February in Osaka

Feeling restless, last night I decided to go jogging. I jogged down to the riverside for the first time, it was pretty nice and I'd like to check it out during the day. I remember seeing people living in little shacks on the other side of the river the night I got lost there on my bike, so I kind of kept my distance, but I think it will be a fun place to go in the summertime.

I stopped off at the grocery store on my way home to buy some breakfast pizza toast, and when I got home, I realized I'd forgotten to bring my key again. It's strange... you'd think that in such a big building as mine, you'd have people coming in and out every five or ten minutes any time during the day or night, but try getting yourself locked out at 1am on a weekday night and you can easily expect an hour's wait.

So today I hid a secret key outside. I taped it to the bottom of something. I'm not going to tell you where because I have the sneaking suspicion that this is unfortunately being read by a number of people in the Osaka area.

Last week I met up with Megumi, my first language exchange partner, and she's now gone back to Australia for her last semester of university. She showed me around Ibaraki (the "town" where I work) which was nice because it turns out there's a gigantic shopping centre called Mycal with a huge cineplex, which should come in handy. We also happened upon a pet store that was selling goats. Young goats with horns. One was tied outside and was selling for about $800 and I took a small photo-shoot of it.

I also met up with Masa, my second language exchange partner. He called me and asked if I want to meet up Saturday night at 10:30pm, and emphasized the Saturday a few times to drill it into my head. I messaged him back and asked if I could bring a friend Saturday night. Then I got a call Thursday night at 10:30pm asking me where I was. I think he was a little embarassed to tell me that he doesn't know his days of the week in English very well. This could become very difficult for future meetings. Anyway, we met up and went to an izakaya where he ordered beer and a big bowl of raw podded beans.

Although Groundhog Day went completely unnoticed here (except for when I tried to explain what it was - though I'm not sure of the technicalities myself), the Japanese have their own special day on February 3rd, Setsuban. I've had about ten students try to explain to me what, exactly, Setsuban consists of, and here's what I've managed to piece together: Old Japanese men (possibly grandfathers) dress up like little ogres. They hop around while young people throw beans at them. Some have told me that the young people will shout "Demons be gone!" and by throwing beans out your door you can yell "Good luck come in!". I've also heard accounts of having to eat a number of beans equal to - and only equal to - your age. This was all I was told beforehand. But then on Friday, when Setsuban was taking place, one of my students came in with MASSIVE sushi rolls (bigger than my arm) and says they're another key part of the tradition. Needless to say, I was too confused to partake in any of it. I asked my students where I could find a retirement home that had old people to throw beans at but they advised me against it.

Friday night I went to the going-away party for my Italian friend (who has now moved back to Italy). Since I had to work that night I was only able to come for about an hour before having to go home on the last train, but it was at an Italian restaurant with an open bar and one pizza per person, so I consumed what I could in that window of time. The party was a lot of fun, it was mostly Japanese people so I had a chance to practice the little bits of Japanese I've been studying over the past couple of weeks. While talking to them, I heard murmurs of "Harry Potter!" among them, and when confronted they admitted that I look like Harry Potter to them. Sweet... I think I've made some more Japanese friends since a bunch of them asked me to "become friends with them" and one invited me to his birthday party Sunday night.

Early Saturday morning I left again to go up north to Shiga, where I had another "Shiga Friendship Meeting" (the English conversation group). I was tired, but not quite as tired as last time and it went over fairly well. Unforunately they said they will not be having another meeting until at least the end of March, so I'm in the market to pick up some new on-the-side work.

After the Shiga Friendship Meeting, some of the participants took Tim, Steve and I out for lunch to a really nice Japanese place. It was one of those ones where each table has their own room with sliding doors, the walls are made of paper, the table's really low and there are no chairs, just cushions on the floor. A lot of the food was pretty scary, but it was still a nice experience with some really great people. I love when the bill comes and someone else jumps to take it. I argue for a minute that I want to pay for myself, but secretly, I really, really don't.

Saturday afternoon I had a business meeting with American Steve. Yes, we're planning on starting a small business together here. We want to find a Japanese business partner, so we're currently in a search. Maybe we can have an Apprentice-style elimination contest...

Sunday night I went to this Japanese guy's birthday party. It's funny, I had prepped myself up for a big Japanese night with lots of "lost in translation" jokes and cross-cultural misunderstandings, then I arrived and it was all foreigners. The three Japanese people I had met on Friday were the only ones there and the rest were all from places like Australia, UK, Spain, Italy, Russia... We went to an izakaya and a lot of the conversation was in Japanese, but it was another great time. The three Japanese invited me to go see the movie "Munich" with them, has anyone seen it?

Remember my roommate Chris. Well I don't know if I mentioned this to you, but despite being on the same work schedule, I rarely saw him. Anyway, I was under the impression that he was moving back to Canada this week. So worried that it was Monday morning, I went to his room Sunday night to say goodbye. I looked in and it was completely empty. Actually, Will was there, moving in his stuff. I asked him where Chris was, he said he already left last week. Hahaha. Anyway, losing a roommate is a great opportunity to try to clean up a little bit. I've decided to push finding a new apartment off to when I have a little bit more money since I'll have to put a month's rent down right away, so it might be a while. Will and I went through the bathroom and threw out whatever wasn't either of our's from the sink area, and there were some dusty objects that have likely been there through the past 5-6 roommates. Also, it turned out that Chris's closet was jam-packed with old futons and blankets from about a dozen past roommates, so until we get word of a new roommate moving in we're going to try to convert Will's old room into a guest room.

This picture is of a Japanese-style hillside graveyard with Kyoto city in the backdrop: