Been there, done that...

But not in that cynical kinda way...for the most part. The last two weeks have been pretty intense. Lots of travel, lots of seeing and doing things, lots of eating, drinking, laughing and bitching, and precious little sleep. Let take a trip down memory lane, shall we? On February 24, I took the night bus from Nagoya to Shinjuku and let me tell you, it was hella ghetto. I mean, there was a freaking chandelier at the back of the bus. Even the Japanese people were like WTF? It was super cheap though (3,200 yen, about $33), but not worth the price. Ohhhh, Orion Tours, never again.

So, got into Shinjuku at 5 a.m. and made my way to my girl Petra's place to grab a few hours of sleep before my wax appointment. Yeah, that's right, I'm in a foreign country, but I still gotta take care of my bizness. And let me tell you, it was good. But I didn't go all the way to Tokyo for a (very, very, very, very slammin') brazilian wax. No, that would be insane. Worth it, but insane. No, no, I went all the way to Tokyo to attend the 2007 Conference for Returning JETS.

It took place at the stunning Pacifico Hotel in Yokohama (seen on your left) and was definitely worth going to, in my opinion, and not just because we had 3 days off and were let loose in the big city. Despite the ill-focused nature of some of the workshops, geared primarily for those who will be staying in Japan, a few of them were really useful in terms of finding post-JET employment, dealing with re-entry culture shock, making the most of your JET experience, etc. I went to the conference without any expectations, so I left satisfied. I took plenty of notes and the juices in my head, that had all but froze over the winter, flowed freely and wildly and I started planning, thinking and researching as a direct affect of the conference. Jeremy, you asked what I'll be doing post-JET...well, I've got plans (and how!!), but I was debating on whether or not to post them. I'm pretty free with what goes down in my life, as you probably already know, but I'm a bit superstitious about certain things. But who knows, I might share what I'll be doing sooner rather than later...we'll see.

Let's see, what else? Yokohama is famous for their (expensive) Chinatown, where incidently, was the location of our shitastic hostel. I ate too much Chinese food, but enjoyed it nevertheless, and especially enjoyed going to karaoke with Christina, Dave, Ed and Bridget. I also went on the tallest ferris wheel in the world with Dave and snapped some pics.

God, I don't really remember anything else exciting to share with you. Been there, done that.

Another place I went to recently was Hida Furukawa. Ok, let me tell you the deal - the good people of the Hida Furukawa City Hall want to drum up foreign tourist business in the area. To this end, they sent out an invite to the Gifu City Hall office to have some ALTs come to the town for a weekend in order to give them some feedback on attracting foreigners. There would be eating, skiing/snowboarding/snowmobiling, sightseeing, cultural stuff and it would all be for FREE. Those who know me well know that that's my favourite freaking word. We got to stay at a nice hotel with BEDS, eat some expensive assed food, hang out with some old pals and make some new ones and get smothered with Japanese culture. Seriously, it was a lot. As a second year JET, I've done everything we did at least once, but it was nice to practically be given the keys to the city. Oh, and I went skiing, which I haven't done since 11th grade. I told my instructor that it had been about 10 years since I last put on skis but he took me up to the top of the very high hill and made me remember what I thought I had forgotten. It felt really good to ski down the mountain, free and semi-competent. It was also especially gratifying since the lesson was entirely in Japanese save for the words "teacher", "up" and "down". It felt good to hold down conversations with a perfect stranger while re-learning how to ski. Me = supastar.

Well, that's about it. You're updated. I wrote more than I actually meant to about my recent travelling. I have a whole bunch of things about life in Japan that I want to blog about: the karaoke experience, school life, observations about the Japanese, etc. I will try to squeeze in some shorter entries in the coming weeks, but it might be hard as they'll be jam packed. 27 Canadians from small town Alberta will be descending on this tiny, mountain village at the end of the month and I'll be endowed with entertaining, interpreting and translating duties. I will also be attending graduation and year end ceremonies, welcome and goodbye parites, going to doll class, hosting a goodbye party, and going to Kyoto and Takayama, all this month. Throw in seeing the hot Scot and having some semblance of some down time, and I'm completely booked. Should be a trip. Wish me luck.