe