Home-made Dried Persimmons

A couple of weeks ago one of my darling elementary school teachers gave me a bag of persimmon (which I have recently discovered are DELICIOUS) with printed out instructions from the internet on how to dry them yourself at home.  This is common practice in the rural farming area that I live and so it was with great interest that I looked on as several school staff members began excitedly demonstrating each step as they hovered around my desk.  I gratefully took the persimmon home, along with the length of rope my Vice Principal offered me for the task, and a few days later attempted the process for myself.

First I had to pluck the leaves from the tops of the persimmon and then peel them, leaving a small portion of the skin on the bottom to stop the juices from dripping out.  Then I had to wash them and tie string around the stalks (which had been left on), one persimmon at each end of the string.

Wielding my persimmons-on-string I then went out to the balcony to hang them on my clothes line.  I wrapped each string around the clothes pole, in a place where they were both protected from the rain yet coud receive enough sunlight necessary for the drying process to be effective.  Each string had to be hung so that the persimmons weren't touching each other and could get maximum sunlight.

Now, I have to wait until January until they are ready to cut down and eat!  Oh, and did I mention that in order to ensure maximum flavour distribution throughout the dried persimmon I'm supposed to gently massage them weekly?  Haha.  Definitely an interesting cultural experience!

Burma Bound

It's official!  Today I booked the rest of my flights and will now, happily, be holidaying in Burma for Christmas/NYE this year!  Yeaboi!

I've always felt the need to travel to this country (the place where my father was born) and this year the time finally feels right to cross it off my list.  After a difficult year, Burma seems like just the place to wake up on Christmas morning and usher in the New Year.

Despite flying in and out of Rangoon and travelling solo, I am very much looking forward to everything Burma has to offer!  So far my itinerary includes an initial few days lounging about Rangoon (with plans to visit the famous Golden Pagoda on Christmas Day), a couple of days each in Mandalay (the City of Gems) and Bagan (the flat lands strewn with temple ruins as far as the eye can see) then back to Rangoon for NYE.  I'm also hoping to throw in a few day trips from the city, maybe out to the Golden Rock Temple in Kyaiktiyo or across to Bago.  I'm super excited about eating Burmese food for breakfast/lunch and dinner, doing some shopping, taking a million pictures, chatting with the locals and of course spending some time relaxing with a cocktail.

I've decided it's a sans laptop holiday but stay tuned for a full run down of the trip and some awesome pics when I return in 2013!

Annual Child Welfare Centre Christmas Visits

Every year at Christmas-time, the Tokushima JETs make a point to visit the six Child Welfare Centres (CWCs) in the prefecture.  These CWCs house needy children on a short-term, long-term or temporary basis' and usually have anywhere between 25-60 kids in residence.

In the months preceding Christmas, 6 volunteers from the JET community in Tokushima take on the role of Coordinator and contact these centres to schedule in a 2-hour visit - usually occurring in the December weekends leading up to the big day - where interested ALTs can volunteer their time to play games with the kids.  Furthermore, another 6 JETs fill positions as Gift Coordinators and fund-raise for each home, collecting gifts or pledges to the value of 1000yen (approximately 12AUD) from donators in the community.  After having such a good experience with it last year, this year I have again nominated to undertake the Gift Coordinator role at two CWCs.

So far I have made a giant toy order online at Amazon.co.jp with the first shipment of gifts arriving yesterday.  As someone who LOVES wrapping presents too, this next step is almost as exciting as the shopping part - I get to separate and wrap presents for more than 40 kids!  But all of that pales in comparison to the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you watch the kids rip open their presents and feel the love.  It's nice to be able to put a smile on these kids' faces and hang out with them for a few hours, especially at this time of year!

The first visits are due to happen this weekend, with 2 visits scheduled every weekend thereafter.  Unfortunately this year I can only make it to two separate CWCs but I'm really looking forward to playing some games, making some Christmas crafts and getting schooled in origami folding!

As a result of online privacy issues we usually can't take too many pictures at these events, but I'll post whatever appropriate pics I can afterwards.

Nude Supperclub

On my recent trip to Kagawa for Halloween I made a number of new friends and became better acquainted with some old ones, so on Saturday night I decided to catch up with some of them and tag along to Nude Supperclub for an evening of dancing.  This time, my local friends Natasha and Greg decided to come with me and at about 9pm (after a housewarming party) we set off down the expressway bound for Takamatsu.

For some reason Google maps were being a b*tch this weekend and so we got a little lost on our way to Saad's house, winding up a few streets over from his apartment.  We made it there eventually though, dragged our stuff upstairs, started getting ready to go out and began pre-drinking over a game of mini Jenga. By 11.30 we were ready to head out and as four non-Japanese-speakers-unable-to-call-a-cab we wandered down to the nearest combini (convenience store) to ask someone to order us a taxi.  Our poor taxi driver seemed a bit overwhelmed as we piled into the car trying to explain where we needed to go and instead of taking us straight there he drove to the nearest depot to ask his friends for help with our directions.  Following a Google map pin, we ended up getting a little lost but hopped out of the taxi to try and find our own way to the club.  A few phonecalls later and armed with a couple of new map pins, we flagged down another cab and made it to the club just in time to take advantage of the cheap-entry-before-midnight rule.  We almost didn't make it past the door bouncer as Greg forgot his ID - thank goodness for Kristin and her connections, who were able to help us out and usher us inside!

Wearing my new, blue, Australian shoes!

I have to say, I don't think very highly of clubbing in Japan - finding most offerings incomparable to venues at home and either lacking musically, in cost or atmosphere - so I was rather keen to suss out this seemingly popular club...  Nude Supperclub is a nightclub reminiscent of the clubs from home however, though set in a residential area somewhat out of the main city centre.  After ascending a flight of stairs you meet the door girl and bouncer, pay your entry fee (receiving a fancy looking free drink card in exchange for your 500yen) and then walk through a white sliding door to the lounge area.  This level houses a few leather bench seats, some upmarket bathrooms (with free merchandise for use - perfumes, hairspray etc) and a locker bay for stashing your coats/handbags.  Up another flight of stairs and you'll see another white door.  Once you open the door the sound of the music starts to flow out and if you can find your way through the mirrored hallway you'll see another white door to the club.  Behind this door is the club itself and opening it reveals a smoky den with banging house music playing LOUD.  We made our way to the bar to order our first round of drinks and then sauntered over to the dancefloor to see everyone who'd already arrived.

Greg and I posing in front of the Ladies Room mirror after he accidentally wandered into the wrong bathroom!

The music at the club was a mixture of vocal-heavy house music, danceable American hip-hop tunes and inexplicably popular-in-Japan tracks such as "Sex on the Beach" and "Shots".  Several dancing platforms were set-up for women only and a few of the girls got up on the bar to shake their thang on the stripper pole!  The crowd was a mix of foreigners and a cool, laidback Japanese crew - everyone looked super hot and were really friendly.

Leah, Greg and I getting our pose on for Nude's resident photographer.

Saad and Natasha.

A hot hot hot Japanese chickie dancing on the bar/stripper pole.

Unfortunately due to it's proximity to housing, Nude has a 3am closing time and soon enough we were being escorted out of the club to the parking lot downstairs.  We spent 30 minutes organising rides to the nearest Macca's and 3 carloads later we all made it one piece.  After eating the group broke up, with some choosing to stay at Sarah's (just around the corner) or catching a taxi back to Saad's for some early morning Jenga and last ditch drinks.  Needless to say, the hangover on Sunday wasn't pleasant and was only compounded by a trip to YouMe Town shopping centre (for lunch and to meet up with some other Toku girls who'd come across to go shopping).  To my immense relief, Natasha offered to drive between Takamatsu and her home in Naruto so I was able to gather my wits on the ride back to Tokushima.  After dropping her off, Greg and I went back to his place to chillax over dinner and a movie (how painful is Office Space btw?) before I made the 45 minute sojourn back out west to Awa.  All in all, another great weekend - though I have to admit to feeling like there wasn't enough coffee in the world to get me through this morning!!

With Fresh Eyes

For as long as I've lived here I can remember experiencing much of Japan with a somewhat jaded outlook.  Sure, at times things have seemed exciting and new but for the most part I just felt weary and lately have longed for home like nobody's business.  All the little lifestyle changes have niggled at me (the language barrier, my illiteracy, the excessive politeness, my role as an assistant teacher, the pay cut etc) and looking back it's pretty clear that I've spent a lot of my time in a mild cultural depression.  But not anymore!  Recently I have started to look at Japan with fresh eyes and in all honesty, I'm loving what I see!

It's not that all of the irritating things have disappeared or that I have better learnt to live with them.  It's just that I've come to appreciate the fact that my time in this, often bewildering, country is finite - and quickly evaporating.  I've started to feel like I don't have enough time for all of the adventures out there for the taking, as my social schedule booms and the diary begins to fill fast.  The weeks aren't long enough and the weekends can't come fast enough to allow me to do and see and experience everything on my list.  It means that downtime spent at home or even within this prefecture has begun to grate on me, especially as I look back at all the time I've spent tucked under the sheets watching films, lolling about my apartment in my underpants or idling the weekends away in Tokushima doing nothing really special at all.

And it's not just my motivation towards doing things that has been revitalised...  I am also thoroughly enjoying my (albeit minor) role teaching, food has never tasted so good, the countryside seems teeming with golden photo opportunities, my creativity is piquing and I've started looking around with awe and wonder again (crazy products at the supermarket or advertisements on the train, anyone?).  Not quite sure how long the upswing will last, but for as long as it does, I'll be happily chilling here in my little Stage 1 bubble.

Halloween (post-blog: good v. bad)

Halloween kicked off early this year with the Friday ALT-English-Day gathering at Kitako High School.  I decided to roll with a "Good versus Bad" theme in 2012 and start the festivities dressed as a princess, figuring all pink is about as far from my usual as possible.  Walking to my car in the morning, I passed a delivery man entering my building - the look on his face as he took in my tiara and overwhelming girliness was priceless.  Stopping at the convenience store a little further down the road had the same effect, with most people clearly wondering whether I was dressed up for Halloween or just because I'm a strange foreign person...

The English Day at Kitako itself wasn't too bad.  All of the 75 ALTs were dressed up in Halloween costumes ranging from snuggly animal onesie suits to cartoon characters to movie stars to the British royal family.  The classes themselves though got a tad boring after a while, as we were, as predicted, repeating the same activity over and over again simply with different students.

The Princess and her Superman (Viet)

The highlight of my Halloween though had to be my party-fun-times in Kagawa.  I ended up imbibing quite a bit on Friday night and didn't depart for Kagawa as early as I had hoped on Saturday.  Instead of visiting temples on my way over, I cranked the stereo up loud and got myself out of a hangover and into a party mood!  I first landed at Kristin's house in Marugame, where we got ready together (turns out I have zero talent when it comes to things like eyeshadow and fake lashes!) before driving the 20 minutes to Sarah's house in Takamatsu.  The rest of the girls were getting ready there and the costumes were divine.  There was an African princess, a cowgirl, a cute/crazy Ronald McDonald, a butterfly and the Statue of Liberty!  Needless to say, in my red dress and with flaming red hair, I was incredibly bright as Jessica Rabbit.

Dressed up as "bad girl" Jessica Rabbit for Halloween 2012.

L-R: Cowgirl (Soeng), Cute/Crazy Ronald McDonald (Hannah), African Princess (Leandi), Jessica Rabbit (me), Butterfly (Kristin) and the Statue of Liberty (Sarah).

Picture courtesy of Kristin S.

At about 9pm we set off to the city centre, parking the car and sauntering down the shotengai (shopping arcade) turning heads and causing a scene as we passed by.  Groups of people would literally stop walking and stare at us as we walked by.  There were a few whistles, lots of whispers and even a couple of sneaky photographs taken.

The music in the club was banging and I pretty much just spent hours dancing!  Of course, I did find time to make a few friends, stumbling my way horrendously through a conversation with some older Japanese guys intent on buying us drinks.  Sometime in the early hours we decided to switch venues and from there ended up in a greasy ramen joint for a late night noodle snack.  Eventually we made it home (not before a few hijinks!) and bedded down with some Maccas chicken nuggets at sunrise.  Surprisingly, the hangover wasn't at all bad and a lazy girls-day Sunday watching movies, eating Mexican and smoking hookah was a delightful end to a surreal weekend.

All out Halloween in Japan?  Done.