Although I had another three day weekend this week I didn't end up doing that much adventuring.
I did take my first Saturday off in six months this week. I got up somewhat early and headed down to the local electronics store to buy Nintendo's new hand-held. I then attempted to sign up for Japanese lessons at the local community center. Unfortunately I was supposed to have come in on the first business day of the month not the first of the month (more on that later.) I then had popcorn for lunch and watched the latest Studio Ghibli (think Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle) film: Gake No Ue No Punyo. Again, it was the first of the month, so the ticket was only 1000 yen (almost half off the regular price!) In the evening I went to watch the Kobe International Kendo Club's practice. They seem like a nice group and as their name suggests, are more then welcoming to foreigners who want to practice.
Monday was the "Culture Day" national holiday which, because it was cloudy and threatening rain, I chose to celebrate as "American Culture Day" by sitting around the house, watching movies, and ordering pizza.
Tuesday I had to go into Osaka for training in the morning and ended up spending most of the early afternoon window shopping in the Namba (South Osaka) area. When I eventually got back to Kobe I tried to sign up at the community center again, but they had run out of volunteers for the month by that time of day (I'd have gone in the morning, but training started before the center opened.) In the evening I went to Kendo practice. Because the school gym where practice is usually held was in use we got (a very informative) lesson on Japanese swords from the head Kendo teacher. I was really happy that, even though the lesson was all in Japanese, I still understood all the major points (and was even able to ask some questions.)
Wednesday I took the train to Ashiya then the ferry over to Awaji Island. I failed at my objective of getting to the opposite side of the island to see the giant whirlpools there (stupid bus complex system/illiteracy combination.) Still, I got to see the other side of the Banshu-ako bridge (see earlier post for pictures) and the ferry ride was nice.
In other news I received my fifth assigned day per week at work today. I now know where I'll be going (and when) each day until my contract is up in April (then I get a new schedule.)
An finally a rant, because this really ticked me off this week: Tuesday evening we (the roommates and I) took out the garbage. We'd let it stack up on the balcony for a couple of weeks and there were maybe 5 or 6 bags. As we placed the bags in the designated trash pick-up spot we were confronted by an older woman. After a few moments of confused quasi-communication we figured out that she wanted us to use a new type of trash bag (as opposed to the plastic ones we had been using up to this point.) We apologized and even took our trash with us, saying that we'd buy the new bags and transfer the trash over. Here's the kicker, she followed us home (she's been asking where we lived and I kept answering vaguely "close".) We bought the bags, transferred the trash and took it back to the dumping site. She saw us with the new (correct) bags. Still, knowing where we lived, she contacted our building owner - who contacted our landlord - who e-mailed us to make sure we knew about the new trash bag rules. The only thing keeping my from going totally ballistic is recalling the scene from Office Space about "did you get the memo...". I had a feeling after the lady followed us that we'd be getting a call/e-mail regardless, but I was hoping that, since we did the right thing in the end, we'd not be pestered further. Okay, end rant.
Finally congratulations Barack Obama. The general consensus here is that the American people made a good choice. No more lying about being Canadian for me! The citizens of Obama city, Japan are especially happy.
Until next time:
Jaa Mata Ne.
I did take my first Saturday off in six months this week. I got up somewhat early and headed down to the local electronics store to buy Nintendo's new hand-held. I then attempted to sign up for Japanese lessons at the local community center. Unfortunately I was supposed to have come in on the first business day of the month not the first of the month (more on that later.) I then had popcorn for lunch and watched the latest Studio Ghibli (think Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle) film: Gake No Ue No Punyo. Again, it was the first of the month, so the ticket was only 1000 yen (almost half off the regular price!) In the evening I went to watch the Kobe International Kendo Club's practice. They seem like a nice group and as their name suggests, are more then welcoming to foreigners who want to practice.
Monday was the "Culture Day" national holiday which, because it was cloudy and threatening rain, I chose to celebrate as "American Culture Day" by sitting around the house, watching movies, and ordering pizza.
Tuesday I had to go into Osaka for training in the morning and ended up spending most of the early afternoon window shopping in the Namba (South Osaka) area. When I eventually got back to Kobe I tried to sign up at the community center again, but they had run out of volunteers for the month by that time of day (I'd have gone in the morning, but training started before the center opened.) In the evening I went to Kendo practice. Because the school gym where practice is usually held was in use we got (a very informative) lesson on Japanese swords from the head Kendo teacher. I was really happy that, even though the lesson was all in Japanese, I still understood all the major points (and was even able to ask some questions.)
Wednesday I took the train to Ashiya then the ferry over to Awaji Island. I failed at my objective of getting to the opposite side of the island to see the giant whirlpools there (stupid bus complex system/illiteracy combination.) Still, I got to see the other side of the Banshu-ako bridge (see earlier post for pictures) and the ferry ride was nice.
In other news I received my fifth assigned day per week at work today. I now know where I'll be going (and when) each day until my contract is up in April (then I get a new schedule.)
An finally a rant, because this really ticked me off this week: Tuesday evening we (the roommates and I) took out the garbage. We'd let it stack up on the balcony for a couple of weeks and there were maybe 5 or 6 bags. As we placed the bags in the designated trash pick-up spot we were confronted by an older woman. After a few moments of confused quasi-communication we figured out that she wanted us to use a new type of trash bag (as opposed to the plastic ones we had been using up to this point.) We apologized and even took our trash with us, saying that we'd buy the new bags and transfer the trash over. Here's the kicker, she followed us home (she's been asking where we lived and I kept answering vaguely "close".) We bought the bags, transferred the trash and took it back to the dumping site. She saw us with the new (correct) bags. Still, knowing where we lived, she contacted our building owner - who contacted our landlord - who e-mailed us to make sure we knew about the new trash bag rules. The only thing keeping my from going totally ballistic is recalling the scene from Office Space about "did you get the memo...". I had a feeling after the lady followed us that we'd be getting a call/e-mail regardless, but I was hoping that, since we did the right thing in the end, we'd not be pestered further. Okay, end rant.
Finally congratulations Barack Obama. The general consensus here is that the American people made a good choice. No more lying about being Canadian for me! The citizens of Obama city, Japan are especially happy.
Until next time:
Jaa Mata Ne.
1 comment:
The Trash Bag Saga sounds like a Monty Python routine going somewhere to happen!! MomCat
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