Thursday, March 12, 2009


Last weekend I played soccer! It sucked and I was sore for 3-4 days afterward, but it was fun and we won!

Maybe it's needless to say this, but the Japanese people who play in soccer tournaments (even if it's just a group of teachers) take everything WAY too seriously. There were a couple of times I feared for my life because people got really pumped about the game. Plus, I was the most retardedly dressed person of everyone. I didn't have a wind-breaker, tall socks with shin guards, spikes, or even running shoes. I played in a jacket and my skateboarding shoes. It was funny.

Luckily there were really good players on my team, so I didn't have to do much and we still won. I think the Ubuyama teachers are so good because there is nothing else to do in Ubuyama besides play sports, so they get a lot of practice. I, however, am much to lazy and frightened of the cold weather to venture outside as of late. I'm sure I'll start in again when it starts to warm up. This has been the longest winter of my life. I mean... WTF? Warm up already!!!!! I'm sick of it.



after the games, the male teachers studied the other teams' moves...
i mostly just sat around twiddling my thumbs




My car was in the shop for the shakken inspection, so I had to get a ride early from Ms. Kanayama.

After the game, we went to an onsen and went drinking. I love my double chin here.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Burning a volcano... seems redundant somehow...

I descended from my small, teeny, tiny, minuscule, microscopic dot of a village today and found the volcano (Mt. Aso) ablaze. That's right... they burn their volcano... BURN a frickin' VOLCANO!!!

wow....

WOW....

that seems really awesome.... and it WAS really awesome!
the best part were the throngs of hobbiest photographers with thousands of dollars of camera equipment around their necks walking in the middle of the roads.

and what do they use to protect the public in case the fire were to get out of control???

a frickin' hand-me-down K-car (white plate vehicles that are powered by lawnmower engines) spray-painted red and outfitted with a siren.

Seriously, that thing couldn't be holding enough water to extinguish a campfire!!

oh, Japan...