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After a very hectic week of training at the AEON West headquarters in Okayama, I arrived in Tottori, Japan.  Training week was crazy busy, but kinda funny.  Our dorm was like Gilligan's Island--no TV, Internet, or any connection to the outside world.  We were lucky to have running water in that place.  The 2 trainers were really friendly and supportive, so they turned the training into a beneficial learning experience.  I left Okayama feeling better prepared than I had expected to be.  We each taught 3 full-length classes to real Japanese students.  I have yet to use the monkey puppet I love so much because he's still in LA.  Plus, I'm not sure if I can work him in cuz I'm supposed to encourage the students to talk to each other (and not a freakin' monkey puppet).

Before moving to Tokyo, I taught English in a countryside prefecture known as Tottori.  I loved it there.  My only complaint was my noisy neighbor that liked to play taiko drums early in the morning (usually between 5:30am – 6:00am).  He would open all the doors and windows so that it could be heard by all.  He would play to no discernible rhythm and consistently modulate the tempo making it all the more irritating.

Unfortunately, the place where all the noise was coming from was a Shinto shrine.

But why should places of worship and the fallible men and women that run them be exempt from criticism?  If church and state are indeed separate in this day and age, then I should be able to proceed as if I were complaining about noise from a dance club or pachinko parlor.  I had always been told that Japanese almost never complain directly.  For example, a noisy neighbor would hear any complaints via the apartment building landlord.  

But what about a foreigner?  Could a foreigner even complain in Japan—let alone about noise coming from a shrine?  This was going to be an interesting social experiment.

• the mahi-mahi burrito (baja style) from La Salsa
• drinkin' wine and playin' NBA Jams for Super Nintendo with my best friends
• having stuff in English
• movie theaters that seat like 1500 people and make you go deaf
• watchin' laker games
• having a car
• clubbing in Hollywood
• watching "Family Guy" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
• Costco
• 24-pack of beer in bottles for 
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I have a story for you, and it's quite disgusting really.  But this is me you're talking to, so that's what you get.

Anyways, I'll get to the point.

I went on an all-day road trip to visit the ninja villages in Japan.  It was 4 of us: me, Susumu, Shinobu, and Yoko.  Anyways, we stopped to eat in Kyoto on the way back to Tottori.  We had this epic feast mostly consisting of tofu dishes.  They served tonyu, which is this milky, heavy type of tofu.  It's like a dessert.  This was my first time eating it.

Well, it didn't sit too well on my stomach, and I actually got a mild case of the shits right there in the restaurant.  I went to the bathroom, and took care of it.  Problem solved, right?