What am I doing?

Today I realized that I AM a teacher. I am capable of shaping futures/outlooks/knowldege/interest. When I look back on school, there are many teachers that stand out in my mind, and I still remember today! Even some of their lessons are coming back to me now. The fact that I might be one of those teachers for one of these kids in the future is mind boggling! I could teach them: America is full of murderers and drug addicts, and as far as they're concerned this would be 100% fact. It's amazing the amount of trust that is surrendered to me with virtually no qualifications on my part just because I have the title --Sensei! Kinda scary!

“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”
~Mark Van Doren

Things I discovered today:

1. Instead of a coin toss at the beginning of soccer games. Both team captains do rock, paper, scissor! or as they call it Janken.

2. Dolphins are the only other species besides humans to find pleasure in sex, and on that note, are the only other species that rape. 2 male dolphins will actually be in cahoots to corner a female and keep her as their sex slave-Natasha (and supposedly National Geographic)

3. Soccer games in Japan are quieter than golf matches. So quiet that I fell asleep during one today for a good 20 minutes.

4.Its okay to sleep at work, at your desk or even in the locker room. Japanese people dont really care, as long as you are there.

5. Birds and rats are physically more advanced than humans. Rats dont get cancer, can eat anything, fight off diseases like crazy and can survive ridiculous amounts of radiation. Birds have a digestive system that retains 80% of their water and therefore never pee. -Phil

6. If you have pcitures of your students on your blog, you can be fired. Just letting you know that I deleted a few of my posts because students were in the pictures...what a bummer! They are MY posts and MY blog! dumb rule!

7. If you give someone enough rope, they will hang themselves, with little or no effort on your own part.

8. Its funny the people you miss when you move to a foreign country. Person A: I saw everyday and thought that I would miss them: but dont. Person B: I havent spoken to since high school but miss them a lot. Interesting thing: perspective.

9. Japanese people brush their teeth after every meal and still have the worst teeth I have ever seen. Oh yeah and funny story...I asked why this was and a teacher replied: It's because Japanese people have different teeth than every one else...and my reply was: So what about me? GOT 'EM!

10. Dont name your fish after your friends because when/if they die, you will be very sad. Then you will have to call your friend and tell them that they died today. It's a very wierd feeling, Im sure, to flush Willimena down the toilet. Also, I dont think its very good Karma.

Lastly: Time goes by too fast! (Phil's story reminded me of that tonight at dinner).

-disclaimer: if any of these facts are wrong
it is because I hang out with Natasha and Phil
who are full of random facts/sort-of-facts that
I think are hilarious and makes me wonder
why on Earth they would ever know this!

so you guys know how Japanese cell phones are all fancy-smancy right.....well, you can email me from your computer and I will get it as a text if you are trying to get hold of me right away...or just want to make me feel special :)! So anyways..here is my email address to my phone:

kris10kykuye@h.vodafone.ne.jp

Random Day today let me begin by saying:

I was at 3-chu and the students were supposed to ask me questions about myself. Here are a couple of the more interesting ones:

1. Do you have a boyfriend? Are you single, will you marry me?
2. Are you wearing a wig right now?
3. Are you pregnant?
me: Why do I look pregnant?
student: yes
me: so are you saying Im fat?
student: laughing nervously (but no answer)
-he kinda hurt my feelings, I was sucking in my stomach for the rest of the day!! Awe, so sad for me! HA HA...guess that is a subtle way to tell me: get back in the gym lard ass!

I was correcting papers today:
Sentence was supposed to read:
The place I want to visit is_______. The thing is want to do there is_______.

The same student who asked me if I was pregnant:
The place I want to visit it space. The thing I want to do there is talk to E.T

I've been having a good week so far though...

Last thursday:
KODO (the famous Taiko) drumming group came to my school for a private performance! Sooo COOL! and since I was a teacher I got to talk to them afterwards! As it turns out they travel everywhere so they all speak pretty good English and were all anxious to practice their English on me! It was very cool...so anyways there is a HOT KODO member about my age who wanted to practice English...so in exchange I got a free taiko drumming lesson from one of the greatest (who was also not so bad to look at)! HA HA ....thats like the equivelent of getting a basketball lesson from Kobe or something! Good stuff!

Friday:
A survivor of the Hiroshima Bomb came to the school and gave a talk. He was only 1 kilometer from the dropping point and I have NO clue how he survived. The only thing that I understood was he ate "things that humans shouldnt eat" in order to survive...the end. I really wish I could understand more Japanese b/c I think that would have been sooo interesting to hear...instead I was at the back of the auditorium for 3 hours trying not to sleep without falling out of my chair and causing a big scene!

Saturday-Sunday
Went out to Niigata to party and have a good time. Sunday: worked all day. Gotta make that money!

Today:
Taught 5 classes and am exhausted. But we had another assembly like a rally. All the sports teams came out and did a skit and everyone cheered them on b/c on Wed they have sports day w/ all of the surrounding areas. No class, just sports games all day. So you know what that means!! No teaching for me! I get to pick which sports I want to watch and chill all day and get paid for it!! WOW, sometimes I love my life!

Tomorrow:
I just signed up for the gym today after the kid asked if I was prego! And I met a lady who teaches HULA DANCING! Sooo tomorrow is my debut as a hula dancer. Two hour practice!! Im really excited! wish me luck!

Ijjo Desu --thats all for now!!

Fun Times in Niigata City
...like woah..

MATSUMOTO CASTLE

So... on Sunday we decided to stop off at Matsumoto Castle. Good times...

Surrouding the Castle is its grounds...
1 Golden coy
Swans a-swimming
Pigeons a-crapping

funny signs
you know I had to take a pciture
The Entrance

The origin of Matsumoto Castle goes back to Fukashi Castle which was built at the beginning of the Eisho Era.

During the civil war period, Lord Osagawara in Shinano moved his manor house to the Hayashi district at the eastern foot of the mountain. Lord Ogasawara’s retainers protected themselves by building their houses around Hayashi Castle, the new manor house of their lord. Fukashi Castle was built in front of Hayashi Castle at around the same time to protect the front of the manor house. After that, Shingen Takeda of the Kai chased away Lord Ogasawara, to create a strong point for the conquest of Shinanao. Then in year 1582 (Tensho Era) Sadayoshi Ogasawara recaptured Fukashi Casles by taking advantage of the protectors letting down their guard during the Honnoji incident. Then he changed the name to Matsumoto Castle.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of dismantling and rebuilding the national trasure. After WWI the belief that cultural properties should be protected was strengthening and the national government conserved the towers from years 25 o 20 of the Showa Era (1950-1955). This year is the 50^th anniversary of dismantling and rebuilding. Since then, the infrastructure of the building and the facilities was preserved. In year 60, the historic park on the old site of the ninomaru-goten (residences in the second wing) were preserves. The rebuilding programs returned the castle to its earlier historic state and increased its cultural value.

Original thingy over the door

Yazama and Teppozama-

Each floor is fitte dwith holes for firing weapons.

The long rectangular holes, Yazama, were for shooting arrows at the enemy. The square ones, Teppozama, were for firing muskets.. Prior to the introduction of the firearms from Europe only Yazama were used in castle construction.

Ishiotoshi-
The shelves porjecting out were constructed at intervals along the 1st floor for (believe it or not) dropping stones on the enemy who were attempting the scale the castle walls.

The 3rd floor
A kind of attic to the second floor, is called "Hidden Floor" because there are no windows. The lack of windows made the main tower appear to have five floors instead of 6.

I should really not take myself so seriously ..ha ha

Staircases

Passage from the 1st-6th floor consists of discrete, unconnected staircase segments. They --as well as the fact that the stairs are placed steeply at 55-61 degree incline (great after climbing Mnt. Fuji) -- prevent someone from quickly ascending the floors. Thus the castle was structured to be easy to defend and hard to attack.

6th Floor

This was designed for the "War Lord" to stay if the castle was under attack and it is 22.1 meters above the ground. Lowered from the ceiling is the Goddess of Nijuroku-yama (26th goddess of the month) is enshrines.

There is a legend connected to the Goddess (of course). On the night of Jan 26, 1618 in a vision, one of the young vassals on duty saw a woman dressed in beautiful clothes. Handing him a brocade bag, she said "If the lord of the castles enshrines me with 600kg of rice on the 26th night of every month, I will protect the castle fro seige and enemy" It is beleive that b/c of that bag the castles had been protected and has survivies to be the oldest castle in original form.

This floor also has each window pointing East, West, North, South w/
maps of nearby Mountains and potential attacks.

This is also only 1 of 2 castles in the entire world that has a moon viewing room.

Just something that made me smile today:
I guess some love actually does last forever

"...because in the past and in the present
in the East and the West
I Believe that "warm and fuzzy feeling" in people's
hearts are essentially the same"
-Ayumu Takahashi

AND THEY SAY ALL ASIANS LOOK ALIKE!

I SURVIVED!

So....this weekend was amazing and long and tiring and grueling and freezing all at the same time. After driving from 11-9 we finally got to the base of Mnt Fuji to begin our climb. There were 2 groups...one that left at 9:30 and one that left at 11:00pm. I left at 11 because there was no way I was about to sit on the top of the mountain, freeze my butt off and wait for sunrise.

The beginning was all smiles..

I was wearing a sportsbra, tanktop, long sleeve, t-shirt, another long sleeve, sweatshirt and THEN a jacket...and I was still freezing! There was a major chance of rain so I took a whole other outfit to change at the top. Needless to say, my bag was heavier than most of the guys! not a bright idea on my part!

Standing at the base, I really had no clue as to how difficult this climb was actually going to be. I actually think that I underestimated it. I figured that if a 96 year old man could do it, I would be able to do it without breaking a sweat! WRONG! I not only broke a sweat, but I was exhausted to the point of not remembering the entire middle portion of the hike. Only 1 hour had passed and out of 10 stations we were only 1 station further than we began. I think that I also wanted to prove that I could be in the front with the guys...I definitely didnt want to be in the "girl" group!

This is the 5th station...At most of the stations along the way, there are huts where families live. Usually you can wake them up any time of the night and they will brand your walking stick with a stamp saying that you made it to ___ station... the farther up you go, the more stamps you get. Of course there is a fee, but well worth it in my opinion. This is the station where a few people decided that they couldnt go any farther and stayed here for the night.

By the 7th station...I lost all ability to think. There is a time when your brain loses ability to function and motor functions kick in. It seemed like my legs moved independent of my brain...one foot in front of the other...left/right/left/right. Overall, I think it was my pride that forced me to keep going at the boys' pace...Ill be damned if they beat me up the mnt..This is what I thought of for 5 hours.

So this is my hiking group...This is the 8th station! Only 2 more to go. I thought that it would be all downhill from here (not literally, but figuratively) but NO! This was the hardest part of the treck. There was no path, but rather huge boulders in front of you with arrows pointing up followed by another blouder with another arrow pointing up! This is me delirious after 5 hours of hiking..by this time I had stripped off all of my warm clothes because I was sweating in below 0 weather! Lets also just say that Im glad we hiked up at night because: 1. the cold weather felt refreshing after a while 2. You couldnt see how far down the fall actually was while you were clinging onto the side of a boulder at a mile above sea level!

9th station:
Seriously...the hardest part! At the beginning we were practically charging the mountain taking a break every 1/2 hour or so...by this time we were so exhausted and the air was so thin, we were taking a break every 5 minutes..or as we said, every 2 zig-zags...no joke! We were actually sucking on Oxygen tanks to catch our breath.


These are 2 random Japanese guys we picked up along the way because they had no head lights/no water/ and no food!

I barely have any photos along the way because it was honestly the furthest thing from my mind..I was concentrating on 1. breathing 2. staying warm 3. one foot in front of the other 4. not falling off the side of the mountain (which actually happened this year to a 25 year old)! 5. I wish I had more chocolate 6. how much longer???

FINALLY WE MADE IT! and just in time for sunrise, which I almost missed because I fell asleep! Time: 5:24 am ..it took us about 6 hours to get to the top.


me: trying to stay awake





This is my favorite picture that I took...
NOW for the shitty part...walking back down the mountain!


Cant see any ground but yet Im on the side of a ledge...greeatt




Finally at tree line...where living things can actually survive...but MORE CLOUDS!

More walking and THE END! then I slept forever...waking up to painful Charlie Horses in muscles Ive never used in my LIFE!

Mnt. Fuji -- You are such a tease!

Okay, so after going back and forth all day and checking the weather reports a -kajillion times...we have decided to suck it up and make the treck to conquer the Mountain! Although this is something that I'm not totally excited to do --hiking 8 hours, freezing my butt off, in the dark, possible rain, and below zero temperatures -- I cant wait! If that makes any sense at all... I mean after all, how many people get to say that they've sucessfully climbed Mnt Fuji!!

...well except the thousands of people who do it each year ;) but you get the point!

We leave here at 11ish and get to the base..start climbing at sunset, climb all night and get to the top just before sunrise. Sounds cool huh...the only catch being: its below 0 and a really high chance of rain! But since we will be above cloud line there wont be any rain, right? WRONG..i guess the winds are so strong that they actually blow the rain up! So the rain is hitting you from below...trippy huh? So basically Im going to need you to pray for me cuz this California girl is not so good with the cold!

The oldest man to climb Mnt. Fuji was 96. So I figure if his old ass can do it...I damn well better be able to! YA KNOW! Damn shame if I couldnt make it!

So story: Mnt. Fuji is a FEMALE japanese God. Until the Meiji period, women werent even allowed to climb it because they were afraid that a woman would threaten her beauty and the mountain would get mad and ERUPT. But after the Meiji period they opened up the mountain to women. Timing is everything huh? Anyways I think its extra special doing something that women were once forbidden from doing! Definetely something that makes you go hmmm... I guess that its just feminist part of me that feels like mooning everyone once I get to the top as a celebratory gesture...that is, IF i get to the top without the mountain erupting. I know plenty of women have climbed the mountain before and all, BUT maybe none of them hasnt threatened the mountain's beauty like I will! HHHHHHHHHAAAA! K im done!


Anyways here are some random Mnt. Fuji Facts:

It is thought that the first ascent was in 663 by an anonymous monk. A sacred mountain since ancient times, Mt. Fuji's summit was forbidden to women until the Meiji Era.

The ascent can take anywhere between 3 and 7 hours while the descent can take from 2 to 5 hours.

Aokigahara: is a forest that lies at the base of the mountain. Many legends surround it; according to one, the rock of the mountain contains large iron deposits that cause compasses and even GPS to stop functioning, making it extremely easy to get lost.

These legends are untrue; the magnetic field generated by the iron is too weak to have any significant effect. Both the Self Defense Force and the Marines run regular training practices throughout the forest, during which compasses, GPS equipment and other navigational electronics have been verified as functioning properly.

The caverns found in this forest contain ice even during summer. Legends of monsters, ghosts, and goblins haunt the forest, adding to its sinister reputation. Furthermore, Aokigahara Jukai (The Sea of Trees) is the top suicide area in Japan; the spirits of those who kill themselves there are said to be cursed to forever haunt the area. Over 78 bodies have been discovered, prompting officials to put up signs prohibiting suicide in the forest.

Mnt Fuji is a NO GO!!!

Weve been having some pretty awful weather as of lately, it's still going on in other parts of Japan as you read this. So the trip is officially off due to bad weather. I just got an email from the group leader, Paul...it went a little something like this:

Our group leader has been constantly checking up on 4 different Mt. Fuji and surrounding area weather forecasting stations and at the moment, Saturday night's weather has changed from cloudy with a chance of showers to a 40-60% chance of rain. Hmmm, not quite sure what the difference is, but anyhow rain is to be expected. But, this is all for below 3000m (from sealevel). Above 3000m, its just cloudy.

It is possibly to still climb Mt. Fuji this weekend if youre used to sh*tty weather and used to the cold. During the hike up, we will most likely get wet since theres no place to hide from the rain (we start hiking from above the tree line), and we'll most definitely need a full rain gear outfit. A poncho and/or umbrella isnt really gonna do it, since out on Mt. Fuji youre completely exposed to the elements and the rain will not only come from up high, but from the side and even from below. So, if you dont have a full rain suit (jacket & trousers) you wont be very happy be hiking up Fuji. Also if there is thunder, I will most likely be the tallest object around since there are no vegetation up there. I was all for climbing the Fuji just for a great experience but...getting struck by lightening is not something on my to-do list.

Even though we will most likely get above the cloud line to get away from the rain, that not always so. And we wont know until it gets brighter since well be going up at night. So, we could be in cloud cover even during the Goraiko (sunrise). Also, with elevation comes the wind and lower temperatures. At the moment, were expecting temperatures as low as 2-3C degrees and winds kicking up to 30-40km/h. At 35km/h thats either considered fresh or strong, and we'll also most likely be wet from the hike from below.

I have no climbing experience in the rain and in low temperatures. Hypothermia is a serious consideration along with just freezing MY ASS off in the cold since once on top, theres still no shelter to keep warm. Also, on top of all this crock you also have to seriously consider altitude sickness. So bottom line...I dont get to climb Fuji anymore...unless I stay another year, which is looking like a possibility. So..bummed out! Now I get a free weekend to do whatever...maybe go to the city and go to some clubs or something w/ my friends!

The Super Sanjo Social was a Super Success!
Friday, September 8, 2006

This a pic from the beach the first week I got here: The Sanjo Group. I’m sure you will be seeing them more often in pics.

At my apt before the fun-stivities

7:30 p.m. start:

Me, Ros, and Jenny

Still sober..kinda

Ros decided that she thought it would be a good idea for everyone to get dressed up! So everyone looks extra good

Sam and Yoshimi…thinking hard about their next English lesson together

OH well…let’s party!

Paul: I’m sure that he was drunk by this pic but Im not sure b/c he would have done it completely sober! Ya never know with him!

Jenny giving her “sexy” look and Melissa being pissed that Im taking her picture.

Me and Natasha’s cleavage that never ends. This is one of the few pictures taken that night that her face is actually in!

Ros, Johanna (w/ the pigtails) and me

After the official party ended, a few of us hardcore folk went to Honji-Koji (the drinking district of Sanjo) to get a little more tipsy

Of course, I was one of those people down for an after party

Ros is going to kill me for putting this pic up…

Phil is big pimpin in the middle

Question: How drunk do you have to be to get in a metal boat in the middle of the street in heels and dresses, THEN have a random Japanese man take a picture of it? Answer: THIS DRUNK! Ha ha..and the funny part is: It was my bright idea!! Way to go me!

A funnier video than yesterday's..I know it's hard to imagine...but it's TRUE!

Insane Japanese Pranks - video powered by Metacafe