GEO Foot's Blog

My First Golden Week!

It has been quite a while since I have posted something of substance. Sorry for that. However seeing as how I just got back from my Golden Week trip, I figure that it would be a good time to update my blog outside of my instagram pictures.

For those of you who don’t know, Golden Week is a week in Japan where there are four national holidays: Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day, and Children’s Day. For this year, it meant that we got Monday (a substitute holiday for Showa Day being on the Sunday), and Thursday through Saturday off for National holidays (even though I would have gotten Saturday off anyway).

My holiday started on the 27^th when I got to spend some time in Nagahama with Suzie, Jero, and Gladys (a friend of Suzie’s from School) at Nagahama Roman Brewery. For those of you who don’t already know, Japan’s beer selection is not always the biggest. Most of the beers, while I do love them, can start to taste the same, and if I want to get something different I usually pay top dollar (or rather top yen) for them at the import stores. 400 yen (about $5.00) for Tecate? No thank you. Nagahama Brewery provides some of their own brews in flavors I was used to back home as I indulged in some Nagahama Ale, Ibuki Weizen, and the Omi Pilsner. I will be back to try to Kurokabe Stout, most likely on my “sister” Kyoko’s Birthday.

It was a wonderful evening as I got to spend time with some old friends, new friends, and the girlfriend.

The next day I woke up and with my eight Brazilian steaks, 20 chicken wings, and 12 Italian sausages on ice in Kenji’s cooler, made my way back to the West Side where I was off to Adogawa and the shores of Lake Biwa to celebrate Mr. Reggie Soriano’s 30^th Birthday. For those of you who don’t know, Reggie has been one of my many great “sempais” here and is the link to the USA whenever I need someone to talk to about sports and other random crazy things. Despite turning 30, Reggie doesn’t look a day past 25. His fun spirit and always willing attitude to help out have made for some memorable moments in my first 8 months, like winning the Halloween Dance and weekly basketball, and I will be very sad when he leaves in August.

With Maki

With Seiichiro

With Team Underdog

Into the Night

His birthday did no disappoint as many people form around Shiga came to celebrate his special day. The BBQ was going, Frisbee was being played, and music bumping and later we all got to enjoy some wonderful burritos and beer pong. It was a great chance to see some other old friends and also take in the sun that was around.

Sunday was a rest day as I took the day to prepare for my golden week trip. It was a chance for me to recharge my batteries and I got to mostly spend the day with Suzie as she showed up later in the evening. The next day though, (Monday), I was off to Omi-Maiko (the best “beach” in Shiga, and possibly Japan) to have another BBQ. I co-hosted with Maki, although in reality she did all the work and I just created a facebook event for the bbq. Many Japanese friends and ALTs alike gathered for a wonderful BBQ despite the slightly overcast day. It was a great chance to relax and take in the good weather. The food was delicious too as Maki was able to make and bring some delicious meats and appetizers. I wish I took more pictures, but this one picture of Suzie and I and my awkward eyes will have to do.

Tuesday was not a holiday and since I did not take time off, I had to go to work. On the work front, life has been treating me well. In case you didn’t know, I have re-contracted for another year on the JET program and will be working again at the two schools and two kindergartens that I have been working at this past year. I am very blessed to be in such a good environment and also feel a tighter emotional connection to the school, especially since all of my kids have now “moved” up a grade and some students have even gone on to the middle school now. I still find the work challenging at times, but it is a constant way for me to continue trying to improve myself in a craft I hope to continue once I go back to the states, that craft being teaching. 

After my school day finished, I headed home and did some last minute checking of bags before catching a train down to Kyoto. I then waited for the shinkansen that took me to Maibara where I met Suzie on the train and we were off to Tokyo.

We arrived at Tokyo and then made our way to Shiomi (in Tokyo) where we checked into our very small hotel room. Despite being small, it was extremely comfortable. The APA Hotel stands for Always Pleasant Amenities and it was a wonderful hotel that featured it’s own spa. For convenience sake too, it also had it’s own conbini (convenience store) and was a two minute walk from the station. We called it an early night as we had the big trip to Disney Sea the next Day.

Wednesday was not a holiday, however I took nenkyu (paid time off) and I spent it with a wonderful person at a wonderful place. Suzie and I got up early to catch the train to Maihama where we then made our way to the Disney Resort. We spent the day at Disney Sea, Japan’s version of California Adventure. It was pretty cool seeing another Disneyland and the fact that it was in Japan was pretty cool. The entire park was water themed and all the lands surrounded a giant lake/pool. The different lands were, Mediterranean Harbor (home of the shows and the first thing you see), American Waterfront (Tower of Terror), Port Discovery (Storm Rider), Mysterious Island (Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues), Lost River Delta (Indiana Jones and Raging Spirits), Mermaid Lagoon, and Arabian Coast. It was right next to the ocean to which made it even more beautiful.

The weather as pretty nice, considering the forecast when we first got there, but as the day progressed the rain came and made it sort of difficult for everyone. The only positive was the fact that with all the rain lots of people left meaning lines were not to bad. Suzie and I got to ride Tower of Terror (twice), Journey to the Center of the Earth (similar to splash mountain back home), Storm Rider (a Star Tours like ride where you and your crew go into the middle of a storm), Spirit Chaser (a roller coaster with a 360 loop at the end), Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull (almost identical to the one back home), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (like the old school submarine ride, but a little “darker” and you had your own submarine you would share with maybe 4 other people, except at that point in the day, everyone go their own submarine). Overall though it was the architecture of the entire place that I fell in love with. The colors were fantastic and the fact that Japanese people in big groups are generally really polite, made for a really nice day, despite the rain. At the end of the day we headed back to our hotel a little earlier then we though, but still feeling like we got a wonderful day out of it.

Some of the photos from the day.

The Disney Train with Mickey Windows

The globe on water

Mickey in the scene from the Sorcerers Apprentice

The broomsticks

Mediterranean Harbor and the Volcano from the Mysterious Island

Tower of Terror

Arabian Coast

Pluto…in a poncho!

The next day Thursday, Suzie and I woke and then took a bus that was supposed to be 2 hours, but ended up being four hours to Kawaguchiko, the lake near Mt. Fuji. We left a little past 10 and arrived a little after two and by the time we checked into the hostel and got settled, we just wanted to take a nap. So seeing as how it was vacation we did. We woke a bit later and went exploring through out the city and found a nice little Indian spot and had a nice dinner together. After walking around a bit more and the nighttime setting in, we called it an evening hoping that the overcast weather would disappear. Still though after two days of hustle and bustle it was definitely nice to just have some relaxation time.

Our Room

Friday we woke to some really nice weather and we both felt refreshed after getting the chance to sleep past 8. We woke around 10 and then made our way towards the lake to explore and then took a rail car up to a mountain for chance to get a good shot of Fuji. We were slightly disappointed to see that when we got to the top of this mountain many clouds were blocking the top of Fuji making our photos pretty bad. To make thing worse a wild storm came in while we were at the top of the mountain making our trip to the top a short one. After coming back down and waiting for the storm to pass we decided to go out onto the lake via paddleboats and enjoy the lake. It was nice chance to get some sort of exercise in, but also because we got a different view of Fuji, still not all of it, but better then what we saw at the top of the other mountain. While Biwa-ko is definitely the best lake in Japan in my opinion, I would have to say that Kawaguchi-ko is the second. Even though you can’t swim in it, the fact that wonderful mountains surround it makes it a beautiful sight to see.

Later that evening we went to a place called Hoto Kosaku to get some “Fuji style” noodles, which may have been the best meal I have had in Japan…, which is saying a lot. The noodles were fat and thick and the broth was a kimchi flavor with some Korean style meat inside. Mix that with all the wonderful vegetables and the incredibly big and delicious shrimp tempura and I was one happy camper.

After our meal we walked back and stopped at our grocery store and for the first time I got to see in clear view all of Mt. Fuji and its greatness. Mt. Fuji is the biggest mountain in Japan and extremely famous among the Japanese people. In Shiga we have Mt. Ibuki, which is pretty big, but after seeing Mt. Fuji for the first time, one realizes how massive it is. Snow still covered some of the mountain only adding to the beauty.

After taking pictures of Fuji and buying some breakfast for the morning, we went the onsen behind our hostel to relax a bit more. For those who don’t know, an onsen is a traditional Japanese bathhouse. While I am still not 100% comfortable with the entire onsen experience, I realize that it is such a huge part of Japanese culture and each time I go (this is only my second time) it gets a little less weird. What makes it awkward is just how everyone is naked, and you just sit in baths hanging out, something I was never really used to in America. Still the water is warm and just sitting in the bath is extremely relaxing. After finishing my bath I enjoyed some ice cream before being met by Suzie (Japanese baths are separated by gender) and then we headed back to call it a day.

The next morning we were back to our 7am mornings as we got ready and got down to the lobby at about 8am to eat breakfast and enjoy the hostel one last time. We enjoyed our breakfast that was not rushed and then the hostel took us to the station. Along the way we got an even better view of Fuji and with the sun out, it was even more beautiful. It’s one of those things you just have to see to believe, but hopefully this picture does it justice.

We boarded a train and then a few hours later were back in Tokyo were we rushed around trying to find a place to store our bags. Suzie and I enjoyed some of Tokyo and did some shopping, where Suzie took advantage of the fact that they had a Forever 21. I mostly window shopped, but Tokyo is an amazing place to see, however only somewhere I would want to visit every once in a while. Both Suzie and I agreed that by the end of our trip that we are very happy with our Shiga lives. After shopping finished, we headed down south a little to enjoy another luxury of home as we went to California Pizza Kitchen to have dinner. While my noodles back in Fuji were delicious, CPK pizza definitely hit the spot.

It was weird too because CPK as located in this outdoor shopping complex that reminded me very much of home. It was still Japan, but for the first time I felt like I was home and that really made me miss that. Add that in with my checking of social media sites like Instagram and Facebook and I found myself thinking about home for the first time since I came to Japan. However before I could dwell too much on it, we were off again, this time to go see Tokyo Sky Tree. Tokyo Sky Tree is the new tallest building in Japan and while it is not done yet, I was able to capture some pretty cool shots of it from the ground.

After seeing the “Sky Tree”, we headed back to Tokyo Station, grabbed our things and waited for our shinkansen back home. We got on and almost missed our stop, but fortunately we made it home safely.

Overall it was a wonderful trip that I got to spend with a wonderful girl. It allowed me to travel more and more around Japan and I Can  not wait to go back so that I can hike Mt. Fuji. People say you’re crazy not to do it once and crazy if you do it twice. Unfortunately we did not get to do everything we wanted to do. Fuji Q and Ueno Zoo couldn’t be seen due to rain and time, but one day I hope to go back and see my beloved Okapi. Also I know that living in Tokyo may be cool and visiting it every once in a while is alright, but both Suzie and I agreed that it is extremely stressful. Still it was a wonderful trip. Now back to work!

If you would like to see more pictures from my trip, visit my facebook page. 

Stay Positive

-Geoff