(Top: Here's Mark. He had just dished out some Irish stew when out of nowhere he threw a car bomb into the middle of the crowd. Luckily the flaming bottle was quick snatched from the air drunk! No one was hurt)


St. Patrick’s Day

We had us a wee little St. Paddy’s Day celebration out here in the sticks o March 17th. Mark, a fellow JET and a good buddy, is our resident Irishman. Like last year, he invited his friends out to the inaka and we gathered together in his cozy apartment for some Irish stew, hot whiskeys and a wee bit ‘o’ that ol’ Irish Cheer. Everything was going great until my car exploded outside. All of the 20 or so people at the party froze in fear, all except for Mark, that is, who was still dancing around like nothing had even happened at all. When I asked him what the Pepper Bomb was all about he just said, “I dunno, mate! (Right: Cheers!) They must be after your Lucky Charms!” and he kept on dancing the Riverdance while a-whistlin’ the Irish Spring jingle.

Much to Mark’s dismay, we were all growing tired of listening to The Cranberries, so he rallied the group and skipped us over to his local Mama-san’s for some more drinks and karaoke. For those of you who don’t know what a Mama-san’s is, it basically a little mom and pop joint in a small town. The “Mama-san” term I learned from Mark, but it’s pertinent because usually each one of these little places is run by a very composed woman who is usually anywhere from 40-80 years old. (Above: I brought my Yaya's hat for good luck, and o' course, my trusty hip flask! Jeff wearing his usual nsty sour pus face in every pic. I'll try not to publish any more of that sarly mug.) Towns could have one of these places if it’s a smaller town, or up to 5-6 for bigger towns. I think they are great because after going a few times you are recognized and appreciated and often are served some small morsels “sabis” (service), or, “free”. It’s like a Japanese Cheers. Boy if you could have seen the look on her face as us warm-bellied gaijin come-a-tumblin’ through the door one by one, the line of them never seeming to end! In the end we gathered around a couple ‘o’ big tables, fired up the karaoke machine and danced about like a bunch of drunken Leprechauns, which we wished were true, but only Mark fit that title to a “T.” (Right: Marko. Can a person look any more Irish than this?)

(Above: Check the name of this coffee... lost in traslation?)

After Tokyo, Al and I headed back to Ichihasama. The Japanese have a word for “country” and it’s “inaka.” So when I describe where I live to Japanese people, I tell them I live in the inaka, and they crack a smile. Inaka people, like country folk in the states, have their own slang and dialect to their speech. Some say it’s even hard for Japanese people from other parts of the country to understand the inaka dialect, and this is comforting since understanding people is still very difficult for me.
(Above: Super happy fun Japan ski time!)
Al brought his snowboard and our plan was to hit the slopes. Japan is famous for the amount of ski areas that it has per capita. You’ve all heard that the 1998 Olympics were held in Japan- there were the famous Olympics in which my acquaintance, Johnny Mosely won gold in the freestyle moguls. Recently Japan skiing has gained more international recognition due to some favorable articles in magazines such as Outside, and Skiing. So Al and I were both excited for our first skiing experience in Japan, but there was one problem: This year was one of the warmest winters in 60 years, the snowpack was reflecting this statistic. But, we researched some areas and decided to just go for it. We decided on a place called Geto, which was about a 2 hour drive and promised the most snow in the area. Here’s some pics of Al and I “skiin’ in the Geto!” Be careful, these could be dangerous! :)
(Above: From the parking lot)
Geto turned out to be ok. It had some good lifts and a couple of slower gondolas, but the terrain was rather flat by US standards and a bit disappointing. Japan has tremendous possibility for some incredible and vast ski areas, the only problem with the existing areas was that the design of the lifts and runs is rather baffling/confusing. Often instead of one longer lift going to the top of a peak, where you would have access to various ways down, there is a series of smaller lifts, that appear more like steps, and strangely enough, you often have to hike a bit uphill to get to the next lift, which is just beyond me. (Above: Al catching some air) Another interesting phenomenon are runs that won’t let the skier go back to the exact lift they just disembarked. When Michelle and I went to Zao, we often found ourselves on another side of the mountain and had to take a zig zag lifts for a good ½ hour to get back to our original area… just strange. A final problem is that the Japanese have such a strong emphasis on safety that one isn’t allowed to ski anywhere they aren’t supposed to. There are no backcountry areas and skiers must always stay in bounds or risk having their tickets pulled for the day. This rule is great for families and small children, but for the more advanced skier it really limits the fun that can be had. I miss the old, “Ski this area at your own risk” signs in the states basically saying, you’re responsible for yourself after this point. Mt. Bachelor, in my fair state, has a wonderfully popular area called Northwest Territory, which is the coolest name and also just what it describes: a territory that isn’t groomed or maintained, but you are allowed to ski back there at your own risk. Many ski areas don’t mind when a skier gets lost because 1. The skier is charged astronomical rates for the search and rescue, most likely resulting in a profit for the ski area and 2. lost skiers often get media coverage thereby resulting in coverage for the ski area and maybe even earning it the reputation of “Extreme!” which in America is a simile for $$ baby! Nevertheless, in spite of the flat, slow terrain, overly strict-freedom-limiting safety measures, and confusing lift design, I still had a good time skiing.
(above: a scrumptious Japanese dinner)
Al and I got a 2 day package deal that included 2 incredible meals a day, a lift ticket and of course room and board. It was a true Japanese ryokan experience and I was glad that Al loved it.

Ewoks/Orange People

There's a strange breed of youth here in Japan that think it is really cool to mak their skin look orange. How and why they do this is beyond me- I think it is absolutely ridiculous and unattractive, yet, there must be some purpose behind it but this still evades me.

I call them Ewoks... you know... like in Star Wars: Retrn of the Jedi? Sometimes their lips are a lighter color than their surrounding face, like Ewoks, and that's just not right.


There are different sub-species of Ewoks, too. Here are some Rocker Ewoks- very common. On any given day these guys are out helping Princess Leia and the Rebels defeat the evil Empire, or, they are on stage as the lead singers for Japanese Whitesnake... it's a tough life, it really is.

Also, note the hair. These masterpieces of human protein must take hours todry, feather, shape, and glue! How can they get it all done in a day. I definately feel some "hair-inferiority" when I'm around the Ewoks.

It is standard practice that at least one of the Ewoks in the group smokes. They couldn't walk outside together if they didn't have this key component.

Check out this guy's hair, did he just roll outta bed or something- oh, wait, it's supposed to be like that! My bad! The sweatpants are very unusual for Ewoks, so they must have been in transition or something here.




All in all,the Ewoks are friendly creatures. They are always ok with the amature anthropologist, like me, snapping a few pictres of them. It makes me see that they have also been conditioned to do the mandatory peace sign. This give me confidence that there may be hope to educate these strange creatures and make them functioning members of our society. The final challenge: grooming and skin care.

SHIBUYA

Shibuya, Tokyo is known for being a hangout of the Japanese youth, and, consequently, also a shopping mecca. It so happened that this is where out capsule hotel was located, so on the morning before heading back to Ichihasama, we decided to cruise around a bit and check things out. Al and I are both adamant people watchers, and with cameras in hand, we snapped some pics of some of the crazy styles you see in Japan these days:

Top: Here is a good street shot of Shibuya madness. This place is both visual and auditory overload, with bright lights, beeps, music, jingles, colors, neon, shopping bag, and vendors screaming from their store front about what they have to offer today. For someone like me who isn't used to this you can only handle it for so long. Al and I had a great bowl of soba noodles for breakfast and then shopped for a new pair of shoes. I didn't find anything, but Al got a great deal on just the pair of shoes he was looking for.

Here are some girls waiting to cross the street, shopping bags happily in hand. There is very little obesity in Japan and the people, in general, are very fit. They use public transportation more, so they walk a lot, and also just eat much more healthy than we do in America.

Name brand is huge in Japan, and when you buy something name brand here, often it is flaunted largely and boldly. Many parallels to American youth.

Oh, the in style right now is knee-high stiletto boots. How women walk in these things is beyond me, but they somehow manage. I went iking and saw a few women hiking in shoes like this, too. Crazy.

These girls are your average high school shoppers. Check out all the bags... cracks me up. This was a common sight on this day since it was the SUPER AFTER NEW YEARS SALE DAYS!!

The peace sign here is in almost EVERY SINGLE PICTURE! It gets very annoying, yet I've looked at pictues taken of me only to suprisingly discover that I was throwing the peace sign, too! We're all being braiwashed!