Day 0: Osaka, Seoul, Amsterdam, Quito

Date and Time relatively unknown                                

I’m back.

Exactly, it’s been 15 weeks 6 days almost 10 hours since my last entry in to this digital conduit, this space which I say is for me to share with all of you. Excuse my delay, I've been hibernating. literally. 

Having just completed my full one year in Japan, I must say that the country is an unusually cold place for this coastal Californian. The weather there is tempered, not raising too fast or falling to quickly in a relative week. How unforgiving is Japan to some! Hot and humid in the summer months make kimono’s for the women standard, and baggy pants (if they are not themselves in kimono’s as well) for the men a must. At the other end of the year, the very dry, cold months harden this Golden State man's optimism. I can take the heat...the winter chill however, that's something else.

I believe it takes a true Californian to say, at a mere twenty-nine years of age, that this past winter was the first one experienced entirely and in all the would be splendor brought on by its initial cheer and welcome, to its ugly triumph over my trampled will weighing heavy under a heap of ugly snow. It was my first complete winter and I’ll never forget it. In the past, I’ve done the two weeks in Tahoe back in the States and visited my sister in Colorado during a snow storm; I’ve snowboarded down white mountain tops and rolled up snow men for snow ball target practice; I even joined in the young Thai kids who wore sweaters and beanies for their 15-degree “winter” month - but this was a my first complete winter and I'll never forget it.

I shouldn’t have to tell you that this winter was of a different sort. And not in a neat metaphorical or illustrative way. No. This winter was different plain and simple; it was f***ing cold. The whole season was a gradual decline and never “jumped” too far down the mercury reader in an instant. You know the old story of the frog and the boiling pot. So from shorts and shirts, we slowly moved to wearing grey wool socks and sweaters under jackets; the river water we swam in for a mid-afternoon diversions slowly began to be the primary reason to abandon it entirely. Cold beer gave way to drinking hot sake under indoor heaters and eventually it was possible to see your breath while inside. It was frosty windows and pure white snow cold - and it was wonderful.

Wonderful if you can agree that the grass is always going to be greener on the other side. But that grass is only greener because we have ignored our own yard. During the summer months, people love to complain how hot it is and how they wish it was cooler. Guess what they wish for during the winter? So rather than siding with what is never an option, I really enjoyed this winter despite the chapped lips and red nose. It felt that much better to open my home to wondering travelers in the cold, knowing that bite the wind brought with it at night. But don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see the trees and flowers bloom once again.

And they did, yesterday. The first day of the world famous Japanese cherry blossoms. I am indeed fortunate, as the first region to have blossoming sakura trees is my very own Kochi. I am fortunate because I had a day to spend under the trees drinking sake and eating bento boxes before committing myself to a thirty hour travel arrangement to Ecuador and the Galapagos islands. Osaka, Korea, Amsterdam, and now I thirty thousand feet in the air somewhere over the Atlantic west of Lisbon at 842 kilometers an hour.

The case is that I do truly intend to keep this blog up again for daily updates on all the adventures to come. And that’s not to say, at all, that from the ending of 2014 until now has been uneventful – heck no. There were parties to be had, birthdays, graduations, public holidays, Tosa city events, just plain old Tuesday nights, and I hesitate to even bring up the good times had in Cambodia commemorating the entry of the New Year without shaking my head.

Anyways, photos are soon to come, so keep an eye out even at this blog entry once I find a healthy wifi stream; I'm sure I'll come back over it again and post all the cool things that make me smile. Until then, grab a plate of BBQ quinine pig and I'll see you on the equatorial beach. 

Much love,

-A


UPDATE: Ok, as promised, here we are - some photos that made 2014 memorable.

Way back when, when I was just a kid on a bike moving from city to city, I played guest to this young man, Abdika. Then just a scrawny little kid from Bandung, 'dika spent his days hacking, writing computer code and reading tarot cards futures. Today he's a married man.   

Tosa city had its very own marathon, I found out one day while taking my weekend ride. That's one thing I don't understand about Japan still. This is a decent sized run with lots of participants and costumes even, yet there was hardly any advertising for it, and little promotion. As far as I can figure, events occur annually and we are just expected to know that they do. New events seldom form. 

Right, so, I live on the island of Shikoku which is famous for many a things. Perhaps one of its most alluring attractions are the 88 temples scattered throughout the island, which with its governing monk and each with different history. Traditionally, every Japanese, man and woman, ought to walk the 88 temples, praying at each one as they do. Walking the pilgrimage takes about two months and there is no rule that says you must complete the journey in one go. Some people ride bikes to all 88, some charter a bus. Yet however you go, its rare to find people making the trip in the winder. Mostly, only gaijin are seen walking through the snow. 

That's were Rodger comes in. And if you couldn't tell from our matching goatees, he's Spanish. I don't even remember the last time that I spoke Spanish for a whole day, so it was a real treat to host Rodger in my house. He's young, about 22 and is doing the pilgrimage (recently completed) because he wanted to doing something spiritual before, guess what, getting married. 

I also hosted a woman, from the Bay Area no less!, named Das. Unfortunately, I scrolled through my pictures and didn't find a picture of us at all. That's a shame because she was really awesome too, and we I laughed when I heard the word "hella" since its been ages since I've heard the term. Authentic. Now, Das was simply on a layover one day on Shikoku on her way to Korea where she lived and worked for five years. She heard about the pilgrimage and kept the idea in her back pocket until now, a last adventure to complete before heading back to the States.  

The reason I can come to Ecuador and visit my family for a whole month and a half is because school is out of session! Now, this is undeniably the biggest perk of being a teacher, paid summers off. Before I left however, there were many end of year ceremonies to be had. I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't feel deserving of it. It sounds corny, I know, but I was just doing my job. One school even said that they've never rehearsed a ceremony for an English teacher before. 

Gifts were exchanged, lots of bowing and arigoto-gozaimasu's ping-ponged back and forth, and lots and lots of photos where had. I wanted to post some here, but thought they asked me to keep the photos off the web, and I agree with that. In lieu of twenty-seven little Japanese kindergartners holding up the peace sing and shoving their way to the center of the frame next to me, I'll show you this: a thank you card decorated with portraits of yours truly through the eyes of five year olds.    

You know his name. Just under a year since we last saw each other, Go and I finally were able to reconnect. This time, I was to play host and I made sure that he would not forget one night in Tosa. 

When I picked him up form Kochi station, I was taken back from his route here. Most people, normal people, take the coastal route. But Go, being the adventuring spirit that he is, decided to take the mountain route. High elevation and probably very cold still, the path he choose was not the most comfortable. Often times however, it's the paths that are more challenging the yield the stronger memories and impressive stories. As is the case here. 

A quick dash home in a sprinkle of rain, a few brews and laughs later, and it was already way into the night.

Knowing that Go was on his way to my house for about a week and half, I decided to have a small party for his arrival. Really, any reason would be enough to call in friends to drink and eat at my house, but for Go I wanted to make sure we were stalked. This picture is actually from his phone, as he is not seen in the picture, so I am sure he has the memories to look back on one day. We did go out to a bar after this and stayed out late, but that's all I'll say about that here =)

Japan just wouldn't be the same without cycling. I am continually amazed by the beauty of the clouds and mountains and forests that I find wondering the countrysides. A year in and my jaw still hits the floor at times when I least expect it, wondering through a new town or over a river, its all just so fresh and calm. 

Besides its nature and wonder, however, Japan is still uniquely modern. Restaurants, libraries, cafes, museums, tech stores, and all sorts of conveniences make up the other half of Japan. its a special balance to keep between nature and industry, between tradition and modernity.  

I'll leave you with this, another night painting the town red. By comparison, you might think that my bar habits are a little much, but believe me when I say its all relative. The people in Tosa love, love, to drink. Men and women, old and young. I am not joking when I say I've seen grandmothers shut down bars. Its part of the charm here.

On my left is Brandon, a new teacher from Oklahoma and LSU fan. Only a mere two months in, he's settling in with the language and the culture. On my right is a married couple we met at the bar who we talked with all night. Its a tried and true method for leaning a language outside of the text book, what the Japanese call nomo-nication; a split of the English word "communication" and the Japanese nomo which of course means to drink. I love it here.


Ok, OK, that's it for now folks, I'll see you again soon.

Love,
-A