Past Couple of Days

Friday

Well, I had classes... so, I did that. I also kind of ended up teaching a first year class in my free time. See... they don't have a first year English Teacher... so, different teachers have been substituting and attempting to teach English... though... yeah... they're not English teachers. After my last class... the two teachers that were going to substitute the next class... rushed to me and were like... "Uh... eto... ima... you... ano... free?"

I said that I was and they responded, "A! You come with us? Help teach English?" It was an offer I really coudn't refuse... plus, they seemed really desperate... heh heh. So, I went and I basically led the class... it was pretty fun. The first years participated very well and were really fun... and one of them even gave me a present... 3 plastic Mario Character cards... and a little letter. It was so cool... though, I kind of hesitated about the letter... I was afraid it could've been a love letter... but, a teacher helped me read it and the kid was telling me how cool it was that I liked Mario and stuff about forgetting a present but now he had it so he wanted me to have it... I don't know... point is... it was very cool!

Afterschool... it was time for my play day with some of the teachers. Kayaking was so fun! Even though... it was a bit difficult. We first had a little explanation of how to get on, how to kayak, how to get off... IN JAPANESE... but, I understood the gist of it... not because I actually understood what the dude was saying... I just followed his gestures (Thank God for gestures). Getting on seemed tricky... and I was afraid I was going to fall... but, it was manageable and none of us fell in getting in or out. We then practiced a couple of laps... and yeah... I sucked. Out of everybody though... I was second best... but, yeah... we all sucked as a group... heh heh. I would go like probably 10 feet... then I would start to veer in one direction before going in circles. So... yeah... I would have to stop... situate myself... then continue for another 10 feet before I did circles again. The best person was this teacher who was good... but, he fell in the water... heh heh. I felt bad because... yeah... the weather's really dropping and it was windy too. So, although the water wasn't freezing... when he got out... poor dude must've nearly had hypothermia.

We then got off... and watched a demo video. That's when I learned how to break. Not only to stop from moving... but also to keep yourself from going in circles. So, when we got back in the kayak... I practiced a bit and began getting a feel for it. We went along a river and under some bridges... and the good teacher and I led the rest of the group. Of course, my competitiveness kind of kicked in and I tried hard to keep up with him. My competitiveness eventually gave me the kayaking skills and I was able to go straight and fast using the breaking technique to keep myself from veering. I was even able to weave in and out of buoys at the end. I rocked! I need to go kayaking again... it was soooo fun!

After that, we headed back to the school and waited for everyone to show up and started the BBQ/nomikai (drinking party). It was a lot of fun... and the food was good. Good times were had... and once the female teachers heard I've gone Karaoke-ing before... they were like... "Lets go now!" I had to tell them that I'm shy... which, I guess since I'm such a loud and funny person when I teach... they didn't quite believe the whole me being shy deal. Had to tell them that I'm a horrible singer and have to be really drunk... which only led them to give me a bunch of drinks in the hope that I would get drunk fast... heh heh. We then went inside since yeah... the temperature is still quickly dropping. It's like in the 15-19's degree celsius... which is like mid-60's... the equivalent of a small cold front in Miami... and it's still only September... crazy!

We continued for a bit... and then I left with the teacher who was taking me home. In Japan... since you can't drive at all if you drank anything... they have this service where they come... and drive for you... that way you have your car back home. I tried offering to pay some of the fare (and the earlier activities)... but, they all refused... so, hey... that was nice.

Saturday

Our IC (Independent Contractor... she helped us set up when we first got to Ofunato) had invited Rob and I to the Saitou Festival (which was basically a sweets festival at this company... Saitou's the name I believe... that specializes in making... well... sweets... heh heh). I couldn't get a hold of Rob... so, I just drove to his apartment and was like... lets go yo! Heh heh... he got ready and we headed out. When we first got there... we came across the mascot of the company, セーラーくん (Seeraa-kun), and took pictures with him. We got an audience from doing that... and a photographer actually wanted to snap our picture with him as well. He then went on to print us a copy of it. I asked him how much... but, he told me it was okay and that it was a present. We kind of didn't know what to do... since we hadn't seen our IC, so we walked around and was approached by this dude who spoke English pretty well. He wanted to talk to us for a bit... and we then proceeded to walk into the factory and I guess... go on a "tour." They gave us some sweets samples... and we then bought this bread looking thing that they put creme in... I don't know... it was alright (I tried one for breakfast this morning). After that... we walked around some more and tried some mochi... which, wasn't that good... but wasn't that bad either. Rob went to describe it as the boringest thing he's ever eaten and that cardboard had a more interesting taste than the mochi... heh heh. It was kind of annoying to since we had to chew it forever... basically mochi is like rice... pounded a lot until it forms a taffy-like substance.

Our IC then found us and told us to go to like an all-you-can-eat-dessert place. You paid 800 Yen (less than $8) to eat all the dessert you want in 30 minutes. Rob and I didn't eat that much since we wanted to eat actual food later... and didn't want to get sick loading up on sweets. I then heard some Taiko drums... so, we went outside and I saw the students, who happened to be from Rob's school, play awesomely. Our IC then told us that it was time for the cake roll demonstration (forgot to mention that we bought tickets for the demonstration when we first arrived for 500 Yen). It was pretty cool... we got to make some cake rolls in front of a bunch of people that were touring the factory at the moment.

Rob and I especially got some attention (and probably helped reel in some audience) since, 1) we were like the only guys there... and 2) we were also like the only foreigners at the festival... heh heh. Not only that... but, of course... as fate would have it... we were next to each other... and of course even more so... there was a big gap in between us. So, disaster struck... more so with Rob... when we tried rolling the cake. People had to come and help us fix the problem... all while a big camera was all up in Rob's face... heh heh. We then spotted a lady who was talking to her daughter and looking and pointing in our direction... but, she was being shy. I realized she wanted us to take a picture with her... so, she eventually got her friend to go with her and the cute little girls took pictures with us. We wanted to take a picture with them using my camera... but, I guess the lady misunderstood and just took a picture of Rob and me... I was going to tell her that we wanted one with the girls... but, we then figured that might be a bit inappropriate. It's okay if a parent takes a picture of us with her daughter... but, might be looked at differently if we wanted a picture with her daughter... so, we let it be.

The people then gave us a huge piece of the cake roll (not bad for 500 Yen... we got to make it and take a lot home), and proceeded outside. We kind of then spent the rest of the time playing some games and having fun. We left around 3 and hung out for a bit before calling it a day. The festival was pretty fun.

Today

I went to my school from last week. I was asked if I had any plans today, and when I said no, my JTE told me to please go to the school today since the teachers, third year students and their parents were going to be pulling weeds from their field. Yup... a whole lot of fun! Needless to say... I wasn't too interested in going... especially when I heard it began at 7:30 in the morning... 0_o...

But, she managed to manipulate me into going. She was like... "oh, and after that... the students are going to do a relay race with their parents... and you can participate..."

Psssh... that bitch... she tapped into my competitiveness... so, I was like... okay!

So, this morning came... and it was freezing... so, apart from not wanting to get up... I also didn't want to freeze upon leaving the warmth of my covers. I forced myself up... and after nearly freezing... quickly jumped and took a long, warm shower!

When I got to school... everyone was surprised and excited to see me. I guess the JTE didn't really spread the word that I was going to try to make it. I joined in on the de-weeding... but, knew it was going to be painful. Everyone was squatting, and in a matter of like 5 minutes... I began to feel uncomfortable... and I'm pretty flexible... so, you guys can imagine how bad it was. I had to get up and stretch every once in a while and try different positions to be somewhat not uncomfortable. We eventually finished and got ready for the relay race... which was to be a 3-legged race. My JTE showed me a kid who's parents weren't there... so, asked if I could pair up with him. I said it wouldn't be a problem... and got excited that I would get to participate... the only reason why I really went in the first place... heh heh.

We practiced a bit... and, it was kind of hard but really fun. It felt like in Azumanga Daioh since we counted "ichi ni ichi ni ichi ni ichi ni..." over and over again. After we practiced a bit, we got set to go and I realized it was the three classes against each other. Each pair (student with their parent or a teacher) would run half a lap and pass the baton to the next pair of their class. I was part of class 3-C (meaning class C of the third years).

The relay began and we got the early lead. However, when the second pairs started, we lost our lead and started trailing the winning class. We were the third of the pairs to go... so, we got the baton and began gaining on the winning team. We eventually passed the team and started regaining our lead and separating ourselves. I felt pretty accomplished since we got the lead back... and not only that... after we regained the lead... 3-C never fell back into second place. Our team kicked such serious ass... and we eventually overlapped the other two classes. We ended up winning... by a large margin. We crossed the finish line when the other two classes still had two pairs to go. It was awesome... and I of course felt like it was all due to me... heh heh...

But, yeah... after that... the kids sang two songs and we ended the morning and went home. I, however, took that as a chance to go to Mos Burger again! Oh man... I won't get back to saying much about Mos Burger... but, it rocks!!! I also used it as an opportunity to get rid of the change I was collecting (I can't help but use the bills first and end up getting stuck with so many change). So, yeah... most of my 10 yen coins are now gone... since I paid my whole meal using 10 yen... heh heh. I, however, used rubber bands to separate the coins into groups of 10... that way it wouldn't be much to count. So, yeah... with buying Mos Burger... I got rid of 72 10-yen coins... woot woot!

Now, I'm being all lazy and might be taking a nap soon... heh heh... it's only like 1 in the afternoon... but, it's been a long day since I woke up early... heh heh...