Taiko & Vegetables

Life is going smoothly in Japan. This upcoming week I will visit 3 more of my schools and have my welcome party thrown by the Board of Education. Tom, my husband, has been invited, which makes me very happy! We will enjoy Japanese food and go to karaoke for the "second party." I have heard the Japanese are like hobbits when it comes to enkais (drinking parties). First enkai, second enkai, and for all I know they have elevensies.

On Friday, my husband and I tried taiko drumming for the first time. We were fortunate to join a class of elementary school children in a community education class. We were thrown into the mix, memorizing rhythms like masters. Well, in our minds anyway. There were some very genki kids - I love the part of taiko where you get to scream a Japanese word at the top of your lungs. I can't remember the word though...I wonder what it was?

I received a visit today for my first Japanese vegetable fairy. I even got a watermelon! This is a huge deal - in Japan melons are very expensive. Our grocery store sells watermelons for 2500 yen (more than $25). I just read about the game Suika-wari (すいかわり) - click link for video, nagashi somen comes first and at about 1:17 the game starts. Like a pinata, you try to split the melon open with a stick or baseball bat while blindfolded. It seems like fun, and a way to stretch your $25!

I met the organizer of the Adult English Circle that I will be teaching beginning on September 19th. We went to a restaurant called Alphorn about 5 minutes outside of Yakumo for dessert and beverages. The restaurant owner's husband was from Switzerland and she speaks great English. Tragically, the shop owner's husband died in a traffic accident about two years ago shortly after the restaurant opened. Three old dogs roamed around the very fancy restaurant, and I appreciated the change of pace from the law in America where no animals are allowed where food is prepared. 

 Last week, I also appeared in a news article in the Hokkaido newspaper! While I cannot read Japanese, I am told that it says the following things:

• My great grandmother was from Japan and I wanted to live in the country where she was from.
• I am eager to volunteer in the Tohoku region that was devastated in the earthquake/tsunami in March 2011. 
• I was a math tutor in the United States.
• I hope to get involved with soccer teams.

10,000 points for anyone who can tell me how my grocery store point cards will actually reward me? Like 500 yen off once I fill it up? That's my educated guess from looking at pictures and numbers:

 And finally, a video bonus for this week. This is a video of the brilliant yet savage ravens of Sapporo. The fiasco began while I ate some sandwiches and Cheetos in the park, minding my own business, next thing I now these guys are swarming around me. I gave one a Cheeto to try and appease it, and that caused more harm than good. The ravens became even more aggressive. Both cute and viscous, here is a video of the ravens:

...the way they hop towards sideways you with their eye facing you is so creepy...

* and rather than go back and edit my sentences, i notice that either being in japan is gradually reforming the way i write my sentences, or else i am just a bad writer.