The Unusual Route: AJ & Renee Do Japan!

AJ & Renee in Takko!

As of 22:06, Japan Standard Time, the Aomori prefecture, and the country itself, was hit with the unexpected. After hours of traveling (which included a 5 hour layover in Seattle), Renee Alexandra Glembocki finally arrived at Ninohe Station. I was beyond ecstatic to see her, and the icing on the cake was a MAJOR surprise that was Arthur Joseph Escobar IV. Yes, my friends were able to pull off an international surprise and I had absolutely no idea. I'm assuming there was a great deal of will power that went into not posting the travel plans all over facebook before their arrival. As I took in that he was actually standing in front of me, I tried to keep in mind that this is Japan and out bursts of any kind in public are typically frowned upon, but I couldn't hold it in and totally gaijin smashed the situation. Needless to say, watashi wa cho bikkuri shita desu!

Jesus is behind us!

After a short night of catching up over plates of yaki soba and a dish of nato (yes, I made them try it under the guise of it being really delicious and healthy...), we spent the next day taking in Takko's sights. Unfortunately, the rain made some impeccable timing and shortened our walking tour of the town just a bit.  But I was able to show them where I complete my daily errands like paying bills and buying groceries, which all happen to occur on the same street...revoting stuff, I tell you. After some brief stops at the Garlic Center and the town temple, we took a trip over to Shingo, the site of Christ's tomb.

Yes, apparently Jesus had traveled to Japan at the age of 21, learned everything he could about the people and culture, and returned to Israel to spread his Japanese-influenced teachings. The story doesn't end there; Jesus was, in fact, not the one crucified that fateful Good Friday. His younger (Asian) brother, Isukiri, "casually" took his place on the cross while Jesus returned to Japan and lived out his life peacefully in the Aomori prefecture as an apple farmer (the size of Aomori apples are said to be contributed to the fact that they've been touched by the hand of God...granted, this part of the story was contributed by Patrick). So THAT is how it happened, huh? I'm guessing I better give the Diocese of San Jose a call and let them know what's really up. We returned to Takko for a lunch of beef curry and my guests reminded me that they were suffering from jet lag and a nap was in order. They intended on a night full of karaoke, which required a good rest beforehand.

Shabu shabu!

Karaoke at Wioli

In appropriate Takko fashion, there had to be a party for the visitors. In light of my new found fondness for entertaining, I hosted the meal at my house and while I had wanted to opt for the yaki niku once more, Makiko suggested shabu shabu (which I had yet to try in Japan). The beauty of shabu shabu, like with yaki niku, is that it requires little to no preparation other than cutting up vegetables and setting the table. When the clean up time outweighs the prep time exponentially, you know it was a good party. We ended the night at Wioli, the neighborhood bar where everyone knows your name...but I think it's mostly because I'm the only blonde one in town.

Ganbare!

The next morning, after a brief whirlwind clean up, we headed over to Soyumura Village to make senbei - my favorite Japanese snack. In true Jessica form, I screwed up some process of the senbei-making experience and my dough came out...different. AJ and Renee, however, made beautiful senbei that received the praises of our senbei sensei. A quick lunch at the Gilroy Cafe and an array of farewells later, we were off on the Shinkansen to the next leg of the trip: a night in Kamagaya!

Once again, I neglected to bring the directions in my excitement, but I mostly remembered my way and had Kate on the keitai (cell phone) just in case. We successfully arrived almost in one piece and after a brief introduction to the group of JETs in Kate's neck of the woods, we headed to a local izikaya to eat and drink. One hour and a few kiwi sours later, we headed back to get a full night's rest in before heading to Kyoto あさ。

HELLO Kyoto!

The next morning was rainy and cold...not the ideal traveling weather when everything is done on foot and by public transportation. The ride to Kyoto required another three hours on the Shinkansen, so off we went! The further west we went, the better the weather became which only proves my theory that the west coast of any country is ALWAYS the best coast.

Upon arriving in Kyoto, I was all prepared to give the address of the ryokan in Japanese. I was practicing the pronunciation as we stood in line for the taxis and when we finally got into a cab, the provided address didn't suffice. The driver ended up calling the ryokan himself for directions and I felt like a Japanese failure. Luckily, this was not representative of how the rest of the trip would turn out. Between me and Kate (and AJ...after all, he is a Communications major), we were able to order food, drinks and get places. We certainly felt accomplished.

Noodle, vitamin C, iced coffee, etc

First meal in Kyoto? A restaurant recommended by the ryokan staff that slightly resembled a Japanese Denny's. Nevertheless, it was delicious and amazing and I didn't have to eat Japanese food. We made sure to check out the temple that was conveniently placed across the street from our ryokan and stopped into the convennie so AJ and Renee could see what all the fuss was about. I think the discovery of the king-sized cup of noodles is what really made that trip worth it. After checking into the ryokan (no Japanese required, but still managed to impress the guy a little) and cleaning up a bit, we hopped into a cab and made our way to our destination: the Gion District.

Gion District

Mission Accomplished!

Now, none of us did practically any research on what to do in Kyoto. I browsed a few websites and Renee flipped through a couple travel books, but we didn't design a set itinerary. There were, however, a few spots that we absolutely needed to hit. Granted, these destinations were inspired by my love for the Memoirs of a Geisha film, but they were still beautiful. The first was the Gion District: a historical area of Kyoto that is famous for geisha. The chances of spotting a real geisha or maiko are said to be slim, but there are plenty of them that dress the part and wander the streets just after twilight and they certainly get all the tourists in a tizzy. We ran into our first ones about 15 minutes after arriving and based on the excitement of the Japanese people around us, we took them to be authentic. After a brief show at Gion Corner that showcased a sampling of Japanese culture, we headed across the river for dinner and some karaoke. Choosing a restaurant was a bit more difficult than imagined because no matter how good my Japanese language skills will become, I don't think I'll ever master kanji, which is what the majority of menus are in. We assumed that if the menu outside didn't have an English sample, then it wouldn't have it inside either...that limited us to a few choices. Our final decision was an excellent one, however, especially the order of ninniku gohan (because I don't get it enough in Takko, right?). The group took full advantage of our two hour unlimited drinks option at the karaoke place and I insisted on a trip to Mickey D's before heading back to the ryokan. Lesson of the evening: when the people standing outside of bars and clubs are not begging you to come inside, chances are you're in some form of the red light district.

The following day, our first full day in Kyoto, was quite the adventure. We decided to hit up the Golden Pavilion, then head over to Ryoanji Temple and then end it at Fushimi Inarii. None of these places were remotely close to the ryokan and required public transportation of all kinds! Luckily the weather held up (actually, it got a bit warm) and we "ganbare'd" the entire time.

Moments in time:

•  For breakfast, we had one slice of toast. Yes, just one. That, and iced coffee. I added three creams to it because I'm too used to the iced coffee from vending machines.
• Even though we were definitely not the only gaijin there, this little old lady grabbed me and Renee and took a picture with us. Normally, I really don't mind, but she caught me off guard AND her bracelet tore a hole in my sweater in her excitement :( It's tough being golden-haired...
• At Ryoanji Temple, we weren't quite sure if we should take the usual route to the rock garden...
• We took about a million pictures at Fushimi...but please, do not judge. We've all been there.
• Day 5 in Japan and the group was ready for some non-Japanese food...yay! Who knew Irish pubs were so popular in Japan?
• Renee FINALLY got to use a *real* Japanese style toilet

Ryoanji Temple: Rock Garden...zen

At the end of our very busy day of sightseeing, we opted to sleep in the next morning instead of seeking out some morning destination and eventually it was time to hop on the train and say "mata ne" to our dear Kyoto.

I left the group at Tokyo GranSta and they continued their adventure in the city while I jumped onto another three hour Shinkansen trip back to Takko.

Fushimi Inari!

The entire trip went by far too quickly and it was an extra bummer to have to go back to work the next day. But I want to give my friends a HUGE round of applause and THANK YOU for coming all the way out to Japan to visit! I don't get homesick very often, but it's reallllly nice to have a taste of home every once and awhile and you were wonderful guests! I haven't laughed that much in a very long time. Friends, if any of this was appealing to you and you're interested in making the trip, please contact AJ and Renee for details :) Juuust kidding...but I love visitors and now they have firsthand accounts of how amazing everything is out here (pretty sure the Travel Bureau of Japan should give me some kind of commission)!

Next up: The group from Gilroy arrives tomorrow! It has officially been a year since I first came to Japan and it is incredible how time has flown and how much has happened since then. Looking forward to reliving the trip but in completely different shoes (and have I mentioned how big these shoes are to fill?...seriously!).

New favorite phrase: (ちがいお）Pronounced: Chi ga i ooooo (dragging out the "o" is essential). It's just a phrase that is used in conversation to say "No, it's different" in response to a statement someone has made. I'm guessing it's a polite way to say "You're wrong". The best way to say it is, "EEEeeeeEEEEEEEEh chiiiii gaa iiiii ooooooo"

A Day Trip to Little America

Sunday, September 19th was a day I have been anticipating for about two months. I would like to preface this entry by saying that I am thoroughly enjoying myself in Japan (if you couldn't tell by my previous entries), but I was in desperate need for a little Americana. And by Americana, I mean mexican food.

Train @ 8:30am...someone isn't happy

The 19th of September marked the annual Misawa Air Festival, a showcase of the US Air Force and Japan's version of military air forces. From what I hear, this year was far less crowded than last year and the ratio of Americans to Japanese was way more cockeyed. Because of the absence of the Thunderbirds from the line up this year, more Americans opted to skip town, so the base was overrun with Japanese.

I'm not usually one to be super impressed with air shows...I mean, after living in San Francisco for four years and watching the Blue Angels practice all week during Fleet Week and then watching them again on the weekend, other air shows just seem a bit repetitive. Of course each one has its showcase feature, but the Japanese are known for erring on the side of caution, so watching the planes take off, take a 360 loop and then land wasn't really doing it for me. So why did I even bother taking the hour trip to Misawa via train? The FOOD!

I don't think it's a secret that I'm not a huge fan of Japanese food. Don't get me wrong...I love me some ramen and I just ate so much food at the nursery school's monthly birthday celebration that I'll probably be in a haze for the rest of the afternoon. But for the most part, it just doesn't get me salivating. Since our destination was a US Military Base, there was promise of food not available in the rest of the country such as Burger King and Taco Bell. I guess Japan has yet to truly appreciate the wonders of mexican food, so Misawa would be my saving grace.

Breakfast at Taco Bell

When we arrived at Misawa Station, instead of following the droves of people on foot, we opted for a taxi that dropped us off at the front gates. Vendors selling curry and ice cream were tempting, but I had my eyes set on a bigger prize. We hadn't been inside the gates for more than three minutes before spotting the commissary and we immediately made a beeline for it. Now, keep in mind that it is about 9:30am at this point, but no "standard appropriate mealtime" was going to stop us. There had been rumors spread about Taco Bell's line being about four hours long and trust me, I totally would believe that. The Japanese love to wait in line; their motto is, if it's a long line, then it must be good. Well much to my surprise, there was no obnoxiously long line and I walked right up and ordered my Crunchwrap Supreme no problem. I disappointed myself when I realized that I forgot my US money but all was well...Japanese Yen was just as acceptable.

We had decided before entering the base that this entire day would be dedicated to eating food. It would be a marathon of sorts of eating. I paced myself by only ordering the Crunchwrap Supreme, thinking that I would have plenty more options once we got to the tarmac. There was even word about an entire area with tents featuring food from every state. I had to assume that somewhere in those tents would be the mexican food I had been lusting after all day. But once we stepped onto the tarmac, all I could see was Japanese food, Japanese food, Japanese food...if you've been keeping up with entries, you know how much I love my Japanese matsuri food, but my little Californian heart was set on a big ol' burrito with a side of rice.

Our stand out group...
note the booths of Japanese food

While we walked up and down the tarmac, we realized that we stuck out like nobody's business. With two of us being blonde and one giant in the group, we were easy to find in the mass of dark hair and average height. After checking out the inside of planes, making jokes about the missile launchers on display and dancing (and of course, singing) to "Danger Zone" in honor of Tom Cruise, we set out in search of the mythical group of tents that would hopefully deliver us what we desired.

In the end, we found tents that were serving American dishes, but it was limited to hamburgers and hot dogs. We heard through the grapevine that one tent was serving tacos, so Kendal and I made it our business to put ourselves in that line. As we walked up, however, they had just sold out. Sad, sad day. I was consoled by reminding myself that we were having dinner at the mexican restaurant that was right outside the base (I was told not to immediately raise my standards for this place to those that I hold Californian mexican to...but it was promised to be oishii). But I was let down once more when we arrived at its front door at 3:30pm and the restaurant wouldn't open until 5:00pm. At that point, we were all beat and decided to ditch the idea of eating mexican food in Japan.

Clearly IMPRESSED!

I had cut my losses after finally returning home with a homemade chocolate cake from the Enlisted Spouse's club and a bag of Cheeto's for my partner-in-crime (who I later found out was in Misawa that same day...sneaky Yasuyo). And even though I didn't get my mexican food, I still had a delish Crunchwrap, enjoyed a beer (although it was a Japanese beer...), and spent some time with some great people. The decision has been made to return to the base another time when I'm free to really enjoy the Americana of the place and to make sure that we are there around 5:00pm.

Funny Story: Every Tuesday night, Jessica's English Conversation Class is offered for young adults and adults. The annual Jr High and High School trips are quickly approaching, so my classes have become inundated with students. Last night we practiced "getting to know you" conversation and one of the questions we practiced was "What's your favorite food?". Most of the students answered with "sushi" or "ramen", but one high school boy surprised me with, "My favorite food is..taco". After making sure he meant "taco" and not "tako" (which means octopus in Japanese), I burst out laughing in complete disbelief that he actually chose tacos for his fav food!

In other news...RENEE ARRIVES TONIGHT! As of right now, her plane will probably land in about an hour or so, which means she'll be arriving in Takko around 9:30 this evening. Plans include touring around Takko and the Aomori area, a trip down to Kamagaya to pick up our wonderful friend Kate, and then a weekend in Kyoto! Not sure if Japan is prepared to handle this, but we'll see. Stayed tuned :)

Next week: As soon as Renee flies her little behind right on out of here, we will be welcoming in the next wave of guests: the Gilroy Delegation! That's right, Greg, Alannah and Queenie Lauren will be here for the annual Garlic & Beef Festival and this town couldn't be more excited..as am I!

Sanno-heyyy

It came. It saw. And then it left...The weekend, that is.

Takko's float at Nagawa's matsuri

While it didn't seem that way at the time, this weekend just seemed to fly by. In fact, all time seems to be flying by. We just started September and yet, we're already about half way through it. What's going on here?

Saki and me in front of Takko's float.

Anyway, this weekend was chalked up to be pretty mellow: Sannohe Matsuri on Saturday and Takko Sports Day on Sunday. Well, the weather had different plans for us altogether. It poured all day Saturday, which not only forced the matsuri to cancel that day's parade, but also made everything too wet for Sunday's sports day. With a slight change of plans and in order to avoid hanging out in my house for the entire weekend (even though I probably could have benefited from that), I spent the majority of the weekend in Sannohe enjoying their town's festival.

Ayumi (left) with other Takko
people on their float in Nagawa

Earlier in the week, I went to Nagawa's matsuri and like with most everything around here, I had no idea what to expect. Ayumi was dancing on what I later found out to be a float and I wasn't about to say no to festival food, so off I went! I put two and two together when I went to Sannohe's matsuri and observed that the floats were nearly identical to each other. Apparently, it is common for this time of year for the town to have a festival with floats decorated in this particular style (see picture) and for the entire town to be involved with decorating the floats and pulling them through the parade route. Naturally, because it's Japan and there has to be a winner, each float is judged and the appropriate ones are given their prizes. These parades are traditions that have been held for hundreds of years, so no matter rain or shine, the parades must go on. (Note: I was informed that Takko used to hold a festival similar to these a long time ago but due to budget cuts, the festival was cancelled. But let's be real, if they had to choose, Garlic & Beef Festival would always win, hands down)

Kendal, Mieko and me with KEN:
a mascot for the human rights
movement in Japan...

Saturday's rain struck fear into the hearts of all Sannohe-ians because they knew that if the torrential downpour continued into Sunday, they'd still have to be out there lugging a huge float through town. Luckily, they were blessed by Buddha with perfect weather for pulling floats: overcast and cool, but no rain. I had visited the evening before to check out the scene and to get myself some yaki soba, of course, and decided to return the next day if the sports day in town was cancelled (which it was).

We made sure to save
our spots on the bridge...

Nanbu Ben swooped me up the next afternoon and we headed to Sannohe. Both Ulu and Kendal were working in one capacity or another, but Ulu was able to temporarily ditch her duties and hang out with us. Sannohe is all of about 10 minutes away from Takko, so it was inevitable that I would run into people I knew (or in some cases, just knew me...awkward). We couldn't walk two steps without someone smiling and waving at us. We kept going back and forth asking each other who that wave was for and more than once did it turn out that it was a random act of greeting from someone in the crowd. It happens on the regular, so it wasn't surprising at all; however, it was nerve-racking making sure I wasn't just waving and smiling all casually to someone I actually knew. My facial recognition was on high that day to make sure I didn't miss anyone.

It's like a Where's Waldo for gaijin...
Where's Kendal?

After picking up a couple of choco-bananas and being handed a beer simply because I was a gaijin, we headed over to the restaurant to get some real food and then ran up the hill to Sannohe koto gakko (high school) so Ulu could sign out for the day. After some careful consideration and discussion, it was decided to end the night with some karaoke in Takko Town. I left hoping that people in my town wouldn't judge me for going out on a Sunday night and learning that the bar near my house (Wioli) charges by the karaoke song...9,000円 later, we learned to take it easy next time.

Sannohe Matsuri

With another weekend down, I'm anxiously anticipating this coming weekend's events. There's promise of a trip to Shimoda mall and a definite trip to Misawa's Air Show on the US military base. That means Taco Bell for those of us who are Mexican food-deprived (to my Californian readers, I do realize that TB does not qualify for Mexican food but when it's been over two months, you're going to take what you can get...). To top it off, we might even slip some karaoke in there at one point or another.

Bohemian Rhapsody...what part of
the song are we at here?

Coming Up: Renee arrives in 9 days!!! She will be my first official visitor to Takko and we (and by we, I mean the entire town of Takko and me) are excited for her arrival. Reeni chan, we're waiting for you!

Weather Update: Aki (fall) has arrived in the blink of an eye, but take that quite literally. One day we were all wearing shorts and perpetually sweating due to the high temps and humidity and then woke up the next day to semi-overcoast, cool and breezy weather. This gaijin is not complaining. I am typically a big fan of fall weather, but I have never been so happy to have it finally arrive.

New fav term: gaijin smash (noun or verb): a term that refers to gaijin (foreigners) that do something they know isn't allowed but know they can get away with it because they're foreign.

Example: 

"There's a sign blocking the road. Can we still go through?"

"Sure, let's just gaijin smash it."

PS: Rode out a magnitude 4 earthquake while writing this entry...

Whatever...carpe diem!

If you've been keeping up with updates, you've heard a lot about this JET Programme. The majority of (actually, probably all of) the foreigners I know in Japan are apart of this group. When I decided that I'd have to live in Japan someway somehow, JET was the program that I looked into, applied for and eventually withdrew my application from once I was offered the CIR position in Takko. Nevertheless, I still have found myself befriending JETs in the Aomori area, especially those within close proximity. While I did come to Japan to immerse myself in the culture and I love my Japanese friends, I do need some foreigner time every once and awhile.

Fairly certain that we were the
most responsible of the group.

The benefit of friending JETs is being included in the JET parties, especially when those friends are in charge of organizing said parties. Hence, this past weekend's AJET Welcome Party. By this time, most of the new JETs have been here for awhile, have settled in and enjoyed the welcome parties in their respective towns. However, the annual AJET party seems to serve three purposes: 1) the opportunity for return and new JETs to meet; 2) for new JETs that met at orientation to reunite; 3) to see how ridiculous people get with a little alcohol.

Gots skills

The event was held at the Shichinohe Cabins, which is a couple hours in some direction from Takko. I carpooled up with Kendal and Ululani (Sannohe ALTs...not new info), Ben from Nanbu (not to be confused with Nanbu ben...he is not a dialect), and Michael from Gonohe. Bad decisions (or good, depending on how you look at it) were made during a stop at the grocery store when boxed wine made its way into conversation and was eventually added to the cart to be purchased. The fact that it was red didn't help the situation and would later make someone in the group regret this decision (no, it wasn't me). Anyway, one beer, a few karaoke moments and a car ride game later, we made it to the campgrounds (interesting Japan fact: despite their zero tolerance driving under the influence law, drinking in a vehicle is not illegal, just as long as the driver isn't drinking).

Which was the worse of the two evils:
the glasses or the bag of red wine?

When my traveling group's first instinct was to go down to the tented area and begin drinking, I knew that even though location had a lot to do with it, I had chosen the right people to hang out with. By the time the sun had set, cabins had been claimed, alcohol was flowing and burgers were on the grill (YES, cheeseburgers!). For the most part, everyone was a familiar face to each other...even mine! As I introduced myself to people, several of them took a second and then said, "I remember you...you're the Garlic Queen!". Yes, my friends, apparently I'm a household name even outside of Takko. Many of the returning JETs had visited the Garlic and Beef Festival last year and saw me perform and crown Janice Garlic Sumo Champion (remember Janice?). I've come to accept the fact that it is something I will never live down.

I take back what I said before
about responsible. This is trouble.

By the end of the night, the AJET Welcome Party had certainly lived up to its reputation. The evening's highlights: one guy falling victim to the gaijin trip (don't worry, he was okay); fire dancing...not even sure that was it was really called; climbing to the top of the tent; introducing spank the bag to newbies; dancing solo to California Girls because I'm pretty sure I was the only one there; seeing at least three shooting stars in the span of about ten minutes. A not-so-highlight was ending up in the hot mess cabin...none of the mess being mine. But waking up and eating the Oreo's we had hidden in the trunk of the car was choice and made up for it...sort of.

The car ride home was spent recapping the night's events and Ben reassuring everyone that no matter how crazy they think they were, at least they didn't make out with Kasey (sorry, Kasey). Of course a stop at Mickey D's was in order since we were all starving (another interesting Japan fact: McDonald's, like the US, only serves breakfast in the morning; however, they also serve ONLY breakfast in the mornings...curbing that french fry craving wasn't gonna happen for me). To make the car ride that much more memorable, we found ourselves in the middle of a driving lesson of sorts (Ululani hadn't spent a lot of time driving in Japan yet...but we are of course grateful for her services!).

So my first AJET event = success. When people hear that I'm in Aomori, their first reaction is of disbelief and then concern about whether or not there is much to do up here. Clearly, these people have never been around many AJETs. Tip of the hat to you all...well done!

さすがJETの青森

Jeshka san: The Martha Stewart of Japan

ごめんなさい！(I'm sorry!)

Shockingly enough, I've been surprisingly busy this past week. It's finally September, and not to bring Green Day into this, but just wake me up when September ends! There is much to look forward to near the end of the month (Renee and Vinny come to town!) and the following month as a whole (Gilroy group comes to Takko AND Jessica makes her second return to the US). But alas, work must come before play hence, this entire month. Anyway, I haven't been able to update from this past weekend and it definitely deserves some notice before we happen upon this next weekend.

About two weeks ago in some inexplicable state of euphoria combined with hospitality, I channeled Martha Stewart and proposed the idea of having a dinner party at the apartment. Subconsciously, my desire to host a party transpired for two reasons: 1) I knew it would force me to go to the store, buy a hammer and hang the shelf and pictures that have been hanging out in the living room corner since I returned from Kamagaya; 2) I really wanted to express my gratitude in some way to everyone that has helped me make this transition into Japanese life. Thus, Saturday night at Jeshka's aparto was born.

Living room pre-party: note the
hot plate on the table :)

There was little to no discussion on what would be served. Even if I wanted to serve American food, I didn't have the means to get it because let's face it, I'm just not that creative in Japanese grocery stores. Well, I'm not creative in American grocery stores! So anyway, it was a no-brainer for me to go with the yakinuki, or Japanese barbecue. Again, there was little to no discussion on whether or not I should buy a hot plate either and it is now my official contribution to the CIR apartment. To all future CIRs out there...you're welcome :)

The best part of yakinuki is that the preparation is simply chopping. That's usually my task when preparing meals at home, so I felt like I could handle that. Yasuyo, as always, was a superstar and we went to Ninohe to pick up the necessities (and the hot plate, of course). For those of you not in-the-know, these are the ingredients for a successful and delicious yakinuki: meat (we went with beef and lamb), cabbage, onion, eggplant, bell peppers, and of course, garlic. Naturally, I got the yakitare (barbecue sauce) from the Garlic Center...the same sauce used at the Garlic and Beef Festival (WIN!) and as side dishes, we prepared tomato and mozzarella (which is surprisingly popular here) and corn on the cob. And to top it all off, we threw in some yaki soba noodles for good measure. Add in copious amounts of beer and wine and you got yourself a party!

Made my first okonomiyaki

The day of the party, I found myself occupied at another engagement. Takko Jr High and High Schools held their annual Sports Day and I was invited to observe and inevitably participate (more to come in another post). Anyway, it kept me out of the house and from over-chopping and double cleaning. After the festivities were over, I made one last run to the store and finally set myself to work.

The start to an awesome evening

As guests arrived, so did more food and drink. I had never seen the apartment so full of people and I loved that I got to hang out with my fab coworkers outside of work. In addition to GC coworkers and their families, Takko's ALT, Joel, two ALTs from Sannohe, Kendal and Ululani, and Yurie (this year's Takko Garlic Lady) were also in attendance.

Karaoke!

After plenty of food and drink (trust me....plenty), we headed off to the karaoke bar conveniently located four doors down from mine. In my "happy" state of mind, I didn't realize the time and practically pushed people out the door to sing some tunes, both Japanese and American. We were there long enough for just a few songs and were then ushered back to my apartment for a nightcap and a video chat session with the one and only, Patrick (which was the second of the evening).

I am happy to report that my first dinner party was a success, despite the agonizing hangover that followed the next day. I powered through that too and simply took it as a sign that it was truly a great time. And the best part about it, besides the fun that was obviously had by all, was that I have a new meal that I can cook myself, thanks to my handy dandy hot plate.

This weekend's events: Since my position as CIR is hired exclusively through the Takko government, I don't have a network of foreigners to associate with like other programs such as JET. However, I have been adopted by the local ALTs and was deemed an honorary JET, basically meaning that I will be invited to all their crazy events. This weekend is the AJET (Aomori JETs) Welcome Party at a campground somewhere out west...or maybe it's north. Or not. I'm not driving so I guess it doesn't matter! Anyway, it will be my first time meeting all those random people who friended me on facebook thinking I was a new JET. Stay tuned!

Funny story: For the past couple of weeks, Takko has been invaded with an insane amount of dragonflies, or とんぼ (tonbo). I was told that it's a combination of the insane heat and humidity we continue to suffer through and the fact that they're attracted to the rice fields, which are almost ready to harvest. It's crazy; I've watched the rice go from growing in flooded fields, to becoming long and tall and will soon turn golden brown and it's only been two months! Anyway, I digress...so these dragonflies, like every other bug in this country, are about five times larger than our US versions. These tonbo are HUGE and they tend to get into the buildings all the time. There was one in the office that was desperately shooting about trying to find a way out, inevitably causing everyone to crouch and duck in order to avoid it. I perform this exact same maneuver whenever these "little" guys find their way into the classroom and it's not so much that I'm afraid of them as much as I'm afraid of suffering from a concussion if it smacks me in the head. The kids, on the other hand, chase after it like it's a snitch (that's right, I just referenced Harry Potter) and the kid with enough prowess to capture it will hold the thing up by its wings, parade it around the room and shove it in my face yelling, "Jeshka san, MITE!" Needless to say, my bug tolerance is growing, but not by choice.

Blog Addition: I've added a Japan "To Do" list on the side of the page. There are a couple things on there that I've done already, but I want to add more! I've done a lot of stuff that those "Top 10 Things To Do in Japan" websites suggest, so I'm looking for originality. Feel free to share your ideas!