The Weekend that Was

It started at the speech contest. It was a tickle in my throat, and slight gurgle when I coughed. An achey body and tiredness. I got worried. OH NO! This is the weekend I have been looking forward to most! This is the weekend that I am supposed to go to Shikoku. All that planning and now, for the first time since coming to Japan, I AM SICK.

But I hopped in the car and headed to Yanai on Thursday night with Christine and Victoria. They went for yakiniku, I went to bed (at 8:30). We woke up at 4:30 in order to get the ferry from Yanai to Matsuyama (we added another passenger too, Kat). Christine was dubbed the DD (designated driver) of the trip due to my bodily imparement. So once we got to Matsuyama we drove to Iya Valley in Tokushima-ken. It was gorgeous. The valley was steep, the sky clear and the valley crystal blue. Very picturesque! We parked the car along the side of the road to take pictures of the valley and the peeing boy statue (among other things). Then we headed to the Kazurabashi or vine bridge that hangs above the gorge. We gathered our might, ignored our fears and crossed that swinging bridge. We pushed ojisans to get by, Kat threw an obaasan over the side because she was taking too long. It was harsh. After that we enjoyed some swimming in the river, Kat in her panties and us in our swim suits. That night we stayed in a quaint minshuku where the owner treated us like her own daughter.

Every morning I would wake up hoping to feel better, but I never lucked out. Every morning it seemed to get worse, but I kept trucking. We went for an onsen next to the river which was gorgeous, very much like kurokawa onsen. Then we drove along the coast of Tokushima-ken, through some quaint little surfer villages. If I weren't a JET, I would move there to get me a surfer dude! They are HOT. We then made it to Muroto-misaki (the cape) in Kochi-ken. The waves were fierce, nothing like our calm sea of Japan that we have here in Yamaguchi. We sat there and watched nature before our eyes. Although poor Kat and I didn't get to see the beautiful sunset, that we would have only been able to see once in our lives (thanks a lot Chris and Vic!!!). That night we had dinner with my buddy Nate, who I met in Chicago. It was great seeing him and I always forget about what a nice guy he is until I see him again. Then we spent the night in Kochi City.

The next morning, although I had a wonderful time and saw some beautiful sights, I was dying to get home. So we spent the day in the car and crashed once I got home. The next day I actually took a sick day and went to the DR, but I shall save that story for ZENZEN.

Hillbilly

I had lunch with some Japanese friends the other day. We went for yakiniku in Susa. It was me, Christine and Louise. It was with the Watanabes, our Japanese family, and they brought a few of our other friends.

This was the first time I met Yama-chan. He is a 50 year old mechanic in my town. Unmarried, smoker, big drinker, mechanic who lives in rural Japan. He is the Japanese version of a hillbilly in my opinion. Do you ever imagine if you brought a Japanese friend home and introduced them to someone that almost speaks a different language than you, and doesn't understand how to talk to foreigners? This was Yama-chan to a T.

I didn't understand a word of Japanese that he was saying. It was all in rural, hillbilly-ben (dialect) using all sorts of slang that I don't understand. He kept calling us kimi-tachi which I believe to be the slang for 'y'all'. On top of that, he didn't realize that he had to speak slowly to us, using easy Japanese. He carried on as if we were his next door neighbors. Mind you, he was fairly wasted (at 11am...) so I guess I can excuse him for that.

After yakiniku he passed out on the Watanabes floor, mumbling in his sleep.

Shoes of Asia

I have always been a shoe person. My grandma used to yell at me about it when I lived at home. 'Sarah, you have so many shoes. You don't need all those shoes!...' I am not a person who has over 100 pairs or anything, but in Japan, with limited packing space I think I have at least 20 pairs of shoes with me (including tap and flamenco shoes). I often judge people by what kind of shoes they are wearing. Not necessarily in a bad way, just to try and suss out what kind of person they are. For instance, pointy shoes- trendy, cosmopolitan type, teva sandles- outdoorsy type, running shoes- athletic, likes comfort, puma or other trendy sneakers- stylish but also likes comfort.

So naturally I have noticed the shoes of Asia. I will start with Japan. For girly girls, anything sparkly and strappy will do. They prefer slide on sandles with this straps. Usually silver colored with jewels on them. In my opinion, the Japanese prefer the most uncomfortable of footwear. Another popular shoe here is Chucks. Or Converse All-Stars, the old school kind. The kind that my dad wore as a kid, the kind that were popular when I was in middle school. I actually have a pair that I am currently wearing as indoor shoes at one of my elementary schools.

Next we will travel abroad. Thailand, honestly I can't remember anything that stuck out in particular. The markets sell a lot of knock off shoes. So I would say that trendy knock off pumas were in style. Hong Kong. The big style there were Birkenstocks. Not the Jesus sandle style but the thong style. Do you know what I am talking about? Boys and girls would wear these sandles in many different colors and patterns. Sparkly, black, green, polka dot. Girls also seemed to like a certain type of shoe. I will try to describe it. It was like a sneaker meets pointy shoes. You know the vans shoes that have the elastic on both sides (to make it easy to slip on)? They resembled those. Imagine those Vans shoes having babies with pointy dress shoes. You would have these shoes. They pointed at the end but had the sole and design of the Vans. Finally Korea. Old school 80's jelly shoes. No the type that were in style in the early 90's worn by goody goody middle schoolers. I mean the classic 80's ones, that pointed at the end and have the hole in the toe. Little kids and mothers alike would wear these shoes. You could get them at markets for quite cheap.

What shoes are you wearing today?

Hanashi

Lunch talk between me and two 7 year olds.

7 year old number one we will call Egghead because his head is a little deformed.
7 year old number two we will call The Kid because, he is in fact, a kid.
The teacher we will call Sensei because that my friends, is Japanese for sensei.

Egghead: Sarah-sensei, my older brother lives in Tokyo.
Me: Oh really? How old is your brother?
Egghead: He is 22. How old is your mom?
Me: Wow he is old. 54. How old is your mom?
Egghead: She is 56.
The Kid: My grandma is 56, too!
Egghead: How old is your mom (to The Kid).
The Kid: Um 35, I mean 30. How old is your dad (to me)?
Me: He is 53.
Egghead: Sensei, how old is your mom and dad?
Sensei (who is older than me): They are 56 and 55.
Egghead: My dad is 58! (said in a matter of fact perfectly normal way)

I don't know what to conclude from this. No explanation was given to me what-so-ever. Obviously he must be an accident on someone's part. My guess is he is the older brother's kid, because there is NO way in this world that a 50 year old Japanese couple are still having sex.

Update

After a week of feeling like complete crapola I am ready to blog about it. Really there is nothing exciting going on in my life at the moment. I am trying to fill all the hours in the day, and mind you, I am struggling.

Things have been picking up a bit. Finally I am teaching classes and going to school on a regular basis. However, there is not a week in September that I have 5 days of work. Many holidays, snowdays and daikyu. I have lots of fun things coming up, a trip to Shikoku, yakiniku with the pottery pals, and maybe even Susie coming to visit. (come on Suser!!)

Last weekend, unlike 80% of the other bloggers in the community, I didn't go to the Gotcha party. I had sports day. The night of said event I went to bed at 9:30 due to lack of things to do. Sports Day was quite good. I had a nice time doing tug of war and other events. The enkai that night was a drunken one because it took my table companions 5 glasses of beer to finally talk to me. And then once they start, they don't stop. I actually had a pleasant time at the enkai and I wowed my office people with my Japanese (I don't really talk to them during school). I even went to the second party, which I usually skip out on.

So that's what is new in Tamagawa. I miss seeing my JET buddies- thanks for being lonely friend in the Hagi area, Kuri-chan.

The Games have Begun

I feel I need to blog so you don't think of a rash when you think of me.

Yesterday I visited one of my new schools in the moutains. There are 11 students and 5 of which are siblings. So basically this school is open to accomodate this family. The school looks like a little log cabin and is very cute and quaint. The children are cute and funny and out going. In my opinion, the smaller the school, the better.

Undokai (sports day) is just around the corner. Today I watched my students practice. Looks like the same events as last year, 3 legged relays, dancing, and other silly things. This year I know the kids so it makes it a little more interesting.

I've been really bored recently. Hopefully my days will fill up with pottery classes, Japanese classes more and more. That is it, sorry if this entry bored you to tears, that is how I feel nearly everyday.

Something is Wrong

Remember ages ago how I commented on how Japan messes up your skin (or feet). Well I have a rash on my arm that is driving me up a wall. I found it 3 days ago after profusely itching my arm. It looked as though it has a bunch of little mosquito bites everywhere. That is what I thought they were at first. But 3 days later it has turned into a red bumpy mass on my arm. I asked my neighbor what she thought it was. She said 'asemo' which means heatrash. But it is constantly there. I think I rubbed up against some mysterious plants while snorkling in the ocean. If it is still here next week I will consult with my school nurse. Those in Japan, take care of your health!!