Just before I left for my trip to America I had a standard health checkup as required by my school. Everything was fine, but there was a weird result in my urine test. They wanted me to check it again when I got back, so today I went with Mr. Hayashi to a doctor that he recommended.

Health care in Japan is a little different. It seems like you can choose any doctor you want, and just walk in. We sat in the lobby and after about 30 minutes they asked me to come in a pee in the cup. They checked it right in the office, and it came back fine. The doctor offered to do a blood check for about 2000 yen – what a deal. I went ahead and gave some blood for them to check. Thursday I will go back and get the results. I’m not expecting anything crazy, but you never know.

After the medical stuff was taken care of I went back home, stopping in a Carrefour on the way to pick up some meat for dinner.

I had invited Struan over a couple of weeks back, and then Antoine came back from America, so I invited him too. They came over and we had a great time drinking beer and wine. I kept the grill busy – we had pork steaks with a pineapple honey pepper glaze, and then we had lots of sausages, and a platter of thinly sliced steak. I also made some weird rice with chicken chipotle bouillon that my mom sent me a while back. I also served up some mixed vegetables that I had found in Carrefour. We went through a couple bottles of wine, a Chilean cabernet sauvignon and an Australian Shiraz Cabernet that Struan brought along.

It was good times, and while I was quite busy cooking I was also quite busy drinking. By the end of the night we were all a little drunk. It’s been a long time since I’ve been buzzing like that – wow. During all the fun a lady called that I had been trying to contact about doing some Japanese study. We tried to work through the conversation with Antoine and Struan talking loudly in the background – she must have had one hell of a first impression of me. She did agree to meet me on Monday, so that’s good.

Antoine and Struan left around 10 p.m., and I did a few dishes and then went right to bed. What a night.

This morning I had the pleasure of walking just a short distance to the new train station and catching a nice easy ride into work. Once I arrived at work I was able to study for about half and hour, and the rest of the time I chatted with various people and relaxed. I’m just now starting to think about my first lessons – hmm… what should I do?

At around noon I went outside and met up with Keiko-san, one of the locals that organizes an English conversation every now and again. I was surprised this time to find that we had lots more participants… three more folks came by. I had my hands full keeping everyone in the conversation, but it worked out well. They paid for my lunch, and we even had a Japanese conversation to help with my learning curve. They are a good group of people, and it’s fun to chat with them. They are remarkably frank about some issues, and it’s interesting to get their take on things with the safety off.

I spent almost three hours chatting and eating with them, and then I headed home to change and get ready for my Japanese class in Kobe. The class went pretty well, although there was one concept that I kept getting confused on. The South American guy in the class was heckling me in Spanish while I was trying to make a sentence in Japanese – pretty confusing. At the end the teacher had trouble with a concept, and I think we all ended the class totally confused. I hope that they can pick up the pieces on Friday night. This was one class that did more harm than good.

Usually I stop in at a ramen place that has free kimchee on my way home, but this time I thought I’d try a new restaurant. The place had some delicious looking plastic food in their window, so I went inside and ordered up. The dish was strips of steak, noodles, rice, corn, a soft boiled egg, and bits of garlic all mixed up in a sauce and served in a hot clay pot. It looked great, but it turned out the sauce was almost completely oil. It was damn near the greasiest thing I’ve ever eaten, anywhere. I ate about half and left the rest to coagulate.

Now I’m back home – the weather is starting to pick up and there’s talk of another typhoon approaching tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully it will blow itself out tonight and tomorrow will be a dry day.

Oh, almost forgot, they’re putting in signs in the food court at Ito Yokado and I identified another place – Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a coffee shop in there somewhere.

This was a nice, relaxing Sunday. I slept in until eight a.m. or so, and around ten o’clock Jane came downstairs with breakfast for me as kind of a thank you for all the help I’ve been giving her over the last few days. She worked on my computer while I leisurely ironed shirts, and then I cooked up some curry and rice for both of us for lunch.

Around noon I left Jane hard at work on the computer and went down to the yakitori to meet up with one of the guys, who drove me to the softball fields on the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry property on the southern peninsula of Futami. There we met up with the rest of the yakitori gang who were getting ready to play a couple of games of softball.

As soon as I walked on the field the other team started looking over, and then they sent someone over to me to ask me if I was on the team. I shook my head, and the guy smiled and went back to tell the other team.

It was great to see some of the guys – I haven’t been to the yakitori so often since my return from America, and we had some catching up to do. Everyone was warming up in their expensive uniforms – I noticed that while most of the players had their last names printed on the back, the master had “MASTER” printed on the back of his.

The game was off to a rocky start, with our pitcher struggling to find the plate. He gave up five runs in the first inning, and he was pretty embarrassed about it. He made up for it in the last inning by hitting a grand slam to win the game. The other team was a little upset with their own pitcher.

I had a great time just sitting in the sun in shorts and sunglasses enjoying a good game. After all the pressure from yesterday it was nice to just relax and spend a few hours watching a ball game.

The master had to go to work after their first game, so he gave me a ride back, and I went home. The only other thing I did today was run to Carrefour to do some shopping for later this week. I picked up some great sushi for dinner, and also a couple of cold beers that looked good.

This week is going to be pretty social for me. Tomorrow (Monday) I’m meeting the group of ladies in Takasago for lunch and some chit-chat in English, and then that night I have my Japanese class in Kobe. Tuesday I’m hosting Antoine and Struan for BBQ sausages and red wine. Wednesday I’m having dinner with Carrie, but I’m not sure where yet. Thursday is dinner at a couple of ALTs, Chelsea and Timote, who are a couple of stations away on the Sanyo line. Friday is Japanese class again, and I’m hoping that I can meet up with Kuniko Friday night. Saturday is my secret project stage II interviews in Kobe. Sunday, seven days from now, will be my next free day.

At about 8 a.m. I was awakened by the sound of a helicopter buzzing by overhead. It was really low and really loud. I rolled out of bed and shuffled off to make some breakfast, and then I got organized and went across the street to check out the opening of the new Nishi Futami train station.

This new station is only about 150 meters from my place – really convenient. It was really only built to accommodate the gigantic new Ito Yokado market that they built next to my apartment. The grand opening of the station today was accompanied by lots of events and fun for people that might otherwise be bored on Saturday.

I walked over and took lots of pictures. They had loads of Sanyo Train Line souvenirs for sale, and they were doing a good business. Lots of people had bought tickets to get on the train platform and take a picture of trains arriving. I don’t know why that would be worthy of a photo – the trains had been running at the new station since 6 a.m.

This station is the one that I’ll be using about 90% of the time now, so I enjoyed walking through it. There was a flea market type thing going on outside, a TV station was there, and the aforementioned helicopter was taking off and landing in an adjacent parking lot.

The Ito Yokado had a big sign showing that they will be opening on September 17th, so I definitely scratched that on my calendar. I can’t wait to see the setup in there. I saw that they had at least one restaurant inside, a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yikes!

Around noon Kuniko came by to pick me up – we were looking to spend some time together before going over to meet her parents at six. We ended up going to a park in Akashi situated directly beneath the Akashi Pearl Bridge. We had a little picnic in the shade of one of the trees and just enjoyed relaxing with each other. It was some good quality time before the main event.

We walked along to Tarumi and did a little shopping in the outlet malls. We didn’t buy anything, just looked around. While we were shopping in one of the women’s fashion stores they played “Pretty Fly For A White Guy” by The Offspring, and that was kind of a surreal moment.

After the picnic we went back to my house where I took a shower and put some decent clothes on. Then we headed over to say hello to her folks.

They live in a dense neighborhood, in a nice big house. We went inside and I followed Kuniko’s verbal cues as we took off our shoes, trying to say the right things. They had laid out a small pair of teddy bear slippers for me to be comfortable in. Didn’t quite go with my outfit, but I didn’t want to appear rude.

We went into the kitchen and I met Kuniko’s mom. She was fluttering around the kitchen with a big smile on her face. Kuniko introduced us, and we chatted for a little bit before she disappeared into the next room to take care of some things. Kuniko’s sister, Tomo-chan, was also there, so I got a chance to catch up with her. She was cooking up tonight’s dinner, sukiyaki.

I gave my gifts to Kuniko’s mom, and she seemed very happy. I was waiting for her dad to show up, but he was conspicuously absent. We all sat down for dinner, and about five minutes into the meal he showed up looking very tired from working somewhere. We introduced ourselves, and watched me carefully, maybe a little suspiciously, for a while while we ate.

I asked him a couple of questions in Japanese, and he opened up a bit. He seemed surprised that I spoke a little Japanese. I think maybe Kuniko low-balled my ability just a little, which seems like a good tactic. We talked about all kinds of things, and Kuniko helped fill in missing information when I didn’t understand something. It went really well, actually.

After dinner we went out to the living room and watched a little TV, looked at my picture album that I brought, and had some watermelon for dessert. Everyone really enjoyed looking at the pictures, and seeing my family and where I came from. At around ten o’clock, Kuniko made the motion that it was time to go, so we excused ourselves, and after countless thank-you’s, bows, and excuse me’s, we left.

While we drove back Kuniko and I chatted about how we thought it went, and we both agreed that it went pretty well. She dropped me off at home, and I drank half a bottle of Norton Malbec to celebrate. What a relief – they’re nice people!

I popped into work around nine o’clock, and popped right back out of there at eleven. I went home and did a combination of laundry, studying, and organizing my mp3 collection until it was time to leave for my class in Kobe.

My train pulled into Kobe and I headed underground to do some shopping. Saturday night I’m headed over to Kuniko’s parents’ house, and having dinner with the whole family. It’s a good idea to bring some gifts along, so I found a couple of different things that I’m hoping will make the right impression.

With my shopping completed, I walked north through Sannomiya to the YMCA near the Kitano part of town. The class was unusually active this time around – lots of chatter. I have a couple of pet peeves about this class – but the big one is that if somebody gets something wrong, they tend not to point it out.

I’m sure this is to keep things positive, but if I’m doing something wrong I want to hear about it. This leads to people hunting around for the right word, slowly, agonizingly, unsuccessfully. Other people throw out words to try to help them, but half of those are wrong anyway, and you end up with a room full of people shouting out random words while the teacher exercises no control. And I’m trying to learn something here.

As soon as class wrapped up I stopped in at my favorite local ramen shop to pick up a jar of kimchee for the Kageyama family, and then headed home without eating dinner.

Once I arrived home and put everything away I headed over to the yakitori for dinner. There the master and I chatted and I even bumped into one of the locals that I haven’t seen in months. He owed me a beer since I bought him one months ago, so he settled up. He was there with his four year old daughter, Miki, who was so shy. She wouldn’t even look at me while we talked, and when I tried to chat with her she curled up in a little ball to try to avoid conversation.

I asked the master for advice on what to bring when you meet your future in-laws and he described something pretty similar to what I bought – I should be fine, then! I had a dinner of tori-don, shisomaki, and grilled bacon wrapped cheese – yum!

After a couple of beers I headed back home. I have big plans to sleep in tomorrow since I’ve been up fairly early lately.

We woke up early at Kuniko’s apartment, and after a quick shower we had a quick breakfast together. Breakfast is an important part of Kuniko’s routine, so we try to have it together as often as possible. It can be a very simple breakfast – the important thing is to get something in your stomach.

I made it to school at about 8:30 a.m., just a little before my normal time. I checked in with everyone and then asked the vice-principal to make a map for me to find the prefectural office in Kobe. He had me fill out some papers, and then said that I could leave school anytime I wanted. I took him at his word and left.

On the way out of school I bumped into Mr. Hayashi who was just coming in, and I told him that the vice-principal said I could just leave. Mr. Hayashi was impressed. I’m under orders not to tell him anything about the secret project, so I couldn’t really tell him the truth.

I went into Kobe, and made the short walk to the prefectural office. The weather was gray and windy, and while we rode the train along the inland sea we could see huge waves smashing against the concrete piers… it was very dramatic. There is a typhoon warning for tonight, so I was hoping to get this meeting over with and get home safe and dry.

I arrived at the prefectural building a little early, and enjoyed the chance to walk around and scout the area out a bit. The prefectural building is the equivalent of a state capitol in America. There were lots of government workers walking around, and several museums and parks to check out.

The meeting went just fine – we are preparing to interview prospective teachers in Hyogo prefecture. Our role is just to moderate discussions, but it was quite a complex explanation. We did a few role plays, and we hammed it up a bit. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes for real at the end of this month. Struan was also there at the meeting, so it was good to see him, too.

When the meeting was over we went off on our separate ways. I went with one of the ALTs from Harima town back to our neck of Japan, and now I’m safe and hunkered down as the wind blows like crazy outside.

I’m going with a simple Japanese style dinner tonight – rice and miso soup. I found some tiny carrots at the store, so I’ll have some of those on the side. Yum!

Today I spent all of two hours at work before leaving early to… get this… get a haircut. Mr. Hayashi even drove me there so he could leave early as well.

They did the usual bang-up job on my follicles for 1000 yen, and then I went back home to relax and do some studying. At about 3:30 I packed my overnight backpack and went to the train station.

Kuniko had invited me to join her along with Tomo-chan, her friend from Tokyo who just moved to Kyoto, for dinner. I left with plenty of extra time, and even had time to do some shopping at the giant bookstore in Umeda station.

Then I got on Hankyu train line.

I’ve only been on Hankyu once before, with Antoine, and it wasn’t so easy to figure out. They run all of their different types of trains on the same track, so you need to choose the right one. As I found out later, you don’t choose the right platform, rather, you choose the right train. You should just wait at your platform until the right one comes along.

To make a long and frustrating story short, I made every wrong move you could possibly make on this trip. First, I started on a slow train, so I got off that at the next stop, and a faster one came along at another platform. That ended up taking me the wrong way, but I didn’t figure that out until I passed four or five stops.

Then, once I made it back, I got on a slow train to make sure that at least I was going the right way. Two stations later, the slow train pulled aside and sat there for ten minutes, while two fast trains went rushing by. I ended up being twenty minutes late meeting Kuniko and Tomo-chan.

When I got to the gate they weren’t there. I felt terrible. They had probably went off to eat dinner and were waiting for me to call them when I got in. The problem was, I forgot to bring Kuniko’s phone number with me. So I had to just sit around and hope they came back. It was the second time I considered getting a mobile phone – maybe I should really consider it.

After about fifteen minutes, Kuniko came running back. The good news was that they hadn’t eaten yet – they just went over to the other station in that town to see if I was on the wrong train line. I explained as much as I could and apologized, apologized, apologized. Being late in Japan is never a good thing.

Despite the delay we ended up having a nice evening. We went to an izakaya and ate lots of tasty stuff. The drinks were interesting – I just had beer, but Kuniko had a strange grape flavored drink that had alcohol in the form of a colorless, tasteless liquid called “Hoppy”. Tomo-chan had two big fruit based drinks, and I think after those she was starting to feel the effects.

It was good to talk to Tomo-chan and hear about her new job and her plans for the future. She is going to have to live in Singapore as part of the new job for four months. She’s excited about it, but a little nervous. She’ll mainly be speaking English there, so I offered to help her with her English. Hopefully she’ll take me up on it.

After dinner we walked back to the station and went our separate ways. Kuniko had invited me over to stay the night at her place, and since my schedule at work is pretty flexible, I took her up on it. We had a nice relaxing evening watching some of the Olympics before we went to bed.

Sometime in the evening it had rained, since the roads were all a little moist while I walked to school. I decided to leave my manpurse at home, since it makes things easier when I want to leave early if I don’t get up and pack up my bags before going out the door. Unfortunately, my manpurse contains my spare umbrella, so I was working without a net. Fortunately, I wasn’t hit with a single drop of rain today. Lucky.

At school Mr. Hayashi and I sat and chit-chatted for a long time. He asked me to interview a teacher for a spot on the easy money STEP test panel, so I talked for a while with the poor guy. He was really nice, but nervous about speaking with me. Mr. Hayashi made it a surprise for him, so he had no prep time. He passed the test, though, so we should have another interviewer next time.

While chatting Mr. Hayashi said that he had been talking with Andy, my predecessor, in Australia and they had both been impressed with how much I had been studying Japanese. Andy suggested to Mr. Hayashi that it might be because I have a girlfriend, but Mr. Hayashi told Andy that he had seen no evidence of a girlfriend.

That must have got Mr. Hayashi thinking, because he said that he consulted with Mr. Komuri once he got back, and together they came up with the theory that maybe Bryan is gay.

Mr. Hayashi told me this with a nervous laugh and plenty of room for me to say yes or no, and I just laughed. I told him that I wasn’t gay, and he actually seemed a little relieved. He and Mr. Komuri had come up with a list of three women that they figured I had been interested in during the last year, and Mr. Hayashi was kind enough to share that with me. He paid close attention to how I responded to each name, and it was fun to see him sweating to figure out where I stand. It was interesting that Kuniko was last on his short list, but I didn’t give him anything to work with on any of the girls he had named.

In a way it was a relief to know that he doesn’t have a clue about Kuniko and I, but in another sense I do want to put his mind at ease. At the root of all this he just wants to make me happy during my stay in Japan, so it’s important to remember this anytime I feel like my privacy is invaded just a bit.

I was studying kanji a bit later, and one of my students came by and helped me by quizzing me. He would give me words, and then I tried to write them in kanji. I did pretty well, and it was a great way to test my knowledge. I need to find somebody to do that for me regularly.

Mr. Kimura and I joined Mr. Hayashi for lunch. Mr. Hayashi bought us all lunch, and then I was free to go home. I went straight to my apartment – the clouds were threatening, and just as I got home the drops started falling. Now it’s in the evening and it has been raining the whole time.

I talked with Kuniko on the phone and it turned out that she didn’t pass the teacher’s exam for Hyogo prefecture. She said it was probably because she was too busy to study, and she’s probably right. She barely has time to sleep, let alone study for a comprehensive teacher’s entrance exam. Tomorrow she is meeting Tomo-chan in Takatsuki, a town between Osaka and Kyoto. She invited me to come along, and since I’m free I’m going to make the trip out there. I haven’t seen Tomo-chan since she met us in Tokyo. Now she’s living in Kyoto, and getting used to a new job.

Jane came down again to visit with a notepad full of questions. I spent an hour or so with her going through my apartment and hers, looking at all the details and the layout. She’s got big plans for her place, and I tried to give her as many hints as possible about where things could be found, and what has worked for me. She’s a really upbeat, energetic person – she’s going to be a great neighbor.

We woke up at seven thirty in the morning, and fifteen minutes later the same two ladies that served us dinner the night before were serving us breakfast. They laid out another huge meal, and we ate as much as we could. After a shower we cleared out of the hotel, and they had our car waiting for us when we went outside. What service!

We drove back to town, and found some glass bottom boats that were doing tours. I had always wanted to try one, and so we parked our car and went over there. Like I said before, parking is a big deal, and so we weren’t surprised when an old lady came over to us and sternly told us that we’d have to shop at her store if we planned on parking there. Kuniko explained about the glass bottom boat, and she said that it was OK to park as long as we shopped when we got back. She urged us not to look in the other stores on the walk over – “they have nothing worthwhile”, she said.

We boarded the boat with about ten other people, and looked through some glass tables that gave us a view of the bottom of the sea. They urged us to be on the lookout for a professional diver that was to do a demonstration for us. We pulled up next to an old-fashioned boat, and while we waited patiently, and old woman wrapped in white cloth jumped in the water and did a couple of flips under our boat. Kuniko and I looked at each other and we both said the same thing in English – “cheesy”.

After the lady finished her routine we headed out to see some reefs. The variety of sealife was really amazing – we saw quite a few brightly colored fish, and the kids around us would shout “Nemo!”, “Nemo!” every few minutes.

Our next stop was a fish market that we had passed on the way into town. We stopped in, and it was huge. Kind of like the Costco of fish markets. They had large tanks full of live fish that you could buy and have cut up while you watched. There were many booths that sold all kinds of strange things, and it was fun to see all the options that seafood lovers have. The sushi was cheap there, but it was a little early, so we left with only an ice cream cone.

From there we drove straight back to my place in Futami, and we unloaded our gear there. We were both exhausted, so we took a nap on my new bed, and woke up around 5:00 o’clock. Kuniko drove me to my local JR station, and I still made it to my Japanese class on time.

After class I came home to find a message on my machine from the master of the yakitori. I had forgotten, but he had invited me to swing by the yakitori that night because his wife and daughter were coming in. I rushed down to the yakitori and caught them still there. The baby was beautiful and healthy, and the master’s wife looked like she was full of energy. She playfully asked me if I had a baby yet, and I playfully answered, “まだ“.

After a couple of beers I went home and went to bed. What a long day!

I got up bright and early this morning – at 7 a.m. Kuniko pulled up outside my apartment, and I loaded some gear in her car. Then we hit the road, going southeast.

The weather was cloudy, and while we were driving through Osaka it started pouring. It kept raining all the way through town, and then stopped once we got to Wakayama prefecture. From there, it was about an hour and a half to Shirahama.

Shirahama is a resort town, sitting on the Pacific Ocean. As we drove through town, I was struck by how much it reminded me of San Diego. People were walking the streets in shorts and bikinis, and there were surfboards and boogie boards everywhere. When we got close to the beach, we pulled into a parking area and then ran right out to sit on the beach.

It was pretty crowded, but we had an easy enough time finding a spot, so we sat down and relaxed. After the long drive, it was nice to zone out for a little bit. We walked along the beach, watched the kids playing like maniacs, and went out into the water a bit. The water was really warm – much warmer than my visit to San Diego.

When we had beached it long enough, we headed back to town and walked around for a while. There were lots of shops to look through, and we had lunch at a strange MOS Burger that was kind of a building inside another building.

After lunch we drove along the coast, hitting a few tourist stops along the way. The key to any good tourist spot is parking, and they tried to get you to pay everywhere you went. If you bought omiyage at their stores, then they let you skip the parking fee. There was no way around it short of parking several blocks away, just the cost of doing business in a tourist town. Yuck!

The next stop was the hotel, and turning into the driveway I think Kuniko and I were both a little worried. The road looked pretty lonely, and the entrance to the road was flanked by two dilpidated apartment complexes with flaking paint and an abandoned feel to them. Beyond that we found the entrance to our hotel. As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about.

The hotel was a nice enough place. The place was clean and looked like it was fairly busy. We checked in without a problem, and while they prepared our room we sat at a black laquer table and drank tea and ate taiyaki (a fish shaped pancake stuffed with sweet bean paste). Kuniko was almost asleep when they came over to take us to our room – she had been up all day driving, and I wouldn’t let her fall asleep on the beach for fear of sunburn.

We got to our room, and it was a nice big Japanese style room. The tatami room was about 12 mats big – twice the size of my apartment’s tatami rooms combined. There was a view of the ocean, and a sitting room for tea and crackers. The bathroom had a western toilet (whew!) and a nice big shower/bath combo. Kuniko told the lady that lead us to the room that we were going to take a nap, and I think the lady was a little surprised. She pulled out a futon and laid it out, since we as guests aren’t supposed to do it.

We took a shower, changed into our yukatas – essential ryokan (japanese inn) wear – and went to sleep. We woke up a couple hours later, just in time for the staff to bring us dinner. The style of room that we had picked came with dinner and breakfast in our room, and so we were in for a treat.

As I lay there still half asleep on the futon, our hostess and her assistant brought lots of food and set it out carefully on our table. We watched them set it up, and they watched me to see when I would change from horizontal to vertical position. Once they declared the table ready, we sat down and dug in.

The hostess had given Kuniko lots of directions as to what sauce went with each dish, and even what each dish was. I had no idea on some of them, but Kuniko patiently guided me through it and we had a great dinner. There were so many dishes – more than ten – so we were plenty full by the time dinner was ready. Since we had a view of the ocean, we would break every so often to check on the sunset, and at one point we just pulled up a chair and watched it disappear behind the mountains of Shikoku to the west.

They came to clear our tables, and then about half an hour later it was time to report to our private bath. They have a public bath that anyone can use, but Kuniko had said that it was worth it to get the private one – that way we could bathe together. In the public one they split up the boys and the girls, since everyone is buck-nekkid.

We walked downstairs in our yukatas and were lead to the private bath by the desk clerk. There was a room to change clothes, and the next room had a giant tile bath fed by hot spring water. Next to that was a cooler bath, and in the wall was a small door that lead to a sauna room.

I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be enjoying a private bath in a foreign country with a beautiful woman, and I took a few minutes to reflect on how amazing that this was even happening. Every day I am in Japan I try to savor moments, and this was one of my favorites.

We sat in the hot bath for a while, then tried out the sauna. The sauna was seriously hot. According to the thermometer inside, which must have been broken, it was 100 degrees C, which is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Kuniko got right out after about 1 minute, and I managed about two more minutes before I had to get it. It was insanely hot in there.

After about half an hour of bathing we got out and changed back into our clothes, and then went upstairs to our room. Outside they were launching fireworks periodically from the beach – big ones that seemed just a little too low to be safe. Kuniko and I watched to fireworks together for a while, and then went to bed.

This morning Kuniko came over in her car – we had planned to go shopping for a new futon for my place. The one I’ve been using has been around for a long time – I had inherited it from my predecessor, and I’m sure that he had owned it for a long time as well.

Anyway, it had flattened out quite a bit so that it was getting a bit uncomfortable. At Kuniko’s place she has a cool futon that converts into a chair that you can sit in, and it actually serves as her living room couch. I was hoping to get a bigger version of that, and so Kuniko took me to the same store where she bought hers.

They had lots of pillows, futons, blankets, everything you need to get a good night’s sleep. At first I picked up the futon, a double, for about $120. Then I needed some sheets, and then I thought I ought to get a new pillow since mine has been stained yellow with sweat. I got a new gigantic pillow and a new gigantic pillowcase along with it. I also got a couple of floor pillows for guests to sit on when they come over. We lugged all the stuff out to the car and crammed it in there, and then went to my place to unload it.

I set up the bed and it’s huge. It’s really comfortable, and it folds away nicely. The real test will be to see how I sleep on it tonight, but I’m thinking it will be great.

After setting up the bed Kuniko jumped on the computer and looked into making some reservations for us. Kuniko has a couple of days off in a row, so we are hoping to do a small trip. She’s been working so hard that we thought a trip to an onsen (a hot spring) would be a good way to relax. We found one that is within sight of the beach in Shirohama – a place south of Osaka that is famous for it’s white sand (which I hear is imported from Australia). Kuniko managed to get reservations, and so tomorrow we’re leaving early to drive there and check it out.

Since we were going to the beach Kuniko decided she needed a new swimsuit, so we went bikini shopping. It was fun to look around and see all the crazy designs. The trick was to stay busy without looking like a pervert, and definitely keep your eyes moving. I get lots of attention any day, but walking around in the swimsuit section made me a little self-conscious.

After much deliberation Kuniko found one that we both liked, and so with that we headed home. I did a little shopping for some road supplies, and then she dropped me off to go home and cook dinner for her father and brother. I had a light dinner myself of quesadillas, trying to kill off the tortillas before they get weird.

Now I’m hitting the books and doing some reading in Japanese. We’ll be on the road the next two days, so I’ll post when I get back. I should have some great pictures when I return!

Today was Friday, officially Obon, the Japanese time to celebrate with family the memory of dead relatives. For me it meant that I got to leave school even earlier than normal. The vice-principal seemed surprised to see me there, and he told me in a quiet voice in the empty staff room that I could leave at 9:30 because they were waxing the floors. Excellent!

Mr. Hayashi and Ms. Yamamoto came in to study English, and we talked for a bit, and then at 9:30 they kicked us out. Mr. Hayashi gave me a ride to the station, and I was home by 10 a.m.

I spent the day relaxing – I watched Kill Bill Volume 2, studied Japanese, made an easy lunch of salami and Ritz crackers, and then decided to walk over to Carrefour to see what was new there.

Tortillas were new there. Flour tortillas, five bucks for eight of them, and worth it! Before I had been buying them in Kobe for about the same price. I bought one pack to try them and had quesadillas at home. They were delicious. I also bought a bottle of Tsunami beer, brewed in Hawaii, and that turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It has a good hoppy flavor that is hard to find in most beers available in Japan.

After dinner I got a knock on the door from my new upstairs neighbor, Jane. She had just come back from Yashiro and wanted to stop in and say hello. We talked for about an hour in my apartment, and then we walked around the neighborhood. I showed her where the closest grocery store was, and some of the highlights of the town. She followed around making notes on a small homemade map she was creating. No tour would be complete without a stop to visit the yakitori. The master was pretty lonely in there, so I introduced Jane to him and we chatted for a while. Jane really got a kick out of the place and seemed pretty happy that it is so close by.

Now it’s about midnight and I’m back at home and getting ready for bed. Looking forward to a fun weekend!

Late last night Kuniko came into town on the Sanyo train line, and she spent last night at my apartment. We slept in for a long time – almost until 10 a.m., and then got up to clean up and make breakfast.

Kuniko had been at a dinner the night before, and someone had brought her a tin of Spam for omiyage. She brought it along last night so I made up fried Spam and eggs with toast for breakfast. And it was delicious.

After breakfast we got organized and walked out to Tsuchiyama station in order to go to the movies. It was blazing hot, and I thought we might lose Kuniko on the way over there. We were both a sweaty mess when we arrived at the station, so it was nice to cool down and enjoy the A/C on the way to Okubo.

In Okubo we saw Spiderman 2, since we had some free tickets. I thought it was a fairly good movie – maybe better than the first one in some respects. I’d like to see a little bit less of the love story and a little more action, though.

We went shopping for some groceries after the movie, and took those back to Tsuchiyama with us. At Tsuchiyama we sprang for a cab ride home, which turned out to be a great idea, considering that it was still so hot.

At around 6 o’clock Yasu came over for dinner. For an appetizer we had salami and Camembert cheese on Ritz crackers, and for dinner we cooked up chicken breasts on the BBQ. I used some marinade that Nancy and Lynn had given me, and it had great flavor. We had a good salad along with it – the sesame dressing was awesome!

After Yasu left I walked Kuniko back to the train station at Tsuchiyama. It was good exercise, and since it was so late the heat wasn’t a problem. Now I’m back home getting ready for bed. I’m whupped…

Kuniko and I were up fairly early, and we had a quick breakfast of yogurt and juice before I hit the road. Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch one of the speedy “super express” trains – they weren’t running in the morning. I had to make do with an express, which got me home around 8:15 or so.

I walked home in my shorts and T-shirt, and said hello to some old ladies sitting around enjoying the morning. Ten minutes later I walked back the other way in my work clothes going back to the station, and the ladies all were giggling at my change of uniform.

At work things were slow as usual, but the big news was that Mr. Hayashi and the rest of the Australian crew were back today. When I got there Mr. Hayashi was in the principal’s office being debriefed, and soon after he came by to say hello. We got a chance to get caught up and joke around a little bit. I gave him his omiyage, a bottle of Imagery Malbec and a wine opener from my aunt’s winery. He gave me my omiyage, a box of gravy mix.

I’m not one to get all in a snit because of an omiyage gift, but gravy mix? I told him how much I looked forward to making gravy sometime, and thanked him for the omiyage.

Terano sensei also came back with the group, and she got me a leather kangaroo bookmark… it was cute, and we talked about her trip. She seemed to be a little overwhelmed – I don’t think that she had expected to have to speak as much English as she did. According to Mr. Hayashi she stayed mainly with the students, and didn’t venture out too far without being near someone that spoke Japanese. I could tell Mr. Hayashi was not impressed with her English at all.

Mr. Hayashi said that they will do the same trip next year, and he wants me to go along. He’s getting the same hotel room, and he said that there are two twin beds, so I could bunk with him. I think he just wants someone to hang out with when he goes there – I’m not sure if I’m his man or not. We’ll have to see. If I can get the school to pick up my tab I might go, but there are plenty of other destinations that I haven’t visited yet. I gave him a neutral response.

He also seemed to want to get right back into our old hijinks, and told me right off the bat that if I didn’t want to come in the next few days, he’d cover for me. He has to come because he has two judo tournaments. I took advantage and signed up for Thursday off. Kuniko will be in town on Thursday, and we’re hoping to go see Spiderman 2. Excellent!

Meanwhile, I’d been coordinating with Gabe Crawford, a friend of the family from back in Glen Ellen. He has been living in Japan the past year in Kyoto, and we were finally getting a chance to meet up. He named a time and place in Kyoto that afternoon, so I snuck out of work and went to meet him.

I caught the train back to my apartment, walked by the old ladies again who were still there, changed back into some comfortable shorts and a T-shirt, grabbed my backpack, and then walked for a fourth time by the old ladies in another outfit. This time they said something about my clothes, but I couldn’t quite understand. I told them in Japanese that “I can’t decide what to wear today!” but something was lost in the translation – they were laughing already anyway.

Back on the train, change to the super express, and within an hour I was zooming right past Osaka and arriving in Kyoto. In Kyoto station I got on the subway, and three stops up I met with Gabe on a street corner near a restaurant that he thought we might try.

Gabe looked good – he had a cheerful personality and was easy to get along with. We chatted over lunch at an all-you-can traditional style Japanese restaurant. The food was great – lots of tsukemono (pickles, pickled things) and some smoked fish that was tasty. We spent about half an hour over lunch talking about our adventures, and then headed out towards the river.

Gabe is getting ready to return home to America. It was interesting to hear his thoughts about going back, especially since I had just returned from a visit to the U.S.A. myself.

On one of the bridges over the river in Kyoto we had a passerby take our picture, and then we went our separate ways. It was great to see someone from my little hometown of Glen Ellen all the way in Kyoto, Japan.

After leaving Gabe I walked down the river in the direction he pointed me. I don’t know Kyoto very well and was glad that Gabe helped me out – I’d be lost in the mountains by now without him.

The riverside was pleasant and there were people here and there standing in the water cooling off. I wanted to go down myself, but all the access points seemed to have people around, so I just kept walking.

Along the river I saw a bird waiting by a waterfall for fish to jump out of the water and into his beak. I snapped a few pictures – I’m not on staff at National Geographic but it was fun trying to catch a fish in the air. It’s a good thing I have a digital camera – it would have cost me a fortune in film.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around southern Kyoto. I stopped in and bought sodas when I was thirsty, I strolled into random temples and even a big one that was being repaired. They had built a giant moveable scaffold around it so they could repair it without putting extra weight on it. Interesting…

After doing a little bit of shopping in the stores underneath the station I jumped on board the next train and headed for the third time today to my apartment in Futami. This time I stayed and relaxed. I had a simple sandwich for dinner, and spent the evening relaxing and resting my feet.

There’s a rumor that Kuniko might be in town tonight, so I may be entertaining later on this evening. Either way, hopefully we’ll be able to get together tomorrow and enjoy a day off together. Friday is Obon, a holiday for the dead in Japan. Kuniko will be with her family, as will most people. I get the impression that she’s not looking forward to the forced family time.

Even though Kuniko had the day off, she had to sneak into work for about half an hour to take care of some things, so I had the run of her house for a couple of hours. I spent the time watching TV and trying to understand the spoken Japanese, and also reading some comic books that she had purchased.

The comics are semi-non-fiction based on the life of the author, a Japanese woman, who is married to a foreign man living together in Japan. The author, Oguri Saori, does a pretty good job of illustrating the tough parts of being a mixed couple in Japan, and applies a humorous touch to some tough situations.

When Kuniko came back we were both hungry, so we went to Shin-Osaka station to have some lunch. We sat at a small table in a restaurant, and from the moment we sat down people were staring at us. Kuniko and I were chatting in English, which is what we usually do in public because then people can’t understand us very well and it gives us some modicum of privacy. As we were talking, I looked to my right and a lady was staring at me like I was her long lost brother or something. I held her gaze for a while, but she just kept staring. I said “Hello!” in English, and she blinked, but kept staring. It was weird – even Kuniko thought it was out of the ordinary. Anyway, once the food showed up people stared even more, and so it was with a little relief that we got out of there and got on the train to Amagasaki.

What’s in Amagasaki? Costco! Kuniko had never been, and I thought I’d introduce her to this America shopping phenomenon. We walked the aisles, sampling snacks, admiring things, and buying nothing. By the time we left we both had seen things that we wanted, but we decided to pick them up next time. It was a fun experience though, especially to see it through Kuniko’s eyes.

It was plenty hot by then, so we headed back to Kuniko’s place to cool down with some shaved ice and plan our next move. We ended up deciding to have Oyako donburi, a rice dish with chicken (oya, 親, which means parent) and egg (ko, 子, which means child). We went shopping together for the groceries, and then went to rent a movie. We were looking to rent Spiderman, since we are probably going to go see Spiderman 2 soon. Unfortunately, they didn’t have it, so we settled on Kuniko’s favorite movie, Chocolat.

Kuniko cooked up a great meal and we sat down to watch the movie. I had never seen it before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Kuniko even had some chocolate laying around to eat while we watched – perfect. Even though I had school the next day I decided to stay another night in Osaka, since I don’t really have to be at work until late in the morning.