Sumo

On Sunday we headed to Nagoya, the city of plenty, to watch the Sumo tournament. Recently there has been some bad press for the sport, as several wrestlers and associated people were found guilty of illegal gambling on baseball games, in which the Japanese mafia (Yakuza) were involved. This proved quite a big hoo-haa in Japan, and as a result several wrestlers were suspected, including one of Nagoya's homegrown heroes, Kotomitsuki, an Ozeki (second in ranking to the champion Yokozuna). As such Japan's tv networks refused to air it nationally.

Anyway, we made our way there to have a gawp at some big fat wrestlers slapping and trying to throw eachother out of the ring. Actually, there's a bit more to it than that, and it was a surprising amount of fun to watch! I buckled slightly to consumerism and bought a poster illustrating all the wrestlers taking part, as well as a traditional mug with all their names on. Well, how often do you get to watch a sumo tournament?


I bet on the guy in blue...


...crap!

Nagashima Spaland

Last Monday was a day off for us teachers because we worked the Saturday for sports day, so members of Iida block moseyed down to Mie-ken to sample the delightful theme park called Nagashima Spaland.


Steel Dragon! (image courtesy of the website I linked it from)

The day was very overcast with some rain, and being a weekday too there was hardly anyone at the theme park. It was as if we'd hired it for the day! So within the first 10 minutes of being there we'd been on the first rollercoaster twice, plus a tall ride that you are strapped into and shot skyward in (Ben's screams will never leave my memories).

The highlight of the day had to be the Steel Dragon, the longest rollercoaster in the world and the 5th highest. It was darn quick too, bringing tears to the eyes. Great fun though! I had to try it again... and then again...

After that we headed to Nagoya for Mexican food (yum yum yum!) then headed home, once again to the delights of She-Wolf and many other 'classic' hits, courtesy of Ben's ipod.


Los Tacos, Nagoya. Strongly recommended if you're ever in Nagoya! (image courtesy of the website I linked it from)

Clam digging & "the little things"

Paradise

On Sunday Iida block headed south to Gamagori in Mikawa Bay, Aichi-ken for clam-digging. It was a beautifully hot and sunny day and I was more than a little excited to see the seaside, living in a mountainous, landlocked ken as I do. As we headed down the final road to the seafront I was already half out of the window like an excited pooch heading to the park, and as the salty air hit my nostils I realised how much I'd missed being near the sea.

First we headed out across the long bridge to the little evergreen woodland-covered island in the bay (Takeshima) and had a wander around the Yaotomi-jinja Shrine, which is supposedly where Takeshima Benten is worshipped (one of the seven famous Benten gods in Japan). On the far side of the island I was delighted to find a myriad of natural rock pools across the shore, and we all spent the best part of an hour poking our noses (not literally) into the pools. There were crabs, anemones, jellyfish and various other little critters skitting about. It was great fun: I don't remember the last time I went rock-pooling.


Wash your hands before entering or the water dragon gets you


Stone gods


McJellyfish being "investigated" by someone with a stick

Soon afterwards the tide had zoomed out and we were in our boots in the sand digging away furiously for shelled quarry. I'd never been clam-digging before so I was quite pleased with my impressive haul of the little shelled creatures. Truth be told I would have been happy sat there just digging a hole, such a childish nature I can have at times. After a solid couple of hours digging I left the others playing in the sand and located a nice rock for some reading.


My catch

We then headed to Nagoya for a nosh-up at Outback Steakhouse. It's expensive but it's a treat for us rural JETs. After that it was straight to the international store to purchase goods from our home countries that can't be readily found in Japan. I was delighted with my haul of cereal, chocolate and chai tea. Then it was to Starbucks for a latte! Back in the UK I favour the cheaper (and nicer) Costa Coffee, but beggars can't be choosers, and a nice smooth soy latte hit the spot. I've probably mentioned before but Japanese coffee is quite simply, awful. I drink it for a caffeine kick in the morning at work and nothing else! So you can understand Starbucks was also quite a treat.

On the way out of Nagoya Marion so kindly obliged our excited souls by producing She-Wolf by Shakira (which by now has to be the Iida block anthem), which produced a fantastically-active car-rave, much to the delight and amusement of Nagoya locals. Just before we got to the highway a red light produced the finest opportunity for a Chinese fire drill and we all leapt out of the car, the faces of the drivers around us a mixture of amusement and horror (if you were sat at a red light and the doors of the car infront were thrown violently open, spilling fast-moving foreigners in your direction, your heart would no doubt leap to your throat too).

A play in the sand, an armful of cereal and chocolate, a soy latte and a car-party with friends: life is most definitely all about the little things...

December in J-land

Yikes! It's been almost three weeks since my last post! Tempus fugit, and all that jazz! Right, so what's been going on?

Saturday 5th we headed down south to Toki to a western-style outlet mall. To see so many recognisable names was great, as at this point I think all of us first years were getting a bit homesick. We all managed to come away with a bag or two of gifts for ourselves or others.

The next day I headed north to Matsumoto for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I probably opted to take it too early in my studying, but I decided to go for it anyway. The test was in three parts, the entire thing drawn out to cover most of a morning and early afternoon. I think I managed to nail the kanji and vocab parts, but the listening part was pretty tough. Ah well, if I fail level 4 this year I'll take level 3 in a years time. I can only hope my skills are much more impressive, which I'm sure they will be!

A couple of weeks ago, finally, after much thought and deliberation, I shelled out for a truly wonderful and shiny new Digital SLR! The joy of living in Japan meant it was so much cheaper than in the UK, almost by half, and arrived in two days! I've already taken an array of fantastic shots (including the ones on this post) which have fully justified the expenditure. Merry Christmas me!

In the same week JET's congregated in Ina for the Oshiba Tour. We tried on kimonos, had a fantastic meal at a posh ryouken, and took a wander around the surrounding site. When we were given the option of using the onsen facilities I took the time to get out, buy a nice blueberry bun, and sit by the lake taking pictures.


Oshiba ryouken room.


Amazing meal.

On the same weekend a couple of us headed to Nagoya, the nearest metropolis to us. It was my first visit there, and reminded me very much of what it was, a big city. Nonetheless, Ben, Bryce and me had some amazing Mexican food, a meal at the Outback Steakhouse (wow!), did some shopping, and found the international store, which obviously sells lots of lovely international food! Hello Cadburys! Hello Heinz! Hello Lea & Perrins!


Er... Bien Venido a Los Tacos!


Lovely light display on Nagoya station.


Amaaaaaaazing deep-fried onion thing at Outback Steakhouse.

The last week in Japan saw my Taiko and Karate bon enkai's (end of year parties), both of which were tasty and good fun!

Oh and I also got my tyres changed a couple of weeks back. The summer ones are no good for handling winter ice and snow, and as it happened I was right on time, as since then it's been really icy and snowy! When I left Nagano on Friday the snow was coming down hard and fast, thanking those tyres!


How I left Nagano. I wonder if it's waiting for my return...