Turns out we sometimes get a break, after all.
I spent a lot of time relaxing this weekend. Friday night I met some folks at Good Bar for dinner -- specifically, I met Brad and the new Interac person replacing Tim. This person was theoretically a guy named Charles, but when I arrived, it turned out that Charles had quit the program before even making it to Sonobe. Instead, there was a Chinese-American girl named June, who seems alright. She reminds me of Dawn, my freshman year roommate, except maybe less awesome.
Saturday I accomplished pretty much nothing, unless you consider sitting around or watching "Road House" an accomplishment. (FYI -- if you said yes to "Road House," I have to disagree. It is a stunningly terrible film. If it weren't for Rifftrax, I probably wouldn't have made it through. The one good thing about the movie is Sam Elliott, because I think it is scientifically impossible for Sam Elliott not to be awesome.)
On Sunday, I trekked out to Yamashina for (I thought) Rob's flower viewing party. I met Fig at the station, we got pseudo-lost for thirty minutes or so, and then I phoned Mike, only to discover that the party was actually this upcoming weekend. Whoops! But Neil was on his way, the cherry trees were lovely, and we had a tarp, so the three of us just had a little picnic instead. We sat around for a bit over two hours, watching kids get into trouble and swapping stories of weird things done by people we know. (Josh, this is where you came in.)
We then killed some time in Sanjo, waiting for Joanna and her parents to meet us for dinner. At the bookstore in the BAL building I picked up "Mansfield Park" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (they have a pretty excellent English classics section). I also chanced across a copy of Edward Gorey's "The Gashlycrumb Tinies," which I had been wanting for ages. As a bonus, it has text both in English and Japanese! I geeked out a little. (They also had several others, including "The Doubtful Guest," which I considered. Maybe later!)
Fig and I then had kaitenzushi with Joanna and her folks, who were altogether lovely individuals.
School this week has been slowish. The worst was when we had three ceremonies in two days -- the junior high new students entrance ceremony, the term opening ceremony, and the senior high new students entrance ceremony. Even though the weather has turned nice, the gym remains stubbornly cold. Plus, we had to wear suits.
Oddly enough, there was at least one, possibly two foreigners in the crowd of parents at the senior high welcome. Me and Kristin are very speculative -- might there be some half-Japanese kids entering the school? It's a mystery!
Since it's the beginning of the year, there have also been some staff changes. Altogether, I think there are around thirteen or fourteen new teachers, including two or three in the English department. (None of whom we've actually met yet. Curiouser and curiouser!) I am sad to say that we lost Shiroshita-sensei, who was a nice woman and a great baker. The vice-principal has also vanished, which I almost feel worse about, because I didn't know ahead of time that he was leaving. By the time I got back from vacation with my parents, he was already gone. He was friendly, and I miss him.
The desks in the teachers room have also been shuffled. Now Kristin and I are sitting back to back, all the way across the room from where we sat before. It's not bad, though I miss bantering with Wakabayashi-sensei, who sat across from me before.
On the recommendation of my mother and Bill Price, I have started watching "The Mentalist." I was hesitant at first, since it struck me as someone deciding to remake "Psych" as a serious show, but it's actually pretty good. The main character reminds me a lot of one of my college professors, if Fitz Smith had a mischievous brother or something.
The cherry trees are blooming in Sonobe, and it's positively gorgeous. One of the streets I take to school is almost completely lined with them. They're like ghost trees, or trees covered in snow. Walking home from tea ceremony yesterday under the nearly-full moon, they were spectral and amazing.
Spring may be my favorite season in Japan.
Showing posts with label good bar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good bar. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Friday, October 10, 2008
drifting along, singing a song...
So last Saturday was my buddy Alex's birthday. He got reservations at a yakiniku restaurant in Sanjo, where about twelve or so of us met in the evening. We had a good time chatting and eating -- I ended up between Sean and Neil, which is a recipe for fun.
Afterwards we went and chilled by the banks of the Kamo River, which is really pleasant in the evenings. Also there was a group of hilarious Japanese hippies having a drum circle with big African drums, which we watched for awhile. As they really got into it, some of the hippies pulled out some batons and other implements which they set on fire and twirled around. It was entertaining, in a dangerous amateur sort of way. The first guy had these sort of flaming nunchaku, which briefly set his dreadlocks on fire, and the second guy (who was for some reason only wearing a very flowy, obviously-meant-for-females skirt) managed to set his skirt on fire. Neither of them was hurt, and the performance just kept on going, but it was pretty funny in retrospect.
I spent a good portion of our time by the river running around to different friends and taking what we all identify as "MySpace photos" -- pictures where you hold the camera away from yourself and try to squeeze into the shot, while aiming the camera by guesswork. First we would do a smiley one, immediately followed by the classic MySpace emo shot.
Sunday...well, I don't actually remember doing much of anything on Sunday. Washing dishes, maybe. I don't know.
Normal classes on Monday and Tuesday, followed by these three long days of mid-term exams for the students. We had very little do help with during exams -- mostly just showing up in certain classes and reading things aloud for listening comprehension -- so much of these three days has been spent trying not to fall asleep or pass away from boredom. On the upside, we've gotten some good work in on various projects and worksheets, as well as readied the lesson plan and materials for our Saturday classes, which begin tomorrow. (Though this is a junior and senior high school, Saturday English classes are offered for five weeks in autumn for elementary schoolers and their parents. I think we have a grand total of 12 people, apparently up from three or so last year.)
Last night Phil, a JET in Kameoka, just happened to be in Sonobe for an office party, so I agreed to meet him afterwards for a quick drink and mini-tour around town. However, he didn't finish his party until after nine, which meant we had to hurry. I managed to meet him at the train station at 9:30, get him to Good Bar around 9:50, swing him by to have a look at my apartment at quarter to eleven, and get him back to the station by 11:15 for the last train to Kameoka. I think that over the course of the "tour," if you include the solitary trips to and from the station to meet Phil and see him off again, probably amounted to three or four miles. By the time I got home at 11:30, I was a tired puppy.
We did have fun, though, especially when we were greeted at Good Bar by a humorously drunk stranger that took pains to introduce us around.
I'm working on getting photos and stuff uploaded, so hopefully in the next post I can give you guys some links to actually see what I've been hopelessly rambling about all this time. I get (legit) internet at my apartment on Monday! Huzzah!
Yakiniku: Essentially, you are brought various plates of meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) which you cook yourself on a little grill in the surface of your table. You eat them with different dipping sauces, salad, and rice. The meals are generally large and somewhat pricey, but delicious!
Nunchaku: Or "nunchucks," as were common in bad karate films from the late 80s and early 90s. See: Three Ninjas.
Emo: For the record, this is slang, not Japanese. Emo is a recent and oft-mocked social movement embodied by pop-punk bands like My Chemical Romance. It is (over?)generalized as moody tweens, teens, and twenties who feel persecuted, wear a lot of eyeliner, and always look sullen in photographs.
Afterwards we went and chilled by the banks of the Kamo River, which is really pleasant in the evenings. Also there was a group of hilarious Japanese hippies having a drum circle with big African drums, which we watched for awhile. As they really got into it, some of the hippies pulled out some batons and other implements which they set on fire and twirled around. It was entertaining, in a dangerous amateur sort of way. The first guy had these sort of flaming nunchaku, which briefly set his dreadlocks on fire, and the second guy (who was for some reason only wearing a very flowy, obviously-meant-for-females skirt) managed to set his skirt on fire. Neither of them was hurt, and the performance just kept on going, but it was pretty funny in retrospect.
I spent a good portion of our time by the river running around to different friends and taking what we all identify as "MySpace photos" -- pictures where you hold the camera away from yourself and try to squeeze into the shot, while aiming the camera by guesswork. First we would do a smiley one, immediately followed by the classic MySpace emo shot.
Sunday...well, I don't actually remember doing much of anything on Sunday. Washing dishes, maybe. I don't know.
Normal classes on Monday and Tuesday, followed by these three long days of mid-term exams for the students. We had very little do help with during exams -- mostly just showing up in certain classes and reading things aloud for listening comprehension -- so much of these three days has been spent trying not to fall asleep or pass away from boredom. On the upside, we've gotten some good work in on various projects and worksheets, as well as readied the lesson plan and materials for our Saturday classes, which begin tomorrow. (Though this is a junior and senior high school, Saturday English classes are offered for five weeks in autumn for elementary schoolers and their parents. I think we have a grand total of 12 people, apparently up from three or so last year.)
Last night Phil, a JET in Kameoka, just happened to be in Sonobe for an office party, so I agreed to meet him afterwards for a quick drink and mini-tour around town. However, he didn't finish his party until after nine, which meant we had to hurry. I managed to meet him at the train station at 9:30, get him to Good Bar around 9:50, swing him by to have a look at my apartment at quarter to eleven, and get him back to the station by 11:15 for the last train to Kameoka. I think that over the course of the "tour," if you include the solitary trips to and from the station to meet Phil and see him off again, probably amounted to three or four miles. By the time I got home at 11:30, I was a tired puppy.
We did have fun, though, especially when we were greeted at Good Bar by a humorously drunk stranger that took pains to introduce us around.
I'm working on getting photos and stuff uploaded, so hopefully in the next post I can give you guys some links to actually see what I've been hopelessly rambling about all this time. I get (legit) internet at my apartment on Monday! Huzzah!
Yakiniku: Essentially, you are brought various plates of meat (beef, pork, chicken, etc.) which you cook yourself on a little grill in the surface of your table. You eat them with different dipping sauces, salad, and rice. The meals are generally large and somewhat pricey, but delicious!
Nunchaku: Or "nunchucks," as were common in bad karate films from the late 80s and early 90s. See: Three Ninjas.
Emo: For the record, this is slang, not Japanese. Emo is a recent and oft-mocked social movement embodied by pop-punk bands like My Chemical Romance. It is (over?)generalized as moody tweens, teens, and twenties who feel persecuted, wear a lot of eyeliner, and always look sullen in photographs.
Monday, August 25, 2008
workin' for the man every night and day
Kristin and I spent a large portion of Thursday and Friday putting together a beautiful bulletin board for the English club (ESS). Pretty much, we are creative geniuses with construction paper. I promise photos sometime later.
On Saturday, we and our supervisor, Wakabayashi-sensei, had to judge an English speech contest here at the school. About seventeen kids from local junior high schools came to Sonobe and performed one from a selection of recitations, and we gave them points on delivery, English, and memorization. At the end, we gave out one first prize, two second prizes, and three third. It was an interesting experience, particularly since I hadn't even begun teaching yet. (Plus, since I had to come to work on a Saturday, I'll get a half-day off somewhere in the future! Hooray!)
Saturday evening, after a nice nap, wandered once again to Good Bar, now to meet Mike's replacement, the new Interac guy. His name is Timothy Vickerman (a.k.a. "The Vicar," a nickname we made up before he even arrived), and he's from somewhere in the north of Britain. (He didn't specify where, simply citing supposed "nomadic savages.") He's twenty-seven, likes a lot of the same music I do, and speaks about the same level of Japanese as Brad and I. We've heard there might be a Japanese language teacher somewhere in the reaches of Sonobe, and the three of us are thinking about going in for group lessons, if we can work it out.
Sunday I did a whole lot of nothing, if nothing includes watching the TV show "Spaced." (Or what I could manage to load of it, thanks to my neighbor's spotty wireless.) It's a really funny British comedy starring my beloved Simon Pegg, recommended to me by Brad. I think I owe him many thanks. (Most of it is on youtube, if you're interested.)
Yesterday was the official first-day of school here at Sonobe Senior High. There was an assembly in the morning, at which I had to give a short introduction speech in Japanese. The gist of it was something like, "Everyone, good morning! It's nice to meet you. I'm Anna Denson; please call me Anna. I am from Atlanta, in America. I've been to Japan before this, but I'm very happy to be able to return! Moreover, I'm happy to have the opportunity to teach you English and about America. I would really like to learn Japanese and about Japanese culture, so for both Japanese matters and American matters, let's work hard together!" Et cetera, et cetera. I think it went off without a hitch; Wakabayashi-sensei, at least, said it was perfect.
Then the principal spoke for awhile, I think about the Olympics, and they gave out some athletic awards to students, and some other incomprehensible speeches, while me and Kristin stood at the edge of the gym eying the students and getting sleepy. It was a long time just to be standing around!
Afterwards, there were a few afternoon classes. I had to teach my first lesson, to class 2-5. It was pretty much just a more detailed self-introduction (not to mention, in English), with a slideshow of photos and some maps and stuff. I gave them a worksheet to test comprehension, and let them ask some of their own questions (which ranged from "What is your favorite Japanese food?" and "What is your hobby?" to "What kind of boy do you like?" and "Do you have a boyfriend?" Nosy little things). We finished up with a name game activity that we didn't quite finish, but I think the whole thing went okay, overall!
No class today, but I'll probably have a few more before the week is out. Besides, there's ESS today and tomorrow after school, probably for approaching two hours. (We have a lot to do before the school festival next week, at which the junior high kids are singing a song from "High School Musical," and the senior high kids are putting together a video narrated in English.) Busy, busy, busy!
On Saturday, we and our supervisor, Wakabayashi-sensei, had to judge an English speech contest here at the school. About seventeen kids from local junior high schools came to Sonobe and performed one from a selection of recitations, and we gave them points on delivery, English, and memorization. At the end, we gave out one first prize, two second prizes, and three third. It was an interesting experience, particularly since I hadn't even begun teaching yet. (Plus, since I had to come to work on a Saturday, I'll get a half-day off somewhere in the future! Hooray!)
Saturday evening, after a nice nap, wandered once again to Good Bar, now to meet Mike's replacement, the new Interac guy. His name is Timothy Vickerman (a.k.a. "The Vicar," a nickname we made up before he even arrived), and he's from somewhere in the north of Britain. (He didn't specify where, simply citing supposed "nomadic savages.") He's twenty-seven, likes a lot of the same music I do, and speaks about the same level of Japanese as Brad and I. We've heard there might be a Japanese language teacher somewhere in the reaches of Sonobe, and the three of us are thinking about going in for group lessons, if we can work it out.
Sunday I did a whole lot of nothing, if nothing includes watching the TV show "Spaced." (Or what I could manage to load of it, thanks to my neighbor's spotty wireless.) It's a really funny British comedy starring my beloved Simon Pegg, recommended to me by Brad. I think I owe him many thanks. (Most of it is on youtube, if you're interested.)
Yesterday was the official first-day of school here at Sonobe Senior High. There was an assembly in the morning, at which I had to give a short introduction speech in Japanese. The gist of it was something like, "Everyone, good morning! It's nice to meet you. I'm Anna Denson; please call me Anna. I am from Atlanta, in America. I've been to Japan before this, but I'm very happy to be able to return! Moreover, I'm happy to have the opportunity to teach you English and about America. I would really like to learn Japanese and about Japanese culture, so for both Japanese matters and American matters, let's work hard together!" Et cetera, et cetera. I think it went off without a hitch; Wakabayashi-sensei, at least, said it was perfect.
Then the principal spoke for awhile, I think about the Olympics, and they gave out some athletic awards to students, and some other incomprehensible speeches, while me and Kristin stood at the edge of the gym eying the students and getting sleepy. It was a long time just to be standing around!
Afterwards, there were a few afternoon classes. I had to teach my first lesson, to class 2-5. It was pretty much just a more detailed self-introduction (not to mention, in English), with a slideshow of photos and some maps and stuff. I gave them a worksheet to test comprehension, and let them ask some of their own questions (which ranged from "What is your favorite Japanese food?" and "What is your hobby?" to "What kind of boy do you like?" and "Do you have a boyfriend?" Nosy little things). We finished up with a name game activity that we didn't quite finish, but I think the whole thing went okay, overall!
No class today, but I'll probably have a few more before the week is out. Besides, there's ESS today and tomorrow after school, probably for approaching two hours. (We have a lot to do before the school festival next week, at which the junior high kids are singing a song from "High School Musical," and the senior high kids are putting together a video narrated in English.) Busy, busy, busy!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Waving goodbye to summer hols.
Well, it's back to work tomorrow for me. I have the feeling we JETs are about to hit the ground running!
The vacation has been nice while it lasted, though. I didn't accomplish too much on Wednesday; mostly just did a bit of organizing and laundry in my apartment (which, despite my best efforts, is already messy again. Looks like more straightening up this afternoon!)
On Thursday, I and Nelis met Brad and Mike (the two Interac guys) at the station, and took the train to Yagi for the annual Yagi Fireworks Exhibition! (Yagi Hanabi Taikai.) Lerato joined us there, and we walked maybe a half mile through streets lined with various festival vendors, from food to children's games. Eventually we reached the river, along the banks of which thousands and thousands of people were camped out, waiting for the show to start over the water. Our group managed to snag a really nice spot on a nearby bridge, where we had a great view of everything!
The show got started with a bang, and we were soon joined by Brad and Mike's friend Yuki, and his friend Aya. They were both really nice, and Yuki speaks very good English! Anyway, the fireworks were amazing. All in all, the show lasted over an hour! Hands down the longest fireworks display I've ever seen. (Factoid: the Yagi fireworks show is super super popular, because it's the biggest one in Kyoto Prefecture! No wonder it was so rad!) I also made friends with one of the local police guys, who was apparently really into American baseball. When he found out I was from Atlanta, he was all, "WOAH! Atlanta Braves! Tom Glavine! Greg Maddox! Chipper Jones! Andruw Jones! John Smoltz!" He would also say, "You know Houston Astros/Philadelphia Phillies/et cetera?" and then start naming players from those teams. For extra hilarity, he kept doing impressions of the players he was naming -- but they were pretty much the same two impressions over and over again, consisting mostly of him miming out pitching or batting.
After the show ended, we all adjourned back to our various towns, and the Sonobe crew (myself, Nelis, Brad, and Mike) proceeded on to Good Bar, which is really one of the only places in town to hang out. The atmosphere is really nice, though, so I don't really mind! It's not a bar in the sense of noisy twenty-somethings getting trashed (thank goodness), rather catering to the thirty- and forty-something after work crowd. Envision Cheers, if you will; pretty much everyone who goes there is a regular, several of which I'm already getting to know. I think my favorite so far is Ken-san, a thirty-something guy with a great sense of humor, who owns a local sports store and a gas station. Really, they're a good crowd, and I look forward to hanging out with them more!
On Friday, me and the boys spent maybe two hours wandering around town (in the scorching heat) looking for the Sonobe Festival, which didn't actually exist. Mike gifted to me a region-free dvd player (of which he for some reason had two), though I'll have to go buy some cords for it before it can be put to use.
Around eight-thirty, there was once again a mass exodus to Good Bar, for Mike's goodbye party. It was a grand time! Lots of people came, and we were there for hours. Probably between six and seven hours, actually. It passed so quickly! I got some cute pictures, as well as some truly hilarious videos of Yuki singing. I think he'd been drinking a bit before he arrived, and apparently he turns into a jukebox when he's had a few! During some of them, I was laughing so hard I was in tears.
On Saturday I took the train into Kyoto (once again to the Sanjo area), for Daimonji! Our group was organized by Todd, a really funny recontracted JET who had met us all by helping out at Tokyo and Kyoto as an orientation assistant. We had a crowd of perhaps fifteen prefectural JETs, as well as a handful of unassociated friends. We staked out a spot on the banks of the Kamo River, where we could see the mountain pretty decently, and put down tarps and towels and such while we waited for dark to fall. Really, though the lighting of the giant mountain fires was cool, the whole experience was more about having fun with other JETs. Liz from Kameoka and I had some nice conversation which included the "resolution" to put together some sort of street-dance performance, Pat and I chatted about Paul Gross and regionalism in Canada, and me and Mike talked about religion and spirituality. Really, I want to make Mike, Sean, Alex and Alex into a posse with whom I hang out a lot. They are such great guys!
After the whole fire bit was over, we wandered for awhile in search of dinner. I spent most of the walk getting to know this really interesting guy named Sebastian, who is half-Japanese and half-Mexican! He is fluent in both Japanese and Spanish, as well as speaking really good English. (He went to an international school. Trilingual! I'm so jealous!) Funnily enough, when we finally found a place to eat, it was (much to my surprise) a Mexican restaurant. The portions were a bit small, but actually it was quite good. I had some pretty yummy chicken enchiladas.
I have also befriended a girl from New Jersey named Joanna (as opposed to "normal Anna," who is me). She is a self-declared New York Jew, and a barrel of laughs. "'What are you gonna do with your art history major?' 'Be witty at dinner parties and appreciate Europe more than you.'"
By some miracle (and some fast walking on our part) I made it on to a train back to Sonobe before they stopped running, narrowly avoiding the necessity of crashing at either Joanna or Sean's apartment. On the upside, now I have a better knowledge of the train schedule! If I can make it to Nijo Station for the 12:11 back to Sonobe, I'm golden.
On the agenda for today is preparing my self-introduction lesson, which I (and every other new JET) have to present at the Kyoto AET (Assistant English Teacher) Seminar on Tuesday. Wish me luck!
p.s. New photos up at webshots. Check 'em out!
The vacation has been nice while it lasted, though. I didn't accomplish too much on Wednesday; mostly just did a bit of organizing and laundry in my apartment (which, despite my best efforts, is already messy again. Looks like more straightening up this afternoon!)
On Thursday, I and Nelis met Brad and Mike (the two Interac guys) at the station, and took the train to Yagi for the annual Yagi Fireworks Exhibition! (Yagi Hanabi Taikai.) Lerato joined us there, and we walked maybe a half mile through streets lined with various festival vendors, from food to children's games. Eventually we reached the river, along the banks of which thousands and thousands of people were camped out, waiting for the show to start over the water. Our group managed to snag a really nice spot on a nearby bridge, where we had a great view of everything!
The show got started with a bang, and we were soon joined by Brad and Mike's friend Yuki, and his friend Aya. They were both really nice, and Yuki speaks very good English! Anyway, the fireworks were amazing. All in all, the show lasted over an hour! Hands down the longest fireworks display I've ever seen. (Factoid: the Yagi fireworks show is super super popular, because it's the biggest one in Kyoto Prefecture! No wonder it was so rad!) I also made friends with one of the local police guys, who was apparently really into American baseball. When he found out I was from Atlanta, he was all, "WOAH! Atlanta Braves! Tom Glavine! Greg Maddox! Chipper Jones! Andruw Jones! John Smoltz!" He would also say, "You know Houston Astros/Philadelphia Phillies/et cetera?" and then start naming players from those teams. For extra hilarity, he kept doing impressions of the players he was naming -- but they were pretty much the same two impressions over and over again, consisting mostly of him miming out pitching or batting.
After the show ended, we all adjourned back to our various towns, and the Sonobe crew (myself, Nelis, Brad, and Mike) proceeded on to Good Bar, which is really one of the only places in town to hang out. The atmosphere is really nice, though, so I don't really mind! It's not a bar in the sense of noisy twenty-somethings getting trashed (thank goodness), rather catering to the thirty- and forty-something after work crowd. Envision Cheers, if you will; pretty much everyone who goes there is a regular, several of which I'm already getting to know. I think my favorite so far is Ken-san, a thirty-something guy with a great sense of humor, who owns a local sports store and a gas station. Really, they're a good crowd, and I look forward to hanging out with them more!
On Friday, me and the boys spent maybe two hours wandering around town (in the scorching heat) looking for the Sonobe Festival, which didn't actually exist. Mike gifted to me a region-free dvd player (of which he for some reason had two), though I'll have to go buy some cords for it before it can be put to use.
Around eight-thirty, there was once again a mass exodus to Good Bar, for Mike's goodbye party. It was a grand time! Lots of people came, and we were there for hours. Probably between six and seven hours, actually. It passed so quickly! I got some cute pictures, as well as some truly hilarious videos of Yuki singing. I think he'd been drinking a bit before he arrived, and apparently he turns into a jukebox when he's had a few! During some of them, I was laughing so hard I was in tears.
On Saturday I took the train into Kyoto (once again to the Sanjo area), for Daimonji! Our group was organized by Todd, a really funny recontracted JET who had met us all by helping out at Tokyo and Kyoto as an orientation assistant. We had a crowd of perhaps fifteen prefectural JETs, as well as a handful of unassociated friends. We staked out a spot on the banks of the Kamo River, where we could see the mountain pretty decently, and put down tarps and towels and such while we waited for dark to fall. Really, though the lighting of the giant mountain fires was cool, the whole experience was more about having fun with other JETs. Liz from Kameoka and I had some nice conversation which included the "resolution" to put together some sort of street-dance performance, Pat and I chatted about Paul Gross and regionalism in Canada, and me and Mike talked about religion and spirituality. Really, I want to make Mike, Sean, Alex and Alex into a posse with whom I hang out a lot. They are such great guys!
After the whole fire bit was over, we wandered for awhile in search of dinner. I spent most of the walk getting to know this really interesting guy named Sebastian, who is half-Japanese and half-Mexican! He is fluent in both Japanese and Spanish, as well as speaking really good English. (He went to an international school. Trilingual! I'm so jealous!) Funnily enough, when we finally found a place to eat, it was (much to my surprise) a Mexican restaurant. The portions were a bit small, but actually it was quite good. I had some pretty yummy chicken enchiladas.
I have also befriended a girl from New Jersey named Joanna (as opposed to "normal Anna," who is me). She is a self-declared New York Jew, and a barrel of laughs. "'What are you gonna do with your art history major?' 'Be witty at dinner parties and appreciate Europe more than you.'"
By some miracle (and some fast walking on our part) I made it on to a train back to Sonobe before they stopped running, narrowly avoiding the necessity of crashing at either Joanna or Sean's apartment. On the upside, now I have a better knowledge of the train schedule! If I can make it to Nijo Station for the 12:11 back to Sonobe, I'm golden.
On the agenda for today is preparing my self-introduction lesson, which I (and every other new JET) have to present at the Kyoto AET (Assistant English Teacher) Seminar on Tuesday. Wish me luck!
p.s. New photos up at webshots. Check 'em out!
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