rainy days. . .

that was interesting. . . for whatever reason, almost no one is in the office at the moment. the only people left are the three ladies who speak the least english of anyone i have met thus far. naturally, i decided to ask them one of the most difficult questions i have asked of anyone during my time here. . . since i work at the board of education (which is in the same building as all of the other city offices. . . city hall if you will), much prep is going on for the upcoming elections (september 11th). i innocently pointed to a banner spanning half of the building and said, “what is that?” . . . ha. oops. i got something to do with “how many” “election” “house of representatives”. . . after much searching in dictionaries. . . the thing is that once a question has been asked, they do not stop until they feel as though i fully understand the point they are trying to get across. . . no matter how long it takes! . . . if only my students will be this motivated to speak with me!

anyway. . . last night, i made two friends! (sounds like i’m in kindergarten, eh?). . . as i was exploring on saturday, i stumbled into the anpanman library and had a chat with the summer librarian. . . mostly in japanese, which should let you know the level of the conversation. . . she somehow managed to tell me that she has a daughter who studied in america. . . this is friend number one. . . sayaka (the librarian’s daughter) was my first official visitor! we had cookies and tea and a true conversation in english!!! sayaka, age 24, is an artist and wants to learn how to dance. . .we talked about starting ballet or modern classes on saturdays. . . guess it depends on how busy my schedule really ends up being. . . dance classes or not, sayaka should be a fun friend to try out japanese things with. . . friend number two. . . hmmm. . . i forgot his name. . . he is the industrial arts teacher at the junior high school and the only other teacher that lives in my dorm. . . while i thought he was in his mid-twenties, he is actually thirty-one. . . but a typical guy. . . coaches soccer, loves fishing (“my boat. . . dorm. . . my boat”). . . we played cards for an hour and a half and then chatted for a bit longer. . . his english actually isn’t that bad. . . like a lot of people, he just needs a chance to practice. . . along the way, i learned some new japanese words. . . yay! i have friends. . . sayaka suggested that “we” have a party to get to know the people in my dorm, which i had considered. . . but my room is a bit small. . . and i can’t bake cookies without an oven (and without flour. . . i looked the other day and never found it. . . but it must be somewhere. . . ugh) . . .

haha, i was just asked my blood type. . . why does everyone here know their blood type?? evidently, type A is the most popular in the board of education. . . because you all care to know that. . .

oh, my weekend was entertaining. . . i obviously had to test out my new car, so. . . i decided to check out some spots on the tourist brochures i was given upon my arrival in kochi. . . tourist spots should be safe enough to drive to alone, right? the most popular sites in kahoku (after the anpanman museum of course) are its waterfalls. . . i checked out my brochures, planned my route to the closer of the two, and was on my way. . . being in a brochure does classify it as a tourist site, does it not? tourist sites are typically located on large, paved roads, are they not? i drove across the bridge, through the next little village, and started up the mountain. . . the roads grew narrower (inconceivable one would think). . . the mirrors showing cars rounding the corners disappeared and signs signaling cars to honk appeared instead. . .about one third of the way up (as the side rails disappeared and the distance of the fall continued to increase), my fear of heights kicked in. . . i found a place to do about a twenty point turn and headed right back down the mountain. . . everyone in my office found this hilarious on monday. . . “you went up alone?”. . . of course i did, no one told me not to. . . they just gave me the brochures. . . i now have about ten offers from people in both offices for a weekend in the future. . . of course they find my driving in general amusing. . .

other news of the weekend, i visited the local café. . . “biraifu” (pun on birafu – where i live in kahoku – “be life”). . . and ordered my first meal in japanese by myself. . . this old lady kept standing up, looking at me around the corner, and sitting back down. . . finally, as she and her husband were leaving, she asked me where i live. . . not thinking, i told her near the elementary school. . . i eventually figured out that she meant where in the world (i.e. america) not where in kahoku. . . because why would a foreigner be living in kahoku? ha. . . sunday i managed to make my way to the big city of kochi (really it is rather large. . .tall buildings, lots of shopping, six lane highways) to visit the famous sunday market and the kochi castle. . . i ran into four or five other obnoxious americans. . . they were so loud and kept sticking their cameras right up in people’s faces. . . this was actually my first run-in with americans in japan outside of orientation in tokyo. . . i know i shouldn’t be arrogant because i don’t even want to know how many people i have annoyed or offended in my two weeks here, but. . . i hate how people speak louder to try and make others understand english. . . they are not deaf, they just don’t know the language. . . i also hate that tourists never seem to be concerned with just stepping back and observing their surroundings. . . the point of traveling is not to see some spectacle but to learn, to gain a new understanding, a new perspective. . . i don’t really know how to describe this. . . and i realize that not everyone travels with this same idea in mind. . . haha. . . silent observer . . . guess i should remember that from movement analysis. . . anyway. . . i learned how to drive in the city, in the inaka (rural area), and how not to drive in the mountains all in one weekend. . .

school begins on september 1st. . . i have to speak at two opening ceremonies (in english and japanese at both) and then teach my first three elementary school lessons! i will try to give an update soon after. . .