Business With Pleasure- Shaken, Not Stirred

Over the last few weeks I have attended functions thrown by some of my students. I know the pros and cons of mixing business with pleasure but in this land of "Yes" I couldn't say "No."

My group class (pictured above) requested that I attend a "Welcome Party." They rented a little cafe called Chapter II and we had the entire place to ourselves. It was pretty small and you can see most of the sitting area in the picture. These people are all very nice and the dinner was wonderful. I'd heard some tragic news that day, so for a couple of hours they helped me forget. The man (Shigeharu) brought some sho-chu (alcohol) and wine. As you can tell from his red face, he was pretty tipsy. He got a little rowdy but the women all minded their manners. Please note that eveyone seems composed and good mannered.

IN CONTRAST:

Yesterday, I was invited to head to the beach for a BBQ with another student of mine. This one lives just down the street. I can see their balcony from the window of our shower. In the picture above, he's the one on the left. He's Kosuke and the guy on the right is Yoshi. Yoshi loves Levis, Lee, and Harley Davidson. At one point, Yoshi ended up naked and was running up and down the beach with either a blow up beach ball or a sand castle bucket covering his private area.

This picture is Kosuke's son, Ryunosuke. He's quite a cute kid. I've finally been to their house enough, that he doesn't run in fear.

Here are Kosuke's little brother, Norisuke (left) and Shibaki.

The beer was flowing and while I did have a few I did not end up naked or doing a bellydance with anyone. After spending time with him as a teacher, it felt like I was going undercover while we were at the beach. I kept getting the feeling that I was going to be made. It felt like Kosuke was some kind of kingpin and I was being drawn in to be part of the gang. I didn't have to do anything to compromise my ethics (like extort money from some shop owners) and I didn't do anything to require me to cut off my little finger as an apology, either.

I think that Shigeharu-san would've enjoyed the antics of this group better.

Random Pictures Come Together 2

I was minding my own business when I heard a ruckuss outside. A couple of kindergardeners were answering the call to nature outside my window. All the little ones have to wear matching hats and backpacks that identify them as little ones.

So, here's the restaurant that shares the same spelling of "Jory" that Noriko chose to put on the official documents. Jolly- that's me!

This little guy reminds me of home. He bays and barks and howls at the drop of a hat. I used to help take care of seven beagles. This little guy is just down the road. He's about the unfriendliest little Snoopy that I've ever seen. He started growling at me during this photo.

Doesn't this snubnose .38 look a little too realistic? It's just a cap gun. I think one sign of an advanced country is one that that requires the end of toy gun barrels to be hunter orange. Of course, they are a little behind the USA when it comes to having enough armed robberies or accidental shootings of children to warrant the marking of toy guns as toys. As much as I hate hunter's orange and with or without enough handgun crime, I still think it's a good idea.

Here's Noriko running out the door to work. She is not missing a leg, she's just fluidly putting on one of her shoes in midstride.

Self-Portrait per Carly's Request

OK. The first picture is not exactly a self-portrait. It might be after about fifty years. The next picture is the closest thing Yahoo can come up with. The setting is actually Tokyo. I do have similar clothes and the head is a little too big with not enough hair. I'm working on slimming down but I think it's close enough.

Wrong Turn

Mistakenly, a friend went to the following page, and was taken by surprise at my newfound zealousness (zealotry?zealousy?).

http://muskogeeyokie.blogpsot.com/

You Are What You Feast

In 5th grade, I was responsible for coming up with the holiday bulletin board display in the cafeteria. I can't remember how I came to be responsible for this chance to get my work out in the public eye, but I took it pretty seriously. I needed something catchy, yet something that promoted good eating habits. Elementary students don't always have nutrition on their mind when selecting a meal. I finally came up with "CHRISTMAS TIME IS EATING TIME, BUT REMEMBER, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!" I felt something was missing, but for the most part, I was satisfied. My teacher, Mrs. White, cut out out all the letters. As she finished, I figured out what I needed. It should have read FEASTING. EATING was just not festive enough. I pointed my idea out but was quickly shot down. "I am not going to cut out all of those letters, AGAIN!" Mrs. White informed me. Not wanting to cause trouble, I obediently took my seat. All she had to do was cut out an additional "F" and "S."

So, people are always asking me, "What's the food like?" and "Do you really eat raw fish?" If they knew better, they'd be asking things like "Horsemeat? Some people eat it raw?" Anyway, I've compiled a few pictures of some good ol' fashioned home cooked meals.

a typical weekend breakfast

Japanese stew

sushi

Most restaurants have a display of wax recreations of their offerings. When everything has a strange name and the menus can't be read, this is extremely useful.

more sushi

One of J-Ma's desserts from a French bakery. mmmmmmm... I have a theory about J-Ma and her desserts. She always picks up the expensive ones. If they're not over $4 each, then they're not fit to eat. Occasionally, Noriko and I pass a $1.00 stand and we supply the sweets. J-Ma will eat them, but with a turned up nose. She's a dessert snob.

What does this restaurant offer? Spaghetti, soup, and...? (I wonder if it's eaten raw or cooked?)

some tempura


some more tempura

lunch

oysters

dinner

dinner

Dating Day in Kamakura

Below, are a few shots from a recent outing to Kamakura.

Area Around Kanazawa: Kiriko in Wajima, a Castle, a Temple

In Wajima, we went to their local matsuri festival. They carry these towering portable shinto shrines (kiriko), singing and chanting.

Each neighborhood or shrine had their own kiriko and it was a contest of sorts to see who could make the best one.

They used to carry them along the streets but now there are too many low hung power lines. They are pretty much restricted to a parking lot.

This area is at a cliff where a head priest was pushed over for being a boozing womanizer. I think the story has it that the monk that did it was jealous.

I thought this set of stairs looked just like the entrance to the amusement park in Spirited Away. Oink! Oink!

This is the site of an old samurai village.

They've rebuilt some of the village. Above is an example of what the street would've looked like.

Here's an aerial view of a model, showing what the entire place was like.

Here is the oldest, non-replica castle tower, in Japan.

This map shows the original layout of the castle. The tower is in the upper left hand area of the complex.

The tower's purpose was simply to keep an eye on the surrounding territory.

Access to the upper floors were by steep sets of staircases. This saved space and also prevented one's enemies from rushing up them. They seemed as steep and narrow as the stairs in Iwabe Castle.

Here's the entrance to Eihei-ji. It's the head temple of a temple here in Yokosuka that has Noriko's dad's family at rest.

On the grounds of Eihei-ji

Inside Eihei-ji

Inside Eihei-ji

So you can get an idea of how large this complex is, here's the map. The first picture was taken at the far left of this map.

Finally, at Haneda Airport, there were these cool little displays. It's some kind of paper mache mixed medium.

Kanazawa: A funeral, a parade, a wedding, a sunset.

We returned to Kanazawa to take care of unfinished business. The waiting period was over and it was time to take Noriko's Uncle's remains to his final resting area. This pictures shows the view from the restaurant where we ate lunch, after we finished up at the temple. See the green roofed building that doesn't really match the others? That's the temple. I just noticed that that tree looks pretty big, too.

It just so happened, there was a major Kanazawa festival while we were there. Every year, they reenact a wedding procession of a famous samurai- Maeda. The dashing lad in the above picture is portraying Mr. Maeda. Apparently, this guy is a famous actor. As he passed, so did a huge throng of fans. Mostly women and they were all holding up there cellphone cameras, screaming, "Look at me! Look this way!"

A famous wedding? Well, this girl is portraying the girl that was married on that day, long ago. She was an 11 year old bride. Maybe I'm just not old fashioned enough, but that seems a little young! I didn't even scream "Look at me!" but I managed to catch the lucky lady's attention.

This is what I'd call a Glamourai. He looks like the other member of KISS and I had to ask if he was supposed to be some kind of undead samurai. That would be cool.

The parade was a good time to show off Miss Kanazawa (I don't know which one she is- does it matter?) See that girl with her arms crossed? See that look she's giving her date? I think that's the same look Noriko gave me when I took the picture.

Not dressed in golden armor or a silken kimono, nobody seemed to interested in this lone boy scout. He didn't seem too plussed, either.

This samurai was very antsy about his antsy horse. They both seemed to be sharing their first day on the job.

The procession ended at Kanazawa Castle, just like it did, back on that happy day. J-Pop snapped his picture. I have no idea who those other two people are (The two on the far right- the two on the far left are Noriko and me).

Also, on the day's schedule, was a kabuki kind of thing where two guys fight each other to a draw (they are trying to win the honor of fighting a dragon-thing). After a tie, they both fight and defeat the dragon.

Across the street from the castle is the Kenrouken Park. During this holiday, they open the gates and light up the park. Here is a couple enjoying a romantic view within the walls.

A sunset in Wajima

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