Weekend!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

A view of from the pier

Shots from random heats

Nathanial's kids coming in first

This past weekend was another busy one. My Saturday started around 10am when Nathanial and I decided to walk over to Andrea’s town and see the Urahama festival. We got to the pier around 10:30am just in time to watch the Perron races (boat races). The weather was already starting to get really hot and my dark green shirt wasn’t helping. As we were baking in the sun, Nathanial’s students showed themselves. They were competing in the race to represent their school. Unfortunately, none of my schools were in the race. However, I did see a couple students as well as my JTE for Uonome Jr. High.

None of the other ALTs were there; I guess there were some communication problems on when the boat races were. We stayed to watch the placing ceremony where there mayor of the town gave a small speech of congratulations. All the teams were given bottled water and the placing teams received trophies and certificates. Nathanial’s students received 2^nd place. After the ceremony, we left to go see Andrea, who lives about 7 minutes from the pier. When we arrived, she told us that Laura was supposed to meet us at the pier. We also gave a call to Joe to tell him to meet us there as well. After about 30 minutes of vegetating in front of the air conditioner, we headed back to the pier.

When we got there, we found some shade in a small park nearby. It was about noon when we decided to go to the small restaurant across the street. This restaurant had a wide variety of food being offered. I ended up getting a pork cutlet set, Nathanial grabbing himself some ramen, and Andrea trying the curry. We sat by the window to watch for our other companions to eventually arrive. Laura came about 20 minutes after we started eating, with Joe following about 10 mins later.

Finally, the ALTs have gathered together. After our lunch, we decided to go to the beach near Joe’s place. Joe’s house is a 30 minute walk from the restaurant. I think I lost 10 lbs from sweating walking there. The walk isn’t so bad, but the weather kills me. The girls had to go back to Andrea’s place to get changed and drop off valuables, while the guys headed to Joe’s house to drop our valuables.

The beach was nothing more than a reward after baking in the heat all morning. We were waiting for the Urahama festival to get under way and had a couple hours to kill. The beach water was warm that day, even in the deeper area. Around 4:30 we started headed back to the festival. At this time Laura had to take a bus home to meet her previous engagements.

Kindergarten group

3rd grade girls

3rd grade boys

5th grade girls

5th grade boys

A dance school team

A community team

Group solo (If that made sense)

Another community team

My predecessor Vicky

The high school dance team (They called it color guard)

High school boys

Photo op of the dance team

The "everybody who wants to join" dance team

The professional dance team

The festival at the end of the dancing

When we got back, the festival was in full swing. There were girls in kimonos and booths full of games and food. The main event was the dance show. Groups from all over the island took part, from kindergarteners to dance school groups. All ages were covered, and everybody had a great time. I really enjoyed the costumes they had. The last dancers were professional hip hop dancers in LA Lakers wear. We found it funny that the music selection was full of unedited rap songs while the children sat in the front rows. I saw a bunch of my students there, all coming up to me saying “hello sensei” while bowing. I met up with a bunch of my boys and talked about what they’ve been doing in the festival. I also met my JTE teacher again. His wife and daughter were involved in the dance. Victoria was also there dancing. It seemed like the entire island was involved in some way at this festival.

Dinner at Yolanda's house (the one doing the peace sign)

We left around 8:00 to go have dinner with Joe’s friend Yolanda. Yolanda is a Filipino who works at a Udon restaurant in Joe’s town. Her cooking was the best! She also invited her other Filipino friend Meliza. They were both pleased to find out that I was Filipino and promptly started talking to me in tagalong. Both of them had excellent English and reminded me of Tita Norma and Tita Ester. They seemed to be very interested in where we came from and our Japanese abilities. They also mentioned that they were happy to meet other Filipinos because it’s so rare for them to pop up on the island. From what I understood, they’re both married to Japanese soldiers. Meliza has a 13 yr old daughter who was born here in Japan. Actually, we met up with the daughter at the festival. It was mind blowing to see a Filipino who couldn’t speak much English, but spoke fluent Japanese. It was truly a cultural broadening experience. They asked me to name some Filipino dishes I knew. I told them a bunch, but I loved lumpia. They laughed and told me that next time they’ll cook Filipino food for me. I’m very glad I met them, I’m sure I’ll end up eating dinner there again.

Normal behavior at George's

A great way to end a fun day.

After a very fulfilling dinner, the ALTs headed back to Georges where we just drank a few and talked to the other Japanese patrons.

So all in all, this was another good weekend. Hopefully this coming week will have me talking to all the teachers who took vacation the week before. Clubs are starting to meet, so I’m looking forward to getting involved with them.