So the typhoon came through last night, and most of it happened when I was sleeping. The wind picked up quite a bit, and it was much cooler than it had been, but nothing dramatic. Somehow I was picturing the tornado from “The Wizard Of Oz”. A different kind of tornado is taking place in the bedroom, as Andrew’s packing has shifted into full speed. The place is a certified disaster area.
Today I’m walking down to the train station in Futami to meet one of our English teachers (one I haven’t met yet). There are advantages to being the only foreigner around – I’ll be easy to identify at the train station. We’re going into Kobe to meet all the other teachers for a big expensive dinner. Mr. Hayashi has organized this one, so I’m sure it will be quite nice. It’ll be my first visit to Kobe, and I’ve heard great things about the town.
Last night we were invited to a neighbor’s house for dinner, and it was a great time. Their apartment has the same layout as mine, but they’ve been living there a long time. We had fried chicken (in small pieces, so it was easy to chopstick), sushi and rice, and ramen noodles. They had some chili pepper flakes that they put into the ramen. They kept the beer coming, too. We sat around the table, watched a small part of a baseball game, and talked in English and Japanese. Their son, who helped translate during Andrew’s visit to the hospital, was there and we talked quite a bit in English. His grandmother, who works as the “tea lady” at my high school, was there as well. We ate big, and then came back. Andrew has been up all night packing, and he’s leaving soon to go out shopping with another ALT, Jamie.
Andrew should be packing up his modem soon, so that means I’ll be out of touch for a bit. I’m going to try to sign up on Monday with Yahoo Japan for internet access. Hopefully, I’ll be back online soon!
