Taipei

We arrived in Taiwan around noon and of course we were greasy and ready to lay down somewhere for a very long time. David Jinkins, staunch and starched was there waiting for us. Thankfully he was there so we didn't have to deal with much. He made sure we had the right bus and the right tickets and then took us into the city the whole way chatting with us about what we had been up to Economics. When we finally jumped off the bus in Taipei David insisted that we go to a certain restaurant to have his favorite dish, unfortunately it was closed and we wouldn't get to taste it til the next day. We had set ourselves up in a hostel not far from David who was, we would find out, run by one of the strangest men. He was really nice, but so strange and always wanting you to do something. Sign this ping pong ball, write in this journal, or join my international group, he just wouldn't quit. Thankfully Dave got us around the city a bit and we saw some nice neighborhoods as well as had some good food. What were those cold balls called Dave? J Later that night we again went out for some beer and strange food. We ate at a Tibetian food and had a nice tea called butter tea. I thought it smelled reminiscent of something foul, but was soon taken with its creamy flavor.

The next day we were up late and ready to go by noon. It was our objective to see the National Museum and to go to Taipei 101. While the national museum was neat I would not recommend more than half a day there if you are not going for a particular reason. There many old aritifacts and even some more modern displays, but nothing to hold my attention for more than a few hours. Moving on to Taipei 101.
101 is, but will soon not be, the tallest building in the world. We took the elevator to the 88th floor which is close to as high as you can get. This floor was an observation floor and although no one else seemed to notice or care I could feel the building sway! It was really cool. Something very unique about Taipei 101 is that there is a giant metal ball suspended by cables in the center of the building on the 84 floor. This is supposed to keep the building balanced as it sways back and forth and particularly in the case of an earthquake. I have been up a lot of tall things, London Eye, Eiffel Tower, Prudential Center, Empire State building, Sears tower, top of St Paul's, top of St. Peter's, but I was very taken with Taipei 101. It was very unique. That night we went out with one of Dave's roommates for a couple of beers and some authentic hole in the wall food. Good stuff.

The next day we did not do much at all. After waking late we took a couple of trains to the eastern side of Taipei where there is an extension network of cables hosting a gondolas that go up and down the surrounding hillside. If you want to see a video please visit http://kevininjapan.podomatic.com/ it was really quite cool. We stopped at the top of the mountain to take in a Buddhist and a Shinto temple and then went a little further to have some tea.
All in all a good night, we headed back to the hostel where a birthday party awaited.
Our eccentric hostel keeper had found out that it was my birthday in January and so decided to throw a party for me and the two other guys who were staying there that had January birthdays. About 15 people came together to have some cake and beer. It was a good time made even more fun by the sheer silliness of it all.
The next morning we were up late, again, and out of the hostel by around 11 to get our early afternoon flight back to Japan. In a way it was a sigh of relief as we were all ready to be "home" again. For me though it was a bit sad as I had to leave my friend Dave again. I have seen him in 4 countries now and in each he has played tour guide to me with no complaints. I am certainly lucky to have a friend like him.

The Island

The Island. The island was beautiful and full of tourists. Our bus ride from Koh San road was fine, but a bit long, about 10 hours. They played Die Hard 4 on the bus and turned off the lights, so reading was impossible- so we watched Die Hard, even though we had already seen it. We arrived at the ferry port at 7 am and boarded a ferry, which was fine. The ride to the island was beautiful. As the sun came up we could see many islands around us and the nice blue water below us. Having traveled for about 12 hours by that point we were about ready for a shower and a good nap.
When we arrived on the island our hotel was not ready yet, so we chilled and got something to eat across the road at the Safety Stop bar. This became headquarters for rendevous and the like; also they served good hamburgers for when we were tired of Thai food. Once we could we all went to our hotel, showered, and then lounged for a couple of hours to regain our footing. That afternoon we trekked it to a beach not far from us and went snorkeling. It was really fun, but I thought it to be unusually hard to do. I guess I just figured it would be easier than it was. I kept getting water in my tube and had trouble keeping up with my partner, but it was still pretty fun and there were a few fish and such to see. At one point Rich was snorkeling out near a large rock and ran into some divers- they mustve been doing a practice run, because it wasnt that deep. In fact, he went down there and gave em the thumbs up a few times- I don't think they liked seeing a snorkeler keeping up with them, must've made them feel kinda silly diving there of all places with all that gear and such.
While Rich and I were out snorkeling Katie found a new friend and by the time I got back to the beach they were chatting it up like a couple of school girls. Her name was Ursula and she was there with her boyfriend Mike. They were both from England, nice couple of people. When Richard got back to the beach we all chilled at the bar and decided to meet up later for eats and drinks, which we did. It was a really nice day, and a great start to our time on the island.

The next day we went to a beach where we heard we could find black-tip reef sharks. So Rich, Mike, and I went out for at least a two hour snorkeling session. We did eventually see some sharks, and one giant turtle. Neither species mided us swimming around with them, though they did keep their distance. After we returned to the beach, Rich decided he wanted to swim to an island that was a little ways of out the bay. He neglected to check a map for the actual distance. The rest of us decided to hang out on the beach and bit more, head back to the hotel, shower and get ready for dinner. A few hours later we all met up for dinner minus Rich. By this time it was dark and we were all stumped as to where he was. He finally came sloggin up 4 hours after we last saw him and told us the story.
The island ended up being a little less than 2 kilometers away from our beach. I'm not sure how long it took him to get there, but it must've been around an hour of swimming- also, once he had gotten out of the bay, the current kept pushing him, making the swim that much more difficult. The island was more like a mountain tip sticking out of the sea, so he decided that while he was here he would climb the thing. That took him about another half an hour, and not having shoes made it more painful than expected.
He didn't have a watch, but he kind of knew that if I didn't start heading back soon it would be dark. So back into the sea. This time he decided to swim to a closer beach and walk the rest of the way. Made it to that beach, which was a resort beach, and started walking down the road that led away from it. This was a terrible mistake. The road in no way led me the direction he wanted to go, it got dark quickly, and he had no shoes. Also the first 30 minutes of it was extremely steep. His motorcycle was parked at the entrance to the other beach, so after he climbed/walked to what must've been one of the higher points on the island, he started to look around for some way to get back down to the shark beach. He failed. At one point He was walking through jungle. 2-3 hours later he got to his bike, and headed back into town to meet for dinner. He was exhausted, and had little cuts all over his feet.

Our days pretty much ebbed and flowed like that for the next couple. Late to rise, down to the beach, beers around 4, nap and shower around 7 and then out to eat and drink a little more before bed. I found it quite enjoyable. New Year's Eve was something quite different and fun. If I told you that I spent New Year's on a beach in Thailand you could probably imagine what it was like. There were fire dancers, lots of music, lots of people drunk and dancing, people in the water, floating lanterns being sent into the air, and of course the general good cheer that goes with being in an island paradise full of drunken young travelers. All in all a good choice and something very unique and interesting.

Around the last day bad weather arrived and as the sky darkened the sea became a bit rougher. By the last day I did not want to stay on the island anymore, just getting a bit bored, and I did not want to leave, the waves were huge! As we boarded our ferry a ragged bunch of people got off the boat from one of the other islands. (two guys had trunks, scratches all over, and plastic bags on their feet...nothing else) People looked sick and frightened. One guy said, "Don't get on this boat; they are going to use another one because it's not safe." I wasn't really sure what he meant and they did not switch the boat, but I figured all was well because of the crew. They looked cheerful and were not reluctant to get on the boat. If trouble was up, they would know, so I just followed their lead.
I can't say that the ride was easy, in fact it was one of the worst I have ever had. For the first 15 minutes or so I was terribly sick from the rocking of the waves. They were so bad that to walk to the deck you had to stutter step and keep your legs in ready stance the whole time. I could have sworn we were going to tip and I wasn't alone. About half of the other people on the boat were the same as I was and the rest weren't much better. Around an hour in I started to feel better, but at the same time Katie started to feel sick. It was almost as if we switched positions and now she was going for the worse. Richard slept almost the whole time, I don't know how he did it, but I certainly was jealous.
By the time we got to the other shore about half the people on the boat had puked (some on themselves mind you!) and all were glad to get off that boat. Unfortunately the traveling wasn't done for us and we boarded another 12 hour bus to take us back to Koh San road where we got a cab to the airport and jumped our flight to Taiwan at 8 in the morning.

What Did The Man Do As He Went Sideways Through The Turnstile?

Ah, Bangkok . It's gigantic. It's a bit smelly. I imagine it would be pretty easy to find just about any vice you wanted. Oh, and it was Christmas Eve.

We arrived, got lost, ate Italian, and went to our hostel. Since it was still a bit early, and we felt the need to unwind a bit after the long trip back from Siem Reap, we set out in search of a decent bar; and found an "English pub". Inside there were, other than the bartenders, a bunch of English and other Europeans. So we got a drink, and Katie started chatting it up with one of the guys. His name was John, and he had lived in Bangkok for many years (I think his father owned the pub), so we grilled him for some tourist locations and so forth. Anyway, darts were played, and Katie decided to continue her night with John and his buddies (they were going to play pool somewhere, I believe). Rich and I decided that these guys were harmless, and that Kate was safe in their hands for a bit we went our separate ways.

On our way back to the hostel, I decided I wanted another drink before bed, so we stopped at yet another Italian place that was open 24 hours. We got a beer, they gave us breadsticks, we chatted about religion- it was a good time. At some point an older man had sat down at a table behind us (we were outside on the patio area). First thing he says to us is "You're American" in an almost accusing voice. Now, this part may... irk a few people, but know that I'm merely telling the way it is overseas. One of the first things you learn when abroad is that the rest of the world disapproves of the recent actions of the United States and occasionally will take that out on its citizen’s. I have even heard that some Americans say they are Canadians when they are abroad just to avoid hassle. Anyway, regardless of how the world feels about the States, THIS guy was way out of line (and totally smashed, I might add). So, he asks if he can join us, we say "why not" so he pulls up a chair. First thing the guy said, as I mentioned, sounded like an accusation. The second thing he said WAS an accusation. (Oh I forgot to mention he was New Zealander, so imagine all the quotes in an accent). Second thing; "Do you realize that America is the most loathed country in the world? I mean, honestly, even your allies hate you. You are sooo stupid." Now, to be fair, he did say other things, but I believe in the 20 minutes we spent with this guy, those three sentences came up the most. And he always introduced them as if it was new information, and NOT something he had already said 10 times in the exact same words. Of course there is little defense against his accusations, but he did keep using the word “you”. “You are so stupid” “You made so many mistakes” “You are not respected” Eventually I got angry and got in his face. He apologized and then not 3 minutes later was right back on the same track. It went on like this for about twenty minutes and then we decided to hit the hay. Needless to say the event was a standing joke for the rest of the trip. “Do you realize…?!” (add accent)

The next night we ran into what would become our somewhat suicidal tuk-tuk driver. It started innocently enough- he asked if we needed a tuk-tuk, we said we needed a bar, he informed us there were no bars in this area, and offered to take us to one, or a couple, for a pretty good price. He was a madman. I don't know if he had a death wish or a competitive spirit or what, because he was racing the cars beside us, and then passing them. I didn't know tuk-tuks went this fast. Numerous times he had to slam on the brakes, tires squealing and all, to avoid ramming the vehicle in front of us. Now, it was a bit scary, but not too bad because he obviously had a lot of experience in driving one of these things. (Might've been better had there been seatbelts or oh-shit handles); the truly worrisome thing was that he couldn't seem to decide whether he wanted to race the cars beside us or practice his English with Rich and I so he did both. He would start by using the rear-view mirror to look at us to see if we understood him (usually it was a joke of some kind... very light-hearted guy). But if he saw a look of confusion he would turn around to repeat himself- all this at breakneck speeds. I started pretending I understood everything and that whatever he was saying was hilarious, just so he would keep his eyes at least aimed towards the road. So we arrived at the first bar unharmed; our driver said he would wait outside for us. We went inside to have a drink, and the bar was terrible. I believe we were the only people in there, except for the guy covering Elvis songs with a synthesizer (the bar's name was Love Me Tender, I think). So away we went again. It was at this point that Rich and I saw an interesting show. If you know what I mean then you know what I mean. If you don’t, then don’t ask. After a few more drinks and a few more near-misses, he dropped off at the station and we took a train back to the hostel, happy to be alive.

The next day we headed down to the docks and got on a ferry up the river. It was a nice little trip. Then we walked around Wat Po, went to the Grand Palace, did all the touristy stuff one does in Bangkok. We finished about 2, and had a good 6 hours to kill before our night bus left. So we headed back to Khao San Rd., where we caught our bus to Koh Tao which is another story in itself.

Cambodia

The first real destination was Cambodia. We flew into Bangkok in the evening and so stayed there overnight before returning to the road. Siem Reap took about a day to get to. The bus ride from Bangkok to PoiPet, on the Cambodian border, was about 5 hours long and cost about 7US. PoiPet rhymes with toilet for a reason. It is not a very tidy place. This town has no reason to be there except that it has a border crossing station which attracts a lot of Thais who cross the border to gamble, its illegal in Thailand.
The border crossing was fairly quick. We had bought E-Visas in advance so that we only had to stand in one line instead of two. It took about 30 minutes to get through. Once one the other side we were surrounded by cabbies asking us where we needed to go. Of course we ignored them. I had read that you should get out of the initial area to find a ride to Siem Reap. Finally some guy told us to get on his bus, it was free and it would take us about a kilometer up the main thoroughfare. Fine with me.
Of course he took us to the cabbie company that he was hooked up with. They offered us a decent price so we mulled it over. At the border crossing we had met up with two Australians and agreed that sharing a taxi between the five of us would be the most efficient way to go. I think it was 35 US for the ride. As we were talking about the taxi I noticed the emblem on the hood of the car, it was the very service I was told not to take, but by this point they had offered us a good fare.
Getting that taxi was a hassle. First they wanted us to pay first (which we of course refused) then we settled on half-now half-later deal, then they had to find a driver who knew where our hostel was (which didn't matter in the end), then we had to switch cars.... it was obnoxious. What made it all the worse is that the Camry we ended up in was tiny... see, the Australian chap was like 6'5", so he automatically got the front seat, which left the four of us in the back seat. Had we all been the width of....umm, something really skinny... then it would've been fine; but as was we were we were like sardines packed in a crushed tin box. Which, from the get go, was tolerable. Then we got on the "road". It was A) entirely dirt, never been paved. B) no lanes, because to avoid the literal craters one has to use to entire road. I THINK you're supposed to drive on the right side of the road in Cambodia, but I can't be sure. C) Even with successful crater evasions, riding in this car was like going through turbulence-hell. Even with all of this, we kept our cheer up for a while. Had to get our tire filled a few times, and sealed another time, for there was a large slab of metal sticking out of it at one point. The real problem with the ride was that we had no idea how long it was really going to take (the taxi guys had said "4 hours" and when asked the same question a bit later,　said "3". Our driver spoke almost no English, so asking him wasn't much help either.
So; we finally get to a paved-ish section of the road, meaning we were finally nearing Siem Reap, but then we stopped at a tuk-tuk stand for some reason (tuk-tuks are those little open air motorcycle things- google it). Apparently taxis can ' t go into the region of the city where our hostel was, and we had to finish the journey via tuk-tuk. We were all very wary of this, but didn't really have a choice, so off we went, in a little tuk-tuk procession. And they actually took us to the hostel, no problem and no stops, which was kinda amazing. We learned later that taxis totally could come into this area of the city, so why we had to switch to tuk-tuks I will never know.


Our first day we needed a tuk-tuk to take us to the temples. I wasn’t exactly sure how far the temples were from Siem Reap. This being our first time hiring a tuk-tuk, we weren't exactly picky in our choosing- so we went with the first guy who quoted us a good price. It seems that most tuk-tuks are powered by a motorcycle of at least 250 ccs. The one we hired must've been powered by a scooter- we had people on bikes passing us. I’m also pretty sure that the driver had cataracts.

It's hard to describe the temples. They are about 1000 years old. There are multiple complexes over a very large area. Angkor Wat is only the most famous and best preserved temple, there are many others by different names that can be reached by tuk-tuk. If you want to research the history a bit more go to; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat .
I had heard of another temple structure that had never been reclaimed from the jungle so we snagged a tuk-tuk driver and headed off to that one. It was called Tah Prohm. I think this one was far more interesting than Angkor Wat itself; it had fewer restorations, and was pretty well left as it was. In some places there were giant trees growing into the structures. (see picture) There are many options for tickets to the Angkor Wat area temples. You can buy a one day, three day, or 6 day pass at 20, 40, or 60 US$. I recommend the one day if you are holding a mild interest in the temples. One day, three temples, 6 hours, that was enough for me. If you buy the three day pass I recommend going for 3 or 4 hours only of each of the 3 days. Looking at temples is cool, but can get monotonous. The six day pass is for the very hardcore. If you like temples, grew up in one and miss home, or are really into acting like Tomb Raider, then maybe you should buy this pass. That evening was spent getting massages, eating good food and a little shopping.
The next day　ｗｅ　ｄｉｄ　ａｌｍｏｓｔ　ｎｏｔｈｉｎｇ．　Ｗｅ　ｇｏｔ　ｍａｓｓａｇｅｓ，　ａｔｅ　ｗｅｌｌ，　ｓｈｏｐｐｅｄ　ａ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ａｎｄ　ｇｅｎｅｒａｌｌｙ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｓｌｏｔｈｆｕｌ．　Ｔｈｅ　ｄａｙ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ｗｅ　ｌｅｆｔ　Ｓｉｅｍ　Ｒｅａｐ　ａｎｄ　ｂｅｇａｎ　ｏｕｒ　ｊｏｕｒｎｅｙ　ｂａｃｋ． This trip closely resembles the one into Siem Reap, except this time there were only three of us in the Camry， so everyone had their own seat. The main difference was that this Camry, instead of having tire troubles, had engine troubles, so every now and again we would stop, our driver would get out and tinker with the engine a bit, and we'd continue. At one point he removed a large piece of the engine during his tinkering (which he of course replaced before we continued). During these little breaks Ｒｉｃｈ and I would amuse ourselves by throwing rocks at the few trees, pretending they were attacking monkeys. (Had monkeys actually attacked us, we would've been easily overcome, because we couldn't hit the trees with any sort of consistency, and they weren't even moving). So we made in into Poi Pet, crossed into Thailand, and jumped on a bus to Bangkok. Ｗｅ　ａｒｒｉｖｅｄ　ｌａｔｅ　ｏｎ　Ｃｈｒｉｓｔｍａｓ　Ｅｖｅ．

The End of the Affair

Over this last holiday I traveled a little bit differently than I normally would, I traveled with people which was unusual for me, and I had a couple of dour experiences. At the end of all of that I knew that something had changed for me. This lust within me to travel has dimmed considerably. This does not mean that I don’t intend to travel in the future; it just means that my perceptions have radically changed. .

When traveling it is always a goal to leave the things of your life behind for a time. This is not necessarily because you think they are bad or want to escape them. It is simply because to fully embrace the experiences of traveling you must be able to be a conduit. That is very hard to do when you are carrying the baggage, literal or not, of your normal life. It’s wonderful to see all of the monuments, museums, and icons of a culture in real time, but it’s the electricity of a people and place that are what traveling is really about.
The shape of a street sign, the style of dress, the look in a person’s eye, and the smell of a corner market. All these things become mentally noted, processed, and interpreted.

Travel is not easy. It can be enjoyable, but is not necessarily vacation time. If you want vacation time go the Florida or the Caribbean where the land will be/is already ruined. Travel often involves long bus/plane/ferry/car/donkey rides that are sometimes very sweaty and sometimes very cold and the kicker is that much of the time you don't know which it will be until you are about to embark and you’ve only packed one pair of pants so tough beans if you don’t like being smelly. Many of the places that you visit will not have a room or they will, but it will be small, dirty, and most likely infested with something. Speaking of infestations, lets move on to bug bites. There are many types or bugs bites from the massive red lump left by some spiders to the sometimes hundreds of small bites left by sand flies or mosquitoes. There is also the risk of injury. Kidneys are especially vulnerable as they are often being jarred about while traveling. Oh lord, please take care of your feet. They are your most loved travel buddy. Consider all of that on top of the mental energy it takes to move yourself through places where you often don’t speak the language and a lot of the time no one cares to understand your gestures.

A long time ago this is all that traveling really was, a big pain in the butt. A person would set out the door and go thousands of miles and that in itself was their accomplishment. It didn’t matter if they traveled well or not. It only mattered that they had gone because no one else had and it was exceptional. This is no longer true, although it still can be found. A fairly affluent person can travel to all corners of the earth if that is what they desire. The old barriers are breaking down. This is a terrible and great thing all at one time. As people interact more and more they learn how to better engage each other, which is good. However, some of the natural beauty of a place and its people gets lost in the trampling feet of tourists.

People had always told me that Thais were very friendly. Maybe they are, I don’t want to be too quick to judge an entire people on a weeks worth of interaction, but they did not appear to be all that friendly. It’s not that they were mean like some people I have encountered. Its not that they had anti-American sentiments, although I did encounter such a person in Thailand, but he was a Kiwi. It is not the climate or the regime that makes these people so down turned to foreigners. It is the foreigner themselves.

You may remember a movie a few years back called The Beach (I’ve been told by many people that the book is much better). The movie was based on a book of a similar theme written in the mid-nineties. It starred Leonardo DiCaprio along with a few other famous names. The jist of the film is that Leo is a young American traveling through southern Thailand looking for something that is off the grid. Everyone is looking for this magical place because they have already ruined the places they have found. They are looking for the next big thing, the untouched land. With the help of a crazy old expatriate he finds an island paradise inhabited by a few very guarded westerners. They except him, but are so extreme in their desire to keep the island a secret that they allow the deaths of many people. The most terrible thing about their actions is that the very thing they are trying to preserve has already been destroyed by their presence.

This is why the Thais are no longer as friendly as they were. It seems now like they are shrouded in a sort of sadness because so many foreigners have converged on Thailand so quickly that they have had time to properly deal with them in anyway except to start prostituting themselves, sometimes literally. The lands that people had come to see in the past will soon not exist at all. The island I stayed on was a great example of this.

Fifty years ago no one lived on the island. Ten years ago there was not a paved road. Now there are many paved roads, trucks, motorcycles, four story buildings, all inclusive resorts, motorboats streaming up and down the coast and with it the inevitable destruction of the island. I saw coral that was dead, and not because of some kind of natural cycle. I saw ditches choked with trash. I saw foreigners abusing the local people’s good will. It disgusted me and this perhaps is what swung my mind.

I will never again go to Thailand. I will do my best never to enter a culture in that manner again. I tore through Thailand; I encouraged the death of its unique land. I was just as bad as the drugged out ravers who exploited the people and land at every turn. Accomplice! Never again.
The romance of travel is gone. Yes, of course I will still make long journeys. Yes, I will still enter foreign countries. Of course, of course the love will return. I just have to deal with the shame and disgust of what my people have done to another and try my best not to encourage that any further. I have to be very careful in what I do.

Tokyo Disney

At the end of November I had a three day weekend and a few of my friends and I went to Tokyo to Disney Land and Disney Sea. This was the first Disney to be built outside of the United States about 25 years ago. It has been very successful. Japanese people love cute things, love’m. No surprise that Disney land was the epitome of that. I saw men wearing pink leopard print Mickey Mouse ears. My friend Brian took a video of our trip and he often does take video of the little adventures that he has, some of which I am in. To see the one for Disneyland go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwI7e1Ve7ak
If you would like to see other videos Brian has plenty more of Aizu area happenings. I am pretty sure I appear in only two other videos, Sendai Jazz Fest, and Sukagawa Fire Festival. You can see these videos and more from Brian at http://www.youtube.com/brianadler.


The first day we spent at Disney Land. It was about 5pm when we arrived and were only able to get in because we had bought our tickets a few weeks prior. We had to wade through a throng of Japanese people who were standing waiting to get in for some reason even though they did not have tickets. The park was packed! At one point in the video Brian looks at the line for Space Mountain and says, “No space mountain today.” That turned out to be incorrect. The wait went to down to 1hr and 30 minutes, so we got in line and waited 1hr and 30 minutes to go on Space Mountain, which lasted less than five minutes. There were few choices however, most rides had at least a one hour waiting period.

Day two wasn’t much better, but we went to Disney Sea next to Disney Land so at least the Landscape changed a little. Two of the pictures I have posted were in Disney Sea. They had a large lagoon that was surrounded be a castle on one side and Italian style housing on the other. It was fantastic. There were variously themed areas like Indians Jones Jungle, America Town, Arabian Nights, etc. It was cool. I definitely want to go again and encourage anyone who comes to see me to consider going for a day or two. Accommodations in Tokyo can be surprisingly cheap. I spent two nights in a decent hotel, like a Best Western, and spent less than 80 US, of course I shared a room, but hey, still good.

Day three was nice. We all opted to go back to Disney Sea instead of Disneyland. There was more there that we all wanted to go and check out. I went on Tower of Terror that day, which I think was my favorite ride. At days end we got on our Sakura bus and hit the road, making it back to Aizu around 9pm. Not bad. Good times.

Mt. Bandai

About three weeks ago I climbed Mt. Bandai, it is the largest mountain in my region and it stands at about 1800m above sea level. Not too shabby. It was a fun hike up to the top. It took about three hours each way from a starting point near the top. Once getting to the top we were very cold. We only stayed for a few minutes and then went back down the mountain, but not before Brian snapped a few shots. Thanks Brian!

My Town Part II

If you look for my prefecture in the Lonely Planet guide for Japan you will not find much, but you will find a section about ten pages long. Over half of that is devoted to the area that I live in, which is the western 1/3 of the prefecture, Aizu. The Japanese people know where Aizu is. A few months ago I went to Okinawa to visit Elina. While I was there she had an Eikawa (adult language class) She said that I she would like it if I tagged along, but I could stay home if I wanted. Of course I went with her. It was fun! When they asked what part of Japan I was from I told them Fukushima, Aizu. Immediately the middle aged man said, “White Tigers”

I was stunned to hear that he had heard of the White Tigers. This brings me to the point of this blog, Aizu is known as a historical seat of power and the story of the White Tigers is part of that history. I am going to give you the shortest possible version of the story without missing too much. If you want to read a bit longer story on Wikipedia follow this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshin_War

The Boshin War is the equivalent of the Civil War in the United States, except not really. In the mid 1800’s power of Japan was in the hands of a Shogunate. This shogun decided that he was going to take the emperor’s court in Kyoto. About 120,000 men were mobilized in the conflict, of which maybe 4000 died. As the Shogunate’s army advanced to Kyoto they had a few small victories, but they had one major flaw. They fought the war on the terms of old warfare, i.e. samurai style. The emperor’s army had been in contact with the west and had received munitions. The tide quickly turned as the emperor’s army turned and started to march on the shogunate.

The larger yet ill equipped army was soon overtaken and a truce was made. However!, a core of shogunate supporters in northern Japan, led by the Aizu clan, continued to resist. The northern alliance had a total of about 50,000 troops. The imperial troops moved north to fight this contingent and, reaching Aizu, forces came to a head at Aizu-Wakamatsu castle (10 minute drive from my house!) After a long battle Aizu finally surrendered on November 6th of 1868. Now, the part that everyone in Japan knows about! In the final days of the battle of Aizu there was a group of young men, around 15 years old, which were fighting for Aizu. They were in the surrounding mountains on a training mission when they saw smoke coming from the Castle of Aizu Wakamatsu. They assumed the castle was taken and all was lost. All the White Tigers committed seppuku (ritual suicide) Unfortunately (fortunately?) one of them survived to tell the tale even after disemboweling himself.
As is turns out, the castle was not on fire, but a nearby storehouse. The suicide was for nothing! How awful! The Japanese do not see it as a negative thing. The suicide, warranted or not, was an honorable act and the White Tiger are held in legend ever since.
Now, you must all be thinking, this is all fine and good, but so what? Well, I bet you have already heard the story of the Boshin War. You have already seen an allusion to the White Tigers as well. If you have seen the 2003 movie The Last Samurai, which is partially based on the Boshin War then you have some idea of what I am talking about and if you saw that movie you will remember that Tom Cruise is taken in by a group of Samurai instead of being killed. And Why? Simply because as they are about to kill him he grabs a flag, the flag of the White Tiger, and begin to twirl it around.
So, this concludes Part II of “My Town” I hope you enjoy, please come back soon

Okinawa

This past weekend I went to Okinawa. Although it is part of Japan it is not part of Japan. The flight from Tokyo took two hours and because of the typhoon we had to land twice! Yes, twice! The first time we touched the ground and then took off again because we were rocking too much. It was a little nerve racking. Once there my friend picked me up and we started from Naha back to her place in northern Okinawa a bit more than an hour away. The car broke down and we had to stay near Naha with some friends of hers. The next day we got her car fixed, went to a castle, went to a historic house, and to a haunted hotel. We also went to America Town. The day after that we went to an island, to a school, to the aquarium and had pizza dinner with an excellent view. Then late that same night we went to her adult language class where I got to chat with adult Okinawans in english, pretty much. The next day it was back to Naha where we did some shopping and walking around and then the next day I came home. How is that for a short sweet description?
The trip was really nice. It was nice to see my friend again and it was nice to go to Okinawa. I'll just mention in detail a few things that really stuck out. Okinawans do not look like mainland Japanese. They are taller, thicker, and darker. Probably from the influence of many of the Pacific islanders over a long time. The jungle is noisy. When thousands of bugs and animals are competing for the same small space they tend to make some noise about it. The ocean is beautiful. When I went to the aquarium I saw three whale sharks at one time! Plus a lot of other marine life was observed. Whale sharks and named such because they are big and vegetarian. They are actually sharks, but not the type from our nightmares.
America Town had an uncomfortable feeling to it. Its where all the service men hang out. It used to be part of the base but was given back to the Japanese. Now there is a lot of American businesses and franchises there so many of the service men go there. I did not feel comfortable. There are a lot more foreigners on Okinawa and a lot of them are military. Locals don't exactly like the military being there and I don't blame them. I wouldn't want them in my town either. Another friend of mine had an ecounter with some AirForce men this weekend and it was also not pleasant. In a way it makes me sad. Young men from America, mostly with nothing better to do and not a lot of education, sign up for the military in some capacity then get shipped around the world being stuck in situations they are not accustomed to. It's dangerous, which I guess is the point.
Pods will be posted, so keep checking the pod site.

This Is Cleaning Time

Everyday around 330pm our school stops classes and everyone, everyone, cleans the school. They students and staff sweep, mop, scrub, wash blackboards, tend the grounds, you name it and it is done. To signify the start of this they play A Whole New World over the PA system. Everyone lines up in the hallway a few things are said and then we meditate. I suppose we are supposed to be thinking of our connection to each other and the school, but I am not sure. After the meditation we break and clean for about 15 minutes. A lot of the students try to avoid working, especially the older ones. The linger in corners or just stand in doorways. I clean maybe every third day. It is a good way to talk to the kids and to show that you are with them. I just don't like the actual cleaning. At the end of the time more music is played, we line up again, there is a status check broadcast over the P.A. and then we meditate again before breaking for after school activities. I had heard about this before I came, but nothing compares to actually seeing it. The schools usually don't even have someone to clean for real, they just do it themselves everyday.

The Grocery Store

The grocery stores here are expensive, unless you like to eat strictly noodles, tea, and fish. Then they are not too badly priced. For everything else, meat, dairy, vegatables and fruit, it is a shot in the dark. Somethings will be reasonably priced, others will not. I only pay mild attention to the prices because eating what I want is important to mental and physical well being. At least that is what I tell myself. I've posted another podcast about this. If you go to the link in Land of the Rising Sun, you will find the address. Good luck and happy viewing!

The Little Things

Of course there are the little things that you find about a new country that seem… so odd at times! Once you start to integrate you start to forget that those things are strange. In light of that, before I forget, I am going to point out some of the little things that are different.
1. Most faucets shut off by pushing the handle up and turn on by pushing it down. Makes sense right, but its opposite of the U.S. so my pants often get wet.
2. Doors lock when you turn the key away from the locking mechanism, contrary to what we do in the west. I often walk into doors because I think the lock is open. (Kristin, you would laugh at me all the time here!)
3. At gas stations you don’t get out of your car. Full service! You just tell them the grade you want and how much and they go to work. They also wipe down your car and give you a rag to wipe your dash with. Plus, gas is… well, its not cheap or expensive. It just is.
4. Garbage is separated into about six different categories. It’s really annoying. Bottles go in one box, but their caps and wrappers go in another… and you have to wash them out before you throw them away. Cans go in a separate box, paper must be stacked and tied with ribbon. Food wastes go in one box. And there are a couple others that I haven’t really figured out yet. Plus, they require you to put your name and address on all the bags and bring them to a neighborhood site. If they are not satisfied with the way your sorted it, they bring it back to you! They also only collect on certain days, so Monday is burnables, Tuesday is bottles (but not caps!) Thursday is paper etc.
5. While people sometimes will not look you in the eyes when they speak to you they will certainly have no problem looking over you shoulder to see what you are writing or reading, which is happening to me as I write this. At the Onsen (bathhouse) they will also not have problem staring at your privates.
6. Squat toilets are annoying, yes, they are, I don’t care what anyone says. Don’t give me that “culturally insensitive” line. I don’t care, squat toilets are bad.
7. Rules, there are a lot of them I don’t understand and never will. Enough said.
8. Ovens don’t really exist, think toaster oven without a temperature gage.
9. Gear seems more important than training. Going out for baseball? Don’t train, just buy all the equipment so you look like you know what you are doing.
10. Some doorways and ceilings are very low, watch your head! Even I, at 6 feet, hit my head sometimes.
11. The western toilets here are awesome, they have heated seats, butt misters, and bade’s all in one.
12. Cigarettes are cheap, about the equivalent of 3 bucks a pack and, because of the Japanese’s love of the vending machine, you can buy them almost anywhere. I even have a cigarette machine in my school! Ok, that last one was a lie, but it almost seems like there should be one there too.
13. Shoes, shoes, shoes. I have to buy about six new pairs of shoes because of the places that I can and cannot wear them. At school, I have one pair for outside, one pair for inside, and one pair for the gymnasium. At home, one pair for outside, one pair for inside. At the local gym, one pair for outside, one pair for inside. Cleats, hiking boots, snowboarding boots! Oh my! The shoes are piling up. Make sure when you take them off to trade for another pair that you face them towards the door, away from the door is rude.

When we experience other cultures we first see the things that are not like our own. They stick out. They are dwelled on because they are different and need to be minded in order for us to “fit in” or be polite. This also leads us to think about being different from the culture we are in, most of the time. One needs to remember that people are not all that different.
I was watching a choral practice today when it occurred to me that these kids are just like kids in the States. Their parents want them to succeed. They want to do well in school. They want to be cool. They want to sleep all the time. They like sports, girls/boys, hanging out, eating junk food. It made me feel really good to have that moment again where the people around me started to feel like my people. I was part of a community that knew me and loved me.
This past weekend I had a home-stay in which I spent a few days with a local family while going to language classes during the day. My family consisted of two grandparents (70,67) and two grandchildren Kaigo and Emi. Kaigo was 12, just visiting. Emi was 11, she has autism. I loved her the most, she would sit by me and say what English she knew… again and again. I wanted to hug her all the time, she was very sweet.
As I spent my nights with them I came to know them as a family and some of there other relatives came by too to say hello and just spend time with loved ones. The weekend went really well and I will be visiting them often. It was really nice to get Japanese grandparents who will make cookies for me, have breakfast with me, or give me vegetables from their garden. Really, it will feel good to have grandparents who are looking out for my well being in that grandparents sort of way.
All these experienced combined, the meeting of the kids, getting a host family of sorts, starting to forget the odd cultural things, they all make me feel more at home. I feel like I have taken a big step in adjusting. I am making this my home, sort of.

Where In the World Is Kevin? My Town Part I

This a little post about where exactly I am. If you would like to know where in Japan then look at the black and white map. I have outlined my prefecture, put an X where I am in that prefecture, and circled Tokyo to give you some idea of how far I am in relation to it. I am about four hours from Tokyo by bus. So not too far.
If you look at the seven colored map you will see my prefecture divided up into areas. I am in Aizuwakamatsu area. If you go to the three colored map you will see my prefecture, Fukushima, divided into three pieces. I am in Aizu, the western most chunk of the three. Just left of the lake you can make out the city Aisu-Wakamatsu. I am just a little south-west of that in a town called Aizu-Hongo. Good luck finding that on any map! If you want to go a little furthur and see what my apartment looks like then follow this link and have a look inside.
http://kevininjapan.podOmatic.com

My Two Mothers

I usually only post things on here about my travels, other cultures, and new things I experience professionally. Mostly, I don't get too personal. However, this time I will allow a view into my heart. On August 11th my grandmother died. We did not have what I would call a typical grandmother/grandson relationship. I lived, along with my brother and mother, with my grandparents until I was 14. I again lived with them the past 18 months or so. In my heart she was the closest thing to a mother besides my own. I wrote part of a eulogy to be read at her prayer service and I am told that my brother read it. I would like to share it here with you now.

I went out with some friends the other night and as our night drew to a close I had a feeling that I should call home, something wasn’t right. Something was moving me to call immediately, it was very odd. I have never felt that way before. I tried time and again to dial the right numbers to make the connection, but it didn’t work. I was worried about my family and so distraught and frustrated sleep did not come easy. The next morning I finally found the right combination of numbers and contacted my mother. In our discussion she told me the time of day that grandma slipped away and I realized that it was the very time that I had that urgent feeling the night before. Even in death, grandma was with me.

I spent so much of my life with grandma that she became a permanent fixture in my life. I don’t remember ever not being in her care. In my childhood she cared for me just as a mother would. She scolded me at times, and held me when I was sick or hurt. She made cookies and made sure we got to tucked in (when mom wasn’t there). She was always there after school when Shane and I got home, ready for our whirlwind of activity. She was always willing to put together a puzzle or play a game with me. In my teenage years we moved out of grandma and grandpa’s house and it seemed as though I wouldn’t see them as much, but that was not so. As I grew into adulthood she was still there, a fixture at Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. Her party mix was the best. (sorry mom, its true!) She was always the most chipper, always interested in what you were doing, always listening with the utmost sincerity. Of course she could be quite funny too, always smiling, always with good cheer. I remember when grandpa broke his hip and for a time I spent my days at their house with grandma, reading, playing games, or taking Ms. Rosemary for a drive! Ha! What fun! Eventually we lived together again when I came back to Sturgeon Bay and it felt good in my heart to be with my grandparents again although grandma was not the same.
As grandma grew older she started to decline. She would not remember things and sometimes could not keep up with conversation, but she kept trying. She had pain in her knees and was often dizzy, but she was still amazingly upbeat. I would sometimes get frustrated with her. Sometimes I didn’t always want to talk to her or I was irritated that she kept asking me the same questions all the time. I know that we all felt this way at some point. (Would you like some carrots Mary?) In the last years of her life I started to replace the person that she was with the little things that took away from her. The every day interaction started to make me forget, like we all do, what is truly in front of us. Even though I loved her greatly I started to forget the woman that she was as days of dementia and dizziness clouded her mind as well as mine.
Now that cloud has lifted. I can once again remember the woman that she was. Cleansed of earthly impediments, my image of her has become again what she truly was. The time has come for all of us to forget the small things that made each day difficult. We can let go of those things that have been cluttering our minds. We can laugh heartily about the frustrating times, we can smile about the good times, and we can hold each other as she did for me when I was hurting. We can finally let it melt away remembering only the good things, letting only our love for her to remain. Each one of us can remember oma, grandma, mom, Rosemary as the loving person she was. Each one of us can take somber comfort in each other and mourn her death, but not for her sake. It is for ours. While we are without her, she is with God. She now walks beside him, jubilant I’m sure, asking him with the utmost sincerity how his day is going, if he is doing well, or if he would like some carrots.

The Land of The Rising Sun

Yes, I have made it. Yes, I (they) eat raw fish! I have a car, which is pictured. It is a Suzuki Wagon and as you can see it is not very big. The steering wheel is on the right and you drive on the left, just like in England, Australia (?), and … Jamaica? It has been surprisingly easy to learn how to do the old switcha-roo. I wanted to show pictures of my apartment and the area where I live too, but I decided to put them on a pod cast so that you all can watch a video of it! Most of the stuff is mine, but some things my predecessor left and so I am going to use a little bit of his videos too.

This is the address; I’m pretty sure that if you put this in your header you can go directly to the site. I will test it, but let me know if you can watch it. Right now I only have a video of a Koi pond near me, but I will soon be adding others. Each time I add a video I will post here that I am adding a video and will try to remember to post the link again with it.
http://kevininjapan.podOmatic.com/rss2.xml

Odds And Ends

I'm so tired!

MiniaTurk

Hilarious! and suprising something I would recomend. If you are going to Turkey for a while, go to MiniaTurk and check it out. We saw places and thought, darn, I wish we would have known about that so we could have seen it for real. Oh, if you don't know MiniaTurk is a little amusement park that is filled with miniatures of very important building and other monuments of Turkey. I would estimate that there are 75 different buildings and things. Cool.

What Is This?

Often while traveling I run into dishes that I have no idea what contain. I thought this picture was amusing because not even Dave, who had lived in Turkey for a year, knew what this dish was.

Rascals!