The Traveller's Typewriter

Happy, full hellos to all!

Things are bright and well in Spring here in northern Japan.

I am no doubt looking forward to writing much here, however…

I will readdress the point that my town is looking forward to our delegation sister city’s visit and thus my attention has been requested elsewhere.

To my other blog! The blog for my city.

You can find that blog here

Now, I will be pouring much efforts into this ‘other’ blog. In the meantime if I can write more here at Japanafaction, I will!

But in the meantime I would request your viewing to be done there!

Coffee hasn’t been as strong as one would like, but hey, we get by, right?

That’s all for now and we’ll see you at EmbetsuStyle -every Monday!

Ciao!

Yesterday we had a bit of internet trouble in the office. The trouble was at my desk. I could not manage to get the posting client [online] working.. long story short, I was inhibited from posting on the job. Was this for the better? Am I not meant to write my blog while at work? I just don’t know.

But I will say, we are coming up to a fine event here in town. In a little more than a month we will be hosting our sister city’s delegation from Canada here in Japan.

Again, as such a great event approaches I have been encouraged to pour more efforts into my ‘town blog’. Many up and coming visitors will read that work in preparation for their visit! Please note the address, and if I don’t find you here as regularly, I shall know that you are reading my other work.

Until we chat again, next week, halo!

www.embetsustyle.wordpress.com

Well, we all have many things to do -work, study, live, care, begin…

Responsibilities, we all have them. One of my other responsibilities here at work is to head up a second blog. This second blog is focused mainly on keeping my town’s Canadian sister city informed and up to date, as well as provide an expose of my town to the rest of the world(?)

Anywho, I thought that I would share the link of my town-run blog. I will be putting more effort into this other blog as we are expecting a delegation from Canada to town here in Japan in July.

I encourage you, check it out!

embetsustyle.wordpress.com

In the meantime, although writing more is always nice, I think that yesterday’s blog is already full! Well, it is already quite long. I will, the next time, protect and allot an appropriate time for story telling. That is, instead of brushing the whole ‘posting’ experience into one small stock of time.

Until next week, let’s keep on the road! Good luck in your next few days’ worth of endeavors!

(as the weather has become ‘better’ it is now perfect for evening walks in search of painted sunsets)

Well, I have a few things I would hope to outline about my weekend -about the weekend and how things have been going lately. But somehow Monday climbed up onto my desk and has tackled me out of work workplace chair and onto the floor. My responsibilities for today (Monday!) have overcome the best of me.

Literally in this minute I finished drafting a lesson plan for Friday. Friday will involve hosting a class at our multiplex centre here in town, part of a series running for retirees. I have been asked to present some simple English and to entertain (crudely speaking) the bunch from mid-morning to afternoon.

On top of such mini-projects and already teaching at highschool today I am truly saddened to have my [blog] posting pushed to such a small block of time! It was well before noon hour that I had plannned to begin a ‘dashing of words’ immediately following my noodles and veggies at lunch. But lo, post office, banking, and the aforementioned tasks checked me out of step and caught me off guard.

Okay, no one likes to read blabbering..

So I will put it this way, I am only minutes away from joining our town team at an after-work baseball match at a nearby location. To be elaborated on tomorrow along with the following-

On Friday, I had hoped to re-join taiko practice after a healthy absence, but was shocked to find no members at our practice venue, and instead was invited to join a post-discussion dinner and snack-

Saturday morning I boarded a bus, which I thought had no bathroom (to my demise, in order to ride and go shopping in Asahikawa. Surprise me, the bus had both a bathroom and an elementary school-aged girl who unlike many Japanese students of mine up and began trying her English with me (a complete stranger) as we neared our bus-ride shopping destination-

I have re-taken up listening to both Japanese music (listening to the music like there is no other music on earth -I love Japanese music), and watching Japanese films on my internet-based television service whilst I am still in Japan. I am filling my headspace with so much of what the country has to offer before I return to a safe and North American Canada in the summer-

Stop. So I have all but run out of time (working hours, you see) to post and tell you about my weekend, share a few pictures, and to parse words on the above topics!

But if you will join me -between today and tomorrow- I will not only share photos but complete this post! You can read not just one post but two! My time-up crisis having now turned into a unique opportunity.
(An aside, I am a little beleaguered at my not being able to really set and study my Japanese text today. Knowing myself I can always punish myself with a hearty study session tomorrow).

And of course I always have time to write about coffee… On the weekend I found myself a hand-mill coffee-mill. I have recently been gifted a whole KONA pound of coffee from a dear friend and can now enjoy both milling my whole bean coffee by hand, that sweet crackle-and-snap sound in the morning, followed by boiled water being spouted over a pour-over filter (all by hand)! This heavenly routine now has become a part of my morning. And I say, if I had to evaluate my coffee journey from the outset of my time here abroad I have surely upgraded from instant comeby the roadway coffee, to a fine and religious coffee experience.

The same can be said for my journey thus far in Japan. I have come by much instant gratification (food, fun, friends and other ‘honeymoon excitements’), I have seen those ‘instant things’ melt away and after much scrounging and attnetion my experience has become refined, whole, and religious?

Well, maybe you catch my drift. But the coffee still works.

(the eki-ben, or train station bento box that I enjoyed on the bus ride home. A delicious combination of Hokkaido seafoods i.e., crab, scallop, dried sea urchin, etc., all for a great price of about ten dollars).

Ciao

Sorry for the confusing title. How best to ad-attach a dictionary definition to a post title? I don’t know, haha!

I had a sprite of insight today when I was parading through class at high school. During a routine textbook and vocabulary copying-down and explanation I thought to myslef, ‘Wow, I really enjoy at least knowing some of the backgrounds of English. Root words, Latin, Greek… hmm, I should look more into that!’
And thus the title of this post.

But if any of you have perhaps read on from day one, you may have read that I like to hobby myself with looking up and writing out dictionary etymologies and root words. Well, I had better stop blathering about my interests and just get on with writing about the weekend… (but, hey, I love words!)

Now then, the weekend was the second part (2-part), ‘twapart’ of Golden Week. Right up until quitting time on Wednesday the weather was safe. But after Wednesday, it began to rain. I was suddenly surprised at how chillled the air can become when rain drizzles and sunshine is covered up by cloud. And here I have just survived a gruelling winter, I know..

But luckily I had movies to watch and shows to catch up on. Now, you can’t blame a guy for sitting inside while living abroad in Japan; or at least I would have before. Before coming to Japan I thought that every waking minute should be spent out and about, mixing within and mixing into oneself the surrounding culture. But when work comes to rest, it is just nice to have some ‘inside days’ to relax over a four day weekend. Once in a while.

So with my point made and talk of movies, I was ready to film. To sit and watch movies. Where I previously would wait to visit Sapporo to rent CDs, I have discovered a video rental shop in Rumoi. This now means that if I bus or find myself in Rumoi I can pay pennies for rentals (films or CDs that I want) and then, get this, drop them in the mailbox and have them shipped back at little to no extra fee.

Living in the country(side)? Problem solved.

So with rains pouring down and chilling my sleeping space I reverted to said film-watching and cooking.

And to keep things short and smart let’s press on to Sunday. Sunday we had a little bit of a sunny break. Somehow, and for just long enough, I was able to lace-up and go running. I went around town and then out beside the highway to investigate our roadside rest-stop.

At our highwayside stop, tiny shops have now opened for the season to sell octopus tempura and soba noodles and curry noodles and such. I have committed to visiting every weekend to taste a dish until I have flavoured all.
But on that Sunday I didn’t eat, I was dripping from my run and I wasn’t done yet -sorry for the details.

I was readying to cross the highway to the oceanside when I was traversed by a rather lanky-looking and long-legged fox. I paused atop the dry, scratchy grass for a moment. I am sure the fox would have done the same but he seemed far too shocked and embarassed to follow suit, so the fox kept on toward the roadway -and then was gone. (Not ‘gone’, gone, just out of my sight)

I continued my run down to the water. I was happy to smile at the waves that crash day after day under sunshine or cloudy weather on our Sea of Japan coast. With enough sunshine to inspire me to return again to the water (another time, and maybe with lunch), I turned and made my way home. Of course it was not long after I finished peeling my shoes from my aching feet that it clouded over again.
Just enough respite to enjoy the tail of the long weekend, Sunday.

And that’s it!

I don’t think I have any startling pictures to share, but I will dig through my files when I catch a chance at home.

But, alas it is Monday again. I have not indulged in coffee yet. Today would have been the day, cloudy all day, lazy and stupid in the morning as I clambered across cold floors trying to make sense of what I should do first in the morning hours after a four day weekend.

Either way, all worth it.

Have a very nice week and as always, there will be more to follow.

Ciao

(a hearty family dinner served!)

Where and how to begin? Here we are at last. Now with or without mentioning, it may have slipped my mind to note my upcoming Monday absence. Maybe..

But when Friday last week hit I was ready, the next day, to out and go travel.

On the Friday night I had a friend from town come over, after I nearly overlooked his phonecall (my phone buzzing wildly in my workbag-on-floor) some time after working hours. It was on that Friday that we opted to enjoy a few travels over the next few days.

Travel plans included requests that we both had, like onsens, and good food, and driving. And with that let’s get right to it -the telling..

We two left bright on Saturday morning. We drove and drove out to Asahikawa. With a trusty travel guide in tow, and a ramen travel guide, too, we stopped for a famous ramen lunch in Asahikawa. Slurping some noodles after finally finding the restaurant, we made off to the newly renovated Japan Rail (JR) station (Asahikawa). A nice, new tall and empty-ish building, the new rail station looked like hotel-meets-airport. We wandered there, too, and then drove on.

Our next location was Furano, a city smack centre of Hokkaido. There we ate curry at a famed tree-house of a curry shop known for mixing their own curries. Once stuffed and full we pressed on back to Biei, a lovely town next to Furano where rolling hills wave so seamlessly into the horizon and distant mountains that if you stare off into one direction for long enough you might think you were in France, Italy -north or south.. but some place foreign with lush, gentle hills.

Photos being snapped all along we found lookout points, towers, hidden cafes and sunsets while killing time waiting for our check-in accomodation. Our reservation led us into the hills of Asahikawa, yes, we went back, and after some navigation and driving a good thousand or so metres higher up in elevation, found our secret place of a mountain getaway onsen.

There were few cars parked outside of this looming and swollen bath house/ryokan (Japanese inn). This place was so secret and special in fact, that one of the previous Prime Ministers of Japan had stayed at this inn, too.

Check-in was seamless and we flushed into Japanese yukatas and overcoats, purely Japanese style, and made for dinner. The spread of food before us consisted of concoctions noting abalone wrapped in kelp and baked in salt crust (the crust you had to discard in large chunks before enjoying the expensive shellfish), blanched whole tomato in a white wine glaze, fresh mountain vegetables duly reflecting seasonal varieties wrapped in fresh, cured cabbage, and on, and on the list can go (we actually enjoyed a jellied thimble of mountain spring water topped with a fine sugar syrup, too. The water tasted so crystal-fresh..)

We ate, enjoyed a bottle of local white wine, sweet and mellow complementing the dull colors but bright flavours of the meal as we stared out the windows at the gloomy evening landscape. The whole of night seemed to settle gently around us, sounds quieting, slippered feet shuffling softly across wooden floors. Dark browns, and rich stone settings complementing the old but recent bath house inn at which we were staying.

The onsen, or baths, were actually heavenly. With names like ‘chamber of the gods’ bath, or other whistful titles, high ceilings, low and dull lighting was awash while splashing and spilling water echoed off of high vaulted ceilings. The warm baths were all but crowded -wooden pails and stools sidling low mirrors and stone floors. All these stone and wooden elements pairing so well with the mountin hot springs that bubbled up water into these beautiful Japanese baths.

Oh, have you never tried a Japanese bath? I say, if you have not, you are truly lacking a tangible sensing of relaxation heaven..

After enjoying half of the at least seventeen baths scattered among the building we retreated to our tatami laden room. The soft aroma of the gentle grass mats filling the room -futons folded out gently along the floor.

Are you picking up on the fact that this weekend was a relaxing one?

Anyways, let me spare you the relaxing details far too numerous and I fear I could drown you in them so let’s get on to the next day.

Relaxation and breakfast had we drove on to Otaru. This European inspired town boasts Euro bastions, pillars and stone makings that could prove the lazy eye to believe one is actually in Europe. We checked into a crowded little hostel -crowded not by people but artifacts from abroad. Bows and arrows, hammocks, coffee sacks, stacks of books and manga, a cat playing lazily in the corner by the Japanese windows of the old, characterized house.

And to be brief our lazing between brewery and canal, waterways and oceanside -eating grilled seafoods blazed over real wood and charcoal at our table, we had a fine time. Sleep was little as we found much to talk about with our variety of hostel guests coming from Italy, all around Japan, and China. In the words of Bilbo Baggins ‘It was a night to remember’.

Fun, food, relaxation, strolling, lazing, picture-taking and driving along the coast of the Japan Sea. Can I squeeze any other details in there? Oh! Food, good food.

Stop.

It is now Tuesday and I am back to work in the office, punching keys and trying to remember all the delightful week-end details. We will have one more day of work tomorrow and then most of us will be off again from Thursday until the following Monday -not a bad way to begin the month of May.

Again, I will have to share pictures with you once I sort through the photos of fresh Otaru sushi, and Antiguan coffee, fish cakes and ramen plates that I have snapped and photo’d.

And you know what? I don’t feel half bad talking to you about my holiday. Work has indeed been crazy and far too busy some days. At times I only find time to keep myself level by seaking off into the break room and stretching between things I must do next. But that really is work, isn’t it, keeping far too busy for one’s liking?

Anyways, a good friend sent me a pound of Kona coffee beans that I am trying to figure out how I am going to grind and drip. Unless you want to send me a coffee mill, it is back to work for me.

Photos to follow, I promise.

Oh, and a happy month of May to you.

This morning is Tuesday -it is a ‘back to work’ day for a brief portion of the week. If one had taken Tues./Wednesday off this week one would have a nine day holiday.

But this is Golden Week season in Japan. In April school years will have started anew, new transfers, ins-and-outs, etc. This end of April-to-May holiday is meant to give respite and renewal in the midst of a busy new season!

In the spirit of holidaying and prying the gripping claws of workplace responsibility from my limbs, I took up road-tripping with a friend from town. We went about and were out of town, and away from internet-y things -thus explaining why the ‘no Monday post’!

Give me a few hours, I pray. I have a few middle school classes at which I must assist and then I will regale you with a few soup-sized tellings of my Golden Week pt. 1…

Coffee-out!

I went about -to Sapporo I went.

There was a mighty big speck of excitement leading up to this weekend. For months I have hounded internet sites and music flyers in search of information about concerts in Japan. ‘Jpop concert in Japan’ was on my top ten to-do list while romping around here in this country. This last weekend I went to Sapporo, I saw Perfume at a city-side concert venue. Gosh, golly, gosh. The performance was… let’s just say that I experienced everything I hoped for -and more.

I showed up at the venue three hours before show time. Some of those ‘before hours’ included lining up to buy merch before the doors opened. Turns out being a little more than three hours early to the venue was not enough. As I neared the arena I saw people trickling in toward the venue from all directions. Some people were dressed in signature pink and black for the group’s tour. And when I finally stepped into the square where tents were set up, there were four line-ups waiting to buy merch -before the merch tents opened. There were even groups of girls dressed in cosplay appropriate to Perfume’s previous album releases.

It was worth the wait and seeing people, buying towels, t-shirts, all kinds of candies, or coats (even sneakers) was rewarding. I found that in no time we were minutes from doors opening.

The show itself was amazing. Laser lighting, techno-pop/Jpop sounds flashing with the electro feel that only Perfume can offer. Futuristic and happy. I was thoroughly impressed and was on my feet (with the rest of the arena) jumping and fist-pumping through the whole concert.

Some noteable differences between North American shows and Japan performance include (in my experience): the artists walked to each corner of the stage and commented on people in the crowd. They greeted each section with bright hellos from the stage. During the performance at brief intervals one of the three artists would address the crowd while the other two girls brushed their hair, and took a brief rest stageside.

Laser lights flashed around the arena like I have never seen. The crowd cheered in unison at appropriate parts to many of the songs creating an almost ‘conversation-like’ experience between the crowd and artists mid-song! The enthusiasm and interaction between performer and observer was astounding. When the girls were off-stage, wild fans from the crowd would call out a nickname of the artist in favour over all the cheering and clapping.

Even minutes before showtime, about ten whole minutes, the crowd began clapping beat-by-beat awaiting the appearance of the group on stage. After the performance the crowd clapped again in rhythm calling out, ‘Enco-ru’, to which the trio reappeard for a final two songs. At then end of it all the three girls stood on stage and almost interview-like each gave their impression in turn of the performance and how much it meant for them to be here in Hokkaido. This tour was a sold out tour; and they may have just added additional dates to their performance (Hokkaido was to be their last stop!)

Other hilights included group members teaching the crowd rhythmic dance moves like hand-waving, or jumping to appropriate parts of upcoming songs. All in all, after having walked away from the concert venue waiting to board overcrowded trains back to town, I felt like I had just personally met the members of the group. It did not feel like I watched from some sixty or so metres away, but that I personally met the performers. Seeing the artists interacting with bouncing objects on video screens, and talking to crowd members has never been so appealing.

I walked away from this concert experience brighter, happier, and a little more in touch with the pop side of Japanese culture. I will never forget this experience; and after all it has been a dream come true. I mean, there were even individual baggies with promotional flyers for the group, and a questionnaire, etc. on each individual arena seat! This wasn’t just a concert, it was a tailored experience.

All I can say is that if you are looking for sprucing up of you music library, or a taste of Japanese culture (music-side), have a listen to Perfume.

Of course the rest of the weekend did include the odd bowl of ramen, and shopping -but who’s to say that ramen won’t happen again soon? This concert is one for the books -it’s one for my books.

ps. oh, and why the title ‘leggings’ to this post? After jumping for hours straight I think I suddenly have sightlier calves…

(oh, and how well do I feel today’s post is written? I’d say, 6/10)

Today’s post is an excerpt from an email that I writ to family back home. The contents consist of a brief walkabout that I had this weekend. Not edited for clarity, not really, but raw, finger-to-keys email that I wrote right after plopping down at home after this Sunday walk. Meant purely for your enjoyment. As follows,

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I walked past our town, beyond where most old shops and packed-together houses lay, and I moved along the highway. Safely to the side of the roadway, I went up as far
as our pachinko parlour that lays on the outskirts of town. Out there I turned and walked past that entertainment building, and down a long, long road. In the distance I could see the evening sun shining furiously off of the ocean.

>
Once I met up with the ocean and saw mounds of concrete blocks and shapes that
are piled up there to break the waves, I stared out at the sea.
After a significant time trying my best to focus on nothing but the crushing seafoam before me, I turned south and headed back toward town. My route was oceanside. About one hundred feet of earth and blocks of dirty, melting snow separated me from the sea of Japan to my right.

>
As I kept on passing building after old building -warehouses and shipping yards, barns or sheds that probably looked far better when they were first built- I found it. I found the fishing yards of my town.
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I have seen many building here in town, some old and some new. But in addition to the fantastic structures that look as if they had been built only last year, this fishing yard amazed me. The long, low structure set with gaping garage-openings wharf-side looked just like something you would find in a fantastic fishing space near say, Granville Island in Vancouver. All of these small town fishing
yards lay open, waiting for tomorrow’s work; and the settling sun was painting golden all of that clean, new concrete. Ships were resting coolly against the dockside parallel to the awesome fishing stacks. Tako/octopus traps, or plain wooden boxes; and fishing nets, some laid out in a straight orderly fashion, and other net-cages were stacked in even blocks. I have never seen this ‘fishing’ side of my town before.

>
Then I marked my way past all of these buildings, finding structures and other industrial-looking buildings some new and some old all squashed together in this corner of town fitted squarely at the oceanside and Embetsu river’s corner. After hitting the river-side, still more buildings and some squat houses before me -more ocean and fishing docks stretching out into the ocean to my right. I turned west and headed along beside the river with the ocean at my back.
I picked up an apple tea when I reached our larger of two convenience stores. Then turning south again I walked across the bridge dividing our river, the bridge feeding the highway that runs forever along the ocean. I stopped to admire the sunset, breathing deeply. I was lost there for a while, the sun setting against my face.

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A few hundred more yards along the highway again and I came to our highway rest stop, famous for being one of the many larger more ornate buildings highway-side here in Hokkaido. Weaving my way between some resting semi trucks I climbed the
crackled stairs up the hill to the church-like building at the top, Tongarikan. This place both a restaurant and tourist stop. I sorted through the shelves inside keeping the restaurant to my back and found a postcard and some rice-topping fish flakes seasoned with roasted black sesame seeds and chill peppers. After paying for my prize I exited the room and stepped back outside facing the ocean again. I looked down at all that water far across the highway, past the odd buildings and few homes
across the open space. I knew I had to get home soon. With my hands half in my pocket and half outside in the cool Springtime evening air, I walked home.

>
I found some parts of town that I have never seen today. New buildings, new places. Something about this walk really opened me up to my experience of being here in Japan anew. I felt like I was really in Japan again. Not just work and workplace schedules. I found a way outside all of my normal habits and circles today. Today I broke free and walked somewhere new. Seeing places I have not known existed while I have been teaching and complaining my way through the last eight months has healed me. I look forward to each following warm, sunset day from here on.
>
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The end, for now(?)

Next Monday, more tellings to follow. A fine weeke to everyone!

Ciao,

You know, I was so busy today that I completely forgot to post. But get you, I did post this little scribble of a write!
And I usually pride myself on my short-term memory, that is if I tell myself something in the morning, I usually remember for noon or early evening no problem. The funny thing being that I usually write down every other thought that burrows through the grey matter in head. That all being washed at you, excuses, let me say that tomorrow I long to/look to posting to you.

Ciao.

Ps. I have to say that though I love me some coffee, I can’t drink it the same since I’ve gone off of it… *(

Pps. Am awaiting this album with much splendour!