August - October

Argh, have been busy the last couple of months, so instead of a long and deep update, I'm just gonna quickly blurt out,... write what I've done during the months of August to October.

Well, during the month of August, I was quite busy meeting, greeting and showing around the new ALTs to Sanjo. On top of that, since students were on summer holidays I was also quite busy running around like a headless chicken visiting local community centres giving presentations, seminars and hosting events and activities.

There were plenty of festivals which I visited such as the Sanjo Summer festival 三条夏まつり and the Shitada Giant Rainy Snake festival 下田ふるさと雨生の大蛇まつり which were the few moments new ALTs were able to experience a bit of Japanese traditional culture. The first ALTs that made it to Sanjo for the summer fest got to experience the joy of wearing a yukata and bon odori dancing. Also at Japanese traditional festival grounds, one can experiences different kinds of festive foods. Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Kakigori, and a Chuetsu (central Niigata prefecture) local favourite, Poppoyaki.

I realise that I haven't updated my blog in a while, and I have no excuse. But, one of the excuses I'll use is that back in October I worked 20 consecutive days (without a day off of course)... so was a bit busy. And before that, I was preparing myself for the long run and before that I was busy entertaining and so-called babysitting some of the new ALTs. And fortunately they now all grown up and no longer need my assistance all the time. :-)

I've also kept myself busy by taking on the role as the new Niigata Outdoor and Hiking Special Interest Group host... leader, organizer... whatever. So far I've hosted a BBQ and Mt. Yahiko climb, and climb up Mt. Fuji, Mt. Awagatake and Mt. Myoko.

Mt. Yahiko and rain...

Summit of Mt. Fuji

On top of all of this, I'm still hosting a English Conversation gathering every Thursday evening, and volunteer teaching photography every other Friday at a neighbouring community youth centre. Oh yeah.. and working too...

And last but not least... I turn mighty 30 years old in September. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this so-called socially pressured turn of a decade. In the western world, turning 30 seems to mark a rite of passage of some sort... but I don't feel any different. Heck, I recall that during my youth, well a few years ago I thought that things would be different and that I'd be more "so-called" grown up. Well, I'm still freak'n short, and I don't think that I've matured at all since turning 16. May be I've got more hair in places I didn't think could grow hair. Also spotting more grey hairs poking out of my nose, chest, and nether regions. Is this what being old is suppose to mean? Is it all about hair growth? Are you considered old when your butt hair starts to go grey as well?

In anycase, I actually turned 30 while climbing Mt. Fuji, for the upteenth time. And as usual, when climbing Mt. Fuji I felt like scheit. How could someone who loves mountains fall so easily under the spell of altitude sickness, motion sickness, sea sickness, air sickness. Man I suck. Sure the climb up Fuji wasn't pretty, but at least once we got back to Sanjo, I was given a nice B-day gathering. Plenty of food to go at the Okonomiyaki shop where we held me b-day; Monja. Hmmm, how do I explain this meal? Heck, just click the link find out on wikipedia. A quick and easy explanation of Okonomiyaki is, either a Japanese pizza/pancake with meaty bits to it, or pan-fried puke. Mmmmm...

Pics from my 30th bash...

Fuji Rock 2006

America has it's Lollapalooza Canada has Edgefest, Australia has Big Day Out, England has Glastonbury, Scotland has T in The Park, and Japan has FujiRock. I was fortunate enough to be living in Niigata Japan, where the biggest Japanese & international 3 day music festival takes place.

The day started nice and early with me rushing around, trying to pack my bags and catching a shink to Echigo Yuzawa station.　(One must remember that not all trains stop at Echigo-Yuzawa, in which I learnt the hard way) At the station, hundreds of people were already in line waiting for the shuttle bus up to Naeba which is an area known for it's ski resort. Even though I got there by 9am on Friday morining, from afar the side of the ski slope was already covered in thousands of tents. I must say that overnight music festivals in Japan seem to be a bit more civilized than N. American & Europeans music fests. This is not to state that they're dull here in Japan. Just cleaner and very organized. Trash is collected, almost everything is recycled, no fighting, people not claiming each other person's picnic space, and hardly any illegal activities. (I didn't say none... just hardly) Plenty of great acts to see here. And also, plenty of great international cuisine to try out as well. It's a nice change from the cuisine you find at a small Japanese city. Plenty of asian, european, and other ethnic foods. There were also a great number of Niigata JETs here as well, and we created our own little tent city. And I must thank Sam for keeping a spot for me and the two Phils.

The day started nice and early with me rushing around, trying to pack my bags and catching a shink to Echigo Yuzawa station.　(One must remember that not all trains stop at Echigo-Yuzawa, in which I learnt the hard way) At the station, hundreds of people were already in line waiting for the shuttle bus up to Naeba which is an area known for it's ski resort. Even though I got there by 9am on Friday morining, from afar the side of the ski slope was already covered in thousands of tents.

I must say that overnight music festivals in Japan seem to be a bit more civilized than N. American & Europeans music fests. This is not to state that they're dull here in Japan. Just cleaner and very organized. Trash is collected, almost everything is recycled, no fighting, people not claiming each other person's picnic space, and hardly any illegal activities. (I didn't say none... just hardly)


Plenty of great acts to see here. And also, plenty of great international cuisine to try out as well. It's a nice change from the cuisine you find at a small Japanese city. Plenty of asian, european, and other ethnic foods. There were also a great number of Niigata JETs here as well, and we created our own little tent city. And I must thank Sam for keeping a spot for me and the two Phils.

Well, here's a wee list of the few acts I was able to catch:

Akiko Yano
Anaïs
Asian Kung-Fu Generation
Blackalicious
Broken Social Scene
DJ Papa-Q
Flogging Molly
Franz Ferdinand
The Hives
JET
Junior Senior
KODO
KT Tunstall
Kula Shaker
Mogwai
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Refugee All Stars of Sierra Leone
Saigenji
Shuya Okino (Kyoto Jazz Massive)
Scissor Sisters
Snow Patrol
Sonic Youth
The String Cheese Incident
電気グルーヴ

and much much more... I can't remember the names of all of the acts. Let's just say that it was a busy and long 3 days weekend. We got rain, sunshine, fog, cloud cover, cold days and even hot days. We pretty much had it all.

I really didn't know what to expect, but amazingly the act which I enjoyed the most was Scissor Sisters. It was totally unexpected, and I wasn't even planning to catch the act, but I was going by the venue, they were on, and I must say that they were probably the most energetic act I saw during the 3 days. I was especially impressed with Ana Matronic the female vocalist, with her witty comments and her amount of knowledge of Japanese phrases.

All in all, a great weekend. We had all kinds of weather out there as well. Sunshine, hot, cold, rainy, wet... makes for an interesting weekend.

At times, the paths bewteen the various stages got pretty crowded. And since it's japan, you don't have to worry about people pushing and shoving you.

Some nifty illumination during the nights. Mirror balls in the forest!
Yep, you got it. Crap loads of campers
What the freak'n hell are you?
Even the riverbed rocks are smiling at me.

By Day2, plenty of people were sleeping everywhere & anytime.