Business and pleasure...

So, I'm back and have settled in after a week of a business trip to Tokyo followed by a trip down to tropical and SUPER NICE Okinawa. Tokyo was the ALT conference for re-contracting first-year JETs, when they put us up in one of the finest hotels in Tokyo (the Keio Plaza), with huge staircases, massive conference ballrooms, robotic toilets and chandeliers everywhere. The conference was mostly speeches and workshops by various people who are part of the three Japanese ministries that run the JET program, and also some sessions with current and former JETs...some of them useful and interesting (like "how to best learn Japanese whilst on JET", some of them gaggingly inefficient and worthless (like "how to be effective in an elementary classroom"). But being in Tokyo was a blast and we were out past 4 each morning. I just love Tokyo as a city. The first night we hung around in Shinjuku district near the hotel, and went to a few spots here and there. The next night we hit up Shibuya (the super-lively 'youth' district) which I was excited about because I wanted to check out the Japanese ultra-nightlife...but instead we ended up at some ALT party in an art gallery, which was fun but I missed out on the real Tokyo experience that I was seeking a little bit. Anyway, I never realize that I can get there in less than two hours...so I just need to do it.

The last day, the conference ended, we said our goodbyes and I hung around town until I caught my plane south. I hit up Asakusa temple, which is the main big temple in the city. I struggled for a bit trying to overcome the usual daze that this country puts you in so I could logically sort out the most insane subway/train system in the world, but eventually got the hang of it. I arrived at the shrine with a few hours to spare...looked around and then sat down to study quietly. However, in my peaceful time in front of the temple I began to be sexually harrassed by an insane 80-year-old woman with four teeth, and some Japanese guy came to my rescue and shooshed her away. After that we became friends and he showed me around...He grew up in Asakusa and spends his free time at the shrine because it reminds him of his childhood. He was obviously lonely and we spoke half in English, half in Japanese. But he gave me tons of info about the sites and was nice company for the last hour I was there. We are now emailing each other back and forth and keeping in touch.

Headed out to Haneda airport. This was such a pleasant travel experience. At domestic Japanese airports, there is no ID check...no hassle...no lines...weak security. Show up 30 minutes ahead of time and be fine. Such the opposite from the mangled, overcautious mess that American airports have become. Arrived in Okinawa late on Wednesday night and checked into my hotel (after my not-so-knowledgeable taxi driver dropped me off at the wrong hotel...not once, but twice) and walked down Kokusai street in search for a place to meet some people. Somehow I stumbled upon the only gaijin bar made for teacher/non-military type foreigners, where I met another JET and the Canadian owner. Stayed there and talked for a while about Okinawa life and Okinawa JETs...

I asked the owner why the military guys don't come in there much...he said they do sometimes, but only to escape the military scene. However, he mentioned that Marines were banned from his bar because a 20-year-old Marine was killed in his bar after rough-housing and falling down some stairs, just a few months ago. After the military investigation, they made his bar off-limits to Marines (he claims it's because he is Canadian and wouldn't fully cooperate with their every demand in the investigation). He showed me a letter from some Marine official, banning his bar due to the death of the kid. Kind of a sad story...apparently the Marines get into the most trouble down there.

The next day I met up with Aunt Susie and we went to straight to get a green chile cheeseburger on a Marine base. Entering the Marine base was one of the most surrealistic things I'd ever done. Having been in Japan for 6 months straight, and being in Japan in Okinawa, I wasn't really prepared for the fact that once you cross the security gate into the base, you are entering America: people were American, military and civilian, they spoke all in English, there were diverse people of all races, they used dollars, they had Dunkin Donuts and Taco Bell, and everything purchased in the stores is an American product sold at American prices. Even gasoline is half the price inside the gate than it is outside the gate. It's probably American gasoline too. Then, we left...back into Japan.

SO after that initial culture shock, I adjusted and we cruised around. We hit up a small beach that Susie knows...the weather was good and I got in some quick snorkeling. Didn't see what I had seen in Australia, but it was pretty good for just sticking my head in the water for a few minutes. That night, they fed me a huge, Juicy American steak with American beef. My gizzards nearly flipped out at the shock of so much meat in one day...but it was worth it.

The next day was graduation day, and after cruising around the island some more and visiting some more bases (by the end of it all, I had been on an Air Force, Marine, Navy AND Army base. As Susie said, covering all the bases). I saw where Uncle Tim works and we got set up for Project Graduation on the Navy base (it's a non-alcohol event for the high school graduates to keep them safe on graduation night). Then we went to Mia's graduation, where it was mostly American military kids graduating...most of whom are off to real America for college. Mia will end up at CalPoly, because she is nearly Einstein-robot-supercomputer smart.

Stayed up until 5 AM dealing blackjack to the graduates with Uncle Tim at the Project Graduation. It's basically tons of games and prizes to keep the kids up all night and wear them out so they don't go drinking and doing crazy things in their hyped-up state of mind (I guess). It was fun to hang out with high school kids again that I can actually speak English to...

Before I left I went snorkeling one more time where I essentially stepped off a concrete wall in the middle of the city and landed in all these great coral canyons. Good fish, though the water was rough...

Flew back to Tokyo and went straight back to Niigata... though I got on the wrong train and almost ended up on a non-stop express to Kanazawa (hundreds of miles away), realizing it only with about 2 minutes before the train took off...so I was stranded in Yuzawa for a while until the right train came. Ended up going out that night with Alex my predecessor and a few other people...

Since then, just back into the swing of classes and dealing with some paperwork stuff. Starting to really get stressed out about the Japanese driving test coming up because everyone is telling me something different and not giving me a straight answer about how to deal with this thing properly. Oh well! I just might not be able to drive anymore next year.