Boat Racing in Japan

June 19th was an interesting day. Even though it is the rainy season here in Japan, there was no rain in sight in the morning. It was still very hot and humid, with temperatures forecast to be around 30 degrees plus humidity. The weather was also partly cloudy and no rain was forecast for the rest of the day.

Looking for something to do in order not to get bored, and use the good weather, we decided to go out to the races. We had read about the boat races and a racetrack in neighbouring Toda City and decided we would check them out. Originally we decided to head out there by train and then shuttle bus, but we changed our minds after looking at the sky. We decided to ride our bikes to the track instead to save the train fare and get a little more exercise. Once we found our destination on the map and figured out a route, we were on our way.

This was about 10:30 am.

Just after 11:30 am we pulled into the grandstands of the Toda Kyotei (or Toda Motorboat Racecourse). This was a much longer ride than we imagined.

What an interesting experience. Imagine a special canal split off from the main river that is about 107.5 metres wide and about 450 metres long. The boats race 3 laps after a flying start and there is gambling allowed on the races.

The large screens shows the odds for the races and driver information. As we had no idea how to read this information, and we were interested in placing a bet for fun, we had to ask at the information desk how to do so. Once we learned how to do it, we waited for the next race to decide which boat(s) to pick. Turns out the next race to bet on was race number 5 (out of 12 scheduled). The following picture is of our betting slip (I chose the first line of Boat 3 to win and Boat 4 to place second; Kazumi chose the second line of Boat 3 to win and Boat 6 to place second).

Well, we were half right. Turns out in this race, Boat 3 did end up winning, but neither Boat 4 (placed 5 out of 6) or Boat 6 (placed 4 out of 6) came close to winning.

We finally arrived home at around 4:30 pm after watching 3 races and stopping along the way for a late lunch. Still, we had a fun time and slept well after our long bike ride.

Update to First Post

As an update to my first post, I will be allowed to sign a part-time contract with Company Number 2 so that I may work with them. This means that I may work on some Saturday's and other weekeday evenings, depending on the needs of the company. I am hoping that I will be able to get some work in August as I would normally be off and unpaid during that time.

In other news, the rainy season has officially arrived here in the Kanto area as of yesterday. If this season plays out as expected (and it is about 8-10 later than usual), we will be in for about 6-8 weeks of generally cloudy and rainy weather while being very humid too. Not my favourite time to be in Japan. Have to carry around the umbrella almost everyday as rain is always a possibility, even on a sunny day. This season is followed by summer: smoggy, hazy, hot, humid weather until probably the end of September at the earliest.

Of Earthquakes and Time Zones

I seem to pick the wrong place to live in at the times of some important world sporting events. In 2004, the Olympics were in Athens, and I was in Japan, a difference of 6 hours. In 2006, the Winter Olmpics were in Turin, Italy and I was in Canada, a difference of 6 hours again. In 2008, I was in Canada again for another Olympics, but this time they were in Beijing, a difference of 12 hours. Then when the 2010 Winter Olmpics were held in my own country, I was living in Japan at a mere 17 hours difference. The last bad time to happen to me is this summer's World Cup in South Africa. The time difference is 7 hours behind Japan time so I had to get up at 3:30am this morning to watch the England-USA match (was disappointed with the result too). I never can seem to be in the right place at the right time.....

This afternoon just after my lunch, around 12:30pm local time, we experienced an earthquake. The centre of the quake was farther north than where I live, but we definately felt the apartment shake. I am not sure whether to enjoy these or fear them. It is still a novelty for me to go through one. They kind of feel interesting as everything shakes a bit. That is until you realize that the ground is shaking and it could be the big one that everyone seems to agree is late to come in this area. That would be scary.

The First Post - Venting

I have been guilty of a few things in the past. I have not performed occasional tasks asked of me (and got paid for them anyway), i have taken things I was not supposed to, and I even committed a little bit of vandalism. This was all in my youth. The most recent thing I have been guilty of, and it is not quite so illegal as those past, is simply not read a contract. I signed a contract to begin a new job and after a few months, I was offered a new job with a different company. Upon trying to quit the first job to begin the second, I was told that as per my contract, my employer could decide whether or not to accept my resignation and allow me to change companies. It turns out that they did not accept my resignation so I am still at job number 1. The threat was that if I did not finish the contract, I could be taken to court to get back the funds that would normally be paid to me for the remainder of the contract (a sum around 2 million yen). If I wanted to do that, they would happily let me out of my contract. Since I am a poor individual with a wife and one income, I was literally forced to take door number 1 and remain in my post. (I might add at this point that I am not unhappy with my current position, I am unhappy with my current employer)

The silver lining to all of this is that company number 2 has allowed me to sign with them on a part-time basis, so I can still get some income from them especially during August when there is no work scheduled.

I do not like this attempt by company number 1 to stop me, but I have to live with the decision, unless I can get some direction from the Labour Board here in Japan.

Still, I will do my best in this position and enjoy my time here, no matter how long that turns out to be.