My first weekend
Saturday started at 6am for me. Today’s plan was to meet Joe, the 2nd year ALT, and Andrea around 9:45 am. We then went to the bus terminal to meet up with Laura, who lives in Narao (about 30-40 mins by bus). When the 5 ALTs finally got together, our first plan was to walk around Aokata.
Andrea and Laura standing at the entrance
The main shrine building
The sumo pit
Inside the main shrine
The structure where the metal ball which is inhabited by a kami spirit.
Background story on the shirne
Even though this is where I live, I haven’t had a chance to really walk around to explore the place. The first stop for us was a shrine that overlooked the town. I learned that during events like New Year, people came here to celebrate and ring the bell for a good year. Also, the main shrine had an altar with a little metal ball behind some intricate structures. Within this ball is supposed to host a kami spirit. The shrine grounds went up the hill where we found a sumo pit, a couple smaller shrines, and a small shrine located deep in the woods. Besides the main shrine, there was a small room with various exhibits, mostly of the shrine priests, but I also saw Kyudo bows. I’ll have to inquire to see if I can do that while I’m here.
Andrea and I at the entrance of her town shrine
A shot into the shrine grounds
After the shrine, we decided to walk to Andrea’s town. Her place is only about 15-20 mins by walking. The bad thing was it was mostly uphill. When we reached the top, we saw the little valley where her town is located. The first place we saw was her high school that she teaches in. We watched the baseball club practice a little bit before heading over to her apartment. Her place was on the first floor of the complex, and it looked pretty spacious. Nathanial and I have about the same size as hers, but we have to go upstairs to get to the rooms.
One of the views walking down the road to Joe's place.
We stopped by a convenience store to pick up some water (it was only 10:30 and the temperature was already reaching 90+). From there we started to walk to Joe’s house, which is 45 mins away from Andrea. The walk really opened my eyes to where I am. All I could see was endless ocean dotted by smaller inhabitable islands. Joe was mentioning that he never gets tired of looking at the scenery. We passed through a couple tunnels with much needed breeze before reaching his town. We got to his place to drop off our valuables before heading out for something to eat. Joe showed us an Udon place he goes to often. When we entered, there was a family area to the left on the entrance. It was a tatami style seating. There were a couple families there with kids who gave us curious stares as we entered. After lunch, we made a quick stop to a whale shrine, which also doubled as an outlook. He mentioned that during a typhoon, he actually climbed to the top to get a look at the area. We started downhill so we can make our way to the beach.
The beach in this area is called Yamiguri beach. It’s the most popular beach on the island. However, there weren’t many people when we arrived. We jumped in our swimming attire and started walking into the water. It was low tide, so the actual beach was a little far from the dry sand. When I was walking to the water, I could see little holes on the ground created by small crabs burrowing themselves. The water was perfect! With the backdrop of ocean, the scenery was beautiful. You can’t beat looking at endless ocean one way, and tall mountains the other. We spent a good hour or two enjoying ourselves ( a good reward for all that walking today) before we headed back to Joe’s place to get ready for a barbeque.
Kamigoto's hope in English education
One of our many fireworks
Nathanial's way of international understanding
Joe's Kyoto-sensei showing us foreigners how to do things properly.
Grill master at work
The barbeque idea was a great way to end a night. We went to the local grocery store to stock up on grilling meats, beer, sake, etc. Joe’s grill took a long time to heat up, it was almost dark when we actually started cooking. Nevertheless, we got the barbeque started. We started telling stories of how JET life was on the island, and our personal experiences before coming to JET. About halfway through the barbeque, Joe’s neighbor brought us some fireworks to light because we were in the middle of a festival. We lit so many sparklers, roman candles, and other things that the street was covered in smoke. Eventually, there were a couple of people passing by to watch our lighting. It was around this time that one of Joe’s Japanese friends came over to hang out with us. He didn’t speak any English, so I tried my best with my broken Japanese to communicate with him. We lit a few more sprinklers before he had to go, and we wrapped up soon afterwards.
Again, Kamigoto's English hope
Me, George, and Andrea
Group shot after a few more drinks
Joe's way of international understanding
George ending our stay by playing some piano
After the barbeque, Joe wanted us to meet a bar owner and the supposed “most connected man on the island”. We walked about 5 mins to a bar called “George’s”. Inside, there were a couple patrons, and Joe’s Japanese friend that came over earlier. We sat with him and just started talking. Everyone seemed to have fun, of course after a few alcoholic drinks, had plenty of fun. Let’s just say that during the course of the night, 2 people had their shirt off and singing karaoke. George, the bar owner, was pretty good in English. He got his point across most of the time. However, I’m curious where he learned it. Every thing had a f this, f that, and god damn. It was pretty funny to hear him talk about his hatred towards Australians and New Zealanders. He also told us a story of a Yakuza encounter he had a few years ago. This guy had a lot of stories to tell (owning a bar probably gets you a lot of stories). I made a good impression on him because at the end of the night he told me that “you touched my heart, so I like you”. He said for Nathanial and I to come by during an afternoon and he’d give us free drinks. Around 2am, we got a taxi to go home. For a 10 minute ride, we ended up spending $15 for a ride home.
So that’s how my Saturday went down. I really appreciate what Joe has done for us, and the people he introduced. I’m sure that I’ll feel a lot better if I meet more people like Joe and his Japanese companions.
Now I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, worried sick about making it to work on time tomorrow. I guess I’ll just end up at the bus stop asking every bus if they stop in front of my school. Wish me luck!
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