ketch-up

recently i feel like my life has been a whirlwind punctuated with amazing highs [ie. trip to korea] and depressing lows [ie. struggling with my thumb injuries]. every now and then the winds die down and i can stick my head out of the kinetic riot of obligations and attractions to observe and relax.
recently in joetsu...
5/13/05 weekend
friday night the girls had a potluck with way too much food and way too many drinks.
on saturday we met up with a bunch of people at takada park. they played a game of ultimate frisbee, which handicap girls cannot participate in unfortunately. lucky for me, we found a great English-language bookstore in korea so i was armed with ‘memoirs of a geisha’, which is captivating. i soaked up the book and the sun for a while. later that evening we met at carrie’s and carpooled to a festival in myoko kogen. there were tons of food stalls and a stage with music acts.

the main event was the burning of a huge kanji character into one of the mountainsides. from what i gathered, it was the Japanese letter for ‘grass’. the burning kanji was followed by beautiful fireworks, which reminded us how romantic firework shows are and how boyfriendless we are.

afterwards we headed back downtown to a tiny bar carrie had recently discovered with a few of her teachers. they have 250 yen draft beer which is unheard of around here. a low-end draft will usually set you back 500 yen, about $5, at least.

on sunday we headed to kubiki, a nearby town, to plant some rice.

this is kazu, he studied agriculture in California so his English is great [along with his Spanish, as he worked with many migrant workers.]

he let us destroy his rice paddy…planting straight rows was terribly difficult, i was embarrassed at my zig-zagging lines… the day was cold, the water was freezing.

there were all sorts of creatures swimming around and i ended up with a leech on my leg. i nearly freaked out. the floor of the paddy is thick mud which made it tough to sprint out of the water when i realized my blood was being sucked. carrie and i. i had to bag my left hand as i still couldn't get it wet. pain in the...

kazu also let us take over his home for a bbq and party afterwards. he and chuck cookin' up yaki soba.

kazu is really progressive, outgoing and interesting. if he weren’t married… turns out he and his wife are friends with a young, cute p.e. teacher from one of my high schools so i got the chance to chat with him at the party too. a nice change from the uptight and formal setting at school. he's standing on the right of the table with his wife.


5/20/05 weekend
on saturday mel, carrie, liz and i drove to kashiwazaki for a huge party. it’s about an hour and a half drive along the coast to the spot where we met up with about 30 friends, mostly other foreign English teachers from around the prefecture, but also some Japanese friends. we drank, played badminton, drank, grilled out, drank.


as the night dawned we walked across the road to a rockin’ 2-story, open air bar with tons of hammocks and pillowed sitting areas called nagisa.

they had 2 djs so we danced until the sun came up, literally. we camped on the beach and woke the next day to a beautiful view.
sunday night liz and i treated ourselves to a nice Italian dinner, some red wine and a little karaoke.

5/24/05
had a great night out with uchiyama sensei, my best teacher-friend, and kodama sensei, my new supervisor. we dined at a recently-opened izakaya, Japanese-style rowdy restaurant, down the street from my place. the conversation was enlightening as we discussed everything from our personal lives to cultural quirks and, unusually, we had quite a population cross-section; older and younger, Japanese and American, male and female.

5/27/05 weekend
friday was a rowdy night out to say goodbye to our friend neil who’s heading back to England. it was a good excuse to drink ourselves silly, the usual result of the all-you-can-drink-in-2-hours arrangement so many restaurants have. we also karaoked like crazy.
saturday melanie, liz and i went to a baseball game at takada park. it was a minor league match-up between the yomiuri giants and the yakult swallows.

interestingly, in this Japanese league the teams are named for sponsors and not for the city where they are based. yomiuri is a newspaper and yakult is a popular milk-like drink.
saturday night lizzy and i tried a new yaki niku spot, delicious but expensive. then the girls made the rounds to all the usual spots on the strip including the one dance club.

sunday we attempted to hone our dancing skills at a hip-hop dance class held at a catholic church in town. it was refreshing to learn some new moves and what a great workout. my hand was a bit of an impairment which was frustrating. the weather now is nice enough that i’ve been relying on my bike for transport most days. i’ve got a big enough basket i can use it to grocery shop and travel to and from school also. it recently occurred to me how back in America if you ride a bike or walk everywhere it is considered abnormal. passersby in cars probably assume you are poor, can’t afford a vehicle, wonder why you don’t catch the bus. in so many other countries, going without a car is a sign of environmental awareness and good health. i definitely feel healthier when i’m riding my bike everyday.