Merry Christmas three days early!

I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me, there'll be snow and misletoe and presents on the tree... blah blah blah, (but does anyone actually remember the last line of this song?) BUT ONLY IN MY DREAMS. I finally understand the song. Im not home. Im missing the turkey, cookies, pine tree smells, christmas songs (ok, i hear those here ALL the time), the family being together, football, gifts under the tree, the tree itself, and the hassle of shopping (yeah i do miss it). BUT... I cant complain about where I am. Im having a great time over here, and its a once in a lifetime experience, so my gift to all of you are these three pics. Enjoy! And merry Christmas! I will miss all of you, and I wish you all the best during this holiday season, whereevr you are in this crazy world.

Now on to the last week and a half...

I traveled to Hakone last Wednesday and Thursday. Hakone is a very popular japanese tourist destination, due to the many beautiful views of fuji, the onsens (an onsen is a natural hotspring bath, heated naturally by underground magma), the museums, and the escape from the city life of tokyo. Because i went in the middle of the week i missed most of the craziness. one of The other great things about hakone is the method of transportation. Once you get to hakone you can take: A double backing mountain train, cable car, two different ropeways AND... a pirate ship? where did the pirate ship come from? turns out that the japanese LOVE fantasy, so they made the lake ashi ferries into three pirate ships and one mississippi river paddle boat. Yeah, those are SOOO japanese.

I took the whole tour, which was great and very relaxing. My favorite things were the onsen baths (damn those were hot, try 45 celcius), The AMAZING hakone open-air museum (The museum is a collection of hundreds of sculptures by numerous artists like Rodin as well as paintings by picasso, all of which are situated in a beautiful flat area on a mountain side)(I stayed two hours but could have stayed longer), Owakidani (the crater of a volcano that blew its top 3000 years ago, which is still active and has many bubbling water pools(think yellowstone), where they cook eggs in the waters which then turn black and are said to extend your life by 7 years. Yum. I ate two.) And the transportation with breathtaking views of Fuji. Amazing.

The photos below are from the hakone trip.

In other news...

My roommates are both gone for at least a month. which means that if i clean now, the place will be clean for a month. of course, cleaning a years worth of filth takes awhile.
I have also moved into my new room. its bigger, has a closet, access to the porch, and a jack for the TV, but i dont have a tv so it doesnt help.

I watched the last samurai for the sixth time yesterday. Its tough to watch movies when they are all in japanese, so i rewatch the movies we have on hand (o, and USA DVDs dont work on japanese dvd players) which are: Kill Bill Volume 1 (watched 5 times), The Last Samurai (6 times), League of Extrodinary gentlemen (twice), Windtalkers (once. That movie sucks.), Dreamcatcher (twice) Snatch (four times), and Office Space (7 or 8 times).

I will be going to see the Incredibles though tomorrow. should be good.

My two favorite people from work are leaving the end of january. im sad, because i really cant stand some of my other coworkers.

Over the new year break i will be traveling to Hiroshima, Osaka, and possibly Kyoto. It should be a very solemn and humbling experience.

Political two cents: I had a nice talk with a student the other day, and since it was one on one, we talked about more serious issues. I asked her about how japanese people feel about americans now. her answer actually made me sad and i really couldnt think of how her views could change in the near future. she said: after the iraqi war started, the japanese people not only felt disappointed, but also felt that their dreams were gone. It turns out that in this uncertain world, the one country that japanse people really looked up to (yes she said that) was the US. The US gave the japanese a feeling that anything was possible, that the american way of life was greatest on earth, and it was something to strive for. since the iraqi conflict, these views and dreams have been shattered. Makes you think of a older sibling that has done something to lose the trust and role-model status in the mind of a younger sibling. Two more cents: Look up the Kyoto Protocol and find out why the US doesnt want ANYONE to be part of it, just because their not.

Blah blah blah...

Ok folks, merry Christmas. I love you all and believe me you will be in my thoughts on Saturday.

Take care!

Scotto San