Tsukiji Fish market

So last Friday night, I was coming home and as I was leaving my station I ran into about 8 of my friends and they were going to go to the Tsukiji, the worlds largest fish market. I did not have my camera and there was no time to get it either. So the pics are from friends.

The idea was to get to the fish market at about 4:30 am so that we could get in line to have some really fresh sushi. We got within a 20-minute walk of the place and spent 3 hours at an internet café to sleep. Later I will do a separate blog entry about Internet cafes . . .they are interesting.

The place was really busy and I have never seen so much seafood in my life. The restaurant we went to opened at 5:00, but despite being there so early we waited outside to get in for 2 ½ hours and I was so cold and tired. I actually left and went home early because I was just exhausted. My back has been killing me ever since going. But, it was one of those things that you just have to go and see and experience while you are in Tokyo!



See the rest of the pics on my flickr account

Crunch Time

Well, I have been getting into my regular routine back in here Nihon. To bad that the semester is over at the end of the month. This mean I have been really working hard and studying my butt off to make sure I do well. Not that I don't study a lot but I am just making sure that I am getting it.

Work has been going well. I really do like teaching and the income is deffinetly needed. Everything is so expensive here. Mr. Kotaki, the guy I am out sourced to, mentioned that a company is perhaps interested in me going there once or twice a week to teach English to its employees. While I have no problem doing that, Mr. Kotaki is also aware that my schedule is limited and that I will only do so much work. I think he maybe getting to big and may need to hire another teacher in addition to me in the future.

For the last month or so I just feel like we do not get enough fruit in our diet. Last week I started counting how many servings of fruit and vegatables I was getting and it was really wacked. About 12 servings of vegtables . . . no joke . . . and 1 serving of fruit. Some days it was 0. So I bought some pears and oranges and been eating them to get the extra servings. My room has a nice orange smell which I honestly do not mind.

I have uploaded some of the pics from Ueno Koen up to my flickr account so go ahead and check it out. Also I just realized I wrote this straight on here and not in Word first. Oh well . . . . .

PS Mike I am trying to do better with the blog thing!!

busy busy

I am busy studying and writing this speech for my class. I have pics of Ueno park that I took on Saturday and will uplaod them when I get a chance. Sorry! Things are going good here in Japan . . . not to much to report.

Orange Bowl

YEEEEEEAAAA!!!!!! KU won the Orange Bowl!!!!

Kansas 24 Virginia Tech 21


I was able to listen to the game live from a radio station in Kansas City.

Most people know that I hate the special treatment that a lot of the players, particularly basketball, get. But, it was good to see KU do well and show that they could beat VT even with so many doubting.

So I hope this teaches my brother-in-law, Brian, a lesson!!!!!!!!


ROCK CHAUK JAYHAWK!!!!


Game Recap:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap;_ylt=AlmfCyurFIutb1Qa1jZX7P85nYcB?gid=200801030016

Japanese do it better!

Yesterday was my first time flying on Japanese Airlines (JAL) and it was by far the best airline I have ever flown. The only thing that I can say I like better on other airlines are the seats on Midwest . . . all of their seats are the big first class size seats and two per aisle instead of the normal three you generally find in economy. As my flight was leaving the counter staff that helped us board the flight, all 13 of them instead of the normal 4 or 5, came out and were on the ground and waved to our plane as we left. There are also more stewardesses on the plane, you have more movie options (like 8 in economy) that are continually running, better meals and drink options, and if you ever want anything they will get it for you.

JAL is just a better airline because the customer service is just better. This is also true with Japanese businesses in general. You would never have the disgruntled employee who does not even look at you or acknowledge you while they are ringing up your stuff in the process of having a conversation with another co-worker only to stop and tell you the total amount you owe. Even those at the Wal-mart owned Seiyu maintain a higher standard then most American businesses, but it is really low in comparison to other Japanese stores. It rather interesting that most Japanese do not like Seiyu for the reason that they place a lower value on its employees and its customer service.

Anyways, the better customer service does come at a price, but the ticket I got was pretty cheap. Even if JAL were a $100 or so more then another ticket I would still choose JAL.

Its weird to be back in Japan. Most of the people who lived in my dorm are gone and some are leaving today to go north to go skiing.

Christmas in Cali

Well I know I have been slacking at doing the whole blog thing, but I will try to do better. Christmas in California was a lot of fun. It was really good to see Erin and was hard to leave her yet again. However, I will see her in February . . . so not to long of a wait. It was also good to see a lot of people I have not seen in a long time. I was so amazed at how fast my nieces, nephews, and cousins have grown.

One thing that I noticed that really bothered me about being back in the U.S. was how much stuff we just waste. I am not sure why, but it just seems like we waste a lot of things, particularly food. Now I am not saying I am perfect, but in Japan I guess I have just use to not throwing food away.

Also this was my first Christmas without my grandmother (Granny) so I found it really hard to be in here house without her there. It was much harder then I imagined, but I was able to get through it.

I was happy that I did get my fair share of Mexican food and was able to eat at In-N-Out.

I also went on a hot date with my father-in-law to see I am Legend. I enjoyed the movie.

4x4, four peices of meat and cheese, from In-N-Out

Ma and Pa Barker

An Australian, Korean and Japanese made me do it!!!!

I know I have really slacked on updating my blog. But, I have been really busy and with no camera its not like I have any new pictures to show. I feel like my Japanese is improving, but not as well as I wish it would. I am working a little more and have my own set of classes that I know teach.

I am really looking forward to going back home to Ventura County to see my family and most importantly Erin. I think the feeling is mutual.

For some reason I had a notion that Christmas was a little more festive in Japan than what it appears to be. While there are some lights and decorations up at stores, they do not the same like we have in the US. Also I think most Japanese work on Christmas day.

I have gone ahead and posted all my additional pictures that I wanted to show up on my flickr account so please go look at them.

Also I have done the unthinkable!!!!!!! YES I HAVE SOLD MY SOUL TO THE DEVIL HIMSLEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HAVE A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it was good to see that Heather Guernsey was the first person to make me eat my words!!!!!!!

WHAT HAS THE WORLD COME TOO!!!!!

I gave into the pressure of the Australian, Korean, and rest of the dorm into set up an account!!!!

I think that is also why I have no updated my blog, is I have been talking to a lot of people through facebook.

Okay well see some of you soon!!!

PS I think I went a little overboard on the !