Himeji-yaki and children

So, I went to Himeji on Sunday. But it took way longer than it should have. Let me explain. After wandering around Kamigori, I finally made it to the train station. I approached the attendant at the window to buy a ticket because the machine was not on. "Himeji e ikimasu (I'm going to Himeji)," I said. ¥570 was the ticket price. He directed me to platform two. There's only two in Kamigori Station. The first train that arrived was going to Aioi. Turns out, that is the way I wanted to go. I did not board that train. I got on the next train, bound for Tottori. I had no idea where Tottori was, but I figured it must be going in the right direction.

It was not.

I got off the train in a town called Sayo. Then I waited two hours at the station until the train going the right direction appeared. Keep in mind these are tiny towns in the middle of nowhere. Trains do not frequent these stations. And it was Sunday. I finally got on the correct train, and ended up in Himeji 35 minutes later. Finally. I made my way towards the castle. When I got near the castle grounds, I saw this:



A flea market! Which was pretty cool. I walked around and looked at all of the goodies that people had to offer. A flea market in Japan is a lot like a swap meet in California, except everything is clean, and all of the people selling things are nice and like to bargain. I didn't end up buying anything. I'm going to make it a point to return for the next one, though.

As I walked closer to the castle, I realized what was different about it this time. Last time I saw Himeji was in the middle of winter, on a weekday. This was Sunday. Which is like Japan's national "Go Check Out Famous Stuff" day. It was a zoo. There were so many people there. So, rather than fight my way through the masses, I took some photos from outside the castle and promised myself I'd return soon. Aside from all of the people, it was stunning.





The cherry blossoms were still blooming, and it was absolutely beautiful. I won't post all of the pictures here, but you can check out the others (or bigger versions of these) by clicking on any picture. I ended up coming home not long after that, and went to bed fairly early.

Yesterday, Rokuda-san picked me up and took me up to Pre-School Koto to introduce me to the staff. They were all very nice. Then he took me out for lunch at Nanpuu, the local okonomiyaki shop. I wasn't sure what to order, so he ordered for me. We both had the Himeji-yaki. If you don't know what okonomiyaki is, I am so sorry. It is ridiculously good. Imagine a crepe with cabbage, meat, noodles, egg and spicy mayonnaise piled on top. Now add another crepe, some yaki sauce (almost like barbecue sauce), nori flakes (seaweed) and fish flakes. It's so good. Himeji-yaki was a whole new experience for me. It was just like the above, but remove the noodles. Now add milk, shrimp, octopus, some kind of flavorless clear gelatin cubes, pork and pieces of roast beef. It was amazing.

Today, I started class at Koto. I have to say, I forgot how tiring it is to run around with small children all day. They wore me out. My work day consists, basically, of playing with the kids, reading stories in English, singing and dancing, running around, carrying children, reading stories, helping with snack time, eating lunch, playing with the kids, etc. It's a lot of work, but it's fun and I love it. There are 42 kids at the school, and I think I remember the names of four of them. You'd think that remembering names would be easy. It's not. Remember, these kids have Japanese names. The only ones I remember are Hana, Midori, Yuriko and Oliver. Oh, and Siddartha. He's from India. I have to memorize, at the very least, 22 names. These are the 22 kids that have regular, organized English lessons in the afternoon. They are five and six years old. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The drink of the day is:

Lifeguard Jungleman Calorie Off


How could I not buy a drink with a name like that? This is an energy drink with a ton of vitamins and a bit of caffeine. ¥100 at the vending machine down the street.