Happy Halloween!!

It's been quite a while since my last posting. Besides just being plain lazy I do have a good excuse though. Yep you guessed it, I've been busy. My linguistics course is careening to a halt in the next week and a half so I've been trying to finish up my work. I've got weddings up the ying yang as well as everything else going on in life. But I shouldn't complain.
The last few weeks have been pretty tough for Japan. A major typhoon swept through and quite a few people died. I was happy to get the day off from school but it was very scary to see a group of seniors huddled on top of a tour bus in order to stay out of flood waters. And then there have been the hundreds and hundreds of earthquakes to hit Niigata, north of Tokyo. It's below freezing there and people have been camped outside over a week now because of the all the aftershocks. I guess everyone around the world saw the pictures of that young boy being rescued from his car that had been buried in a rock slide caused by the quake. Unfortunately his mother and young sister didn't make it out. I think he's too young to understand what happened to them and maybe that's for the better.
Then there's the strange case of the 24 year old Japanese man that went to Iraq and was kidnapped. He went with no plans, no money; he was just curious to see what was happening first hand. Of course he was foolish to go but the reaction in Japan was just disgusting. Apparently people were phoning his parents and yelling at them for how stupid their son was and for making so much trouble. Isn't that awful?
When 3 Japanese were taken hostage earlier this year they also got reprimanded for being in Iraq because the gov't had advised all Japanese to leave the area. Luckily they were all released unharmed but the first thing they had to do when they returned to Japan was to apologize for making so much trouble for everyone. The next thing they had to do was to pay back the gov't some of the costs involved in freeing them. Now these 3 actually had good reasons to be there, 2 of them were aid volunteers and the 3rd was a journalist. You'd think that being taken hostage and having your life threatened would be punishment enough but the Japanese gov't wanted some of their money too.
On a lighter note yesterday was Halloween here. Yah! However, unlike years past, I couldn't dress up or go out or basically do anything. I had lots and lots of weddings in Tokushima over the weekend so I just watched a movie at the local theatre and went to bed early. If I could have dressed up I would have loved to have gone like this.When I was a kid the terrorists weren't all that tough.
And they wore nice flashy uniforms.

Yes when I was a kid I liked GI Joe. Not the big barbie-sized ones (although my brother Rob liked those) but the small, fully articulated action figures.
This Wednesday is also a holiday here in Japan, Culture Day, but I'll be heading back to Tokushima for the day to do 4 more weddings. Luckily I've ended up with a few days off from school this week because I'll need them to finish up all my linguistics projects.
The American election is coming up and unfortunately the choice seems to be the lesser of 2 evils. What about the other candidates though? Why are they never mentioned? They're a colourful bunch, you can read about them here. Hey, if the Personal Choice Party wins then former porn star Marilyn Chambers will be your new Vice President. And what about the Fascist party leader Jack Grimes? His write-up is very entertaining:

Jack Grimes -- who previously ran for President as a write-in candidate in 2000 -- bills himself as the "Leader and Director of the United Fascist Union." As for his use of the word "Fascist," Grimes explains he wants to restore a New World Order based upon the governmental style of Imperial Rome "to institute a military dictatorship form of government over the Earth." Grimes believes that "the psychic is the next great step in the evolution of humankind on this planet." And it gets more weird: Grimes wants to address "the dilemmas now facing America and the whole of Western civilization: Democracy, Christianity, International Capitalism, Earth Changes, U.F.O.'s, government cover-ups, and others." Citing to Cayce and Nostradamus, Grimes predicts that "the United States will be reduced from its present size to a small triangular-shaped land mass through the loss of many of its coastal states." While those quotes come from his old 2000 campaign site, his 2004 is equally entertaining. Be sure to visit the "Pictures" page to view Grimes and his girlfriend (presumably) posing in their homemade black uniforms ... and to view pictures of them eating at different local restaurants. Or visit the "Speeches" page to read Grimes' 1998 remarks delivered to the "Flying Saucer Society of Dover, DE." Best of all is the Discussion Boards section of his site, in which Grimes exalts his followers to worship Satan -- plus you can read about the problem he was having getting to a campaign event in another state (because Mom's car was broken, etc.). While Grimes failed to achieve ballot status in any states in 2000, he falsely boasts on his site that he was on the ballot in 45 states and placed 6th in the race.

Seriously, while I think Bush is the worst thing to happen to the world since Nixon, or at least Reagan, I'm not sure Kerry is much better. He vows to fight Terrorism more effectively than Bush will. I've got a feeling that will entail just dropping more bombs on innocent people in depressed third world countries and end up making more 'terrorists.'

PS - thanks to all the people who've pushed my site over the 600 hit mark!! Look out Google.

A tricky treat.

The Great Pumpkin.
My newphew John makes a swell pumpkin. Boy is he getting big! When I get to see him next year he's gonna be dunking from the 3 point line!

"I'm bigger than all of you, bwa-ha-ha"

"You talkin' ta me? I don't see anyone else in dis pumpkin patch."

John's first ever social faux-pas. He realizes he's gotten dressed up far too early for Halloween.

Frogvasion

Much like the Simpsons episode where frogs decimate the crops of Australia, our humble little home has been over run by hordes of rampaging frogs. Well actually there were only 2... and Yukiko managed to get 1 out. The other one is probably hiding where we least expect it.

Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka?

Poised to attack!!

I was away for the weekend, per usual, and our two little friends smuggled themselves inside our apartment via our watering can. We're quite concerned about the lil' fella that still seems to be somewhere inside.
I had a bit of a stressful week as my first linguistics term paper was due on Sunday evening. I needed to finish typing it out but I had to go to Tokushima for the weekend to do weddings. So I finally got my act together and bought myself a laptop computer. But I figured if I'm going to get a new laptop I might as well get myself a good one as I hear they're not that upgradeable. So I ended up with a nice high end model that is actually more powerful than my desktop.

The little PC that could.

It worked like a charm and I was able to complete my essay while staying at my hotel. Now it's time to get cracking on my next paper :(
I heard from my friends Neil and Rachel in Vancouver that they are expecting a baby, congratulations!! I may finally be called upon to do all that babysitting I promised when I was young & foolish.
More good news, due to midterm exams I have no classes this week and therefore an entire week off! Well technically I have school on Friday, but for cultural experience the students at my school are all going to watch the Tom Cruise movie 'The Last Samurai.' And no, I'm not joking about that. It's a sad sign when a Tom Cruise movie is held up as being a cultural experience. I guess it could have been worse. It could have been that new ninja comedy Ninja Hattori-kun featuring Shingo Katori from SMAP.

Another typhoon... almost...

Well it was another 3 day long weekend in Japan (the land of the many holidays) as Monday was the national Sports Day. So while I wasn't going to have any classes it meant that I would have an extra day of weddings. Which is actually a good thing, as I still get paid by my school and I also get paid for the weddings. Bless those double salary days.
I should really back pedal a little though, as my weekend really started on Friday. I was a little late leaving home Friday morning so when I got off my last train I decided to take a taxi rather than the usual bus to make sure I got to school in time. It's only 1200 yen ($15) and we've got a money tree in our garden; at least that's what the strangely garbed man from the market told me! As I exited the taxi I was surprised to hear music blaring from the classrooms and to see students wandering all over the place. Yet there were still 10 minutes left in the first period. Now my school is pretty bad but generally not this bad. I had an idea that someting was up so I checked out the big monthly calendar posted in the teachers' room. Yep, there were no classes today. Seems the there was to be a PTA bazaar on Saturday so the students' classes were cancelled so they could 'prepare'. As happy as I was to suddenly have the day off I was pretty angry at myself for not noticing this before. I had wasted 3 hours of my day travelling to and from school for no reason. Well I had lots of work to do for my linguistics class so I headed home.
On the way home I had a bunch of errands to run at Sannomiya. I had to get some money from the bank and then buy bus tickets for Yukiko and I to go to Tokushima.
When I got home I phoned a nice hotel in Tokushima (nicer than the usual cheap business hotel I stay in) and booked a double room for Saturday and Sunday nights. Then I was all set to focus on my studying.
Then, without warning, a shot rang out. It was my wedding office calling to ask/tell me to go to Tokushima a day early (Friday night) because of the typhoon that's coming tomorrow. They are worried that the bridge I have to cross will be closed and I won't be able to make it into Tokushima. Note that they don't have any fears about me not being able to make it back home after the weddings, convenient isn't it? So I stop doing my work and begin preparing for the trip. I have to pack everything, phone the hotel to change my reservation, and leave early for the bus station hoping to switch my departure time. Because many people were trying to avoid the typhoon the busses were very busy and I had to wait at the bus station for about 1 1/2 hrs for the first available seat.
Naturally Yukiko couldn't come with me as she was still at work. So I told her about my change in plans and she said if the weather was ok she would join me on Saturday. Well Saturday morning was very wet and rainy so Yukiko decided, and I couldn't blame her, not to come to Tokushima. Tokushima has been hit pretty hard by the last few typhoons so it didn't make sense for her to go all the way out there just to be trapped in the hotel. Better to be trapped at home. So I talked to the hotel staff again and they agreed to only charge me for a single, even though I was staying in a nice big double room. Thanks Sunshine Annex Hotel.
In the end the typhoon totally bypassed the entire Kansai area and the weather became clear and sunny for the rest of the weekend. In order to occupy my lonesome self I watched a movie, 'The Village', and went to sing karaoke with some locals I know from Tokushima's famous sandwich shop.

Doggysitter for hire

And a darn good one at that.
Yukiko's parents are in the middle of a 10 day trip to Canada right now. They'll be travelling across the country by train, a beautiful but looooooooooong ride (especially winding up and down the Rockies.) And with kennels being virtually non-existent in Japan they needed recruits to look after their dog Taka. Taka is a big, beautiful Akita. However she's really getting on in years. Her hearing is very poor and she sometimes stumbles and falls. She still likes to be taken for short walks and always appreciates a nice belly scratch with her brush. But who wouldn't?
On Monday Yukiko and I spent the night there. We had a delicious and filling dinner at a famous nearby okonomiya shop. Then we took Taka for a walk to the local video store and rented 'Cold Mountain' to watch later. We were hoping to see Kill Bill vol.2 but it's not out in Japan yet.
Tuesday is my day off, so while Yukiko went to work I stayed behind to study and look after Taka. Then I met Yukiko in Umeda to give her the housekeys; then it was off to Sannomiya in Kobe for my Japanese class. Yukiko is coming home this evening and her sister Keiko is taking over the doggysitting reigns for the day. Then their brother Toshikatsu will watch over Taka until the Tsuda's return.
I've got my Jiu-jitsu class tonight but I'll probably be a little rusty as I didn't go last week because of the typhoon. I'm only going once a week right now to this class. I wish I could go more but it's difficult to juggle all my current activites as it is. I also don't want to be away from Yukiko too much. I'm gone every weekend so I don't want to leave her alone during the week too. Although this weekend we're going to Tokushima together.
It's a 3 day weekend (Monday is Sports Day, in honour of the Tokyo Olympics) so I've reserved a slightly bigger/more expensive than usual hotel for us. This one has big common baths for the guests to use. While I like these baths Yukiko loves them; she can soak in them for hours, I'm pretty well done after about 10 minutes though. This hotel is a little further away from the main area than the hotel I usually stay at but we can borrow bicycles for free so it might be even more convenient. I just hope it doesn't rain.

Yet another Typhoon...

Well another big typhoon swept out of nowhere yesterday and hit the western part of Japan. Besides a lot of rain and strong winds we were alright. But I read that quite a few elderly people died while fishing etc... What they there doing fishing in a typhoon though I don't know. The typhoon was still 'officially' with us this morning so I got a call at about 6am telling me that school was cancelled for the day. Of course today turned out to be nothing but clear and beautiful skies. I couldn't think of a better day to have off! However I had lots of work to do so I spent the day doing assignments for my linguistics class. Yukiko also took the day off and spent most of it studying her TOEFL materials. After dinner we went to Tsukaguchi for some udon and to work out at Tipness. These days my workouts mainly consist of cardio training as I want to trim off a few pounds; almost an hour jogging on the treadmill, 30 mins on the step machine and another 30 on a stationary bike. Yukiko and I also did the power rush class again, which is aerobics with a barbell.
Tomorrow I'm back to school but it's been a pretty easy week. Tuesday was my day off, Wed was a holiday and today was cancelled because of the typhoon. 2 day work weeks are the way to go. Unfortunately I have to work Sat & Sun :(

Cell phone photo of Yuka-chan

Little John

My brother Rob with John