Save Yourselves!

I'll try to tell you what yesterday was like, but chances are, I won't be able to come close to explaining just how wild it was.

Yesterday was the day we finally went to school with Michaela. We were her "assisstants." She had two second grade classes, one third grade class, and a fourth grade class to teach. What that means is we introduced ourselves four times, sang Head-Shoulders-Knees-and-Toes four times, played Simon Says four times, and played a colors game four times. If I hear the words "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" together in a sentence one more time, or "Simon says put your hands on your (fill in the blank)" again, I just might lose my mind. I don't how Michaela can do it day in and day out.

It's funny, the other day, for no reason at all, we had been discussing what seperates a D-list celebrity from a C- or B-list celebrity. Upon arriving at school, Michaela (or maybe it was Jeff) made the comment that this must be what it's like to be a D-list celeb. By the end of the day, though, I think we knew what B-list was like, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We had to take off our shoes when we walked into school and put on these slippers instead. Personally, I gotta say, I thought I rocked 'em well, and they made it really easy to slide on the floor; I felt like bustin' a move every time I walked into a classroom. Each class lasted 45 minutes, and at the end of our time, all the students crowded around us as we left. It was awesome. I'll wait to post pictures because Jeff has a ton of good ones, and they aren't downloaded to the computer yet. They're perfect. And as you can probably guess, some of those kids are crazy. I mean maybe-they-need-medication crazy. I wish I could have that much energy again. Well, maybe not THAT much energy, maybe about a fourth of it.

Every corner we turned and every hallway we walked down, kids would look at us and wave like we were beings from another galaxy. Then, before you could finish saying "Hello," eight more kids would show up and want to say "Hello" or give you a high five. It was all cool. At lunch time, the three of us ate lunch in three different classrooms with three different classes. On the way to my classroom, I saw Jeff sitting at a table with all the other students, with his knees about at his shoulders because the chair was so small. I got to my classroom, and we had a quick question and answer session. Thank God the lunch lady could loosely translate for me, or I would have looked reeeaaally stupid, like I was from another country or something. One kid asked me if I like sake. After I said yes, he made some weird, loud comment and laughed. He probably said something like, "Yeah, I bet you do, ya crazy S.O.B.!" Well, maybe not exactly that, but I figure it was something to that effect. Lunch was pretty good, some noodles, a melon piece, a small salad with a piece of squid, you know, the usual. The day had been nuts before lunch; after lunch, it just got out of control.

As I was just about done with eating, one kid brought something up and a marker. He wanted me to sign a book for him. Cool, I thought, an autograph. Little did I know, that once his fellow classmates saw this, EVERYBODY wanted me to sign something. I think I signed everyone's helmet (they all bring these hard hats to school, ask Michaela), an armband, some hats, and books. Then it spilled out into the hallway. I saw Jeff for the first time since he had left for lunch; he was backed into a corner by the girl's bathroom. All the kids that I had signed stuff for started asking Jeff for autographs, and all the other students saw this and ran to get their stuff, and before you knew it, you were signing one thing after the other. We even signed a few little girls' hands and arms. It was insane. It's hard to sign someone's hand when you got little kids on both your legs, both your arms, on your back, around your neck, and whatever else you can think of. I carried one kid on my back down some stairs, and then back up. I had to lift numerous kids up over my head, I kept having to lift kids up on my arms; they would hang on to my arm, and I would lift them up, all while thinking, "here comes the hernia."

After doing this for awhile, some of the kids got a little, how should I put this, "overzealous." You always have a few kids who think it's funny to do things that, well, aren't funny. One kid took my wallet out of my back pocket, one kept hitting me below the belt, one started trying to pull my pants down. Michaela warned us before the day that some of the students like to ram their fingers into some of the male teachers' rear ends. Guess what? They do. I think because I was a guy, the boys thought they could mess around with me all they wanted. At one point, I had kids pulling my arms and more kids pushing me from behind, and without lifting my feet, I was being slid/dragged down the hallway back to the classroom. It was like being sucked into a blackhole, resistance was futile. They had their way with me. It was a total mob scene. Michaela and I somehow made it out alive and got back to the teacher's lounge, and when the vice principal saw us walk in, he said, "Only two?" Yep, Jeff told us to leave him, to save ourselves, that he was done for. Just kidding, kind of. After taking inventory and making sure we had all our valuables (and body parts), we headed home. We're all scheduled to go to the junior high on Friday. I can't wait.

Last night Michaela and I played a game I call the "Hit-each-other-on-the-funnybone-ankle-knee-orleg-with-a-bat" game. Hysterical. She made cookies, too. She's made cookies a couple times and pudding a couple times since we've been here, reminds of home a little bit, so I appreciate it. Right now, it's just me at the pad. Michaela's at school, and Jeff's out to Nagano City to buy more Raiden hats for people who want them. Whoever is asking, you better be DANG thankful; a trip to Nagano City takes up almost a whole day, and we only got a few days left here. You owe him.

Just a few left. It's getting close. Really close. And get well Adam.

http://www.michaelainjapan.blogspot.com
http://www.jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://www.jeffdespics.blogspot.com

In addition to the written post, a GIANT picture post was added today. Just wanted to let you know. I'm gone.

Church, Temples, Shrines...I Got 'Em All Covered

I guess it's Memorial Day weekend back in the ol' U.S. of A., so hope everyone's enjoying the long weekend. Me, I can't believe it's May 29 and I've spent twenty-some days in Japan. I have a feeling this week is going to go by real fast, though.

Sunday we got up early so we could make the hour walk to Michaela's church. Mass starts at 9 a.m., so we were leaving at 8. By 'we' I mean Michaela and I. I have a picture on my pics blog of what Jeff decided to do. I told him I wasn't going to put it on, but he insisted that I do (well, maybe not exactly). It was surprisingly warm on the way there, and even warmer on the way back. Maybe, just maybe, I started trading in some of my whiteness for some tan...but I doubt it.

We got back around, oh, maybe 11:30, I don't really know. Michaela and I ran up to Scruya, we came back and tried to remember as many of the songs from karaoke on Friday night as we could. Right now we're at 28, so we're missing a little over an hour's worth of songs. Draw your own conclusions. After sitting around doing that for awhile, Michaela felt like getting out and doing something rather than just sitting here, so her and I rode bikes up to this shrine, the Hanazurainari Shrine. We got some pretty decent pictures. That reminds me, after church, we went through a couple temples, too, I think Kondaiji Temple and Naritasan Temple. Got more pictures from there. My next photo blog is going to have a LOT of things.

On the way back, I just about broke Michaela's camera. I felt like an idiot. Good thing she had the magic touch to get it working again. Jeff and I went to Santa's, and I got another cool thing to bring home. Since I have quite a bit of money left going into this last week, I'm afraid I might go a little nuts. But don't worry, I'll only go nuts on good stuff...probably.

Sounds like the Huskers were on a roll 'til they ran into the powerhouse that is Kansas baseball. You know what? I really can't say I'm surprised. Jeff was saying how we'll absolutely kill 'em, it's Kansas, they have no chance, etc. But if there's one thing we've learned over the last third of the season, it's that you can't depend on this Husker team the way you could Husker teams in the past. The fact they put together a winning streak in the Big XII tournament is amazing enough. Are they more talented than Kansas? Certainly. But does that mean they're insured a win? Definitely not, not as up and down as they have been recently. Nevertheless, we still get to host a regional, so even as frustrating as it has seemed, maybe it hasn't been quite that bad. Don't look now, but Husker baseball is to the point where simply hosting a regional isn't enough; we want that super regional. Who would've thunk 12, 15 years ago that that would one day be the case? And this is a little off topic, but do you think we could let the Royals host a regional? What's that? They need a top 16 seed? Oh, nevermind then.

Today on the skedgel we're improvising until tonight when we hit the other sushi bar and Mister Donut. Ain't nothin' to it but to get it done.

http://www.ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com
http://www.jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://www.michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Three weeks down...

Goooood evening all.

Okay, so since we've been here Michaela has been telling us we need to go karaoke with her and some of her friends. The usual response Jeff and I give is, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, no way." Well, of course we both really knew that it was only a matter of time before we got dragged to the karaoke bar. And Friday was that time.

Now, karoake here is different from the karaoke I think of back in the States. Here, you go with a group of people and you get your own room to karaoke in. So instead of making a fool of yourself in front a bunch of complete strangers, you're only making a fool of yourself in front people you know. Like most of the things we've done here, it was really fun. I wish I could list off all of the songs we ran through, but a lot of 'em I either don't know the name or the group. Let me see... Queen "We Will Rock You," that do-a-diddy-diddy-dum-diddy-do song, "Summer of '69," "Jailhouse Rock," Usher w/ Ludacris & Lil' Jon "Yeah," "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Twist and Shout," Oasis "Wonderwall," and many more. You'd be surprised at how fast three hours can go by. And how quick people are to get up and start totally murdering a good song. I think the open bar had something to do with that...

This morning we got up and went to pick strawberries. Think of a pumpkin patch where you get to go out and pick your pumpkin, and then change that to strawberries, and instead of only taking one, you can take as many as you want. That's what we did. You couldn't take them home, but you were free to eat anything you picked. Personally, I don't know how I got up this morning, but I did. Unfortunately, my stomach wasn't quite feeling up to all you can eat strawberries, which is too bad because I love strawberries. One dude ate something like 121. I think he cheated and only ate small, wussy strawberries, but maybe that's just sour grapes on my part. It isn't like I was anywhere close to that number, anyway. We had a good talk with the other people who came strawberry picking with us. It's been cool meeting and getting to know people from another country and culture.

We got back to Michaela's place around, oh, I don't know, maybe 1:20ish. At about 2:15 I went back to the bedroom and didn't emerge until 6:30. It felt like I had been out for about seven hours. What a great nap. We just finished watching the movie The Man Who Knew Too Little, a Bill Murray flick. It was okay. Right now Greedy with Michael J. Fox and Phil Hartman is on, but I'm not really paying much attention to it.

We have to be up and out by 8 o'clock tomorrow morning so we can get to church by 9 o'clock. The walk takes about an hour (yeah, that's a looooong walk). Michaela's anxious for us to see the church she goes to, though, so it should be alright. Hopefully it's nice out tomorrow so the walk is a good one.

Next week the plan is for Jeff and I to visit Michaela at school a couple times. It'll be fun. Maybe we can take on the whole school in basketball or football (American football, of course). Anyway, I can't believe there's only a week left, actually, less than that now. It's going to go fast. I'm going to hate going back to school right away, but it'll be nice to be back home. I don't think I'll ever take things like pizza, fast food, burgers, or the price and portions of groceries for granted ever again.

T-minus six days

Fantastic Voyage

Let me see, what has happened since I last left...

Sorry, I'm still buggin' from that Sunday trip, and I'm not doing so good at keeping my day straight.

Wednesday, Wednesday...I think Wednesday was the day Jeff and I stopped at a few of the stores around Saku, the ones we've already visited about 30 times since we've been here. For some reason, it never gets old. Tuesday night we had stopped in at Santa's Store and found some real cool framed pictures, and Wednesday we decided to go pick 'em up. I'd post pictures of them, but I'll wait 'til I get home to show everyone. Then I'll post pictures of them for everyone I don't see on a regular basis, basically just about everyone not in my family. We have no idea what the pictures say, but hey, they look cool.

We watched Happy Gilmore later that night. I can't remember what we had for dinner...OH! We had another round of Hokka Hokka Tei. Jeeeez. When the lady behind the counter includes two sets of chopsticks and two paper plates, I think it's a sign that you aren't supposed to eat the whole thing by yourself. I'm pretty proud of myself, I haven't gotten sick since I've been here, but man, that was A LOT of food. Michaela was excited because she hadn't seen Happy Gilmore in a long time, so we were more than happy (no pun intended) to oblige.

Yesterday, Thursday for me, I embarked on my 'Mystic Quest.' I think I've mentioned the store next to Michaela's called the Book-Off before. I love it because it has a bunch of old CDs, and if you're lucky you can find a treasure or two. Well, I knew I had seen another one on our way into Saku once or twice, and I was determined to find it. So yesterday, I took Michaela's other bike, a map of the Saku area, and my internal compass and began my journey to find the legendary second Book-Off. By the way, it was an excellent day to be making such a journey. Anyway, after riding around for about 40 minutes, like the tower of a long-lost castle, the Book-Off logo appeared in the distance. This was not just any Book-Off; it's supersized. Visions of rows and rows of out-of-print, rare, classic CDs danced in my head as I locked the bike and leaned it against the side of the store. I step inside. To my disappointment, the CD section makes up a small portion of right side of the store. More than half of the store was the adult "corner". It was truly scary. Some of you may be disappointed to know I decided against passing through that curtain and venturing to the back, but folks, I think I made the right decision. I'm not kidding, it really was frightening. I felt dirty just being in the same building. The other Book-Off doesn't even have such a section. Anyway, I bought a couple things (CLEAN things), and Adam, I got you something that is super, super awesome.

We made sushi again Thursday night. It has turned out great both times we've tried it. We also made the "Fatty Roll," possibly the biggest sushi roll EVER. And I got some sake for dinner. Really not too bad. I can't wait to show some of you the bottle; it's what sold me.

These next couple days should be...interesting. I think we might go karaoke tonight, and tomorrow we're going strawberry picking. I'm about 99.6% sure there will be no post tomorrow, so next time, I'll tell about the weekend.

Take care everyone.

http://www.jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://www.michaelainjapan.blogspot.com
http://www.ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com

Take a Picture, it Lasts Longer

New set of pictures. Enjoy.

Jeff and Michaela's blogs:
http://www.jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://www.michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Know Any Good Campfire Songs?

I don't know where to start.

For that matter, I don't exactly know where to end, either.

I could mention what went on Thursday and Friday, but that would just be taking up space. Well, okay, here's what happened: Did a yaki-miyaki (not certain on spelling) restaurant on Thursday night where you grill your own food. Friday might have been the worst day yet, because I got robbed at the arcade. Well, not literally robbed, but I lost money when I put it in the changer. And it was rainy. And I missed our train by about a minute, causing us to wait another fifty minutes in the station. So there you have it: Thursday and Friday in five sentences.

Let me begin this weekend thing by saying that both Saturday and Sunday seemed like they lasted about 30 hours, so if it seems like it's taking you that long to read this entry, sorry, but that's why.

Saturday we were ready to go and get out of Michaela's place around one in the afternoon. Her friend Lisa came over and picked us up, after which we picked up another friend, Leah (sp?), and from there we stopped at a supermarket to get some food for the evening. Now, when Lisa picked us up, it had to be about mid-70s with sun, so we're all dressed in short sleeves and the like. While in the grocery store, it starts pouring, I mean pouring. Not encouraging since the plan was to head up to a few cabins we had rented (I wish I knew exactly where, but pretty sure it was in the Minkami area) and have a barbecue. Kind of hard to have a barbecue in a squall. It calmed down, though, but the temperature dropped a good twenty degrees. Come to think of it, kind of reminded me of Nebraska...

We took four cars altogether. Jeff, Michaela and I crammed into the back seat of Lisa's car. There were 14 of us in all, seven guys and seven gals. Everything fell a little behind schedule, and we finally got to the cabins around maybe 7:45, 8 o'clock, meaning we had been in the car for about six or seven hours. Yeah, it was great. And you shoulda seen the cabins (I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of it, sorry, had a lot on the brain). It wasn't exactly your ski resort-type cabins where you have a living area, a couple bedrooms, a couple bathrooms. No no no no, or i'e i'e i'e i'e, if you prefer. There was a long top bunk and the floor. That's it. Basically, the only purpose it served was a place to sleep. And sure enough, what's the first thing Jeff and I hear from the girls when they walk in? "Omigod! Bugs! What the $#%!in' s&@! It's the stinky bugs! I CALL TOP!" "I CALL TOP!" "I CALL TOP!" While Jeff and I look at each other and think, "It's gonna be a loooooong night."

We had a couple of the cabins, and a really big Japanese group had the others. It could have been a reunion sort of deal, but I think it was probably a big group of friends getting together and having a barbecue, not much different from us. After they had finished off their meat, they brought out their finale; a whole freakin' pig. Not even kidding. We all got a good laugh when they started passing around the head and taking their picture with it. By "We all" I mean all the guys. It really was cool, believe me.

There are a couple guys from our camp that could speak really good Japanese, maybe one other who could speak pretty decent, otherwise, everyone else on our side was fairly basic in Japanese. Jeff and I were nonexistent. I know 'sorry,' 'excuse me,' 'thank you,' and a couple others, not exactly the type of stuff you carry a conversation with. But by the end of the night, we were all sitting around a campfire, laughing and sharing seats, treats, and fireworks. We even gave one guy a football (keep in mind, an American football is about as common as a moonrock over here) and showed him how to throw it. With all the English he could muster, he told me his favorite player was Dan Marino, and that he was shocked when Marino retired. Seriously, how cool is that?

In all honesty, the only way I can best describe it is to simply say that it was beautiful. You have two groups of people with two totally different backgrounds, two different cultures, and almost no means of verbal communication sitting around a bonfire laughing and trying to sing camp songs together, offering seats to each other and lighting each others sparklers. It was just beautiful, that's the best way I can put it. It was the way things ought to be. At one point I looked at Jeff and said, "Look at this, man. We're sitting with a group of Japanese people around a fire, neither of us can barely speak the other's language, and we're having a great time. I think it's safe to say this'll never happen again." I think 'special' is another word I would use to describe it. It was a beautiful thing, and it was special.

Man, that was only Saturday? And Sunday was the day that everything went topsy turvy (and if you were me, backwards, sideways, upside down, over, under (water, that is) and any other direction you can think of). Tell you what I'll do; I'll post Sunday as a separate blog, so you can have a break in between if you need. I think I need a break before writing it.

And if Sunday didn't kill me, I think my mom would have if she'd seen some of the stunts we did beforehand. It was awesome.

http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

This Might Take Awhile

Before I begin anything about Sunday, I need to get at least one of these out, because this was how my Sunday went in two words:

Holy S&#@!

Sorry everyone, but if you would have seen some of the ---- (stuff) I did, or tried, you would understand. I would like to remind everyone, I cannot swim. I can kind of float. Kind of. And no, I don't mean face down, although I might not have been far from doing that a few times (only kidding...sort of). It would be like asking someone who's had three driving lessons to takeover the wheel at a NASCAR time trial. Sure, they can probably drive, probably, but maybe they should try the go-karts first. Well, ---- (forget) the go-karts, it was straight to the track for me. I kept thinking, "Hey, you got a lifejacket on, you'll be fine man." And cars have airbags, and no one gets hurt in car accidents, right? Right?

Before any of this, it was fun watching evryone get up in the morning, or try to get up. When you cram seven people onto a top bunk, you ain't gettin' much sleep. And when at least six of the seven have a fair amount of saturation (no, not water), you ain't gettin' much sleep. To tell the truth, I didn't sleep terrible. We all had about a three-foot wide area to sleep in, and no one got more than five hours tops, but I didn't feel too bad. I'd only had one beer the night before, and I tell ya, it showed, in a good way. Sprite and vodka mix, but Sprite, vodka, and four hours of sleep don't. I feel almost bad saying it was a little funny watching some try to sort themselves out. No offense all, we're all homies after yesterday.

So we get to the site around 9, 9:15. The first thing the guide says is, "First, does everybody know how to swim, at least a little?" "No." (everyone laughing, thinking 'Funny one, Ryan.' Me thinking, 'Guys, seriously, I don't know how to swim.') BUT, the wetsuits are bouyant, and the lifejackets are plenty good. Thanks. Getting in the wetsuits was almost an adventure in itself. And of course, the women took twice as long as the guys. This is for my fam: Remember the Robin Williams bit about the luge? "What crazy German physicist said, 'I want to dress like a ...'"? That's what I felt like.

The first thing on our schedule was canyoning. If you think that means scaling rocks and climbing cliffs, you're just like me. You'd also be wrong. Canyoning is more like jumping into small canyons and sliding down waterfalls into canyons. After the first waterfall, I kept thinking, "Dude, you really shouldn't be here." I thought I was just acting like my normal self, but I must have looked petrified because different people in the group kept asking me, "How ya doin'?" and the guide cracked jokes on just about everyone, and then when I stepped up to the plate, it was like, "Awright mate, you can do this, just relax." Dude, I'm tryin'. Anyway, when it came to doing anything that was optional, I pretty much said, "Eh, forget it (or another word beginning with 'f')," and took the leap of faith. I'm glad I did.

This is the website for the place we went to. Check out some of the videos and pictures for canyoning. We did the Fox Canyon under the Minakami heading. We did most of things in the photos and videos, except no head first stuff (hey, we gotta be safe, right?). Personally, I liked the jumps and the freefall across from the bridge a lot more than the slides. Either way, I got a chest full of water, but with the jumps you can see when you're going to get the chest full. And it was freezing by the end of the course, but, good God, I've never been so happy to be freezing. Looking at some of the photos and videos on the website, I still can't believe I did some of that. Plenty of times I asked myself, "Are you ------' crazy? Yo, you can't swim, areyou------'crazyman!?" Yeah, just a little bit.

Lunch was excellent. We ate at the Canyons homebase, then we went out to go whitewater rafting. Now, I was thinking, "Okay, you just did what will be by far the hardest part of today's trip, rafting'll be no sweat." Except it took the guides about four times as long to explain all the safety instructions. And none of the guides are afraid to slip in tongue in cheek comments like, "If you happen to fall out of the raft and can't swim to the side of the river, we'll see you in Tokyo." If anyone knows the show Wild Boyz, the whole thing was pretty much extreme sports run by the Wild Boyz. You know, guys like Steve-O from Jackass? Good fun for everyone. And it was great how every time they said, "Now if you can't swim..." they would look at me, point and smile. I just went with it; you got to be able to laugh at yourself. Rafting, though, was a blast. Everyone felt like it was something they could do all day long. And though it had been raining the day before, it was perfect on Sunday. We couldn't have asked for anything better.

After saying our goodbyes (and, in my case, "Thank you for keeping me alive") we began our trek back home, a good three and a half hour drive or so. Well, with about an hour and a half, two hours to go, the car I was riding in almost completely shut down. So there we are, waiting in the middle of nowhere for someone to circle back and get us, and then waiting while they check the car. We probably waited for a good hour, hour and a half in all, in the middle of nowhere at about 9 o'clock. Truth be told, it was kind of peaceful, and we had some fun talkin'. Of course, I wish Lisa's car had been able to make it all the way, and I hope everything works out fine. But really, I didn't mind the wait, at least not as much as some of the others. Almost everyone was beat, but I was pretty awake. I guess having about three brushes with death earlier in the day tend to keep you alert for awhile (again, only kidding. It was probably more like four brushes with death).

Again, if you want to check out some of the crazy/stupid/insanely fun stuff we did, take a look at the website and see for yourself. None of us are in any of those pictures, but it's the same stuff we did.

Sorry for the length of this, maybe I should have split it into two. And sorry for the occasional self-edits, but if would have given a written transcript of what went down in my head during the day, it would put guys like Andrew Dice Clay and Chris Rock to shame. All in good humor, though. Anyway, I am alive, and I can say I went canyoning and whitewater rafting in Japan.

'Nuff said. All I needed was a little bungee jumping.

http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

I'm Running Out of Good Titles

Just got done listening, well, following on the ESPN GameCast shotchart, the Pistons-Cavs game. If anyone knows how or where I can find free radio streams to listen to these games, hook me up, because they're all good, close games, and it kills me not even being able to listen to 'em. Sounds like I'm missing watching/listening to some good roundball. And before anyone writes off Detroit, remember, they've been in this situation before. That being said, how cool would it be to see LeBron in the Eastern Conference Finals?

Tuesday we didn't do a whole lot during the day. Oooohhh...Adam, I got you the coolest souvenir, at least I think it's awesome. I was psyched to get it; it's something I would have gotten for myself. It is so cool. I want to tell you what it is, but, you know, I can't tell you what I got you. I think you'll like it; it's more or less exactly what I was looking for.

Ever since we got here, Michaela's been anxious for all of us to make sushi together, and we did that Tuesday night. I gotta say, it was pretty durn good. It looked like a big burrito, only with carrots, cucmber, crab, avacado, cream cheese and rice instead of beans and meat/chicken/cheese. Oh, and wrapped in seaweed rather than a tortilla. Don't sleep on seaweed y'all. We hung around and watched a few Simpsons episodes after downing our sushi burritos.

Yesterday Jeff and I took the train BY OURSELVES to Nakagomi. Sorry, but it was the first time we had ridden without the guidance of Michaela, and we handled it like big boys. See Michaela, nothing to worry about. We only got lost twice (just kidding Michaela, jeez). Too bad almost all of Nakagomi was closed. It was one in the afternoon! C'mon people, give us something. We'll probably go back again some time later in the day when stuff is OPEN. There was a little mall, which would have been pretty lame if not for it's so-so arcade. It did have a Sonic Blastman arcade, so that upped it's grade. That reminds me, we went to another mall on Monday, and it had an awesome arcade. We'll definitely go back again, and I want to take a video of Jeff and I teaming up on this one baseball game. It'll be sweet.

Last night Michaela's pal Marta came over and we played some pitch. What a great game to pass the time. Michaela was probably in heaven; who knows the last time she had enough people to play pitch with. We were unstoppable the last game we played. Don't mess with team RyMic.

We did something else fun last night to pass some time, maybe you guys, Dad, Jonathan and Adam, can do this. Try to list as many Division I-A college football teams as you can. Remember, there are 119 in all. I think we finally called it quits after about 35-40 minutes, give or take. Michaela did really good, Jeff did good, I did, well, a little better. I had 111 before we called it and started listing off the teams we had. Jeff and Michaela were able to fill in three I didn't have, then we had to look up the last five. It probably doesn't sound like it, but believe me, it was fun.

Maybe a somewhat boring post, but don't worry, it'll get better. This weekend we go whitewater rafting. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous, even though I'm sure it's gonna be crazy. If I make it through without shattering my pelvis or anything, I'll be sure to write all about it. The trip, that is, not my pelvis.

'Til next.

http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Okay, I think I'm all caught up...but probably not

I tried to get on and post a blog entry the other day, but the stupid site wouldn't let me on, so here's what I did:

I posted an entry for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday just this morning, three seperate entries. It might be a little too heavy of reading for one sitdown, but by dividing it into three days, you can read Friday at one time, Saturday the next time you feel like it, and Sunday whenever. Otherwise, if it were all one entry, it might look like a looooot to read at one time. Oh, and stupid me, I put Friday in first, then Saturday, then Sunday, so in order to read it chronologically, you have to start toward the bottom instead of at the top. D'oh.

Well, I've been drinking coffee for about the last hour and a half/two hours while I've been writing and catching up on e-mails, and I think my body's telling me it's time to wrap things up . Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there, especially my dear old momma. Happy birthday to my brova Jonathan (19 man, you're almost not a teenager anymore) and congrats on the promotion. A belated Happy Birthday to youngest bro, Adam, even though I wished you happy birthday through e-mail. And dad, well, um...Happy Birthday to you, too, even though I was in Lincoln on May 2 for your birthday. Ain'tchu like 36 or something now, or does it just seem like it?

I just realized I'm missing a lot of stuff by not being home during this month. I kind of miss it. Okay, so I really miss it, but it's okay. I've already been here a week, and before I know it, I'll be boarding that plane home. I'll C U when I get there.
And if anyone has any comments but can't post them on the blog for some reason, my e-amil is Rman31@alltel.net and go ahead and get at me if you got something.

Take care everyone

http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Sunday

After our late night playing cards, we decided to take the 10:30 train to Nagano City instead of the 9:30 train. Guess what we played on the way to Nagano City? Yep, some more Go Fish. I think Michaela's addicted. She might look all nice, but she is brutal when it comes to Go Fish. She will rip your heart out and then laugh.

Our first stop after we got off the train in Nagano was the McDonald's. Jeff got a shrimpburger, or something like that. He said it was good. It must've been; he took photos of his McDonald's meal. Personally, I'll stick with my cheeseburger and fries. After eating, we made our way to the Zenkoji Temple. There were about 129 little shops leading up to the temple, all with little, mostly useless items that we loved. We got a lot of really good pictures, probably the most Japanese-ish photos I'll get while I'm here. You know, things like the temple, statues outside the temple, a blurry picture from inside the temple (after which Michaela informed me that, um, Ryan, you aren't suppoed to take pictures inside the temple. So I probably incredibly offended some people, but, hey, I'm from America, what do I know?). It was a really cool place. The web address for the brochure we got is http://www.zenkoji.jp/ and I don't know what's on it, but maybe it's worth a look.

We traveled through the pitch-black passageway underneath the temple, where we had to remove our shoes and hats/visors. You see, in the absolute dark of the tunnel, all people are completely equal. While trying to find the Key to Paradise, there is the oppurtunity to experience a spiritual awakening, and by reflecting on one's self and finding the Key to Paradise, thus emerging from the dark, one ensures eternal salvation. Needless, to say, I experienced all of those. And too bad for evrybody out there reading this. Maybe you can get eternal salvation the hard way, you know, by being nice.

We made our way back to the train station after the temple, but not before Michaela got to stop in another old-Tshirt store and I got to go in a Tower Records store, which just happened to be right next to each other. Jonathan & Adam, maybe you guys'll like this; I found a copy (actually there was about three or four of 'em) of Boogie Down Productions' (early KRS-ONE) Criminal Minded album. It came out in '87, but I guess it was remastered in 2005, but I didn't know; it still sells for more than $40 new on Amazon. Anyway, I saw it and quick picked up. Score another one for music in Japan. I was pretty pumped. And Adam, if you guys set up my computer, you can burn all the CDs you want from the stuff that I have on my Windows Media Player; I keep all my music on there. That way you won't have to wait until I get back for me to burn you all those CDs you wanted from me. I think you'll find more than enough to keep you busy for awhile. And the Resident Evil 4 link didn't work, but Jeff and I found it somewhere else on the internet, without 'Warning' notes. We had fun watching it.

After getting back from Nagano City we lounged around for most of the evening. Michaela and I had a good time sitting on the couch while Jeff talked to his girl, fun for everyone. Michaela and I were almost in tears a few times. And Richelle (I hope I'm spelling that right, forgive me if I didn't) is great; really we were making fun of Jeff, but I'm sure she heard us laughing. Just know we weren't making fun of you; Jeff is a lot more fun to poke fun at, and you're a real good sport for putting up with, well, all of us. Don't worry, we left Jeff alone after a bit so he could have some semblance of privacy. It also gave me a chance to listen to my CD (which was straight bangin' by the way, man I love the classics).

I think we're heading to another outdoor mall today after Michaela gets out of school today. She has one whole class today, so I hope she isn't too worn out by the time she gets off. I gotta mention, Michaela's been awesome since we've got here. Going from having no roommate to all of a sudden having two, and two 21-year-old guys at that, can be a handful, and she's been great. I owe her something really nice. She says when she gets back to Lincoln she's going to need a car...

And Jonathan brought this to my attention; I don't know whether or not you can leave comments if you aren't a member of blogspot (it's free anyway), but if you can't leave one and you want to, my e-mail address is Rman31@alltel.net . Feel free to holla at me if you feel the need.

I'll get some pictures of our trip up soon.

http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Saturday

Saturday we got up and got onthe train for Karuizawa to wander around the mall. It was pretty yucky out, about low 4os and rainy, but it really didn't seem all that bad. Believe it or not, I actually got some shopping for people done. Mom, as I told you, I think you were the big winner.

Oh! We went into this one store called Octopus Army. GREAT STORE. For starters, it played a bunch of hip-hop while we were in there, unedited (Jeff giggled every time he heard a swear word). Second, it had a ton of really cool music-related shirts. And last but not least, it had a whole upstairs of second-hand clothing. Now, you probably hear the words 'second-hand' and think crap, right? Yeah, me too. But this was some really cool stuff, and it was way cheaper than I would have thought. I got a superjacket, aka The Chick Magnet. Don't worry, I'll post pictures of me rockin' it one of these times. I almost got lost from Michaela and Jeff a couple times because I blended in so well with the Japanese crowd. It is a powerful jacket. And it's missing a couple buttons.

We went to Church in Karuizawa, at a little place that is like the Japanese version of the Vegas Wedding Chapel, or White Wedding Chapel, whatever. Anyway, it was great. As I said last week, mass here isn't much different from mass in Lincoln; I sit there, think about life, look interested (don't worry sometimes I am, honest), and follow every one else's lead. Except at this place, there is no singing, no homily, and in 35 minutes, mass is over. Man I'm glad I talked them into going to church there at 6 in the evening instead of waking up, leaving the house at 8 in the morning, walking an hour to church, and then getting on a train right after mass on Sunday. I really can't believe Jeff was actually considering that. Jeff, is you crazy mane?
On a little side note: I knew it was a little more expensive here than in the U.S., but I NEVER thought I would be PAYING to GO TO THE BATHROOM. Are You Kidding ME!??! I was thisclose to walking out of there with about three toilet paper rolls to make sure I got my money's worth. Paying to go to the bathroom! Unbelievable. Good thing I had my jacket.

We played cards for a ctwo or three hours that night. Jeff and Michaela were playing Go Fish all wrong, and it wasn't until I showed them the RIGHT way that we really started having fun. You guys can thank me later. You can also thank me for letting you two win al the time later, too. I mean, I didn't want to beat them every time right after they learned a new way to play, because then they'd never want to play again. So you're welcome.

Saturday was a long, busy day, but as usual, it was fun. Even if I had to pay 100 yen to take a whiz.

http://ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com
http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Friday

Let's see, Friday, Friday...ah yes, Friday.

There are really only a couple things to mention about Friday.

Once again, Jeff and I went out walking around and found a lot of nothing. On our way back, we were thinking of what to do for lunch, and a thought popped into our head: Hokka Hokka Tei. If you haven't read Jeff's blog, the Hokka Hokka Tei is a Japanese gast food restaurant next to the grocery store, the Tsuruya (what we've come to call the 'Scruya,' it ain't cheap). We, of course, don't speak any Japanese, so we knew going in that ordering was going to be a little difficult. Luckily it was the middle of the day and the place was empty, so we didn't have to look like total idiots to in front of anyone (not that it would have bothered us). So we go inside, look at the menu, all in Japanese, walk up to the counter, say "kon'nichiwa," and then...point. Like one-year-olds. It was great. We felt sorry for the lady behind the register, having to deal with these two guys who can't speak any Japanese. But we ended up getting what we ordered, it was pretty good size, and it was surprisingly good. After one week, I can still say I haven't gotten sick. Yet. Good ol' Hokka Hokka Tei.

That evening we went over to one of Michaela's pals for chili and cards. I've never heard of vegetarian chili before, but apparently it exists, and I had some. It was good, but, you know, I like some meat in my chili. We played Spoons, oh, sorry, 'Chopsticks' after eating. They waited until I had lost six times in a row before they explained the rules of the game to me. Thanks guys.

And we also got hit on by some fifteen-year-old girls on the train.

http://ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com
http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com
http://michaelainjapan.blogspot.com

Live Mix Part 1

Good morning. Or evening, I guess, if you're in Lincoln.

We did a lot of exploring yesterday, kind of. Everyday, we go a little further than the previous day and stop in a few new shops, along with some stores we've already been to.

We made another trip to the grocery store yesterday. You can probably guess how that turned out. We got some pudding (what we thought was pudding) packs, an ice cream cone, a slice of weird pizza, some more mini cookies (mine were absolutely horrible), you get the idea. Then we went back to Santa's pawn shop so Jeff could get a thing or two. We went in another used CD/video game shack. Jeff was in heaven; there were more games there than he knew what to do with. Quite a few CDs for me to look at, too. Oh, that reminds, my day was made after our first stop...

We went back to the Book Off because I had seen a CD there I had looked for in the U.S. before, and I thought I saw it at this one used CD place. The thing is, this CD's name was Live Mix Part 1, and the one I had read about was Live Mix Part 2. Curious, I looked it up on the internet yesterday when we got back from our walk around the city. It turns out that the one in the Book Off, Live Mix Part i, was originally only put out on cassette, but after the group, Breakestra, started getting some name recognition, mainly overseas, they decided to put the Live Mix Part i out on CD as a limited run of 1,000 copies, sold only online. It was also later made available in Japan together with early releases of Live Mix Part 2. Basically what I'm saying is, I looked on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ebay, Half.com, HipHopSite, and I can't find Live Mix Part 1 ANYWHERE. Not even on ebay. So I think whatever I got, it's something reeeeeaaally rare. After I went back and bought it I was goin' nuts. And I listened to it some last night. It's like a soul funk jazz mix, if that makes sense, and it's nice. Amazing how lucky I was.

Oh, we also wandered into a casino, went to Baskin Robbins, and watched the Alamo Bowl.

Later.

http://ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com
http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com

From Santa's Thrift Store to Aoki's Men's Clothing

Man, it's 11:10 here, and I'm still waking up. It's nice Jeff and I can take our time in the morning instead having to be out and doing something by a certain time. We can take it easy and decide on what havoc to wreak during the day.

Yesterday we did some more exploring. We hit I think three CD/DVD/video game stores, a second-hand store, and a men's clothing store. We really got into the CD/DVD/video game stores, Jeff for the video games, me for the music. Hey Adam, Jeff told me that video games and DVDs bought here in Japan won't run on American systems, sorry. Otherwise Jeff would've blown about half his yen yesterday. Maybe I'll send you some of the pcitures he took (there's a game called Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus out here, and we have no idea where it came from). But yeah, so I can't bring any video games or DVDs back, unless you don't want to ever watch or use them. And if there's a certain kind of Japanese CD you want, say so, otherwise I'll bring you something that looks, well, weird.

The stores had a lot of cool CDs, kind of like a Homer's. The second-hand store had some cool stuff, too. A lot of things I'm sure the people here couldn't give a rip about, but we think are pretty cool.

Oh yeah, we went to a sporting goods store, too. Hey fam, how many times have we gone oon vacation and ended up buying a football to play with in the pool or some foam balls to play wiffle ball with? Like, every vacation right? Well, guess what Jeff and I split yesterday? A MONSTER wiffleball bat and plastic ball. It was awesome. We went to the park later with Michaela and tested it out. Not bad for 1000 yen.

We just kind of hung out and played cards in the evening. Played one elluva Crazy Eights game. I got my butt handed to me, but I won the big game. It took about forty-five minutes. You could cut the tension with a knife, and we were all about at wits end by the time it finally ended. Good stuff.

Anyway, I need to start getting ready to go on another romp through the city today. Ok, maybe romp is the wrong word, another 'exploration' of the city. That's better.

Take care all.

http://ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com
http://jeffdes.blogspot.com
http://jeffdespics.blogspot.com

First Full Day in Saku

It's Wednesday morning here in Saku. It's a little weird knowing that the time I'm sleeping are the prime hours of the day back in Lincoln.

Yesterday Jeff and I took our time waking up before heading to the grocery store. I never thought going to a grocery store could be so fun. I can only imagine how we looked going through the aisles, picking up about every other item and saying, "Whoa, check this out!" But like Jeff said, "Hey, we already look weird, nothing else we do 'll make us look any weirder." Yeah, you're right. Got some good pictures from the store. Can't you see us walking around the store taking pictures of the frozen food sections? What a couple of American dorks. And you should see what we buy; it's the most random crap there is. Mystery balls (they turned out to be rice, close call), ice cream sandwiches with chocolate in the middle, mini-cookies, Crunky chocolate bars (I have pictures), a giant carrot. It was great.

It was beautiful outside yesterday, had to be about low-70s with almost no wind. I got some good pictures I'll post later of what it looks like from Saku. This might sound strange, but walking on the trail to get to a park near Michaela's, it almost felt like being in Wisconsin when we would go to Bruce & Jean's or the cottage. Brought back some good memories.

Michaela and I went to the park and played some frisbee. I'm not very good, I made her chase it everywhere, but I think she was glad just to have someone to throw a frisbee with, so she didn't mind. Either way, I need some work on my frisbee technique. Great dai for frisbee, though.

Last night Jeff and I made a run to the Circle-K, or Kwik-E-Mart as we call it, to get Michaela some flour. The streets aren't very well lit, like, not at all, and Michaela casually mentioned to us the other day that she had heard people tell her the Japanese mob tend to frequent the area. Needless to say, we didn't waste much time getting to the store and coming back. It's all part of the experience. On second thought, think of how great a story it would be to say, "Yeah, we got jumped by the Japanese mob while we were in Japan?" Okay, maybe not so great.

I think today we'll hit up a couple second-hand stores and maybe a sports store, maybe throw the football around, we'll see.

'Til next time, sayoonara.

http://ryankinjapanpics.blogspot.com

I don't think I'm in Lincoln anymore

Well, I'm actually here, still a little hard to believe. It's only really about day 2, maybe 2 1/2, and it already seems like we've done about a week's worth of stuff.

We left Friday morning and got in Japan at about 2:15 Saturday afternoon because of the time difference. It wasn't really a 30 hour trip, but it kind of seemed like it by the time we got all our bags back to the place where we were staying. We stayed at a Japanese couples' home the first two nights. The first night they fixed some okonomi-yaki, a Japanese-style pizza, and tako-yaki, octupus. It was good, especially the okonomi-yaki. Had some Japanese beer with the couple we were staying with, and some shochu (it was STIFF). Got a good deal of sleep the first night, which I thought would be enough, but by Sunday evening, I was wrong.

We got up and went to mass Sunday. It was interesting. I couldn't understand hardly any of it and the sermon went in one ear and out the other. In other words, just like home. We ate lunch at the BubbleOver, an American restaurant. Actually some pretty good burgers, and the blueberry cheesecake...good stuff. Wandered around Tokyo after we ate. Tokyo is huge, easily the biggest city I've been in. Ami, you were right, everyone is on their cell phone sending messages, just like you said. It made me laugh.

We went to a baseball game in the Tokyo Dome that night, and it was totally different than any Major League game I've been to. Each team had cheers and cheering sections; it felt like a college football game. We ate at a raamen restaurant after the game, and it was excellent. Not exactly the raamen noodles you get for 38 cents in the U.S. I was beat after we ate, slept most of the train ride back so I could get up at 5:30 to leave for Saku so Michaela could get back to school on time.


The couple we stayed with, Yoko and Hideo, were great. Yoko was funny, and always happy and smiling, just fun. Hideo was pretty good at English, and they were both awesome. They made our first weekend in Japan a lot easier for us.

I'm going to start getting ready for bed; it's 11:30 at night here, and I'm still a little tired. We're at Michaeala's place now. We went to the grocery store tonight, and it was, well, interesting, but fun. We tried some umeboshi at a grocery store in Tokyo, and it almost turned my face inside out it was so sour, but hey, it's all part of the experience. I think I'll probably say that about a thousand times.

I'll try to get some pictures up here sometime soon, and try to post when I'm not as tired. 'Til next time, sayoonara.

And thanks again for saying goodbye. I miss you, can't wait to see you when I get back.