Crazy Days

The rest of the weekend was lots of fun. I pulled a lot of crazy stunts that remind me of college and the cottage. Friday, Chris and I swam at the beach and scoped out the snorkling situation of Abu. Then we went to a BBQ at Dan and Rosies, followed by a late night swim with the crazy foreigners of Hagi.

Saturday we headed to Iwakuni for Angela's Kylie Minogue/ Pirate party. First we went to Sanzoku for some chicken because Bren and Victoria were both Sanzoku virgins. Then we headed to Kintaikyo Bridge (famous samurai bridge). We wanted to see the birds (I think they are comerants or something) fish but we missed the show due to impatience. Although we got to sample some of the strange flavors of ice cream offered on the other side of the bridge. We had pumpkin, sweet potato, raspberry and mango. We were too scared to try natural viagra, wasabi, garlic, and broccoli. Then off to Angela's we went. People were all dressed up in their pirate/Kylie attire. Angela looked hot in this white outfit. There were many pirates. Victoria, Chris, Bren and I enjoyed some wine drinking out of the bottle. We played some silly games. I had a nice chat with Jess, if you want a self esteem boost, talk to her. Elissa and I did some investigative work. It was a nice party indeed. The next day we went to Yanai for yakiniku then drove home.

I watched the last 2 episodes of season 2 of the OC. Wow, what a doozy! I am shocked no one told me about the drama that would unfold.

Shizuka Yo!

Last Thursday I went to the Paul Gilbert (guitarist from Mr. Big) concert in Hiroshima. I have been lucky because I have seen 2 good shows recently. Paul Gilbert's guitar playing was awesome. Dressed in an orange space suit and earphones (he is deaf in his left ear from rocking out for so long) he looked like he was in his own world jamming on the guitar. In the middle of the show the drummer did a sick solo. I was in awe the entire time. The music was rocking.

Unfortunately the audience was not. John and I were the only gaijin of about 200 people. Before the show we were scoping out the other people in the audience and had high hopes of these people getting into it. However, they did not. In between every song was utter silence. Paul Gilbert studies Japanese so he even attempted to speak to them in their own language. No response what-so-ever. John took it into his hands to try and get the audience to cheer, clap, yell or at least talk in a low voice. We yelled stuff to the musicians on stage, they would talk back to us a little. It was a shame. Then came the encore (which he played two of). I don't know why he played two because trying to get people to entice the musicians back on stage with cheering was so difficult. I have never, personally, worked so hard for an encore in my life. We started a chant of 'Pa-ru, Pa-ru'. We did what we could to get them back on stage. Most of the time a show can really be made exciting by the audience, as well as the music. The music of this show was great but the audience just stunk.

Animal Killer

I have done a dirty deed. I killed a firefly for mere pleasure. When you smash a firefly the brightness of their tail can spread on the pavement. It is very interesting if you have never seen it be done. I don't feel bad about this sin. Everyone I was with, however, was mad at me and thought I was cruel. The reason I don't feel bad is because I see fireflies every summer. They would fly around my neighborhood (that has no nature or river anywhere near it) and we would catch them and smoosh them all the time. It would be like yelling at someone for walking on grass and killing it.

So I bet you can guess that I went to a hotaru (firefly) matsuri this weekend. I also visited one of my teachers homes and it was gorgeous. They just finised remodeling it. It is full of gorgeous wood (80 years old and new), high ceilings and old fashioned kotatsu. I want to live there. I also went on a boat ride around Omijima (in Nagato) which was beautiful, I properly learned out to get to the penis temple (sorry it took me so long, Tori) and went to Tawarayama onsen which is famous. I unce that my last onsen of the season, it is getting too hot. We also celebrated Dan's birthday on Friday night (yakiniku, karaoke at the bucket place) and then Saturday went to Bren's for a brunch (for Chris's b-day). Just because we dressed nice and ate sophisticated foods doesn't mean we can't talk about who we think is 'sex on legs', which Jr High students we fancy, and other impolite subjects. It was a lovely weekend indeed.

Exciting Times

I'm so bored I could...

pull my hair out, poke my eyes out, set this place on fire, break lamps, over-turn desks, yell 'EARTHQUAKE!!', walk out, fall asleep, and SCREAM.

Save me from this madness, anybody...

I could stay here forever

I have a new favorite hobby which comes in a close second to tap dancing. As you have read I have been doing a lot of sea kayaking recently. I can't mention enough how much I love it. The coast in Susa (about 10 min from my house) is the most beautiful coast I have ever seen. And what is even more wonderful is this is my home. For once I can say I live some where that is naturally gorgeous. When going out on an excursion you must paddle through the bay. There is a lot of seaweed in this bay but on a good day there will be a patch in the middle that is aqua blue and clear all the way to the bottom. If you go right out of the bay you can kayak around small uninhabited (besides birds) islands. The water around the small land formations is wonderful. I have spotted many fish and plants. I would be tempted to snorkle around there but this brings me to my first fear. Jellyfish. They freak me out, even when I am in my kayak and they are underneath me. I have never been stung and don't intend on being stung.

If you go left out of the bay you paddle along the enormous cliffs that make up the coast. Many fishermen are on small rocks fishing under the cliffs. They are dropped off by boats at the beginning of the day and picked up at the end of the day. In these cliffs are the most curious caves. This brings me to my second fear. It is official, I am afraid of the dark. Let me rephrase that, I am afraid of the unknown, which results from darkness. You can paddle in these caves and be clueless to where they end. You can hear the water booming like a bass drum at the back of the caves. You can also hear the chirp of bats above you and the drip of water from the top of the cave into the ocean. I love this feeling of fear.

When sitting in the kayak on the ocean I just think, how could I ever leave this? The beauty and the adventure that is kayaking around Susa. Then I walk into school on Monday and I am brought back to the real world. The world of kids sleeping or talking during class, of swearing at me, of teachers ignoring me. How could I ever stay here forever?

Here is a list of things that I have grown used to eating. I don't always enjoy it, but I don't mind.

1. Plain white rice, and a mountain of it. At home I used to cover it with sauce and other things.
2. All things from the sea, including at least 10 types of seaweed, all animals such as sea snail, sea cucumber, sea urchin, octopus and jellyfish.
3. Luke warm milk
4. Bread the thickness of a 3 subject notebook
5. Eggs that are not stored in a refridgerator
6. Sweet foods that are supposed to be salty, eggs, soup etc.
7. Quail eggs (or whatever those little eggs are)
8. Red bean paste (as a dessert)
9. Mochi- although I still don't like it
10. Ice green tea and mugicha (barley tea)
11. Root vegetables
12. soggy lettuce

Things I'll never get used to eating
1. Natto
2. Sazae (sea snail)
3. Aloe yogurt
4. Pregnant fish
5. Coffee
6. Green tea ice cream

Tales of an Elementary Teacher

Everytime I go to elementary school something strange happens.

Today...

1. My 1 nen seis went to second base with me. I felt violated.
2. One of the 1 nen sei boys would come up to me every 5 minutes and ask me to hold his grasshoppers while he was off playing. I kindly declined saying "I don't need that". But he ended up putting it is his pocket as a better alternative.
3. After declining holding the grasshopper, a 4 nen sei and I tried to convince the little 1 nen sei to eat the bug. Unfortunately, he didn't.
4. While playing sumo wrestling with a bunch of boys one of the 1 nen seis would cry if he lost. Everytime. It was pathetic and he would only stop crying if the big kids let him win. What a baby!
5. The school yard has trees that are growing these dark berries. The kids like to play with them and squash the berries all over their hands. I saw 4 boys running my way with bright pink mouths and lips. I thought it was lipstick at first. Then I thought they ate these suspicious (if not poisonous) berries. It turned out it was to detect tartar on your teeth and the whole class had flourescent pink mouths.

Gone Fishin'

Yesterday I went fishing with John. This is amazing in itself because I haven't fished since I was a little girl with my Snoopy rod and John goes weekly. However, I will have you know that I caught 3 things and John caught nothing. Granted I caught a dead fish, a buoy and a rope but in my opinion that still counts!

Beach BBQ

Off to Hagi we went. First I would like to say 'good job' to Gillian and Lauren. First AJET event done very well.

We set up camp at the beach but due to terrible weather and wind we decided to take it back to Dan and Rosie's palace. But not before Bren and I took a quick swim in the water. I would just like to apologize for my behavior. I was pumped and when I get pumped I do silly things. Such as swimming in my T-shirt and undies because I couldn't wait to put my swim suit on.

Dan and Rosie's was perfect for the party. Nice and big with a yard. Victoria and I decided to hold a dance class in one of the tatami rooms. Stretching challenges, etc. I am sore today from it, Vic. We continued to eat and dance and some people drank ( I didn't, shockingly). We did hanabi (sparklers and fire works) and just had a good time. Of course I did a finale . I loaded on Dan and Rosies clothes while trying to look provocative (didn't quite work) and ended up in Dan's boxers and my T-shirt. Another apology, was pumped yet again. Then I was off to Susa to meet Bren and Chris.

The next day we took a day trip to Izumotaisha in Shimane ken. It is a big shrine where you pray for a boyfriend. One can only hope here in Japan! After that we went to a winery and to yakiniku. This is with our pottery dudes (Yasushi, E-kun and Teru-chan). Then to an onsen at the top of Mt. Sambe. It was a wonderful day and those guys are hilarious, as usual. We didn't fail to sing patriotic tunes in the car (due to lack of radio in Japan).

G. Love, Hiroshima, Kobe, FOREIGNERS!!

It has been a long long time. Lots to write and not sure how to make it interesting.

Hiroshima
Highlights: 1. Seeing G. Love in person for the first time in more than a year. I have been listening to him for so long and have seen him so many times that it was almost like seeing a friend from home. He is the coolest because he mixes hip hop (with out becoming a thug) with blues/rock- brilliant
2. Jack Johnson impressed me. He is like an average guy on stage. Very modest (rejecting a $1 tip from obnoxious marines) and subdued. He learned some Japanese (besides Konnitiwa and Arigatoo) which is impressive. He doesn't drink much and he sounded identicle to his album. Very amazing indeed.
3. Got to see my friend Nate from Kochi for the first time in months. Throughout the following week Nate and I played phone tag many times. We hung out at the conference during the day but never at night, unfortunately.
4. Fish and Chips at Molly Malones.
5. Talking to, and Dancing with Angela's friend Ben. He is in Japanese High School, but it doesn't really count for anything for him but he has some wonderful insight on the life of a Japanese student. Thanks for the slang expressions Ben!! He is a great dancer as well...and for those of you that have seen Jo's picture, we were just posing for the picture and that is it!!!
6. Dancing at Mac. I was pumped and they were playing great music (latin, country and old rock). At one point they were playing the offspring and I was sitting with Ben (who is 19) I felt like I was back in high school again. It was strangely, great.
7. Angela's wonderful compliment- 'I can tell that you have been trained in dance' after many hours of cutting a rug... Thanks Angela!!

Lowlights: NONE

Kobe
Highlights:
1. Shopping with Chris on Sunday night..taking it easy
2. Seeing some familiar faces but not going out of my way to be friendly and sociable
3. Wonderful food all week long (spanish tapas, various asian treats)
4. Learning some wonderful facts about Jess, Kat, Vic, Loz, Dan and Chris
5. Kat's game- 'you must tell everyone their best physical and personality trait'...talk about getting a self esteem boost
6. The 'pera pera Japanese' workshop. The presenter was hot, witty and interesting.

Lowlights:
1. Spending beautiful days inside
2. Most of the workshops were useless
3. Obnoxious behaviour of some foreigners
4. Wearing business clothes