wrapping up 2014

All right, before I (presumably) make a post to reflect about 2014 as a whole, I feel like I need to fill in all the blanks of the past three months, where so much has happened that I just haven't been able to post more than the bare minimum.

Notable events of the past 3 months (super summary version)
 - went to FujiQ, a famous amusement park in Shizuoka, with some people from my yosakoi team
 - started the interpreting course at Simul Academy, the school associated with one of Japan's leading translation/interpreting companies. Actually I can't believe I haven't written about this at all yet - just another sign of how crazy these few months have been, I guess. I have class twice a week in Tokyo, and I'm the only non-native Japanese speaker and probably the youngest in the class. I'm also the only one who hasn't had formal training before now (I tested into a course that people usually reach after a year or two of study), so it's been challenging, but also very interesting!
 - lots of yosakoi events, including the biggest yosakoi festival in Chiba and our
 - went back home for the second wedding of the year and had a fantastic time with family and friends
 - took the BJT (Business Japanese Proficiency Test) but am not really looking forward to the results...at least it's not pass-fail
 - was invited by a Chinese lady to her house to have lunch and play with her kid - the whole family speaks Chinese, Japanese, and English to varying degrees and they were really nice
 - was in charge of Chiba AJET Thanksgiving
 - interpreted when the mayor of Montreux came to visit our mayor and his family and couldn't get over how adorable the mayor's kids are
 - went to Kamakura with a couple of friends from my yosakoi team, which was super chill but super fun
 - had a good time seeing people again at CIR mid-year
 - held my first ever event, making graham cracker gingerbread houses with elementary school students. The kids seemed to enjoy it and made some pretty creative houses, so I'd consider it a success!
 - finished the AJET report and presented it at our annual opinion exchange (this involved so much time and energy I don't even want to think about it anymore. So glad it's over, but scared to think about how I have to do it all again in a few months)
 - went to the Tokyo Career Forum and met up with a friend from Niigata
 - went to our yosakoi team's end-of-the-year party and stayed out later than I probably ever have in Chiba
 - had a Christmas shabu-shabu dinner with my coworkers and exchanged gifts - I got a nano blocks Tokyo Tower set that I should try to put together sometime during this winter break
 - went to see a gorgeous Christmas illumination in Nakameguro
 - went swing dancing and wandering around Yokohama and Roppongi with a friend from Carleton, which was nice because I don't often just explore Tokyo (and every time I go to Yokohama I just can't get over how nice it is)

If I were to go into detail about everything it would probably takes pages and hours to write...so I won't, even though I kind of wish I would (but am too lazy). And now that that's all written, time for a general post about the year!

kicks in kamogawa and katsuura

So the third Chiba-kun Ambassador's tour was the day after my last blog post, but it's taken me a month to write about it...oops. >_<

Anyway, both years I've participated the third tour has been the one overnight tour of the year, but this year unfortunately I only came for the first day. I'm sad to have missed the second day (particularly the tour of the sake brewery), but I chose to go to my last big yosakoi event of the year instead so I can't really complain, haha.

We started out in Kamogawa, way down on the southern end of the peninsula. I've been there before to visit Kamogawa Seaworld, but it's right by the ocean and really beautiful so it's always nice to go back. Our first stop was to try maiwaizome, a traditional type of dyeing that the area is famous for. I say dyeing, but the part that we did was much more like painting, so it was totally different from the dyeing we did on our last tour last year. Maiwai is apparently the name of the type of kimonos that were worn to celebrate a good catch, and the designs are really colorful and elaborate.

Since obviously we wouldn't have time to design, paint/dye, and complete entire kimonos, we each picked one out of three pre-stenciled designs to color in ourselves with the dye and paintbrushes. Since they said just painting it would be too easy, they also showed us how to make gradients and encouraged us to try it, so I did! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially since it was kind of hard to tell when we were actually doing the painting, since the stencil (which was apparently made out of the same stuff that senbei is) was surrounding all the colors and I could only see the finished product after soaking the dried cloth in water for 24+ hours and washing it out. I love doing this sort of taiken (experience) activity, especially when you end up with something you can keep, so I really enjoyed this. :D

Kamogawa Maiwaizome: Suzusen
Address: 211 Maebara, Kamogawa-shi
Access: 10-minute walk from JR Awa-Kamogawa Station
Hours: 7:00AM - 7:00PM (closed Wednesdays)
Cost: 1500 yen for adults
Website (Japanese only): http://www.awa.or.jp/home/suzusen/

Next it was time for lunch, at a place called Minna no Sato (literally translated: everybody's village), which had places to eat, souvenirs and goods from all over Chiba, a little art gallery, and more. The lunch we had was centered on local ingredients, mainly vegetables, with onigiri and tempura, and it was great. Normally I only have onigiri from convenience stores, so it was nice to have some that didn't come in a plastic wrapper, haha.


After lunch we heard an explanation of the facility in the little gallery, which happened to be full of pictures of the Oga lotus, Chiba City's flower! I was surprised to see them there in Kamogawa but also happy that I identified it correctly, haha. Also, in the souvenir section I discovered a gigantic plush version of one of my favorite yurukyara (mascots): Piinyattsu, a combination kitty-peanut which is super adorable and from Kamogawa. I actually already owned a smaller plush and a little bag, but I've never seen the big version before so I had to get it, and it was definitely the best decision I made that day. So cute and so huggable! <3

Minna no Sato
Address: 1696 Miyayama, Kamogawa-shi
Access: Nitto bus from JR Awa-Kamogawa Station for Tokyo-wan Ferry or Hiratsuka-hongou, get off at Minna no Sato
Hours: 9:00AM - 6:00PM (until 5:00PM from November - January), closed on New Year's Day
Website (Japanese only): http://minnami.com/

Originally after that we were supposed to go ride a boat somewhere, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to the weather...I also missed the boat ride on our first tour (because I overslept -.-') so maybe boats and I are just not meant to be this year. Even though I love boats. T_T So instead we just moved onto our next location, Tanjoh-ji, a shrine of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism. We listened to an explanation of the very elaborate carvings that we found there and also visited a small exhibition about the creator of the sect, and though I will admit that I understood very little of it all, it was pretty cool to look at. Even better, just as we left, the sun finally came out and everything looked a million times more gorgeous.

Tanjoh-ji
Address: 183 Kominato, Kamogawa-shi
Access: 23-minute walk/5-minute drive from JR Awa-Kominato Station
Website: http://www.tanjoh-ji.jp/e_index.html

Our next stop was one of my favorite parts of this tour (tied with the dyeing), a spa in the Hotel Mikazuki (in Katsuura) called Aqua Palace! Unlike onsens, this was a spa, which means that everybody went in with bathing suits and therefore all genders could enjoy it together. There was both an outdoor section and an indoor section, and we went right around the sunset, so the view looking out over the ocean was spectacular! The outdoor section had several different baths, including one that maybe included sake (?), but my favorite was a section where the pool was formed into a little path, with little alcoves periodically set along the circle. I assume they're mostly meant for couples (this place would actually be a really great place to go on a date), but I enjoyed them just the same. The section indoors was also pretty cool, with even more types of baths and falling water, jacuzzi areas, and more. There were a few people who didn't go to the spa and I think they really missed out! Would definitely recommend this as a fun place to go in Katsuura.

Aqua Palace (Hotel Mikazuki)
Address: 830 Tona, Katsuura-shi
Hours: 10:00AM - 10:00PM (last entrance at 9:00PM)
Cost: 1000 on weekdays, 1500 yen on weekends, 700 yen after 6:00PM (prices slightly higher in summer)
Access: 1-minute by free shuttle bus (reservation required)/less than 10-minute walk from JR Katsuura Station
Website (Japanese only): http://www.mikazuki.co.jp/katuura/aqua/index.html

And then the last part of the day was dinner at the minshuku where everybody was staying, Kanda. Needless to say, it was amaazing. One of the first things to come out was an enormous plate of sashimi, complete with (decorative) fish head and tail. One of the best things about going places near the ocean is, obviously, the fantastic seafood, and this menu did not disappoint.  Nomnomnom.

Kanda
Address: 818-19 Tona, Katsuura-shi
Access: 5-minute walk from JR Katsuura Station
Website (Japanese only): http://kandamaru.com/

I went home after that, but apparently the next day they visited the morning market, a sake brewery, and an underwater sea museum! A shame to have missed it, but I guess that's just another excuse for me to go back to Katsuura someday - maybe next time in the summer. :D

monorail mania

Yikes, it's been over a month since my last post! There's just been so much going on that I haven't had the time to report, but today I'll write about one of my favorite Chiba City things: the monorail!

So I know I've written about the monorail before (when I went to the monorail matsuri last year), but I'll just say it all again because I love talking about the monorail.  :D

The Chiba Urban Monorail first opened in 1988, and when all the sections were completed a few years later (construction was done in segments), it became the world's longest suspended monorail at 15.2km total (it's actually in the Guiness Book of World Records; I checked). A year or two ago, the newest model of monorail car, the Urban Flyer, which includes a small section of glass flooring in the driver's room, won a Good Design Award. These are all the major facts that I knew about the monorail until recently, which I proudly boast to everybody who I talk about the monorail with, haha. 

Well, a few weeks ago, a delegation from Mersin, Turkey came to Chiba City to observe that monorail, because they are considering building one of their own. (Actually I'm pretty sure they're planning to build one longer than ours and steal the claim to fame as the world's longest suspended monorail, but...) So I spent the day accompanying them through their courtesy visit to the mayor, lunch, trip to the monorail company, and the Chiba Zoological Park (which for some reason they requested to visit). Except this time they hired a Turkish-Japanese interpreter, which means I hardly had to do anything! 

So obviously the highlight of my day was when we went to visit the headquarters of the monorail, not far from the Zoological Park. Since this was the main purpose of their visit, the delegation had a lot of questions for the monorail officials and took the

discussion very seriously, so by being there I learned a lot more about the monorail, which was pretty cool. For example, I learned that there are generally two types of monorail, suspended (where the rail is above the cars) and overlapping (with the rail below, like a normal train), and that one of the first suspended monorails was built in Wuppertal, Germany, which the delegation had also visited before coming here. And I learned that they considered both types of monorail and also a subway system when deciding what king of new public transportation system to build, but chose the current type because it fit best with the numbers and needs of passengers. Also that the monorail can run with 4 cars at a time, but with current needs it only uses 2. Also a bunch more technical stuff I can't trait remember but was very impressed that the interpreter could translate just like that (because I'd have had trouble; I guess that's the difference between amateurs like me and professionals).

Last lifeline!

Anyway, after lots and lots of talking, we went to tour the facilities! I'd actually been there before during the monorail matsuri, but this time they made us put on hard hats and I got to see a few things that most people probably never have the chance to see. Like the control room, where they monitor the lines that are running, keep track of time schedules, etc. I totally geeked out while watching the monorail moving real time on the screens and seeing the special phone they use to call conductors. So cool! We also went to look at the cars that were in the depot and they explained more technical things I mostly don't remember, other than when they pointed out the thick metal cord that is the last lifeline in case the monorail ever falls... oh and also when they showed the different ways people can evacuate in case of emergency, which includes a cloth chute in a corner of the floor that people can slide down to safety in! I'd love to try that someday, haha.

So basically I had the chance to fangirl all day over the monorail, which was really awesome and informative (have I mentioned how cool my job can be?). Also the other day in doing some research I learned that you can buy both a stapler and a flashlight that are in the shape of the monorail, and went and bought the stapler today... anyway, this ends my rambling about the monorail. If you ever come to Chiba City, be sure to check it out! :)

Chiba Urban Monorail
http://chiba-monorail.co.jp/

a near-perfect day

A couple of weekends ago I had one of those days where pretty much everything went well and I just felt happy, so I thought I should write about it! Plus it involves a new place in Chiba City, all the more reason to write a blog post.

The day started out with a yosakoi performance for a 敬老会, or a gathering to celebrate those who have lived to over a certain age - I'm not sure what the exact age was. This performance was fun because it was on a big indoor stage, the likes of which I haven't performed on since I did Chinese dance in high school (very nostalgic), and also because the mayor was there! There have actually been a couple of times where I have the same schedule as the mayor on a weekend, through a combination of yosakoi and work, but until now he's never actually been around during our performance, even if he was at the same event. But this time I actually saw him in the front row, which was pretty cool. I doubt he noticed me (not sure if I'd want him to, really), but the manager of the Secretarial Division, who always accompanies the mayor on weekend work trips, knows I do yosakoi (because we ran into each other the last time the mayor and I had similar schedules) and even joked about it once, so maybe he saw me. I also finally got the chance to talk to someone on the team about getting all of us who are the same age together for dinner or something, which was exciting.

After the performance, which was in the art/culture hall of Aoba-no-Mori Park, I decided to wander around, because it was my first time there, despite having done translations about it at work. It's a really huge park (for a big city, Chiba has a lot of these), and it's the venue for athletic events like international cross-country races, which is pretty cool.

I was first intrigued by some signs pointing toward a 'sculpture plaza', so I went to investigate and discovered a big open area with various sculptures, trees, steps, and what looked like a Greek temple! There was a group of cosplayers taking photos in between the columns, if that gives a sense of how it looked.

After that I just wandered for a bit in the gorgeous cool autumn air, through a flower garden, by a lake, around an open field, and into a little orchard. I also saw several people feeding stay cats, which were everywhere, and even ran into a couple of kittens! I also passed by a Chiba-kun cafe, which was unfortunately closing but very intriguing.

I didn't want to wander too far or long for fear of getting lost if it got dark, but as I went back through the sculpture garden, I noticed how gorgeous the sky was - blue with lots of wispy clouds, and it was the widest view of the sky I've seen since coming to Chiba. This park is in the middle of the city, but when I looked up I couldn't see any buildings, just pure open sky.

I couldn't help but just stare up at it for a while, and then I heard the sounds of a guitar. A random singer-guitarist started performing nearby, so I lay down on a nearby bench and enjoyed the music while gazing at the sky. It was so peaceful and beautiful and basically just bliss.

I stayed until it got colder and darker and the guitarist wandered away, before slowly heading back to the station. I was in the middle of shopping for some necessities when I remembered that my favorite west coast swing event was that day, and I still had time to make it!

So I hopped on a train to Tokyo and went to west coast swing for a few hours. I hadn't been to this particular event in months, and west coast is my favorite, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

And then I had a good LINE conversation on the train ride home and made it back with 3% battery life on my phone - and that was the end of my almost-perfect day! Yosakoi, nature, kitties, swing dance, and good conversations - what more could I ask for? :)

second chiba-kun ambassador tour

Last month was this year's second Chiba-kun Ambassadors tour, and I didn't oversleep this time! ...-.-'

This tour included several places I've been to before, but luckily that didn't mean it was boring or anything. I was very excited for our first stop, pear-picking in Kamagaya!

I'd actually been to Kamagaya for the first time earlier that month (for a yosakoi festival) and tasted their nashi (Asian pears), so I knew what to look forward to. If you've never had nashi, you should fix that right away because they're delicious and far superior to normal (American) pears (in my of-course totally unbiased opinion, haha). Chiba is also famous for nashi (the hyper-popular unofficial mascot Funassyi - yes, that's how it's officially spelled - is from Funabashi, which is known for nashi, hence the name), and I think Kamagaya is one of the places better-known for it.

To be entirely honest I'm not exactly sure which pear-picking place we went to, but as it happens there are at least 9 gardens with pears and even more with things like grapes and peaches, so if you go to Kamagaya I'm sure you could find somewhere easily. The place we went to had trees with very low branches, which I think were grown that way to make it easier for people to pick. As a short person, I was very happy to be able to pick pears without needing a ladder of any sort, but I also couldn't help giggling at my very tall Ambassador friend Calvin, who was struggling to find a place to stand up. The pears were also all individually wrapped in little paper bags, which was apparently to protect the skin as that type of pear bruises easily. Which made it a little harder to decide which ones to pick, but I still managed to find two big pears to take home. And they had free samples for us to try that they kept replenishing as we devoured them. :D

Our next stop was Boso-no-Mura, which I've been to and written about before. I think it's a great tourist spot for those who want something very Japanese and I was happy to go there again. This time I spent most of the time we had making my very own pair of chopsticks! We were given a long and thin piece of wood whose ends we had to shave into chopstick shape, before sawing it in half, sanding them, and finishing them up with some nut oil. I haven't used them yet, but I was pretty happy to have made my own chopsticks (I think I just like making things). My favorite thing about Boso-no-Mura is how they offer so many activities you can try yourself - making things, tasting things, harvesting vegetables, etc.


Boso-no-Mura Experience Museum
Address: 1028 Ryukakuji, Sakae-machi, Imba-gun, Chiba Prefecture, 270-1506
Admission: 300 yen for adults, 150 yen for high school/college students
Hours: 9:00-16:30, closed Mondays
Access: 20 minutes by bus from JR Narita Station on the JR Narita Line (headed for "Ryukakuji-dai-shako", get off at "Ryukakuji-dai-2-chome", followed by an 8-minute walk)
Website: http://www.chiba-muse.or.jp/MURA/e/ 

And then it was finally time for lunch! We went to a restaurant called Kanetaya and had unagi-don, or eel over rice, which was delicious. Eel is a bit on the pricey side (especially now that the Japanese eel has been declared endangered...I did feel slightly guilty for eating it), so it's not something I eat often, but it was just as delicious as I remembered. For dessert, there was black bean castella, which I think won an award of some sort - it was also very tasty.

Kanetaya
Address: 3692 Ajiki, Sakae-cho, Inba-gun, Chiba
Access: 12-minute walk from JR Ajiki Station (they also have a free shuttle bus for groups of 10 or more)
Website (Japanese only): http://kanetaya.main.jp/

Finally, our last stop was Narita Airport. I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I first heard of the plan, since pretty much all of the Ambassadors are sure to have used Narita at least once, if not many times, but actually I saw some places I'd never seen and learned some new things about it, which was cool. The airport is putting a lot of effort into making it welcoming to non-Japanese speakers, with multilingual guides/tourist info, free wifi, a prayer room, and a brand-new capsule hotel. The day we went they were also having an event/fair in a plaza I didn't know existed, and it was very well-attended - I bet there were just as many locals as airport guests, which I thought was pretty cool. I also learned that there's a scale you can use to test your luggage before going to the counter (which in all my trips to Narita I've never noticed), and an outdoor deck where you can sit and watch planes take off. Very cool.

And that was our second tour! Like I said, not as many new places for me this time, but nonetheless fun and enjoyable. :D

chiba sand art

At my workplace, there are always posters up everywhere advertising all sorts of things: tax payments, business support, but also for events, and last month on of them happened to catch my eye - Chiba Sand Art 2014. It was taking place in Inage Seaside Park, which is a huge park not far from my house that I'd actually never properly visited, and looked pretty cool, so I made it a block event and went with some other Chiba City folks!

Our first stop in the park was a quick visit to the Inage Civil Aviation Memorial Museum, which I've translated stuff about for work but never actually visited. Inage is actually 'the birthplace of civil aviation in Japan', because the country's first civil aviation practice field in Japan was established here back in the day. The museum has some replicas of early biplanes and some exhibits, and they have regular events where kids can make different types of paper planes.

Next we headed off to see the sand art! The first thing we saw was tons of little sculptures all over the plaza, which were made by families. Some of them were really cute, and I bet they were fun to make. And then we saw the main sand sculptures, which were pretty impressive! I think the artist(s?) spent about a week making them, if that's any indication of the scale. The theme was the sea, and I liked how the smaller sculptures involved different animals that blended pretty seamlessly all the way around.

After looking at all the sculptures, we set off to explore more of the park, and we watched some groups performing eisa, a type of dance with drums from Okinawa, before making a quick stop by Inage Beach. Chiba City has the longest artificial seashore in Japan, which includes Inage Beach. I keep telling myself I need to go to a Chiba City beach (after translating things about them over and over again), so it was glad to have finally done so, even if only for a few minutes.

Our next stop (after indulging in some Dippin' Dots outside) was at the Sanyo Media Flower Museum (formerly known as the Chiba City Floral Museum), which is yet another thing I've written about for work and never gone to. It looks pretty small from the outside, but actually it's quite large - with several floors and different areas/galleries. I particularly liked the vegetable garden on the roof, and the giant hollow (fake) strawberry that we had to keep waiting for little kids to leave it alone so we could go in it, haha. For 300 yen admission, it was quite a good deal and well worth it.

Sanyo Media Flower Museum
Admission: 300 yen for adults
Address: 7-2-4 Takahama, Mihama-ku, Chiba City
Hours: 9:30 - 17:00 (closed Mondays and year-end/New Year)
Website: http://cga.or.jp/flower/index.html (Japanese only) 

Finally, we had lunch at Mother Moon Cafe, a cafe that my senpai CIR took me to when I first got to Chiba. It's quite close to my apartment but pretty well-hidden amidst a lot of factory buildings, so I'm surprised people can find it, but when we went it was actually pretty crowded, despite being past 2PM. It's got a lovely atmosphere and delicious food, so it made a nice wrap-up to the afternoon.

Mother Moon Cafe
Address: 117 Shinminato, Mihama-ku, Chiba City 261-0002
Website: http://www.mothermoon.jp/

dokidoki domatsuri

At the end of last month, my yosakoi team went to Nagoya to participate in the Nippon Domannaka Matsuri (often shortened to just Domatsuri), a big yosakoi festival on the same scale as the Yosakoi Soran Matsuri in Hokkaido - over 200 teams from all over the country, over the course of three days.

I was excited to go back to Nagoya, almost exactly a year after my last trip there, and it was pretty cool going to places I knew from studying abroad with my yosakoi team - past meets the present kind of thing. My host mother came to see us, and even managed to find me right before one of our parade performances! I also told a friend from study abroad about it and apparently she came to see us too, though I didn't manage to meet up with her. And my friend Jon was there too, since he had a Japan Rail Pass, and followed us around the whole day taking pictures.

What made this festival so memorable (and worth its own post) though, is that - to everybody's surprise - on the second day we found out that not only had our team won a special judge's award, but but we had placed 1st in our block and were therefore going to the finals! Although all our team emails about the tournament had included provisions for if we made it to the finals, I don't think any of us were expecting to actually make it there, since there were other really good teams in our block with even more members. I was hoping that maaaybe we could make the semifinals, or 2nd place in the block, so hearing that it was the actual finals was a huge surprise. Some people started crying right then and there after hearing the news, and even I got a bit teary.

Going to the finals meant that we would perform our dance one more time on the main stage, in the evening with bright stage lights. Apparently it was also broadcast on local television (in the middle of the night), and we had a TV crew come up to our team before and after the performances, which was pretty cool.

The teams drew lots for the performance order, and we ended up performing 8th, which out of 11 teams was pretty ideal. While we waited for our turn, we sat with the other finalist teams in an area behind the main stage, with a big screen showing us a live stream of the performances. The feeling of nerves and anticipation from all the dancers as everybody waited for their turn, in the dark illuminated only by the screen, was something else. But nothing compared to the feeling of actually dancing on that stage, with the whole team dancing for all their worth. I hadn't been placed in the group solo part for our parade performances in Nagoya, but I was in it for stage performances, so I got to dance it in the finals, and the feeling of dancing without anybody directly in front or behind me, seeing the crowd and the bright lights, in the city where I first experienced life in Japan, is something I will not forget any time soon. Definitely one of the most memorable experiences I've had in Japan so far, and I've done some pretty cool stuff (if I say so myself).

The end of our dance is pretty intense and always leaves everybody out of breath, but this time I think I really danced with all that I had and after the performance I was pretty much exhausted and crying and generally overwhelmed, but it was great. We went back to the waiting area to watch the last performances and wait for the judging results. We didn't win or anything, but I don't think anybody had anything to complain about for the rest of the night, even though we had to go straight back onto the bus and drive back to Chiba, and didn't get back until past 3AM. I had work as usual (because I had assumed we wouldn't make the finals and would be back at a more reasonable time), but I managed to get a few hours of sleep, so it was all good.

And that was my experience at the Nagoya Domannaka Matsuri! :)