Weekend Update Part Deux - Sasebo

I wasn't really planning on going anywhere this weekend, but when Suzie called and tempted me with a beach party, I had to say yes. We headed up to Isahaya Saturday by way of Maki. After Suzie got her keitai and I was green with envy, we took a train to Sasebo to meet up with Suzie's friends. We bought 3 bottles of shochu and headed up to her friend Jenny's flat, which is TINY compared to our apartments here (there are advantages to living in the inaka!). We spent the afternoon laughing at the Jehovah's witness propaganda that Jenny received and talking about scary right-wing news websites.


Jehovah's witness propaganda is funny

Later, we took a bumpy shuttle ride to Shirahama beach for the party. It was not quite what I had in mind - I expected a laid back event but it was actually quite the opposite. Within 5 minutes of our arrival, Suzie's purse went missing. We had heard that there were lots of Navy guys about and not to bring anything valuable, but it was still upsetting. We tried to have fun anyway - there were some really friendly drunk Japanese people who had the cutest puppy, and we talked to them for a while. They kept giving us food, and I'm not really sure what I ate, but just went with it anyway. I was pretty grossed out by the Navy guys grinding on skanky Japanese women...it reminded me of an MTV beach party. So Erich and I just enjoyed our time on the beach, but stayed far away from all of the action.

Later we lost Suzie, found her, she found her purse again, and Erich and I decided to leave. Jenny was really kind and let us go back to her flat, which we also shared with a Kiwi named Sena (pronounced Xena). The next morning we toured around the shopping mall with a poor hungover Suzie, and found an awesome used clothing store and a temple.

Weekend update part I - BOE BBQ

Friday night was the Board of Education barbeque.


Click here for gaijin dress up and more!

I tried some strange seafood, like scallops with all of the junk around them (which I later found out that I wasn't supposed to eat, nasty!), and fish cakes. But the most interesting thing about this party was the people. There was this guy named Gonzo who loved telling us about his rock band and kept refilling our already-full beer cups. We sang some Nirvana back and forth, and he loved it when Erich sang "Love in an Elevator." We now own a CD from Gonzo's band, which is wicked.

The children played a game that was sort of like a watermelon pinata. The men dragged Erich up there, and loved him so much that they made him try again. Then I went, but apparently they didn't like me as much because I only went once. Then, after the watermelon was busted, they asked Erich to head-butt it. He karate chopped it instead. Erich was definitely the life of the party, which is funny if you know him. He usually just sits in the corner at parties, but in Japan, they love him!

Many beers later, my supervisor's best friend plopped his 1-year-old daughter on my lap. I noticed that he was getting ripped while his wife was sweetly standing by...and their daughter was the cutest thing ever! I don't think women drink in Japan. I hope they don't think I'm a total nutcase for drinking with the men!

I'm sure much more happened, so I hope Erich elaborates on it in his journal. But I think in our many drunken conversations I may have roped myself and Erich into playing softball tonight...yikes!

Part Deux - Sasebo Excursion coming soon!

An international tidbit...

Last night at the dinner table, there were:
2 Americans
1 Canadian
1 Kiwi
1 British
1 Japanese

Anyway, I have a busy weekend planned: tonight, my supervisor invited me to a barbecue on the beach. Don't really know what to expect, except that I know there will be alcohol. It's not really an enkai, but close enough!

Tomorrow, there is a huge reggae beach party near Sasebo (about 2.5 hours away). Suzie found out about it through her British friends in the area, so we are going to get a ride up to Isahaya with Maki (her cute little Japanese friend who we ate dinner with last night). From there, we will take a bus to Sasebo. It will be tricky finding a place to crash that night; I hope we don't have to sleep on the beach. It's weird because I'm not usually the type to just go somewhere without a concrete plan, but this time I will try not to worry and just go with it. My personality will be saved from the planning police!

Will someone buy this guy a drink?

Beware the squatter!

I was really tired and run-down last night after going on a renegade restaurant investigation of my town. Couldn't figure out why, then I realized that I haven't been drinking any water! A closer self-investigation yielded a subconcious effort to avoid squat toilets.

They are everywhere public: at the beach, in restaurants, at my school. Their presence has made me weary of drinking too much, since I nearly fell over on my first attempt. I've had to wash several pairs of pants that got splashed on because I can't aim. This is the one situation in which I am glad that few people speak English so they don't understand my cussing...

I can definitely see why men have an easier time here...

Food

Sorry to constantly drivel away like this, but for once in my life, I actually have something to write about. I guess that's one of the reasons I wanted to come to Japan...

Now what was I going to say again? Oh yeah...food. My mother has been worrying about what the hell I am eating here. I'm sure my pictures of junk food and drunken nights at orientation have done nothing but add to her worries, so that is the point of this entry: I have been eating well!

You know those things we call "potstickers" in America? Well they are all over the place here, known as "gyoza." Problem is, they are always made with meat. I love them too much to let that get me down, so I decided to make my own. There are these wonderful things in stores here that are like wonton wrappers, so all you have to do is prepare the filling. Tonight, I cut up shittake mushrooms (100 yen, unbelievable!) green onions, garlic, and ginger, then added spices. It was a little tricky to close some of the wontons and some of them fell apart, but for the most part, they turned out well.


The reason I cook for myself is because eating out has been a chore. Most places around here are noodle places, and I love noodles, but I'm afraid of finding meat in my food. That being said, people do understand vegetarianism here. In fact, last week my fellow teachers asked me if I could eat noodles. I said yes, then told them about my semi-vegetarianism. They showed me how to cook somen noodles, then told me to invite Erich for lunch. We then ate noodles while talking in broken English and Japanese about the Dewey Decimal system.

Man, I am going to get fat here.

Yesterday was the most beautiful day EVER. It was less humid, sunny, and cooler with a nice breeze. So what did we do with this beautiful day? Why, go to Target of course!

Well, it's not really Target, but the Japanese equivalent is called Jusco. It had everything our little foreign selves desired, including a donut shop of all things! We stumbled out of there carrying a coffee pot (YES!), blender, and other various items. People stared at us like we were movie stars while we waited for the bus. I can't wait to get a car - it cost us $20 each to get there and back. Having a car in rural Japan pays for itself...

So today I've been tasked with writing an article about myself in Japanese for the local paper, due on Wednesday. What is a girl with very limited Japanese vocabulary to do? I am going to need a miracle to pull this off...