You're Inawashirooo, What's Your Name?

September is rapidly reaching its close and the weather here in Sendai is wonderful. Nothing beats forgetting you even had an air conditioner since you never have to use it anymore. Although that also means the nights are getting a bit chillier, but thus far it's nothing a thicker blanket can't solve!

Today's post is concerned with a time, not too long ago, when the weather was less great and more...sweltering. Kelsey and I took a trip down to Lake Inawashiro on September 17 to go sightseeing, a little crazy with our camera, and visit an animal shelter. It was very subdued as far as adventures go, but I suppose it technically qualifies as our first intra-Japan trip!

Carb-ing up before our train leaves.

Some more zealously than others...

Inawashiro isn't exacly in Sendai's backyard, so biking there wasn't really a feasable option for us. After a brief interest in renting a car and turning it into a road trip (too complicated), we ended up choosing to ride the bullet train, which is always fun. Picking up our tickets and navigating the train station was a tad difficult, not helped at all by the fact that our culminative Japanese vocabulary amounts to that of a two year old. But we managed (somehow) and before long were boarded our train bound for Koriyama station!

Kelsey is unaware that she just budded everyone in line.

We're going to need maximum yamabiko for this ride! Inform the engineers.

The ride was a little uneventful, despite the fact that we were barrelling across Japan at extraordinary speeds. It's difficult to take a step back and think that you are actually sitting on a chair in a rectangular box travelling 300 kilometers an hour across Japan. A lot of things are like that, I guess. Don't get me started on elevators.

Our faces contorted by the high speeds.

Trains here are so adorable!

The trip took us South from Sendai which meant that, in addition to seeing a great deal of rural Japan (which is remarkably blurry in contrast to the rest of Japan) we also went through the radioactive wasteland known as Fukushima, even making a few stops for passengers along the way.

Inaka - a term in Japanese for the countryside, aka this.

Eventually we arrived in Koriyama and, with the help of a random Japanese stranger who overheard us speaking and offered to help us out in English, boarded the local train towards Inawashiro without incident. This train and the ride itself was a brief shock to us, since our very tiny experience with Japan has been limited to urban infrastruction and all that jazz. Out here in the country things are a bit different. The train is loud, rickety, stops abruptly with squeals, and could easily become the set for a television game show where contestents compete to stay standing upright for the longest. It was also packed, which in a sense was a blessing in disguise. The random Japanese stranger was also heading to Inawashiro with a group of friends from Tokyo, so we chummed up with them on the ride over and had some good talks.

Tourist buddies!

The entirety of Inawashiro station.

Inawashiro tourism centre - a map.

Almost had it!

Inawashiro is a small town with just over 17,000 people, so their station is quaint. The ticket processing system is just an old guy who checks your ticket, in stark contrast to elsewhere where machines automatically analyse your ticket and mark it for you. What it lacks in modern conveniences it more than makes up for in natural beauty, which will be the sole focus of the next batch of photos. I hope you like mountains!

We also visited an animal shelter while we were there, and they were more than happy to receive us in return for playing with their animals for a bit. Not a bad price to pay, especially if they throw in sleeping accomodations and all the food we can eat! We originally intended on travelling up one of the bigger mountains around Inawashiro - and maybe, I dunno, seeing the lake - while we were there, but logistical constraints (it's a long walk and it was really hot, okay?) prevented us. That just meant we had more time to eat and play with puppies!

The shelter doubles as a "pet-friendly" restaurant. I don't know why it's called Club Lohas.

Puppies!!

Doing the dirty work.

A small part of our delicious pay.

After spending the night and a fair part of the next day in Inawashiro, it was time to go home! The people at the shelter were nice enough to give us a lift back to Koriyama (where the bullet train is), meaning we didn't have to ride the crazy train again. We were also allowed to take back all the doritos we wanted, so naturally we emptied our bags of anything not immediately necessary to accomodate all the bags possible! They lasted a few days.

View the whole album here!

Nico's Tanjō-bi!

Now that I have reached the ripe old age of 22 I definitely feel that old-agey kinda wisdom seeping into me. I expect most of my blog posts from now on to be full of thoroughly considered reflections and hints of cynicism. Kelsey 's been dealing with old age a lot longer than I, which probably explains why she wanted to co-author this post with me; got to show me the ropes, and all that.

One Becomes Two Part 2

Konnichiwa!

Me in Sendai!

It’s Kelsey here! I’m in Japan; can you believe it? There are still days when I wake up and need to register that I’ll be living in a foreign country for the next year!  I’ve been in Sendai for over two weeks now, but I’ve done so much in that short period of time that it feels like much longer than that.  To be honest, I don’t even know where to start with this blog post! I suppose I’ll just ramble on for a little while! J

Downtown Sendai is full of covered walkways - very nice on rainy days!

Within the first few days of arriving in Japan, it became clear to me how obvious it was that I’m a foreigner.  Although I was undoubtedly aware of it while living in Canada, coming to Japan has reminded me just how incredibly multicultural Canada truly is. Biking and walking around with Nico involves countless stares from the locals, most of them directed towards my big curly hair and our blue eyes. I have already had a number of inquiries from the locals asking if my hair is naturally curly or if I perm it; the look of disbelief that crosses their faces when I tell them it’s naturally this way never gets old to me! How can something as simple as having curly hair be so intriguing to someone?!  I guess I’ll never quite understand.

Speaking of things I'll never understand...

The language barrier between us and the locals always makes for an adventure of some kind. All of the locals here are aware that we can’t speak Japanese, yet they can’t communicate in any other language! What inevitably happens is the reliance on body language to convey a message, mostly hand gestures and pointing. I wonder what goes through the cashier’s mind as he or she speaks to me in Japanese and I simply stare at them, with zero comprehension of what they are saying. Nico and I have begun the process of getting a tutor to give us Japanese lessons once a week. Tomorrow is our first lesson, actually! We figure that if we’re here for a year we might as well learn how to order food and ask where the washroom is!

Nico has trouble finding washrooms too.

Speaking of food, I have been eating very well since I arrived. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t even had sushi since coming here! Shameful, I know. Italian food is very popular here, and since Nico and I both love Italian food (and he IS half-Italian, after all), we’ve been enjoying the comforts of home in the form of pasta, Caesar salad, and minestrone soup! Mmm! We’ve also found a quaint Thai restaurant that not only serves amazing food, but has a wonderful and homey ambiance, complete with authentic Thai décor, music, and even a video of Thailand playing in the background. While eating, you’re transported to Thailand - how awesome is that?

Delicious Thai... Mmmmm....

Canadian Crab Whiskey - just like home!
:P

Happy customers!

While there are some comforts of home that I miss already, namely garlic pickles, being able to read every menu and sign that I encounter, and having air conditioning blasted wherever I go in the summer months (did I mention how humid it is here?), I am having a wonderful time so far. I’ve already been challenged, stretched, and terrified in one way or another. Someone once told me that everyone should do one thing a day that scares them: I guess waking up in Japan covers that!

150 dollars for french fries is pretty scary.

As some of you know, I started a job last week at a place called Primary that, contrary to its name, is a private school for adults who want to improve their English. Currently, I am only a part-time worker, but I prefer it for now as I am still getting accustomed to living in Japan. So far I have taught four lessons; two private one-on-one lessons and two group lessons with three students. The evaluations from the students have been positive so far, and I’m hoping to keep that up! After all, it’s in the students’ hands whether or not I am promoted to a full-time position! When I was younger I considered the possibility of being a teacher, but that was a dream I left long ago. Although teaching is not my desired long-term career, it has been quite exciting and liberating to stand in front of a room with students and be completely in charge for an hour. This whole Japan thing is one big adventure after the next: I’m meeting the challenges head-on!

Interview Day! (I did not wear those flip flops)

That’s all I can think to write for now, especially as this is supposed to be the second half of Nico’s last blog (sorry for the delay!). There are no new pictures for this blog, but we will be writing another one tonight about our more recent adventures, complete with new pictures!

Bye for now!

             Midnight
             snacking!

One becomes two, and a bunch of other stuff happened too.

Japan has some pretty unique wildlife, and coming from Canada it is easy to be surprised, even frightened, when you encounter one for the first time. One such creature is little-mentioned on television or in books or on the internet, but it has a nasty habit of infiltrating your kitchen and eating all of your bread and peanut butter; often together in a twisted, almost sandwich-like, arrangement.