Where's my free time at?

So.

I haven't posted in awhile. The guilt has finally coincided with a break in the action, so I can give you the play-by-play of what I've been up to. Warning: This past week has been a "settling in" kind of week- no real cool touristy stuff to report. Sorry. That'll be this Thursday- it's Emperor Meiji's Birthday, and as such another day off of school- when I go to Nara. Nara is famous for two things: Temples (REALLY COOL OLD ONES) and Deer. Yeah, deer- evidently, since they're the sacred shrine animal for the Nara temple, these deer are holy- and as friendly as a Mormon missionary in Japan. They just won't leave you alone.

But enough about what I haven't done. This past week was the greeting party for the new Superintendent (a whole lot more fun than it sounds), my last week at Hayama Jr. High, and the Halloween Party with the JET crew. I went as a devil. Should someone who took pictures of this thing post them online, I'll link them here- I, like an idiot, didn't take any. Suffice to say it was a lot of fun- and if you think you get stared at, if you think you're an oddity in your hometown, if you ever feel like you're being unfairly singled out...

Imagine what it must be like to be six and a half feet tall, riding a train in rural Japan with a bunch of salarymen, with a pair of horns sprouting from your forehead. Old men stared, women fled, and as I was getting off the train a brave young soul asked me for a picture. Once one guy did it, the floodgates opened- and I spent LITERALLY half an hour getting from the platform from the ticket gate- a fifty-yard walk- stopping every two steps for "picture time."

Speaking of trains, everyone at the party missed the last one out and we killed the last few hours hanging out in a 24-hour Donburi (various grilled meats served over rice) shop and at the local 7-11. Oh, thank heaven.

The next day, I went to Ryukoku University's big annual festival. It was awesome, and free- and entirely without photos. Curses. So here's the lowdown- it's a lot like every other college festival in the world. Food booths, six stages, live bands, performances, the works. The only real discernible differences are the language, the proclivity towards synchronized dances, and the fact that almost EVERY FOOD was served on a stick. Hot dog? Why yes. Egg? Sure! How about some salad? Oh yeah. On a stick. It warms the heart.

After that, off to Japanese class- we reviewed some more grammar from way back in the old days, and some vocab that I really, really ought to know- but don't. So it was productive.

The next day, I went to a barbecue on a mountaintop. This was absolutely awesome- first, a nature hike in Ritto's Nature Center (this whole thing was with my Japanese class:



of which only two Westerners came- so it was a crew of Japanese folks, myself, and Jake, the big guy mugging for a picture in the foreground) , and a game in which we had to find objects that embodied certain Japanese onomatopoeic expressions. Now, you go ahead and find something in the woods that won't bite you that also happens to embody the expression "fuwa-fuwa" (fluffy), and you're a better man than I. We found moss, and a big pile of leaves, but sticks and dirt don't scream fluff to me.

After the nature hike, we all piled on a bus and rode it to the top of a mountain. The roads here are NUTS- they're like a video game, I swear. The road cuts back and forth up the face of the mountain, with ridiculous switchback turns that pitch the bus to one side- we can hear and feel the bottom of the bus scrape around some of them. Add to this the fact that the bus driver is taking these turns with an enthusiasm that borders on manic glee, and that the fall from the side of said road is sufficient to turn the whole bus into a coffin built for thirty, and you'll begin to understand what the ride was like. This is the view from the top:

So up here, there's a restaurant at the top of the mountain. We ate outside, and every table had it's own grill in the center. We were also given one giant plate of raw meat and a giant plate of raw vegetables, and everyone got a bowl of sauce for dipping. All serving, eating, and cooking was done with chopsticks. It was actually a really fun meal to eat- very much a group effort ensuring that everyone ate enough, everyone at the table got what they wanted, and nothing burned to a crisp on the grill. Yay for teamwork.

Sated, we hung out on the mountaintop for awhile- someone brought a soccer ball (I don't know where it came from- I didn't see it on the bus!), so we kicked that around. A dangerous proposition at this height, but nobody seemed too worried.

We finished the evening (and consequently the weekend) in a cafe just next to the station. It was utterly unremarkable in every way SAVE FOR THE FACT that this cafe had a Kennedy Library- at least, a room with the words Kennedy Library emblazoned on the transom over the door. A peek inside revealed the room to be a shrine to JFK- old newspaper clippings, campaign posters, a bust... thoroughly creeped out, we decided it might be best to just not talk about that too much.

So now, Monday, I'm at a new school- the last of the three middle schools I work at. I've finally met all of my bosses. The new principal speaks English like a champ- he was an English teacher before he got the job. The kids are all going through what I've come to recognize as Gaijin Shock- the first week or so after I get to a new school, there's a lot of staring and running away. The second week, it's loud and energetic "HELLO" time- and by the third week, they're no longer so surprised to see me, and we can get some learnin' done.

So- in the week to come, I'll snag some pictures of Ritto Nishi (my new Jr. High school), and the ride to work, as it is the absoute polar opposite of my last school. Last one was in a rice field surrounded by mountains. This school's in the center of the factory district. I ride to school through no fewer than three loading docks (on recommendation from my coordinator, to avoid the highway- evidently, forklifts are less dangerous than Mack trucks) and past the bug dealership I showed you awhile back. It's pretty industrial-tastic.

Also, Nara should be awesome, so I'll make sure to document the heck out of that. I'm going to go get some dinner and prep for lessons tomorrow- laters.

pax.