Last Day at Seto

This is Satsuki my lovely team-teaching buddy at Seto High School in our last class together this week. Sayonara Seto!!!

Rainy Season

Sweet lord it is lashing down today!!! Despite being an incredibly HOT 32 degrees this week, the heavens have opened on Okayama. It is so heavy it actually hurts when it hits you....and to make matters worse the humidity is killin me in the staff room....counting down the days for the AC to be turned on!

地震...EARTHQUAKE!

Yup, another earthquake happened on monday morning. The epicentre was in Kyushu (southern Japan) and it measured 6.2 magnitude. I was rudely awakened at 5am with my house shaking and screen doors banging. I think i am getting used to earthquakes too because i stayed in bed a while deciding whether it was bad enough to get out of my cosy blanket and take cover. Not a nice way to be woken up! There was another smaller one about 3 hours later in Aomori (northern Japan)....luckly i didn't feel that one and neither caused a Tsunami.

Bizen-Yanahara Bike Ride

On saturday afternoon Steven (the other foreigner living in Wake) decided to brave the bike trail to Yanahara. Recently we have been enjoying the scenery and sunshine on our bikes by peddling around every monday after school. It took us about 4 hours to ride the 54 Kilometer route, with stops for lunch and to go around the train museum. The Bizen to Yanahara bike route used to be an old train line that was concreted over a few years ago. It was a nice day but i don't think my red bike with no gears and a basket on the front was designed to go so far!

たこのおどりぐい

I had my first experience of たこのおどりぐい and えびのおどりぐい on friday night with some teachers from Seto High School. It was a farewell enkai for myself and Endo Sensei who was transfered in April. Basically たこのおどりぐい(taco odori gu ii) or "eating the dancing Octopus" consists of eating pieces of freshly killed chopped up Octopus that is still jumping and squirming around the plate. I must have been in Japan too long because it wasn't too shocking and tasted OK. What was slightly more disturbing was the えびのおどりぐい (ebi odori gu ii) or "eating the dancing shrimp".....WHAAAAATTT???!!!! I couldn't believe it when Morisue, Endo and Takeuchi started ripping the heads off LIVE shrimp and gobbling them down. One minute the shrimp were dancing around in the basket happy and carefree, the next they were in the tummy of some teachers. I tried to save one by giving him a name "Endo-Kun" but his namesake scoffed him down all the same. Apparently, little Endo-Kun was born to be eaten this way. For once, i was glad i was allergic to shell fish!

Fukiya

This weekend was a strange mix of exhaustion and relaxation. We went to the Fukiya International Villa in a village in the mountains of Okayama (you take your life into your hands when you brave the Japanese countryside!) It was gorgeous and very chilled out. I personally gorged myself on the feasts that the other JETs prepared and was very ashamed with my contribution of pancakes for breakfast....time was not on my side this weekend. But i had the most restless/sleepless night due the the infestation of mukade, the biggest spider i have ever seen in my life (no joke it was the size of my hand) and giant wasps....eeeeek! I was a total wus and was terrified they would crawl on me in the night, although i think my fear was reasonable as one DID crawl on poor Chris. If it was going to happen to anyone it was best that it happened to him, as he turned out to be a vicious mukade killer, totalling about 10 throughout the stay. I don't think the Aussies were impressed by my terrible display of cowerdice! For those of you that don't know, mukade are very dangerous poisenous centipedes that pack a punch when they nip ya. They can kill babies and old people and you get very sick and swollen if you are unlucky enough to be bitten. Therefore, this monday morning at work i am like a frickin zombie.

Day Trippers (3) - In search of the last samurai

For my movie obsessed husband, no daytrippers tour would be complete without a movie reference point. So here it is, at my favorite "hidden" away spot (Choen-in Temple) we found the steps that pre-crazy Tom climbed in The Last Samurai.

Day Trippers (2)

Here we are at the Kiyomizu Temple, the unofficial start of any good daytrippers tour of Kyoto. I am already cursing my plan of wearing flip-flops, forgetting the miles of walking we would be doing (all the way north to the Heian Shrine....and Handicraft Centre, heehee!) My poor toes are practically sawed off. But i battle on in true daytripper style determined not to be put off by such trivial matters as my feet. Even the sudden (and relieving) rain shower didn't dampen our spirits. We took shelter in a cafe with the most beautiful Japananese garden i have seen. Ahhhh sweet Coy, you may taste like sh*t but you are a hypnotic sight.

Day Trippers (1)

So an early start of 5am didn't beat us! In true Nihon-jin style we did a day trip to Kyoto. Possibly one of the most exhausting things i have done in Japan, but it would be my last time to visit and of course Luke's 1st time. The bus journey was expensive but quick and as you can see we passed the time by sleeping!