Ups and Downs

Man, I'm wiped out. A week ago today I was sitting in a "Bubba-Gump" restaurant outside of Universal Studios Japan (they call it USJ) in Osaka with a gaggle of good friends. As I was eating my awesome shrimp fajitas I just so happen to gander and see the license plate you see here. (Try to read the sign above it if you can)

What brought me and a majority of my friends to japans eastern side was the conference held for first year ALT's who have committed to stay a second. It was held in yet another awesome hotel skirting the Kobe harbor. Starting Monday, the 3 days were filled with workshops and seminars all aimed to aid us in our second year here and how to be better Assistant Teachers. It was also quite reminiscent of 10 months ago when we all first came and spent 3 days in Tokyo.

The Saturday before, a small possy of us Shimane-JET's went to catch a baseball game. It was my second pro ball game here and I plan to fill the summer with many more. The game is played exactly as it is back home, at least as far as I can tell. (and if it isn't, look for a comment by Ken below) This particular game was between the Kobe Buffaloes and Osaka Hanshin Tigers....only worth mentioning because neither animal is indigenous to this country. I'd ponder why, but the list of things that just don't make sense here is getting longer day by day. After the game, we ate at an overpriced Mexican food joint and then smoked some fruit flavored hooka at a Turkish bar. Ahh the luxuries of a big city!

That night I slept in one of the true legends of Japan, the capsule hotel. If you aren't quite familiar, the capsule is a little longer than a meter tall and wide and just big enough to crawl into and sleep in. I couldn't sit up straight in it but then again, why would one need to. This particular capsule even had a small TV in it. Cheaper than most hotel options it was an extremely relaxing and restful experience. Especially since this particular capsule hotel had an onsen included within thee facility.

So after waking up the next morning and spending about an hour hocking up fruit flavored mucus from previous night's damn hooka, the girls and I went to USJ. This wasn't my first time to a Universal Studios. As a family we all went to the one in California about ten years ago. This was however the first time for me to experience all the shows in Japanese or with Japanese dubbing. Something is lost when "Doc", from Back to the Future, is talking you in fast Japanese as you chase of Biff in the Dalorian....and somehow it's still as entertaining.

The next three days at the conference were great as well. I wasn't looking for inspiration, nor was I in need reaffirmation of what we were doing, but I got both. I was mainly looking for new ideas of stuff to implement in my visits and classes. To go through the entire conference might not be so interesting but suffice it to say, I got alot out of the whole thing. Plus, when your friends are sitting next to you, shenanigans happen.

Then I got back. Two weeks ago I purchased a small little car from a friends in-laws. She's a pretty little blue car who I've named Darlene. While in Kobe, Darlene was parked in the train station parking lot. At some point in time over the 5 days I was gone somebody keyed Darlene's entire passenger side. Asking around I've come to learn that this never happens in Japan, let alone Shimane. Arson by itself is almost unheard of. Which makes me sad, cause this means someone has got a big problem with me....and is yet to chicken to confront me about it. And I'll probably never know who it was.

I discovered this defacement Thursday morning. That combined with some difficulties at work pretty much set the tone for the next couple of days unfortunately.

But about two hours ago I drove Darlene out to a lighthouse over looking the Sea of Japan and watched the sun set and it was awesome. Somehow, once again, things got put into perspective. Its hard to step outside of and look at ourselves and our own lives objectively, but I'll be damned if it doesn't help me when I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with my time here in Japan and life in general.

Atlas is a wimp