Continue reading »]]> Who resumes a bicycle trip with an 80 km long leg after a one month long lasting recovering break will be punished. Which is the case with me. But it’s my own body which punishes me.

After the first pass coming from Matsumoto

From Matsumoto I’m making my way via two smaller mountain pass to Nagano. However with one pass you wouldn’t want to mess with. After the tour I’m so exhausted that I’m simply too weak for the next two days to have a look at the city. For those who were hoping to see some photos of the former winter Olympics city may be becalmed. After the end of the cyclonara tour I will pay my friends in Manza (nearby Nagano) a visit again and there might be some time to see the city as well.

My host Alex, 24, from New Zealand teaches English in Nagano. As a topping on the ice cake of my two day recover phase I’d like to indulge my body a very special Onsen. I heard from an Onsen (hot spring) in which also Monkeys have a bath. Alex have heard from it too and so we take his car to get to the Onsen about 40 km north of Nagano (City). As we know this Onsen is one of Nagano’s (prefecture) main tourist attractions we are surprised by the low entrance fee. Only 500 Yen!

And there are really Monkeys jumping towards us after entering the Onsen area. But lockers are nowhere to be found. When approaching the Onsen we quickly realize that it’s an Onsen exclusively for Monkeys. And well… contrary to my expectations these monkeys are not trained and also use the Onsen as a toilet. Intelligible that it’s of little interest for the hygiene-conscious Japanese people to share this Onsen with the monkeys. But since Alex and I skipped the shower this morning we are – at least regarding the smell – in good company.

Snowmonkeys

[Show as slideshow]

Special thanks to: Henry Ngai, U.S.A (text revision), Alex Laing, New Zealand, Toru Momose, Japan; the whole Manza team, Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; Lilith Pendzich

Continue reading »]]> to snow you a bit

My last week in Manza deep in the Japanese Alps. We had snow again… And some last photos from here before I head for Tokyo on Wednesday and to Seoul on Friday. There will be further web page updates and more infos about the tour within the week.

Continue reading »]]> Video Mania

Well, well, it’s once again video time. But this place is simply too beautiful not to be filmed.

Beagstaign von Daaaaaaaaaaaax

Manza Mountain

My colleague Hayden wanted to do some snowboard tricks. Unfortunately the slope was not steep enough. He explains the healthiest way to walk and why walking is so healthy.

Surftrainingsecrets.com von Daaaaaaaaaaaax
Next week, will have a written post again. This time about Karaoke. So long!

Special thanks to: Hayden Rhodes, New Zealand; Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; Lilith Pendzich;

Continue reading »]]> Life is aMANZAing

It’s once again video time. Enjoy the first winter sports pictures of this blog! It’s an New Zealand/Bavarian co-production. Err… The second part explains everything about the Japanese People and their German obsession.

Have fun!

Life is aMANZAing! von Daaaaaaaaaaaax

[Show as slideshow]

Special thanks to: Hayden Rhodes, New Zealand; Okamoto San, Japan; Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; Lilith Pendzich;

Continue reading »]]> Mountain Mania

So far I have been very lucky with my stay in Japan, and with my jobs as well. I am currently working in an Onsen Hotel in Manza. The mountain site is simply a dream come true, with crystal clear night skies – a nice diversion compared to Tokyo’s starless sky – and we have already had our first snow.

as you can see... you can get high. Even with only a little snow!

Sulphur pit and snow :)

Shrines even in the mountains

But every job has its down sides. My shift is split into two parts. The first shift starts at 7:30 and lasts until 10AM, the second shift begins at 15:30 and lasts until 22:00PM. I don’t have to schedule time for breakfast or dinner as we are given a 30 minute break during each shift to eat. However, you have to show up for work ten minutes before the actual shift starts. I’ve been told this is a regular procedure here in Japan. Obviously I was very lucky regarding this rule so far, as my previous jobs in Tokyo did not require me to perform 20 minutes of volunteer work every working day. But, according to my Japanese friends, volunteering is the norm. A quick analysis shows that I am losing 1.200 Yen (15 AUD, 15,62 CAD, 9,84 GBP, 15,36 USD) per week, 4.800 Yen (60,06 AUD, 62,50 CAD, 39,39 GBP, 61,48 USD) per month and 24.000 Yen (300,32 AUD, 312,50 CAD, 196,94 GBP, 307,34 USD) during my five month stay. (I only have a two month contract since the economic situation is still fragile). I wouldn’t want to know how much the unpaid work for the year adds up to for the entire working population! My job doesn’t pay all that well, so my loss is quite low. However, there is no exception for well paid engineers, specialists and managers regarding the rule. In the western world, the unions would mount their barricades. Yet here, this is considered completely normal. Still, I’m not all that compelled to complain. Besides the extras I mentioned last week, I receive two free Japanese lessons each week! As it turns out, the lessons are worth more than what I lose through the volunteer work. For my Japanese colleagues, this is actually unfair. Japanese lessons are the only lessons that are offered, which is useless for anyone who already speaks the language. It might even be beneficial to the hotel to offer other languages for those who already speak Japanese.

Manza Onsen Hotel

And here’s a little something for penny-pinchers who go to the gym from time to time: Here, you could easily save the money from a monthly membership. Anyone who has to heave 300 solid wood chairs in a row onto the tables twice a day and put them down after cleaning the floor, carry 44 pound meal pots several times per shift from the kitchen to the buffet, and still have enough strength left over to clean really doesn’t need the gym any more. Even though the work is hard, I like it a lot. I have learned much about Japanese meals and how to cook them. My colleagues are very nice and explain everything to me. I never find the work tedious and there is always something to do. Since I work in the kitchen and in the dining room, work is diverse and time flies.

Japanese Mountain: You Rock

The hotel itself reminds me a bit of Club Mediterrane or Club Aldiana of the European Alps (actually, there is a mountain range in Japan which they call the Alps as well). Indeed, conversations with fellow men is not handled as laxly as it is in those clubs – the Japanese politeness is never forgotten here – but the buffet is also good, rooms are furnished similarly as well (as far as I am concerned, Club Med still prevails with a TV-set per room – or did so until the late 90′s). This is unthinkable in Japan of course, where rooms in lower price class come with a communal toilet, which we only see in hostels. Like in Kinugawa (week two) the guest can choose between rooms with traditional Tatami mat floor (rice straw mats) without a bed, but with a futon, or a room that resembles that of the west with a varnished wooden floor and its own toilet. Only the most expensive rooms have their own bath. Usually guests wash themselves with other guests in showers right next to the Onsen tubs. And like the clubs there is an event going on every night. While the programs of the clubs concentrate more on sketches, dances, quizzes or comedies, there are mostly musical acts here with – for western ears – quite kitschy songs. I was floored when I heard Johannes Brahms ‘Guten Abend gut’ Nacht’/'Lullabye of Love’ performed on a trombone. Most Japanese people seem to like it. The Japanese tand also has something special. When they are not playing trashy western style music it is at least their very own culture and custom which is nourished and cherished. When you have to listen to U.S. American or British charts for the thousandth time in western clubs, it would be nice to have the chance to listen to traditional Alps cultural music. Even if it’s just to get to know a bit more about the culture. A club dance spared to the guests.

Captain to the bridge!

more than meets the ice

Next week, I will explain why the bath water here is so healthy, what the Japanese Emperor has to do with this hotel and I will discuss more about the environment.

Special thanks to: Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; Zack Rosenthal, U.S.A (proofreading); Lilith Pendzich;

Continue reading »]]> Here comes the mouse!

Die Maus

Friday. My host Celine has no internet access at home which is why she is taking me to her university, Dokkyo university. There she hands me her wireless password and heads off for her lectures. It’s simply great. This is how I even get to know Japanese student live. Even though I can’t make out any major differences to western universities. As you’d expect from a university there are many lecturing halls, a huge library and of course the canteen. The food there is good. What puts me in a good mood is that the Dokkyo university uses “Die Maus” from the German children’s edutainment TV show “Sendung mit der Maus” as its mascot.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. Well, but I don't want to prevent him from his plan to study.

.

Schoolgirls visiting

Presented in Surround

I’m moving once again. This time to Bryan, an American host who had lived in Germany for some years and is – how else could it be – an English teacher. Since it is weekend once again it is my good fortune to get treated once again to a weekend trip to the mountains.

Mountains close to Tokyo

Together with Bryan’s friends I’m treated not only to delicious Japanese food once again, but also the best Japanese alcohol later that evening at a married couple with whom Brian is friends. But they are also equipped with a good range of western style alcoholics and I mix them some drinks. Well, I once worked at a disco…

Cozy Cocktails

Suddenly some kind of mobile phone sound breaks the chilled atmosphere. I’m asking myself if I’m this drunk already or if this is a damn good surround sound cell phone. I could swear I’m hearing the sound from at least three spots in the room. “Oh man, does it have to interrupt our nice conversation!?” two of Brandon’s friends are complaining and get their cell phones out of their pockets.
“What is it?” I’m asking.
“That’s the earthquake warning system”
“Everybody is quiet for ten seconds.
“Here it comes!” says Denise.
“And the room starts to tremble for about five seconds.

Never isolated!

It’s Monday evening I’m waiting at Kitaurawa to be picked up by my new host Andy. The Advent of couchsurfing to the Japanese population seems seems still to be in progress since I am mainly hosted by foreigners. And so this time. Andy gives me a warm welcome in a beautiful British accent. We are on our move to his house as we talk about hospitality and and how he ended up in Japan. Andy 45, a journalist specialising in the Japanese metal industry, comes from Portugal but grew up bilingual. He writes for a British magazine he tells me.

Poster wall of Andy's 16 year old daughter.

It is a nice 3 stories house. Minimum twice as big as the one I’ve stayed in at my host in Shibuya. Andy is married and has a 16 year old daughter. Even though the week has just started and there are no holidays, wife and daughter are not around: “My wife lives at the other side of Tokyo together with our daughter. She attends a kind of elite high school there. It would simply be too long of a commute every day, so my wife and me decided to rent a flat for both there. It is not common to live on your own in Japan when you are 16. It’s actually normal to live with your parents when you study at university. Sounds weird hm? No rioting.”

“Rioting?” I’m asking.

“Well, I mean a lot of things are so preordained. Few chances do develop your own life. I think this is what Japan misses a bit. A lot of things are overly organised. Which, in my opinion, leads to the fact that only a few people – too few -, form their own opinions or are really individual. Or let’s put it this way. Of course they have their own opinions, but they rarely express them and do even less to change certain grievances”

“Hm, this might be a reason why there are almost never demonstrations going on on the street. And if they happen at all they are not really big.” I’m thinking.

Andy is cooking a Moroccan dish for our dinner: “I came to Japan years ago where I found and married my wife. She is a trained biologist and held a well paid position at a company researching cancer back then. After a few years, we had decided to move to Portugal where I had a job which meant she had to give up her job here in Japan. Even if it was difficult for her in Portugal, she did actually very well in finding a job there. But after some years we realized we both didn’t belong there and decided to go back to Japan again.”

“May I ask about your wife’s job?”

“Sure, she’s a housewife. When we came back from Portugal she applied once again for research jobs but could not get any work. Only minor positions like an assistant job or being a secretary.”

“Was the branch in which she researched no longer lucrative, or what was the reason for it?”

His respond comes quickly almost with a little anger: ”No! Her ‘mistake’ was that she gave up her job to leave Japan! The Japanese people consider this to be not reliable. So when she came back nobody wanted to hire her based on this ‘argument’ that she could not longer be considered reliable. It does obviously not count how talented you are! This country has such a pool of wasted talent. You know, this is actually one of the few things that makes me furious about Japan! And after some years she simply couldn’t stand those kinds of jobs any more and this is how she ended up being a housewife.”

I’m bewildered.

Despite the fact that Andy is the only bread earner in the family, he still takes his time to host and cook for me and even for showing me around the next day.

As much as I like his house there is something about it – about Japanese houses in general – that drive me mad/crazy. The missing insulation. No matter how many windows, window shutters, curtains and doors you close you hear the street noise constantly. Of course it leads to the result that a huge amount of energy is being wasted. The walls have a width of maximum ten to 15 cm (6 inch). There’s no glass wool or polystyrene insulation in between preventing the hot air from the outside to funnel into the air-conditioned rooms. And it’s of course right the other way around in the winter time. They rather waste three or four times more energy than they need just because it’s not common at all to insulate houses here. Also the windows aren’t double-glazed. Neither the ones in the air-conditioned trains nor those in houses. My last host Ryan told me he heats his flat with a movable kerosene heater. All this in one of the richest countries of the world? How does this fit together?

To save energy the government recently tried once again to introduce the “Super cool business” including a casual dress code that aims to save energy by not having to use the air-condition to cool all the guys in their stuffy suits. Not only since 3/11 – but especially since then – Japan’s economy suffers. Like in most economic crises of the modern times, people don’t spend more money than necessary which leads into an economic vicious circle. To combat this Japan’s government introduced subsidies for household devices. Andy’s family made use of it. However, the fridge came from a Japanese company but was produced in China. So it did not really help the domestic economy. Instead of such measures, Japan would be well advised to facilitate the local construction industry – a branch which does not really export and is thus totally reliant on domestic demand. With this Japan could kill two birds with one stone. They could save a decuman amount of energy so that they wouldn’t need as many nuclear power plants as they have today. And it would be a blast for those sector of Japan’s economy that cannot rely on exporting their way out of trouble.

tombstone

The next day Andy shows me around in Omiya. Since he has a well equipped family household he provides me with a bicycle and we both cycle to Omiya’s main temple. We are on our way to it as Andy stops to show me a Buddhist churchyard. Beautiful, so far I haven’t had the chance to enter one and see the graves close up.

At the cemetery

Once again on our way to the temple. Only a few minutes later he is interrupting our trip once again to show me the newly built Saitama Shintoshin station and its city centre with it’s new built stadium. Yoko Ono’s John Lenon museum used to be in there as well. Well, this is Japan’s attempt of beautiful modern architecture. All those buildings are pretty new.

Omiya Metro station

Omiya's stadium

As Japan suffered a plethora of bomb attacks during the second world war this temple is unfortunately not as old as I was hoping for. But it’s nice anyway. In addition to that, I haven’t been to a place in my life where I’ve seen so many turtles at once in one pond!

Omiya's Tempel

turning turtles

Omiya's temple

Even on our way back we can’t make it in one go and have to stop off to do our dinner shopping. But I’m grateful for it because Andy is the first host who shows me that there are actually greengrocers that have bargain prices.

At some time in the morning the bell is ringing. A man in a blue overall wearing a building-site helmet is passing Andy a little, plastic packed towel as a present to apologize in advance for eventually occurring inconveniences which might happen within the next days as they are just about to begin to paint the neighbours’ house.

Hm, maybe I should try something like this when I’m back in Germany before having a party which might get a little louder and could also lead to disturbing the neighbours. Should some drunk people roar too loud, the neighbours would even have something to plug into their ears as tiny as this towel is. Hm… but on the other hand such a small towel fits quite well into the mouth of a roaring drunk. Hm… one shouldn’t give up on every new idea too quickly but on this idea, it’s maybe better to throw in the towel!

On Wednesday evening I’m moving once again. On my way to my next hosts I’m facing a new problem. All I can say about it is: “Don’t use Tokyo’s metro during the rush hour with two backpacks!”

Once again an American-Japanese couple. Dylan, 30 recently married his wife, 29. They both are preparing for leaving Japan and want to gain foothold in the U.S.A.

Oh, well …

Oh, did I forget to tell? This Thursday is my first working day at the day care. Yes, I took the job! But it does not mean that the job search is over yet, as this job is unfortunately not a full time position and I need to find at least two further jobs in order to finance my living here. Well, since one should not really measure its value based on just one day, I’ll wait a little until I think a little deeper about it. So I’m asking for some patience please….

Special thanks to: Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services, my hosts and especially Andy for the text revision.

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