Kyoto and Tokyo

I started my vacation on Tuesday with a plane down to Tokyo, and boy was it hot down here. The weather aside, it is pretty nice to see a bunch of other foreigners and not to be stared at all the time by the locals. Wednesday we went to Disney Sea, and that was pretty fun. There wasn't a lot of rides, but the ones there were pretty fun.

Then we rode the train all day on Wednesday to get to Kyoto for about 22 dollars, and nine hours of trains with the special ticket for summer travelers. Then today we went on a Sightseeing tour bus around the city and now i am just a little tired and i want to rest for tomorrow when i go to Osaka and see Wicked. I can't wait.

My weekend

School is now out for the summer break. On Friday, i left as soon as possible, because i had this weird feeling like they didn't want me there too much longer because i was in the way of like the school cleaning and such. Oh well, i didn't mind.

Then on Saturday there was training for the ALT's in Hokkaido, so that was a little long, but somewhat informative. The main point was all the socializing with the other ALT's. After the training, a small group of us went out for lunch, and then after that we met in Odori park in the evening to socialize more and go to the Sapporo Beer garden festival that was there. Seriously, like everyone was drinking there, and it is somewhat annoying to be the sober one in the group all the time, because some people can be sort of annoying when they are drunk. But it is always good to talk to people.

Then today, my friend and i went to go to the Judo club from her school have their meet in Chitose. It was an all Hokkaido meet, so even my school was there, and it surprised me and them to see each other there. They won their first rounds, but then lost their second ones. Oh well. One more day till i go to Tokyo and Kyoto.

Not much has been going on here. The week is almost over, just two more days. Tomorrow i am doing a little "English Time" thing at the library for some 2-3 year olds and their mothers. I am going to read "Where the Wild Things Are" and some other stuff. The weather has become almost unbearable. I feel like i am never going to get dry till September. The highlight of my day was going to the grocery store and feeling the air conditioning that the grocery seems to be the only place in town to have it. The schools and other buildings don't have it, so all of the windows are open. Then when the air outside is hot and humid, that doesn't exactly help with the heat.


I am pretty much ready for my summer break. Kyoto and Tokyo should be fun. Then Friday night this week should be pretty fun. Then we have training on Saturday, so another time to get together with all the teachers for the company and see some people that i haven't seen in a while.

I just wish i could be dry, i definitely slept better during the winter because i had the heat and i didn't wake up in the middle of the night in neck soup. Boo on the whole cultural thing of not having air conditioning here in Hokkaido.

It has been a long and eventful weekend. On Friday, i just stayed at home and had regular classes and such. On Saturday, i went up to Otaru for a movie, Inception-awesome by the way, and i also did some clothes shopping there at the big and tall store there. It was odd to find some clothes for 40 bucks for like clubbing and such that fit me better than my clothes do now. I have lost weight, and i am feeling and looking a lot better. It was a little weird on the sizes, like for one thing i was 3L, another 4L, and another 6L. Japan has a lot smaller sizes, but i think that i am down to a XXL in the shirt sizes now. and down about a pant size as well.

Then i had lunch at a Chinese restaurant that was really good. Most of the Chinese food in Japan is based on starch sauces that are thick, but sometimes they can be heavy in soy sauce, so for the health conscious watching their sodium intake, it can be bad. But compared to Japanese food, it isn't so bad. I think a Japanese food profile would be, with using the three main flavorings of: fat, sugar, and salt; mainly salt and sugar. Fat is there, but it is only what is naturally in the food. Not like in America where it is a combination of all three, or just fat  and sugar, or fat and salt. Though for most main dishes, it is a combination of fat and salt; whereas, Japanese main dishes tend to employ the use of sugar and salt.

Then Sunday i drove up early to Sapporo and went to do some things, and saw The Last Airbender. It was very disappointing. I loved the series, but the movies have been drastically changed to a point of nonsense as to what the characters are doing. Like, why does it take like a minute of kung fu moves before any bending happens. Then why the firebending changes? It has just changed the whole universe to be totally different from what the series was.

Then there was the Sapporo City Jazz event going on which was very good. They really looked like they had a blast just jamming there. Then i went to a club for a party and saw some friends there. I stayed out late, and then just drove home at 5 in the morning. It was long, so i slept for 30 in a rest stop, and then finished the way home. I got home, slept for a couple hours, and then i got up so i wouldn't mess up my sleep schedule.


Now there is four days left in the week before my long vacation and my trip to Tokyo and Kyoto- i wish it was Friday night already.

not much going on this week. It has been really long since i was pretty much ready for the weekend on Sunday. We have Monday off for Marine day, so another Sapporo trip is the plan. Not much else.

The weather was cool for some odd reason today. It was raining till lunch time. Then there was a cool breeze and lots of dark cloud coverage. They say that Hokkaido doesn't have a rainy season like the rest of Japan, but it almost seems as if it does here. It has been overcast for pretty much a week here, and there has been little sunlight at all. I like it because it is a lot better than the sweltering heat that ends up with me waking up in the middle of the night from a damp pillow. At least this weekend is a long one with the Monday off for Marine Day. But, i just know that this week is going to be unbearably long.

some pics

100 bucks for a dvd

had a very good weekend. Friday night, i went to a great Korean restaurant with some friends. Then on Saturday, me and my friend to Furano to see the lavender, and it was nice there. But it was raining, so it was nice, but a little wet. Then we went to a restaurant, then we went to see Ironman 2 at Sapporo Factory. Then today was a nice and slow and very relaxing. I went to Odori park, and i had lunch at a noodle shop at Sapporo Station. Overall, it was a nice weekend. Now i know it is going to be a very long week until next weekend, but then we get Monday off for Marine day.

fun today. had my elective English classes with the 2nd years. We did the differences between yi, and i as in years and ears. And for some odd reason, like they just cannot get it. I didn't really know what else to do besides diagrams and repeated hearings of it. By far this has been the hardest one for them. Then we had curry for lunch, and then i went to one of the elementary schools. At this one i am pretty much in charge of the whole class, and all the teacher does is play the CD. I like it because it gives me a whole lot of teaching experience this way, and i seem to be able to handle the children pretty well. The teacher doesn't really have to help with Japanese at all. Plus, the kids are just so well-behaved and super cute.

Today was pretty slow at first. Just had some classes with all the years. Then i had a very quick lunch and i headed up to Sapporo to finish my immigration visa extension. I got one more year on it, so i don't have to worry about that anytime soon. Then i got my re-entry permit so now i can leave the country as many times as i want. I think i might just go to London in spring, but maybe not. Then i had lunch at a pasta place, and it was okay. For some odd reason corn just seems to make any salad great. You should try it sometime. Then i went to this ice cream place that i had been wanting to go to it for a while since it is called "Ice Cream Iron Chef." It was okay, nothing really new as far as flavors. I still loved the cherry blossom ice cream that i got in Kyoto. Then i drove back to the school, and walked home to just get some exercise.

Today was okay. I played with the kids in the band after school, and since i am growing a moustache, i know that i should probably not do that often. The mouthpiece was pretty much on top of the hair, so it became very agitated when i would play. It was fun, but it has been a long time since i have played it. the weather was cloudy so that helped with the heat.

Went to an elementary school today, and the kids that i ate lunch with gave me a bunch of origami. I filled the two handkerchiefs that i brought that day with them. The lessons went well, but it is still hot here. I think i might need to sleep with a towel on my pillow to not wake up from it being wet at night.

Another good weekend in Sapporo. We went to see a dance show of some friends in Otaru on Saturday, and it was pretty nice. They were pretty good, but it was odd to see how everyone, little kids that were dancing, were dancing to all these sort of horrible and explicit songs, but they could not care less because they didn't understand it. On Friday, we all met together and had dinner at an Indian restaurant and it was pretty good. It was in honor of Canada day, and then we tried to do some fireworks in a park, but the police came and stopped us.

Today, i went to see a French movie with Japanese subtitles. The extraordinary adventures of Adele Blanc-sec. It was nice, and i understood most of it since i read the Japanese subtitles.

Now to start another week with the kids. I can't wait till summer break.