Saturday, January 31, 2:00 PM
Published on January 31, 2009 by: callie
my god, i’ve been busy! but not too busy to share another japan moment with you. 
last year we went on several outings with my friend david, his wife ryoko, and their son jonathan! AND we had the wonderful opportunity to to be in japan while their second baby (joshua) was born! he was soooo little when i first saw him in the hospital, but he turned into this beautiful guy within about six months.
here is big josh with jonathan at their apartment:
when we weren’t exhausted from work or traveling, we loved going into koenji on sundays and hanging out at their place–taking walks to the store and the taiyaki stand, cooking, eating, drinking, reminiscing, and taking in good music–and of course marveling over the two little boys. i’m sure they already look different, and we miss them already!
Sunday, January 25, 7:30 PM
Published on January 25, 2009 by: callie
i hate money! moving is expensive. working part-time is hard when you don’t get paid much. too bad my school is so disorganized that if i were to request more student loans to live off of this semester, the checks would probably arrive after graduation. time to start working hard….and applying for food stamps! work + school – $ = a very unhappy tired callie. but i suppose this is just what people do. i don’t think i want to do it anymore, but i’ve already invested a lot in this master’s program, so i don’t want to quit now when i am so close to finishing because i know i will feel like i wasted so much time and money. this way at least i will have a very expensive piece of paper to show for it at the end of it all. and i have FOUR credit cards!! wooooooooeeeee!! meh.
so here’s something amusing to put present day affairs in perspective. this summer josh and i went to a fertility festival in kawasaki in tokyo. time to celebrate the act of procreation….apparently with an emphasis on the contributing male organ. there were shrines, giant penis statues, a penis parade, beers, a rockabilly cover band, & tons of people….and it was over by noon. seriously.
Monday, January 19, 10:45 AM
Published on January 19, 2009 by: callie
happy mlk day! what a wonderful celebration today and tomorrow will be! i am super psyched to be back in the US participating in the festivities!
so, as for japan stories, this summer after josh and i went to sapporo, we went to lake toya, which is where the G8 summit was held last year. it is a totally picturesque little town with a lake and some islands that were formed by volcanic eruptions. the place is so prone to volcanic eruptions, you can still see damage from the last one that took place many years ago. several rocks are still smoking from the eruptions as well. toya is also famous for hot springs & outdoor art sculptures. we went to a museum, on a little hike, on several walks, & on a cable car up a mountain.
on the first day we hit up a museum near the visitor’s center & spent a lot of time figuring out the bus system. we finally decided to go on a small hike to see some of the smoking craters. the hike involved stopping at several ice cream shops with exotic flavors and a wonderful outdoor eatery with fresh potatoes and corn on the cob. the earthquake damage we viewed was amazing and the craters even more so.
here is one of my favorite scenes in the lakeside park that was on the way during the rather long walk from downtown to our hotel:
after we checked into our hostel, we went out to dinner at a traditional japanese restaurant and then took a walk back to the lake to watch the fireworks in the rain. it was quite nice, and we finally collapsed into bed exhausted, only to find that our pillows reeked of cigarettes and that the von trapp family were our neighbors….a huge blond family with about twenty children who stayed up all night running up and down the halls and screaming. eventually we gave up on sleep and went down to the hot springs in our hostel, but my dip was quick because being alone in the stinky rusty room with huge windows opening to the blackness outside kept the horror movie scenarios running through my head pretty much the whole time.
the next day josh and i took a long walk up a mountain and then proceeded to take a cable car to the very top. unfortunately the beautiful sunny day turned cloudy right at the moment we stepped off the cable car to take in the view of the lake and islands below. the cold wind and rain kept our visit brief, but it was still a lovely trip. after some souvenier shopping, we walked back downtown and ate a huge lunch before boarding the busses and trains back home.
the train we took that night was about 7 hours long, and josh and i couldn’t find seats next to each other because it was so crowded. apparently, however, we were quite lucky to find those seats at all because several people had to stand up the whole time! i am talking about people sleeping in closets, wedged between other patrons’ seats, etc. it was crazy! after that it was time to begin the 16 hour train transfer journey home. everyone scurried off the night train and began the local train excursion–the cheapest way to travel from hokkaido to tokyo. we would all cram ourselves onto the trains, check our schedules for the next rural station where we would change (usually about an hour away), and then thrust ourselves off the crowded cars onto the vacant platforms and make a run for it to the next train, with hopes of finding seats for ourselves and our loved ones. i found the whole thing quite comical and passed the time by studying japanese and begging josh to play uno with me. he tried to sleep, but it was pretty much impossible. however, when we finally made it home, sleep had no trouble coming, and we stayed in bed for pretty much the next 24 hours! what a wild trip! i would definitely love to go back someday when we have more time!!