Perspective is a wonderful thing. Sometimes when you're too close to a situation, your judgment can get cloudy and it's hard to see things objectively. I say this because of how my vacation went. Being away from “home” in Fukushima for a week really helped me put some stuff I had been mulling over into perspective. Had some fun too.
And when I say “vacation” I really mean “I went to my friend's place to hang out.” No sandy beaches, no exotic locals, just went to go chill with some friends I hadn't seen for awhile. Kind of out of the way considering my friend's place in Niigata is nearly 300 kilometers from my house, but it was good company and special circumstances. Some friends of ours decided to come in from the states to see one of their favorite bands play (Do As Infinity got back together) so I decided the trip over would be worth it, especially if I made a week out of it.
I left Fuku Sunday morning on the 22nd of March and arrived in Niigata City that afternoon. When planning the trip, the drive in was what I was most worried about, but it ended up being pretty damn smooth. I drive around my city all the time, and the roads tends to be narrow and they get congested pretty easily, but these freeways were pretty clear. Really reminded me of driving in Cali. And yeah, I drove in rather than take the trains because driving to my friends house was a 6 hour difference in travel time.
One of my buddies who lives in Tokyo often cracks up at the fact that I drive in Japan. At first it weirded me out too, but I soon realized that the image of Japan being all modernized and having trains everywhere is a lie – that shit only exists in really big cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, etc. I can still get to Tokyo relatively easy by train, but there are others that live here in Fuku that aren't so fortunate. Out in my part of the “countryside” there's only one train in and out of my town, and it takes 10 minutes by car to reach it, 8 if I speed, 6 if the lights are on my side and the “lets drive at 2 kph!” drivers are at home.
So yeah, I drove to Niigata, it took me 2 hours, nice and easy. I met up with everyone, and after a quick karaoke session, we head to the concert venue. When we get there, they make us line up in order of our ticket number. Mind you that its raining outside and there's maybe six to seven hundred people there. Only in Japan would you see people quietly and politely lining up for a rock concert. Last time I went to a show, people were campin' out by cars, kickin' back beers and shit, choppin' up and getting ready to wild out. This show had people that looked like they were waiting for the teller window to open at a bank rather than waiting for a rock concert. I mean, this ain't System of a Down or anything, it's J-Rock. But damn, I woulda settled for someone fiercely balling up a food wrapper or something.
Even more surprising was that during the show, rather than people jumping up and down and “rockin' out” or what have you, folks were standing in place and throwing up synchronized hand motions to go along with songs. I thought, “Damn did we miss the practice session or something?” It was a bit odd to me to be hearing all this energetic music yet be seemingly the only ones actually moved by it. Guess folks just enjoy their concerts differently here. Don't get me wrong though, I enjoyed the show just fine. I only knew Do As Infinity from 2 songs I've heard them do for TV shows; those song are slower and somewhat ballad-ish songs, so I wasn't aware of the various styles they put out but I was rather impressed.
Driving home from the concert was interesting. Cam always told me that he lived up in the mountains, and that he had Initial D roads leading up there. Man, he wasn't kidding. From the freeway in my city in Fukushima, my house is maybe 10 minutes away if I'm driving normally – it took us a full hour to get to Cam's from the highway on those crazy ass roads. If you're from Los Angeles, imagine having to drive an hour from home to get to the freeway. Could you even drive an hour from a freeway without running into another one in LA? The view from his place in the morning justifies it though; I've got gorgeous stuff near my house, and so does he.
Monday was an interesting day, ended up at Cam's middle school and taught in one of his classes. The kids were pretty mellow, and seemed to have a better command of/appreciation for English than my kids, probably because their JTE is so great at English. We also had time for BALLIN!, which made me happy of course, especially since I dunked on Cam. We did lunch at a soba restaurant since Niigata is supposed known for a certain type of soba called hegi soba. Niigata is famous for a few things, lots of snow, lots of sake, and lots of onsens, but it's also famous for this soba apparently.
I've never been a fan of soba myself. I'm a big ramen guy so something about all that wheat in noodle form has never sat well with me, but this was pretty tasty. The 'do-it-yourself' handmade wasabi was a nice touch as well, much fresher than the stuff from the tube. It's been awhile since I've seen Russ, Louise, and Christine, so it was really good to shoot the shit with everyone, easily one of my favorite pastimes. Dinner was good too; we hit up an izakaya in Tokamachi with some of Cam's friends in the area. Real good folks and real good food made for an excellent night.
Unfortunately, Russ and Louise were due to leave Tuesday morning, but the rest of us hung out and had lunch at a mall in Nagaoka. This mall tripped me out because it was just like a mall back home, down to the food court – I was looking for Hot Dog on a Stick and Foot Locker at one point. After eating we stopped off in town to buy some liquor at the holy grail of liquor stores. They had stuff I would have trouble finding at a normal liquor store in the States, and they also had my long sought-after favorite tequila – 1800, the Resposado. And yeah Mom, Dad – I drink occasionally. I really like tequila actually. Sorry you had to find out this way. Anyway, テキラゲット～！w00t!
That night, Cam took us to his conversation class. It was a group of maybe 6 or so people in his town that met twice a week to practice and improve their English. Thinking about it, this was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Cam asked us to introduce ourselves, and after doing so the group just fielded us with questions. Basically, we spent 90 minutes shooting the shit with people around the neighborhood. I've been in Japan maybe 8 months now, and I've never had such a relaxed conversation with Japanese people before. I'm sure it helped that they were all keenly interested in learning English, but it was really refreshing to have a conversation with Japanese people that wasn't loaded with hidden meaning, or where I had to guide the topic so much. And they were all just really nice – one of the guys who regularly attends (a dentist) offered Christine some sake as a parting gift since we talked about how she's a big fan of the stuff. I'm definitely going to bring them bomb ass omiyage next time I'm around.
It made me sort of jealous too, this class. I attend a volunteer-run Japanese class in my town once a week, but we work out of books and it's not really that helpful for me since I can study on my own – I'd rather us all just talk like this instead of stumbling through books. I think it'd be more helpful for more people then not. Perhaps I'll suggest it the next time I go, if I indeed go back.
Wednesday morning we went to this bakery. My god... some of the best bread I've had in Japan. It was so soft and tender, I almost shed a tear. They had chocolate chip melon pan, they had the bomb ass tuna sandwiches, and this bread pizza that Me and Cam would return for on Saturday, soooo good. The whole day was pretty chill; we did sushi for lunch and then just roamed around town the whole day. We managed to do some karaoke, helped Christine find some good sake, hit up a couple shops, and picked up the bottle the dentist had prepared for her (he got me one too w00t!) and then ended things with some great food at an okonomiyaki shop.
Christine left Thursday and since Cam was busy the whole day, I just sorta stayed in and chilled, though we had some fantastic katsu-curry that night. Friday though, we got into some fun here and there. I went ballin' for the better part of an afternoon, then hit a ramen shop with godly Chashu. That was probably the second best Chashu I've had in ramen before, maybe third best. I don't see how the Chashu could be that succulent, tender, and bursting with flavor... and then the soup base be rather ho-hum. It's a shame really. The things that shop could do with some decent soup bases.
After ramen we hit up a couple bars, the first being this place that had a 0 yen menu. What was on the Free Menu? A smile, a compliment request, and popcorn amongst other things. I asked for a smile and they delivered. Good thing the cute waitress was walking around at the time instead of the dude barkeeps. The other bar, despite being called Lame-o, was not lame at all. The barkeep was pretty chatty and the drinks were good. One thing that did bug though was that they had the walls lined with all sorts of beers, including the wonderful Negra Modelo. “Bug – this is a wonderful thing, right B? “
My good drinking buddies know that this is one of my favorite beers. I haven't seen it since I left America and I had been wantin' one lately, and here it was on a shelf waiting for me to order it. All I had to do was ask. When I did though, I was told there was none. “Damn, they ran out. Just my luck. Shit I know! I'll just ask them where they get it from cuz the Lord knows I've been looking for it as much as I had that 1800.” No no, buddy – turns out that the bottle was just for show. WTF, Japan? Stop teasing me with delicious beers on the wall that I can't have, you jerks. This isn't the only bar I've been at that does this too.
Good friends back in good beer-having countries, I'm sure that the void that I've left in your lives has you feeling a bit down. Every now and again, you probably have found yourself sulking around the house with thoughts such as, “Man, B is such a wonderful guy and I wanna do something nice for him, but what ever could I do that could reciprocate the joy and pleasure he has brought into my life since I've known him?” The best thing you could do to bring those thoughts to fruition would be to send me a case of Negra Modelo. Do so, and I'll love you for as long as forever lasts.
Saturday was pretty solid too. Slept in and woke up to a gorgeous breakfast of pizza bread from that bakery. This stuff was basically like making a pizza on like a thick slice of sourdough. I didn't think it would work but man it was tasty, no lie. We also picked up more bomb sandwiches. We also went ballin' again, but this time, we took the son of the dentist that gave us the sake. Kid could play a little bit. He's got a high arching shot and has a pretty fast first step for cutting to the basket. He's got game like Reggie Miller except his stroke isn't nearly as quick. After ballin' we hit up an onsen near Cam, which was admittedly pretty relaxing despite how hot it was.
I've never been a fan of onsens mostly because I don't like baths or hot water – my showers are warm, not boiling hot. That and a shower is just a quicker, more efficient way of cleaning one's self, in my opinion. Cam had some interesting input to offer though, saying he thought of onsens as a relaxation tool rather than just a means of bathing. I did feel more relaxed after getting out, but I think it was because it soothed away the muscle and joint pain I built up when we balled. I'd definitely go again, but it'd have to be in a similar context – after workin' out or something. Next on my list, find a gym with an onsen in it.
We met up with Cam's buddies at an izakaya for some pretty good food (Cam's hood is just good food city, I swear) then head to his friend's place for the poker night we set up. Really good night. It was really good to just chill, play some poker and shoot the shit all night. I think when we tend to hang out in Fuku, the weekends mean drinking time, and our routine activities reflect that. Not that I'm trying to stop drinking times or anything, but there's less chill out sessions. I've got my theories on why that is, but I'm gonna make an effort to do a poker night or something like that here too. Poker was fun, ran from maybe 9 to 1am, and I finished second, which meant just as much as finishing last – no money, my face. It was worth it though. I had a lot of fun hangin' out, something I think I really needed.
For a a few weeks up until I went to Niigata, my work life and my quality of life overall were starting to slump, and I was getting a bit frustrated as I thought the cause of it was something in my environment and surroundings that I couldn't control. Being away from my home in Fukushima though allowed me to be a bit more objective about my situation, and after thinking about it I started to wonder if some of my worries were just self-induced. The rest was just stuff I needed to deal with in a different manner. I haven't fixed everything yet, so to speak, but I think I'm on my way.
The next day was Sunday, and I set off for home, but not before having to shovel tons of snow off of my car before being able to open it. I had left my car outside the entire time I was there, and from Wednesday on, there was a lot of snowfall. Enough that I couldn't see my car Sunday morning. I wish I got a picture. All in all though, I really enjoyed my stay. A lot of the stress I was feeling seems to have faded. The people in Niigata were so homely and inviting as well and there was heaps of good eateries, so I'm sure that helped too, but for certain I came back to Fuku feeling better than when I left. Cam's town is definitely a good place; I would happily return.
For more Tequila. And the good company, of course.
