I woke up this morning one minute before my alarm normally goes off. The wind was howling outside – really blowing. In my semi-groggy state it was hard to tell if it was wind or rain or both, but I rolled out of bed and started my morning ritual – which lately means turning on my hot water heater and getting my shower water hot.
The water takes about 20 minutes to heat up, and so I usually lay out clothes, shave, and do some stretches and light exercises while that’s going on. The temperature outside was -2 degrees C, a new low for my thermometer.
Properly geared up with 5 layers, a scarf, and headphones wired to my mp3 player, I stepped outside fearing the worst, but really it wasn’t too bad. I guess after a certain point you just don’t notice the cold as much. As I passed the post office on the way to the train station, one of the old ladies that I usually say “good morning” to came out of the convenience store, and then ran over to me and stuffed a big bag of what looked like candy in my pocket. I tried saying “no thank you” in Japanese, but she wouldn’t hear of it, and kept pointing at her throat while she talked. I guess they are good for preventing sore throats – I said thanks, and she walked off. Strange!
At school I broke open the bag and it was candies made in Okinawa from molasses. They taste like you are sucking on a mouthful of brown sugar, so I really enjoy them. I shared them with some of the other teachers, and they got a kick out of my story of how I acquired them.
The day went by quickly, and just as classes finished, a big snow flurry came through and blew snow all over the place. I took some pictures, and the students watched curiously.
After about half an hour of snow, the clouds moved on and then there was just clear sunny sky. The snow disappeared quickly, melting away wherever sunlight was shining. The teachers all had a meeting, so I threw my stuff together and snuck out while they were gone.
We were planning to meet in Sannomiya station in Kobe at around 6:45 to have a dinner for Mr. Kimura. I had a couple of hours to kill before, so I did some exploring in Kobe. I stopped in at a bar that I hadn’t been to in a long time for two pints of Hoegaarden White on draft. At 750 yen each, it was a great deal, and it went nicely with the cold weather outside.
I also stumbled upon a much-rumored-but-never-found imported goods store in the underground shopping center directly below the JR station in Sannomiya. The store had lots of great stuff – frozen tortillas (corn and flour), lots of cheeses (very expensive), imported wines from all over, with some decent California wines, cake mixes, and even jars of salsa. I made a note of the place and so it will be easy to come back when I’m in need of some foreign stuff.
At around 6:45 I headed back to the station and met up with Miss Yamamoto, Miss Kageyama, Mr. Kimura, Mr. Komuri, and Mr. Hayashi. We all jumped into a pair of taxis and they drove us quickly to House Of Pacific. The restaurant is located on a hill above Kobe with a spectacular view of the city at night through large floor to ceiling windows. The service was excellent as usual, some of the best service I’ve had in Japan. For example, you can’t sit down without someone helping you with your chair. If you get up to use the restroom there is a person discreetly waiting at the end of the room to walk you to the restroom and show you where it is. When you get back you find your cloth napkin refolded and placed next to your plate.
My favorite part is that the servers are great looking. There are about 15 servers walking around in there, I would say 8-10 of them were beautiful women – really attractive. During the evening I kept commenting to Mr. Kimura and Mr. Komuri in code how “nice the view” was at the restaurant. They got my meaning – they were doing some staring themselves.
I had soft-shelled crab sushi rolls with a spicy sauce for an appetizer, and then we all had the same entree – Kobe beef cooked “Cajun” style. There was a complementary glass of champagne, and after dinner I had a glass of Moet Chandon. Talk about living right! Mr. Kimura was in better spirits today, and I kept him on his toes by speaking English with him the whole night. He is still really depressed, but I think the evening did a bit to lift his spirits.
After dinner we packed up and walked back to the station, braving the cold and wind mainly because there wasn’t a taxi available. It was only a 10 minute walk, and I thought it was nice to get outside and stretch my legs. On the way to the station, I saw an ATM inside a convenience store, and decided to run in really quick and grab some cash.
I told the group that I would catch up with them and to keep on going. I went inside and thirty seconds later I was back on the street ready to run up a block or two to catch them. Instead, everyone was standing there waiting. Mr. Hayashi had a big grin on his face, and asked me if I had bought ketchup. Apparently Miss Yamamoto and Mr. Komuri had thought that I had rushed in to buy ketchup – they had misunderstood when I said that I would “catch up”. We all had a good laugh at that one.
The wind was howling once I got back to Futami – blowing really hard. I wrapped my scarf completely around my face, and I felt like the invisible man walking around at night with my entire face hidden by a scarf. When I got home I noticed the temperature outside was down to -2 degrees C. Chilly.
