Thanksgiving Potato Party

A picture that I nicked of all of us off of facebook. 

Turkey? Where? In Japan turkey is stupidly expensive and isn't easy to find. I found a smoked turkey thigh in an import market for $21 and that was only one leg. So instead we did a collaborative pot luck in out guest house. I wanted to write about it mostly for myself since most of you reading this didn't get the chance to celebrate it here with me. I just wanted to make sure a couple years down the road I will remember what I did for thanksgiving after I have long gone.

Chicken, roasted potatoes, mash, veggie sticks, homemade hummus. 

After we were all done eating it was Shisha Time! Off to Vang Vieng in Takananobaba  (click link for facebook page) where we all got dressed up and had a blast.

I couldn't think of a better way to unwind and laugh off all the food. <3

Please watch the video Potato day @ vangvieng

Beautiful hookas!!!

Please watch the video of how we made this 'gingerbread' house. Which was more like a poptart with icing. We were going to make this but I didn't know when I bought it that it was from scratch. So this came a couple days later. (Heather I stole this picture cause my ipod died and I didn't get any photos :()

Also FYI: the reason this is was called Potato Day because people just kept bring potatoes to the potluck.

1. Mash Potatoes
2. Roasted Potatoes
3. Chips
4. Potato Salad
5. French Fries
6. I'm sure there was more.....

Happy Thanksgiving.

English camp in Japan

Are you an English teacher? You having a hard time finding work consider working at a camp.  By camp I don't mean camping like we do in Canada, this is just like a get away class in the mountains. Not that I am complaining. I was recruited by a head hunter for a camp at lake sei-ko. All Meals are included, you get your own room and you have access to the hotels amenities. (ie. an in door onsen)

I took the train from shinjuku station  to machida, from there I transferred on to the JR yokohama. At the station the teachers met up and waded towards the bus. The travel time all together was about 3.75 hours.

we showed up a bit behind schedule so we each did a very quick introduction and checked in. A speedy 20 min break before lunch time.

Lunch consisted of salad and tuna, curry rice and ginger.  Another 10 min break and off we go to for our ice breakers. The students were shy but this has always been the case, we all know that by the end of the camp we would all be very chatty towards each other.

After classes and a couple breaks we were able to get some games in before dinner. I had 7 very shy but very wonderful female students. Since they were all about 16 they already have developed quite a bit of characters and it was really fun learning about what they liked and didn't like.

From there it was dinner time a buffet of all varieties. Yakisoba, rice, miso, cabbage rolls, three different kinds of salad, potato wedges, beef paddy, deep fried shrimp, fresh pineapple, fruit salad, bread rolls, cinnamon bread with jam/butter, mini cakes and to top it all off all you can drink coffee, water and tea. I definitely ate my fair share!

Time for an hour if English games and for us teachers signing of certificates. Now it is 9pm time to relax for a full day of English classes. 

Our team name was Dango! I was asking the students about a new types of dango I should try, they were all talking about this edaname dango. When I asked can you show me a picture they all whipped out their phones at the same time and BAM there were three pictures in front of me all at once. lol :P

Breakfast was another buffet style! Chicken nuggets, sausages, eggs, natto, chicken nuggets, miso, salad, tuna, mackerel and rice. I helped myself to many servings of chocolate swirl bread with jam. I cannot stop eating the stuff I wish I wasn't such a pig.

We went right into our lessons with a couple of games in between. From there lunch was had an obento out on the lake, since the students don't get to go outside and walk around this was a treat for them. Leaving the hotel an doing a treasure hunt, this was a lot of fun! 

My full class and Steven the other teacher.

 Back into the classrooms to finish the presentation. From there we were able to finish our projects before dinner and have a couple goes performing it to one of the other classes. 

Obento: three onigris, korokke, ginger and a piece of tempura ebi.

Dinner again was another huge buffet, consisting many items: spaghetti, karaage, fries, wedges, suimai, bamboo shoots, salad, pineapples, bread rolls, miso, rice and more. 

After dinner we had one more practice go before ending the day with a presentation for one of the other classes. Tomorrow we present it for 5 classes and they get their certificates before heading home.  

I started off the day with a light breakfast to keep myself going a little longer. From there I went with simple things that we could tweak before the final presentation. All the performances were wonderful!! You could see the progress and contribution that the students made towards their project. 

The closing ceremony was for all the students individually getting their certificates and the teachers to say final words. Lunch was mediocre but it felt like the class you taught for the last 3 days have really began to feel like extended family. The good byes pre bus was all about taking photos with everyone I am pretty sure that my line has an additional 10 contacts easily. 

Time to board the bus and head back to the station. From there my little notes about the camp all are just about how much time they wanted us to spent with the children, sit with them on their breaks and meal times. I like to read alone but was forced to socialize with the children instead, it isn't a bad thing but by the one I made it back to my room I was tired enough to sleep. Fresh lake/mountain air made it all the better.

Last picture we took together, I told them they had to make silly faces.  They were up to the task.

Here is a blurry photo of all the students and teachers together. See if you can find me!!!

I would definitely do this again!

Day Trip!! Ebina - Fujigoko - Hakone

There is no better way to start the day then with freshly baked melonpan! Yama-chan our awesome guide took us to Ebina where this melon pan is sold along side with many other delicious Japanese delicacies just to buy this famous bread. He was worried that they wouldn't have cooked it yet even though when we showed up at 9am half of them were already gone.

Japanese melon bread is mouthwatering goodness in pastry form. I love this stuff, know that I didn't eat all four but I did have a bite of all of them. There are many different kinds of melon bread:

• Cantaloupe (original - I think this one is the best one) 
• Cantaloupe with chocolate chips (the one I bought)
• Honey Dew (definitely a gooder)
• Cantaloupe with melon cream inside (I can't have dairy)
• There are ones with real melon in it (yet to try)
• Pineapple (Hong Kong style)

But enough about melon bread onto the trip! First stop was Mount Fuji (Fujisan) it was a bit of a drive but the scenery itself was worth getting up super early. Obviously we didn't have time to climb the whole mountain so we drove to the half way point to climb a little bit to see the amazing view. Even the half way point was stunning beyond belief, we could see on for miles and miles and a huge sea of clouds (unkai-I hope I remembered that correctly)

Yama-chan showing us on the map where we were.

Here are some panoramas that I took when we reached the half way point! I learned tonnes of things from Yama-chan like why you always say hello (Konnichiwa) to every person you walk past. In the mountains it is easy to get lost so if someone has gone missing we can say we saw them at this point in the path because we acknowledged them with a greeting, and it is polite.

Hakone was awesome, we took the cable car (1800yen return)  up to the top and from there the lush welcoming smells sulfur. That wasn't the reason we came up here it was for onsen tamago (hot spring eggs) they are hard boiled in the springs. It is the main attraction here, the view is just a perk.

After we ate our eggs we got back  in the car where I took a nap and headed to a Shinto shrine. Where Asia and I prayed for good luck on our upcoming job search.

At Shinto Shrines in Japan you can donate money and get a fortune. After having our friend tell us ours we were told to tie them to a wall at the shrine. Mine is the one on the bottom left corner with the pink and purple. Sadly I have forgotten what my fortune told me. 

This day trip was awesome!! Thanks Yama-Chan for driving us around, I can't wait for our next day trip out with him.

Studio Ghbili Museum - Fan Fare

Oh man I don't even know where to start, we showed up the anticipation swirling inside. Since the date was set I have been bubbling over with excitement. It takes a bit of effort to get these tickets click here to find out how, first you have to get to a Lawson's and don't forget to have all your available dates in mind. Make sure to have back up dates as well since it is most likely booked far in advance.  The tickets come in intervals, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm....and so on though they are only 1000yen it is worth all the extra effort. The map is attached below if you need a quick over view on how to get there!

The museum it self is very beautiful, as soon as you step inside it is like a bit like stepping into one of Miyazaki's films.  Of course photos and videos are forbidden. I apologize in advance that there isn't a million pictures from the museum. This way they can control the traffic inside which is obviously needed since there are a lot of people wanting to attend this wonderful place.

The interior is  maze like with many rooms filled with all sorts of hands on, visual and amazing pieces of original works, stop motion animations and beautiful recreations of Miyazaki's work place. This colorfully created design leaves you breathless through out and very fun for all ages that are fans of Ghibli movies.

We were so happy to have spent the time to go in and look at everything in detail, in awe we were still able to enjoy everything even though it is all in Japanese. The short movie was wonderfully entertaining and you don't need to know the language to enjoy it fully.

The best thing I saw inside was stroboscope that shows how animation works, the dedication of the works inside were nothing short if jaw dropping talent. This piece had the motion of the cat bus at the top and Totoro and the little girl skipping rope. I couldn't stop staring at this wonderful installment within the first room we stepped into. There was even a cat bus room where you could play in the cat bus but it was for children only. *le sigh*

The gift shop was packed and things here were a bit over prices but don't worry there are lots of little tiny studio Ghibli places around in Tokyo where you can find legit items for sale. Which is were I am going to go to find myself some cute little Totoro things for my inner child.

Of course there is a Ghbili themed cafe!

Up top on the roof was the robot from Castle in the sky which was also found in Lupin. I couldn't believe that it was life size and it was there was a real one created for all of us to enjoy. This place was like a dream come true! I would totally go back again!!

Takaosan

The trip was a direct one hour ride from Shinjuku station to Takaosanguchi, it only cost 320yen one way a good deal for the long ride out there. The forecast for this day was suppose to be 40% chance of rain, lucky for me when I arrived there was no sign of rain to be had.

This weekend was a long weekend in Japan and the place was packed with tonnes of couples, groups and kids everywhere. I was happy to hear that we didn't have to cue for a ticket and we would be able to start our hike right away.

During our steady pace upwards we stopped to see the little shrines that were places along the path. Japanese people made sure to pray to each one as they passed them by. Also, I thought it was quite interesting that every person that passed you in the opposite direction would make the effort to acknowledge you by saying hi.

I really enjoyed all the tree routes. I was told that this path we had chosen was the same path that the monks took when they came to Takaosan to train.

The following were the best pictures that I took at the summit, I kind of thought that we would have gone a little higher but this view was pretty amazing. I did however feel a little left out that I didn't have an onigiri packed in my bag for the break we took at the top.Everyone had one, good ol' calories.

The climb down was very fun since there was temples along the way, the forgiveness wheel and fortune tellers. We didn't end up going to the all you can eat and drink place since it was so full, maybe next time. From there you can climb all the way back down or you can take tram/chairlift. The yellow tram is in a track and goes down at a very steep incline! Strange I have never ridden in anything like this before and it only took 5 minutes to get back down. :D