Journal 26 - Your Smile Makes Me Happy

Hello Everyone,

Hope you're doing well. Well, I'm kind of going crazy now trying to get everything packed up into two suitcases. Maybe some of you don't realize, but I'll be flying home to Calgary next week. On Friday the 22nd, along with my two friends Colleen and Carl, we'll be heading back and arriving in Calgary at 1:20 pm . I 'm having mixed feelings right now. I'm excited to be seeing everyone and it'll be nice living in a more familiar cultural surrounding. However, I love Japan as well and I'm definitely going to miss teaching out here. I also feel I haven't seen enough of this area of the world. So, I told myself I'm not saying good bye, just "so long" because I do want to come back eventually. People have been asking what my plan is when I head home ... In truth, I'm not entirely sure. I do have a plan for the moment which is to find some work (in anything), save some money and then I'm thinking of heading out to Europe. There's a course that I would like to take which will allow me to earn a certificate in teaching ESL. But, like I've always mentioned I'm taking everything one day at a time and things could always change.
So, stay tuned!! ....

So, the last few weeks have been pretty crazy; final parties, preparing for the next teacher, saying good bye, etc. Last weekend I had a party in Yaizu which was the first city I lived in. It was small and very quiet which was quite nice after a few huge ones before. There were a few co-workers, some students. A couple who don't take lessons anymore, but decided to come out to say good bye. Anyway, there was this one student there ... actually she wasn't even my student, she was my co-worker Misato's student. Her English is very low which is relevant to this story because I could tell she worked hard thinking of this sentence to tell me. Anyway, she presented me with this piece of paper which had only one phrase on it ... "Your smile makes me happy ... thank you." I thought it was the best thing I ever got ... The whole principal of it all was quite the compliment. The rest of the party was your typical, Beer, Japanese food, and karaoke. Still a good time was had by all.

I don't really have a lot of other things to talk about. The next couple days will consist of finishing up the packing, cleaning and moving out. On Sunday, I'll be heading to Osaka to stay with Colleen and Carl and I'll be doing some day trips from there which I'm looking forward to. Oh by the way today (the 14th) will be my last day with internet connection. So, it will take a little longer to respond if you send me email. Anyway, as a follow up to Carl's Blog on things that are Good and things that are Bad, here are some others based on my expereince in the two years:


Good: Sushi
Bad: Raw Horse
Good: Ramen
Bad: Natto, that stuff is smelly
Good: Hanging out at an Izakaya (Japanese style bar) with students.
Good: Karaoke and more karaoke
Bad: Too many smokers
Good: All the flavors of kit kat
Bad: Except Red Bean flavor
Good: The many unique flavors of pop
Bad: Even Bubblegum .. yuck
Good: The cool little toys that come with pop bottles.
Good: Green Tea and Mochi (a very soft rice paste) flavored ice cream ... who would've thunk
Bad: My very small apartment
Good: No one can call me a pack rat even after you see my suitcases
Good: Technology
Bad: waiting for movies that friends back home have already bought on DVD
Good: The smiles on students faces when they've learned something
Bad: The ones who tend to get frustrated or just don't get it.
Good: Staying out all night drinking at a bar
Bad: Staying out all night drinking at a bar
Good: Getting around this entire country just by hopping a train
Good: The politeness of this country.
Bad: The passive attitudes
Bad: Parents allowing their children to sit in the front seat of their cars ... on their laps.
Good: Cherry Blossoms (Hanami's)
Good: Hanami Party's
Good: August time and firework festivals ... makes Canada's fireworks look like sparklers on a birthday cake.
Good: The architecture, especially temples, shrines and castles
Good: The many types of vending machines and ticket restaurants
Good: Ten minutes hair cuts ... also ticket machines
Bad: The price of a regular haircut
Good: The added head and neck massage when you get a haircut.


Humorous: The random english phrases
Humorous: The names of some stores even the one's that are suggestive ... I think it's the fact
that they have no idea what they're writing.
Humorous: The unique fashion sense and the fake tanning make-up on men and women.

Regret: Not learning the language
Regret: Not seeing everything

OK ... so I was expecting to finish this and have it sent off before my internet connection ended, but unfortunately that didn't happen. So, now it's Thursday, September 21. The day before we leave for home. I finished my job last Saturday. Last week was a combination of tiring, fun, emotional, etc. It was definitely hard saying good bye to everyone. But, on to new adventures ... stay tuned!

So, the next day I left for Osaka to stay with my friends, Colleen and Carl. Actually I went to Nagoya first to see some other friends then Osaka on Monday. I've been trying to put in a few more trips before leaving and I actually managed to do it. On Tuesday I went to Hiroshima and an island close by called Miajima. Both were amazing places to see. When I arrived in Hiroshima, I headed to the cable cars to go to the memorial museum. As I was waiitng, a young man comes up to me and asks if he could speak english with me. Naturally, I said sure and he actually took me straight to the museum. In the two years I've been here, I've never had that happen to me before. It was quite nice to see ... Hiroshima people are definitely good in my books. So, after saying buy to the nice guy, I headed to the museum and spent about 3 hours there. It was very well done ... very disturbing mind you, but I'm glad I saw it and learned more about what happened. Even if it did show some more graphic images. After that, I didn't really spend a lot of time in the city of Hiroshima. After being here for 2 years, it's just another city. My goal was to see the museum and I fulfilled it. The next stop was Miajima.

There's two ways to get there, both by boat. One was a longer, more scenic route and the other was a very short 10 minute ride. I decided to take the longer ride going there as it was a beautiful day. I arrived at the island around 3:00, but was worried I didn't have enough time to see everything, as most attractions close around 5 or 6. But the only thing I missed was the Aquarium. No biggie. Miajima is famous for the Miajima temple which is built on the edge of the island. The gates are actually further out in the middle of the water. During the day, the tides are well away from the temple which means people can go out and stand underneath the gates. By around 5:00 or so, you better not be standing anywhere near the gates because the water certainly comes up and covers everything up to the edge of the island making the temple look like it's completely built over the water. While that's happening, the sun has just about set and the temple, including the gate, is completely lit up which gives it a spectacular view. I'm glad I was lucky enough to see the before and after.

After seeing the temple in it's dry mode, I decided I wanted to hike up this hill which has a nice look out point. The walk was well ... let's just say I slept well that night. It was a good walk going up. Coming down was a little more interesting. The entire walk took about 2 hours. Going up was longer than coming down. By the time I started descending I noticed walking through the woods was a bit shadier than normal. I also realized that throughout this entire hike, I was the only person doing it. So, I was kind of thinking since no one knows where exactly I am, I should probably send a message to Colleen or Carl. Actually Colleen since Carl was working. Then I thought ...nah why bother, I'm almost done. So, I continued down. As I was walking, I heard some rustling in the trees. I stopped to take a look to see what it was ... Up in the tree, looking down at me were these 4 beedy eyes. Definitely not from birds ... There were 2 monkeys watching me. After we played the staring game for what seemed like hours, they went back to what they were doing and as for me? Well, I ... ummm ... should've continued walking ... but instead I decided to take the camera out and snap a pic. Then I moved on. Few minutes later I was listening to all the noises around me and realized these weren't your average everyday bird chirps. I realized there were a lot more monkeys than I thought. It was like I was in a movie ... Congo, Planet of the Apes, Jurassic Park ... OK, not that extreme. But, I have to admit my heart was kind of beating a little faster. The sound was so creepy. So, I whipped out my phone and messaged Colleen right away to let her know where I was ... Just in case. Anyway, I managed to make it down the bottom ... even snapped some more pics before that. After a very long, but eventful day I headed back to Osaka. The ride back was equally interesting. I decided to take the 10 minute fairy this time and then the train back to Osaka. Well, the train from Miajima to Hiroshima was closed due to an accident. I had to take another route, which was a very long and bumpy cable car. But, as we were heading back we had to slow down to the area where the accident had occured. I'm not going to get into any details and don't worry I didn't see anything worth scarring ... but, this is the part where I talk about the Japanese culture and the not so pleasantness of their lives. This country has one of the highest suicide rates usually due to pressure in their jobs. Enough said. So, the day started off wonderful and then unfortunately had to end up a bit disturbing. But, the former certainly out weighs the latter.

OK, so I'm realizing this is extra long ... two journals at once. Sorry about that. So, I'm going to close now. My rest of the week was equally good, but nothing worth getting into detail about. I went to Himeji to see one of the oldest castles in Japan and then went to Kobe where I did some last minute site seeing. Now, I'm here at Colleen and Carl's thinking that the day is almost over which means I'm ... actually we're ... a few short hours away from leaving this country.

So, This will not be the end of Joe's Adventures. There will certainly be others so stay tuned. Until then, have a good one and I know I'll see a lot of you soon and hopefully the rest of you in the near future.

Sayonara
Joe