Today Mr. Hayashi hired me to work at school for a half day – we were administrating a test of English. All I had to do was sit around in the hallways, and point people to the bathroom if they got lost. I worked the half day, and then Mr. Hayashi asked me to stick around for the afternoon. Since I had nothing better to do, I went ahead and stayed.
My job really was pretty easy – nothing much happened, and I got to speak a lot of Japanese with people that were coming in for the test. I got a free lunch, and after it was over, I got an envelope with 14,000 yen in cash inside (around $125).
Afterwards, Mr. Hayashi got on the phone and arranged a custom meal at Graciani’s in Kobe. We drove out with Miss Yamamoto and Miss Kageyama. The first stop was an apartment complex in Kitano – the restaurant district that has so many different restaurants to choose from. We went up to an apartment, and then Mr. Hayashi knocked on the door. We went inside, and the place had been converted into an imported food warehouse. The selection was mainly Indian food ingredients, and I found some interesting things to buy – I ended up settling on just one thing, a jar of pickled garlic in curry… the owner of the place said that it was very spicy, so I can’t wait to try it out.
Graciani’s was excellent – it was the same restaurant that I went to for our first big meal together. The food was exceptional – a four course meal that topped the last one we had there.
As Mr. Hayashi drove us through the city lights of Kobe on the way home to my apartment, it occurred to me how surreal my lifestyle is nowadays. I’m really incredibly lucky to do what I’m doing here. I’ve talked to other ALTs, and their experiences vary significantly. I talked to one ALT who has to wait for a ferry to leave her island, and after a two hour ferry ride, it’s a half hour walk to the train station, and then a one hour train ride to get to the nearest large town. Here I am getting a ride into the upscale Kitano part of Kobe, to eat five-star food. Unbelievable.
