How you know you're lifting in Japan

-Bow before and after lifting when coming into/leaving the main lifting area to/from the hallway to the locker rooms.

-Mirrors are too short, can only see half your body

-Not enough weight on the machines

-A lot more older people

-Towels on every machine and every mat on the ground

-Sign up sheet for treadmills/ellipticals and each has an hour time limit

-What is a super set (doesn't exist over here)

-Lockers - every locker has a spot for a 100 yen coin and you have to put the coin in to be able to lock the locker and get the key out to take with you

-If you get up from your machine to stretch/get a drink, even if you leave your water bottle/towel/workout notebook right next to it, the machine will be taken.

-If you are waiting for a bench/machine you need to basically be on top of the person who is using it to get your turn. I have been waiting for a machine before (from a distance of 5 or so feet, waiting patiently for the person to finish and wipe the machine down, clearly showing my interest in the machine and that I was to be next) when someone barely let the person finish and cut right in front of me. It's not the only time it's happened either.

-There is no such thing as working in. I of course wouldn't be able to ask as I don't have the language skills necessary to be able to ask, but I have never seen a Japanese person do it either.

Yakiniku

This is a photo "tour" of our Yakiniku meal that one of the sponsors took us out for 1.5 weeks ago. Thank you again for the meal, it was great.

Yakiniku (pronounce yah-key-knee-koo) is a popular Japanese meal. You go to a restaurant that has a grill built into the center of the table. The wait staff then brings you meat (and veggies if you'd like) to grill by yourself on the grill. And just if you're wondering the meat you get isn't thick pieces like a steak they are cut really thin and cook quite fast (although you can order a thicker cut steak if you want but it isn't the norm). Different Yakiniku places are different in that some charge you per plate of food ordered while others are one price for all-you-can-eat. It's very good!

And so we begin......

When you sit down there are little sauce trays with 3 different sauces in them. 

There was some sort of salt, a lemon sauce, and a beef sauce

For our meal the other night we started out with a little bowl of cooked and cut up beef.

Right after the little bowl of beef they brought out some kimuchi (pronounced kim-chee). It is veggies with a hot/spicy flavorful sauce (sometimes quite spicy, sometimes not too bad. I'm not much of a spicy-liking person but I tend to like this). Somebody said it is a Korean thing, but I have seen it often here in Japan.

Many times at Yakiniku you start out with a plate of beef tounge, cut into thin little pieces (we have had this on a number of occasions and it is not bad. Sometimes it can get a little chewy, but it's alright)

This time after the kimuchi they brought out a big plate of veggies with some chicken and pork to get us started. Except for the first little bowl of cut up beef that we were given all the meat and veggies you get are raw and you cook it to your liking. Whether you like your meat a little red or if you a brown-is-cooking-black-is-done kind of person you can grill it how you want).

Then they brought out the big plate of beef, with different kinds/cuts of beef. This is what we were there for.

While we were eating our beef they brought us out little bowls of rice if we wanted them

Then they brought out a big steak. The steak was pre-cut into thick strips. If you have ever heard of Kobe beef you probably think of super tender, marbled, expensive, melt-your-mouth-beef. That's what this was and it was delicious.

We didn't have it this time at our table (I have tried it in the past and it wasn't that bad, just chewy) but the other table that was  with us ordered a plate of intestines.

After we finished with the meat/veggie/rice/kimuchi they said we could order dessert. We were all too full this time but past desserts have included ice cream, a pineapple sorbet that was served in half of a hallowed out pineapple shell, pieces of cake or a gelatin dessert. 

If you are ever in Japan I would highly recommend that you try Yakiniku. Not only is it great food but it is great experience too. I would say it is very popular with the Japanese people and something very common when going out to eat.

If you get the chance to go, let me know how it is and how you like it.

Thank you again for taking us out, it was great!

Starbucks

Here in Japan there are many starbucks. Here in Toyama city there are at least 4. When we are in America we don't tend to go that often, if at all, but over here it is a treat and a little taste/reminder of home. 

At one of the Starbucks a few of the workers are fans of our team, and very friendly when we stop in.

#47 is my number this year

Nice to be able to go and have a date with my girls sometimes :)

Drive to practice

Here's a picture from our drive to practice the other day

Snow

Here in toyama there is a lot of snow. According to Wikipedia this place gets about 12 feet of snow a year. The temperature though hovers right about 32 degrees (freezing) so once we get snow it usually starts to melt within a couple days. That 12 feet of snow doesn't continuously accumulate throughout the winter and leave snow banks impossible to see over. I think it would be kind of cool if the snow was that high but it doesn't stick around long enough to form a magical white wall that even Elsa of Frozen could be proud of.

The last few times we have gotten snow we have gotten more than just a dusting. Two days ago in the morning it started snowing and snowed/sleetied pretty much continuously until the middle of the day yesterday. I am not sure of the exact amount but We got at least 14 inches of snow in this time period.

(My shoes are size 14)

Of course today though it has started to melt as it was about 45 degrees (7 degrees Celsius). So even though we got a lot of snow and everything looks great with a white covering I don't think it will take too long to melt if it stays this warm. The girls enjoy the snow and with the melt on we will just have to wait another week to get a good snowfall to go and play again.

Where I stay

In one of my other posts I mentioned that right now I am staying in an apartment/dorm with some of the others. I thought I would include some pictures from the area. Our dorm, looking down the street toward the mountains, and one of the many rice fields around here with the mountains in the distance.

Yummy

Tonight I was lucky enough to be invited out for dinner. We went to yakiniku, which is a restaurant that has a grill in the center of the table. The wait staff brings you beef, pork, chicken, squid or whatever you order (all sliced very thin) and you cook over the flames of the grill. Delicious! One of the beef plates they brought tonight was a type of beef that literally melted in your mouth. It was so good!

And., we also tried beef sashimi tonight. Sashimi means raw, so they brought a plate of raw slimy beef - it actually wasn't too bad. Don't know if I would eat a ton of it but it wasn't too bad.

Dinner

Here in toyama many of the team members stay in an apartment building/dorm and there is a wonderful lady who cooks meals for the guys. This is dinner. Oishi (delicious) - Arigatou/thank you!

They dont mess around out here

Today we found out that we have a protein sponsor for the year. We also found out that it wont be a 2.2 lb bag, 5 lb tub, or even a 10 lb container - that's all to measly. Over here they get serious. Look at the picture - that's a 45 kg (about 100 lbs) bin of protein. The thing doesn't even come with a scoop to get it out, you have to use a shovel.

They say we can have it for after practice or when we need it but I'm not messing around. Why just drink it when you can take a bath in it? Protein helps your body recover so I might as well sleep in the thing too.

If the next time you see me, I have a delightful vanilla aroma to me, don't worry, it's only because I have protein-ified my body and have it running through my veins. And, because this is so fantastic I have even asked the team to change the number on the back of my jersey to just a simple word - protein. This might also help me not foul as the refs will have a hard time showing my number to the scorers table and maybe call less fouls. This is such a good idea... Don't you think?

Thank you protein

Made it

Well, I made it back to Japan safely this year. My flight on Air Canada over the ocean was great. The wonderful stewardesses gave me extra meals for both meal services (1 extra meal on the first meal service and 2 extra meals on the second) and were very friendly. Would definitely recommend that airline if you have the chance to fly with them.
Even the though the flight over was nice the trip didn't go without a hiccup. When I got to Tokyo I went to get my bag from the baggage claim, but instead of my blue suitcase coming around on the carousel I was greeted with a green plastic bin that said "Joseph Werner please see an airline employee." Well, because I am smart I knew I probably hadn't won $5 or something really cool like that and something, probably no good, was up. I was right. I was informed that my bag hadn't made the trip. I guess it wanted to spend some more time in Vancouver, where I flew from, and didn't make it to Tokyo......................fantastic (sarcastic). Its not that big of deal, only that I have pretty much everything I need in there. But I guess I can always cut two holes in a garbage bag and put it on if I need some more undies, so no big deal.
Other than that though alls well and it is nice to be here.

This year we will be in Toyama, Japan.

The past 2 seasons we have been in Chiba (on the east side of Tokyo) and Kyoto (right next to Osaka). This year we are pretty much right in the middle of those two places, only to the north. This team has been pretty successful the past couple of years and we are hoping to have another successful season again. Katy and the girls will be coming over in a couple weeks once I can get the apartment situated and set up (and I am already excited for them to come).

According to wikipedia:
Toyama Prefecture (富山県 Toyama-ken^?) is a prefecture (state) of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu island (main Island of Japan). The capital is the city of Toyama.
Toyama is the leading industrial prefecture on the Japan Sea coast, and has the industrial advantage of cheap electricity from abundant hydroelectric resources. It also contains East Asia’s only glaciers outside Russia, first recognized in 2012.
<sup>The city we will live in, Toyama city, has about 417,000 people.

View the rest of the blog here: http://katyandjoey.blogspot.jp/ and thanks for reading</sup>