So that was a thing.

Alright I realize that we have been back in Canada for two months now, but it seems to me I haven't regaled our last days in Japan. At least not here. To anyone who has listened to me tell the stories already I apologize for being repetitive.

We had found out that the new tenants in our apartment in Japan would be arriving at noon on the 22nd of September. Our estimated departure time would be 11:00am. They move them through fast in Japan. Not even enough time to let the door hit your ass. We were told that someone would be doing an inspection of the apartment before we left, but after talking to other Nova teachers we found that that is a rare occurrence and that it usually happens as the next tenants are moving in. So if you sacrificed animals and set small fires in your apartment no one would know until the moment the next tenants were carrying their suitcases through the door. We did neither of those things, but nonetheless we still needed to clean. Fortunately our friend Joe had arrived the week before from Hamamatsu with the intention of traveling home with us. Much to our surprise (and his at being ambushed) we found that Joe is an excellent cleaner (If anyone needs their floors done I highly recommend him). We started cleaning the night before we left and finished up at around 3 or 4 in the morning. It was at that point that we thought bed might be a good idea, however, going to get beer and chu-hi and drinking them at Osaka castle seemed like a much better idea. We also had a mission to accomplish. You see in the year and half that we lived in Japan we had accumulated a significant number of umbrellas. It rains in Japan. Often. Sometimes it looks beautiful in the morning when you're off to work but when you step out the door at the end of the day it's pouring. So you pick up another umbrella. At 5$ a pop it's not a huge sacrifice. Anyhow, we had 11 of them and no idea what to do with them so we decided to do a reverse scavenger hunt at 4:30 in the morning. That meant just walking to the convenience store to get drinks and snacks and making our way to the castle and all the while trying to find interesting place to leave the umbrellas for the next person to happen along. Can you see them?





Umbrellas were not the only thinks left out either. A few odds and ends were left for fellow teachers in the building.





After arriving at the castle with drink in hand we stopped to reflect on the time we had spent and the fact that it would be a while before we were once again in a place that had a national heritage sight that was open to the public at all hours and where we could sit in public and legally drink without worrying about getting a ticket. We found a good spot near the castle wall and sat and watched all of the people walking by and listening to the drunk girl at another bench laughing way too hard and often at a guy who could not possibly have been that funny without a lot of alcohol being consumed on her behalf. We figured out the timers on our cameras and took some pictures and then headed home for a few hours of sleep before we headed to the airport.



Ahhh! The airport! Did I ever tell you about the time Joe almost didn't come back to Canada? We arrived there on time with our friend Chiaki who had joined us along the way. She was there to see us off and help us take care of last minute details that our Japanese skills were not capable of handling without help. We went to the baggage delivery booth where we had our larger suitcases sent to two days before (We did this at the liquor store that also did dry cleaning and package delivery). After that we found a Docomo shop to have our cell phones cancelled. After all that was done we headed to check-in to drop off our bags and get our boarding passes. Then we hit a bit of a hitch. You see Colleen and Joe had picked up hiking sticks when we went to Mt. Fuji and we wanted to bring them back to Canada with us. Colleen checked the internet the week before to see how much this would cost to bring these over and above our regular baggage allowance. It said it would be about $30 Cdn. When we got there, however it was $220 to bring them. Yikes! So we had to go with plan B, which was giving them to Chiaki and having her send them by mail which would be way cheaper. Then Joe decided to hit hitch number 2. As he handed them his passport to check in they looked it and frowned (frown is never good from airplane staff).

"Your Visa expired last week" She told him.

"Yeah that's why I'm leaving" Joe said.

"But it expired, you were in the country illegally" She explained.

"Right, so now I am leaving so I won't be" He reminded.

"I'm afraid we can't let you leave" She said.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because you shouldn't be here" She informed him. "You'll have to come with me and talk to immigration officials who want to cavity search you"

Okay that's not word for word, but he did get held up for not having a valid visa and had to pay some money. He joined up with us a bit later (before the plane took off and after his cavity search, (which he didn't complain about (He's going to kill me))). After about thirteen hours of flying we finally touched down in Calgary to the cheers of our legion of fans (nine people), and promptly went to eat steak.

Thanks to everyone who read this and shared our adventures. And thanks for welcoming us back to Calgary without weapons in your hands. For continued craziness I have started a new blog for those friends in and out of Canada to keep in touch and such and share the more ridiculous things I find online.

Check out CarltheBaker

Cheers, Carl.

The end is near!

Hello, all. All? Not sure who actually reads this anymore, but it's almost the last one. As I write this we are sixteen days from coming home, (so stay tuned for party announcements)and I still have stuff to share. Some improv, some people watching and another vacation tale.

Many moons ago I posted pictures of some improv theater I have done here in Japan, including our last show, Robin Hood. Well, Colleen has now joined the improv team and we are attempting to put on Cinderella in just one and a half weeks with only three rehearsals under our belts. Yikes! Hopefully we will have some pictures to post but with both of us in the show I'm not sure who will take them. In the mean time however I provide you with a video clip of our first show at the Kobe regatta and athletic club. One of the musicians that night actually taped the show and added titles and sound effects after. The clip features a scene by the Kobe team, and a scene by our very own Osaka team, the "Wild Bunch".



And while we are in the video mood, summer time in Osaka is always huge for festivals and fireworks. For several weeks it is common to see women (and some men) wearing yukatas on the trains and in the shopping malls as they meet with friends and make their way to the various festival locations. If you don't know what a yukata is, it's like a kimono (traditional Japanese robe) but much lighter (and cheaper) and is made for summer wear, whereas the kimono is for New Years and weddings. It really is a lot cooler looking than I can describe seeing all the beautiful patterns and material so last month I decided to head to one of the festivals and take some video with our new camera. When I think about it I felt a little like a stalker going down to the Tenjin Matsuri festival with a video camera with the intent of following women in their yukatas, but I assure you it was strictly for your sake so you could share in the festivities...honest. Have a look at this clip I put together.



We also took a short trip to visit our good friend Joe in Hamamatsu.



On the way to Joe's we decided to stop in a few places in the neighboring prefecture of Mie. We saw the ninja museum in Iga (yes they have a town spelled just like the supermarket).



The to our hotel in Shima, possibly the most deserted place we have seen since we've been here. I think it was the first time we actually had to look hard to find a restaurant. The next day we took off to Toba, to visit Mikimoto Pearl Island where we watched the women pearl divers gathering shells. We were fortunate enough to be treated to an English commentary that explained that only women were pearl divers because they have natural fat to insulate them and that some women worked with their husbands who would drive the boat and pull her up when she tugged the rope attached to her waist. The narrator stressed that these couples should have a good relationship though or he might not pull her up. After the show we headed to the gift shop and the museum to see all of the beautiful jewelry and pearl sculptures.



Next we were off to Futami to see some rocks. Well not just any rocks, these rocks were special. There are two of them and they are located along the shore. Once a year the local people tie the rocks together with a long rope to symbolize the bond (bondage?) of marriage. It's funny because that's exactly how I picture marriage. In the ocean with a rope tied to you and the other end to a large rock. Please have a look at the picture while I get something to stop the flow of blood from my head (Colleen has remarkable aim when she's reading over my shoulder).



I'm feeling a little dizzy, but I'll continue. After Futami we were off to Ise shrine. A very holy place that is located in two mirror sights a few kilometers from each other. These buildings each have large empty spaces located next to them as they are rebuilt in the empty space every 20 years using ancient architectural techniques. This is a gate leading to one of the sites. I don't know the people in the picture but they wouldn't move so I added them to my collection.



By the time we had finished there the sun was going down and it was time to catch a high speed train and head to Joe's house in Hamamatsu. We spent two days with the old guy where we drank generously and did some shopping and visited Hamamatsu Jou (Jou being the Japanese word for castle oddly enough). Much fun was had by all and when the weekend was up we got on a non-high speed train and spent several hours making the trek back to Osaka. To see all of our pictures from Mie, please click here. To see our photos of that Joe guy and his tiny little apartment click here.

I hope to see my fellow Canadians soon, and remember to keep the 23rd. open on your calendars, there will be more info to come. I leave you now with some more pictures of the strange and amazing.

Hugs and Kicks, Carl.

Appalled, Enthralled and Baseballed!

Welcome friends, kick back, stay awhile. Let me regale you with more stories of the strange and wonderful. I'm trying to punch this blog up a little for those of you who are browsers more than readers. (yes that means pictures as well as text)

As you can see from the title of the blog I've got a few more tales to tell. So let's start with Appalled. I've mentioned, and shown you in the past that some Japanese television shows can be a little different than back home. Well one evening last week we were absolutely shocked when a dance contest came on. Now dance contests on TV are nothing new but this one caught our eye. For starters it sounded like the hosts were saying "sekushi dansu kontesuto " (sound it out, it's "Sexy Dance Contest") which also is not too bad. Then we saw one of the groups of contestants. It was a group of five or six girls and they were all 8 years old! Yes that's right, groups or single acts in a sexy dance contest and all of them between 2 and 12 years old. Later that night I was surfing around on a news site and found that another English speaker in Japan had also seen it, and was also shocked and managed to tape some of it. So if your interested in seeing why we were so shocked or just how much make-up can fit on a small child, click here.

For the next word in the title, Enthralled let me tell you about Kabuki. Kabuki, if you haven't heard of it is traditional form of Japanese theatre. The performers wear elaborate costumes, wigs and make-up and speak in an older form of Japanese that is melodic and often drawn out for effect. Many Japanese people will tell you that they can not understand Kabuki, which is why most theatres have translation headsets. I had studied and performed Kabuki in High School, so I was very interested in seeing how it's supposed to be done. We went to an early performance which started at 11:00am and went to 4:00pm, but like many people we did not attend all of the show. Three hours was enough for us, considering we couldn't understand a word of it. (no translation for English speakers) It was actually quite similar to what we had done in school only far more elaborate and there were shouters. This startled us at first when a character came on stage and suddenly two or three men in the audience started shouting at them. This happened about every five minutes, people in the audience hollering at the performers. We later found out that the shouters are regular patrons, and that they are yelling the actors names to encourage them. As an actor I think this would probably throw me the first seven or eight times. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed of the performances but we did pick up this cute little guy at the souvenir shop.



And the last word in the title, Baseballed. Colleen and I have never really been baseball fans. I played as a child but never watched it on TV unless it was with my dad or my brother. But I had seen a pro baseball game live in Mexico and it was a blast. So knowing how baseball crazy people are in Japan we figured we had to do it. We were not disappointed. We headed of to Osaka Dome to watch the Tigers (my team) play the Dragons. One thing we knew before going was that you had to buy balloons when you got there to celebrate the 7th inning stretch, but more on that later. Many people were wearing team jerseys and they even sold them in a cute pink version. It wasn't long before we were looking like everyone else complete with plastic cheering bats that you bang together to cheer your team.



What we weren't prepared for was how elaborate the cheering was. There were cheer masters situated throughout the crowd to signal to each other and the fans what cheer was about to start. It seemed liked every player on the team had their own cheer when they were up to bat, and there were several others for which everyone seemed to know the rhythms and chants from memory. It felt like we were in a dance show but had missed all of the choreography rehearsals. I managed to take a few short video clips of it with the digital camera and put them together so you can get a glimpse.



Then came the 7th inning where, shortly before, everyone (including us) started blowing up long balloons with whistles in the openings.



They then launched them into the air emitting a screaming noise to announce the start of the stretch.



To see the rest of the baseball pics click here.

And that's it for me, lots more to talk about but this has gone on long enough.

Hope to see you all soon, we'll be back with Joe September 22nd, party on the 23rd from what I hear. Signing off, Carl.

Oh what the heck, here's a few more pics. Click on them to read a description.

This, that and what the heck is going on?

In past blogs Colleen and I have mentioned how crazy Japanese television is here, and I finally have proof. This clip features several men sitting in a classroom watching a guy in a video trying (and not succeeding) to read and speak English. The trick is that if anyone laughs at him... well just watch and find out. We see stuff like this all the time. So in honor of this video I will share some of the crazy things I have seen, heard and eaten lately.

Teaching English I get to hear a lot of crazy things, and quite often students will tell you things in English that they would never tell a stranger in Japanese. Somehow speaking English has this magical liberating force on people. I call it the "three beers" effect. This is the number of beers at which the average person will start to tell you things they might not otherwise tell you when sober. I have also found out that some Japanese psychiatrists recommend English lessons for students with social problems. This would definitely explain some of our students. Here are a few things straight from the mouths of students...

Me: Hello, how are you?
Female Student: I feel bad.
Me: Why?
Female Student: My (points to stomach) hurting. So I go to hospital.
Me: What did the doctor say?
Female Student: He take my... (points to vein)
Me: Blood?
Female Student: Yes and my shit.

Ba-dump ching!

Me: Hi, what's new?
Female Student: This morning I take my friend to hospital.
Me: Why?
Female Student: She get abortion.

YIKES!

Me: (talking to students about TV viewing habits) When you were a child did your parents set any rules for watching TV?
Male Student 1: Yes I can't watch TV until finish homework, and I have to go bed at 8pm.
Me: (after making corrections) How about you? (to student 2)
Female Student 2: (speaking very clearly) My mother said don't watch porno.

To the point, Mom, good job.

Me: (while teaching a lesson about story telling) Can you tell me something interesting that happened to you recently?
Male Student: Yes I have a love story. (girls in class get swoony)
Me: Really? What happened?
Male Student: Yesterday I was riding on the train and the most beautiful girl get onto the train. She sat down across from me and she was very tired so she fell asleep and her legs open so can see up her skirt. I was in love.

A true romantic.

Me: (teaching a lesson about facial appearance, we get to the word 'piercing')Do you know this word?
Student: Yes
Me: (pointing to pictures of faces) Who has piercings?
Student: (she points to a picture of a young man) This man.
Me: How many does he have?
Student: He have 5.
Me: (correcting) He has 5.
Student: Yes he has 5.
Me: That's right.(noticing her earrings) How many do you have?
Student: Umm...(she starts to count and gets lost, then points to the left ear) One, two...(points to the right ear) three, four...(points to her nose) five...(and then her finger points past the belly button and down toward her nether regions. She then looks back up and proudly announces) Six! I has six!

...and change the subject!

Well not completely, the teachers can be just as strange at times. Have I ever told you how superstitious English teachers can be? No? That's because generally they're not but it seems no matter what school I teach at they always have some sort of "no-show" god or shrine that you thank when you get a free period because all of your students didn't show up for class. This is ours. Another strange thing around the office (besides my co-worker Kim) is this middle aged man who, from time to time, frequents the large mall area below our school. He can be spotted in a variety of bright colors from hot pink to lime green, wearing wigs and carrying baby dolls and always dressed like a young girl. One day after work I spotted him from behind and tried to sneak in for a shot. He was moving too quickly, so I thought, hell with it, I'm getting a picture. I tapped him on the shoulder and (in Japanese) asked if I could take his picture. Expecting the worst I was shocked when his eyes lit up and he ran to a nearby lighted pillar so I could capture him in the best lighting. He took out his fan, extended a leg and waited patiently while I took his photo. When it was done he shouted a bunch of elated yet completely unintelligible Japanese at me and took off on his merry way.

Let's see... what else is good and bad in the land of the rising sun...

Good: Eating ice cream with my business students after two periods of discussing the marketing strategies of Ben and Jerry's.

Bad: Beers that are too small.

Good: Melon Kit Kat

Bad: Butter and Salt flavored caramel.

Good: Beer flavored caramel.

Good: Cinnamon Pepsi

Bad: Suggestive store names.

Bad: Restaurants where you might get punched in the face.

Good: Finding out Batman lives in your neighborhood.

Bad: Bad vending machine concepts.

Good: Doing yet another show in Japan. This one was kicked off by some music, comedy and dancing in the first act and then followed up in the second act by our humble little improv group performing an unscripted version of Robin Hood with Butch as Sir Guy of Gisborn. David as the Sheriff and Friar Tuck. Genny as Maid Marian and the Bishop. And myself as Robin Hood, all the guys in the competition and the voice of Little John (played by Curtis who was MC for the night but hadn't been able to make it to any rehearsals, so I spoke while he lip synched his lines) The show was great, the audience was lively and I was bleeding from handcuffs before the night was done. I love this country! To see the Robin Hood pics, click here and scan forward.

Stayed tuned for another blog to come soon from Colleen about our anniversary trip to Sapporo and another from me about our first Japanese pro baseball experience.

Hugs and kicks, Carl.

I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

Well it's not actually as dramatic as that. If you've been reading Colleen's blog, you will know that I've finally got another Japanese experience to cross off of my checklist. Earthquake: Done! It actually happened in another part of Japan, and it just so happened that I was awake at 5am, reading, when it hit the apartment. When I say hit what I mean is gently rocked the bedroom back and forth like a mother rocking her child to sleep. I was so excited I immediately jumped out of bed and tried phoning people to tell them about it. I mean it wasn't huge but it was a first and once you feel one it always feels like the ground is shaking if you stand still long enough. Or at least that's what the voices tell me. I wanted to know if anyone else felt it so the next day when I mentioned it at work I was greatly disappointed when I found that neither student nor fellow teacher had a clue what I was talking about. I guess they all must have been sleeping at 5am. Freaks. I was finally, however, validated that it wasn't my imagination when one student who is an assistant research director for a TV station confirmed my story. Yes indeed I had lived through the wussiest of all earthquakes.

On a completely unrelated note Colleen and I took another trip. This time we went to Koyasan (Mt. Koya) to see the home of Shingon Buddhism and spend a night in a temple. It seems it has fallen upon me these days to do the relating of all trips we take so instead of boring you with another prosaic story of a place full of temples and stuff I shall do it in verse so you may mock my pentameter.

Twas a celebration like almost no other
To celebrate 5 years of being stuck with each other
(first rhyme and I used the same word, nice start)
We headed off for holy peak
Two hour train ride and I had to take a leak
We then switched to a cable car and were on our way
Near a New York Jewish mother with far too much to say
(Oh my gawd, I can't believe this is happening to me you know I'm afraid of heights)
So one bus later we were at our hotel
Well it was actually a temple and the monks were the bell(boys)
(my dignity is starting to falter)
The room was quite nice with grass mats on the floor
We checked in then went out on the town to explore
With map in hand we had rain clouds to face us
Two shortcuts gone wrong and we had some dogs chase us
We finally figured out where the heck we were going
Seeing temples and monuments with no signs of slowing
The rain was coming down and we were sharing one umbrella
An old monk took pity and he gave me his umbrella
(Ok seriously what rhymes with umbrella that I could possibly use in this story, Goodfella? Mortadella? W.P. Kinsella? Anyhow, allow me to get back to the torture)
Heading back to our temple we were hungry as librarians(?)
for food made by monks who were all vegetarian
(seriously tons of food brought to our room and all of it veg.)
After dinner we tired and were barely awake
so I went to the baths where a monk saw me nake(d)
6am the next morning Colleen rose and she prayed
with the monks, not for me, no sir, in bed I stayed
(my ankle was killing me and I had no interest in kneeling on the floor for 40 minutes)
Another meal later we checked out without tarry
To walk down a path through a huge cemetery
Cremated remains under stones they were housed
They went on forever, over two hundred thous(and)
(shoot me now)
Ancient and moss covered, with trees as their neighbors
the path finally ended two kilometres later
We got to a point where photos were banned
and saw a huge building where inside it spanned
with thousand of lanterns kept alight every day
by the monks who lived there where they chanted and prayed
(hey I'm on a roll)
After that there were only two things left to see
So we left that old graveyard with its Buddhas and trees
We went to the gate with it's giant stone guards
Then a little stone statue where we prayed really hard
(for my ankle to get better and my own army of ninjas)
Then a bus, a cablecar and a train to go home
And a stop for some Mexican food....'cause I was really hungry
(AAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH! One lousy rhyme away from true glory. Now I know how Eminem feels.)

Anyway that was our trip, only made slightly more difficult by the fact that my ankle is still healing and I was using a cane to get around. If you want to see all the pics from Koyasan click here. I also put up a picture or two of our Japanese family. Colleen and I were adopted by our friends Sanae and Chiaki and Chiaki's family who have made it their goal to make sure Colleen and I have tried every food Japan has to offer before we go home to Canada. We love them!

Cheers all, and if you are still talking to me after reading what I so loosely called a poem I will write again soon. Love and Laugh, Carl.

Out of Commission

Usually I'm not in the habit of posting more than once a month but seeing as I have some sitting around time...why not? If you haven't read my last entry just scroll down a bit, lots of good picture links and stuff. It will also give you a bit of back story as to my current predicament.

I had decided to wait a day for the swelling to go down and it didn't. In fact it got a little worse, so on Friday (two days after the accident) I decided to go to the hospital. I phoned, Hiroko, my private student Koyuki's mother, to cancel my lesson for that day so I could go and see a doctor. She informed me that due to it being Golden Week, many hospitals would have altered hours, and she would make some calls and check for me. Well seeing as it took us forever to find a place when Colleen had to go to the hospital I accepted her offer. Twenty minutes later Hiroko called back to inform me that they found a place that was open and that her husband had the day off so they would come pick me up and take me there. Wow! Never underestimate the generosity of having native friends in Japan. Not only did they take me there but they waited with me, translated for the doctor, put he sock and shoe back on my good foot and took me home again after. The X-rays said that there were no broken bones but there was damaged ligament which would require healing time, a splint, crutches and "Please come back next week."

I went back to work the next day, my six minute walk to the station now being a twenty-five minute trek. Did I mention how much fun it is walking in the rain with two crutches when you can't hold an umbrella? And another thing... I thought I got stared at a lot before just for being a foreigner. You have no idea! Being a gaijin on crutches puts you into superstar celebrity status when it come to being stared at. Children, shopkeepers, housewives, dogs you name it, except when it comes to priority seating on the train. They have special seats on each car that are designated for expecting mothers (not me), people with children (not me), the elderly (mostly not me) and handicapped (me, both physically and sometimes mentally) with a little stick figure picture indicating each. Just like the Olympic event signs but these were for the ol'gimpics. Now don't get me wrong plenty of people have offered up their seats but just as many have not, in fact trying very hard to do the anti-stare while gazing fixedly at the floor. (this including a med student with his face buried in a medical book, studying joints and ligaments). Now don't really expect people to move, but it is difficult to maintain your balance on the wobbling trains when you can't bear down with both feet when the train lurches and you're holding two crutches and the train strap so you don't fall over. The best one I saw though while I was standing at the priority seats with a very old and shriveled lady standing beside me, the train stopped and a young business man got up from his seat. Before the old lady and I could even think of playing the politeness game of offering each other the seat repeatedly, another young business man jumped into the seat and immediately stared at his shoes so he wouldn't see everyone glaring at him. Believe me they were, but no one said anything. That would be rude.

Well now it's Tuesday here and the swelling was still huge when I woke up this morning and the bruising had spread to my toes over the weekend, so I opted for another trip to the hospital. Hiroko offered to join us again (this time by bicycle) and met us there where we waited much longer than last time. I finally got in, and the doctor who could speak some English looked at my foot and said that there was a lot of internal bleeding because the ligament was more damaged than they originally thought so in order to prevent it from taking months to heal I would have to be put in a cast for three weeks. WHAT? A cast for sprained ankle? Man do I know how to do it good! After the casting Hiroko had to leave immediately because her daughter's teacher was coming over to the house for a parent teacher interview at 1:30 in the afternoon. Eh? (Guess they don't do parent/teacher interview nights here.) Not feeling like walking anymore we decided to hop in cab, which can be daunting when you tell the driver where to take you, and then have to give him directions (in Japanese) how to even get to a major area (local train station) near the apartment. On more than a few occasions drivers have refused the trip because they didn't know the area we wanted to go. (they won't pull out a map) But out driver was determined and shut off the meter halfway through the trip, because he didn't have clue. We finally got home having exhausted a good portion of our Japanese speaking ability (migi=right hidari=left), and now after a long nap I am sitting here writing and feeling a tad sorry for my crippled self (Colleen left at 7pm for her 8pm-8am shift). Good thing there are vending machines everywhere.

Before I sign off, just a few more pictures to share. In the food and drink section of our photos I have included Fruit Parfait Kit Kat, Mild Bitter Kit Kat, an unusually named soft drink, and three beer related products. Count them...one...two...three. Also while walking by a children's clothing store recently I looked in the window and saw some little girls clothing with some rather foul English on it. I'm sure the owners have no idea of the meaning. In fact I'm not so sure that I do, considering the grammar.

Cheers to you all, take care, get well soon, Carl.

Missions Accomplished!

Well it's time I wrote another entry. Every time I write another blog I always mention how long it's been since the last one and laziness usually figures in somewhere. Recently I have been working a lot of overtime and (believe it or not) exercising in the evenings when I have free time. So what has forced me to finally sit down and share some stories and photos? Massive ankle injury! Might be broken or torn, still to stubborn at the moment to go see the doctor, but I imagine a trip will soon be warranted. I was running and went to jump onto a curb when all of a sudden gravity decided to shift. Anyhow, alive and medicated I give to you....something.

When we came to Japan, we had some goals we wanted to achieve. Most of them involved traveling to certain places in Japan like Hiroshima, Okinawa, Kyoto and Mt. Fuji. If you have read our previous blogs you know we have checked those ones off of our list. Since our last blog we have accomplished a few more goals. We have paid off our credit cards (a feat unto itself), went on a trip to Tokyo (including the Disney resorts) and I have done acting in Japan. I teased with it at the end my last blog and at long last here is the story.

While walking through a shopping mall near work one day I was stopped by a large Australian man in bright clothing to ask if I wanted to see a comedy show in Kobe. He said he was an entertainer by the name of Butch Read (which he says sounds like a lesbian book club) who does some improvisation work here in Japan. I mentioned that I had done some improv work in my younger days, including my brief stint at the Loose Moose theatre. He told me that he had trained there as well, and it turned out that we knew a lot of the same people. He got my number and a few weeks later invited me to join an improv group he was assembling here in Osaka. He explained that we would train for a couple of months and then do a show in Kobe where we would square off against a team from Kobe. We began our rehearsals in, The Wild Bunch, a Japanese book shop that specializes in movie related books. It was also the name that we decided to call our intrepid bunch of Osakan improvisers. Butch would be our leader and teacher but not actually be on either team. The rest of the group consisted of Curtis, an ex-Hollywood stuntman from Albuquerque who got to call Charlise Theron a very bad word in her recent movie North Country. Kat, a young lady from Calgary who had no acting experience but did some highland dancing in her younger days. Genevieve a feisty redhead (is there any other kind) from New York who has studied in several countries around the world. And Jun a Japanese man with a decent grasp of the English language and a good sense of humor. We practiced and finally it came to show time, Jun had suddenly gone AWOL (nerves I imagine) and the four members of The Wild Bunch went to Kobe to compete. We were a little worried at first but once we saw the other team we were pretty confident of a victory (winning wasn't actually the aim of the night, the competition was just the format of the entertainment) as the other team was even less experienced and hadn't quite grasped the idea that they should at least look excited if they wanted the audience to do the same. Any how we played some games until we ran out of games that the other team knew how to play and then the audience declared The Wild Bunch as the evenings winners. YAY! We are now practicing for another show at the end of May this time our troupe seems to be rotating every rehearsal so no idea who will actually be performing. If you would like to see a video clip of some of the improv, send me an E-mail and I will pass it on to you.

In other news if you have read my lovely wife's blog (or the second paragraph of this entry)you have seen that we have been to Tokyo recently. She mostly talks about the awesome hotel we stayed in and at the end mentions some places we went with photo links. Allow me to give a little more detail on some of some of my favorite spots while trekking through Tokyo.

Akihabara: An area famous for being a technogeek heaven. Full of technology stores, adult toy shops (no not that kind you pervert, I'm talking about collectables that are meant to be looked at not played with)(mostly), and maid cafes where girls dressed like maids serve you drinks and food in the most subservient manner they can muster.

Roppongi: Party central, where you can find bars and restaurants to fit your every whim. We went to an English pub, a Chinese restaurant and a sports/celebrity bar.

Tsukiji Fish Market: We were up at 5:00am just to get there on time to see all of the action. It's amazing that there's any fish left in the ocean after seeing the amount of seafood that gets processed there daily. After wandering for a while we decided to have sushi for breakfast. Best I've ever eaten. It was so fresh you could almost feel it moving (I kid) and I even enjoyed the free appetizer (a small bowl of tiny raw fish with the heads still attached and a raw egg yolk poured on top)

Yebisu Beer Museum: We first tried to go on my birthday with Joe but arrived too late and ended up having drinks at a beer hall nearby. We were however not giving up, so on our last day we went back to the museum, saw the sights and then proceeded to sample several delicious beers.

Harajuku: Near the Meiji Shrine is an area where all of the hip, fashionable and just plain strange teenagers like to hang out. And Sunday is the best day to go because this is when they put on their best weirdest outfits and show off for each other and the hundreds of tourists who swarm the area to get pictures.

and last but not least...

Disneyland: I have been to Disney World in Florida but never Disneyland. From what I hear it's quite similar to California's version (except that C3PO speaks Japanese at StarTours) but I'm not sure if the crowds are the same. I like that you can get the advance passes now to go on rides without a huge line-up, but you can only get one every two hours which means at some point a one or two hour line for a ride is inevitable.

and...

DisneySea: This was amazing! Picture Disneyland but with an aquatic theme with lakes and rivers, much less children and they serve beer and cocktails in the restaurants. The whole entryway was designed to look like an Italian villa. There was the American Waterfront where we saw a Broadway review and an outdoor stage where people were lined up at 11:00am for the 7:30pm show (I have to hand it to Japanese people, they will tolerate lines for far longer than their North American counterpart). The Mermaid Lagoon which features Triton's Kingdom with lots of small rides for children and an amazing Little Mermaid stage show, done with lots of performers and wires. The Mysterious Island where we went on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride and Journey to the Center of the Earth. The Lost River Delta featured the rollercoaster Raging Spirits and the adventure ride Indiana Jones: Temple of the Crystal Skull. There was also the Arabian Coast which had some Aladdin themed shows, a two story carousel and an awesome restaurant where we ate many kinds of curry. In the evening, instead of a parade like Disneyland they do this huge water and fire show on the lake where a water spirit meets a fire spirit and they fall in love even though their relationship can never be (too sappy?).

We've posted a bunch of pics of everything, I didn't mention all of it because this blog is already an entire evening of reading but not to fear, almost all of the pictures have some sort of description to tell you the place or situation. Alas, however we got no pictures from when we were racially profiled at a train station and had to show passports and alien registration cards to the police (true story).

For all of the improv pics click here.
For the complete Tokyo collection click here.
For Disney click here.
and to see some new pics of funny signs click here and scan forward.

Now go rest your eyes, Carl.