Only in Tokyo

Today on my way back home I dropped into a coffee shop for a quick lunch. After a few minutes a young man sits down with a middle aged lady, I don't think much of it except they seem like an odd pair. The lady proceeds to hand the young man two very large stacks of money. Finally she filled out a form and I waited till she filled in the amount, it was ¥1,000,000. The guy just leisurely counted the money like it was nothing. This is like going into Starbucks and casually counting out $10,000, in 100 dollar bills. then he just put the money in an envelope and put it in his bag on the floor. I think if this had happened in the states the money would have easily been swiped away and used to pay off someone's Christmas debts.

Christmas in Tokyo

On the way to the Kodo concert we walked by the light and fountain display in La Qua near Tokyo dome. We only got to see a few minutes of the display where they have the lights and the fountain synced with Christmas music. Then we had to run of to the concert because we were running late, mainly because we got on trains going the wrong way twice. I couldn't believe myself, in all my time here this is one of the only times that I have gotten messed up on the train. Then it happened twice in the same day.

The concert was of course great, and after we went to dinner at Bubba Gumps, it was actually really good. I had the drunken shrimp and sausage served with a spicy sauce over mashed potatoes. Got home feeling stuffed and I think I had what Joey on Friends would have called the "Meat Sweats". I think the apple crisp and the cup of coffee put me over the top. The apple crisp was really good but they served it with some kind of funky sauce that I still don't know what it was but it did help off set the tartness of the apples.

On another subject, Saturday the 23rd was spent playing tennis. Once a year we have a big party and invite the parents and we have a mixed tournament with the students, it was fun, but it left me a little sore. I ran from there to our church Candle service. On the way I found out that one of the people that was to sing a duet had called to say they couldn't make it. So I was asked to fill in, of course they had practiced in a key that was out of my range but we just had to improvise.

I ended up spending the night at a nearby hotel so I didn't have to make the long trek home and back again in the morning. Glad that I did because I got to sleep in till almost 8:00. It was so nice. I wanted to get to another service at my former students church but I was so tired on the way home I just went home and crashed. I did get up the energy to go out and get the last two episodes of "Prison Break" and watch them. Now I can get around to downloading season 2. Yeah!!!

Today I'm at school, Christmas day, and this is the second year straight that I have worked on this holiday. Last year there weren't too many people here but today things are pretty much back to normal and you would never think this day is any different then any other. Maybe next year we can talk someone in closing the school on this day. It would only make sense. But I'm sure that someone would complain.

Kodo

This is a picture that Katie took a number of years ago, and I keep it on top of my TV. This guy is my favorite drummer. The reason for this picture is tonight is my annual outing to The Kodo Dec. concert series in Tokyo. This year I am dragging Alina along. It is always a good preformance that I look forward to every year. And all the best drummers are at this show. I have been dissapointed before when Eichi is not on the roster. If your not familiar with the group check out their web site, they have tours all over the world. KODO

Christmas Dreams

This has been a busy week so far, but am so happy that today is the last day of school. It is the big Christmas worship for the students. It is quite a production with all grade levels singing a Christmas song. The Sr. High students all do a piece for the Messiah and finish it all off with all the students singing the Amen from the Mesiah. It is actually very beautiful.


But what I wanted to coment on was dreams, now I don't often remember my dreams but this week for what ever reason I have been having some unusual dreams. Maybe it means I am sleeping better. Yesterday I dreamed about my upcoming trip to Taipei, the funny thing is I don't think that Shige who is going with me was in the dream. Anyway the funniest thing was that we rented a car and parked on the street to go in and see a movie, we came out of the movie to find the car gone. So of course thiking it was stolen we panicked not knowing what to do. Come to find it had been towed and after pnicking for awhile the police brought it back.

Last night I dreamed the Brenda and Deiter came to visit me and meet me on school excursion. It was so odd, they had their 2 boys with them, except they don't have two boys, I think the boys may have been Drew and Conal. Then their nephew Zacharey showed up. Must be because they have come up in conversations with Alina lately. Who knows, anyway I hope that at this time of year you will have some more realistic dreams and they will come to pass.

Tamasei Christmas

Today was rainy and cold all day, not quite Christmas weather, but the start of all the Christmas celebrations at school. This morning there was a Christmas service and explanation mtg. for perspective students, and in the afternoon the alummni association had their Christmas service. The teachers always sing, this year we sang "Born on This Day" and Rachelle and I sang a Duet. It was quite fun. This is probably not the best picture I took it of the school's home page. If I can get a video downloaded I will try to put it up. I really thought that I wouldn't have much of a voice on Friday it sounded like I had rocks in my throat, but my voice feels better today in better than it has in a while. And the best part of that is it's just in time for Christmas. How fun it is to sing Christmas songs.

Friday

Well after 2 hours of Karaoke which included costume changes, I finally made it home but didn't get to bed till about one o'clock. Nii san and Miura are pictured below, Nii san brings all the goodies, we all tried the hat with the fake hair. It made most of us look like 70's wanna-be rock stars.


Well after the long evening, I woke up this morning at five after seven. I usually like to be out of the house by at least 20 after. I almost screamed! Jumped up actually made it out of the house by 7:30.

Today was Christmas visitation. We went to a local day-home, sort of a day-care facility for the elderly. The 4 different classes go out to 4 different homes and put on a small show for the people and give them a small gift and Christmas card. It is always a really good experience for the kids and the elderly, there are always a number of people who are moved to tears. I took the picture below on the way back, it is the entrance to the huge shrine in Kuhonbutsu.

Year End Party

Well it is that time of year again, Bonenkai 忘年会 Season. Fortunately I usually only have one to attend there are people that have them almost every night.
This year the Nagihana members met in Musashinokuchi. We went to a nice restaurant and our main dish was chankonabe, the meal that sumo wrestlers eat. It was very good. In the picture below is Miura the head of our group with Yoko san and of course our teacher.


Once people start taking pictures it is almost non sto and of course everyone wants a picture with our teacher. Nii san was the MC for the evening. She is a crack up. and she knows how to keep a party going.


So after everyone else had their turn the gaijin's decided to have a group picture. I guess we are a pretty unique group with 4 foreigners, the 3 ladies are German.

Tanaka sensei has changed a lot, the last few times that we have gotten together he has cried. I think he is moved by our groups friendliness and camaraderie. In his speech to use he thanked us for teaching him the importance of putting feeling and warmth in to our music. I realize that he is very thankful for the warmth that our group has shown him.

After the party we moved into part two which was another 2 hours of karaoke. And let me tell you some of these people lreally know how to let their hair down.

Charlie Brown Christmas

This is for Nakajima sensei.

Super Sento

Well a new Super Sento opened up this month not too far from me and just right around the corner from the new IKEA store in Yokohama. It's called Kohoku no Yu, and I thought since I had some free time tonight I should go check it out. There here 7 outdoor baths, the one that is pictured above was the wine bath today, I think that it gets changed on a regular basis to feature some special healing water or something like that.

It is a very nice complex, of course along with the bath there were 2 kinds of saunas, one a traditional one and the other one that you rub salt over your body and sit in stone chairs. It was a rather realxing evening. They have a nice restaurant on the premises and I got a light dinner of "Buta Kimchee Itame" Stir-fried pork and kimchee. It was very nice, and for being so new it wasn't very crowded, which was a little of a surprise.

Next store was a cheap grocery store where I saw bottles of Mt. Dew for ¥48 a bottle. Almost made we want one. They didn't have alot of stuff but what they had seemed to be pretty cheap. I think if I tell the Barton's that I got a ¥105 loaf of bread they just may be jealous.

Ginza

Here we are in the middle of Ginza having a Mary Tyler Moore moment. I'm sure that Alina has never seen the show but she joined in anyway. It is amazing that they close off the street to traffic on holidays, and oh so nice that they do. At least it gives you some place to walk. You can see all the people in the background, just think if they were all scrunched up on the sidewalks. I'm sure we were being stared at as Rach took our picture.

But speaking of causing stares, on our way to the museum that day an older man got on the train and sat on the other side of the train and lucikly for us a ways down. There weren't very many people on the train and all of the sudden the man opened his pants and started fixing his shirt, then he reached down his pant leg and I'm really not sure what he was doing, he seemed oblivious to the fact that there were other people on the train. The funny thing is that this kind of thing doesn't really surprise me anymore. You do see the funniest things some time. So in comparison our little twirling antics are nothing.

Turkey in Edo

Well for those of you who are just now celebrating Thanksgiving, let me give you a recap of my day. Well nothing was really planned and about 11:00am I set off to meet up with Rach and Alina. I had decided to go to the OEdo Museum to see a woodblock exhibit. It was really nice, but of course a lot of people. Afterwards we wanted a cup of coffee but couldn't find a place that wasn't over-run with people, so we set off to Ginza.

There we just had to stop at the Apple store. It is a really fun store with so much cool stuff. We won't talk about the 23 in cinema monitor that was on sale for so cheap, where is santa when you need him. The main street running through Ginza was closed off to traffic and all the Christmas lights were up. Here is the tree infront of Makimoto Pearl.

After boring Rach completely at the Appple Store, we headed off to Zest for our Mexican Thanksgiving dinner. Now Rach has the pictures from the Restaurant so it may be a day or two before I get them. I will put them up as soon as they come in. All in all a delightful day. Maybe not a traditional Thanksgiving but at least we could possible say an Edo style one.

I'm a Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) Part 01

Ran across this through The Wittenburg Door, and I thought it was pretty good.

Mike vs Makoto

Let me start off by saying I think I'm addicted to this sandwich. It is the Milano A Sandwich at Doutor. And I usually get a Classic Vanilla Latte to go with it.

Now let me continue by saying what is wrong with the staff at Doutor. I popped into the Hiyoshi store this evening to satisfy my craving and I ordered my usual combination. Ok it seems that at whatever store I go to they seem not to be able to understand that I want a Classic Vanilla Latte. I have even resorted to pointing at the picture so there are no mistakes. And it is not like the sound of these 3 words are so much different in Japanese or English, since it is transliterated. So tonight I ordered and I should have realized right away that a mistake was coming when the cashier hesitated just a moment then glanced back at the picture. Then as I saw him making the drink I thought, "Is he doing things backwards the milk that he is foaming looks like it already has coffee added?". And low and behold my suspicions were right he has made a Tiramisu Latte. I wanted to yell, "Are you hard of hearing! My pronunciation can't be that bad!", but I just took my sandwhich and sat down.

Now this brings me to the title of this blog, sometimes I think I'm turning Japanese and there is this little Japanese guy, Makoto, that pops his head up every now and then. This was a prime example, where is that American guy, you know Mike, who would say, "I asked for Classic Vanilla, not Tiramisu. Pleas say it with me, Classic Vanilla, Tiramisu.... Classic Vanilla, Tiramisu. Not even close! Get me the right drink." Well it is all about changing and adapting, learning that sometimes it is better to be Makoto than Mike, or at least pretending that it is ok.

What's in a name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 2,179 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Ran accross this and thought it was pretty interesting. I actually used to be friends with a guy that had the same name as I it was quite unusual, we actually shared the same middle inital. Wonder if I will run into any more of me.

Staff Retreat

Here we are in Kobuchsawa, we called this the album cover shot. Now all we need to do is make tha album.

I thought this one should be called Oh!

Alina always the ham!
I hope that nan was as good as it looks.

Teachers

Just thought that I should at least post something this morning. Here is a picture of the teachers from last week's J-Camp, well almost all of us. Amagi is the highest point in Izu or at least that's what I was told. It is a very nice area and not too far out of Tokyo. Even though the Hotel owned by the Japan Baptist Convntion is very nice, it is still a little behind the times. Or maybe I should say they haven't changed much over the years. I guess that is because they cater mostly to Christian groups. and the rates which are something like ¥7,000 are still a bargain in this area where hotels can easily set you back ¥20,000.

J Camp

Just back from J-Camp, it was a nice 3 days away from the city and even though it was work of all the camps that we go to this one is usually fairly laid back and there is usually time to even grab a nap in the afternoons.



The Picture is of Joren waterfalls, the teachers usually hike there it takes about 15 minutes to get there from Amagisanso the place that we stay, it is a nice excursion and refreshing at the same time. On the way back we ate horseradish ice cream, yes it seems that they will make any flavor ice cream in Japan. I will admit that it is not that bad and much better then the corn ice cream that I have had while at tennis camp

和華

It has been a long time since I posted so I thought that I should at least put something up. My drum group, Nagihana, had their annual apperance at the festival in Jiyugaoka. This year I had PTA and wasn't able to preform, so I just went and said hi got a couple of pictures then hurried off to work.

This would have been me. Athough this guy, a high school student that is in one of our teachers other groups, looks better in the uniform than me. Remind me to lose weight and get a tan before I go on again.

Kusatsu Hot Spring

I did mention that my trip was on motorcycle right? Anyway after seeing another rider take a picture of his bike, I thought that I should do the same. I just wish the back ground was a little better.

Over the mountain just 20 kilometers away was Kusatsu. I went with my friend Hitoshi here last year, so I really didn't need to stop, but hey. I had to steal a picture because in my hurry I forgot to take one of the public free bath on the square. I really wanted a picture on the inside but it is so small and it is hard to find the right time to get a picture. The best time to bathe here is when it is freeze your butt off cold. The water is so hot that it is really difficult to get into. There are two baths and one has to be at least 45°C, and the other is probably 44°C. I did manage to get in both but the hotter one for only about a minute. When the Japanese man came out beet red I can just image how red I must have been when I got out. At least the drive had been cool but I would have prefered to have been freezing cold before I got in.

Then I was off and headed back to Tokyo, I promised myself that I would take some pictures of the rice fields that I had seen on the way up. On Friday there were alot of old people putting the rice out to dry. This is very labor intensive work, and most of it done by old people.

Below is how the rice is stacked and left to dry.
I saw some places had but plastic over the top to protect it from rain.

The fields were beautiful, and I passed many, mostly small and probably all run by families that have been doing this for generations.

Manza Hot Spring Pt. 2

This morning I left Manza around 9:00 of course I had to have at least one dip before I left. This is the inside bath, I actually preferred the outdoor bath. The view of the mountain from the outdoor bath was spectacular but there were a couple of other men in the bath so I put off taking any pictures.


From Manza I decided to drive to Kusatsu another famous ski resort and spa. To get there I had to drive over Shirane Mtn. 白根山 there is a large volcanic crater at the top, there was a huge line of people hiking to the top so since I had seen in albeit many years ago I continued the drive and the sights were spectacular.

There was even on place where I could see the snowcapped Japan Alps. Unfortunately it was not at a very good place to stop so I didn't get a picture. This was actually one of the highlights, I really enjoyed the onsen but the beauty of nature on this beautiful day was breath taking. And It was above the tree line so the views were very interesting.