Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! Today, Todd carved a pumpkin and roasted cajun spiced pumpkin seeds.  Then we dressed up and went to a Halloween party at the POP English school. Here are all of the spooky/cute guests. 

Halloween in Japan is a new celebration.  It is more of a commercial holiday with all of the stores decorating, selling candy and costumes.  The people don't carve pumpkins or trick-or-treat.  It seems to be more popular for the younger generation who is more interested in American/English speaker traditions. 

I was たまごにぎり(a piece of tamago nigiri sushi) and Todd was a zombie soccer player.  I got alot of laughs for my costume and I was surprised that most of the kids recognized that I was sushi!! I had a post it note that said, watashi wa tamago nigiri desu but didn't need it.  I wonder if that would be true if I wore the same costume in the U.S.?

A cheap and simple costume! It was actually on a website as a baby costume. I think their body/rice proportion would work better. 

Our jack-o-lantern! Todd asked a Misawa base friend to buy us two real American pumpkins from the air base.  We take a Japanese class with several of the military base people.  In Japan they don't sell big orange pumpkins, their pumpkins are small and green, called a kabocha.  Kabocha makes a delicious soup! 

We hope you enjoy your Halloween and fall season!

Japanese society

Though not well written, I found this to be a good account of Japanese society and culture.  It helped me to connect the dots and better understand the immediate world around us this year.
You may have to copy and paste...
  http://www.peace-ashram.org/essay/homogeneity.html

Golf ゴルフ

In Hachinohe, the ALT crew frequents certain restaurants.  One of the restaurants, Kaabe
カあべ is owned by Makun.  Makun and Todd both like golf and wanted to golf together.  Makun doesn't speak English and Todd doesn't speak Japanese.  Fortunately, Todd was able to arrange a golf outing with Makun by communicating through a fluent Japanese speaking ALT.

At the driving range, many of the balls roll back from the range automatically.  They are forced up those tubes (on the right), come down under the tee, and are automatically placed on the tee after you hit a ball.  The tee senses the ball is off, lowers below the turf, and comes up with another ball.  A pedal next to the tee allows you to set the height.  You never have to touch a ball or bend over!

Their day began at a driving range.  Then they golfed in an annual tournament.  Todd was in a foursome with the tournament winner, Barry. Barry is a 20 year resident of Hachinohe. He is an American, yoga instructor and massage therapist.   Barry and Todd have since become friends and golfed again.  

The course was nice and generally the same as you would find in the states.  A big difference was that every hole had 2 greens (only one open to play).  Another thing I wasn't used to was particularity about the rules.  It wasn't just because it was a tournament either.  Japanese don't know what mulligan is.
All of the carts I saw were 4 seater, none with 2 seats.  So one cart per 4-some.
When we pulled up to the bag drop-off, a woman with high socks came out and collected our bags.  We then checked in at the front desk (it was like a hotel) with women, and at the end (last photo) you can see several women in uniform collecting and cleaning our clubs.  No male employees that I saw.  There were, however, a few female players.

After 9 holes, everyone goes into the clubhouse for a sit-down lunch.  If you don't want lunch, you must wait for the players in front of you to finish their lunch before you start the back nine.  It took about an hour.  Virtually nobody drank alcohol and said it was because they were driving.  There wasn't even a beer cart--and definitely no tipping anywhere at anytime.
At the end we all showered together in the bathhouse locker room which included a large "onsen" hot tub pool.  It was very nice.  A little strange were the female employees in the locker room cleaning and changing towels amidst naked men walking about.

Spin-off info:  westerners generally clean ourselves with a shower or bath.  Japanese people sit naked on a small stool (or ground if no stool) and wash themselves with a bucket (and maybe a showerhead) while seated in front of a mirror.  They then proceed to shave (face/legs), brush their teeth, clean their ears, trim hairs, and every sort of bodily attendance all at the same time in the same place.

Hashikami-dake

A few weekends ago we hiked Mt. Hashikami. It is the nearest mountain to Hachinohe.  The day was sunny, clear and a perfect fall temperature.  We hiked with 4 other ALT friends. We hiked up one side and down the other.  It was about a four hour round trip. 

We're on the way up...

Almost to the top, there is a small shrine and "dragon water."  It is encouraged to stop and refresh.  Todd decided to fill his water bottle but filtered it before drinking too much for safe measure. 

Finally at the top, we stopped to enjoy the clear view and eat a snack.  You can see Hachinohe and the ocean in the distance. 

On the way down, we stopped at another shrine.  You can give money to ring the bell and pray for blessings.  I prayed for a healthy little momo!

After our hike we went to an onsen bathhouse to soak our bodies. It felt great! Then we ate dinner at a Japanese buffet restaurant.  It had much healthier options than any buffet you will find in the U.S. It was fun to be able to try many different items in the Japanese cuisine.  But we felt just as full as any buffet I've experienced.  Here's to another hike. 

Hokkaido: part three

As we drove from Shiretoko to Akan National Park we did not realize that a typhoon was coming our way.  We arrived in Akan right about nightfall as we like to time things.  It was raining and for some reason I had a strong urge to stay indoors!?  Unfortunately the nearest hostel was full.  We found the campground but as we tried driving in to find a spot we were flagged down by some people nearby.  They explained that the campground was closed due to the coming typhoon for fear of trees falling on tents.  This was one of many fortuitous meetings that Todd just seems to attract with his easy going, faithful attitude. The man who informed us about the campground, just so happened to be partying with friends across the street from the campground.  He spoke great English and did business many times in Seattle.  He was eager to help us because he has been helped many times on his trips to America!  He proceeded to take us to another campground that was also closed. He ended up making a deal with his friend to let us stay at a "biker inn".  We scored a cheap, dry tatami room for the night.  We stayed in the center window room in the upper left picture. All night we heard strong winds and pounding rain.  We were very blessed to be warm and dry. 

The next day we woke up to more wind, rain and fallen branches.  We had planned to hike and explore the National Park. We ended up seeing a lot of the park in its typhoon state.  Above are the park's three lakes with rocky waters and covered in fog.  I would have really liked to ride one of the duck boats but no chance that day. 

This is the Lake Mashu a crater lake. It is pictured covered in complete fog in the first set of pictures.  Fortunately, a bit farther down the road was another viewpoint where we could see the lake!  

 We got a hike in around Lake Akan, home of the marimo.  We came across a scalding beach with bubbling hot mud volcanoes, bokke. 

 Here is Maekan-dake the active volcano in Akan National Park.  It has bright yellow sulphuric rocks. As a result lots of great hot springs in the area. 

We ended up staying the night in Akan.  Our hope was that we could stick around for the typhoon to pass and have a chance to take a boat on the lake to where the marimo live.  That gave us a chance to explore the Ainu village.  The Ainu are the native people of Hokkaido.  They have many crafts similar to the northwest Native Americans.  We enjoyed an Ainu dance and music show as well as the Ainu cuisine.  I ate a delicious curry rice!  

"A marimo is a rare growth form of the species where the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance. Colonies of such balls are only known to form in Iceland, Scotland, Japan and Estonia."  When were we ever going to see algae balls this rare again! We decided to take a boat to where they live...much to our disappointment the boat took us to an island where the marimo are  preserved in aquariums.  That is one BIG algae ball!  Oh well the boat ride provided nice views of the lake. 

That afternoon, it was time to hit the road to the Hokkaido wine and cheese country, Ikeda! We visited a wine "factory" and a dairy.  Although we expected to visit several but there was only one of each in this town.   The dairy was yummy, we had a cow picnic.  We enjoyed rose wine, cheese and bread.  The dairy also makes delicious ice cream that added a finishing touch to our happy picnic. 

Finally it was time to head back to Sapporo, return our rental car and say goodbye to Hokkaido and Todd.  I was taking a midnight ferry to Hachinohe so this gave us time to venture back into downtown Sapporo and enjoy the Autumn Festival. This time around the weather was perfect. 

While we waited for the subway, we were befriended by an older Japanese man.  He initiated a conversation with English asking about Todd's height and shoe size.  The train came and I figured that was the end of that but he ended up continuing the conversation through the subway ride, to the festival as we deliberated our dinner options.  He insisted that he would buy us dinner for being his English conversation teachers.  He bought Todd a beer.  Then as mysteriously as we met, he had to leave.  Not only did the festival have Japanese cuisine but they had an international section.  We ended up eating Indian.  I couldn't pass up the curry and naan! Then later we had Hokkaido cheese fondue.

Finally before my train left for the ferry, we had some time to shop.  The train station happened to be connected to a great mall with Top Shop, Gap, etc.  I didn't find any thing I liked but it was fun looking. 

Goodbye to Todd, he stayed in Hokkaido for another week to hike in Daisetsuzan, and I was headed back to Hachinohe and work with memories of great adventures. 

Hokkaido: part two

We visited the northern most peninsula in Japan where we explored the Shiretoko National Park.   On our drive into the park we drove along the Sea of Okhotsk which separates Russia and Japan.  We also drove across the peninsula to stay the night in Rausu which gave us access to ocean side onsens.  The drive to Rausu proved to be very scenic with views of the mountains and Russian islands in the distance.
We camped by a river and bathed at the river side onsen.  This was our first Japanese onsen experience. The pools are separated by gender and bathers are naked.  After observing the process for awhile, I was schooled in the traditions of how to bathe Japanese style by a few old women.  You clean your body first outside the tub by splashing the hot water on yourself with plastic bowls.  After you are clean you are ready to soak.  The pool was nearly scalding so I only soaked for less that a minute but it was great to feel so warm and relaxed before a nights sleep in a tent. 

Shiretoko National Park was where we met most of our animal friends.  We drove by a lot of deer while exploring the park and a few had pretty good size antlers.  I especially enjoyed my fox friend.  We spotted him from our car, slowed down and pulled over for a picture and he ran right up to us.  But then he was a little camera shy because he quickly went behind the railing.  That was my first fox sighting in the wild.  Throughout the park we were warned to be bear safe but we never encountered a bear, much to Todd's disappointment.

The next day, after our first onsen experience, we went searching to for the wild onsens on the ocean.  The first one we came to was Seseki onsen which is a hot springs that is completely covered during high tide. We were lucky to find it just as the tide was beginning to come in.  The water was scalding so I could only handle soaking my feet but Todd enjoyed a full plunge and a rinse in the cold ocean water afterward.  Then we continued up the road to its end, part of the park and peninsula is only accessible by boat or foot.  As we made our way back we found Aidomari hot springs, it is the rectangular pool above and the northernmost hot spring in Japan.  It was just as scalding as Seseki so we could only manage a very quick dip. 

After a tame lakes hike we were on our way out of Shiretoko, headed for Akan national park.  Along the way we stopped to enjoy a water fall and Todd waded in the Sea of Okhotsk.  Little did we know,  a typhoon was following us to Akan...

Hokkaido: part one

A few weeks ago we spent the week in Hokkaido.  We hope you enjoy some of our favorite pictures from our adventure.

We began our trip by taking the Shinkansen to Aomori city.  Aomori city is in the distance in the picture on the right.  Then we boarded a ferry bound for Hakodate, Hokkaido!  As you can see, we were loaded with quite big backpacks.  We planned to camp so we needed sleeping gear and a tent along with clothing for varying temperatures.  The ferry was about four hours.  This ferry was like a no frills cruise ship.  There was space to sleep on the floor (it is Japan), eat, and walk outside.  When we started our ferry ride the weather was nice and we decided to sleep outside in an area sheltered from the wind. But when we woke up the rain had started!!! And it just keep on raining!

Despite the pouring rain, we spent our day/night exploring Hakodate.  We enjoyed a good fish and chips meal and micro brewery style beers at the local brew pub.  It was nice to taste a real dark beer as most beers in Japan are very light. Hakodate is a port city and was settled by westerners so many of the roads were cobble stone and there were lots of big brick buildings.  There were also several historical churches, including Russian Orthodox, Episcopal, Catholic and a Shinto shrine.  

One of the popular things to do in Hakodate is ride a rope way up to the top of a mountain to enjoy a view of the city and water below.  Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate making the view very foggy.  So we missed out on that experience.  

The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the ryokan (inn) and then picked up our rental car.  We were on our way to Sapporo!  Although we learned our lesson about driving on the toll highway in Japan, upon arriving in Sapporo our toll fee was 5700 yen (about $70!!).  From now on, we'd be taking the side roads if possible.  It continued to rain in Sapporo but we decided to venture from our hostel into the city.  We took the subway into downtown and discovered a huge central park with an outdoor Autumn Festival.  We decided against eating there that evening and instead opted for a warm, dry ramen restaurant nearby.  Although ramen can be found all over Japan, Sapporo has a special ramen that they add corn and butter to.  It was quite delicious and so WARM!!! (More details on Sapporo later, as we return there later in our trip.)

The next morning we made our way to the Sapporo Beer Museum.  We toured the museum learning about the history of the company and the process of making the beer. I especially enjoyed the vintage advertisement posters of Geisha's and stylish Japanese women with beer. We bought one of my favorite posters to hang in our apartment (not the one pictured).  At the end Todd enjoyed a tasting of three different beers.  Two of the beers were only available at the beer museum!  I also found it curious that the museum was located next door to a huge modern mall.  I insisted we quickly make a loop through the mall before hitting the road.  I found some much needed rain boots, which came in handy later in the trip when the typhoon came along!! Then we hit the road on our way to Daisetsuzan National Park. 

That evening we drove into the national park by way of Sounkyo, a resort town with hotels and onsens (hot spring baths).  Our plan was to camp.  But where was the campground!? It took us about an hour to locate the campsite and by then it was pitch dark but we found it!  The next morning we had an amazing breakfast at a natural cafe owned by an Australian/Japanese couple.  We had hot chai tea and egg sandwiches served on homemade whole grain bread.  This was a big deal because in Japan they only sell white bread with the exception of a rare specialty bakery.  With warmed and full bodies we were ready to climb Mt. Kurodake.  Well we really only climbed the last 2000 feet.  You take a rope way and then a chair lift up most of the way.  Although the remaining climb was quite steep and rocky so it tired us out.  It was nice to see beautiful views and the beginnings of fall colors.  Later that day we were back in the car headed to Shiretoko National Park.  To be continued...