November, and beyond

November didn't happen. I'm almost convinced of that. I mean, I didn't blog during that month, so it must not have happened.

I was in Hawaii for Halloween, and then the election. Don't know about you, but I'm very excited about the possibilities, about how our country might get back on track, get back to being respected and liked, not feared or hated. There are a lot of people who dismiss what other countries in the world think of us, but that's a poor attitude: we are the richest and most powerful country, so we should act kindly and with leadership, not arrogance. Anyway, I think Barack Obama is the man to get us there. And he's from Hawaii.

The other very cool thing that happened in Hawaii was that my niece was not afraid of me. She actually sat in my lap and watched TV the first night I was back! It was so nice. She's so adorable! I can't imagine what it'll be like when the next one is born! Two of them! What will I do with that much cuteness?!?!

Returning to Japan, I had to get cracking on work, preparing for a visitor at the end of November, and another in December. It's been busy, but not so much that I wasn't able to hang out with Jessica 1 (so designated because the second is also named Jessica). She hung around Kansai most of the time, making just one short trip up to Tokyo while I visited some friends in Hyogo and went rock climbing outdoors in Gifu (more on that soon). We made it Kyoto one day, going to Fushimi-Inari Shrine, which I'd never been to, but very famous for the innumerable torii (orange-red Shinto gates). We also trekked over to Tofuku-ji, but it was mobbed, the Japanese maples in full color there. For me, and for Jessica 1, I think Fushimi-Inari was by far the better. I'm going to have to go back to get some pictures.

Jessica 1 departed yesterday. After 12 days with a guest, my apartment seems strangely quiet now. But I'll soon have another guest, Jessica 2, so I probably won't get used to the apartment being just me again until January.

So, rock climbing outdoors...the place is called Fukube, in Gifu prefecture. It's apparently quite a famous place, and I can see why: there are tons of boulders around, numerous problems to climb. I was invited by my friend Kohei, who speaks fluent English; he drove and two other guys from the gym and me all went out there, three hours each way. It was Sunday on a three-day weekend, so it was crowded! I hadn't been climbing much since I got back from the US, so the skin on my hands had gone soft...not what you want when you're climbing real rock. After about four hours, my hands were just raw. I couldn't do more than just hold onto stuff before it felt like needles in my finger tips. So, I'm hitting the gym and trying to rebuild my callouses. I was only able to finish one real problem, but I still really enjoyed it...being outdoors, it was nice just being there, even if I couldn't climb very much.


This is the one I was able to do. Not too bad, got it on my third try or so. (Click for larger image.)


This one is called something that translates roughly as "Burn your biceps." I got a little farther up than this guy is pictured (he's a friend, Daigo, and he was able to finish it), but I couldn't make it up. Maybe the next time...

I was invited to go again, though this time to a place called Toyota in Aichi prefecture. Should be fun!

Only other news right now is that I've got a plane ticket to Thailand on the 23rd, but I'm a bit worried I won't be able to get there as the protests have shut down the airports in Bangkok. I'm hopeful that they'll resolve the problems soon...if not, I'll probably stay in Japan, maybe go climbing with the same guys...

My friend Jessica 2 comes in next week Wednesday, so I'm busy at work, getting stuff prepared. Between that and climbing, I'm pretty busy. But having fun.