Iwate Prefecture Post-Earthquake Posters

2011 Iwate - Post-Earthquake Posters, a set on Flickr.

After uploading these photos I came to the realization I don't want to upload any more until after New Years. There's a quality to these posters which demands that they be given a bit of space and time so those who view them can contemplate all that happened. So rather than crowd them into a tiny spot in an almost endless stream of images I'm going to stop, share and let others gaze on these much like I did in the hallway between a shopping plaza and a hotel in Morioka.


PS: While the text on each poster tended to be of the inspirational variety that wasn't the overall impression I had of them. For me there was a strange resilience in the faces where the subjects seemed to exude strength but also a sense of almost apologetic humility. I don't know. What does one feel when photographed in front of the face of such calamity and tragedy?....

The Magic Number...

So when my Amex statement arrived a few days ago I thought I had it figured out as to how I would pay it: I'd go down to the bank or post office and transfer a payment as per the instructions on the bill. It should've been that simple. No. Things didn't turn out that way.

I guess a portent of things to come was the reaction from my office manager on Saturday when I told what I was going to do. Her response was that "What?!" which makes no attempt to hide confusion and skepticism. She had never attempted to do such a transaction. "Too complicated", was her remark. That conversation came back to haunt me today when I got to the banking counter at my local post office.

First off, the clerk at the post office explained that it would be cheaper to do the transfer using the ATM because the service charges are lower than if I do the transaction using my account passbook at the counter. Okay. I have no problem with that. I go to the ATM, pick the "English Guide" option and pick the best looking option: "Remittance". There didn't seem to be anything else fitting the bill for what I wanted. So on my first try I run into a requirement to enter a recipient transfer number. That isn't on the bill. I withdraw, take a seat and ponder my next step.

So I phone American Express. I press '2' for service in English and get a Japanese speaking customer service representative (who I assume can't speak English). I ask for an English speaking rep and she checks for me. "There's no one available to take a call because of call volume", she reports. So, I step up to the plate and try to get the information I need from her whilst carrying on the conversation in Japanese. She provides me with the bank code and bank branch code. I figure I have what I need and I thank her.

So I attempt to do the transaction with the information I've gathered. No luck there. I have too many digits to enter. I try a couple of permutations but give up my station at the ATM once I notice there are others waiting to use it (the small post offices usually only have one ATM). I decide to head off and pay my gas bill. After doing that I head into another post office.

After another failed attempt to make the transfer I walk up to the post office banking counter and ask the clerk what it is I have to do. I show him the information I have and he asks if I'm trying to do an international bank transfer. No. "In that case there's an option on the ATM you an use with your cash card", he explains. Ah, this might be the turn in the right direction. I explain I'm not a local once things start getting complicated. He kindly writes down the text I'm supposed to hunt down on the ATM menu on a piece of paper for the option I need to choose.

Armed with that I return to the scene of my previous defeat at the hands of the ATM. This time I weather the menus in Japanese. Voila! The option I need is there. I navigate my way to the point where I enter the Amex destination account and the amount of my payment. A small alarm bell goes off in my head. Why haven't I been asked to enter my credit card number. No sooner said than done I'm asked to enter my phone number. I duly do that and receive a confirmation screen. Everything seems to be in order. So the magic number that sealed the deal is my phone number? When I think back to the time I called Amex I recall that their system told me they had confirmed my identity based on the phone number I was calling from. Now that is interesting.

So what did I learn today? One, yes, Virginia there may be options on the post office ATMs which don't get shown when the user switches to English. It's either that or the translation becomes misleading and you miss it. I suspect the former. Two, having an IVR system identify customers by their phone numbers is an interesting tactic. They do ask for a PIN so it's not a completely wide open access point to one's accounts. But it is a bit of a surprise when first encountered.

There you have it...the magic number when dealing with Amex Japan.

Let's see now...

Let's see now..., a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

This lesson jumped about a bit. "Tomb", "mummy" and "kingdom" were in the homework assignment I reviewed in class. "Cattle", shrimp and eel were part of the textbook lesson. The part about "cow", "bull" and "cattle" was to clarify something in the textbook. Most ESL students aren't taught right away that female cattle are cows and male cattle are bulls. They're simply taught "cow". That caused a bit of consternation because in this particular lesson the textbook used "cattle". The question of "What is 'cattle'?" inevitably came up...

This is all too weird. A Christmas day blog post based on a photo taken on Dec 7th... >.<

Coming down nice and fluffy

Coming down nice and fluffy a video by dtk_guy on Flickr.

I think I've reached saturation point of taking photos and videos of this kind of snowfall. I'm waiting for the real big dump which takes the concept of snowfall to (literally) higher heights. I could go down to the same corner today (Dec 23rd) and shoot the same video. Nope. Need something a bit more dramatic now.

On a side note: today is the Emperor's birthday so there is a national holiday today. Not that it makes much of a difference in the daily flow of things. I suspect schools are still in session today. If I had to guess what offices would be closed I'd say the post office, city hall, and various branches of the civil service.

More later...

100 servings!

100 servngs!, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Yup. I managed to consume 100 servings of wanko soba at the main Azuma-Ya restaurant in Morioka. In case you're wondering about the scale of the photo, those bowls are about the size of a small miso soup bowl. They each contained about a mouthful of soba.

The way wanko soba is consumed is quite the thing. Your place setting has your main bowl for eating soba, a "spittoon" for excess soba "shiru" (sauce), a side order of tuna sashimi, and a number of things you can add to your soba. There are rules to eating: you remove the lid from your main bowl (hang on firmly!) and your waitress drops a serving of soba in it. You eat that and she replenishes it. Repeat the process. After your third serving you're allowed to drain your bowl (I think that was the rule). You can add stuff such as "tororo" (ground yam), ground radish(sic) and mushrooms, a concoction containing beans, wasabi, green onions, bonito flakes or other "condiments". The general trick seems to be not to chew on your soba. Just swallow.

The pace of replenishment is quite brisk. The next serving is in your bowl pretty well the second you finish the previous serving. Just the thought of that makes me feel full. Each time the waitress drops some soba in your bowl she'll say something like "Hai, jyan, jyan" or similar. At some point it becomes a bit maddening as you swallow your soba, take a breath and watch the serving land in your bowl.

The only way to end this cycle of consumption and replenishment is to place the lid back on top of your bowl. Once you've done that then your meal is finished. In a way it's a relief when you throw in the towel and call it quits.

Anyways, for my efforts I was rewarded with a small wooden plaque noted with the date of my accomplishment and the number of servings I had consumed. Everyone gets a printed certificate with the date and number of servings but those who get to the century mark get the wooden plaque. I found out about the wooden plaque when I was at 90 servings and about to call it quits. At around 98 servings I just about heaved. Luckily I was able to quash that impulse and I hung in there for the last two bowls. I certainly didn't regret putting the lid on the bowl at that point in time.

Other things about my trip to Morioka:
1) It's still funny watching people who drive expensive import cars having to get out of their vehicles to walk around and get their parking lot tickets out of the machine mounted on the right side of the parking lot entrance.
2) I wasn't aware that Morioka was the hometown of Yonai Mitsumasa. His life is celebrated in the city hall of notable citizens. One of the other people recognized in the hall is Nitobe Inazo. He is the person whom the Nitobe Garden at UBC in Vancouver is named after. I learned that Nitobe passed away in Victoria, BC. Also he had married an American woman in a Quaker wedding ceremony. He was an exceptional educator and also a diplomat having served as an under-secretary of the League of Nations.
3) Another Individual mentioned a fair bit in Morioka is the late Miyazawa Kenji. The name "Ihatovo", his Esperanto version of the old name for Iwate, "Ihate", pops up in a lot of places. It turns up a on banners promoting tourism for the city and Iwate. I know of Miyazawa from the anime movies "Night on the Galactic Railroad" and "Ihatov Fantasy: Kenji's Spring". The latter is a biography which depicts all of the characters as cats.

My guide for this weekend trip to Morioka was Mr. Ito, a friend of my father. He had met my father when he had visited Vancouver and Victoria about 10 years ago. Victoria has been a sister city with Morioka since 1985. One story Mr. Ito told me had me laughing: Years ago when he worked for the city of Morioka he often went down to Tokyo for various meetings. He and his compatriots always seemed to get a chuckle out of the Yamagata contingent when the meetings were held in the winter. The Yamagata folks would show up wearing their big rubber boots (which usually are calf high if not almost knee high). One winter the Yamagata delegation showed up wearing rather normal dress shoes. When asked where their boots were they replied they had left them stored in coin lockers in the train stations back home.

Anyways, I've written enough for today...

ttfn!

And it keeps coming down...

And it keeps coming down... a video by dtk_guy on Flickr.

This was the scene outside my apartment yesterday afternoon. It started coming down around lunchtime. Michael and I had gone to Kappa Sushi and it had been sunny that morning but overcast and cloudy by the time we sat down. About 10 minutes later I looked out the window and the scene outside was like a blizzard! Needless to say the bike ride back home was entertaining. No spills or falls though.

Anyways, I got to witness the city's road sprinkler system in action. They have pipes set into the main roads with sprinkler heads flush with the road surface. The system serves to keep the snow from accumulating on the streets. Although I still wonder about the danger of the whole darn mess being turned into a massive skating rink.

Most parking lots also have sprinkler systems to clear off the snow with. As for individual households and small businesses: there's always the soaker hose. Yes, those hoses which people in North America use to sprinkle water onto their flower beds are used to keep driveways and sidewalks clear of snow in Yonezawa. I know there are companies advertising driveway and parking spot heating systems but I haven't seen any evidence of any in use so far...

Poor Jenny...

Poor Jenny..., a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

"Jenny" is the character depicted in the flash card with the phrase "put away your book"(sic). I taught at the Yamagata school last week and was quite surprised at the reaction to her I got from a class of four boys aged 8-10. I had them open their text books to a dialogue page which introduced the phrases "How old are you?" and "I'm seven years-old". The artwork depicted a birthday party for Jenny. The boys all reacted with protests like "I hate Jenny!", "I don't like Jenny", etc. I've never had any of the kids I teach at the Yonezawa school react like that so I was a bit befuddled.

Later on I came up with a possible explanation: boys that age don't always get along with girls. I'm guessing that the boys in question look at the "Jenny" character as being just like the girls they see at their regular schools. Thus the dislike for her. There could be other reasons but I can't seem to think of any right now.

There are a couple of positive things I can spin out of that situation: One, the boys obviously know the phrases "I don't like..." and "I hate...". So they certainly are learning English. Two, the people who worked on the "Let's Go" children's text books seem to have succeeded in creating a realistic multi-ethnic cast of characters...I just don't think they ever would have foreseen what I experienced....

All for ¥2082

All for ¥2082, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Alright, I did the math and I'm not sure what to make of the result. I bought two steaks today for ¥400 each. I checked the packages and they weigh about 10oz. Using an exchange rate of ¥75 per C$1 I calculated that they cost $8.53/lb or close to $18.77/kg. Checking the label I believe they're rib eye steaks. Having gotten this far I have no idea if that's a good price or not anymore.

Carrying on with the food theme: I was thinking of making a baked dessert for the upcoming office potluck Christmas dinner. Then I remembered I don't have an oven. So I think I'll make chili con carne. Or maybe I should make something which will definitely raise some eyebrows: SPAM musubi. I know of a store in town that sells SPAM. Hmmm...maybe that'll be my contribution. That or a ramen salad. If I'm going to make that I need to bug my sister for her recipe.

One thing I haven't had a chance to do this past week is head over to Yamaya and see if they sell long grain rice. If I get really lucky they might sell basmati rice. I bought some vindaloo curry mix there last month so I figure there's a small chance they do sell long grain rice. But I don't know if I'm desperate enough to use something like Uncle Ben's instant rice if that's all they sell.

One thing I haven't bought much of since I've arrived is bread. The simplest explanation is that I don't have anything to make toast with. I suppose I'll have to invest in a toaster oven sometime or another. I saw that I've inherited a stove top toaster grill pan but Michael told me that Zubeda found out that the gas range has a sensor which detects if what you have sitting on it is overheating. It gives a beeping warning and he says she told him it would then shut itself off. I suppose I could try out the grill pan and see if I have a bit more luck with it. Which leads me to the next problem...trying to find something other than bleached white bread. I've heard you can get bagels so I suppose there is a small chance that one can get brown bread (rye, sourdough, and whole wheat are probably out of the question).

Anyways...enough talk about food for now...

Mini anyone?

Mini anyone?, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

For starters, I sort of have my doubts I'll see a Mini on the road once February rolls around. Though I don't have any doubts it could be driven but I just think it'll be a rare sight.

Second thought: I sort of wonder how much the inspection fees will be for those Minis. I believe once the age of a car gets above a decade the fees start getting quite high in relation to the value of the car. The fees for a car from the 1950s or 1960s probably would be astronomical.

Today was a pretty quiet day. I had a less than fulfilling time trying to keep abreast of the score of the Grey Cup game being played in Vancouver. Apparently the CBC wasn't broadcasting the game. So I was left clinging to the live blog on the CBC web site for information. I can't get live streaming video from the CBC website so I wasn't expecting that but the utter lack of video coverage from other sources was quite disappointing. Nonetheless I'm glad that the Lions won. It must of been quite a lot of fun in Vancouver this week.

After the game I wandered off, got some cash out of the nearest post office ATM, paid a bill at the nearest branch of Yamagata Ginko (bank) and then headed into a shop selling coffee which I've walked by many times but never gone into. It was a nice little boutique style shop. They were selling coffees from a variety of places. I picked up 200g of their Colombian beans. Will see how it tastes tomorrow morning.

My co-worker Michael had shown a bit under the weather on Saturday. He cancelled the Mexican food night he planned at his place and stayed at home on Sunday (I had gone to the gym without him). This afternoon he sent me an e-mail asking if I could cover his evening classes. I said I'd do that for him. So I signed onto the Japan Post website to reschedule the delivery I had requested for this evening. It goes without saying I was a bit surprised when I got a phone call around 6:30pm from a fellow saying he was at my door with a package. Looks like the updated delivery request didn't get to him. Oh well. I directed him towards and school and signed for the package on the street corner.

The first class was a smooth affair. No problems with that one as Michael had left the materials on his desk and everything was in order. The second class was a bit trickier. The lesson was only 60 minutes long and was like a private lesson but there were three students. And one fellow had only attended two lessons in the past twelve weeks. So for his benefit I backtracked in the text and essentially scrapped my lesson plan. The next thing which made this a tricky class was the fact that they're not exactly the most talkative trio. So getting them to say anything in English was like pulling teeth. It took about 25 minutes to get them warmed up. In the last part of the class they were a bit more relaxed and it wasn't a such a chore to keep a modest level of energy running in the room. For me that is an important aspect of teaching. We're a conversational English school...the whole object of the exercise is not for the teacher to be talking for the length of the lesson.

That's it for this edition. I'm still waiting for that first big dump of snow for this year's winter.

Same Same but Different

Same Same but Different, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

I tried these "donut holes" at MisDo this morning. They're okay but they're nowhere as good as Timbits. Now I really miss Tim Horton's.

I suspect this weekend is when the civic election is going to be. I guess I'll find out once the noise pollution from those speaker equipped campaign vans ends. I did have a chuckle when listening to one. I caught it at the point where the tape was going on about "Sorry for disturbing you....(yadda yadda yadda)...Thank-you very much. Thank-you very much. Thank-you very much.". Yes, the recording had someone saying "Domoarigato" repeatedly.

Kimura Supermarket...It's not all Bad

One thing I picked up yesterday at the Kimura supermarket I visited was a package of FG-1E fuses for the neon light in my "washiki" room (Japanese style room with tatami flooring). I had originally thought it was the tube which was burned out but after replacing it and finding the new one didn't light either then I knew the problem was the fuse. I was going to hike up to Yamada Denki or somewhere else equally distant but I'm happy I found the required fuse at a store within walking distance.

One other thing about shopping here: often produce is labelled with the name of prefecture where the produce was grown. Thus I chose not to buy the daikon (giant radish) which was grown in Tochigi and Ibaragi. Those two prefectures are in the Kanto region south of Fukushima. A co-worker was going on about a report from an international team of investigators who said that there shouldn't be any produce from Fukushima being sold due to radioactive contamination. They found a hotspot down in a field in Chiba last month and the aforementioned two prefectures are north of Chiba but south of Fukushima. Just being safe...

Yes, I did buy this...

Yes, I did buy this., a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Okay...the last time I saw "Oh My" as a product name it was...oh, never mind. ;)

I made a quick run down to the nearby Kimura supermarket today. I forgot that they don't sell Starbucks coffee there. I think it's sold at the Yamazawa supermarket. Then again, I could be wrong it might be Max which carries it. Maybe I should just have Michael buy me some whenever he goes up to Yamagata. Anyways, I came home with onions, ground pork, some peanut flavoured snack food and this pasta. As I had said in the description of the photo, perhaps I should've bought penne at Yamaya but the idea of there being Hello Kitty branded pasta was silly enough so I fell for it.

I suspect that Yonezawa's civic elections are coming up soon. I've heard a number of cars going around blaring away messages of some form or another. I think I heard one mention someone's name (it followed up with "Thank-you" and other pleasantries). I also saw a sign board near the Machi no Hiroba square which has spots for candidates to put up their posters. I'm a bit amused at the idea of late fall, early winter civic elections here...it'll be fun to see if voter turnout is related to the weather conditions on voting day. The more snow they have, the less voters they have(?).

For the record: I believe the iTunes Canada store has a better selection of content than the iTunes Japan store. There are no TV shows available on the iTunes Japan store. There are plenty of Western movies (subtitled in Japanese of course). And you can dig up some obscure Western artists on the Japanese side. I checked and found that they had three albums by Art Bergmann (former K-Tels/Young Canadians front man) on sale. I really have my doubts that there are any native Japanese who know who Art is (I've seen him in concert with both YC and his later band, Poisoned).

Upside Down Miffy

Upside Down Miffy, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

AKA: "Dororia". James is quite proud of his idea of taking a Miffy plush doll, flipping it and giving it a new moniker. He uses it a lot in his kids classes. I'm not quite sure if it serves as a classroom "aid".

Oh yeah, in the foreground of the photo is the deck of vegetable and fruit flash cards. At the top of the pile is the infamous butternut squash. He's got most of his young students able to regurgitate that vegetable name but we all have doubts any of them will ever see a real one. I do think I remember seeing them back home. I think the Sunset Grill in Kits would sometimes make a butternut squash soup. But I can't say if I've ever eaten a dish using them.

The fun thing about that deck of flash cards is that it uses the British names for eggplant and zucchini. I know what an aubergine is if asked but "courgette"? That's the first time I've come across that word. ;-)

First Time on the Road

Tonight at work I mentioned that I wanted to head out for a bite to eat before teaching my last class. My coworker James piped out "Why don't we go for a drive?". At first I was a bit hesitant but once we headed out from the office I said "Sure". James' vehicle tonight was his second family car, a Subaru Stella which his wife usually drives. It's a small boxy little vehicle. I can't say there's anything like it in North America.

So, once behind the wheel I managed to pull the usual trick of trying to turn on the blinkers and ending up turning on the windshield wipers. That was before I got out of the parkade. I didn't make that mistake again once we were on the road since it's raining tonight.

As far as the car goes I didn't quite get used to how its braking goes. I'm used to the power brakes and ABS system on my former vehicle, a Subaru Legacy Outback wagon. If I pressed on the brakes of the Stella it seemed like we were going to stop on a dime. I couldn't quite find the point where I could step on the brakes without the car coming to a lurching halt, or worse yet, seem to be on the verge of locking up.

One thing I had noticed a while back is how much darker the roads are over here. They're not using sodium street lamps over here. That took some getting used to when behind the wheel. The other thing was that the lane markers seemed to vanish in the rainy conditions. Anyways, I was quite happy to putz around the city at 40kmh as that is the speed limit in most of the city.

It was nice to be able to get out on the road again. I've seen enough crazy stuff on the road here while walking around or cycling so I'll certainly be very careful and defensive whenever I get behind the wheel of a car.

A Big Shopping Trip...Of Sorts

My big shopping trip, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

First off... I've noticed a pattern of sorts with the precipitation here: It usually falls heavily in the morning and then lets off in the afternoon. That isn't always the case but it happens enough to make it worth one's while to sit out the morning rainfall and then head out in the afternoon.

So I didn't get out and about today until after I had lunch. First I picked up a few items to fill out a package I'm going to ship home. Then I looked, unsuccessfully for brown kraft paper to cover the box. I guess I'll just send it without that detail. One thing I picked up along the way, well, two actually, are a couple of packages of Kit-Kats which have "Otoshidama" envelopes attached to the packaging. "Otoshidama" are the Japanese version of the famous red envelopes which are used to distribute money to the little ones. I also tried to find a pair of boots but didn't come across any I liked.

After I got home I changed into clothes suitable for bicycling and headed out once more. At the bike parking area I met my co-worker Michael. I told him what my plans were and he mentioned a couple of shops which sold boots. One is called "Workplace" or "Workman" and is on the way from our place up to city hall. The other place he recommended is called Shoe Plaza and he said it was quite far off. I told him I was planning on heading up to Uniqlo. Turns out that Shoe Plaza is almost next door to there. He also mentioned that Yamaya, a liquour store with some imported foodstuffs, was next to Uniqlo and was worth checking out. So off I went.

The second I walked into Uniqlo I tossed a pair of gloves into my shopping basket. I've only brought a pair of leather gloves from Canada so I wanted something else less fancy. Next I came across some nice lined water resistant jackets. But they were kind of pricy at ¥9800 or so. On a rack around the corner I came across similar but not as heavy jackets for about ¥5600. Next I picked up a flannel shirt, pair of winter socks and a fleece sweater. That all added up to more than ¥11,000. I managed to squeeze that all into my backpack.

I suppose I was a man on a mission when I walked into Shoe Plaza. I quickly found the corner for men's boots and started pricing them out. The tall ones which come up to under your knees generally run about ¥4200 and up. My buddy James had suggested that I not pay more than ¥3000 but the ones in that price range weren't all that great fitting and the treads didn't look all that hot. Anyways, I bought a pair of boots for about ¥4500 and managed to squeeze that purchase into my backpack.

The last stop was Yamaya. That's where I picked up the made in America pasta sauce, made in Malaysia curry sauce and the Japanese micro-brew pale ales. I saw that they had cheese but balked at buying any after looking at the prices. ¥398 for 150g of French Brie. I told Michael that it was a bit dear and he commented that he's probably been here too long. To him that price was reasonable. He once picked up some Stilton for another co-worker for ¥1500. Ouch.

So there you have it. The genesis and execution of my "shopping spree". If my finances look good near the end of the month then I'll probably get myself measured for a "winter suit". That's a suit, made to measure, with a bit heavier lining in the jacket and thicker material for the slacks. Unlike Canada, made to measure suits are reasonably inexpensive. Suits are still pretty well de rigueur in a lot of company offices here so there's a bigger market to serve.

=================================

Random thoughts and observations:
1) The signal stop line often isn't right up close to the cross walk. Often it's about two car lengths back. The reason for that is simple: the streets are generally narrow, the corners tight and thus they have to figure in the extra space necessary to allow large vehicles to be able to make a left turn. I watched a JR bus today take a corner and just barely squeeze past a car stopped 2-3 car lengths from the intersection.
2) In Canada the post office used to make it a policy not to feature any living person on their stamps other than the living monarch. That has changed in the past few years. In Japan that policy obviously isn't in place. They're taking orders for AKB48 premium edition stamps. These are not cheap things at ¥5700 a pop (the sets contain two sheets of ten ¥50 stamps). What is AKB48? They're basically a conglomerate of 48 idol singers (all female) arranged into 3 teams of 16 girls each. Each team corresponding to the letters in the group's name. Plus I've read that there are sub-teams associated with the numbers. Yup. Marketing is a wonderful thing.
3) Getting a driver's licence in Japan is not an inexpensive process. A friend says that Japanese ex-pats will come back to Japan for the purpose of renewing their licences. Otherwise one could be looking at paying up to the equivalent of $3000 in driver training to get a new licence.

Takatama Station

Takatama Station, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Looking at this photo you'd think this place is in the middle of nowhere. Actually, it sort of is. But not that much. Takadama/Takatama is south of Tendo and this station is the nearest JR station to the Yamagata Traffic Safety Centre (Koutsu Anzen Senta-). I made my second trip out there today in order to write my driver's licence test. My goal being to obtain a Japanese driver's licence.

The trip out there was relatively uneventful. I took the 0911h train from Yonezawa to Yamagata instead of the 1041h train because the latter one would give me a five minute margin on catching a bus. I figured I'd take it easy and grab a bite to eat and a cup of coffee at the Yamagata station.

One thing I forgot about and which I got a good reminder of at the Starbucks in the Yamagata station...In Japan, Christmas season starts the second the Hallowe'en decorations come down. At the Starbucks they had removed their Colombia blend VIA instant coffee and replaced them with 12 packs of Christmas blend. Plus their music selection consisted entirely of Christmas songs and carols. I think I caught a version of "Hark the Herald Angels" done to a reggae beat. I wasn't subjected to the same thing at the Lotteria downstairs where I had their bacon and egg sandwich. I like that particular item: they use a mustard mayonnaise sauce which is quite tasty. Their place mats were advertising a couple of upcoming anime movies and their tie-in products. One of titles is the "K-ON!" movie. I wonder if that thing will get screened in Yonezawa. Maybe not.

Things went relatively smoothly at the Traffic Safety Centre even though I hadn't taken my passport with me. I figured since the fellow there had photocopied it last week then I wouldn't need it. Turned out he wanted it. Nonetheless we managed to get by without it. For some odd reason he asked questions about all the visa stamps I had in my passport. So I ended up answering questions about each one (and my somewhat wanderlust ways). Then he had to ask why there were no Canadian entry stamps. He got the gist of my explanation that Canada Customs reads our passports electronically via the code on the photo page. After that there was another round of questions pertaining to Canadian driver licencing, road tests, written tests and driver training. The last bit involved an eye exam and my forking out some money to get the actual licence. The best part of the process: as someone possessing a Canadian driver's licence I don't have to write a test or take a road test. I had the option of writing a test and I gracefully declined. The reason for this is that the Japanese view Canadian licence requirements as being strict enough to warrant allowing a straight transfer from a Canadian licence to a Japanese one. The Americans aren't as fortunate. I'm not sure if I have this right but my American co-worker said that he's never heard of an American pass the test on the first try. Though I have a vague recollection he was referring to the times when a road test was part of the process for Americans. I think today they just do the written component.

So at the end of the day I went out for dinner and ordered a self-celebratory beer. The next question will be whether I can snare a credit card issued by a Japanese bank. My American friend suspects I might have a better chance if I put my Japanese driver's licence particulars on a credit card application form rather than an alien registration card number. Unlike North America there is no such thing as a credit rating in Japan. It all boils down to how much money you make, how much money you have and whether or not you have some semblance of being a permanent residence. One of the other teachers, who has been here for 10 years, has yet to succeed in getting a Japanese credit card...but he doesn't have a Japanese driver's licence. We shall see how it goes.

Other stuff... I taught my first "Bunny class" on Saturday. I think I've gained a small amount of appreciation for what a kindergarten teacher has to go through. Mind you, my class was made up of 2-3 year-olds and their mothers. They weren't as gung-ho zany as the class of 3-5 year-olds two doors over. My youngest "student" hasn't turned two yet. I think his birthday is next month. It goes without saying that the really little ones cling to their mothers.

That's it for now....'til later!

All for Naught...

First thing in the morning..., a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

I've been thinking I'd get a Japanese driver's licence since prior to my arrival here. I reviewed the instructions on how to do it and found that the information on the Canadian web sites was out of date. It no longer is possible to exchange an international driver's permit for a Japanese driver's licence. One has to get a translation of their foreign driver's licence made and then go in to write a short test.

I got the translation made up a few weeks ago. That involved a trip to Yamagata which was a bit of an adventure in finding the Yamagata office of the Japan Auto Federation. All said and done I managed to get the translation.

Last week I got all my stuff ready to head out to the Yamagata Koutsu Anzen (Traffic Safety) Centre which is the equivalent of the Motor Vehicle Branch back home. It's located north of Yamagata in a city called Tendo. On Saturday we sussed out I could get there via Yamagata. There's a bus which runs out there three times a day from Yamagata station. Earliest departure time is 7:22 AM. Catching that bus entailed getting up early enough (5:00 AM) to catch the 6:09 AM train from Yonezawa to Yamagata. Hence the photograph.

So I trekked out to the centre. Got there just as it opened. Asked for directions to where to get a driver's licence transfer done. When I got there I was asked if I had an appointment. Oops. That was one thing we had missed when my friends and I had looked at the web page. So all I managed to get done was have my documentation photocopied and make an appointment for this coming Monday. Luckily it didn't take too long so I was able to catch the bus heading back to Yamagata station...the next bus would've been at 12:42 PM.

The fun part about this process...if I pass the test then I still have to make a return trip to collect my driver's licence. They don't send them out in the mail... (x.x)

Cheese Mentaiko Rice

Cheese Mentaiko Rice, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

I had this dish last week at a local restaurant. The owner of the place shares the same given name as me, including the kanji it is written with. I see him every now and then at a darts and pool bar he used to own. We go down there with the thought of shooting a few games of pool and having a drink or two. The last two times that has turned into "nomihodai" (all you can drink) sessions which suspiciously seemed longer than the actual 90 minutes they're supposed to be.

Oh yeah, I finally have a home Internet connection. The NTT guy checked the phone line and said it was okay. Yes, that's all he did. Then I waited for the modem to get delivered. I gave up and went shopping. Of course the delivery guy had come by 15 minutes before I got home. So I called in to reschedule the delivery. That was at around 3:50pm. At around 9pm I called in again and set up a request for a delivery tomorrow morning. A few minutes later I got a knock on the door and there was the delivery guy with my modem.

Anyways, it's 12:21am and I'm off to catch some sleep....

Things I Meant to Mention

Just thought I'd jot down a few small things which might be worth sharing:

1) Yes, I have seen a woman in this city taking her cat out for a walk on a leash.
2) Urban revitalization in small cities is probably next to impossible to accomplish in Japan. I've been told that the city governments can't place a lien on a property on account of unpaid property taxes.
3) The above may explain why the old downtown core of Yonezawa is in decline. Most of the new businesses have set up shop on the main road which runs about 7 blocks north of the old downtown. That's where one will find Book-Off, the Aeon(sic) department store, Yamada Denki, the movie cineplex and other businesses which have set up shop in the last 10 years or so.
4) There is no Starbucks in Yonezawa. There are at least two Mr. Donut shops though.
5) Public transportation in the city is a haphazard affair. There are buses but they tend to run quite infrequently. Walking, cycling or driving are the main methods of getting around here.
6) One can get home ADSL service as long as there is a phone line coming into the premises. You don't need to get home telephone service to get internet service. I actually haven't asked if cable TV companies here offer home internet service. I know my internet provider offers TV service as part of their package. I suspect they offer IP phone service...or at least home phone service.
7) For some odd reason the city won't set up automatic payment of city taxes from one's post office bank account. They'll only set it up to work with an account held with a private bank.
8) I had to purchase an extra pair of training runners to wear at the gym I joined. You're not supposed to wear shoes in the gym which have been worn outdoors.

That's it for now...

Local Garbage Collection Schedule

Local Garbage Collection Schedule, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Yes, I doubt this type of system would work in Vancouver. Here one separates their garbage into "burnable", "non-burnable", items marked as "pura" (plastic), PET bottles (plastic bottles), recyclable, hazardous and a couple of other categories. Back home I remember seeing all sorts of plastic and other things stuffed in the recyclable paper bin or the metal and glass containers bin. The folks who can't figure out a simple system like that would be likely be very challenged with this system.

One minor quirk: the plastic bags for disposing plastic and PET bottles are the same. But the pick-up days for those items are on different days. So technically speaking one shouldn't be tossing PET bottles in with one's plastic materials. I've made that mistake but luckily the garbage collectors overlooked it.

Another point of interest: The system is partly a "pay as you go" system. "Burnable", "non-burnable" and "Pura/PET" garbage has to be disposed of in officially marked plastic bags. These are sold, at a slight premium in local supermarkets, convenience stores and (I think) grocery stores. Hazardous and recyclable materials can be disposed of on designated days without any official wrappings or seals. But large items must bear a sticker indicating that you've paid for them to be picked up. Those are on sale at convenience stores.

So, as one can see, the system appears bewildering at first glance but you can suss out how it works in short enough order.

Yonezawa Matsuri

Yonezawa Matsuri Cosplay Competition, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

I actually didn't know there was a cosplay component to the Yonezawa Matsuri. I only caught the very end of it. Afterwards I had some takoyaki (not very good) and checked out the local sports club. In the evening I checked out the "Battle at Hasedo" show held on this same stage. I sampled a skewer of grilled Yonezawa beef after the show. That was really good. Plus it was nice to have something hot then. The temperature had come a fair bit (compared to Sunday night where I was still running the air conditioner).

The festival week took a tough beating as a typhoon passed over Japan during the week. There were handful of casualties in central Japan but luckily the storm did not inflict as much damage as it was projected to.

Takahata and Other Things

Today was my first day teaching on the premises of ASE, a semiconductor component design and manufacturing company, in Takahata. They're located north of Yonezawa, two stops along the line. Today was a warm day and it didn't help that the air conditioners are set to 28C in the building. Plus there wasn't an air conditioner in the classroom. I'm back in Yonezawa now and I'm exhausted. It was a long day.

One thing I forgot to mention: On Tuesday I did a load of laundry and as I was hanging my clothes out to dry on my balcony I spotted an elderly fellow wandering around the parking lot looking for something. He spied me and gave me a shout to ask if I could see a pair of his underpants on my balcony. It was windy that day and I guess one of his briefs had gone missing. It wasn't on my balcony so I have no idea if it ever did turn up.

Anyways, I need to get a bite to eat. A glass of beer would be nice too. Maybe next time I'll describe the next most nerve wracking experience I've had here: Figuring out the arcane rules of garbage disposal.... XD

"Home Sweet Home"

"Home Sweet Home", a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Things are slowly coming together. I replaced the map of Yonezawa which was hanging on the wall with the Canadian flag you see here. On the opposite wall I've hung the team Canada hockey jersey I bought for the 2010 Olympics. Other things I've bought to make the place more cosy: a place mat, soap dish, and slippers. On the practical end of things I'm wondering how the previous teacher managed to get through life without a kettle. Though I think Michael mentioned that she tossed hers out.

On Saturday night I went out with a group of ex-pats and locals to take part in a poker night held at the Crescendo Restaurant. It was my first time playing Texas Hold Em and I certainly did not have good poker instincts. I folded on one hand where I could've had a flush and tried to fold on a hand which I ended up winning with a four of kind. Plus I got beaten on the hand where I had been dealt a pair of kings...Ryo had been dealt a pair of aces Oh well. Things turned out well. I came in third and thus broke even.

Got my estimate for this month's electricity bill. It's a whopping 701yen. If only BC Hydro's rates were that low. Oddly enough, my usage level is about the same as it was in Canada: 27kwh.

That's it for now...Feel free to post comments if you like and thanks for "dropping in"!

Oh! It's an Earthquake.

Yup. We do get earthquakes in Yonezawa. There was a slight tremor last night. Actually, I wouldn't even call it that. It was more like a light shake. James, Michael and I were at Crescendo, a local eatery/bar, and we were engaged in a conversation with the proprietress about plans for our Saturday event. All of a sudden the customer at the bar exclaimed "Oh! It's an earthquake". Sure enough the hanging lamps in the place were all swaying.

Had the time this morning to make a bento lunch to take to work. It was a simple one: rice, tamago-yaki, and some umeboshi (pickled plums). My fridge is too small for me to store enough groceries in it so I can make super-duper lunches.

One thing about the radiation risk in this city: The general consensus is that the mountain range separating us from Fukushima is relatively effective in ensuring the winds off the ocean don't affect this city. Yonezawa is under the influence of what blows off of the Sea of Japan which is on the western side of the Tohoku region.

Oh yeah, my co-worker James is a Fukushima refugee (of a sort) in that he has had to abandon his home and move to Yamagata. Last night he confided that it might be 50 years before his old neighbourhood is considered safe to live in. He used to commute back and forth from his home to the Yonezawa school. Now his wife and kid have moved over to this side of the mountains. There are a number of Fukushima people who have moved over here. Michael, another one of my co-workers and originally a Vancouverite, has commented that our apartment building wasn't that full prior to the earthquake. Now a lot of the vacancies have been snatched up by people from Fukushima.

That's it for now...Need to prepare for a lesson for my little "monsters". ;-)

Just a Short Update...

Having located yesterday the bicycle I have inherited from the previous teacher I decided to make use of it today. First off, the thing is not a work of beauty. It has suffered its share of neglect what with the long winters in Yonezawa. There is plenty of rust on the frame and seat stem. The front brakes squeal loud enough to peel paint off of passing cars...okay. Perhaps they're not that bad but they're certainly not silky quiet.

Once I got the thing running I had to deal with two things: riding a bike where the cars are on the other side of the road and the instability of the bike once its speed falls below "cruising" speed. It's sort of like an acrobatic plane once its wing speed stalls...the thing will glide like a manhole cover. All said, I managed to stay upright from home to The Daiso and back.

All said, I won't be using that bicycle in the winter. If you search for "Yonezawa winter" you'll see why really quickly. Apparently it snows solidly for two months in the winter and there is snow on the ground for at least three more months. Fun. (^_-)

Firsts...So Far

First time so far for...
1) Watching someone driving a Subaru mini-sedan run a red light and make a right turn.  That takes nerve...trust me.
2) Seeing a live "wild" praying mantis...see my previous blog.
3) Coming up 500yen short to pay for groceries...Oops!  The fellow looked at what I had selected and said "I guess you're making curry tonight".  Thus the milk and bananas were jettisoned.
4) First taste of Kirin's "Aki Aji"(sic) seasonal beer.  It's sort of like a red ale, a'la Rickard's Red.  Not bad.  I was going to grab the tall can but this "conbini" was selling Yebisu beer so I grabbed a can of that too.  First time I had come across Yebisu in this town.
5) So far I'm surviving my first round of teaching kids.  First class was total anarchy.  Will need to tighten that one up.  The others were okay.  Will need more materials to keep them interested.  Eg: Flyers with pics of food to cut up and paste when teaching names of food, etc.
6) Came across a sign saying that a particular intersection was a location used in the movie "Swing Girls".  Click on the link to watch the bit of the movie which starts off at that intersection: Watch it on YouTube

That's it for now...Need to review lesson plans.  ^_^

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

This character was taking its time on the flight of stairs leading up to my apartment. It's the first time I've seen one of these outside and not in captivity. Can't say I was expecting to see one in this part of Japan.

Greetings from Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

The title says it all. I've arrived safely in Japan. It was more or less an uneventful trip. Customs officer didn't ask me a single question. The oddest thing to happen to me on the trip: I was tapped on the shoulder by someone sitting across the aisle and back one row from me on the plane. It was a young woman and her first words were "It is you!". Turns out it was Takako who I had met at the English/Japanese conversation exchange club I had frequented in Vancouver. She was on her way home to Japan. She wasn't originally going to be on that flight but had changed flights after breaking up with her boyfriend (it's a long story).

Anyways, that's it for now. No photo today as my camera is in my luggage which is being couriered over to here from Narita.

千奈美さんからのメッセジ。

千奈美さんからのメッセジ。, a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

最近私はたいてい携帯電話で写真を取っています。なんでかいつもカメラを持っていないのですから。まぁそれでいいだろうな。

Monto community centre

Monto community centre, a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

The admin of the ABC Wide Bay group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/abcwidebay/) on Flickr asked to have this photo added to the group. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the group is really affiliated with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/widebay/

Spot the wallaby

Spot the wallaby, a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

It's pretty well dead in the centre of the photograph. Taken while driving around in the Awoonga Lake area near Gladstone, Queensland. Anyways, I've almost finished uploading all my Australia and Fiji vacation pics. It only took me about two months to accomplish that...

木曜会お花見

"Sakura tags on a sakura tree", a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

Yesterday was the 27th annual Mokuyokai "Ohanami" held at the Asian Studies building and Nitobe Gardens at UBC, Vancouver. Feature activities were Japanese tea ceremonies, shakuhachi and koto performances, "kamishibai" storytelling, "origami" (paper folding) lessons, and the opportunity to try on "yutaka", traditional Japanese cotton robes. Turn out was pretty good in spite of the cool weather. The above shot was taken just around the corner from the entrance to Nitobe Gardens. Unfortunately my camera was uncooperative (claimed there was insufficient battery charge even though it was showing it as half charged) so I didn't take many photos.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/8936205@N02/sets/72157626346444875/

Candle light for Earth Hour 2011

Candle light for Earth Hour 2011, a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

I turned off the lights and lit the candles...but my iMac remained lit because I was downloading some stuff. If finally went into sleep mode after about 15-20 minutes.

March 20, 2011 - A Day in the Life of....

March 20 2011 - #1 a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

Today was a "A Day in the Life of..." day as per a Flickr group I check in on once in a blue moon. I simply went about and captured a bunch of images which don't necessarily tell a story about the day. Nothing fancy. Some of the images are a bit whimsical. Others are attempts at capturing what seemed to be unusual or interesting. The set of photographs which I've uploaded and made public are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8936205@N02/sets/72157626313309752/with/5545406453/

Enjoy...

"Free Libya"

"Free Libya" a photo by d.yaro on Flickr.

I saw a headline somewhere today saying that the UN Security Council had approved a "No fly zone" over Libya. That'll be welcome news for these protesters.