Another Good Day

Yesterday was one of those days where everything was amazing (those are my favorite kinds of days, by the way). The day before yesterday, my friend Hitoshi mentioned that he was going to go to Costco in Sapporo with his family. Yes I know! I was also surprised to hear that Costco exists in Japan. I dropped a hint around wanting to join him and his family the next day, and he willingly agreed. We ended up talking an express toll way to get part way there, which was about 10 dollars each way; Japan can be really expensive if you want it to be, though despite what many people say, it does'nt have to be. This week must be autumn’s prime time because every mountain is in a frenzy of reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and purples. We had left in the early morning which allowed ourselves to be hypnotized by the plethora of autumn colors, enhanced by the morning sun. We finally arrived at Costco 3 hours later. As we walked in, I was blown away at how similar it was to the ones back home. Actually, it was exactly the same. Everything from the toilets, shopping carts, and ceiling lights were exactly the same. Even the water fountains just outside of the bathrooms have been imported from North America. I had to keep reminding myself that I was still in Japan. I ended up buying a dozen large assorted muffins, a dozen bagels, a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper and a large bag of Kirkland corn chips. Hitoshi recommended that we buy a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. You don’t often see the large orange types in Japan, but instead, smaller green ones. After shopping, Hitoshis parents treated us to the food court, which also was exactly the same to the North American Costco food courts. We had gotten pizza, hotdogs, clam chowder, and of course Costco's famous churros. We went back to Shimizu for dinner, where we met up with Hitoshis brother and several of his brothers’ friends at Torisei, a popular chain restaurant which was initially started in Shimizu, my town. None of them spoke any English, so I was forced to use all the Japanese I could remember on the spot. They all went beyond asking the typical questions of ``Where are you from?`` and ``Do you have a girlfriend?`` We actually got into some pretty intense conversations. I think I had gotten my responses across, but not without the help of Hitoshi.
After dinner, Hitoshi and I met up with our friend Yuriko, at my house, who decided to join us in the pumpkin carving. I haven’t carved a pumpkin in who knows how long, but I never remember it being as fun as last night. This was Yurikos first time, so it was fun to see her reaction when she took the first plunge into the pumpkin with her hand. I carved the top off, Hitoshi carved the face, and Yuiriko fried the pumpkin seeds to eat for later. The best part was both their reactions when I turned off the light with the candle set in the base of the newly carved Jack o lantern. The only things illuminating the room was the small candle surrounded by 3 camera phones. We ended up talking around the jack o lantern well past midnight.
Why are the simplest types of entertainment usually the best? All you need is a large orange vegetable, a large knife, and friends, and you can be entertained for hours.

Autumn in Hokkaido

Hokkaido is now experiencing its seasonal change into Autumn. I have to say that Japanese maples have to be some of the most beautiful trees in the world, especially in Autumn.Feel free to check out the rest of the shots:http://joeygoertz.smugmug.com/Nature/Autumn-in-Hokkaido/9948546_MSNqj

The Influenza

October 12, 2009

Ok. So this influenza thing is getting out of hand. Already both the elementary school and junior high have been closed for the past week. Also, one student in the 10th grade had caught the virus, so now the entire 10th grade has to stay home. On top of that, all the grade 10 teachers are asked to wear facemasks to prevent the possible spread of this virus. This last week, at least half the school had facemasks. It looks somewhat humorous to walk into the secretary office and see every single person wearing these masks, along with the principle and vice principle. The 11th grade hockey team was also asked to wear them because they have a big game coming up. It seems as though everyone in this town is sick. My friend Chris who works in the Junior high is sick in bed with a fever of 103 degrees (we’ll go fehrenhight because he’s American). He also managed to give this flu to his girlfriend, who is now in the hospital. I admittedly have a bit of a cold, but refuse to wear a facemask. I really hope this influenza/sick streak leaves very soon. Every year, the 11th grade goes on a school fieldtrip to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima. It would be a shame for that to be canceled because of one student getting mild symptoms of this influenza.
On a completely different topic, I’ve experienced two natural phenomenons this week, which are quite new to me. Late this week, Japan was hit by a typhoon. It didn’t hit too hard in the Tokachi district, but we did get a lot of wind and rain. I am glad that it hadn’t canceled my weekend plans. The second phenomenon took place in Obihiro, the nearest city to Shimizu, my town. A couple of us were hanging out on the 6th floor of our friend’s hotel room, when our friend Matthew noticed his bed vibrating. At first I thought there was a button he had pressed to make it vibrate, but we quickly realized that his room was not one of the love sweets, and was actually an earthquake we were experiencing. I was sitting on the floor at the time, and felt my butt being massaged by the vibrations coming through the floor. It only lasted about 10 or 15 seconds. I actually experienced one earthquake before this, but I didn’t notice it. I was standing at the front of my 11th grade class, when my Japanese/English teacher pointed out that we were experiencing an earthquake. I thought he was joking, because I couldn’t feel anything. I think that this week has taught me how vulnerable people are.

Thriving Thursday

This Thursday, both students and teachers were absent from school. It appears to be rare that there isn’t anyone at school, even on the weekends. Both teachers and students stay late after classes for club activities or preparing for the next day. Some teachers have stayed until 2 oclock AM doing who knows what. What’s even more insane is that they don’t get reimbursed for staying extra hours; a wonderful contrast to life in the west. For this wonderful gift of a day, one of the English/Japanese teachers I work with, Tominaga Sensei, and the official school yearbook photographer, Seiya San, met up in Shikaoi town, around 16km from my town, to take a nice 70km bike ride around the Tokachi Plain. Its great to finally meet some people in Japan who are into cycling. Although bicycles are one of the main means of transportation in Japan during the seasons that aren’t winter, long distance cycling doesn’t appear to be as popular as you might think. Oh well… more room for me! The roads in Hokkaido are some of the best that I’ve seen. I suppose it doesn’t take much to impress me, considering the state of the roads back in Winnipeg. The Hokkaido government receives a large amount of cash for keeping the roads here in good order. Most of the roads appear to be only a couple of years old if not much newer. Out in the country here, you would expect the back roads to be gravel, yet everything is paved, which really makes exploring this island a lot easier. I suppose the one drawback is the copious amounts of construction that takes place on the main roads. Before I continue with this Thursday cycling extravaganza, let me tell you a little bit about construction in Japan. It has to be a cutest thing ever (for the record, I only reserve the word cute for anything Japan). Rather than having regular roadblocks used to redirect traffic, they have smiling green frogs holding up the word “Sorry” (in English) with every 50th frog winking as you pass by. Some of the tractors are pink and purple, and to match, the construction workers are fitted with lavender hardhats. How could you possibly get frustrated or annoyed with that?! What I really love is that there is always someone at the end of the road who will bow to let you know that you’ve passed through the end of the construction zone of cutesy confusion.
So back to our Thursday morning of cycling bliss. The three of us ended up taking around 3 hours to cycle the 70km ride, taking fairly regular brakes. Although cycling the country roads of Hokkaido is a great way to get away from many of the luxuries that most big cities in Japan are known for, frequent rest stops with heated toilet seats and bade are some of the comforts that seem to be difficult for Japanese people to give up. We made a quick stop at a soft ice-cream place in Shihoro town, where I was able to purchase green tea ice-cream and cookies-and-cream in the same cone. Not a bad combination, I suppose. For the rest of the way, all 3 of us were going at a pretty decent rate, until a pack of wild dogs started chasing us, where our speed readily increased, and I nearly wiped out in a ditch, trying to defend my legs from getting chewed off. Ahhh Hokkaido, what a beautiful place.