Saturday, August 21, 2004
Love and Pints
Date: Evening of Friday, August 20th.
Location: Some little restaurant—with tables and chairs—in Kamigoto.
Characters:
Blaine: a former 3-year ALT, back on the island for a year with his wife to do graduate-school research on the Japanese education system.
Catherine: age 21, the other ALT in Narao, teaching at the junior high and elementary schools, and of course, my closest friend.
Kerry: age 24, a first-year ALT from Pittsburg, lives in Aokata and teaches ...junior high(?) and seems to be very positive about all good and bad.
Laura: age 21, a first-year also, from Scotland, teaching all over the north part of the island for elementary schools with 14 and 15 students total.
Me: You all know me already.
Peter: age 24/25, a second-year, teaching at the high school in Kamigoto, who must be a saint because we all love the calming effect an experienced JET has on us.
Act 1. Scene 1.
Blaine ordered a ton of really good food and we just sat around talking and (ok, a little bitching) getting to know each other and our crazy situations. Then the beers came and I wouldn’t have started drinking, except he had ordered 6 already and it was ice cold. I don’t know exactly what was so wonderful except the food was recognizable, I didn’t have to worry about ordering and I could finally relax in the company of other English speakers for the first time since I’ve arrived.
Act 1. Scene 2.
Another round of beers and lots of excitement. We ordered more chesake, which are pieces of cheese fried in pastry. Perhaps normally wouldn’t be that delectable, but after being deprived of cheese, they are incredible. We stayed for what seemed like a long forever and we ordered cocktails—hey! I could get used to this!
Act 1. Scene 3.
The restaurant’s closing but we’re not finished so we go to the store and buy a bunch of junk food—chocolate, chips, crackers that aren’t really available in Narao and I continue to gorge myself on all these treats. We went back to Laura’s apartment because she has a small mansion and talked until 3 a.m. Don’t worry, I didn’t get away with eating and drinking like that without consequences. I was feeling poorly all day Saturday—not a hangover or anything, but my body was not happy from that shock of new, rich foods and 2 pints of beer.
Act 2. Scene 1.
Saturday morning we all, minus Blaine, went down to the beach for a swim. It is the best beach I have been to yet because it’s really sandy and almost garbage-free. I got quite a bit of hackling when I mentioned I thought Narao was a third-world country with all the garbage and poverty I see around. We established I am just from a very clean part of the U.S. and I’ve agreed not to mention the garbage again ...except now. We actually were able to swim into the ocean, out onto these floating docks in the water. Kerry might have been stung by something in the water, but some Japanese people rubbed sand into it and it looks like she’ll live. I was worried about jellyfish (I watched Finding Nemo!) but there were so many people swimming it’s unlikely there are many jellyfish at this time of the year.
The girls on the beach after hours of swimming!
Me at the beach after we went swimming.
One last picture because it's so beautiful!
In the afternoon there was a dance competition in the street just below Laura’s apartment and we watched all the dances in awe. The costumes were really amazing, my favorite part of the show. The show ended with a bunch of children dancing and singing along to a song and that was definitely a big hit.
One dance team warming up before the competition.
Some of the most energetic dancers!
The last show--the children--was the biggest hit!
To see more pictures from the dance competition go to my other website:
http://homepage.mac.com/sierra.kenney/PhotoAlbum7.html
We met some man, who we thought Peter knew, but apparently not very well. He took us on a little drive though Kamigoto—it was unclear where we were going, but I think he just wanted to show some foreigners his town. It was an interesting and memorable trip, details of which I won’t post on the web.
In the evening we went to the festival. It was like other festival’s I been to. Food, music, stage with entertainment, lots of people and fireworks. Blaine was playing the bass in the band on stage and we talked to his wife and met his daughter. We were there for a really long time and Peter was occupied with many students so the girls played some get-to-know-you, what-if, would-you-rather games. It was fun, but we were there for a long time.
Blaine is the white guy playing the bass guitar on stage. He joined the band when he was an ALT all those years back. Now he's back to play with them again!
And then this guy got on stage... I thought it was going to be a muscle man competition, but he's the only muscle man competing. He just got up there, flexed, threw out candy and sprayed silly string. It certainly was bizarre!
They ended with a yukata fashion show. (A yukata is a summer kimono.) They are all homemade.
It's Japan in August so the festival ended with fireworks, of course! I'm still getting used to taking pictures of fireworks so this was the best I could manage.
That evening we went out to George’s Pizza Bar and spend hundreds of dollars on pizza and drinks. If we had known the pizza was that expensive we might not have, but so it was and there you have it. We didn’t get to bed much earlier Saturday night, but it was definitely more low key.
Sunday morning we were suppose to go to a sumo wrestling competition, but it was “pissing” as Laura put it, and no one wanted to walk that far in the rain. Instead we headed for Peter’s apartment at Catherine’s insistence for marmite. Peter also lives in teacher housing and I was surprised to see his apartment is identical to mine. The first thing I spotted was a huge spider (comparable to small mouse and just as hairy) crawling up his screen door. I’m glad to note that’s a difference to my apartment. I have not seen a big spider since I arrived.
We were at his place forever and finally I was impatient enough to stand up and say, “I’m going to the gym now.” And then they got moving too and we all headed over to Aokata for the gym/pool, supermarket and bus stop. The gym there is really great. Well ...it’s a gym and it only costs $1 per use. It’s lacking a few important machines, but there are lots of free weights and I can adapt my workout. I swear as soon as I get a car I’m going to be a regular at that gym. Peter has agreed to be my spotter and I his. I’m glad I’ll be getting a dose of testosterone every once in a while because we all know how well I put up with other women.
After the gym (Laura and Catherine had gone to the pool.) we did some quick grocery shopping at the supermarket and hyakuen shop (¥100 or $1 store) and then quickly went to catch the last bus to Narao. It costs nearly $12 each way so I’m excited for when I get a car. The mileage and gas works out to under $2 for the drive, nevermind the convenience. By the time we left, I’ll admit, I was ready to go home. It was a long weekend and I needed some time alone. As much as I love the people on this island, you realize they just aren’t your friends or family back home who understand you in all those ways you want them to. Of course, that will come with time!! School starts again tomorrow, another week at Nakagoto High School.
The sun was setting as we rode the bus home to Narao.
Love and Pints,
Sierra
