Unfinished Business...

Or rather, unfinished personal projects.

I enjoy working on projects – like updating our website (japanrider.com), learning new computer skills, studying Japanese etc…Naturally, as you can see by visiting our website which hasn’t been updated since April (I think!), I don’t always get around to working on these projects.

It's not that I don't have time management skills, it just seems like something always comes up that demands my attention – work, riding, social activities; or worse - disinclination, disinterest, despair.

Well, not despair, really, but I liked the way it fit!

But someday I WILL dedicate a couple of cold and bleak weekends to those indoor aspirations! Stay tuned for new and exciting developments:-)

Gotemba Kogen - Winter Onsen!

You’ve heard us mention the Gotemba Kogen before – it is our favourite (and only!) local beer hall. It is a huge complex of restaurants, beer-stalls, a cheese shop, a hotel, two onsens, and a nice outdoor area for enjoying the locally brewed German beer.

Though last night was a bit too chilly to sit outdoors, we decided to drive the 10 km or so to the Kogen after work and just enjoy a hot bath and a nice dinner.

Since we rarely go out on weeknights anymore (I blame laziness!), this was a real treat. The fact that the Kogen was all lit up with their winter “Christmas” lights was just an unfortunate side-effect!

The Gorilla Pod

A few weeks ago, when we were enjoying the offerings of the big city of Fukuoka, we bought a cool little tripod called The Gorilla Pod. This tripod is made for portable digital cameras (it probably wouldn’t hold my D50), and with its flexible legs it can “stand” just about anywhere. For example, here is the Gorilla Pod wrapped around a banister in the woods:

It has been a boon to our photography – no longer will it always look like one or the other of us was totally alone on vacation, as we can now manage to get some photos of us actually together.

Here is the picture that Brian’s camera took from the above position:

Tanzawa: Half a Hike

We spent most of our sunny Saturday riding our Rigs, but Sunday dawned cold, dark and rainy. Weekends are too short, especially at this typically busy time of year, and we didn't want to spend the day sitting in front of the TV, so we packed our cameras, put on our hiking boots, and toward Tanzawa lake, about 30 or 40 kilometers from here.

Despite the gray skies and semi-constant drizzle, we enjoyed the lovely autumn colors and the brisk fresh mountain air.









It certainly was better than sitting inside all day!

Non-routine Routine

Although, as I age, I am becoming more reliant on and comfortable in a routine, I am still very capable of working outside of that routine.

As the sun rises later and the mornings are colder and job demands keep us working longer, we've been doing more night rides than morning ones, and the variety is good!

Everything looks different under the blanket of night - familiar trails become less-familiar challenges, and innocent shrines appear to be hiding forbidden secrets...

Wildlife abounds - Brian saw (and sort of chased) a wild hare in his most recent evening excursion, and we've both done some rustling around in the bushes, surrounded by darkness, sure that the trail is just in front of us but out of view...

With any luck, tonight we will be able to get out for another exhilarating night ride - which would be our first ride this week!

Santa Cruz Bullit - Sold!

Last week I put my downhill bike back up on the auction - and this time I got a buyer! The bike was in great condition, but since I hadn't ridden at all last summer, and won't be able to do downhilling again until at least late next spring, it was only depreciated sitting on the bike rack. So now it's gone and will hopefully be enjoyed by the person who bought it.

If we want to get back into downhilling, we will have to buy new bikes - but frankly, we are both so much into the 29" and Single Speed niches that we haven't wanted to waste valuable riding time on the heavy downhill bikes. So perhaps it is the end of an era after all.

Day of Rest

After a busy work week and a busier day of socializing on Saturday, we had been looking forward to getting out for a good long bike ride on Sunday, but when it dawned cold and rainy we simply decided to stay home and enjoy a quiet day in.

We got caught up on email and household tasks, did some groceries and cooked a nice healthy chicken taco soup, and then we tucked ourselves under the kotatsu for a few hours of TV watching.

With yet another very busy week ahead of us - maybe that was just what the doctor ordered.

Monkey Sighting

Though we technically live in a city (hence the name "Susono City"), it isn't much of a city at all, but rather more of an overgrown surrounded by mountains. As such, we are lucky enough to have great places to go biking and often to spot wildlife such as deer and monkeys (there are also a lot of wild boar around and maybe a bear or two, but we've never seen any).

Yesterday we were driving in Susono and not only did we see a monkey swinging on some power lines, we got a photo of him (or her?) before he got away.

Kotatsu Time Again

Later sunrises, earlier sunsets, and cooler weather - we knew winter was coming, but surely didn't realize that we'd be sitting under our kotatsu as soon as this.

There is something very nice, though, about spending a quiet Sunday afternoon tucked under the warmth of our heated table, sipping tea and spending some quality time online!

Learning Styles: Born to Read

There are many ways to categorize/label a learner's "learning style". For example, it could be tactile, visual or audio. It could be "learn by doing", or by watching, thinking or feeling.

I'd say all learners, whether it is languages or any other skill, learn through a combination of these styles, though one is often pre-dominant.

For me, it is visual/reading. When in Montreal, I lamented my poor French skills. I relied so much on the written word that I couldn't produce an intelligible word.

I was delighted to come to Japan - I figured that I'd finally learn to speak a language as there was no way I could read it.

Well, eight years later - I am very competent at doing various functional tasks that involve reading in Japanese (kanji); I shop online, I handle all kinds of funkiness when auctioning our goods or buying on the auction...I can barely speak a word, and can't pronounce the kanji I read!

Alas - changing a learning style may be harder than I thought!

We're Back!

The JALT conference was really good this year. Sometimes the presentations are hit or miss, but this year I saw more good presentations than not, so overall it was a great success.

We also got to see two new (for me) cities - Kita-kyushu and Fukuoka. The conference was in Kita-kyushu, and when each day was over we spent a few hours enjoying the city and its delights with our colleagues. One of the delights we enjoyed was the view from our hotel room:



On Sunday, when the conference was over, Brian and I headed to Fukuoka city where we spent the rest of Sunday and all of Monday. We enjoyed some great food and did some fun shopping. We pretty much found our way around Fukuoka within the first few hours - it's not such a big city, but it's a great city, and if it is your first time to Japan, I would highly recommend that you land at Fukuoka airport and enjoy a few days of the mildly bustling city .


This is a statue in Fukuoka "central" park:


And, unfortunately, we did not have time to get to enjoy a mud bath, for which Beppu is famous - with any luck, we'll be able to get out that way again and take advantage of everything the area has to offer.

Going to JALT in Kita-Kyushu

Time is going by uncontrollably fast, and it is already time for the annual JALT conference again. JALT, which stands for the Japan Association of Language Teachers, is one of the largest organizations of its kind. There are chapters throughout Japan, with member ranging from authors to university teachers. The chapters frequently have small presentations and events, but their biggest effort, however, is spent on the huge three-day annual conference, which brings together professional teachers from all over Japan, and even from other parts of the world. There are always some great presentations and workshops (and a few lame ones!), and usually some famous featured speakers. This year Jack C. Richards, who wrote the Interchange series, will be speaking; dry though I fear he is, I’m looking forward to seeing him.

Brian and I, as well as most of our co-workers, will be spending our long weekend at the conference enjoying some edifying speeches and even more edifying post-conference beer. Kita-Kyushu is a long (long!) way away, about five hours by super-express bullet train, so we’re leaving tonight straight from work and hope to arrive before midnight to check into our hotel.

I’ve never been to Kyushu, and as we’ve decided to take a couple of days off (Monday and Tuesday) we’ll have a chance to look around the area a bit more, maybe even stay in Fukuoka city for a night or two.

What all this means is that we may not be blogging for a few days…but hopefully will have some fun stories to share when we return.

Jigokudani Monkey Onsen and Winter Reveries

Welcome to November - with December and Christmas not far behind. Time moves more quickly here - we are a day ahead of you:-)

These cooler days with the promise of winter in the air made me feel nostalgic, so a (digitally) flipped through some old photos taken during Christmas 2004 (with our dear, departed Casio). That year, Brian and I drove to Nagano to visit the Jigokudani monkey park and to spend a couple of nights (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) at a nearby traditional ryokan. Jigokudani is in the mountains of Nagano prefecture, not too far from Nagano city. There are no gates or cages (thankfully), and the monkeys just hang out wherever they feel like it – though within the park, there is an onsen bath just for the monkeys, and they love to take a hot bath in winter as much as we do!

Korakukan, the ryokan, is a great, rambling structure that sits just outside the park boundaries. Far away from any city “conveniences” (such as traffic and vending machines), and with well-prepared Japanese food, beer sold in the lobby, and natural hot spring baths that smell faintly of sulphur, it was a great choice of accommodation. But perhaps the best part was that monkeys were everywhere, not just confined to the borderless “park”, but playing on the roof and sharing the outdoor people bath at the ryokan (have you ever bathed with a monkey?).

Originally, the photos weren’t great – they were fogged from the onsen’s steam– but more experience with photo editing software has helped us improve the quality
somewhat:

This is one of my favourite experiences in Japan, and looking at the photos makes me long for a snowfall and monkeys on my roof...



Here are some monkeys enjoying the hot springs: