Treading water

Kumamoto update!

I don’t know if I could actually make it the whole year without cheese. Which is why I joined the AAJET (alumni association) so that I could go on the trip with them to Costco next month. Yes, there is a big trip to Costco since there is only one and it’s about two hours away. It should be a great time and I can not wait to get a hotdog. Oh man I love their hotdogs, so good and so cheap.
Ok, I didn’t come on to write about Costco even though I know I could go on about it forever. I came on to write about my whirlwind week in good ol’ Kumamoto Japan. Let’s journey to a simpler time where prices were cheap and politicians were noble. I don’t think there was a time. In other words let’s go back to last Wednesday. I had great day on Wednesday, it might even be considered another red letter day. I was riding my bike around town and I decided to take shelter in a 100 yen shop because the sky was about to open up. So I parked my bike and walked in. Right away I was excited about all of the things that were being sold for a mere dollar. What was even better was that the store was connected to a grocery store and a department store. I decided when I find someone with a car I am going to go and get my futon there. I was also very excited when I saw there was a TV on and the Olympics were on! As if things couldn’t get any better none other than the great sport of swimming was on at that exact time. So I stayed and finally got to watch some swimming for a while. Needless to say I’ve been back multiple times since and made some great purchases as well as some more views on that lovely TV with cable.

Now we shall skip to Friday. Well it was my last day of school since it was indeed a Friday. I was extremely glad to get out of there for the week, I had my fair share of doing nothing in an office with no one in it. I came home and took a wee nap before going on a wee run. Although I normally do not like running outside since it is harder than running inside and I’m all about the easiest ways to exercise. But I had no other choice, so I went for a jog. It’s been a while so it was painful, but at least my lungs weren’t burning. I guess there’s always pluses to living in the humid weather at low altitude. That might be the only one now that I think about it. After my jog and shower I met the other ALTs in my area as well as some visiting ones for dinner and drinks. We enjoyed some beru (beer) at a small bar called the Anaconda. I think we will frequent the place when we are in town.

This weekend was the opposite of the last one in terms of being busy. I barely got a minute to breathe. Saturday I met my friend Cassandra at the Kumamoto train station where we took another train to my homestay’s station, which, ironically was the same town Cassandra lived in. She happened to find that out AFTER riding the train to me. It was quite funny once we found out. Our grand plans were to go to the Yamaga Lantern Festival where 1,000 ladies dance with paper lanterns on their head, but our grand plan was ruined due to unnatural amounts of rain. We stayed at Hiroko’s relative’s house and had a huge feast consisting of delicious Japanese foods. It rained for quite a while so we just talked and ate until it died down a little. We then went into Yamaga and walked around town. Apparently they held the dance inside but we didn’t get there in time, so we just took a few pictures and then went bowling. It was fun to do something familiar and I am proud to announce that I scored an all time low my first game. I will not say it because it was just that embarrassing.

After bowling Hiroko and her sister wanted to take Cassandra and I to the hot spas. Dun dun dun. It happened to be a little nerve racking when we found out because they have decided that a swim suit is not necessary in the onsen. It was a rather rushed decision which is what things go like around here. We are usually confused on what we are doing with our Japanese friends, where they say “You go to hot spring?” “No, I haven’t been” “Ok, we go” “Ok I would like to go sometime” “We go now” “Now?” “Yes, now” “Oh, now?! Ok!” That’s the dialogue that goes on with things like that. So we were nervous but we knew it was something that we wanted to do, so we were excited as well.

Hiroko’s sister and her kids went in the family spa and Hiroko, Cassandra and I went in the women’s spa. Thankfully we had a small towel where have to choose what you want to cover up (it’s like a little bigger than a hand towel) so that was interesting. When you walk into the place they have you sit on a bucket and shower before you go into the actual spa. When you get in there are several pools; one where you can walk around in a circle that is a little cooler, one that is warm that you just lay in like you are laying in a lawn chair, and a few hot tub like ones. Then there are some outside that range in temperature from luke warm to really hot. It was really cool looking outside with giant rocks and small waterfalls trickling into the pools. After the initial awkward feeling, I didn’t feel weird at all and soon it wasn’t a big deal to be walking around with no swim suit. It was very soothing and felt good to relax our tired bodies. After that we got ice cream and headed back to Hiroko’s where we feel into a deep, relaxing sleep.

The next morning we had a big breakfast before Hiroko took us to Cassandra’s apartment. We hung out there which was nice because I had yet to see another JET’s apartment. Her place is in more of a city and it’s on the tenth floor and a lot older looking than mine. Although it is bigger she has a lot more she needs to clean. I liked it, but it made me content with my little apartment. From there Cassandra’s neighbor, Kate came over and then Cassandra’s homestay peops, Ako and her husband, came and picked us up so we could shop the day away. We went to the giant mall in the next town over and had a delicious lunch of _____, basically noodles with meat and sauce fried on the giant stove thing that is installed within the table. It was different from anything I had ever tasted before, sort of sweet noodle like meal. It was a little tricky in terms of how to eat it because it all sticks together, but I have almost gotten the chopsticks down, so I figured it out. I was complimented on my chopstick stills, but I just know that if it’s food and I have to figure out how to get it into my mouth, you better be sure that I will find a way to do it and do it fast.

After that we walked around for a long time…I am not a big shopper so after I bought some books at the bookstore I started finding some benches outside of the stores and just started reading. I just finished Tuesdays with Morrie by the way, and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do. It was a very touching story. Anyway, after the mall Ako dropped me off at my place (everyone came in and saw it and liked it) and from there I went to the train station to get my bike. I was near Shannon’s house (the other ALT in my town) so I rode over there and hung out with her and some of her friends that were still in town. I then rode my bike back home so I could pack and get ready for orientation in the city.

Monday morning Dina (Shannon’s friend) and I caught the train into the city early since we had to be there for our “official” ceremony for senior high teachers. It was just a lot of bowing and paperwork. We then had lunch and joined the rest of the JETs for orientation a little bit farther down in the city. We listened to a bunch of current JETs who have been there for multiple years. They just talked about safety, school stuff, time off, pay and just life in general. After all of that there was an optional tour of the castle, but since I had already gone and I had a giant backpack full of stuff I skipped it and went back to my friend, Cherese’s, to drop off stuff and change out of our nice clothes. We then met everyone else for dinner and drinks at the Beer Garden on the 7th floor of a department building. To my surprise it was outside, and although the weather looked iffy, it stayed dry and we had a delicious dinner with good drinks and conversation. From there most of us went on a pub crawl around town that the former JETs led. We just went to three different bars and since there were so many of us we managed to crowd the tiny bars and run up tabs like crazy. I don’t even want to know how much money I’ve spent in the past week. Cassandra and I started the night off right by trying to imitate a guy from Scotland and another guy from England. They got a good kick out of it and we spent the rest of the night talking in accents, already one of my favorite pastimes. I received an A in speaking in a Scottish accent while Cassandra’s grade was questionable since she ended up sounding like a pirate. Unfortunately I chocked when I tried to do my English accent, so I will have to keep practicing. Their American accents were even more pitiful. We got to know a lot of the other JETs and it was an all around fun night. We walked back to Cherese’s to get a few hours of sleep before the next long day of orientation.

Day two was just workshops, some of which were more helpful than others. For lunch we walked down the street and ate at a place in the indoor/outdoor mall. I got a spaghetti plate since it was Italian which was not good for my stomach. After the second half of workshops I went and hung out with this girl, Jennifer, at her hotel and then we took a quick nap and watched some TV. We then met some people from our immediate area and had dinner at a really nice Chinese restaurant. They brought out different plates at different times so we were there for quite a while. They also had a beer bazooka. They just bring out these giant, long cylinders of beer that get tapped and you just fill up your beer at the end of the table. Although I didn’t indulge in the beverages that night, it was cool to see. The restaurant itself was beautiful and extremely classy. Dinner was tasty and I had a good time with the people from my area, they are all really nice and fun to be around. After dinner we went to ice cream and most of the people headed back home. Jennifer and I walked around and chatted until I decided to try and get back to Cherese’s place. I had a lot of trouble getting a cab since the cab drivers didn’t know exactly where the apartment was. I then waited for a tram but they stopped running, so eventually I managed to take a cab to a tram stop down the street from Cherese’s and she just came and met me. We stayed up talking for a while before going to sleep. She has a really nice place and although she had a lot of trouble with getting furniture (her predecessor left her none) she made it very homey and cute.

The last day of orientation were filled with confusing Japanese lessons (we took a test the first day, none of which I filled out) with a sort lunch break where we devoured some scrumptious Indian food. After the classes were over we caught the tram and then the train back to Matsubase. I rode my bike home and finally had some alone time. I have started to get used to alone time more since I’ve been here, and although I would almost always rather be with people, I have enjoyed being able to have time to read and write and do a little cleaning. Needless to say I was exhausted and after doing some reading and writing I went to bed so that I could get up and get ready for school on Thursday.