Hakone

19 APRIL 2014

So, they have tours that you can sign up for, some of them sell out very quickly, but you can be put on a waiting list in case people cancel, but a day before the trip the waiting list is tossed out, and if anyone cancels at that point then it's first come first served to fill the vacancy. This trip was a result of Brad's willingness to go to the tour office on that day and luckily there was one opening/cancellation, to which he persuaded the lady to open one more seat to accommodate me as well. He's such a charmer!

We visited the Hakone Ropeway and rode a cable car to Owakudani also called Jigokudani "the valley of hell" ...

... where we are black eggs boiled in the sulfuric hot springs of the volcano. 

Then we went to the Hakone Open-air museum where we had a buffet lunch and wandered around looking at art ... 

... and playing with the fish in the coy pond ...

... and soaked our feet in a hot spring with all the other visitors ...

The next part of our tour was to visit the Hakone-jinja shrine, which is 1,250 years old. There was also a little snack shack which sold delicious peach soft serve (no picture was taken, it was devoured too quickly) ... 

The last stop was Lake Ashi where we rode a sightseeing pirate ship around a portion of the lake.

The tour was great, the only circumstance that would have improved it is if it were not raining and the clouds were a bit more dispersed. From the first stop we should have been able to see Mt. Fuji, but with the clouds it was not visible, so we took a picture of what we should have been able to see.

Softball

My work has a softball team...as I would be a large handicap to their abilities I volunteered the efforts of my Brad in my place. Just kidding, he volunteered himself, so that worked out in my favor. Their first game was last Tuesday night, it was raining, we thought for sure the game would be cancelled...but it was not. They played, in the rain, and won.

The team they were playing was apparently the team that won the championship last season, so it was a pretty significant win especially for the first game of the season. This week there are two games, hopefully they'll do just as well.

Brad did awesome at the game on Tuesday. Everyone on the team was impressed with his abilities and happy to have him. I think it's a great way to get to know people and make connections.

Friday was the department and region's "Hail and Farewell" at a bar near work. They "hailed" the new people and said farewell to those moving on to other areas or retirement. During my introduction they also introduced Brad and since the Public Works Officer was the one introducing us (and he's also on the softball team) he put in a plug about Brad's abilities and his welcomed addition to the team. That made me beam with pride. He's been accepted into the fold. There was a lot of clapping and agreement among the room, which made my heart swell with happiness and I'm sure it made Brad feel very welcome too. It's a good group of people here, very inclusive and fun.

Baseball in Japan

We went to our first professional baseball game in Japan yesterday.

We were told repeatedly by everyone we met that baseball here is "So FUN" and "much better than in the states" so of course we had these expectations that we were going to be thoroughly entertained. They did not lie.

They even entertain before the game has even started. Here's a video of a bunch of people out on the field dancing...kind of felt like a flash mob especially since the maintenance workers even join in.

During the game it's entertaining because each player, yes each player, not each team, has their own song/chant that everyone sings when they get up to bat. It's much more interactive. Although part of me felt that chanting and singing while someone was up to bat would be very distracting and perhaps that's why the BayStars are not the top ranked team...I didn't take any video of the chanting, but you can watch a quick one here.

During some point of the 7th inning they release balloons. You buy a pack of 3 for essentially $3 and everyone blow them up, but instead of tying them off they just release them in the air. Kind of fun and random. 

Some other items of interest I observed:

-The stadium is cut in half, one team sits on one side the other on the other side, and there are a few fans who infiltrate the other team's side, but for the most part it seems they stick to their team's side.
-The food is delicious, I only took pictures of a couple treats, but in all I had to sample the yakisoba, caramel corn, and a really refreshing shaved ice that was soaked in mandarin orange syrup/juice and topped with mandarin oranges. They also had fried rice, curries, bento boxes, egg rolls and then some typical ball game items like hot dogs and fries.
-People are really fans, not just fair-weathered, I've never seen so many people in a stadium with jerseys of their favorite players.
-Everyone is very respectful, there wasn't a lot of "boo-ing", occasionally there were some noises of disappointment but generally speaking it was mostly just cheering coming from one side or the other.
-The stadium is surrounded by a beautiful public park, flowers blooming everywhere, water fountains, trees. Makes the space seem more relevant on a daily basis rather than just sporting events. And it's much nicer than a stadium just surrounded by a giant parking lot.

Overall it was a beautiful day, very warm and a great experience. Now it's Sunday and we have to tackle a group of 8 three-year-olds for 2 hours. Yep, we now have a calling to teach the sunbeams. Lucky us!