I want more abandoned buildings

It's been surreal here in Japan. Everything is achieving normalcy, now, but it's been weird.

The first case of swine flu broke out in Ibaraki, which is in the Osaka Prefecture, on May 16. That was a Saturday. By Sunday it was up to 39 people, and Japan was essentially freaking out. Cases were reported in Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures. The governor of Hyogo ordered that all public and private schools be closed for the next week. I live in Hyogo, and that was last week. It was like a long holiday, except that you couldn't go anywhere. Himeji, Kobe, Osaka, etc. were stricly off-limits. I managed to get out of Kamigori once or twice, but not far out. Face masks were sold out all over the prefecture. They're still in short supply. Every public facility has disinfectant right inside the door to clean your hands. It's definitely strange, compared to the States. The good news, though, is that the number of new cases peaked last Wednesday, and the fear is subsiding. Kinda'.

Two weeks ago (May 20), I met a dude named Daniel. He came to Kouto with another English teacher to help me with a class. He's cool. And he's an excellent English teacher. He hooked me up with a lot of good info about where to go for training. He's married to a Japanese woman and has a newborn. After talking for a while, we exchanged numbers and said goodbye. We ended up hanging out last Thursday. I met him in Sayo and we went to a coffee shop called Brick for dinner. We had pizza. Yes, they have pizza in Japan. No, it's not the same as pizza in America. But it was good. The only strange thing that I found on it was corn, but there was probably a few other things I'm forgetting. And cheese in Japan is weird. I don't know how exactly to describe it. Processed, I guess.





I saw him again at Kouto today, and he invited me out to his place this Saturday. That will be cool, because I'll get to meet his family. He's a gamer, so I'm naturally drawn into friendship with him. I hope to hang out with him more often while I'm here.

Last Saturday I went out to dinner with the Imaoka family and one of their friends. That was fun. We went to a place right down the road from my house. I don't recall the name, however. It's a yakiniku joint. You get a big plate of raw meat and veggies and cook it up at your table. Delicious. I mentioned to Matoko Imaoka that he is a master at this type of cooking. He responded with, "Everyone in Japan is." Here's a picture of Imaoka sensei, her son Otaro and their friend Chika.



On Sunday, I went to a BBQ with the Imaoka family. It was at their friends' house here in Kamigori. Is was a blast. We ate delicious food, I met a bunch of cool people, drank some beers, played some catch.





Then I had to cut out early. I made plans at one with a couple friends, Miyazaki and Shuu chan. Miyazaki picked me up, and we went to grab Shuu chan. They are both Gundam fans, like me, so we headed out to an arcade in Tatsuno. Our main goal was to play a game called Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senjō no Kizuna, or Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield. It consists of eight networked pods, each with one player. You basically sit in this chair, and you have a 180 degree view of the battlefield as you shoot and smash your way through giant robots with your giant robot. There are two joysticks for the controls, each with four buttons. It's ridiculously awesome. I have an ID card for the game, and am currently ranked as a second-class pilot. That's not bad for only three games. I also ended up playing some Street Fighter IV, and now have around 1500 Battle Points. We also hit up this sweet shop in Himeji. It was like a big warehouse filled with cool stuff that I want to own. Toys, videogames, models, manga, anime and more. It was great.

This week has actually been mellow. I haven't done anything other than teach. On Monday I went to a local elementary school to teach an English class. That was fun, but the class was larger than I'm accustomed to. On Tuesday, I had my first parent English class. This is for the parents of kids at Kouto. Only one parent actually came, so it was easy. It will be a weekly class, and I'm really hoping that more parents show up.

Being a native English speaker in a small Japanese town, I've been asked by a bunch of people to teach classes at various locations. I haven't turned anyone down yet, because I appreciate the experience I'm gaining. But I might need to soon. My schedule is filling up fast. I also do some private tutoring at night, now. On top of that, everyone knows that I'm a graphic designer. So I'm going to redesign the Kouto web page. Which will be fun. Then I'm going to paint Imaoka sensei's fence. Then, who knows. Something else. I'm not complaining. I'm just busy. And tired.

I haven't prepared any drink photos for today, so I'll leave you with a picture of a replica Ainu house from a thousand years ago. And an abandoned gas station in Ako. Sweet dreams.

Sick in Japan

I have been terribly ill the last few days. Okay, maybe not that bad. But I haven't been feeling well. I had a fever a couple days ago, along with a nasty cough and congestion. It was the fever I was most worried about. So, needless to say, I have confined myself to the interior of my house. Lots of water and sleep. And today I felt much better, so I thought I'd venture out. It is a holiday, after all.

I heard that there was a flea market happening in Tatsuno, so I thought I would check it out. Tatsuno is only a few stops away on the good ole' JR line. I hopped on the train and arrived in no time. I failed to realize previously, however, that I had no idea where the flea market would be. So I looked around. For a while. And I did not find it. But I did take a very pleasing stroll by the river.





It was nice. There was a cool breeze and almost no clouds. Eventually, though, I gave up on the flea market and decided to head back to the station. On the way I hit up a Lawson's. There, I grabbed a Pocari Sweat and a Wiener Katsu. Now, eating a Wiener Katsu was a brand new experience for me. For those of you who know what tonkatsu is, you may already get what this is. For those that don't, allow me to explain. Katsu means fried, but there's a bit more to it than that. You take your meat (or whatever) of choice, and dip it in salt and pepper, then in flour, then in egg, and finally in panko bread crumbs. Then you fry it for a few minutes on a side, and eat it. So, yes, a Wiener Katsu is basically a breaded and fried hot dog in a bun. It was delicious. I'll try to capture it's essence in photographic form on the next occasion.

It was still a little early, and I didn't really want to head home yet. So I went to Himeji. It's close. I think part of me just wanted to play a couple of arcade games. Anyway, I made my way up to the castle to see if maybe there was a flea market going on there, too. No flea market. But a farmer's market, yes. And a Doraemon Stage Show!



At this point, I just wanted to sit down. I headed behind the stage and found an interesting thing happening. A trio of dudes practicing their flatland BMX skills.



After all of my running around, I decided I'd had enough of the outside world for the day. So I went home. And walking home from the station, this:



A good day out after two days quarantine, I reckon. Back to school tomorrow, then more vacation. Golden Week! I'll explain that tomorrow.

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.