Events of the Weekend of the 14th...my, was it eventful

One of my favorite books btw ちなみにこの本が大好き

So it was suggested that I make a separate blog about riding stuff. (Thanks Leslie!) It seems a bit too zuihitsu having all of these topics thrown together, so I thought I might do it, but I'm having trouble keeping up with this one as it is. makura no soshi has always been more of my style anyway. I also have a blog on the Minamiboso city website where I'll be posting about work events, so if I were actually posting on that like I'm supposed to be I would have two going already (*.*)

http://civil.mboso-etoko.jp/group/detail.asp?id=120

Right now, there's almost nothing on that one though, since I've been busy lately at work.

And why am I so busy, you might ask? Starting with the October edition of the Japanese version of the town newsletter I have my own column! Yay? I'm not quite sure. Thus far it has been quite troublesome between disagreements with the editor (who tries to fix my English, and tells me that I should be able to somehow get my point across in only 300 characters (not to be mistaken with 300 words, mind you)) and trying to do my usual work of running off to random events for interpretation and working on random translation projects. Yes. I did just use double parenthesis outside of math class.

This past weekend (of the 14th) was crazy eventful. Seriously. I left on Friday around noon and didn't get to go back home until Sunday (technically Monday) around 2 a.m. First I went to visit a friend in Asahi and we watched the second Mardock Scramble movie. It was not nearly as good as the first one. :/ But! I get the feeling that it's leading up to some really dramatic and awesome conclusion in the third and final movie. If you haven't seen the first of this series I highly recommend it. Whether I recommend the rest of the series or not will have to wait until the third movie comes out　:/

http://m-scramble.jp/

The next morning I went to the barn in Chiba city for my riding lesson, and then got my hair cut in Harajuku. Since living in Japan, I always go to Watanabe Hair. There is a hairdresser there by the name of Chie, who is not only super nice, but is an amazing hair stylist, and also lived in London for four years working as a hair stylist there. Her English level is next to native, so if any English speakers living in Japan need their hair cut, I recommend going to her. It is a bit pricey to go there (shampoo, cut , and style is around ￥7000) but it's totally worth it because not only are they highly skilled, but they also give you a head and shoulder massage before your hair is cut.

http://www.watanabe-hair.com/

After that I was off to visit a friend in Tsudanuma. The following afternoon we went to a meeting for a translation society that I joined almost a year ago. But we accidentally showed up like an hour late because I became randomly exhausted and passed out on the couch. We made it there for the last half hour or so of the talk, and listened to Alexander Smith (Final Fantasy VIII, IX, X, Phoenix Wright, Devotion of Suspect X, Brave Story) talk about his experiences with translation. Then we all went out to dinner at this Italian place afterward, which was kind of expensive. Granted we were in Minami Aoyama, so it wasn't unexpected. Smith is supposed to be back giving another talk in the next several months, so hopefully next time I won't plan so many things in the same weekend, and I'll actually show up on time!

There are fish inside there!　魚がその中にいるんだ!

Fish in there too!

After dinner we met up with some fellow JETs in Asahi city, and went to a “Night Aquarium” in Shin Nihombashi. What is a night aquarium, you ask? It's like a bar, except there are fish tanks everywhere! Also they allowed children in. I was surprised to see the "Adults ￥１０００ Children ￥５００" sign out front......... There was also a DJ but no one was dancing (Does anyone know what the deal is with this whole outlawing dancing in Tokyo thing? I'm totally going to put in my research). Also, there was a cross-dresser working behind one of the bars, and he was really pretty. We tried to take a picture with him, but couldn't get the flash to work on the camera so it didn't turn out :( I was really impressed by his shoes though! They were like 8 inch pumps. I have no idea how he was walking at all. I left around 11, and returned home only to head back to Chiba the next day.

So back in Chiba I had another riding lesson. I accidentally showed up late because I forgot to plan for 30min to get ready and ended up showing up about 5min before the lesson actually started. Then there was a new guy working at the front desk so we took some time for self-introductions. My trainer kept mumbling about how late I was in Osaka dialect while helping me get ready (scary!), but I don't think he was actually that mad. And I did manage to get ready and make it to the lesson exactly on time (I actually made it to the arena before like six other people hehe). I had a good ride this week, but then in my second lesson, I sort of forgot that the line was a 5 stride, and I was shooting for a four and couldn't figure out why my other trainer kept yelling “It's going to be short!!” (近いぞ!） Until I suddenly realized and pulled up late to get a 4 with a chip **cringe**. Then I just started cracking up and when I explained what happened everyone started freaking out like I was so crazy to think that I could leave out in a line. Totally would've made it too had I not realized it was supposed to be a five at the last second... My trainer also thought it was hilarious though, and I ended up getting made fun of for about the next 25 minutes, and then again the following weekend, in addition to being told that I'm “such a waste of talent.” Ha. How depressing. It's like being told your an idiot while masking it behind a compliment. At least he thinks I'm capable when I'm actually using my head(?) In all seriousness though, I'm glad I have a trainer who cares enough to reprimand me when I do dumb stuff. I've had too many trainers in the past who were super lax. I've learned by now that I excel under trainers who are slightly terrifying.

And now I'll conclude with several random photos taken in Minamiboso

Parachuters in Shirahama

Biwa Club in Tomiura

This photo is not impressive in any way

Events in 'Boso, Delicious Ramen, and September Horseshow

---Exchange Student Welcome Party---

A couple weeks ago, some students came in from Belgium as part of the sister city exchange program. They learned how to make futomaki and listened to speeches from the mayor, the head of the Board of Education, and some others. Afterwards we had a sort of picnic (for lack of a better word), and everyone ate nagashi soumen. Nagashi soumen is basically when you run a bunch of soumen noodles down a bamboo pipe river and catch it with your chopsticks as it runs by (this must be how Japanese kids become so talented with chopsticks!). Then you dip it in sauce, eat, and catch some more!

Later, the kids split some watermelons. This is usually done by blindfolding a kid and having him spin in circles and then trying to direct him to where the watermelon is located so he can smack it with a bamboo stick. In Japan this is fun because you can lie to your friends and make them swing at open air, or random peoples heads. The Belgian kids just mostly thought it was fun because they got to smash things. Hmmm...cultural differences?

---Best Ramen Everrrrr----

So lately I've found this delicious ramen shop called, kitakata hana no kura　（喜多方花の蔵）. So I'm fairly obsessed with ramen, and I'm always trying out new places, but this one is my favorite by far. (I'm including any ramen I've eaten in Asahi and Togane in this. This place is definitely the most delicious). Anyway I usually get their miso ramen and add an egg into it...

They always use fresh local ingredients and even keep a sign up on the wall saying what day of the week they bought which ingredients and from what part of town. I'm not a huge fan of salt, and the broth for the miso has just the right amount of saltiness (aka almost none). However, my favorite part of this ramen is the fact that the pork isn't just floating off to the side like in most ramen, it's actually cut up into little tiny pieces that float around in the broth. Delicious. And if I remember correctly, it was only about 750 yen! This place is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. In the month I've lived here I've already eaten here three times.

It's located off of the 127 in Tateyama. This location is actually a sort of branch location of the original restaurant which is located in Chikura, on the other side of Minamiboso. I heard that the original store is basically located in the owner's house and the interior decorations are better, but I haven't been yet so I can't say for sure.

---Houchou-shiki---

Two weeks ago I attended a Knife Ceremony at Takabe shrine in Chikura (eastern side of Minamiboso). During this ceremony, the priest gives an offering to the shrine's god, which happens to be the god of cooking! Apparently this shrine is the only one in Japan dedicated to the cooking god. Whenever the shrine inducts a new priest, the priest must complete the ceremony, and it generally takes place three times a year. This tradition has actually been continued since the Heian period (my favorite period of Japan btw) (794-1185 a.d.). Not only that, but in addition, the shrine itself can be dated back to the writing of the Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan completed 720 a.d.), the second oldest historical book in Japan. The ceremony itself has the priest purifying the table with salt, and cutting up a fish without ever touching it with his hands. 

        In part of the ceremony he points the knife at you with an angry look on his face. Intense!

                                                        The completed fish

 

There was a group of elementary school students who came to see the event as well. After the ceremony they gave us a chance to take close-up photos. Just as I was wondering what happens to the fish after the ceremony is finished, I heard one of the children ask a priest whether or not he eats the fish after the ceremony. To this he replied, “we feed it to the shrine's cat.”

---Awa Art Exhibit for Peace---

Last week I went to an art gallery that had been set up at the Genki club. It was called The Awa Art Exhibit for Peace, and was supposed to display works of art that represent peace and saving the environment. All of the works were for sale, in addition to smaller goods (handmade necklaces, postcards, etc.), the proceeds of both of which went towards underprivileged children in Uganda. They had photos of the children up on the walls and letters from some of the people in Uganda (written in Japanese!? Impressive). I was really pleased by this event though, because along with the professional Japanese works, they displayed crayon drawings done by the children in Uganda.

 It was so interesting to see the difference in the subject focus between the two very different cultures. Many of the Japanese works focused on the ocean, trees, and nature in general, whereas the works from the children in Uganda all focused on family, home, and farming. There were two drawings that I really liked in particular. The first was like a dissected view of a house, as if you could see right through the front wall of it. Inside there were women sewing and cooking and children playing, and outside the house was a man doing field work. The colors were so brilliant too. They were all oranges, reds, and yellows. I particularly liked this one because I felt like I was looking right into the house of their family, and getting a glimpse at another culture. The second one I really liked was a woman with a sickle cutting crops in a field. This one was impressive because the relief was drawn really well in general, let alone for being a drawing that was done by a child with probably zero art education. I got a few shots inside the gallery, but didn't want to wear out my welcome by taking too many, so I didn't take any photos of the individual works.

---Greenroom Camp!---

Over the weekend, one of the Asahi ALTs and I attended an event called Greenroom camp. This event is held every year in order to teach people about beach culture and support beach cleanup efforts. Greenroom was a freakin' blast. First off, there were tons of people in their 20's and 30's there, which was an automatic win. But also, they had food stands set up with all kinds of junk (including crazy delicious chili fries, and some saucy chicken thing on rice with chips and salsa on top. No idea what it was but yum). There were tons of drink stands as well where you cold order anything from beer and canned chu-hi to sangria, mojitos, rum and chai tea, and shots of tequila. --on a side note-- something everyone should know about Japan: bars do not have shot glasses here. Most bars don't even serve shots because of this, but if you ask for a shot, or you see shots on a drink menu, be prepared to receive 3-4 shots worth of alcohol in a regular glass. Drink up my friends, drink up.

There were also little shops available that were selling island gear (shell necklaces, hawaiian t-shirts, flip-flops). Event wise I honestly expected it to be bigger when I first arrived at the beach, but in actuality there was never a moment where I didn't have something to do. There were two stages, one on each end of the beach, where they alternated having either a band or a DJ play an hour at a time. In between these two stages were people body boarding, swimming, hardcore tight rope walking (legit these people were doing back-flips and all kinds of craziness. They had to have been in pain the next day...), yoga and generally wandering around eating and drinking. At first I was surprised at the number of people that would come up and start a conversation in English with us, but later after talking to a bunch of people it turned out that a lot of people that come to the event are from Chiba city and Tokyo/Saitama areas. I even met someone up from Narita. But honestly even when I go to Tokyo I don't have that many people strike up a conversation with me, let alone in English. I have to attribute it to the booze giving people courage haha. 

The event was actually two days long, and most of the people that came had brought tents that they set up on the beach to stay over night in, but I had a horse show the next day, so I headed out for the evening. Next year, I'll definitely plan for the whole two days though. One problem with the event though is lack of transportation to the area. If you go and you're drinking, obviously you can't drive back, but the last bus back to Tateyama station is around 7:55—a little early to leave the festival, huh. I guess even taxis don't come out that late, so if you go to the event, either plan for the two days (the ticket price covers both days anyway), or leave early on the first day. In any case I highly recommend people come to this event next year! It was probably one of the most fun events I've been to in Japan.

---September Horseshow---

The following day was the September horse show! It was my first time doing the 90cm division, and let me tell you it could have been better :o I was a bit exhausted from all the festivities the day before, and I had two lessons before the show started...anyway it seems there's a pattern here. I need to plan better so I actually have energy when it's show time. Ok so the class itself went something like this... better than last time, but still weak into the first line with an add. Coming in to the diagonal line was all right, but the diagonal single after that I still shoot myself over. I saw that spot. I freakin saw the spot. Omg. And then for some reason in my head I just didn't have the confidence to take it, and told パルコ to wait for a short spot--Thinking, “why the hell did I just do that..?” as we hit the rail :'( The final outside line had the highest jumps, and was ironically the best part of the whole course. We went in with the right energy that we should have started with from the get go, and had no problems.

After the class I watched a video of my ride, and finally saw what my trainer has been talking about. I've been ducking over the jumps (in comparison to Japanese riders anyway) and I need to start using an auto-release more often. Aka I've been pretty much useless when in the air...fml that's such a hard problem to fix once you get in the habit. Luckily, the Japanese style of riding doesn't ever allow for people to develop such a problem so it's like insanely obvious to my trainer when I do it. But I did notice that my position is WAY better than what it's been in the last.... probably since I was in middle school, so I could potentially tear some people apart at equitation right now haha. Too bad there's no such thing in Japan. 

The next show is October 8^th, so I'm just going to have to practice harder until then. gah. I feel so stupid sometimes.

Internet is up and running!

Those of you who live in Japan already know this, but when you move in to a new apartment it takes about a month to get your internet rolling.

Why?

I have no idea. People in Japan don't move as often as Americans, often choosing to live with their extended families even after marriage, so there's no possible way that the internet companies could be this backed up! Anyway, last Friday I finally got the people from NTT to come out to my apartment for installation (aka running a cord through the wall and plugging it in to my computer--taking about 15min), and when the NTT man talked to my land lady, she said that they weren't allowed to install it!! Apparently she just kept telling him that she doesn't allow holes to be drilled in the walls of her building... (granted this woman is atleast 80 and living in the country-side so she probably doesn't understand how the internet works). Eventually she said that if we got permission from one of my supervisors at work that she would allow it. Too bad both of my supervisors were out of the office that day :((  I was told that I'd have to wait another two weeks minimum to get the guy to come back out too!  Luckily, one of the guys at my work helped me out, and in the mean time one of my supervisors saw my text message and put in a call to the land lady. The NTT guy was nice enough to come back out that very day (thank god!!!!) and he ended up having to run a cord from the power lines out on the street, through my wall A/C unit so as to not put a hole in the wall (lol). It was a needlessly long ordeal, but my internet is up and running, ladies and gentlemen.

And as promised, here is an incredibly long post about stuff that has happened over the last month that I have been disconnected from the Web.............

---August horse show---

Well now that it's almost been a month since the August horse show, it seems silly to write about it, but maybe it'll at least keep me focused on what I need to do for the next show. It was a night show as usual for the 80 cm division, so of course by the time the show gets going I've already been riding for about two hours straight and am quite tired. Plus, the day before the show, a friend was visiting from Asahi, so we went swimming together for several hours (I hadn't done any legit swimming in years unless you count jumping in the pool to cool off for a few minutes lol), so I was crazy exhausted that day. My trainer kept looking at me like he thought I was just going to collapse and fall off, and even asked if I wanted to scratch, but I told him I'd がんばるthrough. (Seriously who would consider skipping a horse show because they're tired anyway!?) In the end, the class went well! A lot of people had refusals because of the shadows on the jumps since it was night and all, but we went through with a clear round. We added in the first line though. I definitely need to work on not riding in weak to the first fence.

Also, some generous person filmed everyone's rounds! It was a really good way to see the difference between my riding style and the Japanese riders. I need to work on lifting my horse's front end a lot more. I got a little too used to the long and low hunter style :O Anyway, the next show is this weekend and I'll be doing 90cm this time yayy!

I also received a message from the trainer taking care of my horse, Taro in the states saying that he's been jumping around 2'9" and having a blast over there. Its a strange feeling to be working at the same level as him, but all the way across the world. I hope he pulls his shit together, because I know I'm working on it!

Also, one of my trainers told me last week that the October show will be during the day. So I'll probably be able to take photos then!

---Comiket---

Ok so as for Comiket, I went on Saturday this year, and I'm glad I did. Last year I went on Sunday and everything was sold out, so it wasn't as much fun. I ended up buying a couple things, and collecting as many flyers as I could in the commercial area, as well as taking a ton of cosplay photos. I was also entertained to find a guy dressed up as Madoka from MadoMagi! Hillarious. 

I found a girl dressed as her too, and when I went to post the photos on facebook, facial recognition tried to tag it as the same person LMFAO. Good job facebook. At least I got a laugh.

 Not the same person!!!!

I'm always surprised by how many people go to cons! I remember being surprised at my first con back in the U.S. but that will never compare to Comiket in Tokyo.

 

View from the "stairs of death" that you have to climb to get to the commercial area.

 "Welcome to the space for the world's Otaku!"

Working as a 国際交流員 I couldn't walk away without checking out this booth! They had a display of comic books written by people from all over the world!

 

---Tanabata Matsuri---

The following Tuesday I returned to Asahi city for the day to dance with the Asahi Ondo group at Tanabata Festival. I met up with the girls around one o'clock at the Board of Education for one of the ladies to put our hair in up-do's. 

As you can see, this lady does an amazing job with our hair every year!

  Though, she always puts crazy amounts of product in to the point where your freshly clean hair looks UN-salvageable when you take the bobby pins out at the end of the evening （笑）. But しかたがない I'd rather that than have my up-do fall out halfway through the festival. We also painted our nails, had some really talented ladies help us into the gorgeous yukata owned by the City Hall, ate bento, and pre-gamed a little before we walked over to the festival. 

It was nice to meet the new ALTs up in Asahi, as well as hang out with my successor up there. We danced, drank, and fawned over the beautiful tanabata decorations that the city put up this year. I wish I could go back next year too :(

 Getting ready to dance it up!

 Taiko drummers from our City Hall group in front of Asahi station

---Tateyama Hanabitaikai---

The very next day, there was a fireworks festival in Tateyama. Apparently it's really famous, and people come down from Tokyo to see it every year. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much since the fireworks festival in Columbus for Independence Day is generally pretty spectacular, but I was seriously impressed. The fireworks were shot off over the water on the ocean side of Boso, and they were shot off from about three different locations so that they covered the whole sky! One of the ALTs arrived two hours early, so we all had a seat right at the waters edge. One of the other girls and I wore our yukata to join in the celebration :) Of course I'll jump on any excuse to wear yukata. Anyway, they also had these really awesome fireworks that exploded from the ground straight up into the sky. Kind of hard to explain unless you've seen them, but they were really cool.　I read that this year they spent 330,556円 on fireworks for the event (roughly $4,200)!

---zairyuu card information---

I finally got my zairyuu card!

 After much confusion about whether I actually needed it or not, (thanks to the menkyo center for confusing the hell out of me over the seven times I had to go there) it turns out that you DO NOT need to get a zairyuu card unless you are newly coming to Japan. Your gaikokujin toroku shomeisho is still technically effective until you receive your zairyuu card (which I was told will happen next year, but there's no official date as of yet). HOWEVER, if your visa status changes, aka you start a different job, or go from being an exchange student to a tourist visa, then you will receive a card when you change your visa status. It usually takes about two weeks to get the card once you bring them your photo and all of your documentation. For those changing visa status, you have to make two trips (one to turn in the papers, and one to pick it up because they won't mail it to you), and for those new comers to Japan you should be able to receive it in the mail. Also, If you are trying to change your driver's license over to a Japanese license （免許切り替え） and you aren't carrying a zairyuu card yet, you need to bring your gaikokujin torokusho as well as a jyuminhyo that you can receive from the city hall (and in some cases the BOE if there is a 住民課）。Hopefully this information is useful for those who have some confusion, but when in doubt ask around at your place of work, or at your local city hall.