#Japan2015

Going to Japan was, by far, the most incredible experience of my life.

As many of you know, I'm a fanatic member of the Orlando Runner's Club. What you may not know, is that the Orlando Runner's Club (ORC) has a sister running club, the Uraysu Runner's Club (URC), in Uraysu Japan. As a part of the sister running club program, the URC sends runners here every year to do the OUC Half in December, and we send runners to Japan to do the Tokyo Bay Uraysu City Marathon (which is currently a 10k as the city rebuilds after a natural disaster). This year I was selected to go to Uraysu along with another ORC member and her husband.

Arriving in Japan was awesome. The flight was long, but the moment we stepped out of customs, we were greeted by a group of friends with smiles.

That night they had a welcome dinner for us at a restaurant in the mall that was attached to our hotel. It was great to see old friends and make new friends.

The next morning we had a special meeting with Uraysu's mayor, Mayor Matsuzaki. I gave a short speech in Japanese (and I was SO NERVOUS), and we exchanged gifts with the mayor.

Speech Time!

The awesome origami ram (because it's the
year of the ram) my dad made for the mayor

After our meeting with the mayor, our URC friends took us sight seeing in Tokyo. It was a cold day with a "wintery mix," of rain and snow with a high layer of fog. But we didn't let the weather get us down. First we went to the top of a tall building so we could see around. The fog prevented us from being able to see everything, but we could still see many of the beautiful landmarks in the area.

From that viewpoint, we could see our next stop, the Sensi-Ji Temple.

It was a really cool place. There is a long alley leading up to it that houses many shops that sell all sorts of goodies, souvenirs, and trinkets. The Temple itself is beautiful.

Buddhist temples and shrines are nothing like what I would have imagined. I would have pictured them as being, essentially, like a church, except maybe more ornate. Buddhist temples though are like attractions for both tourists and locals. They feature beautiful and symbolic statues, golden Buddha statues, and a million little things you can do for a few yen.

One such thing is fortune telling. Here's how it works:
Step 1- put some yen in the box.
Step 2- Shake the heck out of this can thing that has a bunch of little numbered sticks in it until one comes out of the tiny little hole.

Step 3- Find the drawer with the same number on it as was on your stick, and grab your fortune.

Step 4- Get really confused and kinda irritated because your fortune is bad (lol). But don't fret because apparently they're all bad, and there's one more step to get rid of your newly purchased bad luck.
Step 5- Fold up your piece of paper lengthwise, and tie it on the wire with all the others, and Poof! The Buddha will turn your bad luck into good luck, and it worked. Just as we were leaving the temple, a huge piece of ice slid off the roof and juuuuuussssssst missed me. My new found luck was the joke of the rest of the trip, and was totally worth a few yen.

After some chilly sightseeing of the temple grounds and some shrine pit stops...

 we were off to Tokyo tower! Tokyo tower is like a mini version of the Eiffel tower, and was a gift from France to Japan.

On our way to dinner, we went to Ginza, which is like Tokyo's version of 5th Avenue in New York- fancy shops and fancy people.

That night, we had mange for dinner we had manga, and it was quite the experience. The restaurant was the kind where you take your shoes off and sit on the floor. Manga is a food you make yourself on a cook top on your table. And it's an endless experience, lol. Like, 2 and a half hours, 8 courses, lots and lots and lots of food.

The next morning was training day. We joined the URC for their weekly training and stretching, and even hung out with the Turtles- the URC children's running club.

 Next up, we went to the Meji Shrine. It's a beautiful shrine surrounded by natural beauty.

Barrels full of sake donated to the shrine... yum!

Selfie Stick goes international!!

Hand cleansing for purification

There was a traditional Japanese wedding going on while we were there!

After the Meji Shrine we went to Harajuku, which is the young fashion district. It's also the most crowded place I've ever been.

You order your crepes by number

Harajuku is also famous for their scrumptious crepes.

Strawberries, strawberry ice cream, and cheesecake crepe, YUM!!

The last stop of the day was Shibuya, which is Tokyo's version of times square, and home to the world's busiest intersection.

The next day was race day! We ran the Tokyo Bay Uraysu City 10k. It was SUPER windy and cold, but it was a beautiful course filled with great friends.

 

Mt. Fuji

That night, the URC had an awesome party, and they dressed Marissa and I in kimonos.

The after party was karaoke! Japanese karaoke is a bazillion times better than American karaoke!!

The next day we went to Kamakura, which is a city with very old, beautiful temples, and the Big Buddha.

Gorgeous Japanese-style garden

The Pacific Ocean

That night Azusa, Marissa and Dean's homestay, threw us a party at her house, and, since we "honored," our guests with a beer bong in December, they busted out beer bong glasses for us!

The last day, Rina, my home stay, planned a day in her hometown, Narita. First we went to a really cool outdoor museum. It had a model village to show what villages used to be like. We made rice cakes the old fashioned way.

...and we became samurais!

My home stay Rina and I

A traditional dress worn over your
wedding dress after you get married

After building up the hunger of a samurai, we went to a lunch at a place with the food on conveyer belts.

Even with a flight taking us home in a mere few hours, we still weren't done. February 3rd is the first day of Spring, and they welcome Spring with the Setsubun, aka Soybean Throwing, Festival. We went to a Setsubun Festival at a temple in Narita.

The guys in pink are champion sumo wrestlers, and all the
girls were gaga over them, lol

Selfie Stick strikes again!

The complete explanation of the Soybean Throwing Festival is a bit fuzzy, but from what I understand, they are welcoming in life and warmth and happiness with the coming of Spring. The reason for throwing the roasted soybeans is to cast out the devil/evil/bad things and bring in happiness. In these festivals, celebrities, high ranking religious officials, and people with lots of money (they have to pay like $10,000) throw soybeans at a large crowd. If someone in the crowd catches the beans, they will have good luck and fortune.

After the festival it was time to take the long flight home. I will never forget this incredible journey, and I will always cherish the memories I have with my wonderful Japanese friends.

Trucker FAQ, with Derek Goodfriend

Trucker FAQ, with Derek Goodfriend

1. How often do you stay in hotels?
Never, I have a New York apartment behind the driver seat.

2. What kind of stuff do you deliver?
I have delivered aircraft parts, hazardous chemicals, wooden boxes that
are mysterious, solar panel parts, small electronics (one was a box no
more than 16 inches square)

3. What's the coolest thing you've ever delivered? Worst thing delivered?

Coolest things: probably one of those mystery boxes to Boeing, a 747
inflatable emergency slide from an aircraft bone yard, a 1200 lb
container of vanilla extract (because I got a bunch of free ice cream. 

Worst delivery, there were 2: the first one was a hazardous materials
load from a rendering plant where the hazmat paperwork was so poor I
had to wait on site 12 hours (where the smell was awful) before they got
it fixed then was told if we got there after their regular shipment
arrived then we would be turned back, it was at least 8 hours one way.
We beat the other truck by 15 minutes. Also the containers broke the
wheels on my pallet jack. The other delivery was from LAX airport to the
middle of nowhere northern California, I thought the mountainous roads
would be fun and scenic, but forgot that I wasn't driving a sports car.
Turns out I'm driving into a forest fire fireman's camp and one of the 2
items was damaged beyond use by a forklift, probably at the airport.

4. What do you do on the weekends?
Hopefully on a long drive across country so I don't have to wait for
Monday morning to unload. Sometimes though I'm busy enough that I don't
really know what day of the week it is. If I'm in the truck I want it
moving because then I'm making money.

5. Are lot lizards real?  

I have only heard about this on the radio and I
think it was from the Howard Stern Show. The lot lizard business used
to be conducted over the CB radio, now it's more high tech and done with
good old Craigslist.  Have you ever seen one? I have never seen one. I
try to park as close to the store as possible to avoid any shady
dealings that may go on in the back of the lot.

6. What do you eat? 

I eat fast food now and then. On rare
occasions I will eat at the truck stop restaurants. The only good ones
are Denny's which are at Flying J's and the one at I-80 (the biggest
truck stop in the world). Otherwise I have a fridge/freezer and microwave
so I shop at Walmart to save money and my waist line.

7. How do you go to the bathroom? 

I find rest stops or
truck stops and try not to drink too much. I usually have to stop every 4
to 5 hours for fuel or a mandatory 30 minute rest break. It's also good
to keep an empty bottle around so if you're in the sleeper with the
curtain closed, you don't have to make the driver make extra stops,
because every stop at a gas station cost about 20 -30 minutes. And if we
are parked over night and there's no truck stop around, I find a Walmart
so at least I have a bathroom any time of night.

8. Where do you sleep? 

In the sleeper of the truck. It's
about 8 feet long which is deluxe. I have a full size bed on the bottom
and there's a smaller bunk above. It's very comfortable.

9. Where do you shower? 

I shower at truck stops. With fuel
purchases I get more free showers than I can use. The Pilot and Flying
J's have the nicest ones, they are like private hotel bathrooms. There's
no time limits and they give you a clean towel, wash cloth, and floor
towel/mat.

10. Trucker showers sound scary. What happens when you drop
the soap? 

It will sit on the ground until you pick it up, it's your
soap I'd suggest you keep it. Unless you have a family member with a
soap factory where you get more free soap than you can use, otherwise I
wouldn't throw money down the drain. You are the only one in the
bathroom so it's safe to pick it up.

11. How long are you gone at a time? 

On average about 5 to 6 weeks.

12. How long are you home? 

About 7 days maybe 10 for Christmas holiday.

13. Do you like being by yourself all the time? 

I have a
co-driver named Larry that I work with so I'm rarely alone. Although
when we're at a truck stop, he likes to eat at the restaurants and hang
out in the TV room and I prefer to eat in the truck and avoid the
truckers inside who think they know everything. If there's more than 5
people in the lounge, one of them is an asshole who will tell you what's
wrong with the world and who's at fault.

14. How often do you switch who you drive with? 

I stay with
the same person unless we can't get along or they move to another
truck. So far I've worked with 3 people. The first guy trained me and
then he bought his own truck. The second guy I had to fire because he
was a dumb ass, he liked to talk a lot but never listened, was very
self-centered and inconsiderate, and had terrible hygiene. The third guy
is ok. He's from Boston and seems to be annoyed with nearly everyone,
it must be an Irish "you wanna fight about it" personality.

15. Wait, so you are with the same dude 24/7 the whole time
you're gone? Does that get annoying? Do you guys get along? 

Personalities do make a difference but since it's a working relationship
and we are both sacrificing our time away from home to make money, we
have a level of respect for each other. If there is a decision to be
made we have to agree on it, especially since we share the fuel cost, we
might have to decide where we want to wait for our next load. Do we
stay at a nearby Walmart or drive 45 minutes to a truck stop on our own
dime?

16. Do you and Simone Skype like every day? 

What's this Skype thing? We talk almost every day and text back and forth.

17. What kind of unexpected challenges have you run into?

I've taken some loads that paid well but went to destinations that were
hard to get out of. So after sitting for a couple of days without pay I
contemplated my decision. And one time we lost our license plate and
didn't find out until a Friday at 5 o'clock. Although they did overnight
it to us, nothing got started until Monday morning and it had to go
from Ohio to California. So we didn't leave until Wednesday morning, so
we lost 5 days of work

18. Do you always go to the same places? 

No, we usually go
to different places since our work is based off of businesses that have
something that came up at the last minute and it needs to get there. We
are the overnight delivery for stuff on pallets. Although we do have a
couple of regular runs, like LG appliances, there is a warehouse near
Dallas and one near Atlanta that sends out stuff regularly. The limit is
500 miles. So if you buy one of these appliances from Home Depot or
Lowes and are having them installed, we bring it from the big warehouse
to the local warehouse where the installers will bring it to your house.

19. Where is the coolest place you've been? 

The Boeing
plant near Seattle was cool. Also went to a 747 bone yard in Arizona.
Minnesota was nice, got to see a piece of the great lakes. One drive
stands out in my mind. It was between southern Utah and Flagstaff
Arizona, it's the road that goes to Zion National park, the Grand Canyon
and a few others.  So it was a moonless, cold, crisp night between midnight
and dawn, few cars were on the road, I stopped to see the stars in the
night sky and it was amazing! There were so many stars! It was actually
like what you'd see on tv when they show the Milky Way. Aside from that,
the next best thing I get to see on occasion are meteors. I've seen at
least 3 big ones.

20. What do you do when you're not driving? 

I play on my
phone, Internet and games. I have the Melissa Joan Hart book that my
wonderful wife got me, along with an autographed cover. Some trips I
bring magazines. And watch tv, I have a few movies and the Breaking Bad
series, my antenna usually picks up football games on weekends. And
sleep, definitely sleep.

21. Can you just come home whenever you want? Like, will
you be at my birthday party? 

I can adjust my schedule a little but if I
come back earlier than 6 weeks I might have to make it up later. We'll
see about birthdays.