Kawajiri and Top 10 list

This past week went by quite briskly as I’m just preparing to pack and tie up the lose ends before I head home. Originally, a few JETs and I planned on taking a trip to Tottori for this music festival, but because of the rain we decided to cancel the trip.

On Thursday night, my friend Jeffery came up from Oita-ken and we spent the evening drinking along the water front of Kawajiri. My town is surrounded by water, and when it’s warm it’s a great place to chat and have a few drinks. We walked along the water and didn’t return home till about 4 in the morning. Pretty much created a racket that I’m amazed nobody called the police.

We drank the beer left over in the fridge, as well as stopping by a beer vending machine and buying a massive jug of beer that Rob and I shared. It was a fun way to spend an evening.

On Friday, Rob and I went into town and watched 300, then managed to take the wrong train and got stranded in Mihara- a neighbouring town for the evening. We tried to make the best of it, but the pouring rain and hangover from the night before made the night really trying as we waited for the first train home. We stopped two bars to grab a drink and just walked around another port town that has no memorable attractions or places. We ended up sitting under a bridge for a few hours until our train. Not our greatest evening, but one of those, “remember that time” moments.

On Monday I had my last day at Ato Elementary. The usual fair of goodbyes and handshakes were given. The grade 3 kids sang me another cute song and I tried to snap as much pictures as I can and burn the images in my head of teaching these kids. It was surreal to know that it was my last day ever teaching elementary, as it’s been such a big and enjoyable part of my job here. I know I’ll always miss these kids and will always cherish the memories they have given me.

Well this past weekend is my final hurrah in Japan. My friend, Maria is making her way down from Tokyo and I’m having a big night at a beer garden, then a local bar to show our film festival entry. I was lucky enough to get the school to lend me their projector, so it should be a fun evening.

Seeing that my time here is coming to a close, I thought I’ll make a list of the top
10 things I’ll miss in Japan for my Japanese Factoid#54. In no particular order:

1) Food- The food is just so good here. If you think it’s only sushi, you are sadly mistaken. There are many different kinds of noodle shops, tempura shops, rice bowl stored, skewers, izakaya food, as well as traditional Japanese set courses. The food here is just great and that is a reason why I’ve gained weight since I got here.

2) Drinking in Japan- Considering I rarely drank back home, the transformation coming to Japan was quite interesting. Drinking in Japan is really convenient, as they have streets full of drinking establishments. It’s not only cheap, but I really like Japanese alcohol. They also have all you drink at some restaurants and pubs, which you just can’t beat. To top it off, you can drink in public and it’s safe anywhere you go, at any time of the night.

3) Schools- I’ll miss all the schools I’ve taught in, as well as the teachers I’ve gotten to know the past 2 years. Mostly, I’ll miss the 1000 students I teach, as most of the time, it’s been great. It’s going to be hard no seeing a lot of their faces as I’ve grown so accustomed to some of them.

4) Enkai- I’ll miss going to enkais with my teachers, which is basically just a work related dinner. But the food is always good, and the alcohol makes most of the teachers relaxe. So I was always able to have great conversations and just an amazing time.

5) Traveling- I’ll miss traveling around Japan. With the vacation time available and the ease of transportation, I’ll miss just hoping on a train and going to a new place with its own cuisine and sights.

6) Onsen- Nothing beats relaxing in an onsen during the winter. I’ll miss just soaking in various baths whenever I was tired or after a long night out in the town. It was great after sports and also fun when I stayed in Ryokans (traditional inns).

7) My apartment- I’ll miss my apartment and especially the view of the sea. The apartment was new when I moved in, so it really felt like it has been my place. It has also been the first place I’ve had on my own, so I’ve actually grown quite attached to it. The large shower and bathroom are definitely going to be missed once I head back home.

8) My town- I’ll really miss my home time of Kawajiri and being able to run along the water and climb the local mountain whenever I wanted to. It wasn’t the ideal town to live in, but I enjoyed being in the countryside and being surrounded mountains and rice fields.

9) Friends- After spending two years here I've been really lucky to make some really good friends. I'll miss my former Japanese teacher, Ms. Murayama and her family. As well as my friends Su and Akiko and JETs. Rob and I have managed to pretty much destroy Hiroshima and ourselves the past year which has been absolutely a blast.

10) Festivals- I'll really miss going to festivals, as there are a few every season and every small town has their own community festival. Every month there is something to do or some place to visit. Randing from huge lantern festivals, various sea festivals to firework festivals, they have always been a blast to go to.