Aloha!!

I probably won't get another chance to post again for a couple of weeks. Therefore, I want to wish everyone the best as I leave with the love of my life to get married in Hawaii!! We're gone in 2 days, and I can't wait. We'll be sure to take some pictures of the Marshall Islands where we're staying for our honeymoon. C yáll!

Judo Chop!

I've got two schools where I will be teaching this year. They're very close to one another, and that's about as far as their similarities go. I don't think I'll be getting home early from either one of them very often, even though I usually have nothing to do after 3:30.
Soooo... I've decided to study judo with some of the students after class. I'll only get home a half-hour later than I would anyway, and it gives me some exercise and prevents me from falling asleep on my face whilst doing nothing for hours on end.
I've already learned how to tumble (which I never thought I would do, ever (I'm not kidding; the thought of my posterior over my head gave me horrible images of a "The Ring"-like broken neck)), and a couple of throws (they get hard really fast, though). Judo in Japan is the high school equivalent of wrestling; there is no punching or kicking, which makes that line in "Austin Powers" all the more amusing.
I leave work every day in a full sweat now, which means I will need to arrange some kind of training clothing alongside my semi-formal work attire. A shower wouldn't hurt either.

Ramen Museum

We went to the Ramen Museum in Shin-Yokohama a couple of weeks ago, and I must say it was quite a bit better than I expected. You can get there from Yokohama by taking the JR Yokohama line. I think it's 4 stops, and anyone in the station can point you to the museum; it's pretty much a landmark there. Tickets are about 350 yen.

I had heard the stories about how good the ramen is; even that people buy season tickets just so they can eat there every week. It was honestly THAT good. Travis, if you're coming back, we will definitely go there! There are 6 different ramen shops in the museum; each a franchise from a different part of the country. We went to the Hokkaido ramen shop; their miso ramen was awesome! Be prepared to fork over 1000-1200 yen per bowl unless you want to get a small, sample-sized bowl for 500 yen (you won't be able to get a lot of toppings with that, though). There's also a recreation of an old candy store complete with an old-fashioned, Japanese-speaking obasan, and a fresh sweet-bread, cotton candy, and ice cream shop in the main dining area.

What surprised me was how much of a museum it really was. This is just one picture, but, if you go, you will see that there is an underground mock-up of a small neighborhood in Tokyo. There is a street that runs around the top of this photo, so you can go around the back of it and see more of what Japan looked like 50 years ago. We spent a lot more time there than we planned, and were overwhelmed by the scope of the recreation; we thought there would just be a few ramen shops inside and maybe an historical pamphlet.

If you're in the market for some of the best ramen in the world, then I would recommend the Ramen Museum; come for the ramen, stay for the atmosphere.