My post from yesterday, Friday, August 24th:
Well, it's the beginning of our 5th cruise! Today marks my 50th day at sea on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam. Today is also the first day after embarkation day which means it's Cantare day. This will be my 9th and 10th time to do this show for a "paying" audience and it is our new cast member, Casey's 1st and 2nd - so happy opening to Casey! We have been in install mode with him for the past 10 or 12 days and this is his 5th of the 6 shows that we do - all we have left is to do NYC with him!!
As I said 2 posts ago, I wanted to write a blog about what traveling and performing has taught me. Just a few life lessons:
I think one of the 1st ones would be that as important as it is to plan, set goals, and have an idea of what you want to do and where you want to go, it is equally if not more important to realize that you are never completely in control and that you should keep an open mind and be able to go with the flow. This can be applied to many things - travel/vacation, your day to day life's itinerary, and your life/career path over time. It is important to strive for things and have a goal to focus on, but the path that leads you there is never as straight and clean cut as you might imagine or hope for. To say it one other way - with an actor's slant - from your own individual perspective and personal interactions, life is an improv game and not a script.
This leads me to my next point: Detours are okay. You never know what you might find, who you might meet, where it will lead. If you keep your loose goal or plan in sight, you will always find your way back, but you will be richer for having taken the detour…even if it is to learn that there is nothing down that road but houses and a small park or a dead end alley-way. Who knows though - maybe you'll find an awesome shortcut!
I've learned, personally, that you really don't need a lot of things in life. Moving to Japan and living on a cruise ship (twice now) has taught me how to whittle my life down to 2 suitcases under 50 pounds, a carry-on, and a personal item. We truly don't need more! Sure, it's wonderful to have comforts and to build a home and have a personal space that you feel comfortable in and I'm not saying comfort and small luxuries are bad…but you don't NEED more to live. It's taught me to be a bit more on the frugal side and to focus more on life's experiences than the material things of this world.
As important as it is to have a (loose) itinerary in travel and goals to accomplish in life, accomplishing them or following that itinerary and seeing the things you want to see should never afford you the notion that you have "arrived" or that you have seen/know everything there is to know about a place. I suppose what I mean in a career/life-goal-oriented sense is that you will never know everything there is to know about a subject or be perfection at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish…there is ALWAYS room for growth and lest you become stagnant, you should always try to better yourself and strive for a more perfect form of that goal. I guess when it comes to travel, don't assume that you've seen it all or the best things or know everything there is to know about a culture or place or people. Not until you've lived there for years can you truly understand and claim "expertise" on a destination.
Finally, as I've said in another post, so much of this stuff is about perspective. If you choose to have a positive and healthy perspective, humble confidence and striving for more should follow.
…In hindsight after writing this blog, a lot of these life-lessons are fairly performer oriented. I think a lot of performers can get a big-head and think they've "arrived" if they get a big job and then become divas (or divos) and also become stagnant. Much of these learnings, of course, come from my perspective as a performer who travels a lot. The travel tips and musings can apply to anybody though, for sure! See some of the popular things when you travel, but give yourself time to detour and get lost and discover something new and you! And NEVER overpack. Baggage fees stink, plus you leave more room in your suitcase in case a souvenir strikes your fancy. Most places have laundry and in most places, the people you are around won't see you enough to know that you rotated the same 3-4 outfits for 7 days :)
Next post, look for pictures and captions and perhaps a brief update of some comings and goings! As always, feel free to subscribe, leave a comment, and share with friends! :)
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Roma!!
I think one of the most eventful days I've had on the ship so far was right before we got to Barcelona. Three days before we arrived, we were in Civitavecchia which is the port for Rome. Now, 4 years ago on my cruise contract, if I remember correctly, we had a total of 3 days in Civitavecchia. The 1st was during install. The 2nd and 3rd were show days and so we weren't able to go to Rome. Lucky for us on this contract, they are wise to the fact that Rome days are long and so our shows would be wasted as all-aboard is merely 30 minutes before our 1st show.
That being said, Jaclyn and I decided we needed to see Rome! And see it we did. My friend, Joey, had a drill in the morning so we told him to meet us at 2 in the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica. In the meantime, Jaclyn and I took a train, had some espresso and a bathroom break, walked to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, actually got on a tour to go into and through the Colosseum, took the metro to St. Peter's and met our pal, Joey (musical theatre reference!!)
We then continued on with him to see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain (where we tossed a coin in) and at 4pm headed back to St. Peter's (San Piedro) station to hop on the train to take us back to Civitavecchia. Now mind you the walk from where we were took about 45 minutes…but even then, according to the schedule, we could still catch a train that would get us back to the port by 6:30 which then gave us an hour to get back on the ship - plenty of time!! Right?!
One would think……
We made it to the station a little before 5, but with a bathroom break for me and buying a ticket for Joey, we missed the 5:02 train. According to our train schedule there were to be 3 more that would give us ample time to get back. Around 5:30 with no train we were wondering if one was coming at all. Around that time someone told us that some man was laying too close to the train tracks and that that was causing the delay. Great…some crazy, drunk, and/or suicidal man is holding up the trains. I couldn't believe this was happening to us. So by 5:45 we concurred that we needed to take a taxi. 120 Euros and 50 minutes later I can see the ship!! But what I didn't count on was traffic in town. With that to deal with plus the most direct road to the port blocked off, our taxi driver took us the most round-about way to the port. I was sweating bullets and having a mild stroke at this point.
We finally made it to the port with 15 minutes before "all aboard" but the cab driver could only go so far and we followed the last shuttle to the gate…so there was no other way but to run. We were due to depart at 8pm, but all-aboard was 7:30. If you've never been to Civitavecchia, let me tell you that 45 minutes MIGHT be ample time to briskly walk to your ship, but if your ship is over halfway down a pier that can easily accommodate 4-5 BIG cruise ships, 15 minutes is pushing it if you are full out running. As we sprinted past the Pullmantur Sovereign, they were casting off and their decks, full of people, cheered us on as we ran. Next was Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas. About this time, we were running out of juice from having walked around all day in the heat, having only sporadically eaten and wasting all of our adrenaline through taxi ride anxiety.
Thankfully, right at that moment, the shuttle bus that had just left our ship spotted us and picked us up…and kept going in the opposite direction. We shouted, "NO NO NO!!!" "We have to be on by 7:30." "We have to go that way - just let us out, please!" He merely kept repeating "It's ok." What we didn't realize is that the family that we sprinted past when we got in the gate was also on our ship and needed assistance as well. So very shortly they got on and we made it onto the ship by 7:27…the closest I have ever been to all-aboard (and the closest I hope to ever get!) So that's my Roman adventure. Pretty crazy, huh?
I suppose the moral of the story is to never rely on Italian public transportation. One of our cast's dancers, Jenna, lived in Rome for 7 months for school and said she had the same problems with Rome's public transportation system. Lesson learned!!
Here's some pics, btw!
top to bottom - Day in Santorini, Day in Dubrovnik, the sea in Dubrovnik, and me cliff jumping in Dubrovnik
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Life After Install
Venice!!
Hello friends and family!
Well, we've had almost 9 days of life after install. I know they didn't leave that long ago, but our install team consisting of Thomas, Gavin, and Erika, plus our lovely costume ladies is gone and it seems like ages since I've seen them already! It's crazy how skewed your perception of time can be when so much of your time with people is so condensed (living, working, eating, and playing with your co-workers all the time!) I think another reason that it seems like a while is because we have been filling the days as much as we can with happenings.
Since being on the ship, I have gone to the night club, had a pool party with passengers, traveled and seen just about every part of the ship that I'm allowed to go, had a massage at the spa (YES!), eaten at one of the specialty restaurants called the Tamarind - DELICIOUS Asian-fusion food that filled me and my comrades to near bursting - and a myriad of other day to day type things.
As I said in my last post, I'm doing some ports that I did during my last cruise and I can't tell you how thrilling it is to step off of my ship in cities that helped change my outlook on life and the world (and finally give me a feel of how Europe truly is for the first time) and have all of those memories come flooding back. In some places, I'm even remembering paths that I took and restaurants/cafes/shops that I visited. I think one of the ports that I'm the most excited about having come back to is Istanbul. That is such a cool city with such a vibrant way of life that is so different from ours back home.
So in brief, since I last wrote, we've been to Istanbul and overnighted. During that overnight, we went out to the hipper part of town at night and walked around and sang karaoke at a bar until about 1 am and made our way back to the ship by 2. We went to Mykonos and had fun at our production manager's hotel and the beach, put up our last show in Kusadasi, Turkey (where Ephesus is), took ATVs out and covered the whole northern half of the island of Santorini, went to a new port for me in Croatia (called Split) and did some complimentary internet over lunch, back to Venice and had a great day and night romping around, went to Dubrovnik and cliff dove for the afternoon and went to a water park in Kerkira, Corfu (a part of Greece). Some of these things are things that I waited to do until the end or didn't ever do on my last contract, so to get to do them now at the beginning leaves room for other things. That makes me REALLY excited for my time here in Europe!
Pic above: Thomas's hotel in Mykonos
We also met a few really cool people in Dubrovnik - both were from Australia. One was Ben (or Dan?…pretty sure it was Ben) who seemed to be about my age and one was Taso who seemed a little older. Ben/(Dan) couldn't stick around long because he had to meet a friend of his, but Taso stayed the whole time we were there. By the end of it all, we had all swapped life stories, jumped off cliffs together, taken pictures, and generally began to feel like he was part of our group. It was truly bittersweet a couple of hours later when we had to part ways and walk back to our ship. For whatever reason we all felt like we were abandoning one of our own. Needless to say, that was one of those cool meetings that it seems is fairly unique to world traveling when people are placed completely outside of their own social/cultural norms and have nothing but each other to gravitate towards to try and make sense of and share their current life experience.
Breakfast in Venice (same place I found with my friend MK 4 years ago!)
Tonight we perform our show, Garage Band. We finished the first show already and considering all of the technical things that weren't quite supposed to happen, I'd say we did a fine job of staying on our toes, listening to each other to figure out what to do, and improvising when the occasion arose. One more to go! I think that's all I have for now. Tomorrow we are in beautiful Santorini and I think I'm going to spend my day exploring the main town of Thira, perhaps buy a piece of art, and sit at a cafe on the cliffs and generally enjoy my time in the sunny Cyclades of Greece!
My friend, Joey, doing the splits in Split, Croatia!
Coming soon - More pictures of my travels and a blog on things that being a performer/gypsy/life-observer have taught me or made me realize!! Check back soon :) Thanks for reading guys and gals!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Cruise Life and an Update
Well It has been a long time since I have written one of these things. I will be writing more of them this year though because this is going to be the best way to stay in touch with people that I care about! So, for those who don't know, I have been rehearsing 6 shows for a cruise ship in Los Angeles California from around May 24th - July 3rd. I flew to Barcelona to get on this ship (which is a good deal bigger than my first ship that I did back in 2008 - and just gorgeous!), and we have been installing the shows since July 6th (our "sign-on") date and although we were supposed to have finished the install process a couple of days ago, we had some technical difficulties and were given more time (which, depending on how you look at it could be either a blessing or a curse…I think my perspective changes once or twice daily! Haha - but I do think it is more a blessing, just because this last show is a BEAST. There are so many props and tech things to think about on top of the show itself, so I'm thankful that we have a little more time to play with it and make it feel solid.)
This itinerary that we have on the ship is one that I just couldn't turn down - I thought that doing my first ship gave me some experiences that I might only have once and yet here I am, 4 years later, and I'm revisiting some of these places that I never imagined when or even if I would ever see again! We leave the Mediterranean about a month earlier than I did on my 1st contract, but then we have nearly 4 more months left in the Caribbean! This will be a great way to save money and avoid winter :)
LA was fun and an interesting experience - I had never been to California before or really even lived in a desert before. It was awful adjusting for singing because I always felt dry, but I loved the weather, loved getting to know the area that I was in (despite it being fairly ghetto…no joke!) and loved exploring bits of LA with my new cast and catching up with a couple of college friends who have moved out there. It was a little different than I expected - a lot of buildings had this old '50s feel to them which made them look dated and run down. There were a lot of architectural styles that I didn't expect. I think when I think of big cities, I think of the more urban feel that a lot of downtown business/residential areas have and I never really got that from LA (although I technically never saw downtown LA proper). It just felt like a giant spread out suburb with shops and stuff. And so that was really the only thing about my LA experience that made me not want to live there - the driving that I would have to do and how far everything is from everything else. Other than that, I loved it - it was different from so many places I've been to before.
When I left off before I felt like I had so many things to talk about on the blog - processing coming home from Japan, leaving so many friends behind, my weekend trip with my besties to Seoul, South Korea (and how I just missed seeing my friend Jay who lives and teaches English there), and just the displacement. I lived in Japan for 13 months, I experienced a lot of life, met some special people, felt like I had kind of settled into a community, and was getting to a point with my language skills where I was feeling more and more comfortable about communicating, and like that it was all over and I'm in the Detroit airport waiting for some disgruntled employees to get me a coffee and understanding every word that everyone was saying. It was surreal to say the least. Of course, don't get me wrong - I was SO glad to be in familiar territory and seeing loved ones who I had been away from for so long. It was just a big adjustment.
I've come to realize and appreciate the fact that my line of work is going to be like that. I knew when I got into this profession that I wasn't going to live a "normal" life. I knew I would be uprooted for who knows how long and being all over the country (and now, world, even!) for years of my life. I'm thankful for technology and thankful for the friends that I have that I can just pick right back up with no matter how long it has been.
I had a series of really great conversations with my parents while I was home and one of them was with my mother about this crazy life that I lead (and the fact that I wouldn't be home for the holidays again). The holiday traditions that our family has are so engrained in me that I always have trouble and a bit of self-inflicted guilt (knowing that it was my choice to take a job) when I miss them. I know it's just the nature of what I do and I know that they know - but if you are extended family I hope YOU know that my jobs and wanderings aren't a reflection of how I feel about you :) I love you all dearly and miss you much! Especially for these next 4 months in the Mediterranean, it's going to be difficult to communicate with folks (shady ship internet and exciting ports do not make a good combination for communication). Please e-mail me or Facebook me and I PROMISE I will give a personal response - but I think it's best if you folks take the initiative to update me or ask me some questions if you want a personal response. Other than that, I'll try to make my rounds with Skype and e-mail when I can, but save a few special folks, most of my updates are going to be more general (at least until the Caribbean) and posted here!! So please leave comments, subscribe, and keep reading! :)
That's a general catch up as to what life has been like. In my next post, expect some nostalgic remembrances and my excitement in remembering them from my experiences in Europe from my first cruise and my subsequent recent trips to some of those same places! Good feelings! And perhaps an introduction to my cast
Also, a shout out to my lovely friends in Japan - I think about you all and my time there to some extent every day. I miss you and the life we shared. I can't wait to see you again!
If you don't already have my e-mail or are friends with me on Facebook, but would like a personal update/response to anything, please find me on Facebook or ask one of my family members for my e-mail address. If you don't have ties to any of those people/things but would still like my e-mail, leave me something in the comments and I'm sure that could be arranged somehow!
Until next time - take care!!
This itinerary that we have on the ship is one that I just couldn't turn down - I thought that doing my first ship gave me some experiences that I might only have once and yet here I am, 4 years later, and I'm revisiting some of these places that I never imagined when or even if I would ever see again! We leave the Mediterranean about a month earlier than I did on my 1st contract, but then we have nearly 4 more months left in the Caribbean! This will be a great way to save money and avoid winter :)
LA was fun and an interesting experience - I had never been to California before or really even lived in a desert before. It was awful adjusting for singing because I always felt dry, but I loved the weather, loved getting to know the area that I was in (despite it being fairly ghetto…no joke!) and loved exploring bits of LA with my new cast and catching up with a couple of college friends who have moved out there. It was a little different than I expected - a lot of buildings had this old '50s feel to them which made them look dated and run down. There were a lot of architectural styles that I didn't expect. I think when I think of big cities, I think of the more urban feel that a lot of downtown business/residential areas have and I never really got that from LA (although I technically never saw downtown LA proper). It just felt like a giant spread out suburb with shops and stuff. And so that was really the only thing about my LA experience that made me not want to live there - the driving that I would have to do and how far everything is from everything else. Other than that, I loved it - it was different from so many places I've been to before.
When I left off before I felt like I had so many things to talk about on the blog - processing coming home from Japan, leaving so many friends behind, my weekend trip with my besties to Seoul, South Korea (and how I just missed seeing my friend Jay who lives and teaches English there), and just the displacement. I lived in Japan for 13 months, I experienced a lot of life, met some special people, felt like I had kind of settled into a community, and was getting to a point with my language skills where I was feeling more and more comfortable about communicating, and like that it was all over and I'm in the Detroit airport waiting for some disgruntled employees to get me a coffee and understanding every word that everyone was saying. It was surreal to say the least. Of course, don't get me wrong - I was SO glad to be in familiar territory and seeing loved ones who I had been away from for so long. It was just a big adjustment.
I've come to realize and appreciate the fact that my line of work is going to be like that. I knew when I got into this profession that I wasn't going to live a "normal" life. I knew I would be uprooted for who knows how long and being all over the country (and now, world, even!) for years of my life. I'm thankful for technology and thankful for the friends that I have that I can just pick right back up with no matter how long it has been.
I had a series of really great conversations with my parents while I was home and one of them was with my mother about this crazy life that I lead (and the fact that I wouldn't be home for the holidays again). The holiday traditions that our family has are so engrained in me that I always have trouble and a bit of self-inflicted guilt (knowing that it was my choice to take a job) when I miss them. I know it's just the nature of what I do and I know that they know - but if you are extended family I hope YOU know that my jobs and wanderings aren't a reflection of how I feel about you :) I love you all dearly and miss you much! Especially for these next 4 months in the Mediterranean, it's going to be difficult to communicate with folks (shady ship internet and exciting ports do not make a good combination for communication). Please e-mail me or Facebook me and I PROMISE I will give a personal response - but I think it's best if you folks take the initiative to update me or ask me some questions if you want a personal response. Other than that, I'll try to make my rounds with Skype and e-mail when I can, but save a few special folks, most of my updates are going to be more general (at least until the Caribbean) and posted here!! So please leave comments, subscribe, and keep reading! :)
That's a general catch up as to what life has been like. In my next post, expect some nostalgic remembrances and my excitement in remembering them from my experiences in Europe from my first cruise and my subsequent recent trips to some of those same places! Good feelings! And perhaps an introduction to my cast
Also, a shout out to my lovely friends in Japan - I think about you all and my time there to some extent every day. I miss you and the life we shared. I can't wait to see you again!
If you don't already have my e-mail or are friends with me on Facebook, but would like a personal update/response to anything, please find me on Facebook or ask one of my family members for my e-mail address. If you don't have ties to any of those people/things but would still like my e-mail, leave me something in the comments and I'm sure that could be arranged somehow!
Until next time - take care!!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Japan Earthquake
So, this blog is completely after the fact. Looking back, on it all, you think I would have gone into more detail about (or did I even mention?) the Earthquake that happened in Northern Japan on March 11th, 2011. To be honest, it didn't really affect us in Osaka, and since I didn't read the news at that point in my life and I don't really watch TV either, I just heard stories. Everything that they were telling us here is that it was OK. We were safe and we didn't have anything to worry about. Yes, it was devastating, but being somewhat accustomed to earthquakes, this country just picks itself right back up, rebuilds, and keeps moving along.
I rarely saw pictures or video footage and while, granted, the total area of Japan can basically fit into the state of California, the archipelago is spread out over a distance similar to that of going from Maine to Miami. And the distance from where I am in Osaka to where the Earthquake was situated is about like if you were to drive from Providence, RI to Virginia Beach, VA (or for you West Coast readers, driving from Santa Rosa, CA to Tijuana, Mexico)...a good ways away. So that being said, when people were calling me worrying if I was OK or did I see any of the effects, I just kind of laughed and said, "Of course I'm alright!" Why wouldn't I be, having been that far away from it all?
I have realized over time the effects and devastation caused (more-so by the Tsunami than the Earthquake itself) and tonight I watched this video that a few friends posted on Facebook:
I re-posted on Facebook, but I wanted to share this video with everyone. My accompanying statement with the video was, "This is moving in and of itself, but to have lived here and known these people - learned about their culture, their families and friends, their lives - makes it all that much more moving. 日本、ほんとにあいしてるよ！ I'm so glad to have had this experience!!!" The Japanese says, "Japan, I truly love you!"
All of that is so true - as exasperated as I can get with the culture here at times and the fact that there are times that I simply crave my own culture and people who share my own way of thinking, I have really been enriched and blessed by having lived in this country and experienced this culture. And to think of all of those people whose faces were in the video...I see these people every day. They could easily be people who live in my neighborhood or people who I see on the subway. Watching it REALLY moved me.
I don't know how the video will affect you, the reader, but if anything I hope that inspires feelings of hope, courage in the face of adversity, and sympathy for those who lost everything. Perhaps if you feel so inspired you could donate to a worthy charity or get involved in some voluntourism.
The above link should help define voluntourism if nothing else! All of that to say, I think humanity is truly remarkable in so many ways - our similarities, our differences, our resilience, our capacity to love, and our willpower just to name a few.
More to come later! I probably won't get to post again in 2011, so I hope everyone has a wonderful end to their year. Have fun, be safe, and love on each other!
I rarely saw pictures or video footage and while, granted, the total area of Japan can basically fit into the state of California, the archipelago is spread out over a distance similar to that of going from Maine to Miami. And the distance from where I am in Osaka to where the Earthquake was situated is about like if you were to drive from Providence, RI to Virginia Beach, VA (or for you West Coast readers, driving from Santa Rosa, CA to Tijuana, Mexico)...a good ways away. So that being said, when people were calling me worrying if I was OK or did I see any of the effects, I just kind of laughed and said, "Of course I'm alright!" Why wouldn't I be, having been that far away from it all?
I have realized over time the effects and devastation caused (more-so by the Tsunami than the Earthquake itself) and tonight I watched this video that a few friends posted on Facebook:
I re-posted on Facebook, but I wanted to share this video with everyone. My accompanying statement with the video was, "This is moving in and of itself, but to have lived here and known these people - learned about their culture, their families and friends, their lives - makes it all that much more moving. 日本、ほんとにあいしてるよ！ I'm so glad to have had this experience!!!" The Japanese says, "Japan, I truly love you!"
All of that is so true - as exasperated as I can get with the culture here at times and the fact that there are times that I simply crave my own culture and people who share my own way of thinking, I have really been enriched and blessed by having lived in this country and experienced this culture. And to think of all of those people whose faces were in the video...I see these people every day. They could easily be people who live in my neighborhood or people who I see on the subway. Watching it REALLY moved me.
I don't know how the video will affect you, the reader, but if anything I hope that inspires feelings of hope, courage in the face of adversity, and sympathy for those who lost everything. Perhaps if you feel so inspired you could donate to a worthy charity or get involved in some voluntourism.
The above link should help define voluntourism if nothing else! All of that to say, I think humanity is truly remarkable in so many ways - our similarities, our differences, our resilience, our capacity to love, and our willpower just to name a few.
More to come later! I probably won't get to post again in 2011, so I hope everyone has a wonderful end to their year. Have fun, be safe, and love on each other!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas in the Far East
Today is Christmas in Japan. It feels just like any other day. I'm going to work (and working a 13 hr day I might add), and were it not for the decorations at Universal Studios and various places around town, and Christmas merriment brought mostly by my fellow westerner friends, you wouldn't be able to tell that it's Christmas as we know it back home. I've been spared countless Christmas TV ads, Black Friday doesn't exist here, and holiday parties that lead up to the actual day - with friends old and new - have been virtually non-existent. That may all sound bleak and depressing, but I am happy. I have a great extended family here in Japan and they make me feel loved.
Being in Japan and away from all of the Holiday hype back home, I thought I would be really sad. Yet, when I contemplate this season and what it means to me - why I miss being home at this time of year and why I thought I would be really sad today more-so than other days of the year - I find that the reason this season and this particular day is important to me is not because of presents, commercialism, or even the exciting hype and traditions that comes with Christmas in the States. Family, friends, and love are what is important. The fact that I get to see all (or most) of my family this time of year, the fact that coming home means seeing and reuniting with friends that I haven't seen in a good while, and that from those experiences and people I get such joy and receive such outpourings of love from them all is what this season means to me.
And, if I can feel such love from people who are flawed, I can only imagine how much I am loved by the Divine who loves unconditionally. Who loved me enough to come to earth in the humble form of a man, put himself through the human experience, and sacrifice himself so that I might be redeemed from all of my failures and shortcomings as a human. I do miss home, but I am thankful for a holiday experience where I can actually contemplate on this.
Christmas does exist in Japan, by the way. It is more a holiday about couples - almost like they took Valentine's day fused it with Christmas decorations.
And apparently a meal from KFC is typical this time of year back in America?? Apparently, KFC had a stand set up at several of the Subway stations selling boxed dinners to people passing by. People have for whatever reason bought into and adopted as their own tradition the notion that a fried chicken dinner is what we have back in the states to celebrate this season. Oh, Japan :) Enjoy this day, this season, and love on each other!
Being in Japan and away from all of the Holiday hype back home, I thought I would be really sad. Yet, when I contemplate this season and what it means to me - why I miss being home at this time of year and why I thought I would be really sad today more-so than other days of the year - I find that the reason this season and this particular day is important to me is not because of presents, commercialism, or even the exciting hype and traditions that comes with Christmas in the States. Family, friends, and love are what is important. The fact that I get to see all (or most) of my family this time of year, the fact that coming home means seeing and reuniting with friends that I haven't seen in a good while, and that from those experiences and people I get such joy and receive such outpourings of love from them all is what this season means to me.
And, if I can feel such love from people who are flawed, I can only imagine how much I am loved by the Divine who loves unconditionally. Who loved me enough to come to earth in the humble form of a man, put himself through the human experience, and sacrifice himself so that I might be redeemed from all of my failures and shortcomings as a human. I do miss home, but I am thankful for a holiday experience where I can actually contemplate on this.
Christmas does exist in Japan, by the way. It is more a holiday about couples - almost like they took Valentine's day fused it with Christmas decorations.
And apparently a meal from KFC is typical this time of year back in America?? Apparently, KFC had a stand set up at several of the Subway stations selling boxed dinners to people passing by. People have for whatever reason bought into and adopted as their own tradition the notion that a fried chicken dinner is what we have back in the states to celebrate this season. Oh, Japan :) Enjoy this day, this season, and love on each other!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Meredith Comes to Japan
Well, as promised, I finally finished the video of Meredith's visit to Japan. It can be viewed on Facebook for those of you who are a friend of mine, but for those who don't have Facebook or aren't a friend, I thought I'd share it here on the blog/Youtube. Perhaps some of you would like to visit me while I'm here, but just won't be able to make it happen. In that case, I hope you can live somewhat vicariously through this video :)
I love you all!!
I give you Meredith Comes to Japan
I love you all!!
I give you Meredith Comes to Japan
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Mt. Fuji!!!
Have you ever climbed a mountain before? I never had - not really, until this past work weekend. On August 9th-10th, I had the opportunity and the privilege of climbing Japan's highest (and probably most famous) peak, Mount Fuji. What an experience! I'll save some of the travel details and things for the picture captions and just talk about the actual experience itself, first.
We climbed the Yoshida trail from the Kawaguchiko 5th station which is about 2300meters about sea level. There are 10 stations in total from the beginning of the climb, but as the last 5 are probably the most difficult and taxing, that's where most people start. There was no sheer rock climbing like you would practice at a rock wall gym or something, but it definitely wasn't an easy hike either. The 5th to the 6th station was super easy - definitely uphill, but not difficult at all. The 6th to the 7th was a bit more winding, but still, not too difficult. The 7th to the 8th was probably the longest, but it was broken up with a bunch of sub stations along the way. You would switch back and forth for maybe 200-600 meters between substations, and ascend anywhere from 20meters to 100 meters, but let me tell you, it was slow moving. You don't realize what a lack of oxygen does to your body until you experience physical activity at an altitude that high. If you start walking on anything other than flat, your heart starts racing to help deliver the limited oxygen that's available to your whole body, you're sweating and you are literally picking your foot and moving it so deliberately - maybe only half a normal stride - in front of you and sometimes not even that far. I was thankful for the chains and ropes that sort of map out the route for you, because it makes pulling yourself up that much easier. Also, there is a walking stick that they sell at the bottom and you can get it branded at all of the stations and substations. That stick and the shoes that I wore (thank you JB!) were what made getting up to the top of the mountain possible. It was an exercise different to anything that I've experienced because walking and climbing like that is not the most strenuous thing that I've ever done - I think the proper word for it is tedious.
So the thing to do is to start your climb in the early evening and either shell out the big bucks to stay at one of the stations for a sleep or start it a little later and hike through the night and just try and time your arrival to the top around sunrise. We opted for the latter. We left just before 9pm from the bottom and by 2 or 2:15am, we had made it to the top - 3776 meters above sea level. Unfortunately, that meant waiting around for another 2.5 hrs for the sunrise. Daijoubu. By 3am, some of the summit shops had opened and by 3:30 I was warmed by the heat of about 150 others in a hut and enjoying some hot ramen. By about 4:00am or so, I went up to a spot on the side of the crater and sat to watch the sunrise over the next hour or so. Right as the sun was coming over the horizon, you could hear everyone gasp or utter a cry of awe. Then at the official sunrise time a man by the Torii gate led everyone in a sort of celebration of the sun rising by basically getting everyone to shout Bansai ("hooray") 3 times as they lift their hands over their heads. It was quite an experience!
During the climb, you don't have a lot of time to ponder things - I was concentrating most on putting one foot in from of the other or chanting things in my head. Repetition. Something to keep you moving forward. Near the top, maybe between the 8th and 9th stations, we broke a couple of times to rest and change out of some sweat soaked clothing and into some dry (and thus warmer) clothes. For a while, Max and I just sat there on the side of the mountain and looked at the stars. You can see a ton of stars in the countryside anywhere I suppose, but to be that high up - it was just crystal clear. We even saw a few shooting stars. Believe it or not and as silly as it may sound, at that point, even though I'm physically half a world away, I felt closer to my family and friends than I have the whole time since being here. Mom, Dad, Meredith, Brittany, Kara, Nathan, Whitney, Brad, Marissa, James, and many more people - extended family and friends - were with me the whole time (too many to name!!!).
Watching the sunrise was also SO rewarding. I'm sure anyone can get up and see a sunrise and appreciate it, but when you take the time to climb a mountain and you are exhausted from the exertion and you are higher than anything (natural or man-made) for hundreds if not thousands of miles it makes watching and savoring that sunrise that much more intense. That much more awe inspiring. That much more special.
So for a time I felt on top of the world. It was an experience that was amazing, exhausting, beautiful, cold, tedious, wonderful, and completely unforgettable. It has left me feeling inspired, invigorated, and once again, completely in awe of the beauty that this world holds within it. A lot of people that I've talked to have said they were glad they climbed Mt. Fuji, but never want to do it again. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I doubt I'll ever become an avid mountaineer, but I won't say never. I'd love to climb some other mountains of stature in the near future, somewhere. Kilimanjaro sounds nice and not completely out of reach. One day maybe :)
If any of you have the opportunity to climb a large mountain and are physically able, whether to watch a sunrise or just to stand on top of a mountain and say "I did it!," I would highly suggest you do it. It is an experience that is rewarding in just about every sense of the word. Enjoy the pictures below. Some of the night pictures were lightened a bit, but every other picture is completely unedited.
All of my things - pre-packed
We left from an extraordinary bus stop :)
Our first view of Mt. Fuji from afar
My Japan flag on my walking stick. I took the bells off so I didn't have to hear them jingle the whole way up. As much as I wanted to write the names of every person, family member and friend, that has touched my life in some way - I simply didn't have the time or space. Know that you were there with me, though! The Japanese at the top is my name (or what the Japanese call me anyway): Pato-chan
My buddy Max and me with our Fuji flags/walking sticks
Trail map
So the hike itself was a little over 6km and we ascended a total of 1,476 meters (give or take a few) to the 3776meter high summit.
Getting our walking sticks branded
At the 3200meter mark. This was the 7-point something or 8th station. Don't really remember
The 8.5 station
I made it!! This is how I felt though...so tired and drained.
This was maybe around 3:30 or 4 in the morning.
A little after 4am
It was even better in person!
Just after sunrise
My walking stick with my flags (I bought another flag on the way up)
Torii gate at the very summit - The highest point on my side of the mountain (I'm pretty sure the western side of the crater is a little higher though).
I did it!! What a journey. Worth every bit of planning, money, preparation, and effort.
We climbed the Yoshida trail from the Kawaguchiko 5th station which is about 2300meters about sea level. There are 10 stations in total from the beginning of the climb, but as the last 5 are probably the most difficult and taxing, that's where most people start. There was no sheer rock climbing like you would practice at a rock wall gym or something, but it definitely wasn't an easy hike either. The 5th to the 6th station was super easy - definitely uphill, but not difficult at all. The 6th to the 7th was a bit more winding, but still, not too difficult. The 7th to the 8th was probably the longest, but it was broken up with a bunch of sub stations along the way. You would switch back and forth for maybe 200-600 meters between substations, and ascend anywhere from 20meters to 100 meters, but let me tell you, it was slow moving. You don't realize what a lack of oxygen does to your body until you experience physical activity at an altitude that high. If you start walking on anything other than flat, your heart starts racing to help deliver the limited oxygen that's available to your whole body, you're sweating and you are literally picking your foot and moving it so deliberately - maybe only half a normal stride - in front of you and sometimes not even that far. I was thankful for the chains and ropes that sort of map out the route for you, because it makes pulling yourself up that much easier. Also, there is a walking stick that they sell at the bottom and you can get it branded at all of the stations and substations. That stick and the shoes that I wore (thank you JB!) were what made getting up to the top of the mountain possible. It was an exercise different to anything that I've experienced because walking and climbing like that is not the most strenuous thing that I've ever done - I think the proper word for it is tedious.
So the thing to do is to start your climb in the early evening and either shell out the big bucks to stay at one of the stations for a sleep or start it a little later and hike through the night and just try and time your arrival to the top around sunrise. We opted for the latter. We left just before 9pm from the bottom and by 2 or 2:15am, we had made it to the top - 3776 meters above sea level. Unfortunately, that meant waiting around for another 2.5 hrs for the sunrise. Daijoubu. By 3am, some of the summit shops had opened and by 3:30 I was warmed by the heat of about 150 others in a hut and enjoying some hot ramen. By about 4:00am or so, I went up to a spot on the side of the crater and sat to watch the sunrise over the next hour or so. Right as the sun was coming over the horizon, you could hear everyone gasp or utter a cry of awe. Then at the official sunrise time a man by the Torii gate led everyone in a sort of celebration of the sun rising by basically getting everyone to shout Bansai ("hooray") 3 times as they lift their hands over their heads. It was quite an experience!
During the climb, you don't have a lot of time to ponder things - I was concentrating most on putting one foot in from of the other or chanting things in my head. Repetition. Something to keep you moving forward. Near the top, maybe between the 8th and 9th stations, we broke a couple of times to rest and change out of some sweat soaked clothing and into some dry (and thus warmer) clothes. For a while, Max and I just sat there on the side of the mountain and looked at the stars. You can see a ton of stars in the countryside anywhere I suppose, but to be that high up - it was just crystal clear. We even saw a few shooting stars. Believe it or not and as silly as it may sound, at that point, even though I'm physically half a world away, I felt closer to my family and friends than I have the whole time since being here. Mom, Dad, Meredith, Brittany, Kara, Nathan, Whitney, Brad, Marissa, James, and many more people - extended family and friends - were with me the whole time (too many to name!!!).
Watching the sunrise was also SO rewarding. I'm sure anyone can get up and see a sunrise and appreciate it, but when you take the time to climb a mountain and you are exhausted from the exertion and you are higher than anything (natural or man-made) for hundreds if not thousands of miles it makes watching and savoring that sunrise that much more intense. That much more awe inspiring. That much more special.
So for a time I felt on top of the world. It was an experience that was amazing, exhausting, beautiful, cold, tedious, wonderful, and completely unforgettable. It has left me feeling inspired, invigorated, and once again, completely in awe of the beauty that this world holds within it. A lot of people that I've talked to have said they were glad they climbed Mt. Fuji, but never want to do it again. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I doubt I'll ever become an avid mountaineer, but I won't say never. I'd love to climb some other mountains of stature in the near future, somewhere. Kilimanjaro sounds nice and not completely out of reach. One day maybe :)
If any of you have the opportunity to climb a large mountain and are physically able, whether to watch a sunrise or just to stand on top of a mountain and say "I did it!," I would highly suggest you do it. It is an experience that is rewarding in just about every sense of the word. Enjoy the pictures below. Some of the night pictures were lightened a bit, but every other picture is completely unedited.
All of my things - pre-packed
We left from an extraordinary bus stop :)
Our first view of Mt. Fuji from afar
My Japan flag on my walking stick. I took the bells off so I didn't have to hear them jingle the whole way up. As much as I wanted to write the names of every person, family member and friend, that has touched my life in some way - I simply didn't have the time or space. Know that you were there with me, though! The Japanese at the top is my name (or what the Japanese call me anyway): Pato-chan
My buddy Max and me with our Fuji flags/walking sticks
Trail map
So the hike itself was a little over 6km and we ascended a total of 1,476 meters (give or take a few) to the 3776meter high summit.
Getting our walking sticks branded
At the 3200meter mark. This was the 7-point something or 8th station. Don't really remember
The 8.5 station
I made it!! This is how I felt though...so tired and drained.
This was maybe around 3:30 or 4 in the morning.
A little after 4am
It was even better in person!
Just after sunrise
My walking stick with my flags (I bought another flag on the way up)
Torii gate at the very summit - The highest point on my side of the mountain (I'm pretty sure the western side of the crater is a little higher though).
I did it!! What a journey. Worth every bit of planning, money, preparation, and effort.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Life Lately...
As it has been a good while since I have updated my blog, and a good deal has happened in the past month, I think this title of "Life Lately..." is very appropriate. It also alludes a little to what has been going on in my life as it is the title of my sister's blog (for some interesting thoughts, good recipes, and a look into the life of a really great girl, check it out!)
One thing that I have really enjoyed about spring here is that it has lasted - you know, back home in Kentucky, the temperatures warm up a little and then there's usually a jump up and then the weather goes back and forth for a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden, by early to mid-May it is summer weather until September or early October. It has been a very gradual thing here. The only downer is that we have a rainy season - about a month of dreary days. It really is affecting a lot of people that I work with - myself included a bit. But, it also means that when the sun pops out for a day or two, it's all the more glorious and reason to revel in it!
As far as work is concerned, it's pretty much same ol' same ol'. The shows are fun because they are part of our bodies now, so we can play with them and have fun as opposed to when we just began and still had to concentrate hard on just making sure we got everything right. This month of June I only do the starlight parade twice...since it's the rainy season it only happens on the weekend and even though we have 6 guys who do my role in the parade, 4 of them are in the Group Special Event or "GSE," so they have shows that my counter part and I don't have. I think also, for doing 4 shows a day, our schedule this past month and coming month has been optimized as far as our work day goes and our breaks in between shows and when we have to be there and when we finish...I'm really happy with it!
As you know, it's been a while since I blogged. To be honest, although there are things I'd love to commentate on and fill you in on, I haven't had the focus and desire to sit down and do it. After Yoshino and up through mid May, I have just been keeping busy with friends, work, and other little things that have come up that are outside of work - for example, we had an "International Artist's Night" where we got to perform whatever we wanted if we desired. As I don't sing or dance much in my show (comparatively to what some others do/what I've done in the past), I have been keen on performing what I want to perform and thus I did the artist's night. As most of you know, I also enjoy eating...and what's more, I really enjoy sharing a meal with people, so several times a week whether it be cooking and sharing in someone's room or going to dinner somewhere with old friends or new, I usually spend my evenings eating and socializing with people (reminds me of my ship days... ;) ). Speaking of food, one of my nearly weekly rituals (usually on a day off) is going to Yogurtland to get some frozen yogurt.
So with keeping busy doing this and that, when I have the time to sit down and blog, I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. I'd rather catch up on TV shows or play a game or do something that doesn't involve concentration :P
As far as the 2nd half of May until now, some of you - actually probably most of you who read this - know that my sister, Meredith came to visit me here in Japan!! We had a wonderful time. One of my rainy month of June projects is to take the pictures and video that I took from her visit and turn it into a video compilation of our time together and all that we did and saw! In brief, we went to Nara and saw Buddha and fed the deer, Meredith came to USJ twice, she ventured out on her own and saw Osaka Castle, she spent a day in her PJs skyping friends and doing work that she shouldn't have had to do on her vacation, we went to karaoke with some friends, we went to Kyoto for 2 days and stayed in a Ryokan (traditional Japanese lodging) and saw a bunch of temples and sites and took a really cool hike through hundreds of Torii gates, and we rode our first bullet train and went to Hiroshima and the beautiful island of Miyajima - a wonderful juxtaposition of old and new. There I was taught just how beautiful and old the history of Japan is and was also reminded of the devastation that war causes and yet how with time, life is renewed and restored. Although it rained those last two days, I really enjoyed exploring that part of Japan. To be honest, the weather rather suited our day in Hiroshima.
As I said, a video and pictures will be to come of that whole experience in the next short while, but as of now, I need to sort through and find the good ones (and there are over 400 that I took to choose from!) If you follow that link that I posted to her blog, I'm sure she'll have pictures and thoughts as well to share from her trip. As for the future, my summer's resolution is to focus my downtime more - I want to make little short films and compilations of my time here. I also want to make music...maybe not write songs, but singing some for sure. I do a vocal coaching with one of the Talent Resource guys here at USJ almost every week and we are working on stuff to sing and beef up my book with. I've also gone to karaoke several times in the past couple of weeks just to sing all sorts of stuff and see if I can't find other things that maybe I'd want to work on. Karaoke in Japan is fun because it's not at a bar with a bunch of strangers. You are in a room with all of your friends and there is a HUGE selection of songs to choose from. It's great fun - if you like singing, that is. :) Perhaps another thing that I'll do, is take a few dance classes here in Japan. There really would be no better place to start learning to Hip Hop - it's everywhere (at least in my world).
Well, that's my life, lately. I've taken this day to just relax and recoup a bit from being on the go so much. I think I'll be able to start off this work week refreshed and well focused! The only other thing I'll leave you with is this video...it was created and designed by two of my friends here. They're really creative and super funny and the product that they "advertise" is real! I'm glad I had the opportunity to take part in it! I hope you enjoy:
Pancake drink
One thing that I have really enjoyed about spring here is that it has lasted - you know, back home in Kentucky, the temperatures warm up a little and then there's usually a jump up and then the weather goes back and forth for a couple of weeks and then all of a sudden, by early to mid-May it is summer weather until September or early October. It has been a very gradual thing here. The only downer is that we have a rainy season - about a month of dreary days. It really is affecting a lot of people that I work with - myself included a bit. But, it also means that when the sun pops out for a day or two, it's all the more glorious and reason to revel in it!
As far as work is concerned, it's pretty much same ol' same ol'. The shows are fun because they are part of our bodies now, so we can play with them and have fun as opposed to when we just began and still had to concentrate hard on just making sure we got everything right. This month of June I only do the starlight parade twice...since it's the rainy season it only happens on the weekend and even though we have 6 guys who do my role in the parade, 4 of them are in the Group Special Event or "GSE," so they have shows that my counter part and I don't have. I think also, for doing 4 shows a day, our schedule this past month and coming month has been optimized as far as our work day goes and our breaks in between shows and when we have to be there and when we finish...I'm really happy with it!
As you know, it's been a while since I blogged. To be honest, although there are things I'd love to commentate on and fill you in on, I haven't had the focus and desire to sit down and do it. After Yoshino and up through mid May, I have just been keeping busy with friends, work, and other little things that have come up that are outside of work - for example, we had an "International Artist's Night" where we got to perform whatever we wanted if we desired. As I don't sing or dance much in my show (comparatively to what some others do/what I've done in the past), I have been keen on performing what I want to perform and thus I did the artist's night. As most of you know, I also enjoy eating...and what's more, I really enjoy sharing a meal with people, so several times a week whether it be cooking and sharing in someone's room or going to dinner somewhere with old friends or new, I usually spend my evenings eating and socializing with people (reminds me of my ship days... ;) ). Speaking of food, one of my nearly weekly rituals (usually on a day off) is going to Yogurtland to get some frozen yogurt.
YUM!! (and did you ever see blue gummy bears?!)
So with keeping busy doing this and that, when I have the time to sit down and blog, I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. I'd rather catch up on TV shows or play a game or do something that doesn't involve concentration :P
As far as the 2nd half of May until now, some of you - actually probably most of you who read this - know that my sister, Meredith came to visit me here in Japan!! We had a wonderful time. One of my rainy month of June projects is to take the pictures and video that I took from her visit and turn it into a video compilation of our time together and all that we did and saw! In brief, we went to Nara and saw Buddha and fed the deer, Meredith came to USJ twice, she ventured out on her own and saw Osaka Castle, she spent a day in her PJs skyping friends and doing work that she shouldn't have had to do on her vacation, we went to karaoke with some friends, we went to Kyoto for 2 days and stayed in a Ryokan (traditional Japanese lodging) and saw a bunch of temples and sites and took a really cool hike through hundreds of Torii gates, and we rode our first bullet train and went to Hiroshima and the beautiful island of Miyajima - a wonderful juxtaposition of old and new. There I was taught just how beautiful and old the history of Japan is and was also reminded of the devastation that war causes and yet how with time, life is renewed and restored. Although it rained those last two days, I really enjoyed exploring that part of Japan. To be honest, the weather rather suited our day in Hiroshima.
As I said, a video and pictures will be to come of that whole experience in the next short while, but as of now, I need to sort through and find the good ones (and there are over 400 that I took to choose from!) If you follow that link that I posted to her blog, I'm sure she'll have pictures and thoughts as well to share from her trip. As for the future, my summer's resolution is to focus my downtime more - I want to make little short films and compilations of my time here. I also want to make music...maybe not write songs, but singing some for sure. I do a vocal coaching with one of the Talent Resource guys here at USJ almost every week and we are working on stuff to sing and beef up my book with. I've also gone to karaoke several times in the past couple of weeks just to sing all sorts of stuff and see if I can't find other things that maybe I'd want to work on. Karaoke in Japan is fun because it's not at a bar with a bunch of strangers. You are in a room with all of your friends and there is a HUGE selection of songs to choose from. It's great fun - if you like singing, that is. :) Perhaps another thing that I'll do, is take a few dance classes here in Japan. There really would be no better place to start learning to Hip Hop - it's everywhere (at least in my world).
Well, that's my life, lately. I've taken this day to just relax and recoup a bit from being on the go so much. I think I'll be able to start off this work week refreshed and well focused! The only other thing I'll leave you with is this video...it was created and designed by two of my friends here. They're really creative and super funny and the product that they "advertise" is real! I'm glad I had the opportunity to take part in it! I hope you enjoy:
Pancake drink
Thursday, February 10, 2011
First Impressions
Well, this is the first time I tried adding pictures before typing instead of inserting them afterwards. I'm getting frustrated with trying to move them around, so just know they are in reverse order of what I wanted. The above is a picture from my balcony this morning. Needless to say, when I first got here to Japan, I was struck by how industrious Osaka looks. I suppose it makes sense - it's right by the water, there is lots of fishing and trade and such. So as nice as it is that we live right by the water on our own little island, the sight isn't necessarily the prettiest. At least not in the daytime.When I arrived on Monday afternoon, a man named Senichi Yamamoto greeted me at the airport to pick me up. Many of the Japanese people here, including him, have asked me if it was my first time to Japan. Hai - I say. "Oh you speaku Japanese?!" iie - (no) is my response and then I continue in English saying that I am starting to learn, but not enough to have a conversation. I am impressing a few people with my limited language skills though :)
We picked up Roel (pronounced Rule - not Raoul), my lovely Dutch counterpart and then made the 30 min drive to Kaigandori house. My new home!
Now i could give you a detailed - blow by blow account of what we did that night and then the following 2 days, but to maybe shorten the length of this post a bit and save you from reading for a good 20-30 minutes, I'll just stick to thoughts and occurrences and information you might like to know.
So, I told most of you all that I was going to be in a Hello Kitty show - well that's not true. The first night Roel and I were given our scripts and lo and behold, we are in a Sesame Street show :) Now, apparently, interest in Sesame Street goes all the way up through high school here in Japan (especially with the girls). Probably something to do with the "cute" puppets. Everything here is "cute" by the way. From illustrations on packaging to warning labels in elevators to ads for different stuff. Everything has these cute animations. And sounds. Lots of little jingles and sounds here. You might hear a little tinkling song and shortly thereafter see a truck turning down the road and think "ice cream man!" but you would be wrong. It's the garbage man.
Back to Sesame - Roel and I were both told Hello Kitty and were put in Sesame and Aaron and Max (who got here last night) were both told Sesame and are in Hello Kitty. I guess someone got their wires crossed somewhere. I'm not too bothered by it - I'm still makin some good money in Japan :) I also learned yesterday that I'm going to be Prince Charming in the Magical Starlight Parade! The link provided shows you the last part of the parade - the Cinderella part - you don't have to watch the whole thing, but you'll get the idea. Throughout the year, I'll be part of different things so I'll have various rehearsals to keep me busy. With late summer, Halloween, and Christmas, my most busy time will be between August (busy season) and January 10th (the end of Christmas).
I like my room - it's a nice size. As far as things to make it "homier" I am slowly working on that. It's rather creamy/beige but there is something called "dozo" which is basically "it's yours" or something like that. It can be used in conversation to be like "go ahead [and speak]" but in this case it refers to a room of discarded items from other USJ performers who are getting rid of stuff at the end of their contracts. At any time, I can just go down there and pick stuff out of boxes and baskets and piles of things to help spruce up my apt! From decor to kitchen utensils. Everything besides what originally comes in your room has to go at the end, so it's like Goodwill for the new performers but free!
My neighborhood, as I said before, is a bit on the industrial side around the edges, but it's cute. Except for the Japanese characters on awnings, you would think you were in a quiet area of Astoria, NY the way all the buildings are. And the way they light things at night is very pretty. I think evening is going to be my favorite time here. Things get quiet because most of the traffic around the house is work traffic and people heading to their factories and stuff - but there is a shopping area with a giant Ferris wheel attached to it that is beautifully lit at night.
I'll talk about this in the caption of the pic with the yellow towel, but bathrooms and showers here are pretty awesome :)
The atm that I use is cool. In America, our banks give us books to keep track of our transactions. It Japan, you have the same thing, but you stick it into the ATM and it prints all of your deposits and withdrawals for you! Very cool :)
The vending machines here are awesome. They kind of look like those old fashioned cigarette machines, but they have drinks - and you can get them cold OR hot. Blue labels are cold and red are hot! Why can't we have that?
Their transit system is very cool, clean, and 98% always on time. The Japanese are big on punctuality. To them, if you are supposed to be somewhere at a specific time, it's rude to be late. It says to the person who IS on time that their time isn't important to you. It's very selfish. So there really isn't "fashionably late" over here.
As I said, everyone over here has been very nice. The Japanese are very polite and for the most part very honest. In all cases for USJ performers who have lost wallets over here (even in Tokyo), they all got them back untouched! You don't find that in America often. Now, I'm sure there are bad apples and instances where that doesn't happen, but in general, and in the case of everyone who has worked here, if you lose something, it will either be sent back to you or held where you left it so you can pick it up!
Full sized grocery stores are kind of hard to come by. But all servings and things are rather small. Most people stop by the grocery every day to pick stuff up. There are things I recognize and things I don't. It's hard when buying sauces or canned goods. Produce is fairly easy. Either you recognize the vegetable/meat or not. And fish is CHEAP! I had 2 fresh salmon filets for about $4!
I guess that's all that I got for now. I got my cell phone yesterday. It does a lot of things which is cool I guess, but for doing so much, the graphics sure do suck compared to our phones.
I'll caption all of these photos (remember they are in reverse order!) and I'll write more soon I'm sure. Love you all!
This picture is sideways - but it is of my shower. It's a whole room!! Apparently it's Japanese custom to rinse off before getting in the bath - but they have given me a whole room to do so in. I just shower :) but there is also a full length mirror in there and little containers for soap and shampoo. I LOVE my shower. The toilets are also cool. Flushing one way is less water for pee and flushing the other way will do the full tank for poo. And a lot of the public toilets have heated seats and a jet spray to clean you afterwards - bringing back the bidet. Ha! Oh and they are big on sorting trash here too. REAL big. EVERYONE recycles. 
A view of my room from the front door
My wee kitchenette. No oven (a microwave on top of the fridge), one gas burner and everything else underneath that counter, above the microwave or in my all-purpose shoe/linen/pantry closet by the front door.
This is a view from USJ of the Ferris wheel near my house. If I lived on the opposite side of Kaigandori, I would have a view of this as well.
I didn't get a picture far back enough to see the Universal arch but this is the main ticketing entrance of the park with the Hollywood dreams coaster in the background
A billboard on the citywalk
The lounge area in the house - this was taken the night we arrived. It was kind of messy, but it has everything.
From the lounge looking into the front hall - again messy because they are preparing all of the rooms for the newcomers.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Packing
I suppose all I really have to share with this is that packing for a year is difficult. What do you take? What do you leave behind? It's a task that's both daunting and rewarding. It is daunting because you are trying to get everything that you might need packed into 2 suitcases, a carry-on, and a personal item (hopefully without going too much over the weight limit!) You have to go through a whole laundry list of items to sort through and see what you might need and what you can get by without.
For that same reason, it is also somewhat rewarding. As I've filtered through my possessions, I realize just how much "stuff" I have. Only a handful of it is stuff that I'm packing - stuff that I need to get by for the next year. The rest of it is nice to have, but I can live without it. I've sorted through many a box and drawer in this process and gotten rid of a few things. It's been refreshing! Also makes you realize how fortunate you are to be able to buy "stuff" and not struggle with the necessities like so many people of the world are.
Which brings me to this - TRAVEL!! If you have not been outside of the US, you are missing SO MUCH. Traveling to a 3rd world country allows you to realize how rich and fortunate even the "poor" are in America. Traveling to a developed country makes you realize how cheap everything is in the states and how fortunate we are to have the luxuries we do. Plus, travel broadens your horizons - you realize how similar we all are and yet you will experience culture and customs that are so foreign to us here. So see America, but save up and go see another part of the world. You won't regret it.
P.S. Vinsanto is often served as a digestif after espresso - and is best tasted slightly cooler than room temperature...in case you were wondering
For that same reason, it is also somewhat rewarding. As I've filtered through my possessions, I realize just how much "stuff" I have. Only a handful of it is stuff that I'm packing - stuff that I need to get by for the next year. The rest of it is nice to have, but I can live without it. I've sorted through many a box and drawer in this process and gotten rid of a few things. It's been refreshing! Also makes you realize how fortunate you are to be able to buy "stuff" and not struggle with the necessities like so many people of the world are.
Which brings me to this - TRAVEL!! If you have not been outside of the US, you are missing SO MUCH. Traveling to a 3rd world country allows you to realize how rich and fortunate even the "poor" are in America. Traveling to a developed country makes you realize how cheap everything is in the states and how fortunate we are to have the luxuries we do. Plus, travel broadens your horizons - you realize how similar we all are and yet you will experience culture and customs that are so foreign to us here. So see America, but save up and go see another part of the world. You won't regret it.
P.S. Vinsanto is often served as a digestif after espresso - and is best tasted slightly cooler than room temperature...in case you were wondering
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Rosetta Stone and the final countdown
I am somewhat scattered as of late. With 2 weeks (omg!) left until I leave the country for a year, I am constantly going over the lists that I've made in my head and on paper to make sure that I have taken care of everything that I need to take care of in this process of packing and readying myself. I pretty much know what I'm taking with me and I don't have many purchases of things I need left to make. Now I am just waiting for everything to be delivered and for the last couple of days to start fitting it all in.
In less than 2 days I will be traveling for the next week. I'll be stopping in Nashville for several days with a side trip to Clarksville to see a friend perform and then I'll be heading to Atlanta to visit my sister, one of my best friends from college and hopefully another good friend from college who will be in town for work. As excited as I am for that trip and all the special memories that I'm sure it will hold for me, part of me is just ready to pack and get on with this adventure so I can quite analyzing and obsessing about packing and organizing for it. (Even now I am breaking to revise my list of things to do/stuff to get). I feel as though the phrase "hurry up and wait" would apply to my life at this time.
As mentioned in my previous post, I have been attempting to learn some Japanese with the help of Rosetta Stone. Santa Clause was good to me this year and delivered that to me and I am really enjoying it. Japanese, as you might imagine, is probably not one of the easiest languages for a Westerner to learn considering you are dealing with characters that represent syllables and sounds rather than the familiar Roman alphabet that we are accustomed to. Even so, in the two and a half weeks that I've been doing my lessons, I definitely feel like I'm learning the language and retaining a good bit of it. (If you want to learn how the software works, keep reading. If you'd like a summary of my thoughts on it, skip to the penultimate paragraph in this post. Happy reading!)
They say that Rosetta Stone is like learning your first language and it really is. As a child we are asked questions and given statements - simple statements - all the time. Usually a visual goes along with it. We point to something and say "this is ___." Or "that___ is blue." Rosetta Stone is like that in that there is no translation involved. You don't have a list of vocabulary to learn and instructions on how their grammar works in English. You have statements and pictures to go along with the statements and you have to match them. You learn to read the characters, you learn to listen, and you learn to speak and pronounce everything correctly. At the end of each unit, there is a "milestone" test to see how much you retain and can actively use. This part always stresses me out because as much as I learn from the lessons and can understand what's being said to me, supplying the appropriate statement within a conversation in the milestone is difficult for me. They give you a series of pictures that tell a story and within that story a conversation takes place between you and the people in the pictures and you have to supply the appropriate words and phrases. Not easy.
Other features that Rosetta has (some that I have explored and some that I haven't) are stories and games in the native language. The stories are only unlocked after you've completed a unit and you can read them on your own, listen to them, or read and listen at the same time. For Japanese, right now there are only 3 games available. The one that is the most useful for me is the "bingo" one. They give you a bingo card and you have to listen to someone speaking and telling a story in the native language. You pick out the words that they've said on your card and when you get 4 or 5 in a row (depending on how big the card is) you win. They then tally up all the word that they've said. If some of the words they said were on the card but you didn't get them, they show up in red. Then you know which words and sounds you are not quite as familiar with.
Finally, there is a tutor session that you can do at the end of each unit. You sign up for a time and you meet, live (in real-time that is), with a real person who natively speaks the language that you are learning. You get 50 minutes with them and they tutor you and help in your understanding of the language. This is something that I haven't taken advantage of yet, but will in the near future, and when I do, I'll let you know how it goes.
All in all, I think Rosetta Stone is a great product. It beats sitting in a class and memorizing words and rules. If you've studied a foreign language before and know the basics of grammar in any language other than English, I think it's possible to learn any language with Rosetta Stone. It can be quite an investment...especially if you get one of the more common languages and you are interested in purchasing all 5 levels (each level having 4 units and each unit having 4 lessons that build on each other). If you are an avid traveler, have the opportunity to go live in a foreign country for a month or more, or simply want to learn a foreign language really bad (and can stick with it) it would definitely be something to consider investing in. If you are traveling around for just a couple of weeks in a foreign country, it would be easier and a better financial option to pick up a phrase book and learn a few key things to say to be polite - most people in this world speak passable English.
I think that's all for now. I'm going to go through my lists one more time before I take a break from the organizing process and watch a movie...perhaps the Black Bear Jamboree 2010 bloopers :) or maybe I should read one of the unfinished books on my bedside table. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.
In less than 2 days I will be traveling for the next week. I'll be stopping in Nashville for several days with a side trip to Clarksville to see a friend perform and then I'll be heading to Atlanta to visit my sister, one of my best friends from college and hopefully another good friend from college who will be in town for work. As excited as I am for that trip and all the special memories that I'm sure it will hold for me, part of me is just ready to pack and get on with this adventure so I can quite analyzing and obsessing about packing and organizing for it. (Even now I am breaking to revise my list of things to do/stuff to get). I feel as though the phrase "hurry up and wait" would apply to my life at this time.
As mentioned in my previous post, I have been attempting to learn some Japanese with the help of Rosetta Stone. Santa Clause was good to me this year and delivered that to me and I am really enjoying it. Japanese, as you might imagine, is probably not one of the easiest languages for a Westerner to learn considering you are dealing with characters that represent syllables and sounds rather than the familiar Roman alphabet that we are accustomed to. Even so, in the two and a half weeks that I've been doing my lessons, I definitely feel like I'm learning the language and retaining a good bit of it. (If you want to learn how the software works, keep reading. If you'd like a summary of my thoughts on it, skip to the penultimate paragraph in this post. Happy reading!)
They say that Rosetta Stone is like learning your first language and it really is. As a child we are asked questions and given statements - simple statements - all the time. Usually a visual goes along with it. We point to something and say "this is ___." Or "that___ is blue." Rosetta Stone is like that in that there is no translation involved. You don't have a list of vocabulary to learn and instructions on how their grammar works in English. You have statements and pictures to go along with the statements and you have to match them. You learn to read the characters, you learn to listen, and you learn to speak and pronounce everything correctly. At the end of each unit, there is a "milestone" test to see how much you retain and can actively use. This part always stresses me out because as much as I learn from the lessons and can understand what's being said to me, supplying the appropriate statement within a conversation in the milestone is difficult for me. They give you a series of pictures that tell a story and within that story a conversation takes place between you and the people in the pictures and you have to supply the appropriate words and phrases. Not easy.
Other features that Rosetta has (some that I have explored and some that I haven't) are stories and games in the native language. The stories are only unlocked after you've completed a unit and you can read them on your own, listen to them, or read and listen at the same time. For Japanese, right now there are only 3 games available. The one that is the most useful for me is the "bingo" one. They give you a bingo card and you have to listen to someone speaking and telling a story in the native language. You pick out the words that they've said on your card and when you get 4 or 5 in a row (depending on how big the card is) you win. They then tally up all the word that they've said. If some of the words they said were on the card but you didn't get them, they show up in red. Then you know which words and sounds you are not quite as familiar with.
Finally, there is a tutor session that you can do at the end of each unit. You sign up for a time and you meet, live (in real-time that is), with a real person who natively speaks the language that you are learning. You get 50 minutes with them and they tutor you and help in your understanding of the language. This is something that I haven't taken advantage of yet, but will in the near future, and when I do, I'll let you know how it goes.
All in all, I think Rosetta Stone is a great product. It beats sitting in a class and memorizing words and rules. If you've studied a foreign language before and know the basics of grammar in any language other than English, I think it's possible to learn any language with Rosetta Stone. It can be quite an investment...especially if you get one of the more common languages and you are interested in purchasing all 5 levels (each level having 4 units and each unit having 4 lessons that build on each other). If you are an avid traveler, have the opportunity to go live in a foreign country for a month or more, or simply want to learn a foreign language really bad (and can stick with it) it would definitely be something to consider investing in. If you are traveling around for just a couple of weeks in a foreign country, it would be easier and a better financial option to pick up a phrase book and learn a few key things to say to be polite - most people in this world speak passable English.
I think that's all for now. I'm going to go through my lists one more time before I take a break from the organizing process and watch a movie...perhaps the Black Bear Jamboree 2010 bloopers :) or maybe I should read one of the unfinished books on my bedside table. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.
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