I am at the Osaka airport now, but I can't check in to my flight for another three hours, so I am killing time and money at the 10 minute, 100 yen Internet booth. I am pretty sure I can't exchange coins anyway, so I might as well kill them here.
Anyway, it looks like the typhoon is going to finish its pass over Taiwan a few hours before I am scheduled to arrive. The last time I checked, about an hour ago, my flight was still scheduled to leave at the same time, so I think I will be OK for arriving in Taiwan. Apparently, the typhoon was pretty strong. The Taiwanese government gave pretty much everyone the day off tomorrow, so I am a little worried about getting to Kaohsiung from Taipei. I was planning on taking an intercity bus, but I have a feeling they might be canceled or delayed until they can check the roads. I might have a fun night of tossing and turning at the Taipei airport, but I am determined to get to Kaohsiung safely, so I will not be too upset if I have to wait.
Anyway, I will get back to posting when I get a chance. Adios!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Leaving Japan
Well, before I say anything, I would like to ask all of you out there to keep the victims of Hurricane Katrina and all their families in your prayers. This is the worst disaster to strike the U.S. in many years, and I only pray that we can work together as a nation to overcome all of the devastation.
I leave Japan tomorrow night for Taiwan. There is a big typhoon hitting Taiwan right now, so please keep me in your prayers as well. It should have died down quite a bit by the time I am scheduled to arrive, but it might still be raining. I will try to post in the next couple of days to let everyone know that I have arrived safely. I will be busy moving in to my new place, so I might not have much time to load pictures or post, but I will try.
Until then, take care of yourself and those around you. All we have is each other.
Bye Japan! Thanks for a great summer! いってきまーす！！！
I leave Japan tomorrow night for Taiwan. There is a big typhoon hitting Taiwan right now, so please keep me in your prayers as well. It should have died down quite a bit by the time I am scheduled to arrive, but it might still be raining. I will try to post in the next couple of days to let everyone know that I have arrived safely. I will be busy moving in to my new place, so I might not have much time to load pictures or post, but I will try.
Until then, take care of yourself and those around you. All we have is each other.
Bye Japan! Thanks for a great summer! いってきまーす！！！
Osaka
Osaka has been an relaxing time for me. I haven’t really tried to go around and see all of the sights, because my main reason for coming here was to eat and relax. Osaka is known for good, cheap food, of which I have had plenty. Some of the famous dishes here, namely takoyaki (octopus and dough balls) and okonomiyaki (“Japanese pancakes”), are also popular dishes in the Tokyo area (not to mention the rest of Japan), but they taste different here. The takoyaki is softer and the okonomiyaki is just plain better than in Tokyo. I haven’t tried fugu yet (blowfish), another Osaka specialty, but then again, I don’t feel like spending a whole lot of money before moving to another country.
I took a nice long nap on Monday after I checked into my hotel. The hotel I am staying in (Hotel Fujiya), is comfortable, but a little small, as might be expected from a cheap business-traveler hotel. The location, just off of Dotonbori River and shopping area, is hard to beat, though. I have loaded a bunch of pictures of Dotonbori on flickr, so please check them out. It is a very tacky, wacky shopping area with a lot of restaurants that is definitely worth a visit. Be careful not to stray too far from the main drag, however, because some of the side streets prove Osaka’s other claim to fame – home of the yakuza (Japanese mafia). One thing I always find rather disturbing about Japanese cities is one minute you are walking along a perfectly normal shopping, restaurant area, and the next you are in the middle of a red-light district where the air is just full of sleaze. Yuck.
Anyway, on Monday night I met a group of foreigners in downtown Osaka and on the way back I met some Japanese rappers freestyling on the street. They had some old-school funky beats backing them up, but it was really hard to understand what they were rapping about when they were rapping in Osaka dialect on a crappy sound system. It was still cool to get a free show, though.
Yesterday (Tuesday), I went to Osaka castle. I have wanted to visit this place for a long time. I believe the one standing now is a reconstruction that dates from the 1620s. It was originally built by the warlord Hideyoshi in the mid 1580s, but was burned down by the Tokugawas in about 1615. It was my first visit to a Japanese castle, and the indoor museum was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. It was also nice to go there by myself, because I could tour at my own pace and take my time. On one of the floors, they have one of the coolest museum displays I have ever seen. There are diorama boxes set around the room, each telling a particular episode in Hideyoshi’s life. They play one at a time in sequence. Inside a box set into the wall are model sets. In the middle of these sets is a transparent screen that displays video or digital images of real actors acting out the scenes. The three dimensional model and use of real actors adds to the realism, but the images of the actors are very bright compared to their surroundings. This makes them look like they are glowing – almost like ghosts. Very cool!
As I stepped off the subway, there was a Japanese band on the street playing a mix of rock and swing. They were pretty good, so I stopped and listened for a while. Again, there are pictures in my photo gallery. I struck up a conversation with an American couple who were watching and we wound up hanging out for a few hours. They are from LA and teach English at a Catholic University in Korea. We had an interesting discussion about the effects of rapid industrialization in East Asia at a Western style diner until early in the morning. That might sound like a pretty dry topic, but when you actually see and experience this stuff, it can be very real. South Korea developed VERY quickly into a modern, industrialized nation. In order to do this, many sectors of the economy were given priority over others, resulting in a situation in which some facets of life are hyper-modern, and others are very behind-the-times
Example: Samsung, a South Korean electronics company, has released a cell phone with a seven megapixel digital camera built in to it. Some South Korean cell phones have breathalyzers built into them. Yet most South Korean homes, including luxury condominiums, do not have that little S-curve at the base of their toilet’s piping. For those of you who don’t know what that is for, that little bend in the pipe under your toilet holds a little bit of water at the bottom of the curve by our good friend, the force of gravity, which in turn blocks noxious gasses from the sewer system from filling your home. Thus most homes in Korea smell like sewers. Not a pleasant thought…
Anyway, today, I slept in. It was raining again and I am leaving the country tomorrow, so I didn’t really feel like going all over town. I decided to go to the coin laundry and wash my clothes from the last four or five days. Nobody likes to stuff a bunch of smelly socks in their luggage, right? Well, that is where I met an interesting character. I tried to post his picture on this post, but it won’t accept it for some reason. I will try to load it on flickr.
His name (the only one he gave me) is Scorpio, and he is a professional wrestler. He is an American that has been a pro wrestler for about 20 years. He lives in Germany with his half-German, half-Turkish, kickboxing champion wife and travels to Japan, among other places, for matches. We talked for about an hour in between business phone calls. He was really nice and a fun guy to talk to. I didn’t really think about him in the ring much until his stuff was done in the dryer and he pulled out his wrestling tights. My guess is he isn’t quite as friendly in the ring as he is at the coin laundry.
What can I say? There are some really interesting people in this country. .
I took a nice long nap on Monday after I checked into my hotel. The hotel I am staying in (Hotel Fujiya), is comfortable, but a little small, as might be expected from a cheap business-traveler hotel. The location, just off of Dotonbori River and shopping area, is hard to beat, though. I have loaded a bunch of pictures of Dotonbori on flickr, so please check them out. It is a very tacky, wacky shopping area with a lot of restaurants that is definitely worth a visit. Be careful not to stray too far from the main drag, however, because some of the side streets prove Osaka’s other claim to fame – home of the yakuza (Japanese mafia). One thing I always find rather disturbing about Japanese cities is one minute you are walking along a perfectly normal shopping, restaurant area, and the next you are in the middle of a red-light district where the air is just full of sleaze. Yuck.
Anyway, on Monday night I met a group of foreigners in downtown Osaka and on the way back I met some Japanese rappers freestyling on the street. They had some old-school funky beats backing them up, but it was really hard to understand what they were rapping about when they were rapping in Osaka dialect on a crappy sound system. It was still cool to get a free show, though.
Yesterday (Tuesday), I went to Osaka castle. I have wanted to visit this place for a long time. I believe the one standing now is a reconstruction that dates from the 1620s. It was originally built by the warlord Hideyoshi in the mid 1580s, but was burned down by the Tokugawas in about 1615. It was my first visit to a Japanese castle, and the indoor museum was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. It was also nice to go there by myself, because I could tour at my own pace and take my time. On one of the floors, they have one of the coolest museum displays I have ever seen. There are diorama boxes set around the room, each telling a particular episode in Hideyoshi’s life. They play one at a time in sequence. Inside a box set into the wall are model sets. In the middle of these sets is a transparent screen that displays video or digital images of real actors acting out the scenes. The three dimensional model and use of real actors adds to the realism, but the images of the actors are very bright compared to their surroundings. This makes them look like they are glowing – almost like ghosts. Very cool!
As I stepped off the subway, there was a Japanese band on the street playing a mix of rock and swing. They were pretty good, so I stopped and listened for a while. Again, there are pictures in my photo gallery. I struck up a conversation with an American couple who were watching and we wound up hanging out for a few hours. They are from LA and teach English at a Catholic University in Korea. We had an interesting discussion about the effects of rapid industrialization in East Asia at a Western style diner until early in the morning. That might sound like a pretty dry topic, but when you actually see and experience this stuff, it can be very real. South Korea developed VERY quickly into a modern, industrialized nation. In order to do this, many sectors of the economy were given priority over others, resulting in a situation in which some facets of life are hyper-modern, and others are very behind-the-times
Example: Samsung, a South Korean electronics company, has released a cell phone with a seven megapixel digital camera built in to it. Some South Korean cell phones have breathalyzers built into them. Yet most South Korean homes, including luxury condominiums, do not have that little S-curve at the base of their toilet’s piping. For those of you who don’t know what that is for, that little bend in the pipe under your toilet holds a little bit of water at the bottom of the curve by our good friend, the force of gravity, which in turn blocks noxious gasses from the sewer system from filling your home. Thus most homes in Korea smell like sewers. Not a pleasant thought…
Anyway, today, I slept in. It was raining again and I am leaving the country tomorrow, so I didn’t really feel like going all over town. I decided to go to the coin laundry and wash my clothes from the last four or five days. Nobody likes to stuff a bunch of smelly socks in their luggage, right? Well, that is where I met an interesting character. I tried to post his picture on this post, but it won’t accept it for some reason. I will try to load it on flickr.
His name (the only one he gave me) is Scorpio, and he is a professional wrestler. He is an American that has been a pro wrestler for about 20 years. He lives in Germany with his half-German, half-Turkish, kickboxing champion wife and travels to Japan, among other places, for matches. We talked for about an hour in between business phone calls. He was really nice and a fun guy to talk to. I didn’t really think about him in the ring much until his stuff was done in the dryer and he pulled out his wrestling tights. My guess is he isn’t quite as friendly in the ring as he is at the coin laundry.
What can I say? There are some really interesting people in this country. .
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Arrived in Osaka...
Well, I survived an eight hour overnight bus ride in tiny seats next to some punk rocker girl who kept falling asleep and dozing off toward me. My butt is sore, but I am alive and well, so I guess I have nothing to complain about. I didn't have to carry my giant luggage around through train stations and I saved more than $100 by not riding the Shinkansen (bullet train).
It was a short ride from where the bus let us off to the hotel. It's 7:30 in the morning and check-in time is 11:00 (had to pay an extra $20 to check in before 2:00 pm), but the front desk is guarding my luggage, so I decided to explore the neighborhood a little. Not much was open when I got here, so I decided to come to the Internet Cafe first and kill some time. I'll have a nice slow breakfast before heading back to the hotel, where I am anxiously awaiting a shower and a nap.
I don't know about the rooms, but the hotel I am staying in (the Fujiya) is in an excellent location. It is only a block or two from Doton Bori, a big shopping and dining street. I have only been in town about an hour, so I don't have too many impressions of the city, but it seems to be a little better laid out than Tokyo. I haven't been on many side streets yet, so I can't say that with any certainty. I am just grateful after a long bus ride with about three and a half hours sleep, Osaka was kind enough to welcome me with relatively low temperatures and humidity.
I am going to catch up on the news about the hurricane heading for New Orleans now. It sounds like about 50 of the typhoons we get over here rolled up into one big storm. I hope you will all say a prayer for all the people in the path of this storm.
It was a short ride from where the bus let us off to the hotel. It's 7:30 in the morning and check-in time is 11:00 (had to pay an extra $20 to check in before 2:00 pm), but the front desk is guarding my luggage, so I decided to explore the neighborhood a little. Not much was open when I got here, so I decided to come to the Internet Cafe first and kill some time. I'll have a nice slow breakfast before heading back to the hotel, where I am anxiously awaiting a shower and a nap.
I don't know about the rooms, but the hotel I am staying in (the Fujiya) is in an excellent location. It is only a block or two from Doton Bori, a big shopping and dining street. I have only been in town about an hour, so I don't have too many impressions of the city, but it seems to be a little better laid out than Tokyo. I haven't been on many side streets yet, so I can't say that with any certainty. I am just grateful after a long bus ride with about three and a half hours sleep, Osaka was kind enough to welcome me with relatively low temperatures and humidity.
I am going to catch up on the news about the hurricane heading for New Orleans now. It sounds like about 50 of the typhoons we get over here rolled up into one big storm. I hope you will all say a prayer for all the people in the path of this storm.
For my mom... (UPDATE)
I know I said on my last post that it would be the last one from Yokosuka, but I decided to stop by the Internet cafe for half an hour and I had next to no e-mail, so I have a little time to kill.
Mom, this one's for you.
I just came back from Mass. I actually made it on the right day and at the right time. English masses are interesting in Japan. I went to one last time I was here (in Isesaki), and this one was along the same lines - English Mass with Tagalog songs. Other than the priest (an Italian), one or two Japanese people, one guy from the base, and myself, the entire congragation was Pilipino. The service pretty much follows the same proceedure as those in the States (and I assume Catholic churches everywhere), with the usual routine of stand, sit, kneel - but it seemed there was a lot less kneeling in this service. This is probably because there was no padded fold-down knee cushion.
It was a wonderful experience, and I was glad to stop in and say a few prayers for all the people I have known over the years, especially those who have done so much for me in recent years. Just to let you know, Mom, Dad, and Ross - you guys got special prayers directed your way. Maiko, I also prayed for you to have safe travels.
If you are reading this, chances are you were in my prayers as well. God bless.
Anyway, I have to head back to the apartment now. I am done packing, but I need to eat and clean up the apartment a little before heading out. I will be out of Yokosuka in four hours. I will miss this place for sure, but I know I will be back some day, so until then... See ya, Yokosuka!
UPDATE: I forgot to write about one particular characteristic of Mass in Japan that I thought was really nice. When taking communion in a Catholic church, those of us who are not "official" Catholics are not supposed to partake in communion. Since I had talked to the priest the week before he knew my situation, but he came up to me before the service and told me in Japan to get in that line anyway, just don't take communion. When it is your turn, he simply says a blessing for you. I think this is a neat way of including those of us moved by the service who are not actual "members" of the church. God bless you father, and thank you.
Mom, this one's for you.
I just came back from Mass. I actually made it on the right day and at the right time. English masses are interesting in Japan. I went to one last time I was here (in Isesaki), and this one was along the same lines - English Mass with Tagalog songs. Other than the priest (an Italian), one or two Japanese people, one guy from the base, and myself, the entire congragation was Pilipino. The service pretty much follows the same proceedure as those in the States (and I assume Catholic churches everywhere), with the usual routine of stand, sit, kneel - but it seemed there was a lot less kneeling in this service. This is probably because there was no padded fold-down knee cushion.
It was a wonderful experience, and I was glad to stop in and say a few prayers for all the people I have known over the years, especially those who have done so much for me in recent years. Just to let you know, Mom, Dad, and Ross - you guys got special prayers directed your way. Maiko, I also prayed for you to have safe travels.
If you are reading this, chances are you were in my prayers as well. God bless.
Anyway, I have to head back to the apartment now. I am done packing, but I need to eat and clean up the apartment a little before heading out. I will be out of Yokosuka in four hours. I will miss this place for sure, but I know I will be back some day, so until then... See ya, Yokosuka!
UPDATE: I forgot to write about one particular characteristic of Mass in Japan that I thought was really nice. When taking communion in a Catholic church, those of us who are not "official" Catholics are not supposed to partake in communion. Since I had talked to the priest the week before he knew my situation, but he came up to me before the service and told me in Japan to get in that line anyway, just don't take communion. When it is your turn, he simply says a blessing for you. I think this is a neat way of including those of us moved by the service who are not actual "members" of the church. God bless you father, and thank you.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Last post from Yokosuka!
Well, the Internet cafe I am in now is officially closed, but I talked the girl into letting me stay for an extra half an hour so I can post once more and check my e-mail one more time.
Let me just outline my plans for the upcoming week in case I don't get around to posting. Tomorrow (Sunday, the 28th) I will finish packing and try to clean out my apartment a little. I have been packing all day and should finish most of it tonight. (BTW - Scott, thanks for the call today! It was great to hear from you and a great interruption! I really needed a break at that point.)
There was a free reggae concert here in Yokosuka today that I wanted to go check out, but I have to get my packing done before anything else (except posting on blogger at the Internet Cafe!). I am going to Mass tomorrow, just barely fulfilling a promise to my mom that I would make Mass at least once while I am here.
Mr. Takahashi is coming to pick me up tomorrow night and drive me to Yokohama, where I will get on the night bus for Osaka. I have to change busses in Tokyo, then it is a straight shot to Osaka. I think we arrive at about 6:30 or 7 in the morning, at which point I will probably opt for a taxi to take me to my hotel. Unfortunately, check in isn't until about 2 in the afternoon, so hopefully they will be willing to guard my luggage while I wonder the streets in a daze from lack of sleep searching for the perfect Osaka Octopus Ball.
I have found a group of foreigners in Osaka to give me some advice on what to go do while I am there. My only real 'must-do' is to see Osaka castle. Other than that, I am going to eat a lot because I hear the food is really good and really cheap in Osaka, and maybe do a little shopping. More than anything, I am going to try to sleep at least 10 hours a day, because I have had little time for sleep during the past 3 months, and a nice hotel room that other people clean seems like the perfect place for some much needed rest.
On Thursday, September 1, I will check out and head for the airport. My plane arrives late in Taipei, so I can't make any of the commuter flights to Kaohsiung, but my contacts in Kaohsiung assure me I can take an overnight bus from the airport in Taipei to Kaohsiung, no problem. Two overnight busses in one week? Yeah!
I will arrive in Kaohsiung EARLY in the morning on September 2. My 'exchange buddy' (a student at NSYSU who is there to answer my questions and help me out) said he will meet me and help me move into my dorm then. Ken, thank you! I know I haven't met you yet, but you've already helped me out a ton. We don't have orientation for at least another week after I arrive, so I am hoping I am the first one in my dorm room. I want choice of where I am sleeping! That and I want to get a little rest and get set up before life gets busy again.
If I have time to write in Osaka, I will. Until then, pray that I have safe journeys! I promise I will do the same for you...
See you soon!
Let me just outline my plans for the upcoming week in case I don't get around to posting. Tomorrow (Sunday, the 28th) I will finish packing and try to clean out my apartment a little. I have been packing all day and should finish most of it tonight. (BTW - Scott, thanks for the call today! It was great to hear from you and a great interruption! I really needed a break at that point.)
There was a free reggae concert here in Yokosuka today that I wanted to go check out, but I have to get my packing done before anything else (except posting on blogger at the Internet Cafe!). I am going to Mass tomorrow, just barely fulfilling a promise to my mom that I would make Mass at least once while I am here.
Mr. Takahashi is coming to pick me up tomorrow night and drive me to Yokohama, where I will get on the night bus for Osaka. I have to change busses in Tokyo, then it is a straight shot to Osaka. I think we arrive at about 6:30 or 7 in the morning, at which point I will probably opt for a taxi to take me to my hotel. Unfortunately, check in isn't until about 2 in the afternoon, so hopefully they will be willing to guard my luggage while I wonder the streets in a daze from lack of sleep searching for the perfect Osaka Octopus Ball.
I have found a group of foreigners in Osaka to give me some advice on what to go do while I am there. My only real 'must-do' is to see Osaka castle. Other than that, I am going to eat a lot because I hear the food is really good and really cheap in Osaka, and maybe do a little shopping. More than anything, I am going to try to sleep at least 10 hours a day, because I have had little time for sleep during the past 3 months, and a nice hotel room that other people clean seems like the perfect place for some much needed rest.
On Thursday, September 1, I will check out and head for the airport. My plane arrives late in Taipei, so I can't make any of the commuter flights to Kaohsiung, but my contacts in Kaohsiung assure me I can take an overnight bus from the airport in Taipei to Kaohsiung, no problem. Two overnight busses in one week? Yeah!
I will arrive in Kaohsiung EARLY in the morning on September 2. My 'exchange buddy' (a student at NSYSU who is there to answer my questions and help me out) said he will meet me and help me move into my dorm then. Ken, thank you! I know I haven't met you yet, but you've already helped me out a ton. We don't have orientation for at least another week after I arrive, so I am hoping I am the first one in my dorm room. I want choice of where I am sleeping! That and I want to get a little rest and get set up before life gets busy again.
If I have time to write in Osaka, I will. Until then, pray that I have safe journeys! I promise I will do the same for you...
See you soon!
My sayonara party
Well, yesterday was my last day at Yokosuka City Hall as an intern. I gave my presentation in Japanese again, but this time with an expanded section comparing Japanese and American Emergency Management. I don’t have any pictures, but if you have seen my photo gallery, you have an idea of what it looked like. I made little eye contact with my audience, because it is pretty much impossible for me to memorize or talk on the spot for an hour in Japanese about emergency management and still express all the ideas I want to relate to my audience.
I gave the presentation in a lecture hall on the 5th floor. I was originally scheduled to give my presentation in the Disaster Response Headquarters Room again, but we had a typhoon move through the night before and they needed that room to monitor damage reports coming in from around the city. Fortunately, the storm didn’t cause much damage here in Yokosuka. I saw some dramatic footage of damage in Hakone, a tourist town here in Kanagawa, earlier today. There are several hot springs resorts in Hakone, at least one of which was destroyed by a landslide. The buildings were washed away, leaving piping and building materials jutting out of a slope of pure mud with jets of steam bursting forth. Cool to look at, as long as it isn’t your business that’s ruined.
Anyway, I think it went well, but some of my coworkers were not there because they stayed the night at City Hall in case they were needed. Some of the others dozed off a few times, but I think this was because of fatigue. Hopefully, anyway…
After a delicious lunch at the Korean restaurant a few blocks away, I made the rounds at City Hall saying thank you and goodbye to many of the section and department heads who have been so kind to me over the past three months. Mr. Takahashi then took me to my apartment to pick up some packages I had ready to ship. We also stopped by ‘Society Hall’ to say goodbye and thank you to my temporary hosts from the early part of the summer.
I finished packing other books to ship to the US and Taiwan. I sent out a lot of packages, so Ross, be on the lookout. They should be there in a few weeks.
I had a going away party hosted by the International Relations Division and the Public Safety Division at Banzai, a really hip restaurant that is part of the chain that trained Nishio-san. The food was great, but as the main guest, I didn’t have much time to eat.
I really don’t have the words to express my gratitude for all that the City Hall employees have done for me all summer. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to have met me and had nothing but kind words for me up until the end. It was really moving to hear one of the bosses say that this was not an ending, but a beginning. That really stuck with me. These people were not only excellent hosts for a three-month program, but friends that I could call on anytime. They made this very clear at the going away party. Another boss told me to keep working hard because he wanted to brag to his friends when he gets older and they see me on the news. He told me he wanted to tell them, “you see that guy? Yeah, I knew him back in the day! He wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for me!”
I’m not sure if that’s an exact translation of what he said, but it’s pretty close. I thought I would feel sadder leaving Yokosuka than I do. I think that’s because I really believe the words I heard last night. This was a wonderful experience and these three months were noting but the beginning. I have a large network here in Yokosuka now, a network that I don’t ever plan to lose.
Thank you Yokosuka! I will never forget everything you have done for me! See you again!
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