The most distressful thing about being in a foreign environment is when someone is friendly enough to strike up a conversation, and no matter how hard I try to understand, I just can't. That just happened five minutes ago.

But that's just a minor confidence blow to my otherwise great weekend: Erich's enkai, volleyball practice, Kunchi festival in Nagasaki city. We finally got to explore Nagasaki for the first time, and aside from a few missteps (there are always some when I'm involved) we had a great time.

I've been to two enkais since I've been in Japan. So far, the only good enkai I've been to was not my own. Maybe I had such a good time Friday night because Erich's company is an eikaiwa (English conversation school), or maybe it's because the focus was not on me. These people actually want to and like speaking English, and I had some of the nicest conversations with Japanese people that I've had yet. There were these two sweet ladies who just showered me with compliments, and kept ordering me more vegetarian food. Erich got an enormous bouquet of flowers from his students. Our Japanese teacher (Erich and I take Japanese classes every Tuesday night at his school) got a little tipsy and introduced us to a wonderful service: daiko. I don't know if it actually exists in America under a different name, but if not it NEEDS TO. Basically, if you get too drunk to drive home, you call this service and a person will come to drive you home in your own car. Brilliant!

Speaking of brilliant, I busted my ankle AND my knee at volleyball practice Saturday night. Yes folks, I have started playing volleyball again for the first time in 10 years. I was invited by a lady who works at my Town Hall, and even though the practices are on Saturday nights, I couldn't exactly say no. Aside from the fact that some of those women could be in the Olympics and I'm just a shadow of my former athletic self, I am actually looking forward to Saturday nights now. Hell, it's not like I actually have a social life to miss out on!


Okunchi festival in Nagasaki city

Even though we missed the main part of the festival, it was still quite a sight: colorful costumes, endless food stalls, crowds. We got to Suwa shrine just after the main festivities ended, unfortunately. But climbing up all those stairs to the shrine actually gave me a fleeting moment of clarity and peace. The twisted trees, sculpted gardens, and artificial ponds of the shrine led me to ponder the true meaning of Shintoism: is it a religion that worships nature, or the re-creation thereof? I will continue to ponder.

Then I saw God in an Indian lunch the next day. Heavenly!

While in the touristy shops of Glover Garden, I had yet another moment of inner peace which came in the form of a cruise ship docked at Nagasaki port. All I can say is this: thank God for other foreigners who make my poor Japanese skills look good. The store clerk who smiled at my use of arigato gozaimasu made my weekend.

I'm think I'm going to listen to some apocalyptic space rock now.