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Tuesday, August 29, 2006 There is a common Japanese parable that says "A wise man climbs Mount Fuji once. A foolish man climbs Fuji twice". After my ascent up the highest mountain in Japan I knew exactly what that famous parable meant. August 6, along with two other GEOS teacher (one British-Robin, the other Japanese-Hiro) we trained down to Fuji-San to make the famous pilgrimage to the summit of the mountain. Fuji-San translated to Japanese means Fuji friend. The Japanese view this inspirational mountain as Japanese as bullet trains and neon lights. On a clear day you can even see it looming in the Tokyo skyline. No wonder the Japanese people travel in hoards to climb the popular icon of Japan. The most popular way to climb the mountain is at night in order to climb during cool temps and to catch the rising sun over Japan, however this can only be done in July in August as the other months the mountain is snow covered and more dangerous. So our story will begin at the fifth stage of Fuji-San. It's the fifth stage because after the fifth stage the terrain gets too steep for domestic vehicles. After a brief team huddle at the only store open that late at the modern 5th station we began out ascent. The time was aprox 9:30. We were at stage 5. The top was stage 10. In the middle was aprox 6-7 of various levels of mountain climbing. With sprits high and muscles fresh we began the hike to stage 6. The 6th stage didn't take any longer than an hour to get to. Along the way to the top the stages have small stores that hang along the side of the mountain with generators that sell various goods and climbing apparatus. Here a Snickers bar was a mere 100 yen ($1.00). With plenty of food in my pack we passed stage 6 without looking back. Stage 7 was about 90 minutes away and in this trek we lost the mountain foliage and were hiking in the moons shadows along with the red rocks. Stage 7 showed the Snickers bar to be 200 yen ($2.00). Funny how the price goes up as you get higher from civilization! Spirits were still high at stage 7. It would be the last time however. In between stage 7 and 8 the air started getting thinner, our heads grew light, lungs light, muscles sore, and it seemed that the closer we thought we were to the summit the further away it was! It was like driving in Idaho or Wyoming. Yes, that town is just over the horizon, however over that horizon was another one, and another one, and three hours later your in Casper Wyoming with an empty tank of gas and a dead deer on your hood that you don’t recollect getting there! It took us longer than anticipated to climb this long trek. We wanted to take a 2 hour rest at stage 8, however between the difficult terrain, time schedule to beat the sun up, and our bodies, we were only able to squeeze in a 30 minute rest, just enough time to fill our bellies with low grade ramen, gather our breath, and begin to the top. The sun was to rise at 4:50. We left stage 8 at 2:30 with a 2 hour climb ahead of us. I'm sure it is a 2 hour climb, however with all the other climbers converging at the top at the same time we ran into a human traffic jam with the destination being the summit of Fuji! It took team effort of cheer leading, sometimes going outside the roped area to pass others in front of us, and less frequent stops but alas, at 4:45 we reached the top of Fuji with 5 minutes to spare! It was a chilly 38 degrees at the top but the chill disappeared fast as the sun peaked over the horizon and hit our faces with a bright orange glow. The sun never looked so beautiful and the colors so vibrant as we had spent the previous 8 hours climbing in the dark shadows of the mountain. We quickly took a group picture with the new sun in the horizon. The looks on our faces I'm sure were ones of tiredness and weariness, but deep inside was a feeling of triumph as we stretched ourselves to reach the highest point in Japan and climbed the famous Fuji-San. Indeed the Fuji-San is our friend - a friend I don’t ever want to see for a long, long, long time for I am a wise man and not a fool.
Twins Fever
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 Many people ask me what I miss most about home. Of course there are the old standards such as my friends, familiy and Twizzlers (hint hint for any care package givers!). However, there is a less obvious thing that I miss as well and given what has transpired in the last week I have no choice but do devot some space to it. When I first arrived in Japan I missed home alot. I was more homesick than I have ever been in my life. I cried out for something familiar. In all the chaos and new things I needed something that I could relax in, something I could enjoy, something that I could escape in. One of the things that got me through this experience and have enjoyed following was the 2006 season of the Minnesota Twins. My 2nd week here I was able to gain a strong internet signal on my computer and purchased a monthly subscription to mlbtv. I was able to watch any game at any time (blackout restrictions apply). Most nights I would arrive home and flip to the game as I wound down from the days classes. While I couldn't attend any games at least I could watch them. Those who know me well know that I have been a die-hard Twins fan for some time. I have had season tickets for the last two seasons and have even attended spring training in Fort Myers FL in April 2004. I saw when the Twins routed Cleveland 23-2 in 2003. I saw 2 of the 3 games that the Twins pitching shutout the KC Royals in 2004, and Lariano's first outing striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced in 2005 (yes, the first batter hit a home-run...shhhh). I live and breath Twins baseball. It was only fitting that while I'm a half a world away at least I get to watch my team. So the end of April marked my starting fanfare of the 2006 season. It didn't start well to say the least. Inconsistant pitching. Slow defense. Hitters trying to find their swing. The team wasn't clicking to say the least. During most of this time I would watch most of the games we won (there were not many!). I even considered that the $15 I was paying a month for this privilage was an expense I could do without given that my team was not enjoyable to watch. The only comfort I could gain out of the misery I was watching is that at least I was not missing much in regards to watching games live. If I was unable to miss a season of the Twins this would be a good one to miss. How completely wrong could have I been? What started to be a tailspin season ended up being a storybook ending. To come back from 12 games out, third place, and to overtake two strong teams and to overtake and win the division on the last game of a 162 game season is nothing short of amazing. My only regret is that I was not able to see any of their success in person. There is nothing better than a hyped up crowd in the dome baseball hungry and excited about baseball. I can only imagine the energy inside the dome during the last couple months! It's great to say that the post season is here and the Twins are strong contenders. I will of course continue to watch the games until the end of this storybook ending. The first game is Tuesday 3:00 central time and my fuzzy math puts the game at 1am my time! If I can watch it live (no blackout) I will stay up and suffer at work the next day (at least I wont be at work suffering!). So, have comfort knowing that there is a small pocket of support half way across the world. I'll have my popcorn, diet Coke, makeshift dome dog, and homeade homer hanky cheering away with the Twins. Go Twins!
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