Gaijin muck around, plant rice

I joined Leigh, Ray, Steve, Claire, Ruth and Masami Yoshida for some good old fashioned rice planting this weekend. The steps are simple: roll up pants, put on a ridiculous hat, take off your shoes, stand knee deep in mud/creatures and shove some rice plants in the ground. Masami had already planted about 99% of the rice with a tractor or machine of some sort and the group of us were just filling in the holes that the machine had missed. There isn’t much more to tell, but it was one of those experiences where you stop mid-way between your task to think, “Wow I’m planting rice in Japan – it doesn’t get any zanier than that does it?” I would also stop every few minutes to think about how many tadpoles, swimming centipedes, snails and general creepy crawlies [including spiders that walk on water] were flitting around my ankles. I didn’t like it when I had those thoughts, but they were frequent. The guys got REALLY into it (along with Leigh… and even Claire for that matter!) I, on the other hand, was more of a well-wisher and enjoyed the experience without ever wanting to do it again. We finished off the evening with a feast at the Yoshidas, and I quickly fell into a food coma.
The next morning I met Yuuki and we went to the Sakura Park in Honjo/Tsutsukawa for the sports challenge day. It wasn’t anything spectacular, just a bunch of kids playing baseball (Honjo won because the teams tied so they janken’d for it!), PTA games, and eventually a long walk around the Tsutsukawa area. I think it was about 8km, they said. Yuuki and I put on our number jerseys and set out with the entirety of Honjo Elementary school girls on our walking adventure! It was very very very hot. I blew through two bottles of water within the hour and a half we were outside. We also saw a million rice patties, old houses, birds, bugs, and even a snake in the grass! Eek! Afterwards Yuuki and I went to eat FAMOUS SOBA at the Urashima Shrine Park in Honjo across from my house. Good eatin’. We then were too lazy to do anything else the whole day and went home to nap for all eternity.

Stupid omelette-grabbin' stairs

Well, the week has been generally uneventful. I did manage to make a delicious omelette, fall UP my stairs and get delicious omelette on every single step! Makes me miss having apartments with one floor :( And I miss it being warm enough to eat at my table in the kitchen! Someday...

I am supposed to be at elementary school today, but two of the grades have the flu so there's basically no school! So, I am at the Board of Education all day being ... bored of education?

I went to visit the Yoshida's and to see Leigh on Valentine's day. I hadn't seen either of them in a really long time so it was a relief to catch up and to speak to other human beings and all that. We had delicious spicy tofu soup, curry, and Yoshida Bread mmm. The road from Iwataki until the mountain pass to Yasaka was covered in beautiful snow last night. Had the Yoshida's known this, they'd have made me stay wiht Leigh for the night :D But it was fun winding up the snowy road at 15 mph and looking athe pretty trees. Didn't get home until pretty late though.

On the way home, I couldn't help but feel really alone. Not lonely, just alone. And certainly not because of Valentine's day (which is a celebration of all things pink and heart-shaped as far as I am concerned). I think it happens when I hang out with people who have social lives around their homes. Or people who are close with their neighbors or Japanese friends and families. I really don't have anything like that in Ine and I don't think that I will. I am happy to stay at home and keep to myself most days... that doesn't bother me at all. I don't feel like I am missing out either. It just makes me extremely aware of how much time I spend alone. I think it just sort of hit me last night on the drive home.

Anyway I have to go to a birthday party this weekend that I am not keen on going to so much. It's kind of funny how the more time I spend alone, the less I actually want to go out and be social with people. Once a week is really enough! I suppose it's the hermit in me.

New Years Under the Snow

New Years was an interesting series of events. Most of the revolving around the massive amounts of snow that came to my town in a hurry.

On New Years Eve, I dug my car out of the four or so feet of snow and drove slowly down to Fukuchiyama. As soon as I hit the 'out-of-Ine' border, there was NO SNOW (yet). Naruhodo.

Once in Fukuchiyama, I picked up Leigh and her friend, Gordon. We drove over to the Yoshida's house for osechi New Years dishes, beer, and Canadians. As to say, we met some. They were former JETs who had been stationed in Sonobe a few years back. They were very jet-lagged and nice.

Here is Kumi Yoshida and some Osechi (New Years assortments of food-stuffs)

Around 11:30 we braved the snowfall that had come to Yasaka and walked up to the local shrine. The shrine was absolutley beautiful under all the white powder and we rang some bells, watched some chanting, and drank some hot sake.
Afterwards, we drove home at 0 km/h in Leigh's frozen car and slept/shivered in her house until morning.

I then drove back to Ine to see even MORE snow. I and my neighbour dug out our parking spaces for a good 45 minutes with shovels and gusto. Once we had spaces, I told her she could just use mine (which was more excavated), as I would be gone for 11 days.

And so I began packing for England! It was not easy getting in or out of Ine for those few days because of the snow. It's good to know that my social life will be on hold whenever snow happens though. And by good, I mean lame.

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.

Yasaka Party leads to Epic Hangovers

Yasaka Party Leads to Epic Hangovers, Sand in Places

This weekend I drove to a town called Yasaka to meet my friend, Leigh and to hang out at her place for the rest of the day and evening. A lot of JETs from Kyoto city were also coming up, so it was an awesome opportunity to leave Ine for a day and an even better opportunity to meet more new JETs!

Getting there was difficult. I had asked Leigh for directions, and she had given me a shortcut which would lead me to her house more quickly. However I missed the turn. As a result, I ended up taking a very long way to get there. It took about an hour and and 15 minutes which I wasn't planning on driving for. From the highways her house was completely impossible to find. I ended up on the outskirts of her small town at a mobile phone store and called her. She was like, "wait you're lost?" and as I was talking with her on the phone, I noticed a small blue car driving by. In the car was a tall, slim girl with long brown hair on her cellphone. I said "...are you in a blue car? Because I think I see you." And I followed her home from there. Leigh is really cool. She had just come home from a month in Kyoto of studying Japanese (which I am totally doing next summer). We ran out almost immediately to drive another 20 minutes to the train station to pick up the other JETs and meet up with the few who brought their cars. I was exhausted and grumpy from the heat at this point.

It's Liz! Behind her is Kuma-chan, a heavy drinker. -->

Seeing my friends perked me up a little bit and we piled into the three cars and went to the beach in Amino. The beach was perfect. The waves were well-sized, there were no sea beasties to bite our toes, and the water was the warmest it could have been without seeming too warm. We spent about three hours floating around, chatting. It was a great way to get to know the people I hadn't already met, such as the two from Hawaii (Lauren and Anthony) and the awesome British girls (Ruth and Claire) and an equally awesome New Zealand girl (Stef). The Kyoto city JETs are extremely cliquey so far. It's a shame, trying to get to know them was very difficult and not at all rewarding, but you win some you lose some I guess.

<-- [Right to Left: Jannie, Marina and some crazy girl]

After the beach we caravan'd back to Leigh's house to shower and buy beer and snacks. From there it was a regular party. The neighbors, the Yoshidas (Kumi and Masami), came by with more food than you could imagine. Lots of egg rolls, sashimi, pickled eggs, salads, and shrimp chips. It was a buffet! Also lots of veggies and fruits and lots of things to drink! I had a chance to chat with the Yoshidas and their daughter, and they were all really nice even though my Japanese was very simple. I could understand their normal Japanese accents perfectly which made me feel better about my communicative skills and worse about the crummy Ine-ben dialect (grr). Mrs. Yoshida told me that she works up in Ine at the high school, so I am sure to be seeing more of her. Plus I hear she will bake me bread!!! I am excited about that!

Aside from new JETs, old ones and meeting the neighbors there were four Japanese guys there as well along with Jun, who I had met a few weeks ago in Amanohashidate. They were all really nice and their English was practically perfect. We talked half in English half in Japanese, and it varied depending on the amount of beer we were drinking.

[Stefanie hit on Simon's little brother pretty hard core. Otsukaresama] -->

Once the party really got started, there was a lot of chatting and it somehow devolved into hula as led by Lauren, the girl from Hawaii. Which then turned into a hula lesson! It was pretty interesting. Anyway the guys were super hot for the most part. The tallest one kept pouring me beer and we kept spilling it, and blaming each other. Then he asked me if I wanted to peel the skin off his sunburn and I was like "ew no! do Japanese girls do that for you???" he said "if they like me!" and i said "well good luck with that!"

I think we ended up going to sleep around 5am and then waking up at 730am to drive home and drop people off at the train station. After coming home I slept until 6pm. I was totally exhausted. Sleeping on the floor after a long night is one thing, but sharing that floor with about 16 other people is another thing. I wanted space and air conditioning and a shower.