Today I got up reasonably early and did some chores around the house. My folks called, so I had a nice long conversation with them, and then after I hung my clothes out to dry, I went into Befu to do some shopping.
I picked up some T-shirts at a place called Uniqlo. The shirts were very cheap, about $4 each. They aren’t exactly high quality, but they will work. Their XL size is about a Large in the US. I also picked up a few things at the local superstore to make props for my first class on Tuesday.
Miss Kageyama came by and picked me up around five to go catch a movie. Since she is single, and I am single, there is a certain protocol that we have to observe. I’m just kind of figuring this out. She called me from her car outside, and then I went down to meet her and we left from there. It would be really bad news if she came up to my apartment alone. I am learning on the fly, but basically treating this situation like you are being followed around by a jealous husband seems to be the best way to handle it.
We went out for 100 yen sushi, kind of an inexpensive sushi boat type arrangement, except instead of boats they have a conveyor belt. Miss Kageyama powered down some sushi, and gave me some pointers on how to eat some of the tricky ones. Afterwards, we went into the grocery store on the bottom floor and she helped me identify some tricky grocery items that I had been wondering about for a while.
On the sixth floor was the megaplex. It is owned by Warner Brothers, and the introduction clip about refreshments, no talking, and trash was given by Warner Brothers characters speaking Japanese. The previews were great, but almost none were in English. There was one in Spanish with Japanese subtitles, so I was able to follow it using my Spanish language skills, which are suffering greatly here in Japan.
As for the main attraction, it was in English, with Japanese subtitles, and it was no problem for me to enjoy the movie. I laughed out loud at a couple parts, and I did notice I was the only one doing it – but that may be a function of the subtitles or the culture difference. The price of a large soda was 400 yen (about $3.50) but their large size is much smaller than the same thing in America. The popcorn large size was 500 yen (about $4.25) and it was the same big tub of popcorn that you see in most theaters. The price of admission was quite high, with regular price at 1800 yen (about $15). Miss Kageyama had a discount card that got us in for 1500 yen each ($12.50), but still it was expensive. There are some discounts available – if it’s your birthday, or the first day of the month, it only costs 1000 yen. Also, there are “ladies nights” where women get in for 1000 yen. One interesting thing was that this movie theater had assigned seating, so you could request a certain area at the ticket counter, and then your tickets had a seat number where you are required to sit. Miss Kageyama said that not all theaters do this.
It was a fun night, and I’m back here relatively early drinking a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that I found at a local store for $5. It’s not too bad.
Tomorrow I’m making props, and relaxing around the house. I’m trying to take it easy this weekend as it’s so hot lately. The temptation is to go traveling around the countryside, but it is expensive to do that every weekend. I’m hoping to visit some JETs in the Kobe area next weekend, but we’ll see how that goes. I’m sure everybody’s first week will be tough, but maybe it would be good to compare notes together next weekend.
