Saturday June 28, 1997: 9:50am
Sarah McLachlan on the radio!! Wow, and an old song too. I'm so impressed. Oh, it's not raining yet, but they're talking about the typhoon a lot on the radio - I can catch some of the stuff like its speed at the centre, its size, pressure, etc!! Unfortunately, the actual information doesn't mean anything!
12:45am
Wow, they are *really* making a big deal about this typhoon. There's one channel on the TV that's been talking about it for the last 45 mins. I guess it's gonna be BIG. Cool. Right now it's only in Kyushu (island to south) but it should be hitting Honshu (main island) and Tokyo (which is on Honshu) by later tonight. Hope this doesn't mess up tomorrow's concert plans.
Actually, the footage they're showing looks very much like a hurricane. I guess that's what it's like, but more tropical, more wet, and a bit less windy. Well, I'm sure I'll find out tonight. I can't wait! I just looooove storms!
7:50pm
Well, I think I'm really stupid! Right now I'm at work (just got here) to update my page. Now the stupid thing is, a typhoon is about to hit Tokyo in a few hours, so it's absolutely crazy out. It's mostly the wind, which makes it pretty scary. I had a nasty ride over. Actually, I'm really nervous now -- I'm going to get out of here fast.
8:45pm
Well I'm home now. Wow, it is just insane out. The typhoon's scheduled to hit here at 3am. I think it'll wake me up. The wind is just incredibly strong - I was kinda afraid biking home since my route's along unlit back streets. Spooooky. Anyways, I'm home now!!
I rented a really good CD today. It's no.1 on the Tokyo list, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I don't understand much, but it's good music, and they're very catchy tunes. Let's see... it's a group called "Every Little Thing"
10pm
I hope my roof doesn't blow off!!
Sunday June 29, 1997: 8:40am
Well, I woke up a few times because of the wind, but nothing too drastic happened. Other than the fact that I got up at 6:15 *on purpose* that is... ack! I broke the "Sunday Sleeping Rule" again! I must stop this insanity.
Two interesting things have happened so far. Both were on my run - first of all, it was incredibly clear out so I could see Fuji-san perfectly. I mean - perfectly! You would think I could've reached out and touched it or something - if it were a few hundred miles closer, of course. So I decided that I would cut my run short after 40 mins, go get my camera, and return to the river to take some pics. Anyways, as soon as I got to the river, I notice a lot of runners out. I was feeling particularly energetic, and since I knew I'd be running a shorter distance today, I was running at (my) top speed. There was a group of about 20 runners running about 200 metres behind me. Soon, 2 of them passed me -- fast. They were marathoners. Then after a few minutes, 2 more passed... but after that no one passed! I was keeping up with them. Cool!! After 10 mins or so, I could hear a guy coming up behind me. Fine - runners pass me ALL the time. But this guy wouldn't pass me - he was lagging just a bit behind me, as if to push me to go faster. Well, this continues for a few minutes until finally he runs up beside me and starts to chat in Japanese, neat! As it turns out, the guys who'd passed me were the "leader group", and the rest behind me were the training guys. Wow, this made me proud. Of course, I was *really* tired because I was really pushing myself.
And right now I'm at the train station. For the first time ever, the trains are running behind schedule. Oh perfect, just when I don't know if I'm going to the right place. Actually, I don't even know if I'm supposed to switch trains in Otsuki... I'd better get that straight.
Oh, it looks like it's gonna be a bee-yoo-tiful day!
10 minutes later...
OK - I think I'm on the right train. This shouldn't be so bad after all... my strategy is to follow all the people who look like they're going for a hike since Kawaguchiko is the most common starting point to climb Fuji-san for Tokyo people. Oh yeah, that's where I'm going... to Kawaguchiko. It's a small town at the base of Mt. Fuji (reverently called Fuji-san). Train ticket: 4,000 yen ($50) round trip. Not bad.
10:15am - still on the train
Wow, it is really, really beautiful. This train ride is really cool. It goes through all these small towns, and through mountains... and now that we're getting close to Fuji, it's even bigger and more magnificent. The sky is pure blue and the sun is shining brightly. We're almost above some of the clouds now.
10:35am - still on the train
I am taking LOTS of pictures.
8pm
Well today was really great! I got to the station in Kawaguchiko (yes, I got there! And on one train too - the "Kawaguchiko Picnic Special Express". *What* a name) a bit before 11, so I decided to wander around a bit to pass the time until the guys arrived from Hirooka. We met up fine - there was Natasha, Simon, Martin, Geoff, and Ian's girlfriend Yoko. She was the one driving. Ian was playing in the concert, that's why we knew about it. Anyways, they parked the car and we started to walk. Fuji-san is really big from here. This is obviously a common starting point (as I'd heard). Well actually, you take a bus up part way from here. But anyways, we walked to the lake (the "ko" in "Kawaguchiko" means "lake" if I'm not mistaken) which is really, really nice. Let me say again how beautiful the weather was. Totally blue siky... the occasional cloud... and since we were almost 1 km above sea level, it wasn't too hot. Perfect!
So we were actually looking for a place to grab some grub, but we ended up taking the extended route (note: I do not use the word "lost" because that is reserved for "completely-utterly-lost" occasions, such as my first Japanese lesson. But I'm not bitter about that...) Cool - I *do* love a wander. So this lake is a reasonable size - I mean, it's not Lake Ontario or anything, but it couldn't be mistaken for a pond. There were many people out fishing, for what, we didn't know. There are many hotels and souvenir shops, yet not any foreigners. Must be a Japanese tourist spot.
We ended up eating at a tempura place, so I had soba (don't try to find the logic in this). It was your average Japanese restaurant so we ate a-la-Japonaise, around a low table, etc. I didn't even attempt to sit seiza-style (the Japanese way). Good food. Set me back 500 yen ($6).
Next we thought we would walk over to the big park in the area, since the small park was, well, small - and there was an "Herb Festival" going on. Oh yeah - party at the Herb Festival! While we were walking over to the big park, Yoko was going to go get her car and meet us there. But after about 15 minutes we ended up running into a bunch of traffic, so we phoned Yoko (oh, the advantages of a keitai (cell-phone-type thing that EVERYONE's got over here)) to tell her to just meet us at the small park. Ian joined us there as well. We were a bit concerned because - hey, don't you have a concert to play soon? As it turns out he wasn't playing til after the intermission. Hey, we went and got ICE CREAM. Lavendar flavour... hmmm. Well, lavendar is big up there (I think it's one of their favourite herbs actually), so if it means an ice cream flavour...
Next we headed up (by car) to the concert hall, which was at Ian's hotel. And the concert began... First up was a piece by Plank (sp?), which was pretty cool. This concert was put on by an amateur orchestra, but they're really good! The piece was strange in parts, with intentional disharmony. There was this instrument that I'd never seen before - sounds like a harpsichord, but is much much smaller. Strange. Next up was Brahms. Some string sextet. This was a neat one. They had some really great techniques of alternating from one instrument to the other. Really cool.
There was a break, and then the full orchestra went and played Beethoven's 5th Symphony. It was awesome! I was so impressed. I can't decide if I like the 3rd or 4th movement best. Oh, it looked so hard. They were just fabulous.
As the encore they played a "Sound of Music" mix melody, which was really well done. All in all, a great concert. It finished at around 5, so we headed out to find food. We decided on getting bentos (Japansese-style lunch boxes), but the "real" bentos from the bento store, and taking them to the shore to eat while watching the sunset. This was a good idea because the sunset was really great. Quick, but great. Martin said that the sun sets quicker over here - I'll have to think about that one.
And now, I'm on the train home. Unfortunately I'll have to make a transfer at Otsuki, but only one so it's not so bad. I doubt I can get lost, but anything's possible! I just hope that my bike tires still have air in them when I get back to the Toyodo station - I parked in the same spot as on Thursday. REAL slick there Alexa. Oh well, I was in a hurry.
for pictures of this day go here
Monday June 30, 1997: 9:15am
Well this morning I could see Fuji-san still although not nearly as clear as yesterday. Still, very neat. Everyone was so cheerful - I got a record number of "Ohayogozaimasu"s - I think maybe the people of Hino have collectively decided that I'm here to stay.. ha ha! Oh, I got an email from my mom - she's finally gotten around to looking at my homepage and journal. She was very enthusiastic about it, but she said she'd rather I didn't use words like "s---load"... ha ha! How did I know this was coming? But well, I don't censor for anyone - a-nyahahahaha Tuesday July 1, 1997: 8:30am
Well, I guess today is an important day - first of all, it's Canada Day (oh, and I get to work!!), then there's the Hong Kong handover to China, and then on top of all that, "Bunny bunny". I didn't forget, I'm so proud.
Last Thursday I ran later than usual, so I caught the schoolchildren on their way to school. Well, I guess to kids I'm quite a sight still - especially when I'm running. One kid I passed yelled "Chyoto mattete!" (Wait a sec!) so I stopped but he didn't have anything to say. Anyways, what I wanted to mention was that they were playing classical music out of loudspeakers in the schoolyard before the bell rang. That's great! So I asked Simon if they used to do this at his school, and he said yeah, but it was always the same music. Still, I think it's probably good for the kids. Can you imagine them doing that in Canada? Yeah, what a joke.
5:30pm
Corn Pops! Reese's Pieces!! I'm so excited! I'm also on a sugar high! Ha. Today Nakamura-san and I went to the post office to open a bank account for me, and I had a package to pick up too. It was from Jon and it was huge! A *whole* box of Corn Pops!! Reese's Pieces!! I can't say that enough. Yummmmmmmy.
Oh it's funny - when we were opening my bank account the guy working there called us over and pointed out that an 18 yr old needs parental permission for an account - boy did we *ever* laugh about that one. It hadn't even crossed our minds that I wouldn't be old enough. But hey, what's new on that front. Anyways, we got out of it, but I don't know how. Right now I'm only concerned with putting a dent in this box of Corn Pops. Thanks Jon!!!!
10pm
They gave me two travel packs of kleenex with my new bank account book. They really like these kleenex packs here. Hey, the real estate agent gave me 2 packs when I first got the key to my apartment. And at every train station they hand them out .. this is good. I mean, who doesn't need to blow their nose when they take money out of the bank???
Wednesday July 2, 1997: 10:30pm
Well today at my calligraphy lesson we started on the more complicated characters, since she thinks the basics are boring. So I worked on nawashiro, which, well, I think it means the time/period when rice is in its seedling stage, but I'm not sure!! Anyways, it took me the whole lesson to get it right but actually we talked for a good part of it. OK - _they_ talked, and I listened! They were talking about the 14 year old kid from Kobe who was going around lopping off peoples' heads. I guess he was caught last week, and a few magazines had printed his picture and stuff but they were taken off the shelves by the government. So they're all trying to find pictures of him somewhere.
Oh, today's treat was a type of food they serve at the tea ceremony. It was wrapped all nicely in a banana leaf. It was strange, but very good. Oh, and Sensei also gave me some potato salad to take home for dinner! So nice!
Thursday July 3, 1997: 8:15am
*whew* today is a scorcher! Woah. It's really bright n' sunny, blue sky, and of course I could seeeee Fuji-san. It must be over 25C already. Just insane.
7pm
Last week I tested out a rumour that I'd heard - it was the rumour that in Japan, since the crime rate is basically nil, you could leave something like your wallet in your bike basket for a few hours, return, still find it there. Even in Tokyo. Anyways, I tired it out with my umbrella - last Sunday when I went to Fuji-san I left it in my basket from 8am to 9pm. And the outcome of this experiment is that I am now umbrella-less!! Ah well, so much for that. Oh, for the record, I wasn't stupid enough to do this on purpose!!
Friday July 4, 1997: 11pm
Well, I've been waiting since 9 for my first phone call, but my parents (who said they were gonna call at 9) haven't phoned me yet. I'm so upset! I even went out tonight in search of a phone cord and almost got lost! I tried my best, but so far no luck on getting lost -- I have all weekend though. But wow, was it *ever* hot out!
1am
Well, they phoned! Yay! Just got off the phone now. I'm so glad my phone works! I have a phone!
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email me at: amsharp@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca