Fuji Mountain Adventure (Part I)

I am writing this because I cant get off the couch. Not my usual inability to get off the couch due to Facebook addiction and streaming episodes of Law and Order: SVU. I cant get off the couch today because my leg muscles have decided I am no longer trustworthy enough to make decisions for them, and they quit on me.

As I've mentioned before, I have an aversion to mountains and really any steep incline. So, I thought What better way to spend the Obon holiday than climbing Japan's tallest mountain, Fuji-san?

Two months ago I started planning the trip and invited my two friends Yen and Erica along. I booked a hotel in Fuji city, bought Shinkansen tickets, read up on what to pack. I was totally prepped.

The trip started out pretty awesome. Our hotel had bunk beds. We went out for Kansai style Okonomiyaki. We discussed boys and ate chocolate.

The next day, the day of the climb, we took a the 8:30am two hour bus ride up to the 5th station. Most people start the climb from here. It's the point where trees stop growing and clouds hang out. We heard you should give yourself time to adjust to the altitude so we browsed the wandered the gift shop and bought our walking sticks. The sticks are cool because at each station you can get a seal burned into it that says the name of the station in kanji and how high you are. We stayed at the gift shop for about an hour and started the climb at noon.

After station 5 there are six more (station 6, new 7, old 7, 8, 9, 9.5), than the top, station 10. Why they dont rename them, I'll never know.

From station 5 to six I was feeling good. It took about 45 minutes, and I knew that was the shortest distance between two stations. The ground was packed dirt mixed in with a few piles of rocks to climb up.
The mountain wasnt what I expected at all. I thought it'd be trees with a dirt path going up to the top. It was more like the surface of the moon, gray and covered in rocks.

After hitting station 6 I got a little nervous. From the hut you can look up and see how steep it really is. And I couldnt see the next station, there was too much fog. I think this took us about two and a half hours to climb. The ground was really hard to walk on, it was mostly rocks, and you could fall easily if you didnt watch your step.

As I walked and sweat people would pass me, who were coming down the mountain, would say "gambatte!" I didnt know the appropriate response, so I said, "thank you." In English.

From station 6 to 7 I started having some trouble. I couldnt breathe very well and started to wheeze. I could take about 15 steps before I had to stop and catch my breathe. This slowed us down considerably and I felt bad for my traveling companions (who I warned about climbing with me beforehand!).

Despite my breathing issues I continued on, slow and steady and sweaty. It would be sunny than foggy than sunny. But after the sun set it rained. It really, really rained. I had a rain jacket that I put over my backpack and myself. But, I couldnt button it up now, so my hoodie was getting wet. It was too rainy and rocky to put on my rain pants, so I just kept walking.

We were supposed to sleep at the 9th station, but from station 7 to 8 it got really scary for me. My breathing was bad and my chest felt really tight. It was so dark and there were only a few people around. I couldnt quit, it would be an hour walk down or an hour walk up anyway. Station 8 was the first aid site plus a lodge, so Erica really wanted to get me there to sleep, she was worried about the wheezing.

I should not that on the way down Erica and Yen (far ahead of me) saw a man collapse and possibly die. His family was gathered around saying, "otousan" (father) and pumping his chest. His eyes weren't opening. We didnt pass rescue workers climbing up for maybe two hours.

So, while I was wheezing and wet and trying to make it to station 8 the rocks became really hard to climb. I had to use my hands or the rope most of the time. I was taking breaks and breathing from an oxygen can I bought for 1,200 yen a few stations back.

Now, let's talk about money for a second. I felt like I was at frikkin Disney World, not on the most sacred spot in Japan. Everything cost money. The toilets were 200 yen (about $2), the water was 500 yen. Getting hot water for your ramen cup was 300 yen. A can of beer was 800 yen! I dont know who'd be drinking, but damn that's expensive Asahi!

Anyway, at about 7:30, with station 8 in our sites Yen goes up to the hut to ask if they have room for us to sleep (our reservations were at station 9, and we were supposed to get there by 8pm, not happening). She shouts down that she didn't get rooms and I start to tear up, in my mind I'm thinking I'll just start crying and begging to stay there, there's no way I can make it up another level! It would be another 2-3 hours in the freezing rain, and I can feel my lungs collapsing.

Can I say, as you all know, I was born in South Florida. The flattest place in the world. I lived there at sea level for 16 years, then I moved to Massachusetts, close enough to the coast and probably still at sea level. I had never been this high up in my life. I mean, I'd been to the top of Mount Royal (233 meters high) and driven through Vermont, but now I was above the clouds, and at this point in the story 3,250 meters up (about 10,662 feet, or 2 miles). My body didn't like all this. I wasn't having any muscle pain, my legs and feet were OK, it was just the breathing and chest pain, and the added anxiety that I was going to have a heart attack or my airways would close and I'd faint and no one would save me.

Jeannetto-mania!!

Japan is weird.

AnonymousOK (3:51:31 AM): i feel unconfruble
wicked pumped (3:51:40 AM): hahah
AnonymousOK (3:51:54 AM): your a dirty dirty girl
wicked pumped (3:53:57 AM): i put the a new comic up, maybe im a good drawer after all
AnonymousOK (3:54:33 AM): maby you'll be ok you will br ok
AnonymousOK (3:55:01 AM): but why did you put it in the alone one and not jimmyjanesays
wicked pumped (3:56:47 AM): I dont know, I just dont know.
AnonymousOK (3:57:00 AM): good answer

And thanks Frederik!

Turning Japanese

Let's lighten the mood and forget about all this "bankruptcy" stuff. So, below I document my second attempt of dying my hair (or denying my roots?). What is not pictured it the 30 minutes I spent at the pharmacy looking at boxes and trying to figure out from the design and model on front what exactly the product does. The first stuff I bought did nothing, but it had an amazing applicator that only technology advanced Japan couldve developed. It was like a comb, and the product was completely drip free (and unproductive). The second attempt got the results I wanted plus many bonus side effects.


First, the tools. Who needs directions? I've been doing this since I was 12.


The "foam" was more of a drippy bubbly water, that stained everything it touched.


It was all over the place, my neck, hands... the sink, floor, washing machine. Luckily my roommate was there to document and moisten paper towels for me.


I scrubbed my skin all night, but the next day I still looked like I'd been punched in the neck and hand. And like a gaijin dying to fit in. Which I'm not!

Why I Like My Job

I like explaining random American things to the students for no reason whatsoever. Like today I was hungry and asked a woman if she'd ever had Mexican food. She said no and I spent fifteen minutes telling her all about tacos, burritos, and guacamole (I'd say something like, Avacado. You understand? Ok. Smash. Add ingredients, for example, salt and lime.). But the best part is I get to draw while I'm talking. There was a whole Mexican feast on the paper by the time I was done.

I taught someone else about Thanksgiving. That was tougher than I thought it would be (remind me never to bring that up again). I talked about it while drawing turkeys, pilgrims, indians, the May Flower.

And I explained to a sweet, shy woman how to make hot chocolate and smores (I just ran with marshmallows). And made her promise she'd try it and report back. She giggled. I drew a campfire scene.

One thing I dont like about my job: today was pay day. I got no pay.

Hiro Wrap-Up

Im back from my training in Hiroshima. I wrote a bit while I was gone and took some photos of the super depressing A-Bomb tourist traps. You can see more photos on my Flickr page.

24 September 2007
Well, the euphoric phase ended abruptly. I shouldn’t have wasted all my serotonin on the first two days.

I don’t want to complain. I don’t want a complaining blog. I want to share all the wonderful and bizarre stories of life in a strange new land. But, c’mon, it’s me. As I mentioned before, I do feel a bit isolated here. I blame the lack of internet access as well as all the obvious. I feel like I am talking to myself in my head all day. I need this blog to communicate. Even though Im not online right now I am typing this on my Word program.

An internet addiction is a hard thing to break.

I need time to work all the kinks out. I am under a lot of stress and haven’t figured out my routines yet. I like routines.

After training today I went out with the other newbies to get food. I ordered rice and a “salad.” We parted ways after that (they’re mostly all living in Hiroshima) and I took the street car back to my area. I like knowing how to take this random public transit. That’s really fun.

I went back to the apartment I am temporarily staying in and took off my heels and slacks. Here, even when I dress up I feel like a slob. All the Japanese people dress so well. After changing into my jeans and mumbling a “hello” to my co-occupant I headed out on the town. I had no idea where I was going. First I went to the internet café, and to elaborate on the story with the Australian man who sat next to me, after he showed me how to switch the kanji off he asked me if I was working in Hiroshima. I said “yes” and then he invited me on a cruise on the 14th. Woa. I told him I wasn’t from around here and heading back to Kudamatsu. That shut him up. Why cant I have a non-creepy interaction with someone? You know, like “Wanna go get some coffee or a beer?” Maybe he works for the cruise line, I don’t know.


view from Hiroshima apartment

So I left the café when he was in the bathroom and wandered around Hiroshima a bit. I couldn’t really find anything interesting, so I stayed around the station. I bought a little notepad and pencil and headed for a coffee shop to draw. They actually had soy lattes so that was excellent! I was pretty exhausted and only did a few scribbles. I was feeling bored. So I stayed about an hour then headed back to the apartment.

I contemplated just going in a random direction and getting lost, but I do have work tomorrow. A partner in crime right about now would be nice.

Training is kind of intense. I mean, the work isn’t hard but the semantics of the lesson plans are a lot to memorize. The speaking English part is a breeze. Tomorrow I’ll be teaching my first lesson by myself. Im not too worried, but I do get nervous if Im being observed.

So the company is pretty shady with a few things. You get paid for 44 minutes every hour; a forty minute lesson with four minutes to prepare. But there is no way you could pull all the files, pick a lesson plan, and get yourself together in four minutes. And they know that. It’s sad they don’t just pay you for your whole work day. But it is a salary, so no matter how much work I do in between I get the same pay. But when you’re asked to come in twenty minutes early to plan it really is unsettling. Maybe that’s just my American attitude. At past jobs you weren’t allowed to even help a customer after you punched out.

Yesterday, when I was traveling to Hiroshima, I was having massive panic attacks about work. I took a pill, didn’t help. I heard some more stories about how the company is in trouble. I was already feeling really stressed out because I had to repack and take a bunch of trains by myself and start this new job. I thought I was going to vomit. Walking to the station with my suitcase was torture, with sweat pouring down my face. When I got to the Kudamatsu JR station I had to drag my bag up a ton of stairs, and then go straight down another flight. While I was doing that my bag began to turn, and it would have twisted my wrist around had I not let go. So my suitcase went tumbling down the stairs. Girls giggled. My laptop was inside. I started crying later while I waited at the Tokoyama station. Maybe I wasn’t crying, maybe it was sweat.

As far as my worries about the company as a whole, and my pay, Ive started to feel a lot better. Ive talked to a lot of people about it and it has put me at ease. The company is closing 200 branches this month, but they aren’t kicking the teachers onto the streets, they’re transferring them to other schools, and just kind of consolidating.

Plus, I found out I am at an advantage, because I have a fresh new work visa. Teachers whose visas are about to expire would be more at risk for getting the boot, people say. And at a certain point if the company collapses Id be eligible for unemployment!

25 September 2007
So day two of training was intense. I taught two full forty minute lessons by myself. The first one was a bit rough; it was only one student, a teenage girl. She went through everything super quickly and I had trouble improvising activities for her to do to fill the rest of the time. At the end of the lesson I asked her if she had any questions and she started giggling and told me she’d just had the same lesson right before! Luckily (since I was being observed), I spinned it super positively and told her, “Oh well, that’s great! Now you’ll have no trouble if you’re ever in this situation!” It was another teacher’s error that caused the repeat, but I handled it well and the student understood the mix up. The staff at work are very concerned about student satisfaction and want the student to return.

I went to dinner and had some pasta and coffee with co-workers. When we got back to training I started feeling really sick. Like, I was gunna puke. I excused myself and I kind of had a cold sweat and was totally dizzy and nauseous. I had my next lesson in twenty minutes. I couldn’t focus on preparing at all. I was just trying to keep myself together. And my supervisor was observing this one.

I told him I didn’t feel well, and that I may just jump up and run to the bathroom at any second. He was cool with it. I think people just get sick when they move to another country, you know? But I actually had a great lesson. I kept everything on track schedule-wise, and was really personable with the students. We made some jokes and I kept them laughing quite a bit. There were definitely things I could have improved on, which may not have been an issue had I prepped more. But all-in-all I feel confident in teaching. I taught the two girls in that lesson what “indie” movies and music are (totally useless information).

Oh, and Ive completely forgotten how to speak in a Boston accent. Im not kidding. I was trying to do an impression for my coworkers and I completely blanked. I tried to channel Lauren, and how Id talk if I was with her, but I couldn’t think of anything past “pahk the cah” and “it’s wicked hahd.” Ive been hanging around too many Brits and Aussies.

So tomorrow is my last day of training. When I get into work I have about an hour to prepare two lessons, which will be back to back. Then I have another two lessons later that day. And that’s it. Thursday I go back home and I begin work Friday.

I hope to do some sight-seeing and picture taking Thursday before I leave. You know, so I have it on record that Ive been to Hiroshima, and never have to come back. Actually, I think I come back in a few days or weeks or months for kids training.

Yeah, so… I blog about my workday. Super-fun stuff, eh?

26 September 2007
Ive been here a week, today.

It could be a lot worse. Please, tell me miserable stories so I can think about how great I have it. It’s the rumours that are killing me. Giving me terrible stomachaches and sucking the fun out of all of this.

I guess I have a choice: a) start looking for a new job and do all the hard stressful work that comes with that but garuntees I stay in Japan or b) go with the flow, see what happens, and if it all goes to hell buy a ticket home.

So why wont my anxiety go away?

For the last few days all Ive been surviving off of 7-11 food, coffee, and rice. I don’t mind, because I don’t have much of an appetite, but I think it has a lot to do with being in someone else’s apartment, not knowing where a grocery store is, and working eight hour days. I could really use some fruit.

I cant wait to get back to Kudamatsu tomorrow. I found out that my schedule has been changed and I’ll be working all my shifts at The Mall. Kinda cool, because it cuts my commuting time down to about five minutes, yet I wouldn’t have minded getting a little further away from home every once in a while, into Tokoyama.

I haven’t really been watching a lot of TV, but I flip through sometimes. Today I saw a show that was teaching French to Japanese people. It made me feel like I was fluent in French.

Random stuff about Japan: I cant understand a word anyone is saying. I fell in love with a train conductor this morning (he may have been slightly mentally incapacitated, I couldn’t really tell). People bike on the sidewalks. The schoolgirls do wear those sailor outfits. There is always the sound of the click-click-clicking of a woman’s heels behind you. You can tell a foreigner from a block away [from behind, in the dark] because we walk completely differently (the Japanese have a lot of bow-legged men and pigeon-toed girls). I have yet to see a robot (unless you count the people). Seriously, dudes, Hiroshima isn’t that cool (Osaka was amazing). Men of all ages stand in rows at 7-11’s reading comic books. Some of the girls here are so shockingly beautiful you want to throw yourself off your ninth floor balcony in a bout of self-pity. There is no soap or paper towels in the bathrooms evah. People here get really, really fall-down drunk. I’ve seen quite a few Japanese people being carried out of bars.

Everything is efficient and everyone is perfect, from the trains to the coffee shops. As soon as you stand up someone is there to bow and wipe your table at a café and written notes of apology are handed out if a train is ever late.

Some problems that may become bigger problems: today I was looking for a “Pepto Bismol” anti-nausea type product and stood in the aisle for literally fifteen minutes, and left the pharmacy empty-handed. I did figure out some products for heartburn, diet aides, and gas, but nothing for nausea. I was scared to just try something with a picture of a sad tummy because I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t laxatives. Would hate to take a few of those before work.

I am really tired. Im heading to the Peace Memorial Park tomorrow afternoon, before I catch my train back. Lots of pictures will be taken, I promise.

27 September 2007

My new attitude: enjoy all this while it lasts (meaning: go out drinking a lot).

I went to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima this morning. Not a super fun place to visit, as you can imagine. It was really depressing reading about children being burned to death. But it was pretty, I just wish it wasnt so hot and I wasnt rushing to catch a train. I am a terrible tourist.


Schoolgirls around the Peace Park


A Boat Restaurant

Oh, and please, only encouraging comments. Im really stressed out enough. Lie to me and make me feel better. And my computer still doesnt work, Im using my roommate's. She's downloaded Skype, and you should too, so we can talk for free!

I am not wearing any pants.

Sweat is dripping down my face. Each activity takes all my energy, then I have to sit and drink water. I want to go buy a soda, but I need rest first. It is 30°C or 86°F, and as humid as hell will be.

I met my Australian across-the-way neighbor today. He brought me to get my alien registration card. That was an experience. We got to the town hall, I went to booth six, and the man just giggled at every word I said. He was trying to explain to me to print my name, address, birthday. But the form clearly said all the in English. He was young and had really bad teeth.

Then neighbor-boy and I went and got coffee [at The Mall] which was pretty good. I figured out how to get an iced latte [with real milk, damn]. Aussie-neighbor got a hot dog? That was strange, eh? But the coffee place was nice enough, I may bring my sketchbook there in the future.

Then I went back to my neighbors place, which looks just like mine but with a Pringles pyramid, and we watched the Simpsons with another teacher, a woman from England. I couldnt understand half the shit they were saying. But she knew who I was before I introduced myself, I guess there are only a dozen teachers at the two schools, so a newbie is an event.

It is 3:45am where I used to live.

I hope my roommate doesnt come home early, to see me sitting in my underwear on the couch, using her computer. What a site! If only I could upload a picture for you all!