Bye Bye Mon Cowboy

On Day 3 of our trip here in Sendai-shi (Sendai City) in Miyagi-ken (Miyagi Prefecture), it's raining so hard I think I should start gathering animals and building an ark!



It's Saturday, October 12, 1991 and I'm an assistant English teacher (AET) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme living in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken, Japan.



This trip to Sendai with  my ex-girlfriend has been a washout, to say the least. It's rained everyday here and while I am sure the people and the sights are all beautiful, I haven't had a chance to really talk to any of the locals as they are all huddled up away from the rain.



It sucks. Oh well... at least I got to see Zuihoden, the tomb of Date Masamune (surname first), who was the founder or Sendai in the 1600s. It's located on Kyogamine hill, which is where all Date family members are honored in death.If you click HERE, you can see what Zuihoden looks like without a torrential rain spoiling my photography.



As such, Ashley and I decide to go home. When I call Matthew (my buddy who lives in Ohtawara near me) about how much rain there is here and that I'm coming home, he tells me that it is NOT raining there in Ohtawara.



Of course. I am the ame otoko (rain man), and it rains wherever I travel in Japan. It's getting so bad, my office the OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education) is thinking of loaning me out to some of the drought-starved areas to give them a break.



So... Ashley and I ride the Shinkansen (bullet train) south back to Nasushiobara-eki (eki = train station), transfer to a local Japan Rail (JR) train and arrive at Nishinasuno-eki at around 12 Noon. We ride back to her place in Nishinasuno-machi (machi = town) and leave her there so that she can sleep until 4PM.



I ride back to Ohtawara and putter around for awhile until Ashley calls, and she rides down to my city and we go to dinner at Co-Co's. It's the first time in days that I haven't felt rain or snow on me but there is a hurricane-like wind blowing.



Ashley doesn't want me to even ask about the lumps she has developed on her head. They are soft, painful to the touch and first appeared on our first night in Sendai. So I don't bring it up, but I am concerned for her... and she must be worried too, but is trying to ignore it to be in a good mood.



Dinner is fine (I pay, for some reason), and we go back to the train station and go south again... this time to Mibu-eki and Mibu-machi as there is a party hosted by fellow AET Cathy - whom I slept with a few weeks ago. She, Ashley and Karen (who wants me for a boyfriend) all hung out together a few weeks ago, and I'm sure my activities with each came out in the conversation - probably that's what prompted Ashely suddenly asking me to join her on the trip to Sendai.



Don't think I'm a complete ass. Ashley and I are not couple, but do sleep together whenever the mood hits us... or rather, when the mood hits her. Personally, I want her back as a girlfriend. The fact the we aren't a couple pisses me off. I just don't like to lose. As well... Ii guess I'm still in love with her, despite all of the sex or women wanting to go out with me... and apparently, there are a few.



I, of course, have no idea why anyone wants to go out with me. I couldn't get a date back in Toronto, Canada prior to arriving in Japan in late July of 1990. No sex, either. Virginal... though certainly not any longer... unless I can become a born-again virgin. It's probably easier for a guy and doesn't require any sort of surgery.



I'm not really looking forward to this party at Cathy's... what with walking into the lion's den et al. I'm still unsure if Ashley knows I slept with her, and if she found out, it would either definitely ensure we weren't getting back together, or it could make her jealous to realize other women find me somewhat attractive or somewhat convenient.



Just to make sure, I pour 11 Kirin beers down my throat and have three shots of Ashley's Southern Comfort (she's from Augusta, Georgia, USA). The party is a dull, but okay, and I'm feeling no pain.



What I am feeling, however, is Cathy continually playing footsie with me under whatever table we're near, or if we're standing, she simply starts rubbing her foot, leg, hands on me. Maybe she's just doing this to frazzle me (success) or maybe she still wants sex with me. Believe it or not, I'm not interested. I can't believe that a guy who was a virgin a scant 15 months ago is now turning down the offer of sex, but I'm not reciprocating with Cathy. Just leave me alone to wallow in my drunken stupor and dream of a day when women are normal!



And then there's the terrible tale of Alan Broomhead - a delightful young fellow who is three-months removed from England (also where Cathy is from - she too is a new arrival, while Matthew (who is not at the party, Ashley and I arrived the year previous).



I like Alan a lot. But I still played a trick on him a few weeks ago, teaching him Japanese (the blind leading the blind, eh?) that he should use. You can read about that occurrence HERE. It's a funny story, and yeah... I'm an ass. Sorry Alan. I'm still sorry... but it is a funny one, right? right? Anybody?



It's 2AM when the effects of alcohol, footsie and jokes kick in and I crash asleep. As usual, I'm the last one to hit the hay, and I still manage to find Ashley and spoon up beside her.



To this day, I have no idea how that poor girl managed to put up with my snoring. It must have been horrendous after drinking like a fish in a tsunami. (And yes... I actually wrote that in my diary, so it's not poor taste, just precognitive bad timing 20 years earlier).



Somewhere wishing I was drinking with Matthew in Ohtawara,

Andrew Joseph

Today's blog is by French-Canadian kitten Mitsou: MEOW  I used to only try and date women who looked like her - which is probably why I didn't date much back in Canada.

PS: Sendai-shi, of course, was one of those areas in Japan that was hard hot by a tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Du Hast

It's raining in Sendai... so what else is new? It rains whenever I travel in Japan. It's why they (Nihonjin/Japanese & gaijin/foreigners) call me and curse me with the name ame otoko (rain man).



It's Friday, October 11, 1991 and I've traveled to Sendai with my ex-girlfriend Ashley. Already it sounds like a recipe for disaster.



While she and I are not dating, we are still sleeping together. It is actually cool. I get sex and no longer pay for everything for her.



I'm a junior high school assistant English teacher (AET) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme living in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken, Japan for the past 15 months. Despite the length of time being equal to Ashley's I speak less Japanese (I think) and sure as hell don't know my way around as well... Ashley planned this trip (inviting me at the last minute to perhaps make a couple of other female AETs jealous (I slept with one and the other wants to date me).



Whatever.



We get up at 10AM and try to keep the maid out of our hair while I shower, and she goes to the bank - as she left yesterday without any money, and I had to pay for everything. Now today, Ashley is paying me back - a first, folks! A first! Let the bells ring, let the people shout!



While Ashley pays for another night, I relax in the room. She seems to have woken up with even more of those lumps/bumps on her head that first appeared yesterday evening. Lymph nodes, maybe? They are painful to the touch. Very weird. She says they are painful. She doesn't want to go home or go to a doctor, however.



We walk outside into the rain and head to the bus station to catch a bus to some temple that is supposed to be a national treasure. I have no freaking idea what it's called or even where I am going. I'm just along for the ride.



We shoot some photos and chat and generally have a really good time - a rarity, let me tell you, as we always seemed to be pissed off at each other when we were dating.



We then go shopping for knick-knacks. Ashley buys me a lot of stuff like good luck charms and stuff (long since lost in a fire that ripped through my house three years ago). We have a pizza for lunch and then go catch a movie - Hudson Hawk. Just so you know, my five-year-old son is named Hudson. I always thought it was a cool name, but I named my son after the Hudson's Bay Company... basically a fur trapping company that essentially help found Canada.



When we get back to the hotel we smooch a little - but then she suddenly pushes me away and it really hurts my neck from the shock - for about 10 minutes.



Pissed off, I leave her alone and head out into the night to a variety store for some beer. But it's closed at 7:30PM - on a Friday night?!



When I come back 20 minutes later, she's trying to sleep and is confused by my leaving. To pretend I'm no longer pissed off, I suggest we go to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for dinner. I want two large pieces, but instead, they give me two boxes of three large pieces. Whatever. I can eat it. I just wish the Japanese could understand my grade 1 Japanese or Ashley's Grade 3 Japanese.



Back at the hotel we try to sleep together, but it's obvious we are going to sweat to death first, so we go back to our separate beds and sleep.



Somewhere wondering what I am doing here,

Andrew Joseph

Today's blog title is by Rammstein: YOUHATEME.

The English lyrics are HERE.

PS: A brief blog in 8 hours after the publication of this one!

I Can See Clearly Now

It's Thursday, October 10, 1991 and I'm about to leave on a short excursion to check out Sendai with my ex-girlfriend Ashley.



I was trying to figure out WHY, very suddenly Ashley asked me to go with her. I think that a short trip to Nikko-shi she took with some of the other female assistant English teachers on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme may have elicited some information that may have made her jealous.



For example, she may have learned that newcomer Karen wants me as a boyfriend and that we had made out, or she may also have learned from Catherine (another newcomer), that she and I slept together.



Ashley and I, while no longer a couple, are still a couple of friends-with-benefits. The truth that other women found me desirable may have spurred her on to try and get back with me.



Maybe.



Or maybe I'm just company. But to be honest, being a friend-with-benefits doesn't not mean going on a vacation together - it just means sex together. At least that is what I understood our arrangement to be. Back in 1991, there was no such term as 'friends-with-benefits' or if there was, I sure as hell had never heard of it, what with being a 25-year-old virgin when I arrived here in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken, Japan in  July of 1990 at the same same as Ashley.



Since arriving, I've been a bit of a dog. Whenever I haven't been a boyfriend to Ashley, I've slept with a lot of women. But still, since I hate losing, I want Ashley back. I'm so screwed in the head, eh?



Canadians say 'eh' at the end of their sentences apparently, as opposed to Americans who say 'hey' at the beginning of theirs. For example:

Canadian: "Get off the car, eh." Sounds polite, doesn't it?

American: "Hey! Get off the car." Not as polite.



Regardless... Ashley was at my place last night. Just sleeping. We get up at 8:30AM, pack my stuff up and then ride our bicycles over to her place. While she packs, I race back home to get my contact lens stuff that I had forgotten. It's only a 25-minute bike ride - each way between my city of Ohtawara and her town of Nishinasuno.



By the time I return, she's ready... so we ride out to the Nishinasuno-eki (Nishinasuno train station) go up a couple of stops on the local JR (Japan Rail) line to Nasushiobara-eki and the catch the shinkansen (bullet train) north to Sendai.



Ashley, of course, has no money and the banks are closed today for some reason, so I lend it to her until tomorrow. Like I said... if we were a couple, I'd have paid, but since we're not... it's share and share alike.



We get to our hotel in Sendai-shi (Sendai City). Not bad. Twin beds, though.



We toss our clothes down and go out walking in the rain. Whenever I travel in Japan, it rains, earning me the nickname of ame otoko (rain man).



We go to the remains of Aoba-jo (also known as Sendai castle) but first stop off at a nearby museum and look at the display of Edo era (1603 - 1868) weapons, masks, armour and clothes. It's fascinating!



Walking up a mountainous road, we arrive at Aoba-jo - or at least we arrive where it's supposed to be. The rain and humidity has created a dense fog, so I take a lot of foggy photos of the castle. I couldn't see a damn thing. We march back down the damn mountain road dejected.



Although it's no longer raining, the road is a bit slick, so Ashley holds onto my arm. See, I am good for something!



We then hike for 30 minutes to a McDonalds we asked a local about, buy some beer from a local liquor store and then head back to our hotel.



Ashley has developed some weird bumps on the right side of her head - like lymph glands. They weren't there this morning. They are painful to the touch. As such, we're not going to have sex. To make matters worse, my contact lens pick today to start bothering me. One of my eyes really hurts when I wear my contacts, and makes it uncomfortable



Somewhere not the right kind of wet,

Andrew Joseph

This blog's title is sung by Johnny Nash, and I chose it for its IRONY. 

PS: Click HERE for some photos of Sendai. Warning... I took them with a disposable panoramic camera, as my camera... well... you'll find out in a couple more blogs about my wonderful rife... Anyhow, I have no idea what any of these photos are of, or where exactly I took them...if anyone knows, I'd appreciate a heads up.

PPS: I out some goofy descriptions under the photos, except to show that it was raining, wet, foggy and that my eyes were bothering me.

Big In Japan

Today is Tuesday, October 8, 1991.



I'm an assistant English teacher (AET) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme living in the sleepy city of Ohtawara (about 200 kilometres north of Tokyo) in the prefecture of Tochigi, Japan.



It's my last day of work at Ohtawara Chu Gakko (Ohtawara Junior High School), as I have permission to attend a team-teaching demonstration put on by my friend Matthew tomorrow, and then on Thursday, I'm on a short vacation to Sendai with my ex-girlfriend, but current friend-with-benefits, Ashley.



I have no idea why we are going away on a vacation together. It was her idea. As mentioned, while I can have a dominant personality and can get lots of people to do what I want, I prefer that they decide what they want to do, and if I agree, then I can get everyone else to do it. Control without being the known leader, I suppose. God I hate being introspective, sometimes.



Or, in this case... Ashley asked, I, like a good little puppy dog who is still in love or lust or severe like with her, readily agrees. I assume there will be sex. After all... we're friends - with benefits... and the only important benefit I know of from being anywhere with one's ex-girlfriend, is sex.



Going on a vacation together with someone who is your ex... well, isn't that what couples do... or just friends... not friends-with-benefits!



If I still had any blood left in my brain, I would have not gone with Ashley tomorrow... but I'm thinking about sex, and I'm thinking that her asking me to accompany her means she wants to get back together. Right? Am I right? I'm not sure...



It's still raining today.   Like yesterday, I help the kids with some English listening comprehension tests to help them prepare for a big exam. It's still fun, and it's still very much interesting to me.



However, lunch is quiet as the class I eat with lacks the guts or gumption to talk to me... although one young boy (this is a 3rd year class - Grade 9's), Suzuki-san is always peppering me with interesting questions. He's always a pleasure to talk to at this school...



Kanemaru-san and Hanazaki-san drop by the school while Suzuki-san and I are talking (that's lucky... show's I can talk to the kids!). Those two old guys (who are about as old as I am now in 2011 - 46), are my bosses/supervisors with the OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education). Two nicer men I have yet to meet on this planet.



They bring along (from the teacher's lounge), Shibata-sensei, the young, hip, good-looking English teacher  who has all the female students swooning after him. Along with being brilliant and charming and funny, Shibata-sensei is also one heck of a good English speaker and very quick translator.



I'm telling... I got very lucky to be posted - or chosen - in this city. Actually... I think the Board offices get a say on who they want. I think Hanazaki-san once told me that they liked the fact I was a journalist with the Toronto Star newspaper... one of North America's best newspapers. I'll admit it was a selling point.



The three of them tell me that I have to pay a personal and city tax. Nertz.



On the plus side, the OBOE says they will cover that for me. They will put the money directly into my bank account (The Ashikaga Ginko (Ashikaga Bank), Ohtawara Branch) for me. That money will then be withdrawn by them to pay the two tax bills.



That is so cool of the OBOE. I also like how they came in person to tell me, rather than just calling up Shibata-sensei to tell me.



I go home, write a letter and relax. It's still bloody raining. I hope it won't tomorrow when a score of other AETs will be coming here to Ohtawara to watch Matthew do his team-teaching demonstration. Cripes... I hope my OBOE doesn't see too much of a disparity between what he does and what I does... otherwise they might actually make me do real work!



I watch some television and crash to bed at 12AM.



Oh... Karen Irwin called. She's a new AET (high school AET like Ashley - so she won't be there at Matthews demo) living in Yaita-shi (City of Yaita), 10 kiometers to the south. She's originally from North Bay, Ont... and arrived here two months ago. In that time she has made it clear that she would like us to slow down (IE no sex!), became buddy-buddy with my visiting mother going on little trips together, and even went on a 3-day trip to Nikko-shi (Nikko City) with Ashley.



I don't know what they talked about... the ex, and the girl who would eventually be my ex, if I let her (all women everywhere could eventually be my ex-girlfriend if they try hard enough).... but this evening... it is apparent that they talked.



Karen seemed to know a little too much about me. My mother - while she did like Karen very much - was no dummy, and I know she would never tell anyone anything about me. Ashley... she might, seeing as who we weren't together anymore... I expect that Karen would want to know the ugly stuff. Me being moody and crap like that. Truth is... I was only moody after Ashley caused me to be moody. But Ashley doesn't know that... and neither does Karen.



Karen attempts to psychoanalyse me. Really? This chick is going to try and get inside MY head? I'm already onto her clumsy attempts about 15 seconds into our telephone conversation! For me... this is like a battle of wits against an unarmed opponent.



Because I know what she's doing - and why (she wants to know what makes me tick, and why Ashley and I broke up - perhaps so she can avoid the same mistakes), she pisses me off.



You know what led to Ashley and I breaking up? It was her pissing me off. Congratulations Karen. You've managed to piss me off even before we've become boyfriend/girlfriend. I guess there'll be no sex, now. Crap.



Regardless of the tempest raging inside my skull... I play it cagey and play it cool. She has no idea just how angry I am.



It's the real reason why I go to bed early today. I lie there and wonder...



Okay... Ashley came back from her trip to Nikko with Karen in a bitchy mood. Karen is acting inquisitive towards me. That means that Ashley knows Karen and I made out. It also means she knows Karen wants to go out with me... and if I know Karen, she probably asked Ashley if that was okay.



That probably put Ashley in a bad mood. It could also explain why Ashley suddenly asked me if I wanted to accompany her to Sendai... it's a little jealous revenge thing against Karen... who I don't think knows that Ashley and I are still sleeping together on occasion.



Great... all I need now are more women to start talking with each other about. That could never happen, right? Am I right? Even I don't want to think about the real answer.



Somewhere thinking about tomorrow and tomorrow,

Andrew Joseph

Today's blog title is by Alphaville: BIG  Lyrics are right below the video.

Don't Let It Bring You Down

Telephone card of Sendai Castle and statue of Date Masamune.

I have always had this thing for castles. Most boys do when growing up, as they dream of defeating the sissy, goody-two-shoes knight who comes to take away the gold you have stolen from the peasant-folk - gold, by the way, which enables you to have the best-looking women in the shire throw themselves at you.

Hey - you dream your dreams, I'll dream mine!

Anyhow, growing up in London, England and Toronto, Canada, I only had images of the standard European castle. I had no idea that there was such a thing as a castle constructed anywhere else.

And, believe it or not, that naivety stayed with me through the first few months of Japan, when I traveled alone for the first time.

Back in 1990 through 1993, I was an assistant English teacher (AET) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme, working out of the OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education) and teaching at seven local junior high schools in the city - one school, four days a week. I know - it was tough. I sometimes actually had to do work for about four hours a day! I'm getting tired just recalling that fact.

Don't let anyone tell you differently, working as an AET on the JET Programme wasn't that difficult. What was difficult was the constant bombardment of people wanting a piece of your time - anxious to find out more about you and your country - to speak your language - to buy you drinks. Okay... it's not a problem either - especially to an ego maniac like myself.

Still, for some people who value privacy, the lack of it caused them to construct walls and baileys and install a moat to keep people out - only lowering the drawbridge whenever they were horny. I could be talking about many of my girlfriends, but truthfully, I could be talking about a lot of my male friends, too.

Anyhow, that paragraph above was a crappy description of a castle. When I first traveled to Osaka-shi (Osaka City) in the fall of 1990, I only then learned that besides it being an easy city for a stupid gaijin (foreigner) who gets lost in, one could get laid quite easily. As well, they had a cool looking castle. That was my first exposure to one - Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle), and like sex and girlfriends, I wanted more. I also got lost more frequently.

In November, my then girlfriend Ashley and I, traveled to Sendai--yes, near where earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit a couple of weeks ago on March 11, 2011.

Sendai-jo (Sendai Castle 仙台城 or Aoba-jo/ Aoba Castle 青葉城) was constructed by Date Masamune (surname first, pronounced 'da-tay') atop Mount Aoba (pronounced 'ow-bah' where as far as castle defenses go, was quite impressive, over-looking the small fishing village of Sendai. When the castle was completed at around 1600 AD, Sendai was now a city (Sendai-shi) .... a city that by 2010 had over 1,000,000 people.

This castle - Sendai-jo - was a major player in the Boshin War (1868-69) a  civil war in Japan between the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate (military government of the past 250 odd years) and those wanting a return of the Imperial Court as the real political power. The Sendai folks backed the Shogun - and lost.   

As a result, Sendai-jo was partially dismantled in the 1870s. Unfortunately, a lot of the remaining building were bombed by the Allies in WWII when the Imperial Court utilized a military-like rule for a couple of decades.   

While sections did survive - hence Ashley and I visiting it - a lot of the stone walls and structures were rebuilt.

And you know what I remember most of that trip--besides not getting any--was that it rained, got colder, and then snowed.

Along with getting lost, I always seemed to have issues with dressing properly when traveling in Japan. This is especially true when traveling hundreds of kilometres by Shinkansen (bullet train) - the weather is quite different from wherever your starting point is. After three years, I never figured it out.

I mean, I did know it was going to be different, but you have to remember that the Internet wasn't a big deal then (though I had been surfing a make-shift Tron-like world since 1978), there was no 24-hour weather station  - and even if there was, it would have been in Japanese, so I had no way of knowing what the weather was like in other cities.. I suppose I could have asked my bosses at the OBOE for advice, but I didn't want to look any more incompetent than I was.

Somewhere slaying the White Knight,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by Canada's Neil Young: OLDMAN