Hey guys!

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. I've been working on a research proposal for grad school which has unfortunately co-opted all of my computer time. Hopefully it will be done tonight and I'll be back to my weekly blogging schedule :)

Rest assured that things in Tokyo are going swimmingly. It remains mostly sunny (if hazy) and warm. Although I love Canada's seasons, I gotta admit that wearing t-shirts outside at the end of October is a pretty sweet deal. Since last I wrote I've done a little more exploring, checking out more of central Tokyo and the Harajuku and Shibuya neighbourhoods. Very crazy, very bright, very cool. I've also had a few more training days for work and have started teaching kids, which has thus far been a total blast. Basically I get to just read story books and sing songs and jump up and down like an idiot. It's great fun. On Friday I ventured back up to Chichibu and had a lovely visit with Amanda and Chris. This Friday I'll be heading to Fujiku Highlands, an amusement part near the base of Mt. Fuji that was featured in last season's Amazing Race. All very exciting.

Anyhoo, I gotta jet. I promise I'll write something more substantial soon!

Trekking on Takao

Konbanwa!

Today marks one month since I've arrived in Japan. While my first two weeks here seemed to drag a bit, the past two have flown by. I'm settling into my rhythm at work, getting to know my frequent students, and becoming a regular patron of several coffee shops. However, there are still so many parts of Tokyo I haven't even ventured into yet that every day (or day off, at least) remains an adventure.

I worked overtime yesterday, so today was my one and only day off this week and I certainly didn't want it to go to waste. I had initially been thinking of heading into Harajuku or Shibuya, two very famous areas of Tokyo that I still haven't managed to hit up. However, my friend Adelle needed a break from the lights, people, beer, and money that define Tokyo. Instead of heading into the city, we took the train the opposite direction, to Takaosanguchi, the end of the line.

I'd heard from several students and teachers that Takaosanguchi was a very pleasant little town with a mildly famous mountain that we could climb or take a cable car up. Despite being less than an hour from Tokyo, Mt. Takao feels like being a world away (kind of like Chichibu). It's rather heavily forested and home several touristy trinket shops and myriads of Buddhist statues and temples. Having arrived at the base, Adelle and I decided to take the main path up to the top. However, after only a few hundred feet, the trail started to get a little more rugged and considerably steeper. After about a half hour of walking we reached a bend in the path where the way up became steeper yet. Admitting defeat, we cut our losses and headed back down to the base to pick up the cable car.

While considerably faster, the cable car was definitely the scarier way of getting up the mountain. It moves at quite the incline. Anyhoo, we got to the top safely. Or at least what we thought was the top. Turns out, the cable car only takes you part way. So we set out for summit on foot.

Along the way we discovered several of the temples I mentioned earlier. I really need to learn more about the Buddhist tradition. The buildings and figures were so beautiful, yet I'm clueless as to what they symbolize. There was one that reminded me very much of the Madonna and Child (only there were three babies).

After a couple of hours of wandering along trails and over suspension bridges (eek!), we decided that today might not be the day we make it all the way to the top of Mt. Takao. We had planned on at least hiking down, but the sun was starting to set and the sky ominously cloudy, so we took the treacherous cable car back to the base as well. Good thing too, as it started raining as soon as we got down. We were both starving, but the restaurants in Takao are nastily expensive, so we headed back to Fuchu for some ramen and gyoza. Mmmm.

So now my legs are tired, but the memory card on my camera phone is filled with good stuff (as is my tummy).

Working for the Weekend

It may be the weekend for the rest of the world, but Saturday is my Monday. I was back to work today after a fab, jam-packed weekend (aka Thursday and Friday). So jam-packed, in fact, I'm going to write this blog in two parts.

Part I: Roger and Me

My weekend plans actually began to form last Saturday, during an English lesson with a student named Toomu. Toomu is a massive tennis fan (and not a bad player). He told me that the tennis community in Japan was abuzz since this week Roger Federer, the reigning king of tennis, was playing in Japan for the very first time. I happen to be a very big Federlover, so the opportunity to see him play in Tokyo sounded too good to miss. Using my super handy keitai (cell phone), I managed to figure out how to get to the stadium. I was set; Thursday morning I would head out in search of Roger.

Unfortunately, when I woke up on Thursday it was drizzling. From what I could make out of the Japanese weather forecast, the rain would only get worse throughout the day. Nevertheless, I decided to press onto the stadium, figuring that, should the tennis be rained out, I'd find some other place to explore.

By the time I got to the stadium, the drizzle had turned into a stead pour and nothing was going on on the outer courts. However, the grounds were still open. I wanted to ask whether there was a chance that the matches might still go on before I shelled out 2500 yen for my ticket, but seeing as my Japanese isn't quite that advanced yet, I decided to just go for it. To my great joy, when I walked into main stadium, I discovered that Center Court had a roof! I would get to see my Roger!

First up though was a match between Japan's number 1 tennis player, Ai Sugiyama, and American Vania King. It was an extremely close (and extremely long) match, with Sugiyama finally winning 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 on a miss by King that she (and I) thought was good. Vania spent about 30 seconds arguing with the chair before grudgingly accepting her loss. So after three hours of waiting, it was finally Roger time. The man has to be seen in person to be believed. He plays with such finesse and power and grace (can you see the drool running down my face?). Unfortunately, Roger's match was a bit of a let down after the competitiveness of the previous one. Fed's opponent was a South African with a big serve and not much else. It took Roger less than an hour to demolish him 6-2, 6-1. After the match, Roger was his usual classy self, first giving an interview to a space cadet Japanese reporter, than playing 1-on-2 with a couple of young girls (who are obviously aspiring tennis players, they were quite impressive) and then two middle-aged men, who I think must have been contest winners. It was all very charming.

Part II: Hello, Dahli!

On Friday it was time for another adventure. One of the great things about living in a city like Tokyo is that you not only get to explore the city itself, but major cultural events are always rolling through. Having lived here for almost a year, my Kiwi roommate Alyce is pretty tired of all the typical Tokyo sights. However, she was very excited about a retrospective coming to the city celebrating the surrealist painter Salvador Dahli. He's the guy that painted all those melting clocks and had a funny moustache. Anyhoo, Alyce organized a small posse consisting of Dahli expert Scott (who also happens to be my immediate supervisor, although since he works at another Nova branch I'd only ever spoken to him on the phone), Japanese Nova staff and extraordinarily sweet Wotaru, and myself, to head up to Ueno to see the exhibit. I'm not much of a Dahli afficienado, but it was an incredible experience nonetheless. It's crazy to see such famous works in person.

After the exhibit, Scott and Alyce took us to a Hare Krishna restaurant in Nakano. The place was tiny hole in the wall, no larger than your average kitchen, with only 2 tables. The food, however, was unbelievably delicious. Roasted vegetables and rice and curry. Mmmmm.

I'd only just gotten home Friday night when I got a call from Adelle asking if I wanted to join her for free Japanese lessons in Fuchu. Being that it is rather annoying not being able to read any signs or understand anything that's said to me, this sounded like a good idea. So Adelle and I headed back out into the rain (which continued my entire weekend, sigh) and to the city office, where random Japanese volunteers teach their language to foreigners. I learned how to say a few more basic phrases (none of which I seem to remember now...) and was inspired to pull out my hiragana and katakana sheets and start seriously memorizing those symbols. After class, Adelle joined Alyce and I in our apartment for a movie (the very funny "Election") and a bottle of vino. Good times.

So that, in a very large nutshell, was my weekend. Only five days to go until the next one!