Winter #2 in Japan!!

So, yes, I've been neglecting this blog. I prefer facebook, frankly. Go there to see moooore updates...
Anyway, I AM in my second winter over here in Japan. It is cold (though not nearly as cold as Iowa). I was fortunate enough to have been able to go back to the USA for xmas and let me tell you, it was AWESOME! I love the US. Maybe for the wrong reasons... namely the greasy, greasy food... secondly the price of things compared to Japan, but in the good category was definitely friends and family.


As for Japan, my house is uninsulated and I use a kerosene space heater to combat the cold. This year I also purchased a 2nd hand electric carpet that I sit on and play video game and eat chocolate.
This is my alarm clock, which happens to also have a thermometer in it. I wasn't aware of the thermometer when I bought it, but now it is a painful reminder every morning just how cold my house is. Here it is 2 C inside!! That's 35 F!! My shower has already frozen 3 times (my fault for not leaving it dripping, but I forgot).

It really doesn't snow very much here in Ubuyama, but when it does it makes my life miserable. In general, Japanese people freak out about snow and almost everyone has snow tires. It makes sense where I live, but I refuse to buy them. I just use my chains if need be. If I didn't live on such a big hill, I wouldn't even use them. Honestly, the snowy days are so few, that I usually just end up staying home in bad weather and the roads get better within a day or so.

While this is true for most roads, it is not true for my driveway. My driveway is really, really steep and long. Plus it's in the shade, so it takes a LONG time to melt.


This is my car parked at the bottom of my hill. I went to school with chains and it warmed up, so I took them off before returning on the clear road. I figured I would be able to ascend the hill, but I was wrong, so I had to park at the bottom and walk the 1/4 mile to my house. lame


All this snow, however, does have it's advantages... One night I came home at 11:30 pm and failed yet again to ascend my hill. On the hill this time, however, were a bunch of lights and people. Needless to say I was surprised! I live in the MIDDLE. OF. NOWHERE. I never see anyone out here and here were a bunch of people filming and snowboarding on a handrail by the old, abandoned school. Turns out, they skateboard too and know some of my skater friends in Kumamoto City. Small world.

Winter also means that it's my birthday! This year I turned 28 and my friends had a nice party for me. I've got some nice friends! Thanks for the cake!

Swine flu in Japan

So we've been dealing with swine flu here in Japan for a while now and many people have become infected. Japanese people basically flip out when it comes to stuff like this, apparently. It's a country where even cab drivers wear white gloves to keep everything clean. It is also customary to wear a mask if you are sick, feeling like you might get sick, or even if you aren't sick. In short, everyone here has freaked out about the swine flu.

Events have been canceled, airlines have quarantined people from other countries, masks have sold out on several occasions and so on and so on. Here in Ubuyama, there have not been any cases yet, but it has gotten to small communities in this area now. So far, relating to my life personally, they have canceled the exchange program between Ubuyama and Thailand (both ways), canceled my summer English camp at the beach and flooded my desk (and my head) with announcements about the virus.

When swine flu first came to Japan they called it "buta influenza" or "pig flu" just as in the rest of the world. But about a month after this name became popular the Japanese government thought that associating the flu with pork products might lead to fewer sales of the delicious meat, so they changed the name to "shingata influenza" or "new flu." It was really annoying because I had to learn a whole new word and I liked having the pig mascot leading the flu epidemic. The jokes I made were more fun too. Oh well...



Here is a display in your typical drug store. The sign right in the middle is for masks.


Airline security set up heat detecting cameras to catch and quarantine people with fevers. Foreigners, especially, were targeted in this, sometimes even while traveling domestically. It was ridiculous. Eventually people became annoyed by this unfair treatment and the person in charge of the operation came out saying that she knew all along it wasn't going to be effective. She said it was all a show, basically, to make it look like they were fighting the flu hard.

As the flu got closer and closer to Ubuyama, public buildings (everywhere) starting placing hand sanitizer at entryways. These are the ones at my school:

I also noticed that soap showed up at the spigots outside the building.
Despite all of the efforts, nothing will stop the flu, I'm afraid. That, beyond anything, is what Japanese people (and everyone else) need to realize. People will get it, people will die, and, yes people should wash their hands more, but please just chill out people. Quit canceling fun, educational and important events already! Especially ones where I get to go to the beach!!!

Japanese BBQ

During a Japanese style BBQ you will notice a few things that are different than in America. Beyond the fact that the fires are started with a blow torch and a fan - no lighter fluid, the first obvious thing that separates western BBQ's with Japanese BBQ's is that, in Japan, it looks like a bunch of alien looking life forms landed on the grill. You might also notice the lack of American hot dogs and hamburgers. Also, there are no steaks, rather bite-sized cuts of veggies and meat to be grilled and dipped in sauce.

This particular BBQ was held at my supervisor's house when my predecessor came to visit. It was fun!

Summer festivals

Summer festivals are fun. Summer festivals are many. Summer festivals are best enjoyed with beer and sashimi.

Unfortunately for me, the summer is now over but I did make it to some festivals, of course. It's hard not to go to them, since there is a festival just about every day during the summer here. I have yet to go to some of the really BIG festivals, as where I live the festivals are rather small because of the small towns and villages. There are no big cities. However, the feel of these small festivals is really nice and you can go to some of them and be the only foreigner there. These are usually the biggest events in the villages all year, so everyone is out and having a good time. There's lots of cheap food vendors, games and fireworks. Fun times!



some street performances


Goto sensei!




Japanese kids love bugs...



Now that summer is drawing to a close it's time for me to get back to work. Personally this is fine in my book. Japanese people have to work over summer break anyway and students usually come to school every day for studying and exercise/sport clubs. It's really not much of a summer vacation here in a Japan. It mostly just means that they don't serve school lunch, which is awful. I just wind up eating cup noodles or some other instant, just add water foodstuff. The first day of class was a welcome event as I was finally treated to a cheap, healthy and delicious school lunch again... my favorite, curry and rice! YAY