Today I spent some time on the phone with Nancy, Lynn, and Kinsey, and my parents. They all called me this morning while I was putzing around the house doing laundry. It was great to talk to everyone – the voices from home really make my day.
In the morning I took the train into Befu to do some shopping. I picked up an Epson inkjet printer, some cheap-o headphones to listen to movies and music, six pairs of warm socks, and some long underwear bottoms. The stores are filling up with cold weather goods. At the foodcourt I had a big plate of om-soba, chinese soba noodles fried up and wrapped in a thin egg omelete type thing. Good!
For dinner I cooked up some carbonara pasta, thanks to my parents. They had sent the bacon, the sauce packets, the pasta, and some Vella’s cheese to grate over the top. I just provided the peas, onions, black pepper, milk and butter. I had a bunch leftover, so I made them into lunch sized packages for this week.
After dinner, Yasu came over and gave me his old jacket – a really nice Patagonia rain/wind breaker. He’s had it for a couple of years, but didn’t really wear it because it is an American sized large, as opposed to a Japanese sized large. It fits me just fine – it’s nice to have some more cold weather options.
We talked about his job – Yasu is a waiter at a restaurant in Tarumi, a little east of here. I guess a lot of foreigners come in, and so he is the designated English speaker. Yasu’s English is good, but he’s always looking to improve it. I gave him some suggestions, and we dranks some beers and talked about music for a while. I sent Yasu home with some pasta for him and his mom, so they’ll get a chance to try something new. I’m hoping they enjoy it! Before he left Yasu said that it was going to start getting colder. He said that February was the coldest. He described it as being so cold that “your stomach is frozen”. Woah.
I got a late-night call last night from Mr. Hayashi. One of the interviewers for the STEP test tomorrow called in sick, so I’ll be pinch hitting. The STEP test is a standardized test of English ability. My job will be to interview candidates and evaluate their skills. The plan is to work all day and then we’ll go into Kobe and eat afterwards. It’ll be nice to earn a little money.
