Journal 9 - OK, just cut it a little shorter ... OK, a little shorter ... mmmm, a little more ... NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Well, hello there everyone. Yes, it's that time again. First, I just want to thank those who commented on the website, I will definitely continue with this. Some of the suggestions was to have more pictures put on. That's actually what I'm trying to work on now. I don't like the way I have them on the site right now, so what I'm trying to do is put all my photos into a photo album and you can link to it. And yes, mom, that will include pictures of my apartment. Although there's going to be a lot since I live in such a huge place. Anyway, so a lot's happened since last I left you. Last week was actually pretty good. I ended up going to Nagoya for a 2 day teachers training. That's one of the prerequisites with this company, training twice in your first year. So, the first part was last week; I have no idea when the next time will be. The training was very productive. It was a good way of finding out if your teaching method is right or not, they will give you pointers on what to do better (ie what you really should be doing) and then you come back to the schools as a much better teacher (ie come back teaching your old way and pretty much tossing any suggestion they give you). But, it was actually great seeing some of the original teachers that I trained with as well as meeting some new one's. Not to mention we had the opportunity to go out, socialize, hear the horror stories the other teachers are going through and realizing that my situation isn't that bad. Although everyone agrees, I have the worst "stage mom" in the world. What was also nice was I was able to cancel 2 days worth of teaching which are my busiest days. So, I only had 3 days of teaching and then another 3 day weekend since Sunday and Monday are my regular days off and Tuesday was a National Holiday. So, what did I do? Well, let me tell you. Sunday I decided to take the bullet train to Yokohama, stay the night in Yokohama and then go to Tokyo.

Yokohama is a beautiful city, especially down along the peer. I wasn't sure what to expect because when I got off the train and went outside, all I saw was highways, overpasses, run down buildings. It almost looked dirty, although that's impossible since they basically have people following behind you sweeping every little part you step on. OK, slight exaggeration, but pretty close to being true. Anyway, so, I got a map of the city and noticed there were some huge buildings and what looked like a Ferris Wheel and then I also noticed there was a China Town which apparently is one of the biggest. So, naturally I wanted to head down to where the Ferris Wheel was ... ah, the child in me will never leave. So, I took the train down and all I could say was wow ... it looked like a completely different city, huge sky scrapers, department stores galore and yes, an amusement park. I pretty much spent most of the day there walking around, seeing all the different types of places. They even had street performers, so I stopped to watched a lot of them ... very good. I was also amazed to see that there was a Hard Rock Cafe ... I thought they all closed down, but I guess not. Walking around I noticed most of the people were all going the same general direction, so I decided to follow them. The road I was on took me towards the Ferris Wheel area and also into a huge building that had tonnes upon tonnes of shops, restaurants, museums. It was quite the place. I ended up looking around there for a while, basically window shopping, seeing all the neat gadgets they sell. I've noticed that Japanese people are huge movie buffs. They have every little trinkets from different movies. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" seems to be a big one for some reason, maybe it's the time of year. They're also starting to advertise The Incredibles, so figurines everywhere. I also went into this huge Disney Store which is about 4 floors ... oh my, that's a lot of Mickey and Donald. Snoopy stores also seem to be pretty big here as well ... tonnes of Peanuts memorabelia. So, I carried on out of the building and continued on along the path to what looks like a loading dock / lookout. I think this is the loading area for cruise lines (there wasn't one there though). But, I walked to this lookout point and what a view it had. Not only the entire city, but along the water as well, very beautiful. I noticed that the time was around 4:00 pm, which is usually when it starts to get dark, so I decided to hang out there until the sun went down and watched the lights come on. It was quite spectacular. As I was sitting there, I wrote a journal ... Here's a small part I wrote: " I'm sitting here in Yokohama on what looks like a huge ship, over looking the city. It's funny, I'm sitting here looking at this city that seems so American, but yet the people around me are speaking a completely different language. I'm watching people and wonder what they're thinking. It's amazing how such a busy, urban society, who thrive on working, studying, learning, can still take the time to enjoy such a beautiful sight. Japanese people are so 'pro-family'. When they go out for the day, so does, grandma, grandpa, brother's, sisters, children, everyone. Fashion is so interesting ... normally, on a day like today, at a place like this, you would be wearing the comfortable attire. Here? It's common for men to be wearing suits and women wearing high heels and walking everywhere."

Now the next day I took a 25 minute train ride to Tokyo. When I arrived, I thought I was in an underground city. I went to the information and asked for a map. They gave me the map of the train station which I think was about as big as the map of Tokyo. It was nuts. I have to admit, when I first looked at the Tokyo train routes and the metro routes, I was pretty intimidated, but when you really study it hard, it actually is pretty easy. You have these different routes, which are different colors and you need to go on the train that's the same color as the route on the map ... pretty easy. It's the same with the metro. So, where did I go? Well, the first place was called Akihabara which was Electric Town. This place had millions and millions of electronic shops. When I was walking around there I felt like I was walking through a huge wave of energy. I don't know if that was a good thing or not. But, as I was looking at these spectacular electronic devices, I couldn't help notice that the prices were ridiculous ... very very expensive. I was looking for one of those GPS watches for running. There are some people I ran with at home who has one and I think they spent around $200. I figured I could maybe find one cheaper, boy was I wrong. I found one that was very similar and it costs 45000 Yen (about $450 US). Yeah, so that's not going to happen. So, moving on the next place I visited was called theKyu-Shiba-Rikyu Gardens. Famous Japanese gardens that's open for people to walk around and enjoy the beauty. Very nice place, with a huge pond, different kind of Japanese style plants ... I'll be honest, it was alright. I didn't think it was worth paying 150 yen for it, but it was nice to sit around and enjoy the view. I took lots of pictures and walked around. It was also a good time to figure out what the heck I'm going to do next. Ah yes, the next stop was the lovely Meiji Shrine. This was an absolutely amazing place. Japan is well known for their shrines and temples and this is one of the biggest one's. Home of the spirit of the emperor Meiji who was the first emperor to introduce Japan as a western civilization, which is what brought Japan to a powerful Asian nation (there's a little bit of history for ya). So, today this shrine is open for everyone to visit. Usually people go to look around and see the beautiful structure, others go and pray. There's also different functions that occur like wedding ceremonies or coming of age ceremonies which is when your child turns 20. There are certain birthday's for children that are very important which are 3 (boys and girls), 5 (for boys) and 7 (for girls). On those birthday's it is customary to go to a shrine, wear special kimono's and pray for the health and well being of your child. When I was there, there was a girl and boy (probably twins) celebrating their 3rd birthday. They looked very cute in their kimono's. I think every tourist there was taking pictures of them. So, moving on, after the Meiji shrine, I walked around looking at different shops, but mostly the amount of people. I decided to walk along one of the streets that eventually brought me to the famous Shin Juku. Now, the name doesn't sound familiar, but I'm sure the look of it does, especially for those who have seen the movie Lost in Translation. It's the scene where the girl is diagonally crossing the street while thousands and thousands of people are walking all around her. It is the busiest area of Tokyo. I was told people who want to meet their friends downtown Tokyo, always say meet me down at Shin Juku ... how they find each other I have no idea. Seeing this area was just a little bit overwhelming, but it was also pretty cool. I managed to survive a few hours there walking around, again looking at different shops, but really mostly people watching. It's fascinating seeing all these people and knowing this is their way of life. Finally, I realized I had enough and was pretty much ready to go home. So, I ended up grabbing a bite to eat and grabbed the next train back to Tokyo station and then grabbed the next train back home. All in all I had a great time, but I think next time I go to Tokyo, I'd like to go with other people, maybe some locals, so I can get a real feel of what Tokyo life is like, but right now I'm glad I experienced the city and it's another thing I can add to my adventure.

OK, so I'm realizing that this is getting very long and what you don't know is it's been taking me a couple days to write as well. So, I should probably close soon, but first I should explain the title. If you remember I like to mention my "Firsts"? Well, this week I had my first haircut experience. I'll be honest, it wasn't that bad ... mainly because the hair dresser spoke pretty good english (she was an ex GEOS student), but I was worried ... now I know how little kids feel when they get their first haircut. But, it is safe to say, I still have all my hair on my head and I don't have to walk around wearing a ball cap all the time.

So, that's all for now. I'm sorry again this has taken a while, but I wanted to get this and the pictures organized for you. Plus, I'll have to admit, today is the first day that I'm finally feeling 100%. My cold is finally gone, which is about time.

Hope all is well and I will talk to you all later.
Joe