The Shore

What better way to celebrate both my Japanese adventure and my blog's first anniversary than a new adventure into a foreign culture?

That's right, kids.  I branched out and took the plunge.

To the Jersey shore.

And yes, it really is a different world.

Despite traveling to 47 states and 9 foreign countries, I've never made the 3-hour trip to the Jersey shore, a foreign place in and of itself.  The NJ Turnpike?  Well-worn.  The Shore?  Not so much.  Not even Atlantic City.

This week, that all changed, and it was spectacular.

And in a fitting tribute to my Japanese adventure, I had the fortune of spending 3 days with wonderful newlyweds who both performed multiple contracts at TDS and fell in love whilst working there!  Stories and reminiscences abounded making my heart ache for one of the best experiences in my life.

Not that orange tank top tans, mullets, and beer bellies aren't just as delightful.   Not.

I knew it would be an amazing adventure when we pulled up to the aqua neon OEO hotey-ho (It was called the Bolero, but every other light was out!) and we were given a look into classic 60's Jersey.  Including our hotel room and the class-less neighbors.  Luckily that also meant we could by beer by the case for CHEEEEEAAAP and we were happy to indulge.

And the best part was that the guys got to relax and play all day while the ladies had to go to work!  You know, relax by throwing our bodies onto rollercoasters and the claw ride that spun you around fully upside down and made you turn purple.  No wonder Jason got a little nervous there...

We also enjoyed the amenities of the Boardwalk, including a conspicuously-placed gazebo with rocking chairs, perfect for re-creating a contemporary solo seen the day before for our judged-out ladies.  Eat these lines 17-year-old Jersey girl!

And while we probably ran into more Snooki and Situation look-a-like wannabes than I care to admit (I don't really know who those people are, but...), there actually are some charming beaches minutes from Wildwood that look like this.

Definitely worth the escape.

And so the mini-vacation consisted of laughing, pizza and ice cream, beer, amazing independent coffee shops, Stone Harbor, Cape May, happy hour in utter seclusion, playing skeeball and the Ultimate Claw to buy the girls presents and pay four for four forever friends bracelets.  Dancing on rocking chairs, Japan memories, Wawa, and rollercoasters to seal the vacation as one forever incredible memory.

A 3-hour drive to a foreign country beats that 13-hour flight on Delta any day.

Happy 1st Anniversary "A Toph out of Water"!

Signs You're a Gai-jin Actor Who's Been in Japan 6 months

Just a little list of not-so-commonplace occurrences that are strangely commonplace when you live in Japan and work for Mickey Mouse:

1. You're drinking your morning coffee at 16:00 when the sun's about to set (and apparently aren't phased by using military time).

2. When you wake up at 1:49 PM, you realize you can't remember the last time you accidentally slept that late without intending to do so, being sick, or being hungover.

3. You force yourself to "do something" on your day off, so you go to the station for Starbucks and groceries and then do laundry.

4. You feel a sense of accomplishment that it only took you ten minutes to go to the Ito Yokado and buy baking powder, because you prepared by writing the katakana and Kanji translations down to make it easier when asking the lady for help.

5. You're shocked when someone speaks English to you.

6. Blonde people look weird.

7. Tall people look weird.

8. You don't hit your head on the subway train any more.

9. You're excited when it's raining and gross outside so you can watch 6 hours of old Survivor episodes online.

10. Taking the bus for 240 yen (round-trip) to the station when it's raining outside feels like a splurge.

11. You haven't updated your blog or used Skype in a week because you've had a nasty sinus cold. Instead you just sleep and play Farmville, pretending that's a valid excuse.

12. You expect to take a 2 hour nap at work every day, and are grumpy when you don't get that luxury, even though you slept 9 hours the night before.

13. You've finally stopped referring to 1000 yen as "ten bucks".

14. You can successfully bake cornbread and brownies in a mini-microwave/oven/toaster combo.

15. Your English has completely deteriorated, and you say things like "daijobu" to your stateside friends on the phone.

16. 5 show matinee days are normal, and a 2 show matinee day feels like heaven.

17. You buy half-torso puffy vests and reindeer boots and don't care if anyone judges you for your fashion choices because you know your Japanese friends will just say "KAWAII!"

Red Cup Day

There is something magical about red cup day.

Yes, I know. In the olden days, people used to get excited about the crispness in the air, the change in the leaves, the first snowfall, cranberry harvests, and sleigh rides.

They also used to walk uphill both ways barefoot in a storm to school.

But this is 2009, and I'm in Japan. So Red Cup Day was extra special this year.

There's just something about the first Starbucks drink of the season from a red, Christmas-y cup that puts a whole lotta joy on my face. And since I NEVER GOT A PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE (wtf, Japanese Starbucks?), I was more than ecstatic to accept a delicious, tasty Gingerbread Latte today as an oishii consolation prize.

Alright, I know. Stop right there. "But Christopher-san", you say, "I thought that you pretty much hated Starbucks coffee and its big business practices and that you championed local coffee shops instead."

And you're right. I do. But, like any red-blooded American, I occasionally love a really good Starbucks latte, especially when I'm 7000 miles from home and guess what?!, a red cup feels like home.

So that Gingerbread Latte was quite delicious, and though we are lacking in the Eggnog, Pumpkin Spice (seriously, WTF?) and Peppermint Mocha varieties, I am looking forward to tasting the Dark Cherry Mocha and the Caramel Eclair (it supposedly tastes sweet AND salty).

And yes, I just spent the last 10 paragraphs talking about Starbucks.

But I mean, that's what I love Red Cup of LIFE day.

And then we had 3 dress rehearsals for Christmas BBB of which I got to watch 2. And even though we've been rehearsing it for over a month, I HAD NO IDEA HOW AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE OUR CHRISTMAS SHOW IS.

Sorry, I'll really try to stop type-shouting at you. Gomen nosai.

But seriously, if I thought that one coffee corporation I previously mentioned could be magical with a red cup, just imagine what the huge-normous corporation I work for could do with a big band, tap dancers, crazy singers, some of their flagship characters, and some snazzy jazzy Christmas tunes.

I mean, who needs to do White Christmas on Broadway when I get to SING "White Christmas" solo on a fog-covered stage with a big band, a french horn solo, while Mickey and Minnie Mouse dance a SICK (and touching) pas de deux? OH. And I ALSO get to do the best solo arrangement of "Let It Snow" you've ever heard, and, by the way, make it SNOW on the audience.

Eat your heart out Randy Skinner.

So thanks, Disney. Who needs Broadway when you are giving me some of the best spectacle I've ever seen in 15 minutes? I mean, Donald Duck on a scooter? 8 foot snowballs? A giant moving Frosty? And the most glamorous throwing up of red onstage (sorry HSM) I've ever seen? You better WORK.

And I apologize to all my real Radio City friends out there, but these Japanese girls are kicking their faces and READY to take over if any of you can't quite make it onstage. They are phenomenal.

So yeah. Christmas BBB and Red Cups and Gingerbread Lattes make me MECHA genki.

And then Evan and I lived it up at Zensushi across the street and the onsen.

AND I don't have to do anything but show up to work tomorrow AND we get out 3 hours earlier than a normal day AND I'm going to Outback AND Blair and I are going to sing and play together.

I'm definitely in the Christmas spirit!

All in an aka ipai day!