Weekend of anti-anti-socialness

Weekend was more social than expected.

On Saturday I joined a few Tango people for dinner. Due to feelings that I might have to detach a lot of people from my life in order to be happy/make new friends/keep other friends, I had stopped hanging out with a few of them. However, after some self-evaluation, I decided I didn't like that about myself at all, and tried to reconnect with said people. Not be their best friends, not even be good friends, but be an acquaintance. Nobody's really that awful anyway.

That said, on Saturday I met Marina, Desirae, Andy, Eric, Yuumi, Jarrad and Scott at Mipple for dinner at the little restaurant we always go to on the fourth floor. We had lots of delicious food for not very much money and followed it up with ice cream next door at 'pier jolly', as I discovered it is called.

Afterwards, we drove to Nodagawa to get some karaoke time in. We sang for HOURS. I didn't realize how late it was until one person started throwing up from too much whiskey and my voice was about as useful as said puking person's coordination. Andy and I did a mean nirvana duet complete with headbanging/hoarse screaming! And Desirae and I rocked out to some Alanis Morisette as well, which was the end of my voice. Everyone was really drunk except for the drivers/devoted girlfriends of drunken louts. We played in the snow a little bit too

I drove Desi and Andy back to their home and decided to stay there for the night since the snow might make it problematic to get back to Ine (over an hour away) at 2 in the morning. So, the next morning I set off home to feed Kirby and change clothes and then set BACK off to Mineyama to meet Liz for lunch.

I hadn't seen Liz in ages, so it was nice catching up with her even though neither of us had too much to talk about! We ate a lot of sushi (as to say, I ate a lot of sushi) and then went for coffee at a cute little cafe called 'Honeycomb'. Liz got a very nice looking cake!

Together we set off for an IYP event (IYP stands for something official that I cannot remember). We made moss-balls! So, we took potted flowers and ivy/dragon's mustache (yay!) and shaped the soil into a ball, covered it with soft, damp moss and tied green string around it to make it stay. Voila! Moss and ball, together at last.

Granted, they were really pretty! Mine is set up by my kitchen window now, which gives my kitchen the effect of looking non-horrible! (This is always a plus).

That's the gist of the weekend, anyway. I'll put up some pictures as soon as I find my picture adapter thingie.

Rachel

Walkabout

Saturday wasn’t terribly eventful… mostly going to a tavern-type place (izakaya) with some friends after hanging out with Liz at her house for a few hours. She put up some Christmas decorations and I showed her a thing or two about her new macbook laptop!

The next day I joined the townspeople of my area for a walkathon! I wasn’t quite sure why the town was having a walkathon until much later, but the reason for it was that the bridge connecting the main road to itself was completed. Now I am able to take a main road from my house to anyone else’s house, which will be great once it starts to snow. Before I would have to take one of three back roads to get anywhere. This cuts my travel time by about 10 minutes, which is handy!

I suppose the walkathon was in celebration of this bridge, and for the hell of it. As autumn seems to be turning into a strange, moist season (it rains or hails 99% of the time now), I think everyone was keen to walk while the weather was still manageable.

Luckily for the people of Tsutsukawa, Ine and Honjo, the weather was lovely! It was in the 50’s and the day was clear and even a bit warm (or maybe it was all the walking). The walk was divided into three courses, 4 kilometers, 7 kilometers and 10 kilometers. None of them was too long or arduous. I joined the boss of the Board of Education (or rather he sort of made me join him) and some of his family. He had a daughter (in law?) and three grandchildren. Hamano-san is an energetic and kindly old man. I think he likes hanging out with the town gaijin because it makes him look good to the rest of the town and interesting to his colleagues. I would have spent the time with my students, but I suppose the company wasn’t lacking!

There were a lot of children and elderly people joining in the walk (and I am talking ELDERLY, like people in their 80’s and 90’s). Many of them decided on the shorter courses, but I was impressed nonetheless! Many of the children joined the walk as well with their parents and friends. Most of them did the full 10 kilometers. The baseball team ran the whole thing! I was so impressed by that. It wasn’t just 10 kilometers around a track; it was up and down Seaside Mountains and everything! We even saw a miniature dauschund walking the 10 km hike! He seemed pleased. The whole thing took just under three hours with the constant stopping to appease the 3 year old. It’s hard to make a 3-year-old walk five miles without stopping, it really is. He, Harunori, was a pretty awesome kid though, and didn't’ complain once. When he got tired he would simply sit down until his mother came to fetch him and carry him on her back. The walk was beautiful, and because nobody stretched, we were all very sore the next day. My feet hurt quite a bit by the end of it, but instead of falling asleep on the floor of my hallway, I managed to drive South and hang out with some people at a Korean-style restaurant before going to a shopping mall and buying a new watch.

Nothing else remotely interesting happened, which was fine by me! I’ve had enough crazy weekends so this was a nice relaxing one for a change.

Recitations and Hos = my weekend

What did I even do this weekend? For starters, I went to Miyazu on Saturday for the Recitation Contest of Junior High School Students. I hopped a bus at 0730 with Tsuji-sensei and the Honjo kids (Kohei and Kaai) and we then swooped down to Ine JHS to pick up Aimi-sensei, Chisato, Takashi, Misa and Ikumi. We arrived at Miyazu High School really early and I hung around my kids trying to make them feel less nervous. I don’t think it worked too well. My kids are used to an environment of very few students. The biggest school in the area is 58 kids, and Honjo is only 32 kids. Being around more people than even populate their schools was rather unnerving for them.

Soon other AETs had arrived as well! Simon, Brynmore, Jannie and Eric, and Liz as well (cheering on our students and probably having little better to do!) We began the contest and all of the students, in my opinion, did really well! There were only two cases of forgotten speeches, and in those cases the students didn’t panic, but they stopped, remembered, and carried on. I have to admit that I was nervous for all of my students! Knowing how hard they had been practicing since early October, I feared that they might make a mistake. However, my kids all did really well! The best I’ve seen them do! They all got great comments from the judges, and Ikumi and Misa took home 2nd place for the first years, and Kaai took home first place for the second year students! I was so proud of them! We talked and ate packed lunches on the way back home from Miyazu. Kaai especially was beaming with her victory (although it was misspelled) and Tsuji-sensei and I recited all of the dialogues on the ride home. We weren’t too shabby!

I spent the rest of the day napping and playing with Kirby. In the evening I joined up with the AETs from the contest as well as Jun, Lyle, Leigh and Nori (Leigh’s friend from Kyoto) at an Izakaya somewhere near Nodagawa (at least after getting lost for forty minutes, I think that’s where it ended up being). Spent the evening picking at the food and enjoying my friends increasing drunkenness! I however, being a driver, stuck to cola. It was good times. I then helped ferry people to a nearby small bar/café where I eventually said goodnight to everyone and left for home. I slept forever as soon as I arrived back at my house.

The mornings are getting colder, which means it’s getting more and more impossible to wake up! Luckily I discovered one more box of winter clothing in my closet! I now am armed with flannel winter pajamas and sweatpants. At least most of my body will stay warm during the winter months.

Other than that, Leigh and Liz came for dinner on Sunday evening. We had some curry that Leigh brought from home, played with Kirby for a little while, and I helped Leigh remember how to knit while Liz played on the internet (as she is lacking it at home due to some bad luck with her laptop). We then watched the majority of The Last Unicorn, which as we all know is a high quality movie… at least a high quality movie circa 1982. Or a poor quality movie from 1982, you decide. They soon went home to sleep and I curled up under my kotatsu, knitted, and watched Hustle and Flow, which is basically a retelling of the Last Unicorn but with more black people, pimps, ho’s, violence, and rap. I mean they both have songs.

Anyway this week’s adventures will be from my team teaching conference in Kyoto, which I am prepared for mentally and physically after weeks of training. Training to sit and be bored out of my SKULL.

Oh Jack, you make wounds ooze and flesh crawl!

In other news, Kimono Class yesterday was grande. Finally figured out the obi part, which I should practice since we're sort of done with that lesson. Hung out with Rizzu afterwards at Makudonarudo's and had tiny burgers of deliciousness.

Then it was off to Lii-chan's to watch Nightmare Before X-mas/fall asleep in lots of blankets. Turns out her house is pretty warm if you're wearing four layers of shirts, socks and legwarmers. Huzzah!

Got up at 6:15 to drive home this morning. I kind of want to keep sleeping, but I'd probably keep sleeping alllll through work, which although sounding very nice, would probably not bode well for me. Plus I need to wear my patented Rachel's Halloween Shoes™ to work today!

Sub par chocolate covered bananas. Oh, and fireworks.

I drove down to Amino this afternoon to have lunch with Shinobu, a friend of Liz'. She had a 'thank you' sort of luncheon for the people who had helped out for the Halloween party a few weeks back (the one for elementary schoolers), however I was the only person of that group who was able to attend. Besides me, Liz, Leigh and Jannie came and we were joined by Shinobu, her friends (both Yuko's) and Yuko B's two young children (Chika and Ryouji, who were adorable).

The lunch spread was amazing. I think we ate for about two-three hours straight. I should also mention that Shinobu's house is gorgeous. It's a Japanese-style place, all one floor and connecting through paper walls that slide. Kotatsu tables, magnificent garden outside (filled with trees, ponds, flowers etc) and beautiful art and decorations to match. Really lovely environment!

After lunch I dropped by shimamura with Jannie so we could pick up some clothing items. I'm wearing the slipper socks I bought... they were a good purchase for SURE. My feet have been having trouble staying warm lately. These will help out a great deal.

We then met up with Marina, Amy (Marina's friend from Fukuchiyama), Bryn, Simon, Lyle and Scott and watched the fireworks at the Iwataki side of Amanohashidate. It wasn't too cold today, so the viewing was entirely pleasant! We also had sub par chocolate covered bananas, which didn't taste of chocolate or banana, in my opinion.

Now it's home to finish out the weekend with a tuna fish sandwich and a glass of milk.

I might get my car looked at tomorrow morning before school if I can manage to wake up early enough. Ha!

The week at gakko: Kimono retardation, apple pie, and international understanding

What a week! I still haven't had a chance to recover from the sleepless weekend, and unfortunately I went right into another hectic week at school.

Honjo Elementary School & Italian Food

Monday was a regular school day at Honjo Junior High School, however, on Monday I drove to Yasaka to wish Jer a bon voyage, and to eat Italian-style food! Leigh, Liz, Jer and I were all extremely tired from the weekend, but we managed to eat more food than a pack of hungry wolves. It was all topped off with a shou-cream, which is... a cream puff, I think. Liz is fond of them (not to mention extremely generous), and she bought four of them for the lot of us! I had mine for breakfast the next morning.

The following day at Ine junior high school was uneventful. Afterwards I sped down to Mineyama (about a 75 minute drive from my house) to attend kimono class. I am getting better, as I am able to put on all but the obi by myself. However, the teacher tends to rush over and do things for me as I watch her, attempting to help me with my apparent "slow learning" in that class. Unfortunately for the both of us, not to mention Liz and Kumi, I learn by doing. And if I am not given the chance to do things, I don't learn. I can watch something a hundred thousand times and I will probably never be able to perform it myself. Such is my undoing. Aside from inherent frustrations and lack of hardcore interest in kimonos, I do enjoy the class a great deal! It is always fun to see the many types of kimonos and to converse with the Japanese ladies in attendance.

Let's Enjoying Golf

I honestly don't remember Wednesday at school. I'm sure it was great, or horrible, but a blur otherwise. After school I met up with teachers from all the schools in the area (about 45 people total) and we played GRANDO GORUFU! Or, "Ground Golf", as I understand it. It's a bastardized form of puttputt golf/croquet. You take a mallet/club sort of stick and whack a ball across the bumpy dirt of the Ine Jr. High school baseball field. Then you try to get the ball into some sort of small gate topped with a flag (the flags are numbered). I was part of the BOE team, so not to make one school jealous of another. Although the BOE probably didn't realize they were worse off for it! They might of skyved me off on some other team had they known my "skill level" at unknown, obscure, made up, non sensical Japanese sports. The first round I was fantastic! I scored one of the top 10 places. However, it was a long way to fall. The second round was abysmal. I think I was second to last place in the end of that round. It left me somewhere near the bottom of the middle, where I was perfectly content to be.
Two of my teammates (my BIG boss, Hamano-san, and some guy at the BOE, Maeno-san), did very well! They made first and second place out of the whole group! They received prizes (a bathrobe and some tea towels, the manliest of prizes). Amano-san was SO happy with the results (aka: him doing well) that he treated the whole team to dinner at the sushi restaurant across the street from the school. The sushi restaurant I, until now, had not known existed. It was really delicious, however I had already eaten before grand golf, so my appetite was not at its normal level (ie: ravenous hippo). It was an interesting evening, to say the least. And, I forgot to mention, grand golf was extremely fun. I would play any night of the week.

Fan of the Aimi-Sensei

Thursday was a good day at school. I feel like I am really starting to develop some sort of teammanship with Aimi-sensei, thank GOODNESS. Her quiet demeanor has started to change around me, and I think she feels more comfortable speaking English in front of me. Thank goodness too, as the team teaching conference we're going to is just around the corner!

Shuji, Ouch.

Shuji was good too. My seiza position pains are lessening (well at least in my feet... the knees are still unhappy about it) and the teacher FINALLY knows I am left handed, even though I have tried to tell her countless times! She just laughed and says you can't write Japanese with your left hand. And the sad thing is it's TRUE. Oh well, hanging out with the little third graders while doing kanji was really fun! And I had the entire rest of the evening all to myself!!!

Ine Elementary, Not the Unhappiest Place on Earth

Today I went to Ine elementary school! The kids have been great, although I often feel like I really don't know how to teach elementary schoolers and I am just stalling for time. But they all seem to like me and want to talk to me, so I guess I came off for the better despite inadequate teaching abilities. Maybe that's WHY they like me so much. I don't make them learn! Hooray! Highlights of the day include making apple pies with the mentally handicapped children (although mentally handicapped 8 year old plus knives = TEARS.), getting hit in the back of the head with a volleyball during recess, and playing taiko for 6 entire minutes!!! I also had the extremely pleasure of eating lunch with the third years, and they asked me questions that I am sure helped develop their sense of America a little bit better. Such as, did you know you can buy carrots in America? And that they have coins too???? Also, Rachel-sensei eats all her food, can you imagine???? Such craziness had never been imagined!!! I am glad to be such an important international ambassador to this small fishing village. Next time I am going to tell them that we ride bears to school and eat tree bark. And we run around wearing ballroom gowns and shooting each other in the feet.

Epilogue

Now I am looking forward to the weekend. Rest, relaxation, and a lunch spread with Liz and company. I am happy. Happy happy happy. Although the weather is only getting colder, and my car seems to be in a bad mood. It is taking awhile to run properly in the mornings, which doesn't do well with my constant leaving the house late routine. You can't leave the house late properly and hop into a car that won't go over 25 mph!!!! You just can't.

Bummer.

Halloween Party, Kimono Matsuri

October 20th, 2007 The Halloween Party at Leigh’s House

On Saturday, I was too exhausted to do much. I certainly didn’t work on my Halloween costume, which was getting worse and worse in my head. My brilliant plans to be a mukade, or a pagoda had long since fallen through due to a busy week, and absolutely no motivation to create anything. I had settled with the costume idea of being Britney Spears. An ugly black sundress, oversized sunglasses, and some straightened hair were all I would need. It was simple. Around 5pm, I grabbed my heaps of things for Leigh’s’ Halloween party: extra futons and blankets (which took up the majority of my small car), my Halloween costume, my kimono things for the festival on the following Sunday, and general overnight items. I arrived as a few of the first people had donned costumes. Claire was dressed as a very unprofessional nurse, Leigh was half in her costume to be Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Steve was carving out a few pumpkins on the floor of the kitchen. As more guests arrive, we all changed into our costumes. Ruth was dressed as the Queen of Hearts! She had made her own costume out of felt and large, traced photocopies of an actual playing card. It was one of the most creative. Steve changed into his amazingly offensive Tanuki costume. A Tanuki is a small red panda like animal that is used in a lot of Japanese mythology. Most noticeably in the mythology, it is said to have over-sized male genitalia. I don’t think I need to go into his costume any more.

The party commenced and a lot of fun was had! I won’t go into details, as it was a blur of delicious pumpkin muffins, candy, and Yoshida bread. The costumes were generally wild and well thought out, aside from a few last minute very uninspiring costumes (a MasterCard commercial was by far the worst one). As I managed to stay “in character”, my Britney costume was generally well received. One of my personal favorites was the 6’9” American guy, Lonnie, who had dressed up as a Viking. The tiny Japanese people in attendance (the Yoshidas and some people’s teacher friends) thought he was the most amazing thing they had ever seen in their lives.

We all went to bed early into the morning and shivered the night away. It’s been getting very cold in the area at night, and the fact that we all had to share a scarce amount of futons and blankets (despite my efforts) didn’t help the situation.

October 21st, 2007 – The Kimono Matsuri in Amanohashidate

Two hours later, I found myself at the Yoshida’s house putting myself into a beautiful turquoise kimono adorned with rainbows, birds, and clouds in beautiful colors. Along with me was a very sleepy group of JETs also trying their best to put on the kimonos and stifle some very contagious yawning. Jannie (the Aussie girl from Kaya) had one a peach-colored kimono that did wonders for her skin tone. Leigh, the hostess of the party and one of my good friends here, put on a cream colored kimono with autumn leaves and berries. Liz, one of my best friends in Japan, put on a straw colored kimono that made her hair look even shinier than usual. Steve and Jer (the boys) had on neutral blue and brown men’s kimonos that suited them very well. They found them to be extremely comfortable, whereas the girls and myself were struggling to shuffle gracefully in our excessive silk layers and zoori shoes. Driving in a full kimono and obi (done masterfully by Kumi Yoshida) was as ridiculous as it sounds. However, despite the absurdity of the situation, we all ended up safely and soundly at Amanohashidate. Amanohashidate is one of the top three most beautiful viewing areas in Japan, I am told. It is a natural land bridge across a breathtaking bay. According to Japanese myth, this is where the gods gave life to Japan. Most other countries are formed through eons of erosion and volcanic eruptions. However, Japan is not like other countries, and it was formed through the gods. It’s in all the history books if you want to double-check the facts. The Kimono Festival (Kimono Matsuri) was to be held in this area. We arrived amongst throngs of happily dressed men and women, children, and teenage girls. The younger girls had the most festive and colorful kimonos of us all. The little girls were decorated in bells and fancy hair ornaments. I believe the bells are to delight the children into ignoring their discomfort and longing to go home and play instead of walking around a boring traditional festival all day long. It seemed to work!

The girls jingled down the paths and giggled throughout the day. The group of us went around to check points gathering stamps while taking in all of the kimonos and natural beauty around us! We did not go unnoticed. A group of six gaijin Americans and Aussies walking around in traditional Japanese garments sticks out as much as a horse in a three piece suit might. The photographers in the area (for local newspapers and perhaps hobbyists) went wild when they saw us at the tea ceremony area. As we sipped our matcha tea (the traditional tea powder stirred into large bowls and emptied in three gulps) we were suddenly surrounded by photographers. Steve, Leigh and myself were especially photographed on our bench. One photographer had the nerve to come over to me and adjust my kimono without permission. Naturally they were interested in our winning personalities and backgrounds, and not by the novelty of Caucasians in Japanese clothing. The curiosity became so overwhelming in the afternoon that photographers began to pose us. At one point we were posed on a bridge, where we were asked to walk slowly and solemnly so they could take pictures. The “Kimono Queens” of Japan (two young ladies with tiaras and banners) came and joined us. The photographers tripled as it was definitely the strangest occurrence of the day. After a long day of wandering, collecting stamps, taking pictures, and riding around in rickshaws (one of the highlights of the day), we were exhausted. We took a quick break in a pool of hot water outside of a local restaurant, where we soaked gratefully. The zoori had not been kind to our feet. We also went to put in our finished stamp books, which gave us the chance to roll a lottery ball machine in hopes of winning prizes! When I rolled it, a small pink ball rolled out. I became suddenly surprised when the staff behind the tables began to applaud and ring bells. What had I won? My hopes of a two person getaway to Shanghai were somewhat dashed when I was handed 9 kg of fancy, Japanese rice. Although, Lugging my grand prize around was as satisfying as it was burdensome.

We left the festival, changed back into our normal clothes, and had a very quiet, sleepy dinner with the Yoshidas. After that, it was time to go home and sleep as much as possible before starting the next busy week back at school. The lack of sleep was worth it. This weekend was definitely one of my most memorable yet.

Toji Temple and the return to paradise

Dumb Luck, Old Pagoda

I woke up feeling very sleepy the next morning, although thankfully I did not have a hangover. That was just dumb luck. We got breakfast at a conbini (onigiri and orange juice is delicious). We then took a bus to Kyoto Station and took at rain back to Toji Pagoda. We walked around the Pagoda in the rain, and it was very beautiful. We didn't want to pay to go into the acual pagoda due to the weather and the fact that we all had backpacks and were in a hurry, but we did walk inside a main temple. The temple is extremely old, built in 794 which makes it over 1200 years old! Inside are very very old Buddhist statues, and a large shrine in the middle with a less Japanese, more Indian looking Buddha statue adorned with gold and flowers and paintings. It was very lovely! The pagoda is ominous looking. Standing at 5 stories, it is the largest in Japan. And it almost always looks silhouetted because of its age and dark exterior. It was then we decided to go back home early, due to weather and exhaustion. We grabbed some coffee at Starbucks and headed home.

The drive home was better in the daytime because it was raining quite a bit, and after a nice peaceful dinner back in Tango (joined by Simon and Lyle), I think everyone was ready for bed. I drove back up to Ine and fell asleep almost immediately without unpacking or anything.

Kyoto - the Silver Pavilion & the Philosopher's Walk

One is Silver, and the Other Gold

After waking up late, yet again, I decided to head out to the Silver Pavilion (銀閣寺). As it turned out, quite a few other people wanted to go there as well! So I decided to meet them after an early lunch with Lauren and Tyler around Toji. After taking a crowded bus up to the silver pavilion area, I sat down in an empty cafe called "the Pink Bunny". It was decorated in pink and white chairs, tablecloths, wallpaper, and lots and lots of bunnies. Toys, stuffed animals, ceramics, plates, glass, you name it, it was a bunny. The owner even had a English sort of garden outside surrounded in bunny statuary and butterflies! It was my favorite place in the world for the 15 minutes I was there.

Afterwards everyone met up and we walked around the Pavilion which was extremely crowded. It was very beautiful and I will have to go back at a time it's not packed! They had lots of gardens, rock gardens, and a hilltop climb with beautiful trees. The changing of the autumn leaves made for a spectacular view as well! After the pavilion, everyone got interesting ice cream at a nearby stand. Blueberry, sweet potato, sesame, chestnut, matcha (green tea powder) etc. I had chocolate, myself.

After ice cream, I suggested that we go on the Philosopher's walk, which is a pathway about 1 mile long (1.5 km) that goes past quite a few temples and shrines. It's a lovely walk surrounded by a small river full of fish and flowers and trees on either side. We passed quite a few interesting shrines and temples as well, and stopped at the last one (Nanzen-ji 南禅寺) which is an expansive temple. We climbed up one of the towers and got a wonderful view of the area (many photos were snapped). We then trekked further towards the Museum of Modern Art (where sadly, I did not get a chance to go to). However we did see a dance contest between groups in wildly colored costumes doing obondori, which is traditional Japanese dance. Only it was mixed with some very lively modern music and modern dancing. The dancers were even smiling. It was one of the highlights of the day! We then walked endlessly in search of onigiri and snacks, which we had in spades.

Afterwards we wandered back to Sanjo where we met up with more JETs at a tavern type place and all had sandwiches and wine! It was a lot of people so it was a bit difficult to make decisions, but it was nice seeing everyone again and my sandwich was amazing. I also got prety drunk on a half bottle of wine that I was sharing with Leigh, which tasted somewhat like Jell-O. After that we went back to the river! I was already on my way to drunk at that point and decided that I was grumpy and then drank a LOT more. I think 3 or 4 beers more, which left me at being... the drunkest I have ever been in my life! I was stealing phones and writing nonsense texts, went into a very heated conversation about innie/outtie nipples with Blakeney and Fiona, wandered around giving high fives,, and had frequent conversations in line for the bathroom. One of which I remember was about a magazine entitled "glay" which I thought was hilarious at the time. And ... even now.Then eventually Liz, Leigh and Ger decided to take me home with them as Lauren and Tyler had already left and they figured I wouldn't be able to take a cab home alone (how right they were!) So I passed out in Liz's room almost immediately.
Although due to all the sight seeing everyone had been doing, it was an early night.

Weekend not NOT awesome

The Ine JHS Sports Festival -伊根中学校の 体育祭

So the weekend was awesome. It started out with the amazing sports festival at Ine Jr. High School where I got to watch kids and adults run around and play ridiculous games. One of them involved ME and the PTA "fishing" for paper fish. They had these huge cut outs in the shape of red snapper, flounder, turtles, squid, octopus, etc etc. So you'd have to run over, grab a pole, read which fish to catch and get the hook in the hole! It was harder than it looked, but my team totally WON! Hooray! I took video and way too many pictures. Anyway there were a lot of boring sort of standing in line type things... marching... speeches. But there were some very exciting relays and goofy games and we even had a dance by the first graders and some middle schoolers! How lucky to see it again!) Japanese dance is really awesome to watch. I wish I had a proper video camera for it! But I think they took video at the school so I'll just steal a copy later. But it was a lot of fun, even though it involved me working on a Saturday (BOOOOO).

JHS and Elem. school girls doing the Dokoishou Soran Dance

After that I ran off to Miyazu to join Eric and celebrate his 31st bday party at the gaijin bar in Miyazu. It was a BLAST. Lots of fun drinks, cake, food, and the bar is about the size of a trolley, so it was just us and the bartenders, who are friends with the birthday boy! Eric was even behind bar helping mix drinks. It was completely wonderful. It was great seeing some of the JETs and Japanese folks I haven't seen in awhile, like Yumi and Desirae and Jamie and so on. The cake Yumi baked was delicious too! After the bar closed, we went off to another bar and did lots of karaoke which was all way too fun. So we started the evening around 7:30 and went home around 3:30... all in all, an excellent party. The next morning, a few of us who had slept over in Miyazu at Jarrad's house drove to Omiya to grab some Kappa-Zushi, which is that conveyor belt sushi I love so much. It was my first time having it here in Nippon, and it was soooo cool! You could make your own tea right at the table with a hot water spout, and of course the sushi was ready to go. They had so many different things, and you could order from an electronic menu and once you've done that, they send over your sushi on a little model bullet train! It dings at you when the food arrives and then you grab your plate, press a button and it goes back home to the kitchen. Plus the conveyor belt had pie (which was yummy), jell-Os, and juice boxes with Hello Kitty™ on them! Hooray juice! So after lunch I finally came home to Ine and hung out and went to bed SO EARLY (like 9:30pm, no joking).

The Simple Life with Liz and Rachel

Today was Monday, but it was my daikyuu, or day off because I had worked Saturday. Lucky for me, Liz (the JET from Amino) was also free! So after I cleaned the house (it was sooo messy) and biked to the store for some eggs, Liz drove all the way up here! Once she was here I drove her around and we explored the area. We found Ikari farm, which is this 100% pastoral farm area with rolling green hills and happy sheep running around (and coooows) and it's totally gorgeous. We walked around there and said hi to the sheep, goats, mini horse, bunnies, and cows. Then we hopped back in the car and drove even higher up the mountains to the wind machines. Or whatever they are called. They are these 70 foot high fans that collect wind energy. They are huge and scary and Liz finally agreed that they are pretty creepy. They are just these huge, unnatural silent machines living in the hills. Creepy. We took pics and explored and then commented on how AWESOME the cool weather was up in the mountains. Usually in Ine near the water it gets quite hot and humid, so it was a nice change of climate. Then we came back to my house to burn CDs and drove to a little Americanesque diner called "orange" near Iwataki. I had pizza with tuna fish, corn, pepperoni and mayo. It was strangely delicious, although the mayo was a bit gross They put mayo on EVERYTHING.

And now I'm home! I love having productive and amazing weekends and Liz is just the person to do things with. She inspires me to go and do things on my days off so I'm hoping to be invited to little jaunts that she plans in the future. She's also from Maryland, I forgot to mention. Hooray for people and things and places! I love my Tango peninsula and everyone needs to come visit, since I'll probably NEVER LEAVE.

Obon in Miyazu. Limited Casualties.

Obon : The Buddhist Dio de los Muertos

Last night I went to Miyazu City to take part in the celebration for Obon. Obon is a Buddhist holiday celebrating the ancestors, and its the day of the dead. Ghosts and zombies and all that. Well, maybe not zombies.

So I went over to Jarrad's home which is among some rice fields in the city (because even decent sized cities still have weird rice fields and ditches). His home is small, but very cozy and he actually has some furniture which I find amazing. We practiced flashcards while waiting for Scott and Liz to show up from Omiya (a tiny bit west from the area). They got stuck in traffic (as did I, I spent about 80 minutes driving straight from work to Miyazu in fact!) but they eventually made it.

From Jarrad's we all walked to the big department store, Mipple. It was packed! Everyone had gathered there to watch the lanterns and boats and fireworks. We eventually found our friends in the crowd and sat down. Yumi was there with her friend Jun, who is hilarious and brought sesame balls filled with delicious things. Marina was also there (the girl from LA) as well as Bryn (a kiwi who has been in his city of Iwataki for going on 4 years now) and Jannie (an Aussie who is on her 3rd year in Kaya). The boys went off to find food in the kiosks (a lot of ice creams, sodas, crêpes, and really greasy chicken) while the ladies went to look at the bay. Amanohashidate, the bay in Miyazu, is totally gorgeous all the time. But for Obon there were tons of little floating paper lanterns with candles in the bay, to represent ancestors I guess, and a lot of strange very "oriental" looking boats floating in the bay as well. They had lanterns and fires all over, some of them were manned some not. It was a strange thing to see, and the reds and oranges were really beautiful against the dusky blue background. As the sun disappeared, we went back to our tarp to watch the fireworks.

Fireworks in Japanese is "hanabi" which means "fire flower". I think that makes a lot more sense than firework. A work of... fire? I don't pretend to understand English. I only teach it.
The fireworks were amazing. They weren't like American ones where it's about a 15-20 minute show. Instead, they had 30 second, 2 minute displays, all of them different and sponsored by different companies. After the first would end, they would play a musical interlude while the sky cleared of smoke, and then would start the next display. It was very organized, and I saw some fireworks I had never seen before. The shape of a cat face, or a flower, or a smiley face, or a heart. Things like that, it was really neat! Some of the fireworks looked bigger and more glorious than I imagined they would. I think maybe I am not used to seeing fireworks so close up, or maybe it was the reflection off the water that made it seem grander? I don't know. Anyway the displays went on for about an hour. During this time, we decided to teach Yumi some American slang/Ebonics. So if you see a tall Japanese girl saying "what up, shorty?" ... we are to blame.

Afterwards, we all gathered around a big sort of wooden stand with speakers. A lot of people at the gathering were in yukata, which is summer-time clothing. Not to be confused with kimono, which are more of a winter wear (and more formal, I think). Anyway there were people of all ages wearing them, and man did they look pretty. The little girls especially looked as pretty as could be, and the older women in their patterned yukata and sandals looked like they were in a picture book. Everyone looked like paper.

The dancing began! Elderly women in the big wooden stand began to sing traditional songs about Miyazu and Amanohashidate while men played taiko drums and some other instruments I don't know the names of. It was really spectacular! Many of the people in yukata began to dance in a circle going clockwise, and many people without yukata joined in (including quite a few from our group). The dance steps were easy, but I could tell by seeing the older women do them that they took years of practice to perfect the grace and the balance of the dance. After the first "number", they played a few more songs, but always repeating them. It went on for quite sometime! I even joined in one of the dances, the easy one, with some other JETs. This older lady in front of us in a yukata was helping us learn the steps, and I had more fun watching her than I did actually doing the dance. It was like tai chi... and very much like tai chi, my balance always ends up on the wrong foot. Always. There were a few young men in the group adding their own sort of spice to the dance, and one of them came over to Marina and said, "shall we dance!" She couldn't say no. Liz and I decided to dosie-do instead, which was fun.

Afterwards, we went for a long walk to avoid traffic (we weren't in a hurry to go home anyway). We went to find cheap vending machines and got some drinks (tea for me, and "sweet kiss" soda for the others, which is basically mountain dew). We also spotted some little frogs along the way, and some big spiders.

Then it was back home, and a very long boring drive. Driving past the sea at night scares me, I feel like I could fall off the edge of the world into outer space if I make a wrong turn. But I didn't, and I got home, and I feel asleep almost immediately.

Weekend/fun had by many

Two Cars, Nine Foreigners, One Beach

This weekend was wonderful! On Saturday I cleaned my entire house... mostly. It was about 96º outside, so I took constant tea and coffee and ice cream breaks, watched a movie in the middle of the day, and spent most of the time reconfiguring the futon business and putting away the leftover blankets in the tatami bedroom closets. So now everything that was out is put away, which is awesome.

I also sorted all my gross trash and I can't wait until Tuesday when I can put out all my old food garbage, ugh its really beginning to smell funky! Blegh.

Sunday was a more eventful day, as I had nine people come over so we could all go to my nearby beach in Honjo, aptly named Honjo Beach. I drove down to Miyazu city, which is about a 50 minute drive, and picked up three ladies at the train station (Marina, Amy and Paulette). Marina is from LA and she is a hilarious tiny tiny Ukranian girl who lives in Fukuchiyama (which is a bit of a hike by train to Miyazu). Amy deLong is from Kentucky hilarious behind her freckled, quiet exterior. And Miss Paulette, who is an awesome theatre junkie from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is very boisterous.

From the train station I drove us to Mipple, which is a big lame department store on the bay in Miyazu. There we met Jarrad, a 31-year old ex lawyer from Tacoma. He looks like he’s about 24 years old. He told us that everyone he meets thinks he is a nice Jewish boy because he has a sweet face and glasses and a beard and he's a soft spoken lawyer. There are worse things to be mistaken as, I guess!

We also met up with Yumi, my favorite Japanese person. She is a 25 year old student who lives in Miyazu and likes to tag along on JET outings. Her English is flawless and she asks great questions, such as "what is crazy sex?" Or "do you think Lucy Liu is beautiful? Japanese people don't." Her mom of all people dropped her off, which I guess isn't extremely embarrassing in Japan (nerdy things tend to not be nerdy here, I have noticed). Grown men in Hello Kitty slippers? HELL yeah.

We then went inside Mipple and grabbed some food, since everyone wanted lunch. I personally was dying to go to a restaurant, but nobody else wanted to. I guess they all have restaurants in their towns so they didn't find the idea nearly as exciting. So we bought bentos and onigiri (the rice balls of deliciousness). The coolest thing I discovered, other than the pikachu ride in the upstairs arcade, was a cooler of green tea cans. I reached in to grab a can of ice cold green tea for the hot day and then realized the can was HOT. It was a cooler of hot drinks! Technology! The rest of the JETs started touching all the cans and yelling "its hot!" I then realized we must have looked insane to everyone else in the store. Stupid gaijins.

In Mipple, we met up with the last three JETs, Desirae (Kentucky fried Sweetheart), Scott (our South African resident/former film student), and new JET from Maryland, Liz! Liz is 100% Maryland. She came in with her dark blue regatta sports t-shirt, jean shorts, flip flops and dark blue visor, complete with freckles and a runner's ponytail. She is also a huge Harry Potter fan, so the conversation flowed like buttah.

The crew drove out to Ine in two cars: my little kei-car and Scott's white plated, normal-sized car. It was a long trek, and very warm, but we finally made it to my house! Everyone oohd and aahd at the size of my "mansion" and we ate snacks and put on sun screen. Then we grabbed the beer and food and went to the beach. The beach by my house is AWESOME. The water is mostly warm (but not too warm), there are no waves, no sticky sand, and no pointy things in the water. It's the perfect relaxation beach. We grabbed some inner tubes and hung out in the ocean for hours. It was delightful. Desirae brought her snorkel mask and kept finding us starfish! A few of us got nibbled on by a curious little crab (I am convinced it was the same crab every time) and we saw quite a few fishes. It was pretty much the best day ever. After we'd had enough swimming, we plastered ourselves on the sand and drank beers and had delicious Japanese snacks, procured by Miss Paulette. Mochi-balls (sticky sweet rice) and shrimp crackers and delicious beeeeer (brought by yours truly and Amy). Then we swapped bad relationship stories (I received much sympathy for the Randall debacle, or as Yumi called it "that horrible bastard boyfriend" because she couldn't say his name.) The best was the few who were admitting to writing or receiving really bad poetry from significant others or people who had crushes on them.

After the beach we had some delicious Nyuu Yooku sutayaru cheezuke-ki (New York style cheesecake) made by Yumi. It was very delicious! People kept telling me they wanted to stay, and I honestly wanted them to stay for more time! But sadly, there were trains to catch. So we began the long trip back to Miyazu, where I dropped everyone off, and turned right around to go home. I think I spent about 4 hours in the car yesterday. Worth it.

It's amazing how many instant friends I seem to have already! I only just made good friends my last few weeks in Los Angeles, so it's incredible to have so much socializing all of a sudden. I am not complaining, mind you.

Anyway, it was a good weekend and I even got a tan (to cover my burn!)