Pick Up My Poop, Owner

I really enjoy this sign every time I walk by it with Marco, so I thought maybe it would lighten your day as well.  I am still enjoying a state of semi-blissful ignorance here in Nihon, so I have no idea what the Japanese on this sign says (although I get the general idea).  Given said information gap, this sign causes me to ponder such questions as:   Is that dog crying?   Is that a telephone number in the corner?  Who could possibly want to field phone calls prompted by a sign such as this?  Is this sign available for purchase here?  If so, I imagine all the people in my 'rents' neighborhood might appreciate this on their lawn instead of that ugly yet direct hunched-dog-behind-the-international-"no"-symbol sign they all have.  You know the one:

BOOOR-ING!

Also, apparently I am not the only one who is fascinated with the many forms of passive aggressive human communication when it comes to the inauspicious lack of interest dogs have for using indoor plumbing: http://www.jenlouie.com/category/dog-poop/.  

Hurray for Hulu!

The intellectual property rights fairy has finally come to the rescue!!  Hulu is no longer blocked in Japan!

That is all.  I felt the discovery warranted a blog post.

My Isorated Dream

Shopping in Japan is so much fun that I have decided to share bits of it with all of you.
Below is the image of a T-shirt from a store reminiscent of Forever21.

Since it may be hard to decipher, here is the text exactly as it reads on this T-Shatsu:

"BEATING HEART

Labialize

REAL

THE END OF AN

Isorated Dream

NEVER LEAVE ME ALONE

Run in the sky of dreams and phantams go

 through the brightness a trace to

draw beyond a limit now"

Insignificant as these words are individually, they should mean something in toto. I am only human; I must search for meaning even where there is none! Why has someone gone to the trouble of printing these thirty-four words on a cotton-poly blend in various sizes and colors? …these thirty-four in particular, out of the quarter of a million (let’s say) or so that exist?

First, I checked Wikipedia, (of course). It is not a Haiku. Interesting.

Next I decided to look at the word which causes me the most pause in this whole mess, "labialize." Labialize is not a word in my stock vocabulary and its reading was conjuring all sorts of unfortunate images, so I decided to refer to the always-reliable, dictionary.com. Essentially it means to give a round character to a sound. Since we know native Japanese speakers to have some issues with r’s and l’s (one needs not look any further than this very T-shirt for a perfect example) I checked the three other permutations of this word and found that none are legit, so we can safely conclude that this T-shirt is trying to tell us something about pronunciation. Dead end.

If I think about this anymore, my head might explode. Those crafty Japanese…is this a step in their plan for world domination?

My conclusion: This shirt clearly belongs at a poetry reading, Haiku or not.

It's like Colorado, but...

So today I caught a glimpse of the real Northern Japan and I am...well...concerned.

5:50 AM :
I wake up to find white stuff everywhere! 
(If you look closely, you will see a very confused Marco).

 8:46 AM:

Snow-Rain...Ranow?....Snain?...It is both raining and snowing at the same time.  You notice the snow on the ground has melted due to the rain but there are big white flakes in the air.

 

12:06 PM:
No sign of snow or rain 3 hours prior.  I wouldn't have believed me either so I documented it:

1:50 PM: Earthquake, Magnitude 4.1.  I can't capture that with my Olympus, so you'll have to take my word for it.  Or you could check the Japan Meteorological Agency.  My feelings will only be a little hurt.

Japan has been busy today!  I guess that makes one of us.

Fall, Fall, and more Fall

So now that Brian is back, there is no time for jet lag!  The fall colors are in full swing here in Japan, so we have a lot of things to see before the snow starts coming and never stops!

This past weekend we found an Apple Orchard thanks in no small part to the word-of-mouth directions of our friend Sharon.  Once again, you would never stumble on it on your own, but what a great way to spend a fantastic fall Saturday!

Above is the shack that you enter the orchard through.  We paid Y500 per person so that we could eat as much as we wanted for an hour.  Brian took this challenge seriously!

Apparently the apples were so good that Brian couldn't stop eating long enough for us to take pictures...

To get to the apples we had to climb on a steep incline down through some grape vines filled with delicious grapes (these were also included in the all-you-can eat buffet price).

One kind of apple was so sweet and juicy that it had pockets of super-syrupy deliciousness inside.  The apples of Japan are not the same as those in the US!

After we stuffed ourselves like pigs at the apple orchard we headed just up the road to see this "Dragon Ride" which was a four story contraption that you could pay to have your children climb.  Don't worry, they are given helmets a la what you would see on a Japanese game show.  That would surely be enough in the event of a high wind or earthquake should you or your child fall off.

Then one last stop at a three-tiered pagoda/buddhist monastery.

Like I said, a great way to spend a fall day in Japan!

Ahhh, Asia!

I just want to say for the record that I did not doctor this photo in any way.  Your eyes do not deceive you. In Hirosaki, at the intersection of Hwy 31 and Hwy 31, is the electrical rat's nest we were warned against in EEE 360.  Hmm, seems to be working for the Japanese.  It's all fun and games until the Kyoto of the east burns to the ground because a menacing crow lands on the wrong group of wires... 

AR's Visit

I promised to be better about posting now that we live 5000 miles (9260 km) away from most of our friends and family, but alas I have failed.  That is why this is going to be a really long, catch-up-style post:

September 13: Brian headed for Red Flag Alaska for 6 weeks. I left for Colorado for three.

October 1: Aunt Rita and I packed up and headed for Nihon with my pooch.  I am relieved to report that he made the 24+ hour trip with no incidents!  We also had no problems from the AFA vet, the USDA, the Japan Customs agents, the United employees, or the JR rail staff.

October:  While Rita was here visiting we got to see quite a bit of beautiful Eastern Japan (some of which Rita may have wished not to see :) )

Oirase Gorge

Mt. Osare--Japan's Mythical Entrance to Hell

Rice Harvesting Season

The Scariest Ocean Overlook Ever.  Somewhat daunting to get to, but totally worth it!

Hirosaki

Eating at what Rita Refers to as "Noodles and Co."

Then Rita went back to the US and Brian came home from Alaska.  They must have crossed each other in the air because they just missed each other...bummer!

Thanks to Rita for putting up with me and the dog for three weeks!  We had a great time and it is so good to have Marco back at home with us now!