Japanese Scarecrows

Yes, there are crows in Japan. Lots of them. Sometimes they wake me up in the morning walking around on the apartment's tin roof. The first time I heard this I thought it was someone walking around in the downstairs of my apartment. A little freaky. Anyway, with crows come scarecrows, and below you can see the Japanese variety, complete with the typical clothes of the old ladies who work out in the rice paddies.



Not to be confused with the far scarier western style scarecrows, as demonstrated in the hit new movie, Batman Begins:

Sports Day and More

This Saturday my school had a sports day. I was disappointed to find that it was exactly the same as the sports day last fall, and that my role in the proceedings was the same -- video cameraman. But it was still good fun, and I had Monday off in compensation. And the goal of the event was for the students to have fun, and it succeeded in that. Each home room class (there are two per grade at my school) competed in a series of races and games. They prepared in the weeks before, designing t-shirts and painting giant posters (the cartoon girl in the poster is the same teacher in the photo with me, Momoko). They did tug-of-war, long jumprope, a many-legged race, and even a cool traditional dance. And there was a series of normal races and relays.

Also of note, this weekend was Yoshiko's birthday party. First we hit the prestigious Gusto, the Japanese Denny's, and then we were off for a night of karaoke. Good times. Click here for a frightening image.



This Sunday was yet another party, a goodbye to Mito-san and a few others, our friends we met at Maizushi who have been transferred to the other side of Japan. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera or cell phone. The Maizushi crowd are some of the coolest people I've gotten to know in Japan, despite the facts that they are way older than me, they rarely speak english, and they are often drunk. I'm a little sad to see Mito go.

Is this me?

Yesterday at Oma High School I had a class playing a big game of Pictionary. On one of the cards I wrote "Chris," and this is what the student drew:



And the class guessed correctly in one try.

Pics Not From This Weekend

I went to Aomori City last weekend, but I forgot my backpack with all my clothes, my toothbrush, my Nintendo DS, and my camera. So there are no pics of me chilling out in the big city, making pizzas at Trevor's apartment, or socializing at the AJET leavers' party. On Sunday Satoko and I saw the movie Batman Begins, which I need to see again to confirm my belief that it is the better than the Tim Burton Batman. It was a fun weekend.

And Click Here for a preview of some weird American comedians in a preview episode for a new show. It looks, well, weird.

So, in lieu of photos from the party, here are a few random shots.

Here is a frog I found while biking on a logging road near Yagen Valley


And have you ever wondered what it looks like when loggers take down a big chunk of forest?


Here is an ashtray next to a urinal. It's fuzzy because I took it on my cell phone camera and I was in a hurry because I didnt want anyone to see me taking pictures in the men's room

My International Audience

Like many who become obsessed with their own blogs, I inserted an (invisible) counter from Statcounter.com to keep track of how many people come to my site each day. It is interesting to watch as the graph spikes when I add new pics and how it dwindles when I am not active. If someone came to my site from a link on someone else's page, I can see where they came from. Oddly enough, I can see what operating system they use and what their screen resolution is.

Today while browsing through all this mostly useless information, I came across this graph of which countries the last 100 visitors came from.



America and Japan make obvious sense. I have a few Australian friends here so that doesn't seem too odd. But Belgium? Belgium? Do I know anyone in Belgium? None of Statcounter's stats have helped me figure out how someone from Belgium might arrive at my page. My best guess is that it is a friend of a friend who is browsing various Japan blogs. Still, I find it bewildering. If you happen to be from Belgium, please leave a comment. Don't be bothered by this post though, I am gladdened by the international appeal of "Chris in Japan."

Funny Glasses

Here are some pics from an entertaining W party this past Friday.


Me in funny glasses


Ewen in funny glasses

Where was I a year ago?

At roughly this time a year ago I went to Utah for my brother's wedding. I went a couple weeks early so that I could hang out with my brothers and go on a backpacking trip in Canyonlands, southern Utah. I took all sorts of pictures that have just been sitting on my hard drive, and I figure that now is the time to share them.

Canyonlands Pics

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight

The Wedding and Around SLC

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

note: The picture of me on this post was actually taken by my brother Patrick

Tokyo!

Bam. I went to Tokyo for the third time. It was for a conference of recontracting English teacher, but there isn't much to say about the conference, except that it was slightly better than I had expected.





Tokyo is, of course, an awesome place. Big buildings. Flashing Lights. And of course, countless bars, karaoke joints, restaurants, arcades, clubs, and all sorts of other forms of entertainment. We ate. We drank. We danced. We sang. It was astounding.

Some big buildings

The train I took

Charlie, Alex and I dining at a fine yakitori establishment

The chef of said establishment

Alex and Charlie

Those fiends again

bad oven!

Quick post before I put up the pics from Tokyo. My oven is dead. It has served me well. I taught myself to cook pizza with that very one, and now it is gone. As you may or may not know, large ovens are rare in Japan. Most people get by with tiny microwave / oven combinations. I do not wish to be such a person.

BBQ

Quick pic before I leave for Tokyo. Thursday the teachers had a bbq outside our apartments. It was a bit rainy, so we had to surround ourselves in tarps, but it was a fun event. Meat, fish and veggies cooked over red embers and dipped in soy sauce. I made guacamole and tortillas.



I get back from Tokyo on Wednesday. Expect pics.

Haircut

Yes, that time has come again for the most magical of things - the haircut. For the third time in my life, I had it buzzed (by my friend Dan who is quite the barber). Style aside, life is easier this way. I enjoy the new look, and my students definately enjoy it, perhaps to an unhealthy degree.

Before:


After:


You can ignore the 4-sided die stuck to my forehead in the first picture.

New Bike

Behold! My new bike. Only slightly used, I purchased it a couple weeks ago from a German acquaintance while I was partying in Rokkasho. It's nothing fancy, but a decent ride by all means, and a new way for me to get some exercise. Nothing beats riding down to yagen Valley on a nice day while listening to my iPod. For the safety-minded, I promise to buy a helmet soon, but unfortunately none of the tiny sports stores around here carry such a strange and bizarre product. I shall have to seek one out on my next trip to Shimoda.