An Ode to Aso-san

When I think back on my three years in Kumamoto, Japan, I often think of the immense natural beauty that surrounded me in central Kyushu. There were the many waterfalls, some heavily photographed and others rarely glimpsed. The amazing rice fields that turned a surreal shade of green two times a year. The amazing sunsets over Kumamoto as the sun dipped over Kinpo-san and behind Unzen-dake. Then of course, there is Mt. Aso. This sacred peak has long been viewed within Japan as a mystical place of beauty, natural power and sometimes danger. I was lucky enough to live within an interesting hour drive from the active crater.

I will never forget the night that I was told that Aso's height 1,592 meters, spoken in an alternate way of saying numbers, is Higo Kuni. Higo is the ancient name of Kumamoto and the Japanese for country, kuni. Wow, what an interesting coincidence.

I went to Aso many times. As a stop and think, a dozen different stories come to mind of fun-filled days and crazy nights spent in the caldera.

...leading a group through the woods and through a barbed wire fence into the annual Aso rave in order to circumvent the $30 entrance fee...partying all night to bad music under a big sky...on the drive back at sunrise the next morning and still feeling intoxicated, accidentally losing a banana out the window as we slowly took in the curves of the mountain road...several hashes in Aso, led by The Immortal Lettuce or Sliced Bush...venturing to the very top of Aso or Nekodake, taking in the ominous pale green pool of the smoking crater and the noxious fumes of sulfur...hitting up the delicious izakayas in Jamie's town, oh the chicken wing gyoza...

...a leisurely drive along the Milk Road, skirting the very edge of the caldera, looking down into the largest volcano-crated bowl in the world...a never-ending hash that had us running through pastures following dots on cattle...grabbing a bento and heading out to hike up Nekodake...swinging flaming bales of straw and the Aso Fire Festival...seeing said flaming bale slam into the chest of one who stood too close...discovering a forgotten road, from North Aso to Takamori between Aso and Nekodake peaks...on the clearest of days, being able to see smoke rising from the volcano from my porch in Kumamoto City...

There is no doubt that I will return to Kumamoto again. I hope to once again drive to Mt. Aso, climb to its peak and take it all in. I can't imagine things will change too drastically if I go there next year or 50 years from now. I take great comfort in that.

My Contribution to the Higo Blog

Recently, Adam has posted some interesting photos on his Higo Blog. I felt compelled to post a few photos that share a common theme with some of his shots. I will let you decide what those themes are.

Death by E:61:00

If you own some kind of Sony camera, perhaps you know what E:61:00 is. I have had my Cybershot since I bought it at the local Best Denki in Kumamoto about three and a half years ago. I have taken it to over 15 countries and snapped almost 3,000 shots. Obviously, it has taken quite a beating. I recently turned on the camera ony to see a blurry image and a flashing "E:61:00". I googled it and found this page.

It is a bulletin board for Cybershot owners who had the same problem. Among their claimed solutions: Forcefully obstructing the lense when it pops out to zoom; dropping it from a height of one to five feet on to a variety of surfaces. So I tried each of these methods unsuccessfully and even opened up the camera and jiggled its guts around and even located a stray pastic fragment that had been rattling around for years. No luck.

While it can still take pictures (somewhat blurry), it no longer has the capability to zoom in and out. I think my camera has reached the end of its life. I guess I am lucky the camera lasted this long, waiting to conk out in the rather unpicturesque month of January in St. Louis instead of October in the mountains of Northern Myanmar. And it just so happens that due to employment, I may soon have the resources to do something about it. Hmmm, let me count the Megapixels, 6.1...8.0?

あけましておめでとう! Employment in '06

Happy New Year to all. I hope everyone had a good one. I myself got together with about 25 of my friends for my first new year in the states in three years. We had a good time drinking and carousing in a dark room across from Cusamano's Bar not too far from home.

For those of you still in Japan checking up on Champon Adventures from time to time, thanks and I hope everyone's holiday travels to exotic locations around Asia were rewarding and inspiring. I am interested to hear about everyone's travels when you get back so please update your blogs and post some photos. I have been a little sparse on my posts since being back in St. Louis, but here is a rough idea of what I've been up to.

I arrived back in St. Louis in early October fresh of two months of awesome travel in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. I embraced unemployment for a bit, but then had the chance to do some basic carpentry at a house that my friend Ben was rehabbing:


(Ben plans on selling the house in the Spring then going to apprentice with master glass-blowers in Italy. Check him and Biscan out at Fuoco.org)

While I was doing all that, I was just throwing out my resume to all kinds of companies in St. Louis, looking to do some kind of entry-level computer work. I had it in mind to work at some company's computer help desk or technical support. I got no calls and continued to work on the house and really cultivate my enjoyment of free time.

Finally, I got one phone call from a small software company out in the suburbs of St. Charles. The woman said my resume landed on her desk and my experience matched what they needed. Hmmm, a computer dude who spent the last three years travelling and trying to teach English in Japan. Well I had to go in and find out what it was about. Over the course of two interviews, I learned the position was a software consultant, travelling to various sites around North America and teaching clients how to use our customized Events Management software. Travelling, teaching and technology: I can do this. Fortunately I was offered the position and will start on January 16th. I was hesitant to accept the first offer that came along but like they told me, it seems like a pretty good fit for my interests and skillz.

So in about a week and a half, I will bid farewell to unemployment and hello to a 35 minute commute (on a good day), the grind of a 9-5 (8-5+ actually, ouch!) and a packed lunch (what? no school lunch?). It kills me not to have an international air ticket purchased and waiting for me. I suppose I am almost completely adjusted to being back here in the states after so much time away. I guess regular employment is the last step in the reabsorption process. (Either that or becoming a preferred customer at the local Wal-Mart.)

Although I miss life in Asia and will continue to long for travel and the surprises and treasures of everyday life in Kumamoto, I am also embracing some familiar pastimes here in St. Louis. I've been able to get together and play basketball with my friends and sibblings quite regularly, in addition to taking up running once again with my sister Katie as main motivator. Katie and I have been active member of the St. Louis H3, a Hash group that goes off every Sunday afternoon. We have both hared already. Also, just being able to flip on a TV most nights and watch the NBA is amazing and something I will never take for granted. I loath most of the crap that is on TV, but I will never not watch basketball.

One thing I had taken for granted and vow not to do so again is the access to great libraries. I have read a bunch of books since I've been back. A lot of them have been about Japan or Asian culture in general. It is fascinating to read about this after experiencing it for three plus years. I read a book called Confucius Lives Next Door: What living in the East teaches us about living in the West by T.R. Reid. It was a fascinating book that attempts to provide a background on interesting cultural quirks in Japanese and Asian society. Interestingly, the teachings of Confucius are the fundamentals of living and behavior and in turn, a stable society that generally exists throughout the countries of Asia.

Another book which I recently started to read is Amy Tan's newest book, Saving Fish from Drowning. I was so excited to read this book after I read the review. It is a fictional novel about a group of Americans who mysteriously disappear on an isolated mountain lake in Northern Myanmar (Burma). Sure enough, it is based on Inle Lake, which I recently visited during my week in Myanmar. I was intrigued by the strong spiritual aspects of the hill tribes and little towns around the lake. Although the author was unable to travel to the military-governed nation for research, the book promises to be an interesting look at Myanmar's culture and political situation from the standpoint of a fictional story. I am excited to read it. Even the picture on the cover of the book is similar to a photo I took:

or maybe this one...


One other book I just got and will read in the next week is by one of Japan's greatest modern novelists, Haruki Murakami. I thoroughly enjoyed two of his other books, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and The Wild Sheep Chase. It's called Underground and is actually an in-depth investigation into the mysterious Aum Shinrikyo Cult who were responsible for the terrible sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. Murakami's fictional works are incredibly detailed in character development and often have amazingly bizarre twists. I can't wait to get into this one.

Before I start my new job on the 16th, I will be snowboarding for a week in Colorado. Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail. I can't explain how excited I am to get up on the mountain and rip it. Exactly one year ago I was recovering from a week boarding in Nagano and getting ready to go home for Joe and Michiyo's wedding followed by a week at Vail. I am quite lucky to be able to spend a week snowboarding with no guilty feelings that I should be looking for a job; work starts 8 am sharp on Monday morning.