Soda choco!!! What?????

Hey everybody who still reads this blog! How are you doing? Things are hot and sticky (that's what she said) over here in Japan. The humidity is really starting to do some damage. I can't seem to dry off when I take a shower. As soon as I go outside I start to sweat, it's just absolutely horrendous. The good thing is it's been cloudy a lot lately. I really do like the clouds.

So I am finally settled into my little nook of an apartment. The internet guy came to my apartment and took out a few gizmos and did something and the internet turned on. It was great! I even have TV service now, but I don't have a TV. So I guess I should probably buy one sometime...eh... So what's new in Japan? Well a few weeks ago there was a foreign English teacher from Canada that was arrested for taking pictures up high school girls skirts on an escalator. I don't understand why you would try to take a photo of that. Honestly I think the some of those girls want you to look, they wear these ridiculously short skirts sometimes. Anyway it turns out that I actually know that guy that got arrested. Apparently he was not in the JET programme, which is good, because it would really give a bad image to the programme. I think he is leaving this month back to Canada. What a pity. In a way I feel sorry for the dude, because it was blown up in the media over here. Basically because he was a foreigner. Old nasty Japanese guys do that stuff on a constant basis here, but nobody ever does anything about it. Double standard??? You be the judge...

As you might know I play futsal every Tuesday night here in Japan. It is great fun and the team are good guys. We never play with shin guards because it's futsal and usually you don't get kicked in the shin. Well this week I found out, that is not always the case. I was running for the ball and it was a 50/50 ball, meaning I could have gotten it or my the defender could have gotten it. We both swung at the ball but our shins clashed and I didn't feel anything at the time. About 30 seconds later, I felt a horrible pain in my shin. I kept playing on, and by the end of the 2 hours, my shin looked like this.

Lovely isn't it?

It was really painful, and it was swollen. I went home and took a shower, put some pain spray on it. And it looked like this...

Still painful

It has gone down considerably since then. Now it is just really red and a bruise. Needless to say, next time I play I will be wearing my shin guards! ;)

Yesterday I went to see Terminator 4. It was pretty good. I went with my buddy from Canada. If you told me 2 years ago that I would go watch Terminator 4 in Japan with a Canadian, I would have thought you were insane.

Candy in Japan is just like the clothes here. It changes with the seasons. This morning I stopped at the local market and found a sign that said "SUMMER CHOCO" or Summer Chocolate. Having absolutely no idea what the hell that means I wandered over there and found these interesting morsels.

kit-kat ramune flavored, basically sprite flavored kit-kat...

It didn't seem very tasty, and honestly it isn't very tasty. But it does show you how different things can be over here. I don't think American people would like this candy. It is very interesting though. ;)

Well that is all for today my liege. I'm going to take some photos of my apartment this weekend and post them up for you. Take care and be safe.

peace

vince

200?

So this post is going to be my 200th post on vinceinosaka.blogspot.com. I'm actually typing this at work because my new apartment doesn't have internet yet. 200 posts? That's a lot of pictures, stories and other nonsense. Actually this month (july) 31st will be my 2 year anniversary in Japan. It's crazy that I have been here that long. In a way it doesn't feel that long but in a way it does. I've made some good friends here, I have found a wonderful girl, I've moved 2 times, learned a lot about Japanese culture, the language and the people and I've learned a lot about myself too. I don't really know what I will get from this experience in the end of it all, but I know it will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life.

This week I should be getting internet at my place. When I do I will upload some pics of my apartment and the surroundings. I bought a new microwave oven, a toaster and some pots and pans. I even bought curtains! hah! I hope to buy a TV sometime this year. Other than that I really don't need anything else. Time to start saving loads of money now! I'm really glad to be living on my own again. The other apartment was beginning to become unbearable. My new place is quiet and nice. So far I haven't talked to any of my neighbors but they definitely know that there is a foreigner living there! :)

I'm still working on starting the podcast. That is this summer's project! Anyway, thanks for all the support over the last 2 years. I hope this blog becomes better as time goes on. Take care!

peace

vince

p.s. skype calls are not possible for me at the moment! also msn mail because it's blocked at my work!!! lame... internet is coming soon!


p.s.s. R.I.P. Michael Jackson... here is my favorite song from him!

Why I love the game

So this morning I woke up again at 3am to watch a football (soccer) match. It was a special match for me to see because my home team the USA were playing the #1 ranked team in the world Spain. It was a semi-final of the Confederations Cup tournament in South Africa. It's basically a warm-up to next years world cup in South Africa. Anyway, all the writers, pundits and so called soccer know-it-alls, gave the USA absolutely no chance to beat the Spanish. The Spanish were on a world record 35 game unbeaten streak. The last time they lost was in 2006. So basically the Americans had absolutely no chance.

So I woke up at 3am like I usually do for games. I have never seen so much heart and effort being displayed in my life. The American players were absolutely brilliant. I felt so proud of them. I've always been proud of them, even when they lose. Well to make this story short USA won 2-0!!!! They played so great. So now they will play in the final on Sunday afternoon in America (3am Japan). I really hope this makes Soccer a much more covered sport in America. Sure American sports are good and all. But when you succeed in Soccer, the WORLD watches. It's the best sport on Earth! If you are interested, please watch this highlight of the match.

Spanish


German


English




peace

vince

Company Health Check!

Yesterday at work was company health check day. A mobile hospital comes to the school and checks all the teachers and staff at the school. I like this idea because it makes it much easier to get a health check. Anyway, we had to check our urine, height, weight, eyes, lungs, (blood for 30 and older) and an x-ray. The best part is I didn't have to pay for anything. I think everything was good with me, and I am fit.

Today I finalized my new apartment. I had to pay over $1,000 today! The good thing is that includes rent for July. The next step is moving all my stuff. I will also have to buy many appliances for my apartment. I am looking forward to the new place. It's going to be a simple and clean place.

Last night I played futsal with my friends. I play every Tuesday at the outdoor covered futsal pitch. Football is so fun, it is the best sport in the world. There is nothing like playing out there with your friends working hard. I feel so good after I play, I don't want to stop. Anyway, I went to buy some football socks at the sports shop before we played. I need some because the ones that I brought from America are already getting beat up. They only had up to 27cm size. My feet are at least 30cm, so I wasn't able to buy some socks. I think I will have to buy some on the internet. The humidity is really starting to pick up over here in Osaka. I felt much more tired earlier than I usually do. I was literally panting like a dog by the end of the 2 hour session. Usually I am a bundle of energy at that time. I think it's just going to take a few weeks to adjust to the humidity. Unfortunately I don't know how much we will play this summer. Many people go on vacation, therefore we cannot field enough players. Hopefully this won't be the case. If so, I will just play at my school in the gym and practice my touch.

This is a picture of the futsal place we play at.

I'll be back soon with another post. Talk to you soon!

peace

vince

Advertising works!

Well I went to eat at a pizza buffet tonight. It was really good, and in a typical American fashion, I over ate! It was delicious though! :) When I was walking home, I saw a GIANT advertisement for Terminator 4 that comes out on June 13 here in Japan. I snapped a small photo with my cell phone.

a four story Terminator 4 ad, epic!

As I dropped by the convenience store to grab a soda, I found a very interesting Coca-cola product. Green tea flavored Coke. Actually, I just finished taking a few sips of it. It is quite tasty, and has a very very mild green tea flavor. I like it! I just thought I would share a picture of it with you. I'll be back soon with some stories!!

how about some green tea coca-cola?

peace

vince

Changes

Jeez, it's been quite a while eh? Sorry about that everybody. Lately I've actually been busy.

Well you know that whole Swine Flu craze that has been going around in the USA and the world? It hit Japan about 2 weeks ago. And in a very Japanese way, an overreaction occurred.

Last Monday May 18, all public schools in Osaka, Hyogo and Nara were closed for an entire week. Some of my students said that even the karaoke shops weren't allowing high school students in because they were afraid of the swine flu. Everybody and their mom (literally) is wearing those white surgical masks like it's a fashion statement. All the drug stores have either a giant sign with "WE HAVE MASKS!!!" written on it, or "WE DON'T HAVE MASKS!!!". I'm sorry but those masks are completely useless.

Needless to say, I didn't have any work last week. So on Tuesday I went to school, but only to play basketball. I played with the PE teachers(体育の先生) and it was quite fun. Afterwards, I went home and didn't go back to work until the following Monday (25th). What did I do with all that time? Well I exercised everyday, played video games, went shopping, ate dinner and cooked. It was an unexpected holiday! Unfortunately we will have to make up those days at the end of the term. But for what it's worth, it was fun.

As many of my friends and family know, I like basketball. Well finding someone to play basketball with in Japan is no easy task. I play futsal every week with a JET futsal team but I really want to play basketball too. Well, a few weeks ago I started to search for some basketball teams in Osaka. I found a team on Facebook, and I sent them an email. It took about 2 weeks for them to respond and finally last Friday I received a reply. The guy told me that he plays with some foreigners and Japanese people every Monday night. I asked them where? And he told me that they play in a middle school in Matsubara City. The funny thing is, I work in Matsubara City!! So all this time these guys have been playing and I had no clue. Anyway, he invited me to go play with them this past Monday (25th). I went last night and it was fun. I met 5 foreigner guys, all from America. They are not in the JET program though. They were really nice and made me feel welcomed into their group. We played from about 7:30pm to 10:00pm. I was dead tired afterwards, and I still had a 50 minute journey home. It was worth it though, because I made some new friends and now found some basketball people! I look forward to playing again next week. Tonight I'm playing futsal with the JET team and that is really fun as well.

Looks like I will be moving my apartment again. One of my roommates is moving back to America so that will raise my rent about $250! I want to find a smaller and cheaper place. Perhaps in a nicer area of the city. I found a nice place by Osaka's largest park Nagai Park, the rent suites my budget, however I would have to furnish the entire apartment myself. Which I think would be fun, but expensive. I will let you all know the details as the days progress.

Last night I called my grandfather in El Paso, for two reasons. One reason was to wish him a happy 89th birthday! Wow! The second was to wish him a happy Memorial Day. If you don't know what Memorial Day is in America, I'll explain a bit. It's a day to remember and honour the veterans of war. Well my grandfather is a World War 2 veteran. I asked him to tell me a couple of memories he had. For example a moment that he could never forget. He told me about his friend that was a bodybuilder Polish American, who taught him to weight lift while on the ship. He told me about when he was running away from Japanese snipers. He told me about a time while on a Navy ship and the attack alert sounded and all the soldiers had to run to the top deck with their safety vests (my grandfather had forgotten his!!). It was really nice to hear some of his stories about the war. He told me that he really didn't want to remember some things. It was a quick conversation but sometimes it's the content and feeling of the conversation that counts.



peace

vince

Monkey Madness

So this past weekend was fun. I went to an Outlet mall in a place called Rinku Town. The outlets there are quite good. I was able to pick up some nice clothes for about $100 US. On Monday I went to Kyoto. We went to a Monkey Park called Arashiyama Monkey Park. There are about 150 small Japanese monkeys at that park. They walk around wild there. So it's possible they could attack you, however that is unlikely. The monkeys were very cool. Many of them were cleaning eachother off and combing eachothers hair. They use their hands just like we do, and their hands look just like ours! It was weird to see that. We had a few days off this week because of the Japanese holiday "Golden Week". It's basically a reason just to have a few days off. I don't think anybody really knows the reason for the holiday, but they all take the days! So did I! haha Well enjoy a few photos of the little buggers that I saw.

peace

vince

I wonder what happens in the Auto Toilet.

Arashiyama

Man pulling cart!

Let's Boating!

Hanging by the tree, not a worry at all.





Bamboo Forest

Race fun videos!!

Hey everybody, sorry this is so late, but it took quite a while. I uploaded some videos of the race. Check them out!

peace

vince


MotoGP race Video



More MotoGP race



SuperGT race Start!!



SuperGT race



Walking around at the SuperGT race



Yellow Flag Caution



Race Finish

Race fun

I went see a race yesterday with my friends. The name of this race series is called Super GT. It is quite popular in Japan. We had to travel north to Mie prefecture. It was about a 2.5 hour journey. I was nice to see the country side in Japan. Living in the city gets a bit dull sometimes and it's great to see some green. We had a really great time out there. We were there from about 10am to 5pm. So we had a full day of car action. I got a bit of a sunburn, but it's all good. I took loads of pictures but here a few for you to see. The rest are on Myspace.

peace

vince

Views of Japan

Over the past 3 weeks I have taken a bunch of photos. I think photos can be much stronger than words. So just enjoy some of these...