Wednesday, August 10, 2005

from Binzuru to the Bizarre

Well Hello,

I swear this country will never stop being weird. I cannot even begin to explain all the bizarre things and situations there are…but I will get into some.

Before I get on to all the weird stuff, let me tell you about a really cool family, the Nakazawa’s. This past weekend I participated in a homestay Many of us JETs were given a host family in Nagano City, and we stayed over Saturday night at their homes. Saturday also happened to be Binzuru, a big festival in Nagano. Most people were taken to Binzuru by their host families, and many participated in the dancing. The Binzuru festival consists of ‘teams’ of people who all, in unison, dance to the same music all around the town. Imagine a parade with only people, no floats. There were tens of thousands of people following the course around the city…it was definitely spectacular.

I got to participate in a very different way than everyone else. The Nakazawa’s own a large Izakaya (kinda like a bar…but not). Their restaurant (which is actually a 5 story building) is right in the heart of Nagano, and right along the festival route. They were not dancing in the festival, they were capitalizing on in. Out front of their building they set up a stand to sell Yakitori (chicken on a stick), karagge (fried chicken wings), and nama-biru (draft beer). Not only did they have a prime selling location, they also had a killer spokesperson announcing the menu…namely ME! That’s right, I was helping them sell the food and beer (in exchange for all the chicken and beer I wanted) to the goers of the festival. I cannot count the number of people with shocked expressions on their faces while I was standing on the road yelling in Japanese. Many of those people ended up buying something (just to note beer was by far the best seller). Binzuru was a riot…many people in crazy outfits dancing for about 3 hours with only 2 breaks of 10 min.

Now onto the Bizarre!

What do you get when you cross Croquet and Pitch n Putt? MALLET GOLF (マレットゴルフ, maretto gorufu). Now what the hell is Mallet Golf you might ask …well that is a very good question… Mallet Golf is played on a course similar to a pitch n putt course. There are a few (4 at the one we went to) sets of 9 holes, ranging from 30m to 90m in length. There are doglegs, bunkers, and ‘greens’ (which are really dirt patches that have a large hole with a flag in it.) You stand in the tee-box, put your roughly croquet ball sized ball down, take your club (which is a modernized japanized version of a croquet mallet), and wack the hell out of the ball. Now I know kidsfesters will know how hard you can wack a croquet ball, but imagine the ball has more mass, and the mallet is metal. Needless to say, those things fly! The courses are evil, up hills with roll backs, down hill slopes with room to roll off the green, trees, rocks, more trees, oh yeah did I mention trees? It is a brutally fun and ridiculous game. The most bizarre part was when the old grannies and grandpas started passing us, and they all had full regalia going: gloves, extra ball holsters, ball markers, and personalized mallets. I don’t know what to say but…bizarre.




I didnt take those photos, but I thought they may help with my explination...

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Today was a great day! After a long night of poker with 7 other JETs from the area, it was nice to have a low key day. Brandon (my neighbour), his brother, another English teacher from farther south, and I all piled into Brandon’s little car and headed for Niigata. Nigatta is the prefecture North West of Nagano, and it is on the Sea of Japan. That specifically was our destination…the Sea of Japan. After a little over an hour on the highway, and a few local roads, we were there: a sandy beach with some pretty decent waves. We found a spot on the sand and then hit the water. My oh my was that water ever refreshing. I would say it was a good way to beat the heat, but the water was pretty damn warm too. It was almost like a salty bath. We bodysurfed and played in the waves for a few hours. When we were finally all prunes we sat in the sun to dry. What an amazing view: the sea spread before us, the mountains right behind us, the little huts selling food and renting water toys just off beside us. It was simply amazing. I cannot believe I can go from the best area for snowboarding in Japan, to a kick ass beach, in a little over an hour!

I cannot believe the amazing situation I have landed in!

On some other notes:
-Tomorrow I meet all the teachers I will be assisting
-I am currently looking for a cell phone plan to suit me
-I am also looking for a used car (which are quite cheap to buy, but there is a hefty inspection fee…kinda like air care, but for the whole damn car…right down to the windshield wiper blades)
-I am also going to get a digital camera soon, so I share my own crazy photos of Mallet Golf and other bizarraties (hey if Shakespeare could make up words, wby cant I?)

My telephone number is
269-23-3524
I am sure from Canada you need to punch in more numbers…locally here we just dial the last 6…


I hope everyone at home is doing well. Please feel free to email me at aj22@shaw.ca if you don’t want to post publicly on this page. Thanks to everyone who is keeping in touch and checking up on my site…I am really doing this sire for all of you, so it is encouraging to see that people are interested.


Cheers
Adam

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Adam, sounds as tho you are having a great time. I am enjoying your written documentaries!!!! If there is fun and adventure to be had, you will somehow manage to find it!!! Love Auntie Sue

Anonymous said...

hey bro!!!!
Guess who i am reading your stories with....only the famous Leanne Clark!!You should see this hottie..who would have thought the sweet little crying baby would be such an awesome girl! Me and mom are at the Clarks having a bbq and some bebida's...drinks in spanish...how do u say that in Jap. I told Tom about Bikram's training...hmmm..was terrible at first but he called later to say he would suuport me....so off I go to LA LA land!!
Saw Emily at SBucks...she is gonna email u..she does the yoga too!
Well I am severly jealous of your beaching..surfing..et all...but so happy for you...enjoy every second of it...try to absorb everything you can..MISS U...LOVE YOUR BIKE..I MEAN YOU! ha ha...Hey Adam this is Leanne..can you belive i can drive in less than 4 months (moms having a heart attack!) haha have fun in Japan and GOOD LUCK!

aj22 said...

Auntie Sue!

Thanks for checking out my site. There are many adventures to be had in Japan. I am just lucky enough to have the opportunity to try and discover them. Say hi to my mom, sis, and the dog for me when you are in Vancouver.

aj22 said...

Mark,

You definately need to take Mallet Golf to kidsfest. It is bizarre, but not all that different from the croquet we play...just more holes and less wickets. I think HL would love playing a round!

aj22 said...

Hello Jo and Leanne!

Leanne, you can almost drive!?! wow, I feel really old now... Congratulations, I hope your drivers test goes well, and remember that if you fail it isnt the end of the world., just get up and try it again. In Japan they fail everyone at least once, no questions asked!



Jodi,
I am so glad to hear about Bikrams! I sent you an email, so look for that. Nomimono would be a drink in Japanese. Nomi = to drink, mono = thing. But most drinks are refered to by their name eg Biru or Uainu (pronounced oooh-a-e-new). Well I have a Nomihoudai to get ready for tonight (man this all you can drink buisness is really good for keeping drink cost down). Take care!