More Karaoke! My New Favorite Sport

Matsushima on my mind

After Sendai, Donna and I both had the day off. Rather than go back to Koriyama, we decided to take advantage of Sendai's northern location and go sightseeing at Matsushima. Matsushima is one of the Three Views of Japan, known for its natural beauty (one down, two to go!). It really was gorgeous. Apparently, the beauty of Matsushima is summed up by this famous haiku:

Matsushima ah, Matsushima!
Ah, Matsushima, ah!
Matsushima, ah!

Which, I mean, COME ON. I could totally have written that. SUPPOSEDLY, the guy was at such a loss of words because of the beauty of Matsushima thats the best he could do, but I think thats kind of a cop-out. I mean, he could have taken a little time, calmed himself down, and at least put some effort into it.





Matsushima is absolutely gorgous...there are over 200 islands in the bay, all covered with pine trees. The bigger ones are connected to the mainland by long red bridges, and are quite beautiful to walk through as they are full of beautiful trees and flowers. There is also quite a large shrine there, as it used to be home to a humongous Buddhist Temple. There are tons of caves and walkways to explore, and we happily spent the day doing just that.

They also had kickin' boats to take you around the bay. I don't know about you, but when I see a boat that looks like a peacock, it pretty much puts me in an instant good mood. Too bad Mr. Peacock only went ONE WAY! We got stuck on what we affectionately termed "Garbage Island." It was basically a strip of land with a bunch of landfills on it, and a Pachinko Parlor (Japanese gambling that is absolutely everywhere). Once we escaped Garbage Island, (on a different boat) we were laughing, but being forced off your boat in a foreign place is a little startling. Mr. Peacock did us wrong!

I Can Die Happy

SUMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Carry OK!

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When my training was finished in Sendai, the other new people and I decided to celebrate Japanese style...nomi hodai. You will be seeing that word in many many many posts to come, so congratulations! You know a little Japanese. Anyway, we had so much fun we decided to participate in another favorite Japanese pastime....karaoke! Oh yes. Now, karaoke is something I never ever thought I would do. When I sing, people think a cat is being beaten to death somewhere nearby. Windows break. Babies start to cry. The lights flicker on and off....seriously, its bad. But, magically, mysteriously, I found that with enough alcohol, ANYONE can sing. And boy, did I sing. I was belting it like I was the love child of Celine Dion and Aretha Franklin. And the greatest thing about alcohol...the whole time I was singing, I was like, "Man... I. am. GOOD. Why have I never sung before? I should do this more often!" It was possibly the greatest night I have had so far, so enjoy the pictures.



New Friends

Work It!

The New Pad

As Jean says, its like a dollhouse.



The Bedroom



The crazy bathroom and toilet. When you flush, the tank fills up through the little faucet. Its nuts!



The kitchen/dining room. The tiniest fridge you have ever seen. I could carry it on my back!



I am sleeping in the living room because its the only room with air conditioning! (You can see the unit in the upper right hand corner)

When in Rome...

In Sendai, I stayed with a great girl named Lauren. She is from Australia and was really helpful in showing me around the city, cooking me dinner, and generally being the awesome person she is. She was also nice enough to invite me out with her for my first nomi hodai, all you can drink! Nomi hodai is EXTREMELY popular in Japan. You pay a certain amount of money (between $10-40 depending on how nice it is--but I don't like nice, I like cheap and alcohol-y) and are given a time frame to drink your little heart out. Most are one or two hours, but you can go longer if you are a seasoned drinker. The reason for the popularity of the nomi hodai is simple: the Japanese like their drink. Love it, in fact. Beer, gin and tonika, sake, lighter fluid...it doesn't matter, someone will drink it! Another reason, however, is the Japanese custom of not entertaining at home. Because Japanese apartments are about the size of the Barbie house you had when you were seven (and is about as well insulated), its very rude to have people over when your neighbors might be trying to sleep. So everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) meets out and about, and enjoys a nice cocktail with friends. It always makes me laugh when I ask students what their hobbies are, because its pretty much guaranteed they will say 'drinking' or 'driving,' but hopefully they don't do them at the same time. Anyway, when you are at a nomi hodai your mission is to drink and fully get your 10 dollars worth, so you ask for several drinks at once, hence my first picture in this blog! Story of my life, I got a little overzealous when it comes to the biru. Anyway, Lauren, and her friends Kouki and Tom took me out and showed me a great time in Sendai. I even met some new friends!


Kouki and his friend Koki (and I am not lying, her boyfriends name is Yoki. It makes me so happy). Isn't she pretty in her Yukata?


Kouki and Lauren

Tanabata in Sendai

Sendai is famous for its Tanabata celebration. Colorful paper wind ornaments are hung around the city, and "tree" branches are left around for people to tie wishes too. There are fireworks and a parade, which I missed, but it was great to see all the cool decorations.


These are the trees people tie wishes too. After Tanabata, the trees are taken to the river, set alight, and floated into the water.

Japan Needs Spellcheck

Festivus for the Rest of Us

One of the first things that happened after I arrived was Tanabata. Tanabata is a festival that occurs around the beginning of Obon, and is celebrated all over Japan, but especially this region. This also marks the beginning (well, sort of) of Obon which is a Buddhist holiday where everyone goes to visit their ancestors graves and pray for a week. It also meant no kids at my school, which is something I certainly prayed for. Everyone wins! (Except maybe the ancestors of all my students who went to the beach instead). Anyway, Tanabata: two stars/lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, are separated by the Milky Way, and are only allowed to meet once a year. Tanabata celebrates that meeting. The meeting is also celebrated by the name of the local diner, Milky Way, which serves excellent fried chicken. Koriyama had a parade to honor Tanabata, which involved some beautiful Yukata (The summer version of a kimono), pretty dancing, a huge drum and freaking creepy cartoony things. Check it out:


My brush with greatness: SUMO!