May: May 1- May 7

May, 2017

            Welcome to Golden Week, everyone!  This is a long holiday that basically gives me a full week off.  It’s a nice chance to refresh and to recover from getting settled and while some may travel, I want to use it to consolidate my gains, so to speak, but I will have stories from it appearing below, so…enjoy!

May 1, 2017

            My sleep cycle has been way off base lately, with me lying down to sleep at like 2 and not getting to sleep until like 3 or 4.  This means, I’ve been waking up later, lately.  Since that was the case, I decided to do something simple, but that I wanted to do for a while and head in to Sendai on Tuesday, for both sightseeing and some school business.  So, today, I headed to a nearby conveyer belt sushi place, which was good and I got good food for the price, and after that, I headed into the country side.  My boss basically gave me directions saying that while the rice isn’t ready for harvest yet, you get more rural the more you head in a certain direction.  I headed out that way.  I saw some of the sleepy rural Japan that I always loved, but would only see as I passed on trains.  A tiny temple that, I swear, I wish my house looked like with its great ergonomic design and lots of tatami.  It was right below a sleepy graveyard and I headed up it to get a shot of my city from a distance.  It was a nice peaceful day riding my bike, though since I had to cross a bridge with a large uphill climb, I quickly re-learned that with steep climbs, it’s often better to just push the bike instead of riding it, as your weight and gravity fight you the whole way.  As such, my legs are a bit sore from trying to ride up hill in this manner, but I fixed it on the return trip. 

On the way back, I passed the public bath house and decided to head inside.  While lacking some of the bells and whistles of the spa world, it is an experience that must be felt to be believed.  The cleanliness, the light headed nature you get after a good soak and how good ice cream or a meal is from their restaurant after said soak.  I may go back, but it is an intense feeling, so I can only do it sparingly.  Not a bad way to spend about 560 yen, though.  That said, I felt like a dumb foreigner because since I didn’t know the layout of the bath house I tried to put my backpack in the show box.  Yes, I am dumb foreigner.  Anyway, I figured it out, had a good soak, and while soaking I remembered something I wanted to do for a class.  See, I’ve created some basic conversation templates to help with greeting someone in my upper level classes and I figured, why not make a few more that are based on how the language will be used.  One for asking questions, like a tourist one, would be good, and perhaps I could modify them further.  It’s something I plan to work on when I return to school after Golden Week. After bath ice cream is lovely, however.  It really does help you to cool down, though I admit I was a bit woozy and staggery after my soak, so I had to take it slow and the ice cream helped me take a breather.  At the bath houses, they even have nap rooms for people sleepy after their soak.  It really is quite the experience.  My night will be a bit of frugal eating, taking out the trash, writing, and finishing up the game, Nioh, which was a cool little samurai-esque dark souls game.  Frustrating at times, I did enjoy it, but it dragged for a bit, so I’m ready to move on to something else.  Anyway, great title.

Hoping to correct my sleeping patterns tonight and tomorrow I will head into Sendai City, both for some sightseeing and for some business. Also, I took some pictures of my country side tour and may take more during golden week.  These will probably be featured on one of my bonus updates on the blog.

May 2, 2017

            What a day…I got up early because I knew I wanted to take the Sendai Loople bus which takes me around cultural sites in the city if I buy a one day pass.  Which I did.  I only visited three places because I had other business in the city, probably wise too since I am now super mega exhausted.  The bus was mostly crowded, so I was standing a lot today.  I visited the mausoleum of Date Masamune, the founder of the Sendai clan and it was a nice building, pictures to follow on the next weekend.  I also revisited Sendai Castle, which was now open for business, so I got to see the city from up high, enjoy cultural and historical locales, visit shrines, and get some green soy bean taiyaki.  Surprisingly good.  Also, the lady running the counter was very sweet.  I forgot my bus pass there and she ran to give it back to me once I realized I lost it.  So, I bought a coke from her because I was thirsty and the Japanese do not accept gifts well…by that I mean they either won’t accept it or will feel like they need to repay you which…kind of defeats the purpose of repaying the nice lady.

            I skipped all the museums today.  It’s nice to give yourself something to come back to another time, like with friends, plus I needed to do other things in the city.  I paid a visit to a smaller shrine after Sendai Castle, but I should note that, holy god, the stone stairs tore up my legs something fierce.  There were a lot of them and many of them were quite tall.  I was sweating all day.  I wish I’d borrowed a walking stick, because they let you do that at the mausoleum and return it on the honor system later. Once that was done, I just enjoyed the rest of the bus ride back to the station.  Sendai is known as the city of trees and has a lot of foliage.  Not like an elven city or anything, but it’s much livelier and full of life than Raleigh or Burlington.  It’s a pretty city.

            I had a burger today.  It’s…weird.  I mentioned it years ago, but it holds true.  Eating an American style hamburger in Japan is weird because it tastes…wrong?  I mean, not bad, but it doesn’t have the same flavor as an American burger.  It’s okay, mine had bacon, a soft boiled egg, and lettuce on it, but it didn’t gel as well as a Red Robin burger might.  Might try a Mcdonalds burger later this week to test.  Ugh…I spent so much money today. Okay not THAT much, but like 30-40 bucks for my tour and food?  I’m going to be keeping a budget once my vacation is over so…there.

            I had to get back to Sendai to look for materials for class.  I wanted to buy some cards games the students could play but which would still be proactive in helping their English studies.  Taboo was the first one to spring to mind.  I have a home made version in my cubby at school, but I wanted the real deal.  Sadly, no go. I walked my feet off through Sendai and checked the three stores it might be in.  I found some board games, but they were all in Japanese and were more symbol management, like Catan or fantasy card battle games, than English Training, so I eschewed buying them.  I may have to order it online.  First half of the day was really good, but after the tour, I was super tired and just dragged all the way home.  I did have an “ah-hah” moment when I got a bit lost and realized, oh hell, I have a cell phone with GPS.  Let’s use it.  I am dumb…sometimes, anyway.

            I’m going to recover tonight and might take an easy day tomorrow, as my other plans are to check a bazaar style store for card games on Thursday in the evening and check out some nearby Buddhist temples on Thursday in the morning, with a stop off for Mcdonalds before I go home. Friday, I want to head back to the country side.  I liked riding the bus today, however, I had such a sense of personal space, tranquility, and peace exploring the country side and the bathhouse after. It was wonderful.  I’ll skip lunch so I can get some soba at the bathhouse after a soak.  That’s the plan anyway.  We’ll see what comes of it.

May 3, 2017

            God…why so many sweets?!  The sweets in Japan don’t feel sickening like in the US, so it’s easy to get more than you need and just…I dunno, man.  I spent today recovering from my previous few trips.  I wanted to play Overwatch with friends, but I calculated time wrong so it’s actually tomorrow that I get a chance for that.  I did some gaming, I wrote for my book, and at around 5 or so, I went out shopping.  I checked out a lot of stores looking for board games, found none, but I did find some magnets which I could use for class, so looking forward to trying that.  I went grocery shopping today and got lots of frozen food, however a big problem is, as I mentioned, sweets.  I got melon bread, crepes, and some frozen ice cream.  I ALSO got vegetables, fruits, and some good fruit juice…can’t do strawberry milk every week.  Still on vacation, but doing more traveling tomorrow.

            Well…okay, so I bought a game a long while back that was the remake/port of my favorite game, Odin Sphere.  I bought it before I had a PS4 and brought it with me to Japan, but dragged my feet to start playing it because…well, it’s an emotional experience. And…I started playing tonight and…holy shit, guys…my god, this game is SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!  Not just that!  They MADE IT BETTER!  This isn’t a simple port.  I loved the original both for the great story and voice acting and for the simple, but deep gameplay.  They made it deeper, but also simplified it and gave it nice quality of life improvements, along with the overall improvement in the already gorgeous graphics(no lag/slowdown in this game anymore,) but MORE than that, they added new enemies, new attacks to existing enemies…Vanillaware, the company who made this, I think I love you.  This game made me cry with joy in the first ten minutes for how good it was.  I’ve almost never done that, save for like Final Fantasy 6 or so.  My previous favorite game ever.  The only thing I really want is someone to share it with.  Best friend, why aren’t you here?!  XD I kid, but seriously, this game makes me so happy.  I am happier than I have been in…well, the last time I felt this good was when I got the news I was hired for this job in Japan. So happy!!!

May 4, 2017

            Oh, god, so tired…I started my day playing Overwatch with friends.  I’m definitely rusty, but it was good fun talking with everyone again.  After that, I wanted to go on a temple tour and visit the local temples, just use my GPS and see them for myself.  However, that plan got a bit scrapped.  See, I visited one, and it was nice, however I went past the second one and started to see soil that looked a bit…sandy.  This is when I realize that Natori is actually pretty close to the ocean.  So, I made it my goal for the day to see the pacific ocean up close.  I biked for…god, how many kilometers?  At least 8 or 9 each way. I crossed the bay next to the ocean and got up close to the high walls used to blunt tsunamis and I saw a local shrine along the way, offering my respects and getting an omamori because why not.  I did finally get to the ocean.  It was a long trip, but the smell of the salty air, the feel of the sand underfoot, and the same ocean, as unchanged as ever, the ocean the entire world shares(Do not be pedantic with me, people, I’m being poetic,) its size reminded me of my own insignificance, but also of the connections shared by all us people.

            Having seen the beach, I headed back to Natori.  The ride was a bit long and I was drenched in sweat.  My butt was numb, but I made it back, stopped at a Mcdonalds for lunch(Good lord, Japanese Mcdonalds are so good,) and headed home.  Right now, all I want to do is rest.  My legs were sore from days and days of exercise already, but now they really hurt, my butt’s yelling at me, and I have no energy for much beyond a bit of gaming.  Going to rest for the rest of today and head out to the bath house tomorrow for a proper respite/end to my vacation.

May 5, 2017

            Ugh…tired.  I did a bit of light shopping today and bought a butt pillow for my sitting and some scented stuffs for my home.  I also found some tatami for sale, but I want to talk with my co-workers and get some advice on what I can buy to put under my bed, because I really miss sleeping under tatami. I almost headed into the countryside, but only did a short distance. I didn’t want to get too sweaty.  I’ll explore more later, especially since the bathhouse is on the way back.

            Speaking of the bathhouse, I headed in for a day of relaxing. I think I might have stayed in a bit too long though, as I’m light headed and sleepy today. I relaxed for a while, got some thinking done, hoping I remember it later since it was for my book, and then I got some lunch.  After a hot bath, most people want food or something to replace the nutrients sweat out or to fortify you against the light headedness.  So, I got some ramen, a cola float, and a bit of black sesame ice cream.  Black sesame is…weird.  It’s got a taste marginally like peanut butter, but it’s sharper and stronger and…ultimately, it’s not something I really want again.  Not bad, but…eh?  Since then, I’ve just been so tired, so I’m taking the rest of the day off to just rest.  I may not even need dinner, since I had a big lunch. I updated a small personal food and experiences journal I have while I was eating/waiting for my food. Seriously though, I am spending too much money.  It is vacation, but I am going to be keeping a stricter budget afterwards.

            I want to make two observations here, before I finish. The first is a strange disparity between modesty.  Japanese men, at least since I don’t know about women, will gladly go into bathes in the bathhouse naked, however when out of the water, like I read in previous books, they seem to want to protect their modesty with small towels.  I mean, cultural?  I don’t really understand the purpose, since nudity is common in the bathes.  I wonder why.

            Second observation is either about gaijin in general or just me.  It’s hard to say because I’ve actually had a similar experience stateside.  I tend to have people avoid me.  Not like hissing and making the cross sign avoiding me, but no one wants to sit next to me, in trains, bathes, whatever.  I’m used to it, as I’ve had this happen since I was a kid, but it runs a bit counter to the politeness prevalent in the rest of this country.  I guess maybe it just surrounds me?  I don’t know.  Figured it wise to make the observation before I either take a nap or forget about it.  The hot bathes made me light headed, so after I got home, I’ve just been laying down…

May 6, 2017

            Nothing much to report today.  I got up and played Overwatch with friends.  After that, I headed out to the pizza place my boss took me to when I first arrived.  I found it again by chance and really wanted pizza.  Granted, I paid more than I wanted to for it, but good god was it worth it.  The gentleman running the restaurant makes standard pizza, but also pizza with a cream base instead of a tomato base.  I had a pizza with bacon/ham and a kind of gravy base with cheese.  It was excellent.  I even got some vegetables today, haha.  It was a bit of a ride to get out there, I was on my bike for…a good 15-20 each way, but I enjoyed the exercise.  I tried a bath in my own tub.  While I have the space and enough hot water, it just wasn’t the same as the bathhouse so I think I’ll stick with showers for the foreseeable future. Strangely, after my bath, I got super sleepy and tired.  I wanted to do my journal entry and some writing, but I just had to crash from about 2-3:30.  Maybe I’ve pushed myself a bit hard with the exercise lately.  Not sure.  Anyway, tomorrow is my last day before I head back to school.  Excited to try some new teaching ideas I have, also worried because I really want to improve.  I did get in my writing today, however.  Gonna make a commitment to myself to try and do at least two writing days a week(more is okay too) and two editing days a week.  Let’s see how that turns out for me.

            Oh, also I heard from a friend of mine.  I sent out letters to those close to me and they finally arrived, so that was cool.  Sadly, I sent them out the day before I got internet, so…they probably seem a bit more melancholy than I am now.  Either way, it’s nice that they have something from me in Japan.  My golden week has been exhausting, but I really do love this country and this area.  So far, I’m having a great time and I hope I can stay for a while.

            Actually, short update.  One thing I forgot to mention is that while my passport is good for at least another 18 months, it might be an issue in 2019, if I am offered a chance to stay a second year.  So, I did some research on how to renew my passport from Japan and found a way.  It is a lot of paperwork from the consulate and I have to mail it all in, but I can make it work and I hope to do so once I hear news from my bosses.  If they want me, I’ll do it here, if not, I’ll do it when I get back to the US, because I will want to travel again.  Fingers crossed and hoping that I can do it here.  Really love being here and recent changes to the US have me worried about going back, both financially and in terms of morality and stress. On a lighter note, when I start back at school, I’m going to confirm with the other teachers that it’s okay to get small things mailed to the school in my name.  I can get most games I want in Japan, but the souls games are…not among them, sadly.  So, if I want to play Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3 in English, I need them mailed from the US.

May 7, 2017

            Not much to report today.  I got up a bit late, I’ve really been needing more sleep lately for some reason, and then I did a bit of shopping.  I bought Biohazard 4/ Resident Evil 4 because I love it and I want to play it this Halloween…though I might play it again sooner, since it is really fun.  It’s on the PS4 with Japanese menus and English dialogue, but I’ve played it enough so that shouldn’t be an issue.

            Anyway, I got lunch at the Mos Burger, which is like Japan’s answer to Mcdonalds.  It’s…weird.  Save for Mcdonalds, I haven’t found many places that actually nail the taste of an American burger.  The texture and contents of the Mos Burger is…different.  Not bad, but it feels a tad off.  Still, I might experiment with them since they’re close to my home.  I also had pouch ice cream today, in a pouch with a straw.  It’s amazingly good and I’m a bit bummed I haven’t seen it for sale in bulk at the store.  I think I’m going to lose weight from exercise here, but the Japanese sweets are addictive because they’re just sweet enough to be good, but seldom are they too sweet and make you feel sick and lethargic.  It’s my last day before I head back to work, so I’m taking it a bit easy.  I’m enjoying life here.  Tomorrow, I hope to enjoy getting back to routine.