The morning climb

The perfect view of the river on the way up. Wow this water is cold! Nagano is much cooler than the rest of Japan. The air is cool and dry. In some ways it reminds me of Canada.









(Upper left pic) I took a little brake by the river and young Japanese boy started speaking to me in perfect English. It turns out that he lives in Michigan U.S.A. now. His parrents have been sending him to the U.S. for 8 years now.
(Upper right pic) Considering I hadn't slept for a few nights I took the oppertunity to have a little 30 minute snooze on the trail. Right on the trail. I slept like a log and had no idea that this photo had been taken until recently.
(Lower left pic) Me walking though a medow on the way up the mountain.
(Lower right pic) The tent sight. Note all the traffic. Crowds always seem to be a problem in Japan.

















Some shots of me on the glacier on the way up. Yes that's right! A glacier, a glacier in Japan. Really small and is not there every year but most years.
(Bottom Left pic) Me trying to look cool on a peak. Notice the bigger belly. This can prabably be contributed to good cooking. Ummmmm. Pass the Sushi.
(Bottom right pic) Noriko and I on the peak of Kita-Hodaka. Noriko is the one in the red shirt and I am the white guy.

Dislocated shoulder again!!

Yes I have dislocated my shoulder. I was in class and I slipped on some flash cards I was teaching with and bam! I went down. My shoulder came out the kids were jumping around me and I had to find a way to get it back in. So climbed on top of a desk and pulled it back into place by grabbing the leg of the desk. I called into the office and told them what had happend and I was told. Please sit down on a chair and contiue teaching. CANADA! Here I come. I am sick of the way I am treated by employers here. This is the last straw!

Any way here is the X-ray of my shoulder. Note the the 6 staples from the previous surgery a few years ago.

Nagano, Kamikochi, Hodaka

I took the night bus from Nagoya to Kamikochi after work. Got to Kamikochi early Sunday morning. We started the hike to the mountains around 7:00. The hike for the first 11 km is on a winding dirt road that looks very much like any cottage road in central Ontario. The only difference was that the road winded along a beautiful meandering river. The closer we got the mountains the water in the river became more and more blue.

The forest was host to the most delightful and elaberate bird calls I hav

e ever heard. The forest was alive with sounds and green. Sounds of birds, wind in the tree tops and this beautiful river.

The wonderful thing about the Japanese moutains is that you are always likely to run into some very colourful characters. Like this elderly man I met on the road up.

And here it is the, the peaks to be climbed. The Hodaka range. Next blogg more stories and pictures

Asthma attack

I recently went to the hospital for an asthma attack. In short poor air quality here in Aichi-ken.
I can’t recommend going to a city hospital here. Doctors are lassy and just go through the motions of a diagnosis without really listening to the patient. Instead I recommend going to a small private clinic. Much better service.
Japanese hospital doctors are notorious for over prescribing medication, and my case was no different. But what made maters worse is that he gave me the wrong medication. For one he gave me a kind of cough syrup mixture witch should never be given to an asthma patient ( a treatment from 20 years ago). I questioned the pharmacist on this but she had answers for me, just a smile and said it is what the doctor ordered. Secondly as I tried to translate and got more help from friends I learned that one drug was Bronchial dilator (good) and another drug was a vessel constrictor. Well, taking two drugs, one that constricts veins and another that dilates veins can’t be a good combo in anyone’s books. Neh? You don’t need to be a doctor to figger that one out.

So I went to a private clinic that only took a few moments, my blood pressure was taken, my blood-Oxygen count was taken I was put on Bronchial dilator ventilator for few minutes and prescribe two inhalers. One inhaler for was a bronchial dilator and the other was a steroid, I’m getting better every day despite the poor air quality.


THIS IS A PICTURE I TOOK WITH MY PHONE OF ALL THE MEDICATION THE HOPITAL DOCTOR GAVE ME FOR AN ASTHMA ATTACK.

NOTE THE ONE VERY SMALL INHALER.
This doctor my be getting a new car from the drug company or something.

A Policed State

Yesterday I was standing in Nagoya station waiting for a friend to arrive. I was waiting in one of the most popular places for people to wait at Nagoya Station. The place is called the Clock Tower, it is named this for obvious reasons. I was waiting along side many other people who were waiting for loved ones, business associates, colleagues and class mates. The difference with my case is that I was the only none Japanese person standing among perhaps 300 to 400 people. Yes that’s right I was the minority.

Three of Nagoya’s finest (cops) came up to me and started questioning me on why I am standing here, am I traveling, do I live here and demanding to see my ID. (外国人登録証明書) or CERTIFICATE OF ALIEN REGISTRATION, what we foreigners lovingly refer to as the [GAIJIN CARD]. These bulletproof uneducated flat headed flat-foots held and question me for 10 minutes. I demanded to know why they were stopping me, I was told that they are looking for terrorists because the station is very susceptible to attack. I asked why they are not stopping and questioning Japanese, in that case. The answer was that Japanese are not terrorists. I told them that this is (人種差別) [RACISM]. I said that they are very rude, racist and this should not be tolerated. The entire conversation was in Japanese as they were incapable of even uttering the most basic English sound. Despite the fact that English is Japan’s national second language and there is at least one English school on every corner in any city throughout Japan. More surprisingly, all Japanese children learn English through out JR. high school & high school.

Many people were standing around watching and wondering what was going on I was very humiliated and some what nervous. The cops in Saitama arrested a Japanese woman because she did not look Japanese enough. The woman is a Japanese national (full blooded), she just happened to look Philippine in the eyes of the cops, so when she didn’t produce a passport or a gaijin card the cops arrested her and held for 24 hours with no phone call, no nothing, eventually the woman’s mother contacted the local police box wondering if anyone had seen her daughter, at that point the cops realized that they had mad mistake.

I didn’t know what was going to happen or what they would do, and as I said earlier, most Japanese don’t think very far ahead, they simply do what the government and big business tell them to do or think. So of course no one was there to help me and I am sure that I must have looked like Osama’s long lost cousin to the half-wits standing around and gawking. I was finally released and let go with a pat on the back as people stood around and watched.

Well no once says cops are smart.

The shot of me standing on the frozen "flutings", what the Japanese call "Shrimp Tails" was taken on Asahi Dake, Hokkaido's tallest mountain. It sound impressive but really it was not much more than a walk to the top. The other is on the peak of Kuro Dake. Kuro Dake means (Black Knife Edge peak) For this mountain I started in Sonkyo Canyon and then made my way to the peak of Kuro Dake.

Rural life in Japan can't be beat

Mt. CHOSU-NO-KASHIRA



I really do like Japan in so many ways. Yes the housing codes are not up to North American standards and most apartment companies and land holdings are run by Yakuza (gangsters). The difficulty to make friends or find conversations that aren’t about eating or shopping is tough. But beyond all that Japan is still a great place with a lot to offer. Yes Japan has surf and mountains. The beaches are a little dirty and the most famous mountain or volcano (Fuji-san) is becoming a bit of a garbage dump. But still if one looks hard, makes friends and gets out of the most populated areas, Japan’s true natural beauty can be found.

I spent the night in a little Youth Hostel where I was the only guest, I had the staff at my personal command, sort of speak. I was fed rice with Octopus, mystery meat, salad and wine for about 9 bucks. I woke to the sound of the ocean crashing on the shore and the smell of the rain being swept across the bay from the Suzuka Mountains. Mountains that I had missed for so long. Playing on the beach talking to fishermen made the whole time quite fun.

When in rural areas people are very friendly and accommodating. People have been very kind, driving me to and fro, here and there helping me find places to cash traveler’s cheques and feeding me well. I stayed in another little place in Gunma. A little town nested in the mountains, by the name of Yokokawa. The people were very kind to me and drove me to a nearby mountain that I later climbed. When I returned to the B&B RYOKAN 旅館 they were very worried as it was now dark and they feared that I had become lost or worse yet died on the mountain. We laughed about it for a moment and then I was fed a wonderful meal of curry rice. Later that night the owner of the little B&B RYOKAN 旅館 and I drank Sake into the night, sharing stories and laughing over the difficulty of trying to speak a foreign language when one is half in the bag.

The mountains in this area are some of the most beautiful that I have ever seen and notably dangerous. When I climbed Mt.Chosu-no-kashira I came across a brass plate embedded in the rock with names of all the people who have died trying to climb this mountain. So I just had to climb it. On the way up I came across some little Buddhist and Shinto sculptures placed by hand so many years earlier. When I finally reached the summit I was rewarded with a spectacular view and a rather unique geological feature. At the top stands a natural stone pillar in the shape of a “T”. The top of the rock is composed of a harder denser rock while the stone beneath it, is weaker and more susceptible to weathering. Here at the top of the mountain stands a unique “T” shape that one can climb for a truly spectacular view.

The Town of Yokokawa from the
nearby hill.
















From the town, This is the Hill I took
the photo of my boot and the town of
Yokokawa

Tell me what you think?

Photo (A)
Photo (B)

Ok witch photo has greater meaning, feeling or impact for you. If you are spiritual then which photo has more spiritual meaning for you.
Photo (B) Me looking out over the UNKAI (cloud sea)?
or
Photo (A) The mountain shrine set at the highest point on this mountain.?
Tell me why, I'd like to know

Bouncing around with Kids

Hey you little punks! That's not a snow ball, This is a snow ball!!! (IBUKI-YAMA)

Well another day with my students, sorry no pics of students, but those of you who know me, know that I and the children were bouncing off the walls. So far all my students like me, the parents like me, and my assistants like me. I know that I am a good teacher but there is really no future in teaching English in Japan. I meet these washed up Gaijin who have been here for 15 ~20 years and they are still singing ABC every day, They will never make any more money and they are as high as they will ever be in their companies. Japanese personal will keep moving up but the Gaijin are faced with a glass ceiling that is unavoidable. This is not a land of equal opportunity or equal anything. But for now I like it and it is working for me.

Note to self, Don't get trapped here.

P.S. Well ok, 1 pic (me in snow ball fight with some kids on Ibuki-yama)

Present job

Present job kinda sucks, I'm teaching and I enjoy that, I also enjoy the kids. For that it is really fun and rewarding. But the transportation to and from work is really getting to me. Every day I go to a different location to teach. In some cases I travel for more than one & a half hours, and just oneway. Job quality is really not up to snuff. Even for the natives. This a place that will use you up and spit you out if you are not careful.

Other than that the mountains are GREAT!! The hiking when you can find it is great. Usually one can find a train or bus to the base of one of these mountains and if not, one can always hitchhike. Hitchhiking in Japan is becoming harder these days though. Weather it be shyness or fear I'm not sure.

Mountains I have climbed so far are:
Fuji-san
Chosu-no-Kashira
Oyama
Tateyama
Aso-san
Unzen
Kaizuki-Yama
Fujiwara-dake
Gozaishou
Kamaga-dake
wakakusa-yama
Ryouzen
Yourou
Daifugen
Kinka-zan
Kana-yama (Gunma)
Nyudou-ga-dake
Ibuki-yama
Kiyotaki-yama
a small mountain in Sapporo
and a couple of others I can't remember the names of.


One of the mountains in the North Alps.



















Me on a sub peak at Tate-Yama



















Me looking out over my future.



















Me at the top of an erate with Tsurugi-dake in
the back ground.

So far Japan has had many ups and downs.
Financial, emotional and physical. I lived in Tokyo for about two weeks when I first arrived. Ahh! What a place. For some Tokyo is the place to live and for others like my self it is totally not the place to live. In just two short weeks I was already going crazy, the crowds, the noise, the constant advertising.

So I moved to Saitama to start a new job, out of Tokyo but still not out of the constant consumerism. The Japanese do not define themselves by what they can do, or what they know, but rather what they can buy. It would seem that everyone is trying very hard to be an individual but no one wants to push against the system, therefore the only way of expressing one's self is to buy the latest fashion item or gizmo. I saw a used purse in a store for the equivalent of $11'000.00 US. It's a bag people!!

I started the new job as an English teacher to children in a private cram school (name: E-mail me and I will tell you). This company in particular would tell parents that presenting flash cards at a high rate of speed would stimulate the child's right hemisphere and there by make them extremely smart and capable of E.S.P.. What a bunch of crap!! Like I said, constant mindless consumerism.

We were to present 350 flash cards in a fifty minute class, the children were not expected to say the words. Rather, the magic of the flash-cards would some how enter their little heads and make them very smart. We were expected to show 2 flash-cards a second.
"more fast William, more pretty please. Remember, RIGHT BRAIN William, Right Brain!" (Japanese English A.K.A Japlish, Not my English)
These half wits would tell me again and again.

As time went on I learned that none of the the teachers, Japanese or foreign had teaching qualifications, (0). I also learned that none of them held a university degree either. I was the highest educated employee at the company and I only have a B.A. (Psych). This is a very shady company! Well I was let go eventually, I know what most of you are thinking at this point, "William was just rocking the boat too much".
However this is not the case. As those of you who know me, I am dyslexic and while I refuse to use this as a crouch, I do have some limitations. Yes I read at a University level. However when I am reading 2 random words a second with out the structural support of grammar, my Dyslexia comes through loud and clear. I was making some mistakes on the flash-cards such as reading (THIS) for (THIS IS), (THEY) for (THEM) and (IN THE TREE) for (ON THE TREE). Clearly "Back-Ward Masking" Briant & Braddly.

So the company fired me, not for conduct issues or any of the above but because I could not perfectly read 2 flash-cards a second. If you have any kind of disability especially Dyslexia, (one of the invisible disabilities). DO NOT tell it to any one you will be working for in Japan, this is a very intolerant place. Personally I like it, it is teaching me that I need to rely on my self and no one else. No crouches! Swim or sink! No note takers, no Dragon Naturally Speaking software and no extra time. Live or fail! SO I choose to live.

That's all for now, got to work.

Hey check it

Chillen in Japan

Hey all, just chillen at the moment.