where cider meets condensed milk: April 2006

where cider meets condensed milk

Monday, April 24, 2006

Easter party!

Our last event for this AJET year was an easter party at the orphanage in Okayama city where we also visit at Christmas. We had 20 ALTs, 40 kids, 160 eggs, and excessive amounts of chocolate: perfect combination! Spent 3 nights preparing hardboiled and blown eggs-- Bob-san and Adametal and I did our best to not wasteful by preparing a giant Japanese-white-trash omu-rice (lots of ketchup!) dinner, but we couldn't even eat a dozen between us.

The mayhem! All those years at Kids' Place and BCC Kids' Camp finally came to use. We had egg dying, egg painting, origami, face painting, and basket decorating. Most of the younger kids just wanted to play with the balloons, though.

NY Sarah helping at the egg-painting table.

Captain Matt, heart of the party as usual...

Where's Waldo?

Matt and Frisbee Neilu and Andrew D hid all the eggs outside during craft time, which went well except for a crow making off with at least one. Neil is minorly obsessed with egg-hiding... let's hope his future children really really really like Easter or he will be disappointed for life. We released the kids in batches, just like Easter in the olden days at the Chapmans' house when we actually had anyone that qualified as as a kid. (I'm disappointed there was no hunt this year back home. The fact that Laura is almost legal drinking age and the "kids table" is progressively getting married off should be of no concern. Next thing I'll hear is that Debbie has stopped making her famous carrots!)

Joyfull Danielle and a plaid friend-- tamago desu!

Emcee Claire C and buddies.

Little Bae-Yon Cottontail...

Bae-yon Chris and Adoraemon (wearing the most fantastic shirt under his sweater: "I am a cat-like robot"): Chicken fight!!

Liza doing face painting.

A stowaway in the Guppy!

We headed off afterwards for a sayonara dinner to stay goodbye to Kathryn as she leaves JET for law school. On the way downtown, though it was springtime, we stumbled upon a short winter sonata. It was Yon-sama day at a Pachinko joint, so Bae-Yon and I took a moment to be Korean and in love...

And as this is inexplicably the Year of the Orphan, I'm off to Cambodia for Golden Week (which I'm stretching into 2 weeks) to attempt to build some houses and visit orphanages in Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. It's going to be really really hot and I haven't really ever built anything since junior high tech class. Formerly Chair (but still Social) Claire is going to Mongolia for a Habitat for Humanity trip, Neil and Ashley are biking to all 88 temples on Shikoku as fundraisers for Hodgkin's and Alzheimer's research, and Adam is going to be a volunteer organic farmer. Gambarimashou!

posted by Raychaa @ 12:08 AM 1 comments

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Okayama Grapes of Wrath... now less wrathful.

Our touch rugby team went down to Shikoku for the tournament last weekend in Tokushima. The drive over the Seto-Ohashi bridge and into the hills was gorgeous, but it was unfortunately rainy and windy most of the weekend. There was a big BBQ party on the Saturday night, and I ran into Jessie Elisberg from Whitman, Hong from the Thailand trip, and Abelle's friend Hanalori. (Hong tried to run me over, but her little K-car wouldn't have done much damage... I hope.)

OKG... yeah, you know me! (The W is silent.) Your 2006 Grapes of Wrath...
(back) The Welshman, Aaron, Captain M@tt, DJ Herbal, D-ran D-ran, Kiwiana, Andy, NY Sarah, Frisbee Neilu, Simon. (front) Claire T, Rach2, Junko our token nihonjin, Wendy, Dave, Ilana, Bec, Rene, Otherrach, Amyreebu.

Wrath Attack blast from the past-- championship winning Grapes of 2005.

At the campsite. The games were fun, but we lost a few on Saturday and didn't always play that cleanly as a team. We were still in the winners' bracket for the Sunday playoffs. Amy and Ilana did a great job with all the organizing for the weekend!

XXX Pats (and friends): Rach2 and Ana and I also played with these awesome guys since they didn't have any ladies on their team and we had 10. Came one win short of the finals!

posted by Raychaa @ 3:27 PM 0 comments

Monday, April 10, 2006

The Circus World that wasn't.

DAMN YOU, CIRCUS WORLD!! Our attempts to see the circus in Shanghai were foiled at every turn.

But, we saw a slightly-ghetto circus troupe in Beijing on our last night. Adam got his fix of jugglers and diablo girls, and I imagined a career for all my little elementary students who spend recess wobbling around on stilts and unicycles. They were mostly kids or teenagers, and were really good, but it wasn't a polished, professional-level production. The male gymnast crew was amazing, and the older (legal) ones were ripped, and hot... for 5-foot-tall little men in spandex.

The unexpected finale-- all the boys dressed as chickens. And the lead chicken flaps its wings for a while all over the stage before collapsing in another's arms... or wings. I think. Maybe they were doves? Peace is dead? This is what it looks like when doves cry? Or die? Avian influenza could happen to you? Nani?

At last, I've found something that looks more unappealing than oden (winter stew/soup, sold in vats on combini countertops, choose your own lumpy things to add to the broth) displays in Japan: oden displays in China! This is at a Lawson's in Shanghai. Are you rolling over in your grave (if you had one) yet, Bae-Yon?

There's a south animal-killing pavilion? Exactly how many do you need? More importantly, is it related in any way to what is being sold in the oden vats?

Spring NEW.

I suppose this rubbish bin was supposed to say "Push". I'd rather like to think it's the Finger of God condemning George Dubya.

posted by Raychaa @ 4:58 PM 2 comments

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Shanghai

How we got to Xian and back to Beijing: 12 hours in a deluxe sleeper car, on bunks with linens, hot meals, foldable toothbrushes, clean restrooms, and quiet compartment-mates.

How we got to Shanghai: 16 hours overnight on padded bench seats, 6 to a booth, 20 booths to a car, 30 people standing up in the aisles, 2 sketch toilets, no room to move, 10 men smoking at any given time, and the stuffy air held the heavy scent of cup-ramen, among other things. On the plus side, we got to see how Chinese people usually travel, and most people were funny and friendly to us. Those who didn't have seats were sitting on luggage, or would grab a seat for a few minutes every time someone got up, or else would lean into your booth until they were virtually sleeping in your lap. The floors became littered with newspapers, bottles, food wrappers, peanut shells, cigarette butts, and anything else people had decided belonged on the floor. My inner Shinkansen addict died a small death during this journey.

An hour outside of our destination, a little boy (in typical chaps-for-toddlers gear) and his grandmother got on and stood by our bench. He was cute as a button, and I smiled and played games with him a bit, but wondered how a young diaperless child would know not to relieve himself on a crowded traincar. Adam's analysis: "If he pees on the floor right now, I am going to throw him out the window." No one actually went postal, though I was placing bets on who would be first. (4 letters, starts with A, additional "M" optional.)

We had 3 days in Shanghai, and spent most of our time in the city wandering around and marveling at shiny things. This is the Bund-- famous for architectural reasons.

People's square/park area at night, with giant parsley trees sprouting up beside the pavement.

Shanghai Idol.

We took a day trip out to West Lake, which is supposed to be the most beautiful (I'd say Top 3...) lake in all of China. We went with a Finnish woman named Ariana that was traveling for 10 months via some scheme that allows you to take a paid leave of absence from your job if your position is filled by an unemployed person. She worked in a hotel, and was 6 months into her tour of Nepal and China. In exchange for allowing a jobless person to work in her place, she received 20 Euros a day from the government, which isn't enough to get by in Finland, but is plenty for many countries in central/SE Asia.

Adam wearing (gasp!) shorts in April, which drew open stares in every place we went, such as the girl in blue on the left. On two separate occasions, Chinese men walked up to him, babbled something while laughing, and proceeded to touch his manly calves.

A pool of inner contemplation.

Someone wise. Though the vacant eyes and glazed smile suggest opium use over wisdom...

posted by Raychaa @ 5:42 PM 0 comments

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Little clay soldiers

Here I am atop the stone wall surrounding the city of Xian. It has been the glorious capital for 6 different dynasties, but now it is simply old and polluted and historical. Our main goal was to see the Terracotta Warriors and then hop elsewhere, but upon arriving were unable to get a sleeper car out of Xian for 6 days, and as it was had to wait 3 days to get just seat tickets. So, we did more touristy things and I basked in our shiny clean hotel room while Adametal went up a nearby mountain to see what he could see.

Is that...? No, couldn't be. But it does look like him... wait... yes... it is! It IS!! Adam with another bicycle??? That louse! PLEASE DON'T TELL JUDY!!!

Peer over the city wall and suddenly... we're in Baghdad.

Bell Tower in the center of the city.

Great Mosque in the Muslim Quarter-- we spent several tranquil hours here, avoiding the urban confusion outside.

Terracotta warriors! They are all life-size, and about 6,000 have been uncovered since they were discovered about 30 years ago by some farmers digging a well. It was amazing to see them, but the atmosphere of the exhibit was very modern and clinical. They are housed in buildings that look like airport hangars, whereas we were hoping for something a bit more Tomb Raider.

New addition for the anti-smoking poster? (Butts are gross.)

Atop the burial mound of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who commissioned the warriors as his guards in the afterlife. You can't go in the tomb because they haven't unearthed it, and with good reason. Among other defenses, he had rivers of mercury running inside as protection. Yes, rivers of mercury. Maybe going Indiana Jones on the tomb doesn't seem such a good idea after all...

posted by Raychaa @ 5:10 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Beijing

We had about 4 days total in Beijing, which was enough to hit the major spots, find an amazing vegetarian restaurant, and get lost on a regular basis. Didn't get mugged or threatened, but had many "university students" try to talk us into various art and tea scams. (If someone is hassling you, respond in Japanese. They'll get confused and walk away, which works in most countries, including Japan!) Adam and I met up with Herbamy on their last night and got lots of advice and hilarious stories about shopping and troll-grannies chasing Herb down the street.

The line to see Mao's body in Tiananmen square.

Wish I knew what she was writing, but everyone seemed very impressed, and her tough-looking pimps hanging behind the crowd were collecting a constant stream of donations from passersby.

Aw, what a cute little boy, waving his little flag under the protective watch of the giant Mao painting in Tiananmen Square. A minute later he spread his legs apart in order to pee right on the pavement, and no one batted an eye at the growing puddle. Little kids have a split in the front and back of their trousers in order to relieve themselves right on the sidewalk, on the street, at your feet...

This group of soldiers and salarymen marched out from inside the Mao mausoleum, timed with the traffic lights so that they could go right across the street without needing to stop. Modern Japanese salarymen aren't so good at marching, I suspect.

The Forbidden City.

Inner courtyard.

Concubine rooms.

Here, kitty kitty kitty...

Of course, a Forbidden Starbucks. My mama says you can take the girl out of the Eastside but...

posted by Raychaa @ 12:27 PM 1 comments

So wrong it's right. And then wrong. And then wrong again... welcome to the inaka.

About Me

Name: Raychaa
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About Me: “No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this - 'devoted and obedient'. This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.” (Florence Nightingale)
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