Arm Tickeling Frenchie!

I don't know how but for some reason my time in Nagai can be ever so busy. I should really try to relax more during the week and rest my mind but that is NO FUN!! Usually events and things catch me by surprise and last week definitely was one of those times. We started off the week with a kindergarten trip to the next town for a picnic and hike. I really enjoyed this but was pretty exhausted after the 5 hours spent outdoors with the oh so cute kids then off to teach all evening. As well, there was a continuation of a festival going on all week with events in the park, and I went out socializing after work twice. Good night sleeps are important for my job and I really should avoid going out but sometimes all the slow talking or no talking at work requires a little gaijin conversing when the day is done. You know just to keep you sane!
For this past week Nagai had a special visitor from France. I have recently since moving to Japan joined couch surfing to find cheaper/free accommodations when travelling about Japan. In order to get free "couches" to sleep on I need to offer mine in return. So on Wednesday night, during Rebecca and my wine and cheese night we discovered a lone traveller from Russia seeking a couch. She agreed to reply on her account to invite him at her place and I'd stay too. We thought this was best considering he was a guy and she was a girl. So Thursday night excitedly we all met for drinks at Paradise (a great Thursday night bar). Turns out the backpacker wasn't Russian but French. To my excitement I had someone to speak francais with! I was super happy because compared to the Japanese language, I know and can understand a lot more French! The night was also special because I met Julie on the street and invited her for drinks. She is a teacher from Yamagata city who comes out to Nagai once a month.

Four foreigners in a tiny bar in Nagai sure is unique and suprising!After many drinks and a combination of French, English and Japanese conversation we ventured home inebriated and tired. After a jaunt through the park and some bush hopping we made it to Rebecca's for a good nights sleep. Or so I thought. Three hours later I awoke out of my stupor to feel the Frenchman tickling my arm! It took me a second to realize where I was and what I was feeling and from whom....in which I rolled over closer to Rebecca. In Japan if you have guests everyone just finds a spot for a futon and sleeps on the floor. Its cozy, but in this case too cozy. At 4am, I had to leave after feeling the tickling a few more times. I just couldn't sleep and by this time the sun was up. On my bike home I took at picture of the sunrise. It was peaceful and settling, but not enough for me to fall asleep. I ended up receiving a message from Anne and bantered back and forth over cell phone email with her about a possible visit to Japan. Let's just say that a 3 hour night sleep makes for a really long 11hour workday! Unfortunately Anne didn't book the ticket but either way it was good to catch up!
In the end this experience made me realize a place doesn't need to be big in order for great things to happen. Rebecca and I, but mostly her spent the rest of the weekend entertaining this guy until finally Monday night kicking him out of Nagai. He was lucky to come on a festival weekend. This week of suprises reminded me how much fun I can have here but also that I need to limit it during the work week because by the end of it I am way too exhausted and everything about Japan really gets me down. One big struggle here is the language. I think a lot about if I were in a place that spoke french life would be easier. Many times when I think of Japanese words or phrases the French comes first. I guess this is just how your brain works. I wish so much I could speak as much Japanese as I can French. However, after this frenchie's visit no matter the language barrier I much more prefer the temperament of Japanese men over a French man's forwardness! Cultural differences never get boring!

Golden Week

Today it is rainging so a great time to update the blog. This morning I enjoyed a tea ceremony and Festival in Nagai but now I am bored at home hiding from the rain. I know I am always way behind in posting these. But here is an update of what Becky, Chelsea and I got up to in Yamagata during the Golden week festivities! I had a good amount of vacation time so we were able to explore many different parts of Nagai and Yamagata and enjoy the company of many of my Japanese students, coworkers and friends. Having the gals hang around in Nagai with me was super fun, we rented a car (yay I got to drive in Japan) and biked a lot. The car gave me a great sense of freedom and while biking we we able to enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery Nagai has to offer.
My favorite day we had was on Saturday. In the morning we visited my Boss, Tomohide's temple. He is a monk and it was the first time I had seen the inside of his Temple. It was convenient because then they invited us over for a yaki-soba and tempura dinner. mmmm...delicious is all I have to say. Afterwards we met up with Rebecca and went for a fresh soba lunch then headed to the mountain by bike to visit Yuji's family's toy factory. They make traditional Japanses Kendama toys. It is a pretty tricky toy but definitely fun to try even though I am not very good at it. Becky picked it up quite fast and became a master of Kendama!

Yuji's grandmother hard at work. She was super sweet and made a pink Kendama for Becky to buy because they didn't have any ready. Pink and light blue are new colours for the business.

As you can see I have a lot of practice to do! Here we are with Yoshi and Chikako after a very intensive night of drinking at Waraji, a pretty sweet izakaya in town. Chelsea was a super challenger and ate raw squid and octopus! SCARY!

Iyumi's wedding ceremony. We were late and missed most of the ceremony because I got lost driving in Yonezawa, but we still enjoyed seeing her dressed so beaulifully in traditional Japanese wedding gown. We learned that most Japanese brides wear three wedding dresses in the day. Japanese style, western style both white and then one other dress with colour.

The second major highlight of the week had to be was a re-enactment battle scene from Japan's Feudal era in Yonezawa city. Apparantly something like 150,000 people went to watch the festival that day. It was crazy busy driving in the city, but well worth it!

Friends in Tokyo

The arrival of Chelsea and Becky was definitely one up there on the excitement meter for me here in Japan! Two weekends ago, I travelled by night bus down to Tokyo to meet them. At 6 am we met on an obscure bridge and headed to Tsukiji Fish Market to check out the fish auction that goes on everyday in Tokyo. Apparantly the location of the market may be changing so we were lucky to visit on this trip. It was pretty gross, but interesting to say the least. The whole Saturday was full of many suprises, adventures and a lot of catching up. We went to chat and coffee at Starbucks after the fish market and accoriding to Becky and Chelsea, they listened and I did all the talking!

Saturday evening we had dinner and drinks in the hotel and headed to ageHA club to see Ferry Corsten play! Here we are on our way out of the hotel and below is us getting the train tickets to the club. Notice I have the concerts tickets and a Chu-hi in my hand...gotta love the drinking anywhere laws in Japan! I was super stoked for the evening and was not dissappointed at all with the club, music or Ferry's dj set! Heck at the end, after dancing and jumping almost at the front for 3 hours, he even reached into the crowd and I touched his hand!

The next few days in Tokyo we spent touring around different areas, the highlight being Kamakura to see the Amida Buddha. Apparantly I have a new fascination with giant Buddha's. We also made a day trip to Tokyo Disneyland where dreams come true. We ran around and felt like kids again. That evening we eneded the magical day with a Cirque de Soleil performace. This is one reason why I love visiting Tokyo so much. You don't have to go very far to find something amazing to do. I have had a lot of opportunities to experience things I wouldn't get to at home in Regina. Here we are in Kamakura. I like how the picture just shows us in the corner as if we aren't the focal point of the shot, when actually Becky missed when setting it up. I like it better than the revised picture we took next where we are smack dab in the middle. This one has more character.

Here I am, obasan (grandmother) in a robe from our hotel room. Our Tokyo trip came to a close Tuesday morning when we left for Yamagata the next chapter in Becky and Chelsea's trip to Japan.

Conversations of Sakura!

Cherry Blossom season has been long gone but I just got the chance to upload all my pictures of the Sakura on my computer today. Yes! that is how busy it has been. Yesterday, I had a mild inner meltdown when I realised how much catching up I had to do this weekend. I am forcing myself to relax, unwind and reflect on the last 4 months.  This is the only weekend I have had free since my first two lonely weekends in Nagai. It is amazing all the things you can get up to in a foreign place.  It is also amazing how you can be so busy and around many new friends, yet still on the inside feel a bit isolated and lonely. That I assume is all apart of the foreign experience, or at least mine anyways. Keeping on track here, back to Conversations of Sakura. THEY ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TREES I HAVE EVER SEEN! and I'm not usually one to fancy tress, unless they are a very saturated green colour! Throughout my Japan travels in spring I saw a plethora of Sakura trees. From the first blooms in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara to mankai (fully bloomed) in Nagoya, Fukishima, Tokyo again, and then here in my home, Nagai, Yamagata! I enjoyed all of them so check out all the pics!

My first sighting of a cherry tree was in a park in Tokyo. Unfortunately this first trip in Tokyo left me a tad confused and I cannot remember the area that we viewed this early cheery tree!

Here is a picture of the beautiful cherry tree in front of Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japan. Inside the temple is the largest Buddha I have ever seen. A highlight so far in Japan because I had learned about this temple in my Japanese art history class. I like to experience things I have learned about in school, especially anything art related!

Here I am with Misako at the Zoo in Nagoya. This tree was absolutely beautiful, and we don't look so bad either. The day I spent with Misako, was wonderful. She was relaxed and showed me a lot of cool Japanese things. For example she had free tickets of this Ikebana show given by her old Tea Ceremony instructor. This was my favourite flower arrangement at the exhibit. Harsh, yet beautiful.

At home in Yamagata, the Sakura came so suddenly and left in the same manner. In that short time I was able to experience the Sakura in three distinct ways. The first being, a nice view out the window of the dance studio where I learned Hawaiian hula with a group of older Japanese ladies. I had mistakenly thought the hula class would be hula hooping not hawaiian hula dance! It was a strange two hours and the view of the pretty trees out the window made it serene and enjoyable. Then saturday morning I went for jog along the river. A row of back to back cheery trees lined the trail. Probably where I enjoyed the beauty of the trees the most because it was the perfect time of day, beautiful weather, nice breeze and SAKURA. My last experience and the epitome of Cherry season in Japan was the Hanami party in Akaya a neighbouring city. All the gaijin I know in the area met on top of the mountain and enjoyed drinking, snacks and English conversation under the cherry trees. I met a few new friends that day who live in the prefecture and was able to catch up with others I met before. My favourite shots of the Sakura were when the sun went down and the lights shone through the trees, making the colour of the pink pedals glow. It was a nice evening, which ended with a slice of pizza and a train ride home to my apartment.