This final Saturday in August, I FINALLY made it out to the fruit and flower park!!! I've been wanting to go since I found out about it in December. And I didn't even have to go alone--a friend came together with me!
So, basically, at this place, the main purpose to go there is to go fruit picking and eat ridiculous amounts of fruit. As much as possible without getting sick, is what I would say is a good measure.
When I had been looking into the kinds of fruits that we could pick, the options for August were supposed to be grapes, peaches or (Asian) pears. I think we were originally talking about peaches, but when we got there, we found out that was finished already. Oh! And you can do apples in September!! We decided we want to go do that next month! Mmmmm.....apples....
In order to get out there, we took a bus from Sannomiya (there is a bus that goes directly there, but it only runs on weekends and holiday days). It was really convenient (especially because we could use our IC cards) and it only cost 610¥ and it took about 35 minutes to get there! (Which is much cheaper and faster than the other non-direct bus or train options).
It was kind of funny though, because when the bus arrived there and we started to get off the bus, the driver seemed rather surprised and wanted to check to make sure we were getting off at the right place. Not really sure why...maybe foreigners don't go out there often? We didn't really see any when we were there.
Anyway, when we arrived there, there weren't so many people, and we took a leisurely walk around the grounds to explore and check out what there was, and what we could possibly do after. Turns out there was a nice cafe, a big bbq area, some open spaces that would be good for events or picnics, a kind of amusement park, some small, shallow pools with these giant inflated jumping/slide things, and even a hotel. Interesting. Then we headed out to the fruit picking area, and on the way there, they also have mini-golf and go-karts.
Pretty flowers!
View from the parking entrance
Yes, we are still in Japan (if you saw it out of context, you'd never guess that though!)
When we got to the fruit area (did I mention we decided to go with pears?), we paid our 1000¥ to get in and go do our picking and all we could eat (食べ放題)!
Yum! Yes please!
They gave us a couple plastic knives and plastic bags to put our waste in, and we collected a bucket for water for washing.
Japanese Engish kills me sometimes..."a bucket of ME"....what does that even mean??!
Then we went in and found a nice spot with lots of pears to pick, and sat down and started our feast.
Let's EAT!!
I want to eat you!! *evil laughter*
They were delicious! But, just so you know, we weren't total gluttons--there were still pears left on the trees when we left. Hehehe.
See?! Still on the tree!
But seriously though, we spent a lot of time talking. And taking pictures. And watching the dragonflies. It was a pretty good morning!! (Although we did get really full, and our stomachs hurt a bit afterwards...but it was worth it!)
You could also take some fruit out with you, but you have to pay extra for that, and as it was more expensive than buying them normally, we decided against that option.
The pear grove
Looks good, right?!
There were actually a few blossoms still. Strange.
After that, we took a bit more of a walk and then eventually ended up at a cafe for lunch (we were surprisingly a little hungry). More talking!
The grapes....
Nice view
Then we wanted to go eat gelato, although before that, we got distracted by these animal things that you could ride. My friend went for a ride on a dragon. It was funny to watch and she tried to chase me down, but it was too slow. Hehehe.
"Take my picture!!!!"
"It's fun...really!"
And that was pretty much our day at the park! Next time: apples!!!
:::UNRELATED:::
And really quickly--Other things of interest that have happened in the past week since Obon:
This week I had a volunteer grade 7 student in my classroom, and he was really interesting to watch because he was so awkward with the kids, although he did get better as time went on. The first day I asked him if he was scared of the kids, and he answered 'yes' straight up. I swear, they really aren't that bad!! During the pool days, we told our kids that they couldn't splash us, but our volunteer was fair game. He got soaked. ;) And there were some epic water battles between him and the 4 year olds. Really fun to watch. By the end of the week all of the 4 year old girls were in love with him and were constantly hanging off him, touching and doing their very best to get as much of his attention as they could. It was kind of surprising, but also funny to watch because he had no idea what to do with them.
Wednesday night after my class, ヨシダさん had another live at Pinot, and so I went. This time though I had a book or two and my notebook with me, so he made some comment about how I really looked like a teacher that night (it was my student version though....). Yet again, a fun night. This time I ended up talking with another girl who had come in in her own. She was nice enough, and said next time, we should talk again.
And finally, Saturday evening, Colors to Cooks had a street live in Sannomiya, and so I went and listened for a while. Good fun! And the weather was much cooler and endurable than it has been.
Oh no! August is already almost over! Time is going by far too quickly!!
This year's Obon holiday was nice and long for me!!
The first day was actually on a Thursday. (Although we had to work the next day before our longer holiday began...but who will complain about a random day off in the middle of the week? Not me!)
On that Thursday, I went with a friend into Osaka because she wanted someone to accompany her on her shopping trip, and I happened to be the one who was elected. After getting there, we went out for lunch to a pancake restaurant and ate wonderfully delicious apple cinnamon pancakes! After gaining that energy, we went off on her actual mission--book shopping. We ended up in a couple different book stores before she was able to find one she wanted. The last one we went in was really big and had a nice atmosphere. Before heading home, we stopped and listened to a little bit of a street live. This street live was a joint live by a couple of musicians I hadn't listened to in a rather long time (Tyotti and 馬道まさたか). Anyway, while 馬道さん was playing, the Tyotti came and handed out flyers. And shockingly came and gave some to us (I say shockingly because very often they're really shy about coming up to foreigners and giving us flyers). When he did that, I talked with him for a little bit and mentioned that it wasn't my first time to hear him sing. At first he was surprised (because we didn't talk before), but when I mentioned that I had seen him a while back at one of ヨシダさん's lives, he remembered and then we ended up talking a little bit more, and he had the typical Japanese reaction about commenting on how good my Japanese was.
Friday was work, but it was a relaxed kind of day.
Then, the real holiday began on Saturday. However, I'm going to tell you right now, that it was relaxing for me, but maybe boring for you to read. Most of it was spent at the beach because the weather was beautiful---not really any rain, and it was so hot! (Actually that's probably part of why I didn't do any traveling--too hot to move, well that and I had been really exhausted from work and all of the other things that have been going on in my life).
That first day, I ended up talking with a lot of different people. One was kind of interesting. Apparently this person had studied English for a while and (unrelated) had lived in Italy for about 5 years. Anyway, where that conversation ended up going was about foreigner's feelings in regards to speaking their native language or the local language while living abroad, and how it feels kind of sad when you can't talk in the local language with people because they want to (or think you can only) talk in your native language. And did I mention this entire conversation was in Japanese? It was really interesting!! And very different from the typical beach conversation.
That afternoon, ヨシダヒロキ uploaded a teaser video of his new album that is coming out in September. It's a only quick preview of the songs that will be on his new album, but it sounds really good!! I'm really looking forward to hearing it!
If you want to listen, and the video isn't working on my blog, click here.
Saturday night, I went into Osaka to listen to a street live by Colors to Cooks (who I may have mentioned in a previous blog post). Their music is quite nice, and recently, I've really been enjoying it! In the middle of this live though, there were a couple of German guys who sat down next to me, and they were so noisy! Talking too much. So with that in combination with the cockroach I saw, I found myself a new place to sit and listen. Then it was much better. When they were finished, and I was ready to leave, I started walking towards my station, but they kind of cut me off and thanked me for coming and then talked with me for quite a while, even though they had been talking with other people before that. I found out lots of interesting things, including that they are so young! Only 22! Anyway, I was happy to have that conversation.
Colors to Cooks
If you're feeling curious about what their music sounds like, I found a video of one of their songs....
Sunday, I went to the beach again. Nothing too exciting to talk about for that day, although I did see a person doing this jet thing. Ironman wannabe? It looked kind of fun, although he seemed to be losing balance and crashing into the water a lot. That would probably be me if I tried something like that...
The next day, nothing overly exciting happened, and I didn't really go anywhere, just took some time to myself. And did some of my Japanese homework. And I suppose I also did something else by writing this interesting story...
Such an awesome story, right?! ^_~
Tuesday, I went to, (you'll never guess!) the beach! Yet again. What can I say? It's a compulsion. And it was hot. Really hot. I didn't really want to move. Therefore, the beach. It was another very relaxing day.
Random waves...(for someone who likes them...)
Well, it was a relaxing day. Up until I got home. You see, what happened was, when I got home, I really wanted to take a shower. After a long, hot day at the beach, it's understandable, right? But....the problem was...I had no water! So for a couple minutes I just wandered around my apartment being stunned, wondering what I should do. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was to phone the water company, but it was too late, they would have already been finished for the day, not to mention it was a holiday. Next thought was to check with the neighbors to see if their water was out too or not. But that idea was rejected very quickly. So, my next idea was to wonder about who I could call or message to get some suggestions about what I should do. Mind you, that happened in conjuction with another thought exploring the possibility of going to pick up some big water bottles from the convenience store to sustain me until calling the water company in the morning. But I really didn't want to do that unless I absolutely had to. I went with the messaging option. And, I did get a reply! Yay! But...it was from 山口さん, and so everything was in Japanese. Of course, his first question was about if it was just one thing of water or everything, and he wanted to check to make sure that I had indeed paid my water bill. Well, I may be kind of silly sometimes, but not quite that silly! Of course I paid it! So, we ended up having a kind of long conversation (that was kind of difficult for me, because he used a lot of kanji that I don't know -- I remember thinking at one point, "am I Japanese?!"). Eventually we figured out that the water valve had been turned off, and from there it was a simple matter of me turning it back on by myself. With the help of some pictures back and forth, that was easily done, and the problem was solved! Miraculously, my water returned!! I was so happy! Oh, and at the end of that conversation he let me know that ヨシダさん was going to be at his bar in a couple of days to do a live! I was surprised, because I knew he was doing one there the next week, but I guess that one had just suddenly been decided. So, I also got to be thankful for that information as well!
Wednesday, I had to do some running around, and some figuring out, and that took up a lot of my day, and in the evening, I had my Japanese class.
Thursday, I decided to go to a different beach, which I had heard nothing but good about from a few different people. It was slightly further away than the beach I usually go to, but it turned out to definitely be worth it! It was a little smaller than the other beach I had gone to, but had much nicer water and sand, and it seemed friendlier. Not to mention, the people there were younger, and there was less partying. More family style. Much better for me. That day, a few people came and talked with me, and they were all really nice! I was happy!
Asagiri Beach
Also that afternoon, ヨシダさん released a music video of a song (この町で) off of his new album! I was excited to hear/watch it! It sounds wonderful, and he arranged it with piano, which kind of made me want to play my piano too.... In the video, at some points he looks really embarrassed, but it also looks like he had a lot of fun with it!
That night, I went to Pinot to listen to ヨシダヒロキ, and of course say thank you one more time to 山口さん. When he heard about how 山口さん helped me, ヨシダさん made fun of me. Not very nice! :P Actually though, it was a really fun night! And!!! Guess what, guess what, guess what!?!?!? That night, ヨシダさん gave 山口さん his iPad for a little bit, and so 山口さん played ヨシダさん's ENTIRE new album through his sound system while ヨシダさん was taking a rest from singing!!! Wow!!! It really sounds great!! Even though it was a little bit difficult to hear because of the low volume and people talking there...I was so lucky to be there to hear it that night!!!
Friday, I went out to my new beach again, although this time I found a spot on an end, rather than in the middle, and it was much quieter, although people still came and talked with me. It wasn't really hugely exciting, and I ended up being a little bit annoyed because somehow my Kobo's screen had frozen (probably the day before), and it was that way when I got to the beach, and as a result of that the battery was killed. So all I could do was enjoy my music, talk with people and enjoy the scenery. Not that there's anything wrong with that mind you, I just wanted to be able to read a book too.
At the end of that afternoon, ヨシダさん uploaded another music video from his new album!! This one was for the song ゆらゆら! Exciting!! Oh, and did I mention before, these songs aren't actually new to me, as he has been playing them at his lives for some time now, but the arrangements are new, and it sounds a little bit different with his studio voice instead of his live voice (if you know what I mean...)
On Saturday, I went to the beach again, but on my way to the station, I did a 'good deed'! While I was walking there, I saw someone who was walking in the opposite direction drop their keys on the ground, but they didn't realize, so when they got close enough that they could hear me, I pointed it out to them. They were happy that I had noticed. Also, Saturday night, when I was taking a walk, I almost ran into another boar! This one was hanging out in a park near a river.
More random waves from a different beach...
Sunday was unfortunately the final day of my holiday, and the weather was yet again, hot and sunny, so of course, I headed out to the beach one last time. It was particularly nice this day! Random conversations, as usual, happened. At one point a young boy (maybe junior high age) came up to me and asked (in English) if I could speak any Japanese, so I told him I could (in Japanese), and he asked me a couple more questions before tearing off super excitedly back to his friends to let them know what he found out.
The water was a very nice shade of blue this day!
And that, concludes my post about this year's Obon holiday. Maybe not so exciting, but it was definitely enjoyable for me, and gave me a much needed chance to recharge my batteries!
If all goes as planned, there will be another post coming up in short order about another adventure I'm planning to do very soon! Look forward to it~~!
Many things happened this weekend, and I had lots of fun and some good experiences!
It started on Friday...
So, I knew that there was going to be a live on Friday night, and I had asked a friend to join me, but she said no because she wanted to spend money on other things that weekend. Fair enough, although it was the type of live where you only pay for your drink (and a tip later if you choose), no set entrance fee. But anyway, all of Friday I couldn't decide if I should go or not. Of course, I wanted to go, but I was waffling about it. Not entirely sure why though...maybe because it as in a new place for me?
Anyway, at the end of the day, I was talking with one of the Japanese teachers about weekend plans, and I happened to mention that I couldn't decide if I was going to this live or not, and I said I probably wasn't going to go after all. But, right after that she said to me, "If it's okay with you, can I join you in going to the live?" I was very surprised, as it was kind of out of the blue, but still, it made me really happy! Then later, when I got home, she texted me and asked if was ok if she asked another teacher (my teaching partner) to come as well. So of course, I said of course!
Oh! As a random interjection--on Friday night, there was all kinds of crazy lightning! It's the first time I've seen lightning since I've started living in Japan!! And there was some insanely strong rain that happened while I was on the train, but luckily it had mostly stopped by the time I got off the train.
Back to my story-- so I met them at the train station closest to where we had to go (they ended up getting there a train or so after me) and we headed out. Turned out to only be a 3 or 4 minute walk. It was still raining a little, so they shared umbrellas with me! So kind! Once we got there and walked in -- there was the normal mutterings that happen the first time I go to a new place from the bartenders -- basically asking ヨシダさん if I'm his girlfriend. I don't know why they always jump to that conclusion and think I can't hear them, but no. My accompaniment ordered themselves some food in addition to their drinks (and later forced me to try some of it). Then we listened to music, talked and laughed a lot. It was a really good night, and so much more fun than either staying at home or going on my own! Somewhere in the course of the night, one of them wanted to take a picture with me (see below) and they really seemed to enjoy the music (possibly because it was a cover night so they already knew many of the songs).
Oh! And I found out something about my partner! Apparently she really likes my voice and from what I understand, I'm the only one who didn't know that. When I asked her why she liked it, she said she likes high tone voices and is always listening to people's voices. (I don't think my voice is high though) Then she said that she has a voice fetish. My reaction was just, "oh..." Awkward!! Did she have to say it like that?? It was funny though. And then, the other teacher told me I should go to karaoke with my partner because it would make her very happy. Ah...karaoke...hahaha....
When he was finished singing for the night, the two of them headed out and I stayed for a bit to talk with ヨシダさん, as I hadn't really talked with him at all (and I needed to make fun of him about something). He told me he was glad that I had brought friends and was happy for me that I have Japanese friends out here.
Saturday, I headed out to the beach for a while, and although I had things I should do, I spent the time getting some well-needed relaxation time. Later in the afternoon, I headed back to get changed for the evening's event. I was meeting up with some friends to go to a big fireworks event down at Harborland.
We met up an hour before they started so we'd have enough time to find somewhere to sit and get food and things like that. Well that was the plan. Unfortunately, we had to wait about 45 minutes for one person. So, as a result when we got there, the fireworks were starting already, and they wanted to stop for food, and took forever to find somewhere to watch, and even then, kept getting up to look for new spots because we couldn't see well. I was kind of annoyed. Eventually, they settled on a spot, but we could only see the edge of the fireworks. And I didn't mention, there was a group of maybe 12-14 of us--about a 50-50 mix of foreigners and Japanese people.
Then, when there was only about 15 minutes left to the fireworks, they decided they wanted to move AGAIN. At this point, I dare say you can imagine how I felt. Since I wasn't so keen about it, I ended up at the back of the group. Then, as I stopped to look at the fireworks for a second while we walked, next thing I know, everyone, except for one of the Japanese boys, was gone!! So the two of us found our own nice spot and watched the finale while sending messages to the others asking where they ended up. The finale was pretty awesome...lots of big and very vividly colourful fireworks. And we could see them really well. I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures of the finale though. I was too frustrated. When it ended, Hikaru and I waited out the masses of people leaving the area, and waited for replies to out messages...which eventually did come. While we waited we talked. Well...tried anyway. It seems however that neither of us was particularly skilled at talking with new people though. It went something like this: question, answer, reply to answer, looooong silence, and repeat. Oh my....hahaha....
Once we met up again with the others, there was of course some requisite teasing, and then we headed out to a convenience store to pick up some ice cream and drinks before we headed back to an area where we could sit and chat.
Our girls are feeling hot! (Both ways!)
Then we sat and talked for a couple hours or so. (May have been interrupted temporarily by a cockroach though -_^)
One of the girls asked me to take this photo of the boat coming in because her battery was dead...
Throughout this whole time, I talked with the other people I know (the foreigners) and a some with the new-to-me Japanese people. But the entire time, Hikaru basically stuck with me, and didn't really talk with anyone else. Kind of puppyish--but I also understand really well, because he didn't really know anyone else--and that's probably what I do (or used to)...stick with the people I know I can talk to. Interesting for me though--I was thinking to myself, "is that what I look like in these situations?" It was all good though. What started out as an extremely frustrating night turned out to be rather fun! We all ended up walking back to the station together and dispersed from there to our various trains.
Sunday, I got up early again (apparently, I just don't sleep much at all anymore). Everyday, burning both ends of the candle. Anyway, I went out and picked up my fruits and veggies (and got some pretty awesome prices) before heading out to the beach again. It was hot. It was so hot...what else can you really do other than the beach?
Feels like 41?!
This time however, I got down to business at the beach and got a good amount of my homework done. I was really sad and kind of grumpy though, because I forgot my fruit in the fridge at home. While I was there, a friend messaged me to come to another beach for lunch, but I had to say no, because I was already at a beach, and if I went there, there's no way I could've done my homework. This particular day, there was a group of guys sitting somewhat behind me on the beach, and they were kind of amusing. At one point one of them came and talked for a little, was quite nice, and expressed his concern that as it was quite hot, I should make sure to drink lots of water. Not to worry--I had nearly 2L with me. (Didn't forget that at home!)
Then, Monday morning at work, so many people commented about how tanned I was -- although they were all looking at my legs when they said it. I guess that's what I get for not wearing full length jeans for once. Because they didn't really get that much darker this weekend than they had been last week. And this evening, as I'm writing out this blog post, I'm sitting in Osaka, enjoying the nice cooling breeze and listening to a street live from オカダユータ.
Good times these past few days!! I hope it keeps up! ^_^
Right, since I've been rather remiss recently in making blog posts, here goes....
The last time I posted, I talked about going to Awaji, and when we actually went there with the kids it was an interesting trip. I got to know some of the older kids a little better on the bus ride, and when we went into the rice field to do the planting, for me, not much happened because I was busy with my one student who didn't want to go in and was screaming and latched onto me with an iron grip. Eventually I just set her down in the water, but she couldn't do anything, although I made her walk through the mud by herself on the way back. Mean teacher, I know. Anyway, I wish I could show pictures, but we're not allowed to take any or even have our phones, so it's unfortunately impossible.
I also started taking a Japanese class (privately) once every week, in mid-June, and although I wasn't really happy with it after the first class, I talked with my teacher about what I wanted, and since that first time, it has been much better. I get homework every week, and I'm doing a lot of writing because every week I have to write about things that happen to me daily. My teacher is quite impressed with my ability and keeps talking about how good of a student I am. Sure, sure.
I finally tried out a pancake restaurant that I've been wanting to go to for a very long time! I went together with my friend, and her friend. That day was pouring rain, but the food was delicious, and the atmosphere very nice. And there were smoothies!!! Mmmm...smoothies...
Let's see, what else? Well, I've been to more street lives. Of course. Do I even need to mention that? (I found another band I like) ^_- And of course, I've been to the beach (even with some other people one time too!) How unusual.
At the end of June I completely lost my voice for a couple days, which made for some interesting work days. My students and teaching partner started whispering just like me, even though that was completely unnecessary. It was kind of amusing though. During the time when I lost my voice, I went to this place I know to get a kind of honey lemon drink, and it was amazing!!! The next day I had my voice back! At that time, I also found out that I'm considered to be a 'special guest' at that place, and so I haven't been getting charged a cover charge. First time I heard about it--but if it means I can save money, I'm good with that.
At the Pinot live in June, it was kind of unfortunate for ヨシダさん because for most of the night I was the only customer there. No one else came in until almost midnight (when it finishes). But it was nice for me, because I got a chance to talk with them a lot. Although it was kind of not cool because he stopped playing for more than an hour right after I came in. And at one point he just started practicing a song he was working on, over and over...which was interesting, but not exactly what I came for. But at that time, 山口さん came out from behind the bar and sat next to me, and basically told ヨシダさん to keep practicing, and he would talk with me instead. Good times. And closer to the end of the night, 山口さん made ヨシダさん play for my sake. Yay!! At the very end, ヨシダさん told me that for this time, money wasn't necessary, since he didn't really sing much, but had me promise to come to his special live in Shukugawa in July, and to try to ask some friends if they would join me. Fair enough deal.
Let's see...the beginning of July... On the way to get my haircut, something unfortunate happened to me. A pigeon pooped on my head. Disgusting. I wanted to cry. Lol. But, instead I got out a tissue, wiped it as best as I could, and tried to think positively--could've been worse--at least I was on my way to somewhere where they would be washing my hair anyway, and it didn't get on my clothes, so if it had to happen, it was good timing and happened in a good location.
Oh, and I can't forget!! July 4th marked my 2nd year anniversary of living in Japan! Important day!
Also in July, ヨシダさんhad a live in Shukugawa, and it was a special live! He did it together with another musician, 山本義則, who I have seen before as well (he typically plays the piano and sings). Anyway, it was interesting because it was a 'cinema' live. So basically, they set it up like a movie theatre (even had popcorn) and had taken/used various video projected behind them that augmented their songs. It was really cool! Unfortunately for me, I hadn't been feeling that great, as I had been having a rather high fever all weekend--but I promised I would go, so...Actually, at the end of the live, ヨシダさん basically asked me if I was ok because it didn't look like it (and this was before I even said hello), so when he found out I wasn't feeling so great, he basically told me to hurry up and go home and get some rest, and get better. Hmph. But apparently he knows me well enough now to be able to tell that I'm not okay just by looking at me. Hmmm.... Anyway, it was definitely worth it!! And everyone, including them really enjoyed it, so much so that they decided that evening to do one more in December!! I'm excited about it!
The weekend following that, I felt much better, and took about a 2.5/3 hour walk one evening. I found this tiny lantern festival in the Rokko area, and then spent the rest of the evening walking around Kobe taking pictures of various lights.
The next evening, I wanted to see puppies, but by the time I got to the store, they were sleeping and covered by a curtain. Disappointing. But, I did end up seeing an interesting event with this guy juggling fire-lit batons, and things with LED lights as well. It was pretty cool.
One night when I was coming back from a street live in Osaka, I went all the way to Sannomiya because I wanted a bit of a walk to get home. At that time, I came across a band I've recently heard, but haven't talked to. They're called Colors to Cooks. So, that evening the vocalist came and talked with me for a while, and he was super nice. As I was leaving, he was talking with someone else, but he stopped to chat a little more with me before I left--like I said, super nice. The bassist, seemed kind of shy and didn't say much other than bye, but I definitely want to go to their street lives again!! I really like their music.
On the 22nd, I went to Pinot, as ヨシダさん was doing his monthly live there. That night was really interesting. When I got there, there was another girl there, and she was talking with me for a while, although she left before the evening was finished. And apparently when she left, she left some extra money to pay for drinks for me! Why?! I was so surprised---why didn't she say anything? Very nice of her though. I also got to talk with ヨシダさん too--we talked about sports, especially winter sports, and I had to explain some hockey rules (which I did do correctly -- confirmed by my dad). Not really my strong topic of conversation, but it was still interesting, and good practice for me.
Speaking of practice, I also joined my friend in going to this conversation group, and it was an evening of talking in Japanese with some university students. I also met a Korean guy, and when he found out I knew some Korean, Korean came out too. He was pretty stoked when he found out I knew where his hometown was, because apparently most foreigners have never even heard of it. It was an interesting and fun evening...and as it was my first time I didn't even have to pay the small fee either! Score!
As far as work goes, this month we have been having PTCs and I have had to prepare progress reports and huge portfolios for each of my students. It was a very time consuming process, and I was very happy when I finished. Also this month, we have started summer school, so all the students who come got mixed into different classes and students from outside join as well. So my class is a mix of 3 and 4 year olds. Makes life very interesting. One day, one of them asked me if I was 100 years old. Thank you so very much. I hope I look like this when I'm 100! The next day the same student asked if I'm a grandma. No sense of age whatsoever.
And to finish the month, on the 29th, I met up with my friend and some coworkers (from our campus and another) and we went to a Mexican restaurant in Okamoto. It was a fun evening! When we left the restaurant most of us went back to Sannomiya and got ice-cream and took a walk (so they could catch Pokemon).
Then on the 31st, I headed into Osaka for the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately, it started raining quite heavily about half an hour after I got there, but it cleared up after a while, so I was able to do a bit of what I wanted. There was some kind of big festival going on outside of Osaka Station. Watched for a bit.
And, point of interest--while I was walking around, I came across a street live (I know, I know...but wait for it...). This street live was by Usagi--and their vocalist, 上田和寛, is actually the very first street musician that I ever met, way back in my first trip to Japan, 5 years ago. So, kind of nostalgic. That band is basically pro now, so it's difficult to see their lives, and there were indeed a lot of people crowded around, and it was difficult to hear, so I didn't stay long, but wow--hard to believe it's already been that long since that first adventure of mine!
And that's pretty much the gist of what's been up with me recently!
Today, myself and a group of 3 other teachers went to Awaji to check out the location that we will be planting rice later on the month. From Kobe, it took us about an hour to get there. The location is actually on the way to Takamatsu, so I have seen it from the bus many times before, but today I actually got to see more of it!
We left in the morning, so we had some time to spare before we had to meet up with a staff member from the location. The first place we stopped at was あわじ花さじき, which is a famous place for flowers. Although, right now is kind of an off or transitionary season, do there weren't so many flowers, but there were some snap dragons and verbena, which were pretty! We stopped there for a while to enjoy the flowers and take pictures.
View at あわじ花さじき
Together with Anna and Miki
Not lavender! -- Verbena!
Butterfly!
Catepillars in the pansies
Can you see the 2016 (with monkey) and the dinosaur?
After that, we stopped and got local ice cream. I had いちごモナカ, which was strawberry ice cream between two shell shaped pieces of cone. Dessert first!
Ice cream, ice cream, let's eat ice cream!
Then we went to get lunch...we went to a place with local food (even the rice we had was Awaji rice! The meal I had was the only cooked option--焼穴子 or fresh water eel. And everyone's meal came with miso soup. It was so yummy!! Although we had to wait about 45 minutes after ordering to get our food because they were so busy. One of the other teachers also bought us some of the giant tempura onions to share. Awaji is also famous for its onions. Which are GIANT by the way.
*Photo by Aiko
Busy, busy restaurant
Lunchtime -- Awaji specialty foods
I'm telling you - they're HUGE!
Aiko, the GIANT onion and me
Lunchtime view
After lunch, we made our way to the venue and checked it out, asked questions and thought about how the trip will go with our students. Should be fun for them, but will be SO muddy! I'm sure there will be more on that later!
