Monthly Archive for January, 2004

Odds and Ends

Published on January 31, 2004 in Senmaya. 0 Comments

Alright all you fans of Launching over Japan!! Here are a couple of quick updates.

1. I’m recovering from the flu quite well actually. There is just something in that cocktail of drugs that did the trick.

2. My little message service no longer exists, so I’m looking for a new one. If you know of a good one, please let me know.

3. My previous link to Hey Ya! Charlie Brown is no longer. Here is another one.(Down due to Cease and Desist Order)

4. If you haven’t bought the third box set of the Simpsons yet, you should. It’s very very funny!

5. Also, there is a new song called, “My immortal” from Evanescence going around. I really like it. Check it out.

Nothing new from Japan. I’ve been inside for two days straight and tomorrow I will venture outside for the first time since becoming ill. What I’d really like is a beer, but I’m going to have to wait until the drugs are gone before I drink. Le sigh. I think Japan is turning me into a bearded alcoholic!!! Oh well, what can you do?

Happy Anniversary (six months)

Published on January 28, 2004 in Senmaya. 0 Comments

So yesterday was my sixth month anniversary in Japan. I would have written something earlier, but I’m too sick, and only starting to feel better today. You see yesterday towards 12pm I got really dizzy and developed this fever. So everybody in the school staff room starts freaking. They have a thermometer, and I take a temperature of 38.5. Not so good. So they call my supervisor and we head out to the medical clinic. After an hour of waiting and a urine sample, I’m placed in a room with other people complaining of the same problems. There are like 10 of us. And it’s no coincidence that we were all at Senmaya Junior High last week, where they’ve had to shut down the first and second grades because of Influenza.

So after another 20 minutes of waiting, a doctor comes in a tells all of us that we have Type A Influenza and that we need to go home and sleep. Also, he will give us a cocktail of drugs that will make the problem go away in 3 to 5 days. Okay! So I have the flu, wheeeee! It’s nasty, and it’s keeping me home from work, but I’m so sick I don’t even care. I need to take these pills three times a day, and one of them makes my stomach go crazy.

But other then that, it’s now been more then 6 months since I came to Japan. Time goes by fast when you’re have fun. With the exception of today…:p

Hey, Ya!

Published on January 23, 2004 in Other. 0 Comments

Wow. It just occured to me just how much I’ve been out of the music scene until I stumbled across this awesome edit job done to the tune, “Hey Ya” by Outkast and Charlie Brown. I didn’t even know they had a new album out. It’s nice to see a song like this out because it’s so darn catchy.

http://www.venisproductions.com/movies/heyyacb.html

If you also remember the same guy that does this re mix does one of my favorite web comics, Angel Moxie. It’s all good stuff…^_^

Anime Expo Tokyo 2004

Published on January 18, 2004 in Anime - Manga and Travel. 0 Comments

Well I just got back from AnimeExpo Tokyo. My honest thoughts on the con were that I had more fun outside of the it then I did on the site. I thought that just hanging out with my friends Karl, Chris, Erica and Sunnli after the events were done for the day. There really should not be a American Anime convention in Japan. There is no need for one at all. Tokyo is your dealers room. Although I must admit that the live concerts were quite good. We spent about 1 hour at Animate in Ikebokuro, where there are 9 floors of anime goodness. Then I realized that I don’t even have to go down to Tokyo for this. There is an animate in Morioka. Right in my own prefecture….>_

Tokyo Away!

Published on January 15, 2004 in Travel. 0 Comments

I’m off to Tokyo for the Weekend to visit some friends from Calgary. I’ll see what I can do about updates when I’m there. Other then that, have a good weekend!!!

One more year out here!

Published on January 12, 2004 in Iwate and Senmaya. 0 Comments

Today marks an important day for me, so I thought I would share it with all of you. Today I made my final decision on re-contracting to the JET program. I handed in my recontracting form and agreed to stay another year, bringing the total to two. My ultimate goal is to stay for three years, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Time is moving too fast to not stay at least another year. I need to complete my cultural and language acquisition. I do admit, it’s a great sacrifice to take myself away from home and my friends and family, but I feel that there is a need for me to develop on my own. Most of you already know that I was planning on this anyways, but today I’ve made it official.

I hit another milestone as well this week. On Sunday I ran 12.3km, marking the first time I’ve ever run that far before. It was quite difficult and my legs felt like lead at the end of it, but I know now what I need to do in order to complete a marathon run. It’s going to take some time, but I have my goal in sight. I am nearing my target weight and believe I should reach it within 6 months. Perhaps even sooner if I decide to increase my training. I still haven’t decided yet.

Winter had hit my town and it’s cold and snowy. Quite depressing actually. It’s no where near as cold as Edmonton, but given the lack of central heating, it can make things a little chilly. I’m working through it. I’d say that other then going to Tokyo, these holidays have been a rather low point. But they are over and now I can look forward to warm weather and more fun. I’m looking forward to seeing a number of you in the coming months. This week I will be seeing two friends from Calgary in Tokyo, and in March, two good friends are coming to Japan as well. You can easily add yourself to this list. Japan is not as expensive to reach as I used to think. With seat sales you could get here for as little as 700US round trip. And if you are coming, let me know in advance. You will then have a place to stay if you need it.

My next milestone day will be January 27th. That will mark my sixth month in Japan. It’s funny how fast these things go. It still feels like I just arrived the other day.

All Hail the Emperor!

Published on January 8, 2004 in Culture and Travel. 0 Comments

I can finally get down to some serious blogging again now that holidays are wrapping up. So where did I end up going on January 1st? First of all I went on the Shinkansen to Nagano. What a nice little town. Here are some pictures:


Downtown Nagano.

Everything was Closed!

At Nagano Station.

After I discovered that everything was closed, I got back on the train at headed to Tokyo for more fun. I walked around all afternoon, got tired, got a hotel and went to sleep. The next day was Emperortastic. We got let in the imperial palace with about 20000 other people and I got the closest I will ever get to the emperor of Japan. Yes, that’s right. When you write letters and send them to, “Dear Japan”, they go to this guy.


Nice Horse!

Flags getting in way of emperor!

That’s bullet proof glass of course!

He spoke for 30 seconds and that was it. But he only makes an appearance twice a year, and I got to see it. Not bad at all. Afterwards we walked through the palace grounds and took some cool pictures:


Me, James, Melissa and Baby!

Cool guard tower!

James James, Melissa and Baby.

Will finish this entry later..

Okay, I’m back. So let’s continue with this entry. After the short and inspired speech by the EMPEROR OF JAPAN, we headed off to lunch. I had myself some yummy curry and rice. James Stone suggested a trip to Akihabara, the heart of electronics shopping in Tokyo. So off we went, on the old Yamanote line. I made a comment that trainspotting the Yamanote would get boring rather quickly. Since it comes every 4 minutes and looks exactly the same time. “Look there it is. Look there it is again!!”

This was my first visit to Akihabara, and I must admit, I got the shock of my life when I got out of the station. Look and see….


It’s the Mecca of all that is sacred in the world.

You will not see this in Edmonton.

There are two places that I will mention. Kbooks, which is the homeland for all that is Anime and Manga. I almost died when I went here. You can find anything. Anything! I need to spend more time in this area of Tokyo. After that we went out for dinner and then headed back to James and Melissa’s house in Gunma-ken. I got to sleep there, and in the morning I headed out back to Senmaya.

Warning: If you are going from Tokyo to anywhere past Sendai, take the bullet Train. Do not take the local trains. Why? I had to change trains 5 times, and then take two buses for a total travel time of 10+ hours. In the future I will take the bullet train. I will never, ever do that again.

So that in a nutshell was my trip to Tokyo for New Year’s. I’m off to Tokyo again for Anime Expo Tokyo on the 16th, so I’ll try and update again at that time. I’m off for now. Take care everyone!