...WELL TURNS OUT, I had a surprise Enkai (welcome party). One of my English teachers came to me at 4 P.M. and asked me if I had plans. To tell you the truth I had no idea why he was asking me :) He is cute so I thought perhaps this is a date? Ha Ha. BUT no. It was an invitation to go out with all of my teachers. Well, Enkais are a big deal and even thought they are not mandatory they are. I asked if Kocho-sensei and Kyoto-sensei were going and he said yes. He then said that everyone but 2 people were coming. So I had to called Erin and cancel plans with her. I felt so bad considering this was 2 hours before we were supposed to meet up!
So I went to the Enkai! It was fantastic! Enkai's are funny. They are a place to eat and drink and "let loose" per say. It is a place for people to express any angst they may have in the work place and come Monday morning it is all left at the restaurant. The restaurants we go to for these Enkai's are called Izakaiyas (do a google search). You sit on the ground on a cushion and eat and drink for hours! I went to one for my birthday so refer to those pictures! :)
We left the Izakaiya about 10:30. It was perfect timing because I was off to Tsuchirua for a fireworks competition with some friends on Saturday morning...
Saturday October 4th: was such a fun day! I woke up pretty early to meet up with Erin and some non-JET foreigners. We drove on some beautiful back roads through Ibaraki to get to Cat's apartment. Cat is a JET from Britain. She offered to throw a party because her apartment is sooo close to this famous competition :) I got there early in the day and my other friends I was driving with went to the actual grounds of the fireworks to get a good viewing spot.
I hung out with a few JETs early in the day and then more and more came throughout the day. Annelyse and I went to the store when she arrived to go have lunch! Cat has a grocery store right next to her apartment, literally. :) So we got sushi and some food from the vendors outside the store. Since it was a festival many vendors were there selling all sorts of yummy Japanese food.
Annelyse and Emily :)
We ventured out to the grounds of the fireworks about 6:30. By this time it was dark and they were ready to shoot!! We bought chocolate covered bananas, cotton candy, etc! We found a spot to sit and watched 2.5 hours of fireworks!!! Here ya go...
After fireworks, we walked back, partied at Cat's, spent the night, and drove back the next morning! Yay for cotton candy and good friends! :)
John and I :) Itako peeps! yay!
Sunday October 5: Aki's birthday! :)
Well, since Aki was sweet to celebrate my birthday with me, I had to return the favor! Earlier in the day when I got back from Tsuchirua I went to the bakery we both love in ITAKO and bought 2 slices of delicious cake! We had a blast! We met up about 7:00 and went to her apartment so we could drop her car. After dropping her car off we went to this new Italian restaurant near her apartment! We live about 15 minutes away from each other. O.M.G! It was to die for! We sat and chatted for a very long time! Aki's English is fantastic! We had tomato salad and bruchetta (sp) and two different pastas! WOW! It was really good! It was nice to go to a real restaurant and not have sushi or go to an izakaiya...I love both of those but sometimes some Italian food just does a body good. After dinner we went back to her apartment and had cake and tea! It was so good! We chatted until about 10 and then I drove home! :) I love Aki, she is adorable! I think we will be good friends for a long time :)
Cheers to Aki!
YUMMY!
Hee hee, Italian mask :)
Aki opening her cake! I also gave her gel gems, a little towel, and ...shoot I can't currently remember. Ha ha.
Tuesday and Wednesday Oct. 7 & 8:
I had my Japanese night class and my class that I teach English to on Wednesday nights. My Japanese class was great! I am learning more and more Japanese every day. I must study harder though. I feel a little behind in my class. But, I am trying and that's what counts! Wednesday was really fun! Masa, one of the students from my Wednesday night class asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with he and his wife. I said yes, because it is rude to say no, right? Ha Ha. Besides I really enjoy him :) He is hilarious! His wife was wonderful. We went to a trendy izakaiya in sawara, the town over from Itako. We had many different types of food. We had salad, soup, sashimi, chicken, tea, wine...etc. Japan has this service called daiko. It is a taxi service but two people show up. They show up in one car. One person gets in your car and drives your car as the other person drives behind your car. It is the same price as a cab and you don't have to worry about getting your car later! Its great! So Masa said he wanted to have wine with me so we got wine and he paid for my daiko home :) When I finally got home it was about 11:15!!! Ha Ha! I went to bed and had to pack the next day for Osaka and Kyoto for another of many adventures with Annelyse!!! :)
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