9,915 miles away.

Sayonara, blog!

2011-01-18T07:50:00.000+09:00

I found a vintage typesetter's drawer while I was down in Asheville visiting Mary & co. These are almost all the treasures I acquired while I was there. I shudder to think how much money I spent...

Anyways, that's it for this blog. But dry those eyes, and bookmark this, and be sure to keep up with what I'm doing over in Australia!

中国

2011-01-03T17:55:00.002+09:00


Nothing says "Welcome to China!" like blueberry flavored potato chips.

First things first: I sincerely apologize for the delay in posting this. I went to China back in OCTOBER, and it's now JANUARY! I am such a slacker.

Without further ado, may I humbly present - China.

Please be advised all captions are short and sweet (sorry), and there will be a brief recap of what I've been doing since I've been home, along with a preview of 2011's plans at the conclusion of this post. There will also be time allotted for Q & A.

Downtown Shanghai, the entertainment district.

2010 World Expo in Shaghai, China. Beautiful weather!

Where's Mere?

First pavilion - China!

The closest I will ever get to Tibet, I bet.

Shaanxi

Yunnan

Beijing

Inner-Mongolia

I don't know the provence, but the little white statues remind me of the wood spirits from a Japanese classic anime called "Princess Mononoke".

Next country - New Zealand!

Kingdom of Cambodia

Maylasia

Singapore

The Phillipines

Thailand

One of the Scandinavian countries. Finland?

Latvia

Sweden

Iceland

Turkey

The closest I will ever get to Cuba.

USA! USA!

We watched a pretty moving short, silent film about a little girl who wanted to build a garden in the middle of a run down apartment block. SPOILER ALERT! The whole community helps out.

Awwwwwwwww.

Angola and Nigeria

AH MOTHERLAND! Russia

(in case you couldn't read the cryllic on the front)

Inside the Italian pavilion, by far my favorite one. Hence why I took so many photos.

Chair sculpture/tree

A high heel, made of high heels!

Ze pasta room.

The United Kingdom's pavilion, which gives me the overwhelming desire to touch it.

Me in front of the Chinese Pavilion

Nepal

Indian and Saudi Arabia

South Korea

Up close at the side of the South Korean pavilion. I didn't have enough time to check out the North Korean pavilion, which is a shame, because everyone knows 'North Korea is best Korea'.

If I ever get to design my own house, I want my bathroom to look like Uzbekistan.

Japan

Hong Kong

Maccau

Chinese pavilion at night.

And that concludes my time spent at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. From here, I hauled ass back to the flat I was staying at, grabbed my bags, took a taxi to the train station, and literally ran onto my overnight Beijing-bound train as the doors were closing.

I only paid around $45 for a one-way 'hard sleeper', which means there were six people to a cabin. It wasn't bad at all, plugged in my iPod and was asleep in no time. The only draw back to buying the cheapest ticket available is that it stopped every 30 minutes (or so it seemed) so it took FOREVER to get there.


Snug and secure in the middle bed.

And now, Beijing!

The front entrance to the Forbidden City.

The Meridian Gate at the Forbidden City.

(I think)

A bronze crane statue.

A bronze turtle statue.

The Hill of Accumulated Elegance

The moat surrounding the Forbidden City.

The skyscraper to the left is the highest building in Beijing, and I was staying with a very nice guy who lived quite close to it.

Hungry? Fried scorpion.

Tian'anmen Square

After a full day of wandering around "downtown" Beijing, Barry and I ate delicious Chinese food at a mom and pop shop near his apartment.

Tuesday, I woke up bright and early, and took myself down to the Beijing South Railway Station and bought a ticket to Badaling, to see and walk on the Great Wall of China.

View from the train

You can start to see parts of the wall that are overgrown or dilapidated as the train approaches the more well-maintained parts.

Just to let you know, this wall is deceptively steep.

Barry and I at a mall in Beijing, grabbing something to eat before I head down to Suzhou to visit John David.

Beijing Railway Station

And now, Suzhou!

John David's apartment complex, which is next to a Kraft factory, so his apartment always smells like cookies.

J Dizzle and his e-bike.

"Have you seen our canals?"

JD and I, touring Suzhou via e-bike.

Of course, I convinced JD he NEEDED to buy the drum kit for Guitar Hero.

Autobots - Roll out!

Hunter and Tucker betting if they could fit through the well opening and land safely on the table below.

Nightly light/water/techno show at the man-make lake.

K-Phu's birthday party.

Yes, there is really a bar in Suzhou, China called the Drunken Clam, and yes the sign works. Amazing.

So that's all for China. I have a million pamphlets/papers/brochures if you want details, but it's taken this long just for photos, so it'll have to do.

NOW! Since I've been home, I have:

Eaten lots of American food

Seen most of my amazing friends and family

Played with my nephew

Driven whatever car I can steal

As for future plans, yall get ready for another new year, and another blog, because I'm moving to Brisbane, Australia February 1, 2011.

Why? you may ask.

Why not?

"It's called a wicket..."

2010-10-18T07:10:00.003+09:00

I don't know what's up with the blog, but I still can't upload any photos. I can't make promises, cause I'm busy and that's also not how I roll, but I'll try to post about China soon. At least words.

Ok, that's done, so, TAKATSUKI! I moved to Osaka, and have been teaching at Takatsuki school for two weeks. It's good, the staff and students are super nice. I don't have to take a train to work, just walk, and the weather's been beautiful. The new teacher's here, he's a cool guy, Alex.
Yesterday, me, Abrahm, Lamika and Alex met up to go to Matt's for some playground fun. Matt moved into a nice, new apartment, and he lives very close to a pretty big park. Matt, being Australian, taught all us Americans how to play cricket. IT. IS. AWESOME. But probably because
1. We're really bad at it
2. We were running around on sand in flip flops, therefore sliding quite a bit
3. A 8 year old student was kicking everyone's ass

After we thoroughly mangled that game, we taught Matt how to play baseball, which is crazy, because he's from Australia, not Mars, they know how to play baseball, right?
Matt: "I've seen it on TV once."

Get outta here.... It was all in good fun. We ran around for about 4 hours, then went back to Matt's for snacks and watched some British comedy shows. "Little Britain" is truly a test to my English listening skills, and apparently, I suck.

So today I'm cleaning, packing, buying shinkansen tickets to Tokyo to visit Miho next weekend! And generally PREPARING TO COME HOME.

I'm excited. You should be too.

Technical Difficulties

2010-10-10T18:43:00.002+09:00

I'm having issues uploading photos to the blog right now, so once I get that sorted out, I'll have all the photos and stories from China up for your viewing pleasure.

Elephant Cafe

2010-09-23T09:27:00.005+09:00

Wednesday evening, I met up with a student, Tomoko, in Osaka to grab dinner. Tomoko is going to graduate school for art therapy, and her undergrad degree is in photography! We have a lot in common. She's coming to visit America next summer, and we're going to road trip from Seattle to New York.

She took me to Elephant Cafe, which has a lot of Indian, Asian, and Spanish influences. The food was fantastic! I think Mom would love this place.

Mark your calenders...

2010-09-20T22:47:00.003+09:00

... because I'm coming home.

Oct. 26. I expect to be greeted at the arrival gate with a PBR, Taco Bell, and your smiling faces.

Moving to Takatsuki...

2010-09-20T10:15:00.003+09:00

I finished work on Friday, and spent Saturday cleaning and packing. Shipped my things to Takatsuki, then went out for dinner with a few teachers from Myodani school.

I'm all moved into Takatsuki, and I'm going shopping for a few things today. I'm also watching a fascinating Japanese show that follows a young guy around as he eats local specialties, and interviews the people who supply the ingredients. I wish I could understand what they were saying though.

Sayonara, Mere Chan!

2010-09-12T17:30:00.011+09:00

Saturday was my birthday, my farwell party, and the new teacher Chellsea's welcome party! We were very busy. For Saturday students, it was my last class. Some students brought me presents! They are all super nice.

Asuka, me, and Daisuke. They're about 7 years old.

Yuka and Daisuke. Yuka made me a very pretty bracelet.

Me and Saori sensei in the teacher's "room" (it's more like an alcove). You can see the bracelet Yuka made me. It matched my shirt perfectly, I might add.

Me and Kaede, easily my favorite kid student. She's only 6, but she's super smart! She speaks great English.

Noriko

Rie

Miyuki

Masayuki and his daughter, Momoko, who is terrified of me.

Saki, me, Chiaki, and Shoko. They are super giggly high school students. Wonderful young ladies.

I have no idea why Ryosuke has this look on his face. I swear I didn't do anything.

Me, Chitose, and Shizuko. Super friendly, nice women!

Masaki, being ninja, me, Hideaki, and Satoshi. Hideaki showed up a photo he took on the subway of a ninja. Seriously, a ninja on the subway. It was amazing.

Hidekazu, Hiroyuki, and me. The Three Jokers. I will seriously miss these guys. It took me a moment, but I realized they're both bending down quite a bit. They're pretty tall guys.

Megumi, Jun, and me.

Arisa, Yoshimi manager, me, and Erika. Arisa and Erika are cheerleaders at their university.

I'm much more excited thank Ayako.

Naoko and Miki

My Japanese mothers. Makiko, Sumiko, Chiyoko, Kyosuke, and a newer student (sorry, I don't know your name!)

Me and the Odyssey girls. Miki, Naoko, Tomoko, and Aya (who was eating something haha)

Koki

The staff performed a beautiful rendition of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", with alternate lyrics.

"Mere chan, Mere chan,

I can't hide my crying face.

Mere chan, Mere chan,
We're going to miss your smiling face."

Chika

Oha chan and Yuchika

Even Kaede danced.

Saori, Chika, Yoshimi, me, Risako, Kaede, Yuchika.

I have no idea what's up with the makeup. It's a Japanese pop culture thing.

The one, the only.... Hiroyuki Suzuki.

Then we went to karaoke!!!! Tomoko and I were feeling pretty great!

Miki Chan

2010-09-05T12:10:00.004+09:00

Me and Miki, a high school student, in the lobby at school. Saturday was her last class, as she's taking time off to focus on the ridiculously difficult university entrance exams.

A Winner Is You!

2010-08-27T10:18:00.002+09:00

Guess who's photo was selected as a Finalist in Lonely Planet's 100 Million Guidebooks Competition? (I'm under Japan)

Mere's Asian Adventure - Chapter 4: China

2010-08-27T08:46:00.003+09:00

So, I'm staying in Japan until October 22nd now. The company needed a foreign teacher at a school outside Osaka, and they offered me a two week vacation before teaching for three weeks if I did it.

I need to pay for this trip somehow, right?....

Anyways, the new plan is this: Finish working in Kobe Sept. 17. Fly to China, Couch Surf with Kylie in Shanghai for three days, take the train to Suzhou and stay with John David for a week (hopefully taking an overnight train up to Beijing, and seeing the Expo in Shanghai), then flying back to Osaka. Teach at Takatsuki School for three weeks, then come home.

Right now, my only mystery is what I'm going to do between when I finish work in Kobe, and when I fly to China (a gap of 5 days). I think I might be house sitting for a friend while she's in Okinawa!

Tickets and destinations aside, I do have to do a bit of paperwork and running around to even be allowed into China. As an American, I have to obtain a visa from the Chinese Embassy in Osaka, before I ever depart for China. If you were from any country, except the US, it will cost $30. How much if you're an American, you ask?

$130.

Daaaaaaaaamn. That's quite the increase. For only one country. And since the embassy's in Osaka, I have to go there this Monday, and drop off my passport, then go back next Monday to pick it up. Geez, what a hassle.

Chadwick!

2010-08-23T21:03:00.001+09:00

Finally got to hang out with my nephew...

Obon in Taiwan

2010-08-16T22:37:00.022+09:00

I headed over to KIX via airport limo (which, come on, it's a bus. Can't we just call it a bus?) at 10:00am to meet Janet, my travel companion! Janet is an absolutely lovely British girl, who's also a teacher. Prior to this trip, we'd hung out maybe 5 times. Leap of faith that we wouldn't hate each other (spoiler: we got along really well).

We arrived in Taipei around 3:00, and successfully navigated to the hostel. While still in the airport, I started half joking/half moaning about how people just stand on the moving sidewalks. IT'S NOT A RIDE. I apologized to Janet for already complaining, and she gave me the nicest/strangest compliment:

"You're voice is too soothing to be mean."

I think her British ears pick up something no one else does, because while I've been told things about my voice (it's not a good singing one/I sound like Kathy Griffith), soothing isn't one of them.

After successfully checking into the hostel, which was awesome, we walked to a convenience store for a snack and a beer. Here is a treasure I bought, because it looked vaguely familiar....

What the....?

Oh, it's just Busch.
(Montana Jeff in the background assures me he was making that face on purpose.)

The Meeting Place, the hostel we stayed at. It's the first floor of an office building. The owner, Dave, is incredibly nice and helpful. If you ever go to Taipei, I highly recommend staying here.

Me, Janet, and another traveler stayed here. Pretty comfy.

Monday morning, we met up with Janet's friend from Uni, Jess, and her boyfriend, Paolo, to go to the beach in Keelung. Here's the ticket counter at Taipei Main Station.

Keelung Beach.

Group shot on the train back to Taipei. Janet, me, Jess.

Strange statue in the middle of Taipei Main Station.

We ate dinner at Granny Nitti's, which is a lot of "foreign" food (Mexican, American, Indian, etc.). I just love the Engrish.

After dinner, we went to the night market and walked around.

We stopped at a fruit stand that Jess and Paolo always go to, so the owner knows them very well, and gives them free drinks all the time. Her daughter, a 10 year old named Ivy, tries to teach them Chinese. It's hilarious. Her English is amazing!

Figs, dragonfruit, and mango.

Ivy

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. You can't see it though, because we're standing on the steps of it looking toward the gate. On the left and right are the National Theater Hall and National Concert Hall, respectively.

Tuesday, we took a bus to Jiufen. This town is famous among Japanese tourist as the inspiration for a few of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films.

A cemetery on the hill.

Beautiful Chinese temple.

Shopping streets.

These were some kind of very soft candy.

Knick-nack

Good luck cabbage.

In an attempt to walk to a shrine tucked away in the mountainside, we decided to hike to the top of this mountain. Here we are at the beginning. Mecha genki.

I thought those specs were on my camera lens, but they're birds.

"*gasp* We *gasp* made it *gasp*" collapse

After a much needed shower at the hostel, we went out with two other travelers to get mango shaved ice, which Dave highly recommended. I imagined a Slush Puppy. This was nothing like that. It was shaved ice, smothered with mango pudding, and fresh mango pieces on the top.

Then we walked to Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world!

Silly photos

Taipei City from the 101st floor of Taipei 101.

World's Fastest Elevator. I'm forever spoiled.

Wednesday we took the High Speed Railway down to Koahsiung, on the southern coast. We Couch Surfed with Jamie, an English teacher from Maryland. He was super nice and really funny, and we enjoyed picking on Janet's British accent when she said "Mary-land". For dinner, we had a local specialty: noodles, hamburger, and egg, all still bubbling hot. It was really good, and super filling.

Me, Jamie, and Janet.

Jamie's apartment is huge! And cheap! Unlike tiny, expensive Japan.

The room Janet and I stayed in.

Thursday, Jamie had to work, so Janet and I walked to the beach. It had black sand. It was overcast, but the water was incredibly warm.

We got bored, so Janet buried me. Everyone else on the beach (three lifeguards and two couples) all stared. She made me a mermaid!

After a nice day at the beach, we found a really posh rooftop bar, and had a beer and enjoyed the view.

Note the side matching braids. She's such a copycat.

Friday, Jamie took us surfing. I discovered I'm not too bad at surfing, but the ways were shit.

Temple near the beach.

View from Jamie's balcony.

Back in Taipei, Jeff let me see his Canon 10-22mm lens. *drool*

Nightmarket behind the hostel.

Stinky tofu. Absolutely disgusting.

Our flight left at 8:30 am Monday, so we had to get up at 5:00 and all that jazz. When we got to the airport, they asked us to take another flight, that took off 10 minutes later. No problem, and they gave us meal vouchers so we could have breakfast. Sweet. When we checked back in, they told us they had bumped us to First Class. For free. YES!

I am so spoiled now.

Great end to a great trip!

Summer Sonic 2010

2010-08-07T22:36:00.006+09:00

I took Saturday off work so I could go to Summer Sonic with Miho and Asami! Summer Sonic is a huge music festival in Tokyo and Osaka. It was incredibly crowded, hot, and humid. Even though we put on sunscreen, we sweated it off pretty quickly.

Asami went to England, and brought us back some cute Union Jack socks. Miho had to model them on the train.

Asami and I on the shuttle bus to the venue.

The British band My Passion. They wear more makeup than I do.

Chillin' on the grass, watching Ocean stage.

Taylor Swift

Stevie Wonder's set.

28 Days Later...

2010-08-02T19:20:00.002+09:00

I only have 28 more days of work left. That doesn't include weekends or Obon holiday, but hey, it made for a catchy title.

This weekend was incredibly low key. I met up with Lamika in Osaka and we went to see Inception. It was great! Our seats however... since it was the first of the month, and a discount day, it was sold out, but we got seats!... on opposite sides of the theater... in the first row.... Whatever, the movie was more than awesome enough to make up for that.

Today I cleaned massively, and have put most of the junk from my apartment into trash bags to be thrown out on the correct collection date. I should pack for Taiwan, since I'm going to Summer Sonic on Saturday and won't really have time this week.

FAQ

When are you coming home?
Probably between September 20 and October 9.

Where are you going to live?
Initially, I'll be in Burlington. Then, who knows.

What are you going to do?
Whatever the hell I feel like, I suppose.

South Korea's got Seoul!

2010-07-28T20:30:00.008+09:00

Sunday I woke up bright and early (5:00am) to give myself plenty of time to catch the bus to Kansai International Airport. I made it there with two hours to spare, so I sat and listened to podcasts until I boarded my plane for Seoul!

Amanda met me at the airport, and we took the subway into town. After a wonderful lunch (Mexican!) we walked around the Korea War Memorial Museum. They have a lot of tanks and planes outside, and you can even climb on a few of them!

The view from Amanda's apartment in Haebonchong oogori.

Korean War Museum

Creepy super realistic painting of North Korean soldiers.

Later on, we met up with Amanda's friend Matt and ate Korean barbecue. It was AWESOME.

After dinner, we hung out at the local bar Amanda and her friends go to, and played foozball for a few hours.

The next day, Amanda had to work for a few hours in the middle of the day, so I wandered around Itawon, the foreigner area. Also, there are lots of shops, literally any store you can think of in the States is here. So I wandered around, and bought a purse.

Delicious Korean porridge.

Tried to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, but it was closed on Tuesdays.... so I went to the National Palace Museum of Korea, conveniently located right beside it.

Skyscrapers in Myeong-dong.

The fountain in Fountain Square.

My best friend Mary has this same car.

Me and Amanda at a rooftop bar.

Earthquake

2010-07-21T08:47:00.002+09:00

I took so many photos at the wedding Sunday, that I'm having a hard time editing them! Please be patient, I will post them soon...

In other news, I woke up at 6:19am to an earthquake. It only lasted 2.6 seconds, and it wasn't sever at all, but my immediate thought was: I'm not wearing any pants. I don't want to be discovered in the rubble without pants. Luckily, it wasn't bad, and was over quickly, and my sanity returned, but it was ok, since no one got hurt.

Oli and Nika's Wedding

2010-07-18T21:51:00.000+09:00

Sunday, I rode my bike from my apartment to Minatogawa Shrine, to shoot some photos for Oli & Nika's wedding. Oli is a friend of Gordon's, and I met them both last year at the Suma Beach Party. It was incredibly hot, but a beautiful wedding, and the reception was a blast!

Oli & Nika and their families, before the ceremony.

Walking into the shrine.

Oli's mom said it was her right to thrown flower petals at the happy couple. I couldn't agree more.

Making an entrance at Fish Cafe.

Everyone was clapping and cheering.

Nika's cousin, who's a newscaster from Tokyo.

Oli's parents dancing.

Oli's sister singing.

Hannah and Matt, Oli's best man.

Jun making crazy faces.

Mojo Hands.

Looking Forward

2010-07-13T23:24:00.003+09:00

40 more days of work left. Jackpot.

I'm pretty excited to be coming home soon, although lately it seems it's not nearly soon enough.

But! It's not all homesickness and blues over here, I'm looking forward to going to Korea for four days in a couple weeks, vising a university friend, Amanda. Then I work two half weeks, and I have a week vacation, Obon! My friend Janet and I are going to Taipei, Taiwan! Yessssssss!

Last weekend I stayed home, weeded out some old clothes and basically threw away some of the junk I've accumulated thus far. I went to sing karaoke with Tim and Nana on Monday. She loves singing 90s power ballads, so you know I was rocking out the backup vocals to some Lisa Loeb.

Next week is dodgeball and BBQ in Osaka, and then The Great Japan Beer Festival at the Kyocera Dome! I promise to take lots of photos and post em soon. Have a great week, can't wait to see yall (and I mean that from the bottom of my heart).

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T15:18:00.005+09:00

Sunday looked like rain, but Tim and I went out near Kansai Airport to Riku Town, and went to Jason's BBQ. Everyone I knew was there. It was fun, hot and humid. We drank, played with sparklers, and waded in the ocean.

Me and Spencer

Kelly and Jessica

Then, a group of us went back to Umeda and sang karaoke!

And this morning Janet and I went to the travel agent's and bought tickets to Taipei. Here is the actual conversation:

Janet: We want to go to Thailand, on these days, and we can't pay more then ¥70,000.
Travel Agent: Let me check.... hmm, I'm sorry, but we don't have anything in that price range.
Me: Well, where can we go for under ¥70,000?
TA: How about Taipei?
Me: That sounds great! We'll go! Where is it?

Seems I have quite a bit of research to do....

Hotter than Hades

2010-06-28T17:08:00.003+09:00

I do love summer, but holy crap can we get a break from this humidity? It's like walking around in a sauna.

Last night, spur of the moment, I went into Osaka to watch the England-Germany World Cup match with some of my mates (can I mention how much I love British English?). The game started at 11:00, so we were committed to staying out all night. Tim just moved to Juso, which is just over the bridge from Osaka. Peggy and I stayed with him in his baller new apartment. However, he has no furniture yet. Which was kinda funny when he apologized for us having to sleep on the floor.... but we always sleep on the floor. Finally dragged my ass back to Kobe, to find my bike had a flat tire. I sure do love pushing a bike uphill in blazing sunshine without glasses.

Tonight, I'm going to Tsukaguchi to see my friend Aaron whose leaving tomorrow due to a family illness. I hate that he's leaving, he was a good friend. I wish him and his family the best.

So now I only have four doki left (people that trained together).

Like a Deer in Headlights

2010-06-20T22:03:00.001+09:00

I Love Tortillas

2010-06-14T12:03:00.005+09:00

I woke up Sunday to heavy rain. Of course it's raining, it's my day off! I really wanted Mexican food, so I decided to make tortillas from scratch and buy a box of hard taco shells and seasoning. I grabbed an umbrella and rode my bike down to JR Kobe station where they have a fairly decent import section in the grocery store. It took me about 20 minutes, and my jeans were soaked by the time I got there.

Having secured my purchases in the bike basket, I got one hell of a workout biking back uphill, one hand holding an umbrella, with a heavy basket. Le sign. I miss cars.

Once home, I started making flour tortillas. Amazingly enough, they came out pretty well, considering I didn't have proper measuring spoons and my measuring cup was in milliliters. Damn metric system.... Also, once I had made the dough, let it rest, and formed it into small balls, and let it rest again, I realized I didn't have a rolling pin. And since necessity is the mother of invention, I used a tall boy Kirin beer. Worked like a charm.

I ate a few tacos, and then went to Port Island with Tim, because he wanted to visit IKEA. It was the first time I've been inside an IKEA. Meh. Not a huge fan.

When I got back home, I watched "Hot Tub Time Machine". It was pretty funny.

Now it's Monday, and I ate two egg and veggie burritos for breakfast. Delicious. Hooray for the weekend!

Also, happy anniversary to Mom and Dad, and Andrew and Amber!

I'm an Aunt!!!!

2010-06-13T09:41:00.003+09:00

My brother's son was born this week! Chad Timothy Mock weighs a whopping 9 lbs. 11 oz. That's over 4.3 kg!!! I really hate that I can't be there to hold him, but my mom sends pictures of everyone else holding him, so that makes me feel better.

My parents called me around 10:00 am my time, or 9:00 pm EST. So that means it was already the next day here. I feel bad, because I will forever think this kid's birthday is June 10.

Special Lesson week went by fairly quickly, and it was eerily quiet at our school without a thousand children running around. I taught a movie lesson and a telephone English lesson. They went pretty well. One of my favorite students took both lessons on Saturday, and we talked about such great movies as Pulp Fiction ("What ain't no country I ever heard of!"), The Godfather, and The Blues Brothers ("We're on a mission from God."). I had the good fortune to explain a few key scenes and dialogue, including correcting misheard lines.

"Actually, he isn't saying 'boosh sheet' (whatever that is), he is saying 'bullshit'."
"Oh. Like dog shit?"
"Yea, sorta...."

Highly entertaining. So now it's my day off, and it's been beautiful and sunny and hot all week.... so today, of course it's raining.

In good news, I got two days off work at the end of July, and now I'm thinking of taking a short trip! Should I go to Okinawa, Hokkaido, or South Korea?

SOGO Rooftop Beer Garden and the Worst. Movie. Ever.

2010-06-07T21:41:00.005+09:00

Bought this Pepsi Baobab today. Japan loves crazy flavors. This one tastes like flat nasty ginger ale.

Farron got a big group together, and we went to SOGO Department Store to the Rooftop Beer Garden. We thought it was ¥3000 for two hours, but apparently there was no time limit!

Gordon and Tak, who is back from Ireland for three weeks while he works out his artist visa and moves to LA.

Fumie, Farron, and I.

Song, a Korean student of Anne's, and Gord.

Tak and Gordon just loooove purses!

Fumie! Seriously, one of the sweetest girls I've ever met.

And then, the worst thing possible happened.....

Song was taking a picture, and dropped my camera, and the lens cracked off. It's broken.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
*Drops to knees and shakes fists in the air*

Luckily for me, Song is a decent human being, and she is going to buy me a new one. That really sucks though. Anne assured me that her family is really well to do though, so I don't think it will be a huge financial burden.

Monday, Miho came back to Kansai!!!! She really wanted to see Sex and the City 2, and being a good friend, I said sure! So Miho, Asami and I went to Mint Kobe and watched it.

Worst. 2 1/2 hours. Of. My. Life.

Now I'm home, and I have to finish planning two special lessons that I'm teaching all this week since we don't have group lessons. I'm ready to be home. Le sigh.

2010-06-04T08:55:00.002+09:00

Summer's here, so it's getting hotter and more humid every day. Why did I decide to grow my hair out? It's like a guaranteed scarf. Perfect for summer!

(I know it's been stated before on the internet, but there really does need to be a sarcasm font.)

So I'm trying to plan out a trip to Korea, Okinawa, and Hokkaido before September. I have a week off work in August for Obon, but Curt might be coming to visit.

In September, I'm planning to spend a few days in Shanghai with Jessica's brother, JD. Also, I just found out I could take a ferry from Osaka to Shanghai for pretty cheap. However, I think I'll be in Tokyo before I leave Japan.

My parents and I were going to meet up in Spain, but they've since decided they want to go to Beijing, which is pretty sweet. I mentioned it to Jen, and now we're researching the Trans-Siberian Railway. We might take the train from Beijing, through Mongolia, to Moscow. I could continue and take the train all the way to London, too. I think in total, that would be like, 21 days or something.

Just some thoughts...

Koto Concert / Anti-Fascist March

2010-05-30T21:06:00.011+09:00

Sunday morning, I met up with Meiko at JR Sannomiya, and we heading up to Takarazuka to watch her friend Aya play the koto in a summer festival, along with other traditional Japanese instruments.

I really enjoyed listening to them play. It was very beautiful! They played "Sakura Sakura" first, which is the most popular koto song. Amazing.

However, the more I listened, the more I'm convinced that the origins of MIDI and video game music lie in koto.

This man is Granddaddy's doppelganger.

Anti-Fascist march in Osaka.

Riot buses

DJ Seth

Protest with a police escort. Only in Japan.

Sayonara, Mika Chan!

2010-05-30T08:39:00.003+09:00

Saturday was Mika sensei's last day teaching at Myodani. She's moving to Tokyo to marry her boyfriend. Mika was always so happy and fun, and I'm really going to miss hearing her running down the hallway in heels at school.

We had a party after school for her, but she had to run home to tell the movers what to ship before she came back. When she walked in, we all had those noise makers and yelled "Congratulations!"

Today, Meiko and I are going to Takarazuka to watch her friend Aya play traditional Japanese music on a koto. Please check out this article, especially Koto today, paragraphs 3 and 4.

Chirashi Zushi

2010-05-23T23:13:00.003+09:00

Today I went to a student's cooking class with Chika, Koki, and Saori in Sumiyoshi, in Kobe. It was fun, but difficult for me to understand as it was all in Japanese. We made chirashi zushi, and Japanese soup. I hope I can make this again at home.

System Panic aka Hissy Fit

2010-05-17T22:01:00.000+09:00

My computer was having serious issues shutting down randomly since I got back from Kyushu, so I finally went to Shinsaibashi to the Apple store and bought OS X Snow Leopard. Hooray, working computer! Lots of pics coming soon....

Tim's Birthday weekend & Kobe Festival

2010-05-17T14:48:00.009+09:00

Sunday was Kobe Festival, a 40 year old festival that celebrates the city with food, music, and a parade. Farron, Kazuki and I went to check it out, and then walked around Jazz Walk for a bit.

And now comes the first samba group. I had no idea samba was so popular in Japan, but apparently Brazilians are the only nationality legally allowed to immigrate into Japan. Also, Brazil has the largest Japanese popular outside of Japan.

Guy dressed as... a nurse?

Okinawa traditional drumming. It was the coolest!

I want some of these shoes.

Wait, am I in Vegas?

Little kids dressed like this... unnerving.

"Hun, have you seen my smoking house backpack? I'm going to be late for the parade!"

Boy Scouts

Eating kushikatsu (fried stuff on sticks) in Osaka with Meiko and Megumi for Tim's birthday.

This Is Fes!

2010-05-09T15:41:00.010+09:00

Sunday I met up with Chika, Saori, and Vince at Nagata Station to go to Nagata High School's festival. This year, it was titled, "This Is Fes!" , named after the Michael Jackson documentary, "This Is It". It definitely had a MJ theme.

Also, I kept wanting to say, "This.... is.... SPARTA!" from 300.

Maho and I. She's a student at our school, and a third year high school student. She's a member of the tea ceremony club, and they were wearing kimono and serving tea and traditional Japanese sweets.

Maho and her mother.

Yuji (another student) and Chika. He's such a lady killer.

Saori and a group of high school boys. Same uniform, same haircut.

Nagata High School

This Is Fes

I don't know which club Yuji belongs to, but his class was having a shooting booth. It was fun, you shot corks at paper cups. I feel like this was banned in America a long time ago for being too dangerous, which it's not, unless you're a moron.

Vince, Chika, and guns.

Weeee guns!

Trying to make America proud. Vince assumed I would be an expert marksman since I'm American and all.... stereotype much?

All the classrooms have a huge TV.

Saori and Chika

Maho preparing tea.

Nanako (another student), Vince, and Saori

Me and Nanako

After that, I met up with Ayako in Minatogawa and we went to a festival there, which totally reminded me of the Carousel Festival in Burlington.

They let me dress up like a naval officer.

There were many different international foods, so we ate Sri Lankan food. It was delicious!

This band was walking past, and when I giggled, they wanted to take a picture. I love Japanese people.

Golden Week - Day Five and Six - Miyazaki

2010-05-04T21:59:00.010+09:00

Bright and early Monday morning, I headed to the Kagoshima Bus Center, and took a 3 hour bus ride to Miyazaki. I couldn't find a hostel online, so I was staying at a Toyoko Inn Hotel, and OH MY GOD it was such a luxury. My own room! A TV just for me! A HUGE bed (compared to the small futon/bunk beds I had been sleeping on).

Since it was a little too late in the day to head out to Udo Jingu Shrine, I walked about Miyazaki trying to find a restaurant to eat the local specialty, chicken sashimi. However, the one recommended to me by the tourist information clerk was SUPER expensive, so I passed.

Downtown Miyazaki

Koinoburi (carp flags) flying in a shopping arcade.

Couldn't afford nice lunch, so I ate Mexican. Japanese mexican food is always funny for me, because it almost tastes the same, and the restaurants are always over decorated.

But they do have great presentation.

My flip flop tan is getting pretty serious.

Tuesday morning, I woke up around 6:00 to eat and catch an hour and a half bus ride out to Udo Jingu Shrine.

View of the Miyazaki coastline from the bus. I really wanted to get out and spend some time on the beach.

Udo Jingu Shrine

I bought 5 clay beads for ¥100 to throw and try to get into this circle. The first one went in! None of the other 4 did though.

You have to throw the clay beads from the balcony (left) to the rock with a rope circle on it (lower right).

Sitting by the side of the road in rural Miyazaki....

... missed the bus by 4 minutes....

... so I just sat and waited for an hour. Thank goodness for Stuff You Should Know Podcasts.

Around 3:30, I took a Limited Express from Miyazaki to Kokura, and had 8 minutes to run through a station with a bunch of other people to catch the last shinkansen to Shin Kobe. I was lucky, and got a seat even though I had a non-reserved ticket. All in all, it was 7 hours by train to get home. I'm super exhausted. But it was a great vacation!

Golden Week - Day Four - Kagoshima

2010-05-02T16:13:00.012+09:00

Sunday morning, I was up at 7:00 and on the Tsubame Super Express bound for Shin Yasuhiro to transfer to the connecting Kyushu Shinkansen to Kagoshima-Chuo. The Tsubame trains are super nice, with nice wood paneling inside, and cushy seats. It was a short ride though, 35 minutes from Kumamoto to Shin Yasuhiro, and 30 minutes to Kagoshima.

Once I left the station, I went down the escalator and saw...

Abraham Lincoln? Or is that Louis Poole in a Halloween costume?

On the ferry to Sakura Jima, the active volcano, the koinobori (carp flags) were blowing in the wind. Unfortunately, it looked like a massive storm was brewing, and the wind picked up a lot.

Sakura Jima

On Sakura Jima island.

Oudoor foot onsen

It was a little hot, and turned my legs pink, but it was super relaxing. I could get used to this. I'm making a note to visit an onsen back in Kobe. I can't believe I still haven't done that yet.

Traveling alone can be very fun, because I can be completely selfish and I don't have to consider what anyone else wants to do or eat or see. However, it can be pretty lonely, too.

Riding a bike and taking photos at the same time. I'm such a multi-tasker.

DINOSAUR PARK! I was so happy.

ROAR I WILL EAT YOUR BABY

... AND YOUR OLD PEOPLE!

Me being a dinosaur. I had to put my camera in the basket of the bike I rented to take this photo.

Like I said before, I rented a bike. Dinosaur Park was up an INSANE hill, like, four switchbacks. I was breathing pretty hard when I finally reached the top. The bike itself was fine, but the brakes were SQUEAKY. It sounded like the Craken as I was riding down the ungodly switch-back slope from Dino Park.

After I took the ferry back to Kagoshima, I got on the wrong tram, and I asked a girl which one went to the station. She spoke great English and walked with me to the next stop for transfers. Kyushu really does have some super nice people.

The hostel was clean and safe, but if the other hostels were like Nordstrom's and Bloomingdale's, this one was like.... Wal-Mart. But hey cheap hostel right?

Golden Week - Day Three - Kumamoto

2010-05-01T16:12:00.008+09:00

I left my hostel in Nagasaki at 8:00, and took the streetcar to the station. I stopped at a Lawson's to get some chicken for breakfast (hey, don't judge), and I saw this sign:

Ok, no big deal... oh wait, what does that say?

"Let's enjoy singing and dancing a limited time to one's heart's content". Quite the juxtaposition.

Four hours on a bus and I arrived at Kumamoto station. After walking in circles for literally an hour, I called the hostel to have them help me find the damn place. They walked outside and waved to me. On the bright side, the roof had a view of Kumamoto Castle.

... and a funny sign. I don't have a Scooby-Doo what 'to shinny up' means.
* My British friend taught me "Scooby-Doo"

Then it was time for dinner. I decided to try the local specialty, basashi. Basashi is (prepare yourself) raw horse. Yea.
Well hey there Mr. Ed.....

I biked over to a local butcher, and paid ¥380 for 100g.

And then I ate it. With a little soy sauce and some spicy ginger. Honestly, it's pretty good. It has a similar texture as sushi.

Onward, to Kumamoto castle!

Paper lanterns lined the street.

I'm getting pretty good at taking my own picture, if I do say so myself.

No matter what you do in your life, you will never be as badass as this man. He is in full armor, riding a damn TIGER! Also, he appears to be wearing a wizard hat. Maybe he's the Japanese version of Harry Potter.

Kumamoto Castle made out of toothpicks.

I have found every Toyoko Inn in Kyushu. They always seem to be right around the corner from where ever I am. Also, one of the older couples in the hostel was from Kobe too. It's a small world, after all.

Golden Week - Day Two - Nagasaki

2010-04-30T19:54:00.012+09:00

I woke up fairly early, walked the 2km to Hakata station, and got on a bus bound for Nagasaki. it was only a two hour ride, and it was pretty comfortable. I don't mind traveling by bus, because it's cheaper, and when it's a short dive it's nothing bad.

Good morning, Nagasaki station!

Giant inflatable golden dragon

Bridge in front of my hostel, AKARI Nagasaki International Hostel. It was so nice! There were a lot of foreigners there, and I made a few friends.

Panda says look both ways.

This looks like a New York City avenue to me.

First things first - Lunch! Nagasaki Champon, a local specialty. It's thick udon noodles in a rich, pork broth with a whole lot of random toppings. I swear there were things in there I couldn't identify. I ate them though, it was delicious, and just pretended it was chicken.

Nagasaki City Tram

The drivers say "Hasashi masu" which I thought meant "Here we go, you better hang on for dear life" but apparently it just means "Moving".

I walked up a hill to Glover House, and this is the map view of Nagasaki from the first balcony.

And the actual view.

View from the top. I didn't go in, because it was ¥500 and meh, I've seen gardens before.

Oura Church, Japan's oldest Gothic-style church.

This street was lined with vendors. I stopped to buy a few keychains for friends, and the salesman though I was French. He was almost as surprised to learn I was American as I was to hear he thought I was French.

Hypocenter of the A-Bomb.

Hypocenter Park statue.

Urakami Tenshu-Do ruins

Peace Park fountain

The Peace Statue was constructed in 1955. The right hand, pointing skyward, warns about the threat of the atomic bomb. The left hand, stretching out horizontally, symbolizes world peace. The closed eyes represent a prayer for the repose of the souls of all the atomic bomb victims.

After Peace Park, I was thoroughly exhausted, so I went back to the hostel. One of the British girls staying there, Juliet aka Jules, was kind enough to go find a kaiten-zushi (roto sushi) shop with me, even though she wasn't hungry. Over sushi, I found out she has been traveling for 9 months, through China, India, and Thailand. She's a physiologist (British for physical therapist). I didn't ask how she affords it because that's rude, but we did exchange information so I'll eventually see what the deal is haha. While at the sushi shop, the waiters were flirting with Jules, and one even winked at us. It was quite cute, and very un-Japanese.

Golden Week - Day One - Fukuoka

2010-04-29T19:53:00.011+09:00

I started Golden Week by waking up at 4:00am to take a shower and bike to Minatogawakoen station to take the first subway to Shin Kobe to take the first Shinkansen to Hakata Satation in Kyushu.

It was cold, windy and rainy when I left, but once the shinkansen started moving I was much happier. I love the shinkansen!

I was told by EVERYONE to book my ticket early! It will be sold out! It's Golden Week! The busiest travel week in all of Japan!....

Uh... really? I guess no one wanted to get up early.

Two hours later, I arrived at Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Kyushu. I found my hostel, which was nice, and dropped my bags off.

Kushida Shrine had a beautiful float on display. There are a lot of festivals during Golden Week.

Wait, is this statue peeing?

... Yeah, he is.

Then I walked over to the Fukuoka Castle Ruins.

uh.... I think a homeless person lives on the castle grounds. I would have taken a photo of the castle.... but it is just ruins. So... yea, just rocks.

Flower pictures for my mom.

Giant pumpkin behind Fukuoka Art Museum. The same pumpkins are on Naoshima Island, between Kobe and Shikoku Island.

Giant swan paddle boats. If Jen and Miho were here, we would definitely have done this.

WHAT! THE US IS THAT CLOSE?!??!!

Oh nevermind...

Awesome robot show area.

Fukuoka Tower

View from Fukuoka Tower

I live in a Leo Palace in Kobe. They are not nice. I believe "shithole" is the term most often used to describe it.

Fukuoka is famous for Hakata ramen, so of course I had to try it.

Ramen. Totally delicious.

My new friends, Bill and Sue (not their real names). They didn't speak English, I don't speak Japanese, but they bought me sake. They're from Hokkaido. After that, I have no idea what they were saying. Lovely people, though. The picture was their idea.

Osaka Dinner Theater

2010-04-25T23:24:00.003+09:00

I went to Osaka with a couple of teachers from my school to watch a comedy troupe at an Italian Restaurant. I should have known this wasn't the best idea when I realized it would be completely in Japanese....

Granted, it was funny for me, but only the visual gags. I had no idea what what going on, and poor Chika was trying to translate for me, but a lot of the jokes made references to Japanese history or stories. Bless her heart.

KitKats and Toys

2010-04-25T16:09:00.004+09:00

Banana KitKat. Not bad.

Sweet Potato KitKat. Also, pretty good. Bought this nice box in Tokyo when I visited Miho.

Someone important from Japanese history. Toy that came with a drink.

Pucho toys!!! I have no clue what this thing is. It looks like it's wearing a mask.

Beer? Washing it's hair?

This looks like my dad.

Mentaiko twins from Kyushu. Asami is from Fukuoka, and went home a few weeks ago. She bought me a souvenir.

Midori no somethingsomething

2010-04-23T22:14:00.002+09:00

This morning I woke up pretty early, and went to Shin Nagata station, the closest JR station. I had to take the ticket I had bought yesterday to the Midori no (something something), which is the Green Window for reserved seats. I was pretty worried that I wouldn't be able to reserve a seat, and also that I would have to pay more.

However....

No problem! My ticket from Shin Kobe to Hakata via Nozomi 601! I have a seat in row 13, seat 4, in car E. Jackpot! Oh wait, what the....

6:13am departure time?!?!?! Well dang. At least I'll be able to spend ALL day in Fukuoka.

Shinkansen WOOOOO!

2010-04-22T23:18:00.004+09:00

Shinkansen ticket to Fukuoka!

I went to a discount ticket shop in Myodani today and bought my ticket to Fukuoka. Since it's a little late in the game (one week prior) I only have a train ticket, not a reserved seat. I have to go to Shin Nagata station and see if there are any seats available. I might have to stand... it's only two hours though.

It's been rainy lately, and that really affects my mood. Total Debbie Downer. Lamika can't go to Kyushu with me, so I've changed all my hotel reservations to hostels instead. Miho has been SUPER HELPFUL finding nice places to stay. I'll have to buy her an awesome gift while I'm there.

ANOTHER flat tire on my bicycle this morning. WTF is going on? I blame ninjas.

I'm going to spend the weekend polishing my plans for this vacation. Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki. Solo. Wish me luck.

Well crap

2010-04-19T22:31:00.001+09:00

Today I had to go to the Head Office in Osaka for a Professional Development Workshop. Even though I'll only be with the company for 5 more months. And it was my day off. Grrr.... but I did see the group I trained with, and that was fun.

However....

Lamika can't go to Kyushu with me. So I might go alone. Bummer.

Most stressful thing ever?

2010-04-16T00:16:00.002+09:00

Completing and filing your federal and state tax returns on April 15 at 11:40pm from your freezing apartment in Japan and being charged $9.95 to file for "free".

Boo-yah taxes are DONE!

American Idol in Japan

2010-04-12T11:11:00.002+09:00

Sunday afternoon, I went to Chiyoko and Mitsuna Andoh, former students, for lunch. They are such sweet women! Chiyoko made us lunch, and we watched a highlight video of American Idol. I was never a fan of the show, but that video was pretty good. Then I got to watch clips from Chiyoko's movies/shows/commercials. She's an actress, and she also does voice work. It was amazing! She always plays a mother, and in my favorite commercial, it's an infomercial for a frying pan. To be honest, it is pretty amazing. Mitsuna works part time as an illustrator, and she gave me a beautiful watercolor she had done as I left.

After lunch, I went to Nishinomiya-kitaguchi to Tim's apartment for a wine and stinky cheese party. One of his students had gone to France, and brought back SO MUCH stinky cheese. It was fun, there were 6 other foreigners there, mostly AEON teachers, but a few JETs and freelancers. Tim taught us how to play dominoes (because he's an old man like that), and we had a good time. Then, Tim, Joe and I went to a local hole in the wall to sing karaoke.

Thanks for the awesome earrings, Mom!

Joe and I singing "A Whole New World".

Since it's rainy and cold (and I'm slightly hungover) today, I'm staying inside and trying very hard not to have to go outside. Too bad my laundry is on the balcony.

Punkspring 2010

2010-04-06T23:05:00.010+09:00

Saturday after work, I took an overnight bus from Osaka to Tokyo. By myself. Wow. Miho booked the ticket for me, but I had to show up. It wasn't too difficult, but I did call Miho to make sure I was in the right area.

7 hours later, I arrived at Tokyo Station, and met up with Miho and Asami, who took a different bus.

Two things I learned about riding an overnight bus: 2 Benedryl is AMAZING! and wearing earplugs makes me carsick.

Asami and I in front of Unko san in Asakusa. *Unko means poo in Japanese

Too early for traffic.

311!!!

The lineup

The audience watching one of the Japanese punk bands. They were awesome!

Blue stage

Chad Sexton's drum kit. He's the drummer for 311.

Sneaky photo. Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez.

Miho's apartment. This is her room. She has a shared kitchen and bathroom and stuff. It's really nice! It's also a good 15 minute walk from the Asakusa station.

Common living room.

BURGER KING!

Again, taking a photo with the hot models at A&F in Ginza.

Asami wanted to go to Vampire Cafe. Miho's face shows exactly how she and I felt about this.

In hindsight, those look like red blood cells on the floor.

My, what atmosphere there is.

Who is Earl, and why does he get to select some kinds cheese? I want his job.

duh duh duh THRIIIIILER!

And of course.... print club.

Karaoke

Minatogawakoen at 7:00 am.

I ♥ the Hidakas

2010-03-29T13:40:00.005+09:00

Sunday evening, I bought a roll cake from the bakery a block over from my apartment and hopped on the JR down to Higashi Kakogawa. I hung out at her parent's store, and even helped welcome some customers ("Irashaimase!") until they closed at 7:00.

Then we went to the grocery store, and her mother cooked us a wonderful dinner of steak, salad, pasta and of course, roll cake. We watched "This is it", the Michael Jackson documentary, and it was really good. Miho and I decided next weekend in Tokyo we're only going to sing MJ., and dance. We have to memorize the choreography.

This morning, Miho let me take a few photos. She's so pretty. I love her and I'm really going to miss her when she moves to Tokyo.

Miho met Robin Williams in Canada at a club.

She serenaded me with a beautiful piano piece.

The Hidakas! They've had this store for 30 years!

My Japanese parents.

Spiderman, spiderman, climbs the Asakusa lantern cause he's the man....

2010-03-28T11:16:00.003+09:00

I've realized I only post on the weekends. Understandably so, because
1. Nothing exciting ever happens during the week.
2. I have no time during the week.

Saturday night I went out to the Hub with Miho, Asami, and Farron. I decided to stop drinking beer, because that's a lot of extra calories, and so far it's working out quite nicely. A few glasses of wine is all I need.

Today I'm going to go buy a few presents, and then go to Higashi Kakogawa and visit with Miho and her family. She's moving to Tokyo on the 31st, so I want to help her pack* and eat dinner with her parents. I'm going to find a roll cake, fruit tart, and a stuffed Bonerman for them.

* By help her pack, I mean sit in one corner of her room and give a running commentary on how much stuff she's trying to move to Tokyo.

Should be great fun. We both miss Jen, so we're going to Skype with her at some point during the visit.

Next weekend I'm going to Tokyo to visit Miho and see 311 in concert! WHOO HOO! I with they made different merchandise for the Asian tours, but I doubt it. However, I'm still going to buy a sweet shirt, and a poster for J Randy.

Nipponbashi Street Festival 2010

2010-03-22T00:16:00.007+09:00

For the record, I've gone to karaoke 5 times in the past month. That's a lot. Beer is expensive! So Miho and Farron came up with a new game plan: BYOB. Saturday night was rum and Cokes at Junkara!

Sunday morning, Tim, Lamika and I went to Nipponbashi in Osaka for what we thought was a small festival. However, when we arrived it was much more crowded than we could have imagined. I wish I knew more about anime and video games, because then maybe I would have recognized some of the characters.

Anpanman!

Cute...

AHH! SCARY!

Just dressed up, chillin' in front of McDonald's...

Robotic version of Uncle Sam

They all have the same pictures.

These are some ugly looking "girls".