Me, my life and I

Have spent most of today in my apartment trying to catch up on the blog and am almost there. So far everything I have written has involved my days off so maybe I should write a little about my work...

I have been working Saturday and Sunday 10-6.30, and Monday -Wednesday 12-8.20ish. However my days off are about to change to Friday and Saturday. Its gonna be changes all round over the next couple of weeks....
On Saturday, the 1st of two new teachers will be starting. His name is Mike and he's American. I've got 3 days off this week so I'll meet him at work on Sunday. Sunday will also be Jen (my current flatmate)'s last day of work so we'll be going into town Sunday night. Jen will leave Kushiro on the 3rd and and 3 days later, the 2nd new teacher and my new flatmate will arrive. Her name is Des'ree and she is also American.

I have pretty much only written about trips away as to be honest there's not a great deal else been happening. Most days I finish work, eat something then either sit on the computer or read/study for an hour or two and go to bed. The weeks have just been slipping away. In the past week, I met another foreign teacher in the mall who has been here a year, and am meeting up with him and his girlfriend tomorrow night. I'm also going to a Japanese class in town, where I should get the chance to meet some more people, and of course there's the two new teachers about to arrive. However, I've decided that Kushiro isn't the place for me, and put in a transfer request yesterday. It's highly unlikely I'll get a move this year though.

An Israeli backpacker in Kushiro

The week after I had been in Sapporo, Saar (one of the backpackers I met on the town) came through to Kushiro for a visit. He arrived Thursday morning and I took him out to the marshland. it was amazing how much the nature had changed in the 3 weeks since I had last been out. Like someone had scanned the park into photoshop and changed all the vibrant green to faded gold. The foliage was thinning dramatically, and where there had been swaying green reeds, now resembled a golden hay field. And the panoramas had somewhat
taken on the feel of an African Savannah









We took a diversion from the walking trail to check out an archaeological site. What we found was actually a reconstruction. A small gathering of huts melding into the carefully landscaped rolling hills. Totally tellytubbyesque. We poked our heads into a few huts and found a supply of firewood and a smouldering stone hearth in each..obviously the highly visible maintenance staff had been busy. I reckon it would be a great place to go camping with a big carry out and some guitars, though I'll admit it is a bit smoky inside... something akin to a night in a Scottish pub, pre Smoking Ban - oh the nostalgia...

Was pretty worn out later in the day so dragged Saar off to the Cento for a hot bath, in my opinion one of the highlights of Kushiro....Back in the flat had a few vodkas then off to Shyusan for some Karaoke.

Friday night went downtown to check out a few places. Had a good dinner at a very typical Japanese restaurant. Small with a big mama behind a big grill and customers lined up along the counter calling for food, beer and sake. We had all three before hitting the bars. First stop was a reggae bar - we were the only customers but then it was still early...Next ventured into a downstairs venue which was split into 2 bars - English Pub QV and St Andrews Bar. Again we were the only customers but had a couple of drinks anyway and had a good chat to the 2 managers. The woman who runs St Andrews bar is a keen golfer and has been to Scotland many times. She also collects malt whiskeys and has some that are over 50 years old - priced at over 20 pound a nip. The last venue was called Bar Blow...and yet again we were the only punters and chatting to the owner/manager. I asked him where everyone was and he said they would come after 12. By the time we left it was past one and we were still the only people but he did have some good music and played me Primal Scream so I can't complain. But still, I can't get over how dead it is on a Friday night....

Sapporo

Went to Sapporo not so much for sightseeing as socialising. Stayed with Jackie, in the apartment I stayed in when I was training.

Got the night bus from Sapporo, arriving at 6am. Made my way to the apartment on the subway. Jackie had made the futon up for me in my old room and after letting me in, we both crashed out immediately.

We set off late morning and had a walk round Sapporo, in and out of Department Stores. Downtown is packed with them. We also had a walk round the University grounds. We ate a late lunch in a Mexican style place located in the fairly vast network of underground arcades, incorporating around 150 boutiques and restaurants, with direct access to the subway stations and many of the department stores above. Jackie took me to an import food store where I got a few things but no hp sauce or Baxters cream of tomato soup :(

We went back to Jackie's apartment and got a bottle of wine. Had time for a quick chill out and a glass while Jackie customised a photo album for a wedding she had been invited to that weekend. We headed back out at 6pm, this time getting the subway straight to Susikino, the entertainment district. The first place was called Jersey bar - kinda of an English pub/Irish Bar mish mash. While in the toilets I saw a flyer for Primal Scream...they had been touring Japan, and played in Sapporo like a month before....aaahhh! Can't believe I missed the chance to see the Scream in Japan! The local baseball team (Nippon Ham Fighters) were playing for the championship and won, so the place was mobbed and a great atmosphere. We acquired a couple of Japanese guys and went to meet one of the other foreign teachers who was out with his Japanese friends. We went to a new bar run by a couple of Aussie guys with a Dutch chef. Most of the punters were foreign English teachers. By 11pm was pretty drunk..Jackie suggested making our escape and saying we were going to bed then going to one last bar...

We went to Rad brothers, a typical 'gaijin bar' for backpackers and teachers. We got talking to a couple of backpackers from Israel and France. jackie went home but I didn't want the night to end so stayed on with the guys and we went to a hiphop club. Was pretty empty...a handful of Japanese and Russian. Pretty random really but I had a great time and befriended a couple of Japanese girls. By the time we left it was gone 5am and getting light. I made my way back to the apartment and by the time I climbed over the balcony to get through the back door it was 6am. I had about 4 hours sleep before getting up to make my way back downtown for the 12pm bus.

The first part of the journey was pretty rough, and not too interesting, but after a bit of a doze felt not too bad. The route was pretty breathtaking. The road threads its way quite literally through the mountains, using a combination of stilts and tunnels which cut a line between, then straight through the centre of, the thickly forested peaks. Emerging from the mountain ranges, the landscape altered dramatically forming wide plains that looked more like America than Japan. This was agricultural land with tractors out gathering in the hay as the sun set....

Akanko

Friday morning got up at 6am to get the bus to the resort town of Akan Lake(Akanko), a 2 hour bus ride from Kushiro. The town is home to one of the largest Ainu settlememts in Japan. The Ainu are the indigenous people of Northern Japan. Their territory once stretched north to Sakhalin and the Kuril islands, (now held by Russia), and South to parts of Northern Honshu. During the Japanese Meji Restoration, the island of Ezo which was the main territory of the Ainu was officially declared the Northern Island of Japan, and its name changed to Hokkaido. Japanese policy was geared towards assimilating the Ainu into the Japanese race, with their language being outlawed and incentives offered to native Japanese to settle in Hokkaido. Until fairly recently, it was common practise for Ainu people to hide their ethnicity for fear of discrimination, with some parents even hiding their ethnicity from their children. Recently their has been a cultural rennaisance among the Ainu people and government policy is now geared towards the promotion of Ainu culture. In Akan there is an Ainu village where crafts are sold, and a theatre with nightly dance performances.

Akan lake is also home to the marimo..a green algae which forms into furry balls, inhabiting the lake bed. Lake Akan is one of the only places in the world where marimo colonies exist (the others are Iceland and Esonia). Alongside Ainu arts and crafts are sold a wide variety of marimo memorabilia, from small, cultivated marimo in glass jars to t-shirts, keyrings, cuddly toys, Marimo Hello Kitty, and a whole host of other tat

A walking trail. leads into the forest and down via the lake front, leading to the bokke. This is a pool of hot, bubbling sulpher mud, and a local phenomenon. There is also a great view of one of the park's mountains, O-Akan dake from a pier extending out into the lake.

2km out of town is a small ski resort. In summer you can hike up the slope to the top of the chair lift for a view over the lake. There is also a trail winding through the forest up there leading out to more bokke. Walking through these mountain trails listening to the deep rumble of the earth emanating from the bokke, mixing with birdsong, was pretty magical. The leaves were every shade from deep green through to to deep deep red via lime, gold and rust. One more than one occasion I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of vivid red in a sea of green. The bokke here were even more magical, pools of grey, angry mud, spewing fetid, stinking sulpher, contrasted powerfully with the vivid beauty of the forest surrounding.

Bad hangover, nice Japanese lady...

Last Wednesday went out to Shyusan with Jen, Greg, and Phil, our help teacher. It is the first time I've been out when I've had a day off following so drank rather more than usual...Next afternoon woke up feeling absolutely awful. Finally around 2pm, forced myself to get up and dressed, and rode into town. Sat in Mister Donut for the rest of the afternoon, an American franchise owned by the same people as Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins. It sells a massive range of scrummy, donuts, cakes and coffee, as well as some Japanese style snacks and soups, and are found all over Japan. They have a scratch card promotion on at the moment in which you can win from a selection of bowls. A middle aged Japanese woman came and sat opposite me, and got a bowl set I had had my eye on. As she was leaving, she moved the box through the divide to me, and told me in Japanese it was a gift. I was well chuffed and very touched by her thoughtfulness.