We had a pretty nice weekend, with a little weather-generated surprise on Sunday. Saturday Kuniko had the day off from work so she could attend the wedding of a friend of hers in Himeji. While she was there I spent the day doing chores, cleaning house, and reading a little bit. I also went over to buy a couple of movie tickets for later that night.

Once Kuniko got back home we hung out around the house for a while and then went to see “Perfect Stranger”. It was a little weird with a an over-the-top ending, but it was OK entertainment-wise. We got back home late, but got to sleep in a little on Sunday morning.

Kuniko had a tennis club match to attend, but thanks to rainy weather it was cancelled and she had the whole day off. That is one of the very nice perks to being part of the tennis club as opposed to last year with the mandolin guitar club – if it rains they can’t play. We enjoyed the day together, and although it was a little rainy in the morning, the afternoon cleared up and we were able to take a walk together in Okubo. Later we decided to see another movie, “No Reservations” (called 幸せのレシピ in Japan) and it won the award for the most predictable movie… still, it was fun to catch two movies in a weekend after going so long without seeing any.

Thursday I took a break from my morning study routine and caught a train into Nishinomiya to visit my old school (Hamawaki Junior High School) for their sports day event.

I had forgotten about the commute – it’s a long one. I jammed into a train and made the change at Sannomiya and then on to Nishinomiya. The whole time I was wondering how I did this every day for nine months. I was travelling at a busier time of day today, so that might explain things a little bit.

There’s a word in Japanese, 懐かしい (natsukashii) which doesn’t really translate into English, but it fit the situation today really well. It means a sense of happy remembrance of something in the past, kind of an appreciation of something that is gone now. I found myself saying that pretty much the whole time I was there.

The school’s second and third year students were around when I was there, but the first year students didn’t know me at all. The students were really surprised and happy to see me, and it was really good to see them. Their English level is pretty high, especially compared to what I’m used to nowadays, and we chatted while sports day was going on. The teachers also were really nice and friendly, and we caught up on what has been going on with them and with me.

I also got to meet my replacement. I didn’t catch his name when he introduced himself, and I had a hard time understanding his English (which is a bad sign when he is an English teacher). He is from Cameroon, and has been in Japan for two and a half years. The teachers seemed to like him, and some of the students said hello to him while I was around so I think it is working out OK.

It was a busy day for everyone so I didn’t get to talk to any one person for too long, but we’re going to try to throw a little party sometime in November. It’ll be good to catch up more with everyone.

I left around 11 o’clock, and headed back to the station. Instead of taking the Hanshin train back like usual, I walked on to the JR station which turned out to be about 15 minutes northeast of the Hanshin station. We’re staking out Nishinomiya as a place to live in the future perhaps.

The rest of the day was the normal set of classes in the evening, and then I headed home afterwards while dealing with a truant student and his mother on my cellphone. The student had cut class in the past, so the mother asked me to message her if he was absent again. This time he came home and said that English class was really good this time and she showed him my message… busted! She put him on the phone and I had to ask him just exactly what he was doing and play the bad guy. Yuck.

Still, after the conversation was over and the mother and I had talked about what to do about the situation, I congratulated myself on speaking Japanese well enough to handle somewhat delicate situations like that.

It’s almost the end of the week. Kuniko has a busy weekend, but I should have a quiet one. I’m hoping the weather continues to cool down so that I can hit the trails again.

We got to sleep in a little bit on Monday, and then we headed to Kobe to do a little shopping and see a concert put on by Kuniko’s school’s music students. I was eager to get in a little culture – Kuniko’s school has become my primary source of culture lately.

After doing a little bit of shopping, and having some yakibuta donburi for lunch, we headed to Kuniko’s school so that she could take care of a few things before the show. Then we walked back down the hill to the concert hall and went inside.

The concert hall was pretty small. It was, like a lot of Kobe, underground, so we went down some stairs into the hall and took a seat near the back. We looked through the program until the show was ready to start, and Kuniko smiled and nodded at students and co-workers who were giving us curious looks.

There were 32 students in the class, and each one was set to perform. They had each picked a different instrument to play, and I was looking forward to getting a good variety of different performances. Once the first student started playing (a piano piece by Chopan) I realized that we were in for a long show. She finished in about 10 minutes, and doing the math I realized that we were probably in for a four hour show.

So we buckled down for a long show, and the first couple hours were great. It did drag on a bit, and since all the students had Kuniko as a teacher it didn’t seem cool to walk out part of the way through. After it was over they were all really happy that we had seen them perform, and some mothers even came over to thank us.

Chatting with some of the students and parents afterwards (in English) I realized how much joy they get from communicating with a foreigner. It was something that I’ve been out of touch with lately, and it really was cool to see their faces light up with the realization that I had understood what they said.

It wasn’t all the joy of English, though. Some students came over to Kuniko and said that they loved foreigners, especially blondes, and they didn’t seem to think it was weird to mention that right in front of us. Others just giggled and said “so cool” when I walked by. Prop up the old ego, that will.

After the show we were tired out, and we succumbed to the temptation of being too close to Freshness Burger. After a couple of burgers we headed home, stopping in at Vivre to do some shopping for the week. It had turned out to be a long day, but I had a good time and any day I spend with Kuniko is a good day in my book.

Kuniko and I got up way too early after staying up way too late Saturday night. We got in the car and drove to Okayama to help Kuniko’s sister move into a new place with her fiancee. It is about a 90 minute drive to her place, and we were so tired we had to stop for coffee to keep up awake behind the wheel.

We got there before nine in the morning, and got right to work filling up our car and Tomoko’s car full of stuff. This time Tomoko was much more organized, and we got a lot more done really quickly. A little after nine Kuniko’s parents showed up in the truck, and so we had even more room to load up the big stuff.

Just as we were finished loading up the heavy stuff Tomoko’s fiancee showed up with a big truck and his friend. Good timing, dude. From there we did a caravan to the new place, which was about 40 minutes away. The drive there was really nice – we followed a wide, beautiful river which had me wishing I could do some canoeing.

As always, unloading went pretty quickly. Their new place is a little tiny bit bigger than her old place, and we actually had to wait for a little bit while they found room to put everything. Once everything was in we went inside to help organize, and then decided to go to lunch.

Kuniko and I were really tired out, so we were cool with anything, but we ended up driving 30 minutes to a ramen restaurant for lunch. The ramen was pretty good, but nothing too special. I hadn’t had ramen in months (not so popular in summer) so it was nice to have it again. After lunch with a stomach full of food it was even harder to stay awake, and Kuniko and her mom dozed on the drive back.

There was one more trip left for Kuniko’s folks to get some stuff from Tomoko’s old place, but Kuniko and I surrendered and had to head home due to exhaustion. Another 40 minute drive in the wrong direction, and then the drive back would just be too much, so we apologized and hit the road back. We stopped at a convenience store for more coffee, and then drove on home.

Luckily, Monday is a holiday (the autumn equinox) so we can sleep in a little in the morning and recover some energy…

Saturday morning Kuniko had to go off to work, so I did a few chores around the house on the and then packed up some gear and headed out. I stopped in at the Subway restaurant in Saty for a turkey breast sandwich to go, and then left the shopping center on foot heading south.

The destination was the shrine built in the last two years on the side of a hill overlooking the inland sea. It is pretty far away from the main thoroughfare, and really only visible from the ocean or the beach. I stumbled upon it a while back and have gone back several times because it is quiet and it has a great view of the sea. There is a wooden structure that shelters a bench and a table, and it makes for a good place to listen to the water down below, take in the ocean view, and relax in the shade.

I ate my lunch there, did some reading, and generally lounged around for a couple of hours. A security patrol guy walked through quickly, and stopped by to chat with me in English. The name of the security company was Kokusai Patrol – kokusai means “international”, so they really lived up to the name.

The shrine is my favorite place to get away from it all – I think I’ll go there a little more often once the weather cools down a bit.

I love milk tea. In America I had never had it, and once I tried an ice cold glass of milk tea during summertime in Japan I was hooked. You can buy cold milk tea in bottles everywhere, which is nice because it saves brewing up your own batch during these hot days.

The most famous and popular brand of milk tea is Gogonokocha, made by Kirin. Before I became a discerning milk tea drinker I drank this exclusively. You can get it in big one liter bottles and stock your fridge with it. It’s cheap, too. Recently some premium brands came out, and now you can get some really delicious milk teas.

My complaint though is just that my favorite one is made by Coca Cola. This just kills me. Kochakaden is found everywhere, especially in vending machines, and tastes great. It has a ever-so-slight bitterness that is masked by a creamy rich milkiness, and is slightly sweet. Compare it with it’s chief rival, Gogonokocha Special Milk Tea, and you can tell the difference immediately. The Special Milk Tea is too sweet, and the sweetness completely masks the bitter edges of tea flavor that is so important to the blend.

Anyway, it pisses me off that I have to go buy a Coke product when I want to enjoy (what is to me) a unique experience to Japan. Interestingly enough, most Coke products in Japan aren’t very sweet and are quite good. A cursory check of the Coke vending machines in my area showed that out of 30 different products in one machine, the normal Coke product only had one slot. Maybe Coca Cola has learned that Japanese people are a little more sensitive to sweetness. They are doing really well in Japan with products other than cola, and they’ve got me hooked on their milk tea.

Sunday I woke up with a minor hangover and had a pretty slow morning until I went into Kobe to meet up with Kuniko after work. She and I were going to the Danjiri Matsuri in Southern Osaka. It is maybe the most famous matsuri in Japan, and one of Kuniko’s coworkers had invited us to meet up there and watch it together.

Pictures from the day here.

It turned out that the coworker was the same teacher that had gone with Kuniko to New Zealand on the school trip earlier this year. His wife was originally from the town where the matsuri is held, and her parents still live there.

Kuniko and I were both pretty tired out from the previous evening’s exertions, so the plan was to keep it short and sweet – take some pictures, eat some fair food, and then catch an early train back. But, that was not to be.

I met Kuniko at 2 p.m. in Kobe, and it took about 90 minutes to get to the town where the matsuri was being held. Then we met up with the teacher, Nakatani sensei, and he showed us around the town. The town was filled with people, and everywhere you looked there were stands, shops and happi-wearing festival-goers enjoying the event. The streets of the town were closed so that the mikoshi (portable shrines) could travel around the area.

The mikoshi were really cool. They were these huge ornate heavy things on wheels that were pulled by hundreds (!) of people with ropes. People also pushed from behind and rode on the sides. On the front of the mikoshi stood some city elders in special costumes, and on top there was one or two guys that tried to surf the thing while the teams made high speed turns through the city. It was pretty amazing to watch.

We walked through the city chasing mikoshi around, taking lots of pictures, and soaking in the festival. It turned out that Nakatani sensei had prepared dinner for us, so we went back to his wife’s parent’s house after a couple hours of walking around. The house was a big modern building from the outside but inside was decorated in traditional Japanese style. We came in and met his family, and everybody was very friendly and polite. They really did too much for us, and this brings me to the social commentary portion of my post.

Everybody thinks of Japanese people as very polite, and for the most part that reputation is well deserved. That politeness is a way to make the guest or new person feel special, but it also marks out some distance between yourself and the host. The host is putting you so high up on a pedestal that you may have trouble interacting with them comfortably. Usually I hang out with people that don’t sweat this too much, and are more casual about things. Nakatani sensei’s family was a real throwback to the old fashioned style, and it took me by surprise.

They had a huge dinner prepared for us, including crab, sushi, sashimi, rice, soup, yakitori, and bite sized pieces of food that served as appetizers. Nakatani sensei’s wife worked hard to take all the crab meat out of the shells for each one of us – we didn’t even have to do that. There was way too much food for the four of us, and we ate in a decorative room that was beautiful.

In contrast, the rest of the family (the grandparents, the kids, some neighbors) ate in the adjoining kitchen. They made some noise and it sounded like they were having a great time. Occasionally one or two of them would come in to introduce themselves, and then they’d go back and enjoy themselves. Meanwhile, we had quiet conversation amongst ourselves while Nakatani sensei poured us beer and urged us to eat more.

We took a break at one point to go outside because one of the local mikoshi (there were 34 in all) was passing through the immediate neighborhood. We watched it go by, and then came back in and finished up. It was a long dinner but we really enjoyed talking with them, and Nakatani sensei’s wife was really friendly and fun to chat with.

From there we packed up our gear (they had given us lots of omiyage) and then headed out the door with Nakatani sensei to return to the station. His mother-in-law and father-in-law came out to thank us for coming, and the mother-in-law got down on her hands and knees and bowed on the floor which has only happened to me at a few select Japanese-style inns where we’ve stayed. I was a little embarrassed, but that was their custom, I guess. Interesting.

By this time it was dark, and Nakatani sensei took us by a few mikoshi to show us the lanterns they had attached to them. In the evening they slowly march them around with a huge array of lanterns on board. The members of the town walked with the mikoshi, and I got a laugh out of the support team that was pushing a couple of grocery carts that were filled with cans of beer and chu-hai to keep everyone buzzing. One of the guys saw my reaction to the grocery cart and stopped to give us a couple of cans. Thanks, man.

We caught the train back and didn’t get home until late, and we were exhausted. They really put out the welcome wagon for us, and it felt like somehow we need to do something more for them – we’re going to get them a bottle of champagne or something later this week.

Awesome festival, and we’re hoping to do it again next year. For now it’s back to work on Monday. It’s a national holiday, but I do have three classes to teach. Kuniko has the day off and I think she’ll go to a seminar with Nozaki sensei.

Had a busy and fairly alcoholic weekend, and I’m only catching up now. After the yakitori on Friday night I ventured into Sannomiya on Saturday to meet up with Anthony, Risa’s husband. He’s a really nice guy and I wanted to hang out a little with him outside of the couples environment that we usually meet in.

We talked about our work, traveling, and his background. He is from Brunei, and someday I’d like to get out there to see the country. The stories he tells are really interesting. We almost got out there for their wedding, but in the end Kuniko’s schedule wouldn’t permit it.

We caught a couple of beers at the Belgian beer place, and then he took me to a katsudon place for dinner. The katsudon place was really cool – it was a tiny hole in the wall that had a vending machine outside that handled all the ordering. Inside you see why they have that system – there is just no room for a cash register. Really no room to reach into your back pocket for your wallet.

Anyway, the katsudon was awesome and I had a new restaurant to hit when I want quick and delicious food. After that we had another beer at the Old England, and then shot a couple of games of pool at the pool hall. We had two more beers there and then we decided to call it a night.

I saw him off at the station at around 10 o’clock, and then went to find someplace to wait for Kuniko. She was out drinking with some of her teachers, and she wanted to meet up afterwards and go home together. I picked the New York bar, and pulled up a barstool to wait. They didn’t have any food that night because they had just had a wedding party and the kitchen was out of order (or something). Since it was hot I ordered a vodka tonic, and sat around chatting with the waitstaff. They were really nice to me and kept me in snacks (wasabi pumpkin seeds) and stronger drinks.

After about an hour and a half of sitting around drinking vodka tonics I still hadn’t heard from Kuniko. I sent a few messages, but no answer, which was weird. Starting to figure out that maybe her phone was dead I wrapped things up at the bar and headed to the station to catch a train home. By this time all the vodka tonics were starting to catch up with me, though. I decided to skip the second to last train and hold out for the last one just in case I got a call from Kuniko. I got the call, but she was already at home – her phone had died so she couldn’t get in touch. Bummer – I had to wait for the last train and take it home with all the alcoholics (like me).

It turned out to be a boozy evening – I haven’t been that drunk in a long time. Next time I’ll wait in a coffee house somewhere…

In a bit of perfect timing Friday I bumped into Nozaki sensei’s daughter on the train to work yesterday. She was coming back from the airport, having just returned from a month in China. The perfect timing part was because she had a big suitcase and nobody to help drag it home. Also she didn’t have a key to the house. So, it worked out pretty well.

During the walk to Nozaki sensei’s house we walked among a group of elementary school kids going home, and so I chatted with a couple of curious boys. Since I was dragging the suitcase they thought that it was mine, and kept asking me questions about what might be inside. I didn’t really know what was inside so I was a little evasive in my answers, which just made them more curious. I don’t think Nozaki sensei’s daughter was too thrilled about walking across town to her house with a foreigner getting lots of attention, but that’s the price you pay for otherwise free labor.

Kuniko was out drinking this evening with Hanayama sensei and Ono sensei, so I went over to the local yakitori for some food and drink. A guy I recognized from before came in with a friend and sat down. His friend was a hairdresser – in Japan lots of men aspire to be hairdressers without any kind of gay stigma – and so I chatted with him for a while. Dinner was great as usual, and I ordered a bento for Kuniko’s lunch on Saturday.

Kuniko got back late. I met her at the station around 12:30, and we came back home and went right to bed. Need some downtime this weekend.

The big news today was the prime minister of Japan resigning, and it had even some of my students talking. This prime minister, Shinzo Abe, had some real problems rallying the people behind him, and he seemed to be out of touch with what Japanese people really wanted to change, and how they felt about Japan’s place in the world. It was a big surprise when he resigned – technically he should have done it a month or so ago after his party suffered defeat in elections.

I’m not much interested in Japanese politics, but it is interesting to notice the contrasts between their political system and America’s system. In the end, Abe resigned because he realized that his presence in the situation was not helping move forward the agenda that he wanted to promote. He was becoming a distraction – a hindrance to the progress that he saw as positive for the country. So he removed himself from the situation. It was remarkable to me to see somebody just walk away from all that power, and leave a gaping hole in it’s place.

So this will be all over the news for a while, and it’ll be fun to watch the scramble.

Starting to get close to the weekend. This month is turning out to be kind of busy, but with the heat starting to subside it is a little more bearable. This weekend we’re headed to a famous festival in Osaka with one of Kuniko’s coworkers. It’ll be fun to go to a festival and take lots of pictures, eat greasy festival food, and maybe have a couple of beers. I’m ready for autumn.

My young kids class on Tuesday was a qualified success. The first thing I did was explain the new system in Japanese, and then asked each student if they understood. Then we got started with the lesson and all the students that didn’t participate last time stayed with me this time.

The only troubles I had were with the two younger students, Yuzuha and Kento. If I could I would have them in a separate class – they are just not really adapting well to a classroom situation.

Yuzuha wants to be held the whole class, or else she just does her own thing. She’ll try to talk during the lesson about important issues like what she had for dinner last night or what cartoon was on this morning. Yuzuha’s sister will steal stickers away from her or push Yuzuha away when she feels like she is being a pest, and that always means lots of crying and the class completely stops.

With five minutes left in the class I usually get everyone started gathering up their pencils, papers, books, and homework and putting things away. I learned early that this takes a long time for the little guys, so I’ve allotted more time, even though the older kids in the class are ready in about 20 seconds.

Tuesday Kento was sitting there staring at his activity book during cleanup time, and when it was time to go the older kids left. He was shocked that the class was over, and he still hadn’t packed up, so he started crying. Yuzuha was still around waiting for someone to pack away her mess of paperwork, so I had to help them both get gathered up.

I usually get only about 20 minutes of teaching time during a 50 minute lesson. The rest of the time the older students are on their own coloring or chatting with each other in Japanese while I solve little kid issues. It’s too bad – the class is expensive and I don’t think they are getting their money’s worth.

Still, the system seemed to get people all on one page, and I learned a lesson for next time… get a system in place early and make it a visual one.

I laid down the law in three more classes yesterday, and I got pretty good results. As long as I stay consistent, I think it will be a pretty effective system. I have the students’ names posted on a big wall hanging in the front of the class, and I issue verbal warnings, then a yellow card (look out!), a red card (no snack today), and finally the evil black card (I’m going to call your mom tonight and have a chat).

Just two yellow cards on Monday.

The real test will be today when I have my younger kids. I’m going to have to spend a while explaining the system to them. Some are so young that maybe they just won’t get it, but I’m going to give it a try anyway. Anything to get those kiddies under control.

The temperature the last couple of days has dropped a degree or two. Yesterday I walked to work and didn’t use a sweatrag to wipe my brow for the first time since summer started. It isn’t over yet, though – probably another couple of weeks. Eck.

We had a pretty nice weekend. Friday night we met Antoine and Miwako in Kobe for Mexican food. They had three big items of news to share with us:

#1 – Antoine became an uncle recently.

#2 – Antoine bought a car. Apparently it is a rare car, and he paid big bucks to get it. The bad news is that he doesn’t have a license yet so he won’t be able to drive it anytime soon.

#3 – Antoine and Miwako are moving in together. They’ll be living in a new place in Nishinomiya. Miwako got the OK from her parents and they’ll give it a try. This will add a new dimension to their already fiery relationship.

The Mexican food really hit the spot for some reason. The guy who owns the place is not so friendly, but the food is definitely the best Mexican I’ve had in Japan. We went to a dark and crowded yakitori afterwards for some cocktails, and then headed back.

Saturday was a pretty light day – I walked around town trying to burn some calories, and Kuniko had to work most of the day. Sunday Kuniko had the day off, so we spent the day cleaning house and taking it easy. In the evening we went to Ito Yokado to do some shopping, and then came home and hit the sack pretty soon afterwards.

This week is a little busier than normal – I’ve got night classes Monday through Wednesday, but after that, things should get back to normal.

Expressing thanks is a big part of Japanese culture. The exchange of gifts as omiyage, or for services rendered, or just to get on somebody’s good side is essential in Japan. Since I’m living here I do my share of gift giving and receiving. The protocol is sometimes tricky.

For example, several years ago I brought in some tacos for a teacher at Takasago Minami. She was really happy, and several days later she brought in some food for me. I said thanks, but I got the sense that she brought in the food out of a sense of obligation – I brought in food so now she had to do it.

The day before the Hawaii trip I received some coffee from the family of one of my students as a mid-year gift. I didn’t have time until I got back from the trip to write a thank you note, but once I got home I sent one home with her son. She then sent me a message thanking me for the thank you note, and now I’m sitting here wondering if I should send her a message back saying “It was nothing, thank you”. Hmm…

Sometimes people get in this cycles of gift exchanges that they can’t get out of. Kuniko advised me that in this situation, it’s best to lower the size/value of the gifts gradually until someone stops giving. Otherwise, it’s just back and forth, back and forth – each party under obligation to reciprocate the gift.

It is Friday, and I’m getting ready to go into work. The end of this week has been pretty good, but I’ve been tired every day thanks to the anti-itch drugs. I decided today to stop taking them and see if the itch comes back. I hate walking around tired all the time.

Kuniko and I are going to meet Antoine and maybe Miwako for Mexican food in Kobe. Everyone is craving tacos, so we’ll meet up and catch up over beans and rice.