2002-2005 (c) GetJealous.com, All rights reserved. http://www.getjealous.com/makotaco/rss.xml my year here in japan is quickly coming to an end. while i'm excited to return to the states, it's been a great journey and i'm trying to absorb everything i can in these final weeks. my apologies for not updating this thing as much as i'd hoped but time just seems to get away from me. thank you to all of my wonderful friends who have kept up w/ email correspondence and calls as well as the thoughtful packages, cards and little (but essential) reminders of home. i can't wait to see everyone!! sayonara for now... xoxo http://www.getjealous.com/makotaco http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=376034&go=makotaco best farewell parties ever!!! enough said.... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=376034&go=makotaco Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=370062&go=makotaco "you are a fool if you never climb Mt. Fuji, and you're an ever bigger fool is you climb it more than once." -famous japanese saying i successfully completed the night climb to the summit of mt. fuji and was it ever an amazing and intense 9 hour hike plus 5 on the way down! we started at 6pm, got to the top at 2:30am, watched the sunrise, ate some ramen and headed down around 5am. we made it ba... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=370062&go=makotaco Tue, 7 Aug 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=319821&go=makotaco another trip to sapporo for vacation (golden week). i'm obsessed with that city but the distance makes it difficult to travel there. nevertheless, glad i could go at least once more and i had a ball with kenny and michael. we ate ate ate, hit the foreign bars (which happened to be foreignless), saw the infamous cherry blossoms, went to a cadavear exhibit and experienced japanese baseball. oh, how ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=319821&go=makotaco Mon, 7 May 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=275928&go=makotaco my agenda-free wknd was put on hold due to erica's farewell party. i'm sad to see her go but she's still in hokkaido so i plan on visiting her soon. we karaoked until 5 am to the likes of a-ha, prince, the chili peppers, oasis and even some britney spears and n'sync to revert back to our high school days. i'm still trying to get my voice back but it was well worth the temporary loss. earthquake... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=275928&go=makotaco Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=246158&go=makotaco my trip to the main island was a roller-coaster ride to say the least. because of the blizzard in colorado, adi couldn't catch her flight out which put a damper on the whole trip but i ended up having a pretty awesome time. i finally got to see waka who i haven't seen since graduation and we hit up the major districts of tokyo (shibuya, harajuku, shinjuku, akihabara) and took a bus tour to see som... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=246158&go=makotaco Sat, 6 Jan 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=234535&go=makotaco a.k.a. yet another reason to drink. the japanese are so clever. tokyu inn hosted party #1, seven dwarfs restaurant for #2 and a random izakaya (japanese-style bar) for #3. all in a day's work. more new (and rather unique) foods for me to try and endless pitchers of beer. of course, free-flowing conversation after consumption of said beverages was a riot. no complaints from me! weather update (m... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=234535&go=makotaco Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=211990&go=makotaco even though halloween isn't celebrated in japan, we had two parties at work. one for kids and one for adults. i had a lot of fun with the help of cocktail partner, another asahi made alcoholic beverage. god bless asahi. the adult students are very entertaining so the 4 or so hours passed by quickly. the next day i went to see the kushiro (nippon) paper cranes cce hockey team. The asia league incl... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=211990&go=makotaco Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=206847&go=makotaco the last few weeks i've been trying to stay out of mischief. it's fun just being in the city and around the japanese. you can go into a bar or shop and just hang out with the locals. i've pretty much got the bus system down and i really like knowing that it's a VERY reliable form of transportation. but, i've found that while walking around and getting lost, i almost always manage to stumble across... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=206847&go=makotaco Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=199024&go=makotaco after a rough start (stupid foreigner [me] getting lost in train station. in my defense, there were 10 floors and multiple exits) my trip to sapporo turned out to be the most fun i've had since being in japan. my lovely british friend was kind enough to put me up in her flat for a couple of days so i didn't have to worry about a hotel. we had loads of fun at the revolving sushi bar. it was hard to... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=199024&go=makotaco Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=193540&go=makotaco one of the students said this to me last night. i thought i had met the most pessimistic person in japan (he ended up being the most arrogant) but he was referring to Japan's location on a map...it's on the far right side of the map so it's like the end. yea, loose connection at best. my welcoming party was so much fun. it was kinda shocking seeing 20 or so japanese people in their drunken sta... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=193540&go=makotaco Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:00:00 GMT