Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tokyo!

My orientation for the JET program is taking place at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo. The schedule has been crazy busy, but on our last night I was able to hop out and take a few photos. Check it out!

I thought it was funny that within a block of the hotel I found this pub:

Even in Tokyo apparently...
 This was on the side of a building. It looks like it was professionally done, but I couldn't figure out exactly what it was advertising. I'm excited to learn to read Japanese so that eventually I'll know what these signs are actually all about!

This guy looked like he's having a good time

The next Japanese phenomenon I discovered was pachinko. Pachinko is crazy! Apparently there are pachinko parlors all over Japan. You walk up, push on the doors, and enter a wall of flashing lights and noise. There are rows and rows of machines, and nearly all of them are filled with Japanese men focused intently on the screens. There is no gambling in Japan, but pachinko provides a strange loophole that I don't exactly understand.

I was a bit intimidated, so I didn't sit down at one tonight. Maybe in a few weeks/months I'll figure out exactly how things go down and reach financial fame via the magic of pachinko...
Pachinko!!!

One really funny thing about Japan is that people there often attempt to translate signs into English, but since direct translation is difficult, and grammar does not translate well, there are hilarious results. There are examples all over the internet, but I really enjoyed this sign as I walked by, so I thought I'd share it. My friend that has a pretty good working knowledge of Japanese said the bar had virtual golf and darts, but I'm not sure that merits deification :).


 We stopped and ate at this little place that has Udon. For those unfamiliar, Udon is a bowl of thick wheat flour noodles served with broth. You order a small or large bowl, and can add tempura (fried meats and vegetables) on the side. For a small bowl (which was actually rather large), and a giant piece of tempura chicken, shrimp, and sweet potato it costs 650 yen, or about $6.50. I think I'm going to like eating in this country!

Udon noodles for dinner!

It's easy to get lost in the narrow, busy streets
 It is very humid here, but luckily I found this little guy to help me out...

Samurai fan helps when hot!!!!
It's been a whirlwind so far, and tomorrow I actually head to my home prefecture to meet my supervisor and begin my life in Tokushima! More to come!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

No Turning Back...

Sitting at DIA getting ready to head to L.A. and then on to Tokyo. It has been a crazy range of emotions over these last few days. I've been able to see some friends, talk to family, and really enjoy my last few days in Denver. I also had to make sure to take one last look at the Rockies as Heather and I drove out to DIA.

I'm excited about this new chapter in our lives. I have gone through multiple orientations, but I'm sure nothing will really prepare me for how different life will be when I hit the ground in Japan. Ok, time to join the rest of the departing JET group and get ready to board!

Keep a look out for the next post from Japan!

Clint

Monday, July 22, 2013

Nebraska - Take 2

We returned again to Lincoln to hang out with my parents. This time we had an opportunity to check out the house my parents will be moving into in about two months. I’m really proud of my parents. They’ve lived in the same house for over 30 years, and to have the strength and courage to decide to make a move after all that time is no easy task.

They have worked hard to prepare their house to sell by updating flooring, bathrooms, and working hard to fix up the back deck. When we came through the first time the flooring wasn’t finished, and there was a lot of frustration with the whole process. This time the house looks fantastic! It was officially on the market the day we arrived, and hopefully it will sell soon.

It was another nice three days back home. We went out for coffee, enjoyed a delicious lunch at Maggie’s, and went to see World War Z. I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of 28 Days Later, and made me want to rewatch that film to do a side by side comparison. I loved the way they made the zombies move in a swarm just like bees or ants; that was fun to watch. I’ve never read the book, so I don’t have anything to compare the film to, so I enjoyed it for what it was.

We shared our last evening with some family and friends, and it was great to see some relatives from both sides of my family. Everyone was very encouraging, and it really made us feel like this is a great decision for both of us. Thanks to everyone for coming, and we’ll keep in touch!


It was hard to say goodbye to my parents. They have always been there for me, and have been my support throughout my life. If I ever become a parent myself, I can only hope to do half the job my parents have done. They have allowed me the space to figure out what I wanted to do, even though it had to have been incredibly frustrating to have it take me so very long to really begin my career as a teacher. I believe this is the first step to big things for Heather and I, and I have my parents to thank for that.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Green Bay and Baraboo


Heather and I realized we don’t know a damn thing about geography, or about estimating how long it will take to get places. That being said, we discovered that it was 11 hours from Toronto to Green Bay. With traffic in Chicago and Milwaukee, that 11 hour drive became a 15 hour drive. The good news is, we both now know we can handle the 15 hour flight from Denver to Tokyo!

We were welcomed into Green Bay by my friend Liz, and were surprised to see my other old friend Sara had come up from Milwaukee! We enjoyed a nice dinner and reminisced.

The next day we made the much shorter three hour drive into Baraboo to visit Heather’s grandmother and to stay with her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Brad. We spent a wonderful three days hiking, kayaking, biking, and swimming at Devil’s Lake and Mirror Lake.

Devil’s Lake had some cool trails that lead up the bluffs and provided a beautiful view of the lake. There are some interesting rock formations, including one called Devil’s Doorway, and another called Balance Rock. Here’s some pictures:

Looking good in Devil's Doorway!

Uncle Brad: climbing machine
Mirror Lake was also a blast because Heather’s cousin Katy knew of a place along our kayak journey where you could beach the kayaks, swim across the river, and hike up and jump off a 40 foot cliff.



I really enjoy hanging out with Heather’s family. Her grandmother is still rocking at 83. She taught English for over 30 years (a woman after my own heart), is not afraid to speak her mind, and was decent enough to kick our ass at Scrabble.

Grandma Kay
Brad and Sarah were fantastic hosts. Nothing against the rest of Heather’s awesome family, but Uncle Brad is awesome because he is the only member of the family that is as much of a sports geek as I am. We can talk about his Packers or my Broncos without malice or scorn (something that wouldn’t be so easy if I was a Bears fan like my Dad). He also loves to bike, another subject I have no problem talking about.

Thanks to all our Wisconsin friends and relatives for helping us begin winding down our journey, and wishing us well in our travels overseas. Keep checking the blog you guys! We love you!


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Toronto



Our adventure to Toronto started out in a much more interesting way than we had anticipated. We crossed the border without any issues, and were headed up the Q.E.W into Toronto, when we heard on the radio that the city had record rainfall that day. People were stranded on commuter trains, sections of the subway were completely closed, and much of the downtown area was flooded. Luckily we missed the worst of it, but check out some video of the storm here:


Needless to say, we ended up in a major traffic jam outside of the city, and were stuck on the highway for about 3 hours. We finally made it in, and were pleasantly surprised that our lovely friends Nenad and Lauren had delayed a delicious dinner for our arrival!

The next day Heather and I spent some time walking around the city. It was fun getting to show off the campus where I went to grad school and the parts of the city that I remembered so fondly from my time in Toronto. That night, Nenad and I went to attend my fifth and final Phish show, only to find out at the gate that it had been cancelled due to the previous days’ weather. The venue was right on the water, and although they had worked to try and get things ready, it wasn’t going to happen.

It was a bit disappointing, but we salvaged the evening by having a picnic down by the waterfront. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to walk the boardwalk and take a long walk home through a neighborhood called Roncesvalles, a cool section of the city that I’d never seen before.

The next day Heather and I took another walking tour through downtown.


It made me miss living in this city, and we both talked about how it would be great to possibly come back and live here someday. It also made us really excited to finish up this road trip and move on to Japan. One step at a time!

Phish at SPAC


Acadia National Park


I’d never really been able to spend much time in Maine when I lived on the east coast, and I was excited to get back there. Acadia National Park is the first National Park east of the Mississippi, and I’d heard a lot of great things about it.

Heather picked us out an awesome campsite in the park. It was about a half mile away from the ocean. Even though we had some rainy days, it didn’t stop us from getting out, doing some hikes in the park, and walking on the beach.




The northeast is certainly humid and wet! I forgot how impossible it is to get anything to dry out here!

Friday, July 5, 2013

3,000 Miles!?!?!

We are just past the three thousand mile mark on our journey. I thought I would give a quick recap of what has been going on. More detail on some of our stops will be up shortly.

So far we have:
Visited with Clint’s parents, Clint’s friend from high school JD and his wonderful family, and my best friend Jess. Each visit has been great and we were hosted very graciously by all.

Seen 14 states; Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.


Stayed in 6 National/State parks along the east coast; Rocky Neck State Park in Connecticut, Beaver Pond State Park in lower New York, Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Wompatuck State Park near Boston in Massachusetts, Acadia National Park in Maine, and Lake Luzerne within Adirondack Park in Upstate New York

Traveled 3,056 miles on countless highway and back roads.

Seen some amazing and some not so amazing sights along the way; John Wayne’s birth place, The PEZ production center, the Cape Cod Rail trail, the Newport Cliff Walk, the largest rock east of the Mississippi, the highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi, the Atlantic ocean teaming with lobster traps, miles of coastline beach, piers filled with sailboats, and more roadkill than I ever cared to see.


Clint has been to one of a few phish shows up till now. We are keeping busy and have been constantly on the move; our longest stint of the trip is here In the Adirondack area, as there will be lots of music to be seen in the upcoming days.