CCR Updated

I stayed in bed sick today. Nothing serious, probably just a cold. But I had time to work on the Catholic Community Radio website.

So family, go over to Catholic Community Radio Podcast and download EVERYTHING!

After spending several hours last night trying to fix some assorted problems with the server, I found a possible hacker attempt. I slept (poorly) on it and looked at it all with fresh eyes. It looks like someone was able to inject some code into the website php. Luckily they weren't able to do anything, thanks to our hosts. I deleted the code and was able to update the blog's code and database as well. I fixed a small problem that we had. Wordpress wouldn't recognize our files as audio files. They were m4a's. I added a few lines to the htaccess file and bam. Still, just in case I re-uploaded the Our Father's House shows as mp3s.

So please go and download them. You can also subscribe to the podcast so that iTunes automatically downloads them. Please enjoy!

Mt. Aso Festival

Although I botched my trip to Korea, I was able to enjoy japanese hippie time. Normally hippies are stinky, offensive and annoying, but Japanese hippies were quite tolerable. They somehow got their kids not to stare at foreigners like we were aliens. +1 Hippies!

The stage with a hemp peace sign on the back.


Everyone setup tents and lots of them had little shops. In the background, yes, those are teepees.


Some hippie hovels.


Lazy japanese dogs.


We were set up on the edge of the whole deal. Our campsite was down the way. The festival took place on the outer part of Aso -san.


This little girl cleaned all the pots after breakfast. No supervision required! I want one!


Japanese hippies like to write the word "FREE" next to pictures of cannabis leaves. This is misleading. They really mean "Legalize"... Thats how J-hippies roll.


The main stage. You can see a few tent shops. They sold clothes and food mostly.


The teepee in this picture is a little coffee and tea tent. They also served great porridge. More on that later.


Scenery!


More of it! This was just over the hill behind the camp. Some folks were doing yoga or something on the top of the hill to the left of me.


This chap made us organic homegrown veggie chapati.


This doggie woke up when the food was done.


This is the coffee teepee I referred to earlier. We enjoyed chai tea.


After finishing cooking, he played us some tunes on his guitar.


This little Nepalese girl is a natural model and hammed it up for our cameras.


What a cute kid. And the parents weren't weird about her playing with the ugly foreigners.

How to ruin everything

I've been looking forward to going to Korea for almost two weeks. As I was walking out of the door with Chris, I asked him "Do you have your re-entry permit?"

The japanese government in all its wisdom, requires foreigners to purchase a re-entry permit from the japanese government in order to return to Japan. This is a requirement for all foreigners living in Japan. In addition, like all foreigners who come to Japan, when we re-enter, we are photographed and finger printed. This is done under the guise of protecting the japanese from "terrorists".

Chris said "yea, I think so, do you?" I checked my bag and realized that I had never gotten one. The place to get these ridiculous permits is in Nagasaki City or Fukuoka city, both hours away from me. And they are only open about 5 inconvenient hours on week days. My plans were shot and I sat there on the couch mentally beating myself into oblivion. My sieve like memory is something I can never get used to. It helps complicate all my relationships, all my plans, every aspect of my life. I can never view myself as intelligent or clear thinking. The reason I'm so mad about this, isn't just because I can't go, but that I was told to get this permit many MANY times but many different people. I was in the building where they are issued and just didn't bother. I believed I would never be leaving Japan, or that I'd have other opportunities to get it. I've heard there are exercises you can do to strengthen your memory, but I keep forgetting what they are...

Enough wallowing! I shall not be defeated, even by my own brain. I used my friend Eric's wacom pad to trace / draw these pictures. Please enjoy.

Dinner Party

Hanging out with strange foreigners is always a blast. They are so free and wild. I enjoy!

We had a dinner party at Tim's house and ate and ate and ate. We had everything from curry and rice to omelets. Tim really out did himself. At the end of the night, Tim brought out his costume box he'd borrowed from school.



The japanese guy is Ryuta. He's the new office guy at my school. He said he really enjoyed it. He's only 19 so he's not in robot mode yet. He doesn't speak much English, but enough to understand some words I don't know in Japanese. He's an easy going guy and I hope we can hang out with him more.



The ladies used the japanese words that means, characteristically girlish, more or less, too describe me in these pictures. It had something to do with how I was standing and holding my hands, not my ridiculous face. It's so great that we don't have to travel for hours to a big city to have a good time. I feel so lucky to be near such great people.

Osaka

I went to Osaka a couple weeks ago and stayed with Mike. I met long ago through Adam. Mike is the guy that introduced me to the JET Program and told me Japan is the place to be. After 3 years in Osaka, his sole ambition is to leave Japan for South Korea. Apparently South Korea is more forward and in your face than Japan. But literally EVERY other country is. As they say : Let's enjoying pictures from now!

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This is a famous part of Osaka, I think its called Shinsaibashi, or Shinsai Bridge. The neon was pretty bright but not quite like nightless Tokyo.


Shinsaibashi, nearly never dark.


We took the train to Nara, a place with a bunch of Temples and deer deer deer my dear. They are everywhere and are quite pushy.


Mike borrowed my camera and shot me feeding the wee beasties.


We went to Todai-ji. A temple with an enormous buddha. I wasn't able to take a descent picture of it. The pictures absolutely don't do it any justice and I won't patronize the image. So here is the beginning of the entrance.


Here, we see Mike, looking in to the second set of gates into the temple.


I stuck my camera through the fence to try and capture the temple.


This place was so massive and the fields were begging for a game of football or frisbee.


Its Sakura (Cherry Blossom Tree) time and they were in full force. The Japanese revere the Sakura. If I show pictures of the Sakura to my japanese friends and coworkers they gasp at the beauty as if it were their first time seeing it's illusive blossoms.


The next day we went to Kyoto. It was incredible and I want to go back. We were only able to go to two places, but it was enough to fill a day. This temple overlooked the city.


Our first stop was an old Shogun house. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but the tour had signs in English explaining the rooms. In each room where a Shogun met with people there was a secret hiding place for his guards.


Outside the shogun house, the garden provided its tenants natural beauty.


I wasn't able to get an explanation for these, but I really liked them.


If I were a ruler, I'd have my morning tea in the garden. I can't see how could stay stressed or angry with this at their back door.


On our way up to the next temple the streets were crowded, not unusual for a saturday in Kyoto.


A "small" temple on the way up to the big one over looking the city.


In the distance an old pagoda withers in the elements, still in disrepair.


People rubbed this buddha as they passed by. Notice the shopping bag. Buddha grant me peace, guide me to enlightenment and a new pair of shoes.


Collecting temple water for later consumption. Delicious and cold.


A pagoda at sunset.


Outside the temple, a man was painting the scene.


We hopped a train back to Osaka and caught the late afternoon light on the castle.


Well, today marks the start of a new school year. We had opening ceremony today. The japanese leave all humor and entertainment out of these sorts of ceremonies and are quite a bore. Most students fall asleep and even some parents. I had to be on my best behavior (not sleep) because I was sitting in full view of everyone. I'm looking forward to being in the classroom again. It gets boring sitting around.