Josh in Japan

Japan Randomness

2009-07-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I see some funny signs around town, and if I have my camera with me I take a picture. Here are some of my favorites.

During and immediately after the election, Japan was Obama crazy. All of my kids said "Yes we can!" about 20 times a lesson. When I would meet new people the first thing they would say after finding out that I'm from America was "Obama!" This hotel apparently thought the slogan would attract more visitors.

One of the more popular shows for boys here is called Kamen Rider. The main character transforms into a slightly more hardcore looking Power Ranger. The fighting is just as awful though. While walking through downtown Kagoshima we happened upon this guy and some girls kindly offered to talk our picture. I love that Frank is carrying an umbrella while Scott and I have sunglasses on....it was a cloudless day.

While the Obama sign seems like it would be successful, I am not sure about the slogan for this hair salon. I don't think it would be too good for business if your customers all said Yikes! after seeing their haircut....

Yakushima Part 2

2009-07-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

So after a nice relaxing day at the beach we decided to go on a relatively easy 4 hour hike to Mononoke Hime, which for those Anime people out there was the inspiration behind the movie Princess Mononoke.

Me and Scotty getting psyched for the hike:

The island is just amazingly beautiful, the trees and moss and water all come together to make something that almost seems like another planet.

While on the hike we saw some deer.

Then we had a barbeque and ate the deer.

The owner of our cottage also lives in the house next door, and that morning he went out into to woods with his son and came back with SEVEN deer. We made Kababs to go with the deer and had a feast!

The next day we went to a waterfall, it was about 100 feet high. Pretty cool.

Here is our group, Kaori and Scott in the back, Courtney, Kelly and I in the front. We are all averaging about 4 hours sleep for 4 straight days at this point, so we look a bit haggard, but the excitement of seeing new things kept us going.

That evening we decided to relax, and we found this cool outdoor onsen on the ocean. Great way to watch the sun set.

With our reservation at the cottage over, we had one more night to spend in Yakushima. We decided to spend the night on the beach. Being a bit tired of playing cards, we decided to have a chicken fight.

Scott and Kaori won the judge's decision, but it was a very questionable decision and may get overruled with instant replay. I sure looks to me like Kaori's left foot is touching the sand.......

Later I would go night swimming, and saw pretty much the coolest thing ever....Sea Fireflies. Ume Hotaru as they are called here in Japan. There were literally hundreds of them swimming around me, and when I moved my arms they would glow electric blue for a second or two and then fade back into the darkness.

The next day we had a bit of drama with returning the car, buying gifts and making it to the ferry on time, but it did nothing to overshadow the greatness of experiencing Yakushima.

Yakushima Part 1

2009-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

This will be more of a image post than actual prose, but I will add some commentary to complete the picture.

Arriving in Yakushima after a 4 hour ferry ride:

We then took a bus to our pre-reserved cottages. Apparently when Kaori reserved them she didn't ask how big they were.

They were also full of spiders and cockroaches, so we rented a car and were lucky enough to find this bad boy.

The next day we awoke at 4:30 am to embark on a 10.5 hour hike to see Jomonsugi, the oldest tree in the world. It's like 7000 years old or something.

After the hike we were very tired, so the next day we decided to go to the beach. It was beautiful, with warm clear blue water and nice thick sand.

After throwing the football for awhile, I climbed a rock to do some Karate Kid practice.

Then everyone decided to join...

Hear no evil...see no evil...speak no evil...pee no evil

So after three days on the island we were having a great time. The next half of the trip would have even more surprises and all-around goodness. Part 2 coming soon!

Random Stuff

2009-04-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

I saw this bottle of awesomeness in Family Mart the other day......

I wonder if this is why every J-boy has hair that looks like this:

Which reminds me, maybe I should eat my last onion?

I am thinking of planting it in a pot for my houseplant. I might name it Leon: The Professional.

Visiting the Fam in Himeji

2009-04-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I took a couple of days off from work to travel many miles to visit my uncle in Himeji. Himiji is about one hour south of Osaka. If you remember, I went to Osaka for Christmas, and I was on trains for 17 hours. This time I took the fast train though, and it was a much shorter journey...like 5 hours. My uncle and his family are awesome, super hospitable and very generous. I had a great time. We went to Himeji castle, which of course was beautiful....

Here is me, my uncle, who is hiding behind my aunt for some reason, and my cousin who happens to be a dominator at karaoke. My uncle and I......not so much. But we make up for it with enthusiasm.

Standing next to the sakura (cherry blossoms)

For Sunday dinner my aunt's father took us out for a blowfish dinner. Actually, only him and I ate fugu (blowfish) because everyone else was vegetarian. On this night, being a vegetarian was a bad idea because this was the best meal I have ever had. This first course is blowfish sashimi (raw meat). It was delicious. Then came blowfish tempura (pictured), which was equally fantastic, and finally we had blowfish nabe which is kinda like soup. If you didn't already know, the blood of the blowfish is poisonous to humans. You need a special license to prepare it here. Apparently like 3 people died a month and a half ago because they ate some poorly prepared blowfish testicles. (I am not making this up, Google it.) So the whole meal everyone was telling me I was going to die.

I also ate an entire mix plate of seafood sashimi. I felt and looked like I was about 3 months pregnant. My host was pleased. I guess being able to eat a lot is a good thing here. Its also a good thing he didn't order any more food or I would have exploded.

The best part of the trip was just being around family again. Joylani and Matt came to visit during the summer, but since then I haven't seen family in about 6 months. That is just too long. I will definitely be back in Himeji soon.

YouScore

2009-03-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

How many times have you watched a movie, only to be disappointed by the song selection? It happens to me all the time, especially with those low budget movies that can't spring for quality songs and end up with someone's little brother composing a score on a $60 Casio keyboard. What if you had some type of software on you computer that enabled YOU to be in charge of the songs in a movie?

I have an idea for a software that lets you sync your iPod with any DVD that is playing on your computer. I will call it YouScore. I think this would revolutionize movie viewing in the home. Wish that Rage Against the Machine pumped you up for every fight? This can make it happen. Do you think that Gimme Shelter should be played during every 1970's drug scene? Just plug in your iPod and sync it up. The software would make every movie fully customizable to the viewer.

Imagine cuing up Bullet with Butterfly Wings during Blade right when a vampire is about to bite someone. Talk about awesome. Take the move below. This scene kinda sucks by itself, I mean it's Crocidle Dundee, not exactly the pinnicle of modern cinema. But with YouScore....well here is a little taste of the greatness. Just let both videos load, turn off the sound for the first video and start the second video when the first one has run for 25 seconds...

Christmas in Osaka

2009-03-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

After doing all there was to do at Universal Studios, Frank and I headed into Osaka. We split up as Frank met a friend for dinner, as I wanted to try some of Osaka's famous takoyaki. Takoyaki is basically a pancake ball with octopus inside of it. They were delicious. I ate 10.

About 10:00 Frank and I met up and we headed into Namba, which is the part of Osaka where all the nightlife is at. We were looking for a certain British pub that Frank had previously visited on an earlier trip. After walking around in circles for 2 hours, Frank finally relanted and asked for directions. Come to find out, the pub had been closed for six months. We then walked around for another hour before finally finding another British style pub. By now it was past 12:00 so it was officially Christmas. We sat down next to a girl who was receiving a box of take-out from the kitchen we asked her what she ordered. Much to our excitement and surprise, it was a turkey Christmas dinner! We immediately ordered some, and I am happy to say I ate a full turkey dinner on Christmas. (with cranberry sauce!)

The girl introduced us to her friend, who upon hearing that we had come all the way from Sendai on local trains, decided she was going to be our Namba Tour Guide for the night. So after our meal was finished, Laura (our new tour guide) took us to a cool little place owned by one of her friends. Apparently, the owner of this particular establishment, although born in Australia, was half Irish (I will call him The Austrish from now on). I was wearing my totally awesome Guiness hat, and he offered to buy it from me. As it was my only hat (and also since it is an awesome hat) I politely declined. This did not please The Austrish, and he spent the next half hour doing his best to convince me that he needed that hat. Finally Laura suggested that we play foosball for it. She had seen me and Frank playing at the previous pub, which, as I would later find out, was formerly managed by The Austrish. As I am a very competitive fellow, I immediately accepted.

On our ten minute walk to the British pub this guy talked more trash about foosball than I have ever heard in my life. Apparently, he had never lost a game on this particular table. I did my best to pump up his confidence, and told him that I might be lucky just to get 5 points in a game to ten. Frank was trying to talk me out of it, but at this point there was no going back. The match would be best two out of three. Right off the bat I won the drop, and had the ball on offense. One beautiful snake shot later, and I was up 1-0. Boom Tho.

I won the first game 10-4 and the second 10-3. I returned to the bar a conquering hero. The bar staff could not believe that their boss had lost. The Austrish, however, was a good sport about it all. As my prize for winning, he reached into the cooler and produced a bottle of Jagermeister. I then poured a drink for everyone in the place. I was suddenly a very popular man. Every guy wanted to be me, and every girl wanted to be with me. (note: the last statement may be false)

This was probably the first and last time that being good at foosball has ever made somebody a hero.

Yup, I experienced very own Japanese Christmas Miracle.

Frank's first rollercoaster ride.

2009-02-25T03:48:00.000-08:00

Needless to say, after Frank and I arrived in Osaka we were beyond exhausted. We slept until about 1:00 in the afternoon, woke up, and decided to go to Universal Studios Japan (or USJ as it is known in these parts). I hopped downstairs to take a shower, only to discover that our jobless friend with whom we were staying had not paid his gas bill. So no hot water. I pulled a Mexican shower with my Old Spice deodorant stick. Yup, the ladies would be hot after me on this day.

We made it to the park at 2:00, and after a few shenanigans we arrived at the ticket booth. The all day pass was 5500 yen, but a "twilight" after 3:00 pass was only 3000. So we bought the cheaper pass and used our savings to buy overpriced but delicious burgers from the Hard Rock Cafe near the park. Oh, I also took this touristy looking photo...

While eating lunch, Frank revealed that he had never been to an amusement park before. He was a little skeptical about how fun this was actually going to be. It did not help that the first ride we came to was E.T. (and the 30 minute wait was definitely NOT worth it). Frank was unenthused. This photo is evidence that sarcasm is apparently alive and well in Kenya...

Next we came to Spider Man, which rocked of course. Frank disavowed anything bad he had ever said about amusement parks. He thought that the automatic photo that they take at the end of the ride was the greatest thing ever, and purchased it immediately after the ride. He also bought the photo after the Jurassic park ride as well. That one was particularly awesome, hopefully I can get it scanned in soon. Until then, here are some of us that are slightly less awesome...but still good...

We ended up hitting every single ride at USJ (except for the big roller coaster which was broken...which was fine by me because I am a scared little girl when it comes to those super big drops, Jurassic Parks' blind 85 foot drop almost made me crap my pants). Not bad for 3000 yen. We would then head back into the city, to experience the craziest Christmas eve/Christmas morning that I have ever been a part of....

Josh and Frank get to Osaka for 390 yen

2009-01-07T03:06:00.000-08:00

This entry will be written running diary style:

5:30am - Wake up. Drink orange juice. Decide that bringing a two liter bottle of Pocari Sweat(Japanese style Gatorade) will be too heavy. Walk to station.

5:55am - Arrive at station. Take goofy picture.

6:13am - Board nice warm bullet train. Embark on ridiculous 17 hour journey to Osaka.

6:55am - Arrive in Shin-Yatshushiro. Say goodbye to nice warm bullet train.

6:57am - Realize that there is nobody working the local train gate as it is a holiday. Go to platform for free. It is still to early to realize the significance of this, but we do find a stuffed bear.

6:58am - Look inside stuffed bear. Find a railpass. Frank is very excited. He wonders who would leave their bear on a bench. I wonder who would hide a railpass inside a stuffed bear.

7:05am - The 7:00 train is late. Trains in Japan are never late. Frank asks a group of three Jr. High schoolgirls why the train is late. We are informed that today is a holiday and there are special holiday times. There is no 7:00 train, we must wait until 7:20. We are not pleased.

7:10am - Frank tries to talk to the schoolgirls. They are very shy. He asks them if they lost a bear. They look at him like he is crazy. He then runs over and gets the bear. The girls giggle. He then shows them the railpass. One girl gets very excited, apparently she knows the owner of the railpass. They all agree that this must be the funniest thing that has ever happened in the history of the world. Frank and I are now their new best friends.

7:20am - Board the first of seven local trains.

8:23am - Arrive in Kumamoto. Change trains too quickly to be able to buy a drink. I wish I had packed my two-liter bottle of Pocari Sweat.

8:24am to 9:55pm - Change trains many more times. Play countless games of Kenyan Uno. Talk to some Jr. High boys, one of which tells us he has 5 girlfriends. He is my hero. Get stared at by every single person on every train. Try to get some sleep on these tiny chairs. Nobody checks our tickets.

9:57pm - Leave Himeji station. We are very excited that nobody has checked our tickets. This trip was supposed to cost 11,900 yen for the two of us (about $120), and we are dreaming of paying less than $5.

10:20pm - There are many people on this train. At least 15 people are standing. There are also two open seats next to Frank and I. Nobody is brave enough to sit next to us. We continue playing Kenyan Uno on the empty seats.

10:32pm - Two people finally build up the courage to sit next to us. It just so happens to be a lady and her very hot daughter. They speak good English. They are very interested in everything we have to say. The daughter tells us about college. Frank is in love.

10:58pm - We arrive in Osaka. Frank is trying to come up with a plan to get the daughter's phone number with her mother sitting next to him. Frank fails to think of such a plan. Frank is disappointed with himself.

11:01pm - We have come over 450 miles. This is like taking the AmTrack from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and then busing to Riverside. Thus far we have paid $0.00 for local trains. We need to switch lines to get to our friends house in Nara, which is just outside of Osaka. We buy tickets for the new line.

11:03pm - We must get past the gates with no exit ticket. We try to explain we came on the train from Himeji but have no ticket. The workers get tired of trying to talk to stupid foreigners. We are allowed through! Total cost of all local trains: 390 yen.

We are the masters of the universe.

11:55pm - Arrive in Nara. Get picked up by Hana, who is the boyfriend of one of our friends in Kagoshima. He drives fast. He does not wear a seat-belt.

11:58pm - Hana makes a U-Turn going 50 KPH, then veers onto a tiny side street which is bordered by a swampy rice field. He then points to the light up ahead and says "Light-o red-o" which I guess means he almost killed us to avoid a red light.

12:02am - We arrive at Hana's house. We are alive. It was a good day.

14 days on the road

2008-12-22T03:54:00.000-08:00

In nine short hours I will begin a 14 day trip from Sendai to Osaka to Tokyo. My friend Frank and I will wake up at 6:00am and board the first of 8 different trains on an epic 17 hour journey to Osaka. My goal is to learn the entire Hirgana alphabet while on the train. As this is not likely to happen, I would be content with just learning half.

I plan on taking lots of pictures and videos to chronicle this journey so I dumped the contents of my memory card onto my laptop to free up space. I found a few hidden gems, such as some video that Rachel took of my band's last show before I left for Japan.

I hope to be posting next on Saturday when I arrive in Tokyo. Once there I will be staying with one of my friends from training and he might be kind enough to let me use his internet while he is at work. Apparently he is a big snorer so I brought earplugs. Gotta stay prepared. Until then, here is some Laden Swallow goodness...

Josh finds anti-sports people boring, untrustworthy.

2008-12-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to Fukuoka (4 hours away, and about the size of Toronto...I think) for my work Christmas party. As I have never met most of these people, and the ones I do know I have only seen once or twice, the first part of the party was a generally awkward exchange of general information. However, I figured that as the night moved on people would open up more and the potential for an interesting conversation would greatly increase.

Or so I thought.

After going up for my third helping of the fried potatoes, I found myself sitting next to a hipster guy in a scarf who was inhaling from a slim cigarette. He looked like he was trying very hard to channel David Niven, albeit with varying degrees of success. As we had spoken before I knew where he was originally from, and I asked him a simple question about his city's NBA team. He took a drag from his slim stick of cancer, looked down his nose at me, and said something to the effect that he felt sports were beneath him. In fact, his expression also said that I must be the silliest person in the world to even ask him such a question.

It was then that I decided I did not like Mr. Hipster David Niven.

While the men at the party were altogether underwhelming in their sports knowledge, the women more than eager to discuss their favorite teams. I met a girl from New York, and as I always do when I meet a New Yorker, I asked her if she was for the Yankees or the Mets.

She said the Yankees.

This is generally not a good sign. I hate the Yankees with every fiber of my being. One more question would seal the deal.

"Who is your favorite player?" I ask. If she says Jeter there is no possible way we can be friends.

She excitedly answered, "Well I don't like Jeter," and then made a face to let me know that either she really didn't like Jeter or had swallowed some bad shellfish earlier in the night. Good sign. She continued, "And A-Rod sucks. He is soooo overated, he never comes through in the clutch. I like Robinson Cano."

Wow. Aside from being a Yankee fan this girl is perfect. She hates A-Rod and for some reason doesn't like Jeter. However, she is in fact a Yankee fan, so I try and avoid talking to her for the rest of the night.

Finally, I sat down opposite a girl and found out that she had graduated from Loyola Marymount. Immediately I was excited. Now granted, she was probably three years old when Hank Gathers became the second person ever to lead the nation is both scoring and rebounding, averaging 32.7 and 13.7 respectively. (OK, I looked that up. But I did know that he led the nation in both, so put that in your pipe and smoke it) I am sure everyone reading this blog already knows the story of Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, because you are all both interesting and trustworthy. However, in case you forgot, I will refresh your memory. One game before the NCAA tournament, Hank Gathers died on the court because of a heart problem (actually immediately after throwing down a hard core ally-oop dunk. The guy was a stud) Best friend and teammate since high school, Bo Kimble would then lead the Cinderella squad all the way to the Elite Eight, where they would fall to the eventual champion UNLV. Kimble did this all while shooting his free throws left handed when he first got to the line. He was a notoriously bad free throw shooter, but he never missed a left handed free throw the entire tournament. Probably my favorite college sports moment ever.

Anyways, when I asked her about Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, she got very excited and we had a very nice conversation on the topic. So I guess there are sports fans in Japan, you just have to look really hard. So I will continue to search on, and I am sure it will be worth it.

The Ohara Festival

2008-11-21T07:37:00.000-08:00

So I don't really know much about why they have this festival, I think it has something to do with the harvest season. What I do know is that there are a ton of dancers and taiko drummers all over the place. I was with some people from the Ultimate frisbee group that I play with on Sunday afternoons. We consisted of 4 foreigners and one local, so whenever we didn't know something we just asked her. Actually, I take that back. Whenever we didn't know something we just made up the answer and then she would slap us for being stupid and tell us the real answer.

The night was marred by a steady drizzle, so all the drums are covered in plastic. Still these kids were awesome. I wish I could go back in time 15 years and become a pro-master skills tiako drummer.

The little kid in the front right is my hero. I bet he drives his parents crazy when he practices though.

The Rice Harvest

2008-11-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

In America, most people buy their rice at the supermarket. Japanese on the other hand, LOVE their rice. They love it so much that they grow their own. If only they could grow bananas. But that is for a separate post.

My student Takayoshi invited me to a rice harvest that his family was going to. As I had never harvested rice before, I figured this it would be good for me to try. How hard could it be? When he told me that we would be leaving at 7:00 am, it should have been my first clue that it might not such an easy day.

Arriving at the fields:

The rice field. Part of it has already been harvested and the brown stalks were hung out to dry. I was told that this field was the longest in Japan, it looked to be almost 300 yards:

There was also a pond with grass in it cut to show Kanji and a fish. I don't know what it says. I am not a good student.

Cutting rice is not easy. You have to bend down and slice it with a sickle, and you have to slice 4 bunches before you can tie the stalks together. I turned out to be pretty quick at the cutting part, but I really sucked at tying the grass together. I finally just gave up on the tying and concentrated on just cutting down the rice. Another person took over the tying duties and I descended like a tornado upon the rice field. About halfway through the Mayor of the town came to help with the harvest. Apparently he comes every year. He was all decked out in coveralls and rubber boots. I guess he was kind of a big deal because everyone wanted to talk to him. He asked Takayoshi who I was and Takayoshi told him my name...with Japanese pronunciation, it is said "Jo-shu". Well, I guess that sounds almost exactly like the Japanese word for "servant or helper", so the Mayor thought I was some hired hand and that's why I was cutting down rice like a mad man. Once Takayoshi straightened him out and told him I was from California, The Mayor was very eager to talk to me. What can I say, I'm kind of a big deal.

Another view of the field:

After the harvest was over we went back to Sendai. My legs were beyond sore. It took about a week from my hamstrings to feel normal again. Harvesting rice was a very fun thing to do....once. I will now revert back to my American ways and continue buying my rice at the supermarket. I never cook anyways so it probably doesn't matter where I get my rice.

As I was working on about 3 hours of sleep and had just cut down a ton of rice, I was very tired. So when we got back to Sendai I took a nap on Takayoshi's floor. An hour later it was decided that we should go bowling. These are probably the greatest shoes I have ever seen. If they made them in regular shoes I would definitely buy them.

Banana's are missing, Josh investigates

2008-10-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have not been able to buy a banana in about a month. Every time I go to the supermarket they are sold out. At first I figured there was some kind of shipping problem, but I have been three times now in the last month and the banana stand is always empty. Where are all the banana's? They are my most favorite fruit. I eat them with peanut butter as a sandwich, I eat them plain as a snack, I cut them up into little pieces and eat them with my cereal. I miss bananas.

So I did a little investigating. Apparently there is some kind of fad "Banana Diet" going around Japan where you just eat one single banana for breakfast. Then a normal lunch and dinner (before 8pm) and you are supposed to lose like 10 pounds a month. It all sounds pretty kooky to me.

One of my students proudly told me that she ordered 88 bananas from the Internet and packed them all in her freezer. Wow. A wise man once said "There is always money in the Banana Stand". I guess he was right.

Basketball Musings: The DM3P

2008-10-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

After spending the last two nights huddled in my apartment because of a typhoon (really, there was an actual typhoon) I went down to the river because it was a gorgeous night. While I was there for some reason I started thinking about basketball. I started thinking about the Golden Rule that you need an elite low-post scorer to win it all in the NBA. But I realized that the ’08 Celtics didn’t really have one, Garnett likes to play on the elbow. Same for the Pistons in ’04, ‘Sheed had by then become more reliant on his outside shot, and wasn’t the teams focal point on offense anyways. Sure, Shaq and Duncan have won 4 titles each, but of the last 18 champions, 8 of them did not have what many would consider an “elite” post scorer. Over 44% of teams that won the title broke the Golden Rule. However, every single team in those 13 years had one thing in common, and this common thread is for some reason hardly ever discussed.

Each team since Detroit’s Bad Boy Pistons have had one key similarity: a small forward who could hit the 3 and play suffocating defense. Now if they played defense by having elite skill like Pippen or Prince, or if they just relied on thoroughly pissing off their opponent (Bruce Bowen, Rick Fox, and Mr. Hip Check, James Posey), these players were effective. All of these players were in the game for their defense, but they also all nailed the three point shot when it mattered. In the case of Pippen, the all time NBA steals record holder for a forward, he is arguably the best defender ever at his position. He was not a great three point shooter, but in the playoffs he was a reliable three point threat, even sharing the record for the most 3’s made in a finals game with 7. Pippen’s game was probably good enough for the Bulls to win without him finding his three point shot, but for the rest of this defensive minded group hitting the 3 was the essential ingredient that would enable their teams to hold the championship trophy. We will call them the DM3P’s.

So which teams this season look like they have that special ingredient that leads to champagne popping and banner rising? Let’s take a look at the contenders.

Just Quit Now: Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Portland TrailBlazers.

These teams don’t have anyone who even remotely resembles a defensive-minded, three-point shooting small forward. Carmelo, Hill, and Outlaw are all mid-range jump shooters who don’t play defense. None of these teams will go anywhere in the playoffs.

One Dimensional Wonders: Utah Jazz, Cleveland LeBrons, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic.

Utah has two great wing defenders in AK-47 and Ronnie Brewer. Neither one can shoot…at all.

Cleveland, Toronto, and Orlando all have small forwards who are great three point shooters. All of them are white. None of them can guard anyone. Coincidence? You decide.

The Everything Needs to Break (or not break) Right Team: Houston Rockets.

Shane Battier is the poster boy for a tough defender who can hit the 3. If he were on the Lakers last season Phil Jackson would now be sporting a ring on every one of his ten fingers. Everyone knows the problem with the Rockets. McGrady and Yao have each shown that they cannot stay healthy for a full season, and Ron Artest….well you don’t need me to tell you that he has more career suspension games than playoff games.

In the Posey Zone: Boston Celtics and New Orleans Hornets.

With the signing of James Posey, the Hornets bought themselves a proven DM3Per, who has just so happened to have won 2 of the last three titles. If Paul, West, and Chandler can stay healthy, the Hornets are a real threat to win it all this year.

By letting Posey walk, Boston had dumped an even greater load on the shoulders of the already weary Paul Pierce. Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and even Kevin Garnett are all a year older, and something tells me that Darius Miles will not be the answer. There is a reason the DM3P’s have all been role players, and I don’t think Pierce will be able to handle all the responsibilities the Celtics are putting on him.

Too Little Too Late: Dallas Mavericks.

Josh Howard is a potential DM3Per, but nobody knows what this team is built to do. Run and gun, or grind it out and feed it to Dirk while everyone cheats off Kidd. Avery was a good coach, but when the refs decided they wanted Dwayne Wade to win the 2004 finals, they lost their window. Getting run by the Warriors might have been the death blow. Maybe Carlisle can turn things around, make their offense a bit more creative. However, barring a miracle the Mavericks’ time has most likely passed.

Tried and True: San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons.

Bowen and Prince are ring-owning members of the DM3P club. The question here is age and health. Bowen is old. He definitely has lost a step, also the Lakers realized that he can only hit the three from the corner and adjusted to not allow him to get wide open looks from there. Manu’s injury also makes one assume that this is not San Antonio’s year. Prince is just now entering his prime, but the rest of the Pistons are slowly fading from the players they were four years ago. If young blood like Maxiell and Stuckey can continue to improve however, they will be scary in the playoffs.

The Potential Dynasty: Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe. Pau. Bynum. There aren’t a better big three in the league to build around for this year and the future. However, as of now they do not have a DM3P small forward. They have all the parts, but not one complete player. They will have to either develop one of their many small forward options, or have Phil pull some Zen tricks with the matchups if there is to be another Laker banner raised in ’09. Odom will likely be the starting 3 to begin the year, but he is better as a quick 4 who can penetrate and dish, while using his huge wingspan to rebound close to the basket. Vlad can shoot. He can shoot very well. Vlad also cannot play defense. Walton showed signs of hitting the 3 last season, but also cannot play defense and is very inconsistent. Short of making a trade for Battier when Artest goes crazy and T-Mac and Yao get injured ordering a Frosty at Wendy’s, the Lakers will have to develop. This means either Trevor Ariza or Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic will have to expand their games.

Ariza is an incredibly athletic defender. He is coming off an injury, but has all the tools to be one of the best defensive small forwards in the game today. If he can simply learn to hit the corner 3, a la Bowen, he will have gained DM3P status. Still, it’s a big if, as he holds a lofty .209 career three point percentage. Yikes.

Sasha Vujacic is a Shooting Machine. He shot a ridiculous 44% from deep last year. He already has the makings of a modern day Rick Fox with his ability to annoy every living soul in the building. The long hair is an added bonus. The problem with Sasha is that he likes to shoot too much. Someone who shoots 44% from long range should be much higher than 46% from 2 point range. He needs to become more selective with his shots and concentrate more on his defense to become a true DM3per. Although it is obvious that The Machine will never put defense first, I believe he can be enough of a pest on that end for his 3 point accuracy to carry him into that most respected group of small forwards: NBA champions.

Tug of War

2008-09-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend there was a Tug of War festival in Sendai. Every year
about 4,000 people take part in either making the 365 meter rope, or
pulling the 365 meter rope. The rope is ENORMOUS it weighs 4 tons. It is hard to even grab and lift off the ground. I had a bunch of my friends come in from out of town, and we all had a great time. It felt good to have people come and not only see my city, but enjoy themselves while they are here. To most people Sendai is just another stop on the train, so having festivals like this is a good way for people to experience the city.

Try and guess which one is me.

Its super crazy, there are guys running around beating on drums, guys yelling through megaphones, yet everyone seems to know what they are supposed to do. There were five "matches" and the red team beat the blue team 3-2. I competed twice for the blue team (wining one and losing one) and then I had to pee. The thing about Japanese Tug of War is there are "attackers". The attackers get to try and pull people from the other team off the rope within the first 50 meters. However, what ends up happening is there is just a huge brawl in the middle as the attackers just choose to fight each other. There were guys running along the rope just hitting people on the head with flags. Crazy. There were quite a lot of yakuza there too, which was kinda cool because you always wonder if people really are yakuza, but during the tug of war you could tell which ones actually were by their tattoos.

After the match was over, there were a bunch of guys with little chainsaws cutting up the rope.

Then I tried to take the whole thing home.

I eventually managed to break off a much smaller piece.

Shortly after the 8 of us would return to my apartment and attempt to go to sleep for the night. However, due to the juvinile state of one British man in particular, there was not a lot of sleep to be had. Somehow I was transported back in time to jr. high summer camp, complete with fart jokes and random utterences of "Your Mom!". I guess 4,000 people tugging on a rope for two hours will bring out the kid in all of us.

Settling in

2008-09-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

The first few days in Sendai I just kind of walked around a bit. There are just over 100,000 people here, but it is really spread out, and there isn't much exciting to do. So I guess its like a small Fresno. My apartment couldn't be in a better location. I am about a 5 minute walk from what little "downtown" we have here in Sendai, and 2 minutes from work and the train station. There is a driving range and a bowling alley here also, but its a 20 minute bike ride, so I don't go there much. I eat dinner almost every day at Joyfull. The waitresses all know that I am foreign, and they bring me a knife and fork every meal, even though I usually just use the chopsticks. Joyfull is like a Denny's except that is serves Japanese food. I know every dish on the menu. My two favorites are the chicken tempura with rice and the Udon noodles with shrimp tempura. Both are 499. It's cheaper than cooking, plus there is nothing to clean afterwards.

Here are some pictures I took my second day in Sendai:

This is Sendai river, the bridge you see is for the trains.

This is looking the other direction, the big smokestack is the nuclear power plant.

This is a flower I saw near my apartment.

And this sign shows the building of the bridge. At least I think so, its all in Japanese....

So that's a quick look at my new home, more to come soon.

And today I got the Internet.

2008-09-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Wow. I have been here for almost two and a half months, and just one hour ago I finally rediscovered the joys of a working internet connection. I know I said I would update this page quite often, and two months of inactivity would make it seen as if I was less than truthfull. However, if anyone is still reading this page, rest assured that I will be posting quite a bit. This is going to be a record of my journey after all, and if the rest of my time here is like the beginning, I am not going to want to forget much at all.

I arrived in Japan on Saturday July 12th, working with about 4 hours of sleep since Thurday morning. I couldn't sleep on the plane, I was leaving the Americas for the first time and my stomach was churning with anticipation. After a landing at Narita airport and clearing customs, I boarded a plane for Fukuoka which would land at 9:30 pm. I meet my contact there, and she informed me that we would be waiting for Ayako (another new teacher who just so happened to be at my training session) to arrive and then we would walk to my hotel. She neglected to tell me that this would end up being a three mile walk with me carrying two bags wearing a combined 55 pounds. When I finally arrived at my room I was exhausted. I still only was able to sleep for four hours.

In the moring I met up with Ayako and had my first Japanese meal...and of course it was ramen. Its very good here. I also realized that Japanese women wear high heels. All the time. In the rain, at the beach, at work, at the supermarket, everywhere you look, they are in heels. I boarded a train at 3:00 and arrived in Sendai at 5:45 where I was met by my trainer, a proper British gentleman in his early 30's named Sam (actually he's really 25, but theres something about male pattern baldness that can make a person look old. One student was sure he was in his 40's). He in turn taught me all I needed to know about teaching in 3 days, and then I was left to my own devices as my manager got transfered four days after I arrived. It was just me all alone in Japan.

Leaving home

2008-07-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I left Arcata, not to return until July 2009. It didn't really sink in that it would be such a long time between seeing my friends and family until just a couple days before I left. But I am excited about new challenges and expirences that await me on the other side of the world.

I am currently staying with the Riegelmann's. As I am not taking my XBox to Japan, Mike and I have played a lot of HALO (that is once the kids have gone to bed). They have two of the best kids ever, but trying to get anything done with a toddler and a baby is tough work. Mike and Holly are amazing with their kids, and sometimes I think about my married friends and think that maybe I am behind them in life, but then I realize that I am not at all ready to be married and have a kid. Much less two.

I played my last round of golf Tuesday with my dad and my brother, and my dad was kicking my butt. We were just playing nine holes, and he made birdies on 5 and 6 to go three up. But then I birdied 7, 8 and 9 to close out the round and we finished tied. Everyone ended up happy. It was a good way to go out.

Ooops...

2008-06-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago my friend known as "The F.B.I." (for Full Blooded Italian) called me to let me know he was trying to have a poker night at his house on Saturday. As I am a big fan of poker, and winning money in general, I informed The FBI that I was going to be going to another poker game on Saturday at my friend Stoner's house, but it might be possible to combine games. So I talked to a bunch of guys, and they were somewhat reluctant to combine games, but I was excited about it, so they agreed to have a combined game at The FBI's house.

Well, last night I went to the gym to lift with my buddy T.P., who had kind of set up the first game, and he told me that they weren't really going to have a poker game on Saturday. It was supposed to be a surprise party for me. Poker was just going to be the ruse to get me there. So I blew my own surprise party. Now that I know this the combined game is cancelled, and I will be attending my going away party at Stoner's house.

Maybe I can still act surprised.

Packing up the House

2008-05-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

My lease is up next Saturday, but I am going to Hawaii (yay!) on Tuesday, which means I need to be out of my house in four days. Here is a list of the things that I have done so far:

1. Cleaned half of the fireplace.

2. Put some shirts in a plastic bag.

Yeah, that's it. Plus I am leaving for Chico to go to my sister Katie's graduation tomorrow, and I won't be back till late Saturday. I am screwed.

But at least the Lakers won last night!

What makes me laugh the most about this picture is that Tony Parker actually looks like he is milking his left nipple.

I now know were I am going, but not really

2008-05-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

Just checked my email, and found this letter from The Language School:

From: (name of Language School person)

Hello Josh,

Here's the latest information for you;
1.
We got your tentatie (sp) placement;
The name of the school is called Sendai in Satsuma-Sendai City in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu Region.
Sendai is about 30 minutes away by train from Kagoshima City(Capital City in Kagoshima).
Kagoshima itself fases to the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and is popular among marine sports lovers.
It is also famous for the steam sand baths in Ibusuki. You should try that, it was real good.
Also what makes me jealous is that it is very close to Okinawa(Japan's Hawaii)!!

2.
Here's the possible training/arrival schedule for you;
June 23-26 Training in Vancouver
June 27 Fly out from Vancouver
June 28 Arrive in Fukuoka Airport in Kyushu Region

Once visa is processed, everything will happen all at once.
Please be prepared.

So I guess I will be spending a year in Satsumasendai, although I have never heard anything about it. It is pretty far from my uncle in Himeji, so I don't know if I am really that pleased with this. But I am glad I am not in a giant city like Toyko, and it is located in the south of Japan, so it shouldn't be too cold there. I will just have to do some more research and figure out what Satsumasendai has to offer.

Went to Fed Ex, met Pam Beesly

2008-04-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

To complete the hiring process, the language school office in Canada needed a signed copy of my contract, along with some visa documents (the immigration kind, not a credit card) . It was supposed to have arrived today. So of course I haven't even sent them yet.

In addition to the paperwork, they also want me to provide them with some "casual" photos of me in professional attire. Well I don't really have any "casual" photos of me in professional attire. It seems to me that if one wants to be casual, one wouldn't lounge around wearing a dress shirt and slacks. As anyone who has ever been to my house knows, the average temp is about 55 degrees. Indoors. (yes, we are too cheap to turn the heater on.) So in almost every picture taken of just me I am wearing a large, warm, decidedly not professional, hooded sweatshirt.

I managed to find a some pics from my sister's wedding album of me, but not by myself, so I cropped those other less important people out and saved them to my flash drive. I then went to Fed Ex Kinko's to print out the pics and mail away the package. Little did I know, but like the NBA, Amazing was about to happen.

I met Pam Beesly. Only the Arcata version. The soft voice, the bad hair, the knowledge of the ins and outs of her office. Yes, this was the FedEx Pam, and as she charged me $36.38 to mail my package to Canada, she smiled and told me to have a nice day. So I thank you, Fed Ex Pam, for allowing me to experience a litte bit of Scranton here in Arcata.

I'm going to Japan

2008-04-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, as you have probably already guessed, I am going to Japan! I will be an English teacher for a language school. As of now the plan is for me to head out in late June, and I will be overseas for one year.

I hope to use this blog to cronicle my time leading up to departure, and to keep folks updated while I am there. I plan on posting often, so when you are bored at work, or tired of myspace, feel free to come over here and see what I am up to.