Otanjōbiomedetō gozaimasu "Happy Birthday" (to me!) #24
I left off last time with my last week at Minami…
The weekend before my last week at Minami we took a weekend trip to Osaka!
On Saturday, October 15th, we woke up really early to be at Kofu station by 7:24am; that’s when our train left for Tokyo. I don’t know how to pack very well. It makes me nervous for our bigger trips. Lol Once we got to Tokyo we received our Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets and made it to Osaka by 2pm with no complications! Unfortunately check-in wasn’t until 3pm so we just wandered around for an hour until check-in. I was so exhausted but we couldn’t waste any time! We immediately recuperated and left for Osaka Castle. Ashley had mentioned that the last entry into the Castle was 4:30pm and that made me nervous as we didn’t get dropped off until 4:15pm. I also thought we wouldn’t be able to get up and close to the castle unless we entered by 4:30pm. So, I was rushing. When we finally got into the grounds of the castle I realized that the 4:30pm timeline was for touring inside the castle which I was perfectly content not doing as we would only get 30 minutes to do so. So, we just walked around and took pictures. It was quite beautiful.
We then headed to the bay area where we rode the Tempozan Ferris Wheel. If we had had more time we would have toured the giant aquarium that is located right there but we would have been rushed for time and who likes that? So, after the ferris wheel ride we slowly made our way back to our hotel.
On Sunday, October 16th we woke up and made our way to Himeji to see and tour the Himeji Castle. It was a beautiful day! We arrived at Himeji around 11am. The castle was right off the station. Once we arrived we took some pictures and made our way inside to take a tour of the castle! It was very interesting! Afterwards, we got some lunch and then went on a boat ride in the moat that surrounded the castle. It was a lot of fun. We then headed back to the station around 3pm getting us back to the hotel around 5pm. We rested at the hotel for a little while to recharge our phones and ourselves. Lol
Then we decided to make our way to Dotonbori which is a major shopping district. It was really cool to see in the night. We were on a particular mission to see the “Glico Man” or the running man. Along the way of trying to find it we stumbled across a private boat ride along the river for only $10 at 20 minutes. On our boat ride we found the running man! So it all worked out. It was a great way to end our already great weekend. We then headed back to the hotel and packed up for our long day of travel the following morning.
School Stories:
1.After school one day I went out to help with the track team and along the way I got stopped by the basketball team. There wasn’t a hoop so we just dribbled around for a little bit. I then palmed the ball and all of them went crazy! They were so amazed by this and upset that they couldn’t do it. Lol I’m just over here like thanks mom for my huge hands. LOL
2.At Nansei, my 1st grade teacher asked me to help with the listening portion of the mid-terms and of course I said yes. He brought me to this room that looked like a recording room. There was a huge microphone that I read the stories along with their questions. It was weird because I have no idea where the students were taking this test but I just talked into the microphone that probably was on an intercom in some room in the school. It was very interesting. Lol
3.So, I wanted to make my teachers little treats as a ‘Trick or Treat’ gift. Japan doesn’t really have the things I need to make good treats so I improvised and decided to make oreo rice krispie treats. It seemed fitting as it was black and white and then I was going to decorate it in orange and purple frosting. So, I went to Seria (dollar store) and got white frosting and orange and purple food coloring. When I went to put on the frosting I realized something smelled funny and then I tasted the ‘frosting’... I’m pretty sure it was glue… I just ruined my treats.. It was great. Lol
I have officially joined a soft volleyball team. We play on Wednesday nights at 8pm. I’m not allowed to play in the games but I can practice which I’ll take over staying at home doing nothing. Lol There are about 5 or so teams. The age range varies but primarily 40+ year olds. I’ve made some friends in the process. :D
Soft Volleyball is comparable to slow pitch. It’s an easier version of volleyball. Lol The court is small and the net is lower, which this may just be because it is not normal to have a giant like me around but regardless. Then there are only 4 players, still 3 hits, underhand serve, and the ball is like an oddly over-sized soft kickball (lol). Lots of fun though! We just scrimmage for an hour or so and then we’re done until the following Wednesday. I very much enjoy it!
On Friday, October 21st, I stayed over at Madison’s to book tickets to Thailand.. WE ARE GOING TO THAILAND. We had some difficulties along the way but it is officially happening! We will be spending Christmas in Thailand. How crazy!
On Saturday, October 22nd, we had planned a day trip to Tokyo. When we arrived in August, Madison had found this owl cafe and so in light of my bday being so close we decided to experience this owl cafe! It was absolutely amazing. I literally could have spent all day in there if not longer. I LOVE OWLS SO MUCH! I probably would’ve cried with joy if I wasn’t worried that they would kick me out thinking I was scared or something. LOL I was seriously the happiest person. I want to go every weekend! Lol Unfortunately they just allow 1 hour increments. One of the owls jumped onto Madison’s head which was the funniest thing ever. Lol
We then had the rest of the day to ourselves in Tokyo so we decided to go Bowling at a nearby arcade. It was a lot of fun! Then we went to Roppongi for dinner and found this Mexican restaurant which is SO rare in Japan so we had to try it out. I’m not a huge fan of spicy things though so it wasn’t my favorite thing but it was still nice. We then decided it was time to head home.
On Sunday, October 23rd, my host mom’s friend, Jim, was hosting his annual Halloween Party for his students. I had offered to help out and he took me up on it. I then recruited Madison and Ashley. It was so much fun! Jim and his wife, Akiyo, definitely know how to throw a party! There was an eyeball race (kind of like the spoon and egg race but with an eyeball instead), crafts, games, pumpkin carving, bingo, candy hunt, and more! It started at 2pm and went to about 4:30pm. It was awesome!
After Jim and Akiyo took us out for dinner which was soo nice of them! I just love Halloween.
On Monday, October 24th, I started back at Nansei again! They are testing this week (midterms) so I don’t really have any classes which kind of sucks. Way too much free time in an 8 hour day. Lol I guess I’ll just facebook and research things to do in Japan and travel opportunities..totally related to work.. LOL
On Tuesday, October 25th, I woke up with a little pain in my lower back that progressively got worse as the day went on. I kept asking the nurse for ice packs, although, it wasn’t really an ice pack...I’m not sure what it is...a band-aid with ointment on it is the best I can describe it. When I finally got home I thought that lying down for a bit would subside the pain. Nope. Made it so much worse. I was stuck on the bed from the pain. It took me a half hour to get to the door to let Kazumi inside. I have never felt this kind of pain before. Unfortunately, by the time I told Kazumi the clinics were closed so I had to wait until morning, which didn’t seem too terrible at the time because since I had been upright for a while the pain didn’t seem as bad.
After Kazumi left I figured maybe I didn’t lie down long enough. Maybe a good night’s rest will help with the pain. Wrong again. I had to use the restroom at 1am and I finally got the strength to be up right at around 2am. I was in soooo much pain. Thankfully Aaron had left behind a recliner. This was my saving grace. I was able to go back to sleep until Kazumi came back the following morning.
The pain had subsided a little but I still feared the thought of lying down on my back.
I had no idea how close this clinic was to my house! Literally right across the street from me. It must just be a locally owned clinic because I never would’ve guessed that this building was associated with a hospital. Lol I got seen fairly quickly and noticed right away that I was a sight to see. I had 5 people in the exam room with me. Now it could’ve been the fact that I was wearing owl leggings with a UNI long sleeve shirt and flamingo socks but I’m gonna bet that they were intrigued by the American visiting. It was obvious the 3 of the 5 in the room with me had stopped what they were doing to just observe. Lol Harmless but still a little creepy.
The overall visit was very interesting and an experience for sure. There wasn’t any privacy really which may seem obvious from my previous paragraph but also the exam room was open to the lobby so everyone in the lobby could hear in on whatever was being said in the exam room. Lol The building itself seems very rundown and crowded. When I envision a hospital or a clinic, I envision tidiness and white walls. This was not that.
I left the clinic with some pain medicine and some muscle relaxers that will last me a week. I took the day off work and just rested the rest of the day.
On Thursday, October 27th, I returned to work as I did feel better in a way that I could actually walk. I also couldn’t help myself but to go to school as this weekend we have a speech competition that I have been helping with for the past month and with it being crunch time I didn’t want to leave them hanging. It wasn’t a terrible day. Instead of pain in my lower back, I grew pain in between my shoulder blades. So that was fun.
On Saturday, October 29th, there was a speech competition being held for all the surrounding schools. I had been working with Nansei and Minami for the past month so I was really excited to see them perform. I was nervous to see what the other schools had to offer. I had high hopes for my kids though!
There are two different stories that they have to memorize. For the 2nd graders, a story about Paul Rusch who is famous for introducing American Football to Japan in the 1920s and resided right here in Yamanashi! Then, the 3rd graders story is about a man who risked the safety of him and his family to give visas to Jews so that they may be safe from the Nazis by living in Japan. Both really interesting and moving stories!
There were 15 contestants in both the 2nd grade speech and the 3rd grade speech. I was so nervous for my kids! There were some pretty good speeches given. Both of my Minami students got 3rd place so I was really happy for them! I felt bad for my Nansei students though. :/ Hopefully they kept their head up as they all were incredible!
After the speech competition Madison and I headed to Tokyo to start celebrating my birthday! We finally got to our Airbnb around 8pm and were ready to head out the door by 10:30pm!
Halloween in Japan is awesome! Halloween is new to Japan as they have only been celebrating this holiday for about 4-5 years. So, I was extremely impressed by what I saw. As soon as we stepped out of Shibuya station Madison and I couldn’t walk more than 10 or feet without being asked to take a picture with! Let me tell you feeling like a celebrity on my birthday felt pretty good! Lol Madison and I went as TY cat Beanie Babies….Or as copy cats...take your pick. Lol We literally just walked around for probably an hour or so people watching and taking pictures with people. We eventually decided it was probably time we actually went into a bar/club. Lol
On our way to one of the better known clubs called the Womb a little whole in the wall bar literally stopped us and made us come into their place which I absolutely do not regret as they cheered and sang Happy Birthday to me! It was awesome! The music was great and they were so excited to have us there! Lol
Then we finally went to the Womb which actually was kind of disappointing but oh well! Now we know. So, we left and headed back to a bunch of bars we passed on the way to the Womb. We like the music playing in this one club called the Flame so we stood in line for about an hour or so and met some pretty cool people! One of them was this girl who’s birthday is actually Halloween so we bonded of course! Lol She turned 30 and was backpacking! She started last month and will be backpacking for about 8 months total; extremely cool!
We finally got in and had a blast! It was a great way to end the night! We didn’t leave until about 4am! The bars were open until 6am! I’m not sure if this was only for Halloween or if this is always but it was still so much fun! Madison and I finally made it to bed around 5am
On Sunday, October 30th, I was so tired. We had to be out of our Airbnb by 11am and I wanted to keep sleeping. Thankfully Madison set an alarm otherwise I probably could’ve kept sleeping all day! Lol Once we left we did a little shopping and I bought more than I thought I would so I eventually told Madison that we need to go home before I don’t have any more money left. Lol The rest of my birthday was pretty chill! I came home and made dinner and that was about it.
On Monday, October 31st, I had the day off work since we had to work Saturday, which was really nice! I took that day to try and figure out my wifi, which I did! I HAVE WIFI PEOPLE! It only took 2.5 months...LOL Anyway, I got to skype Breanna and my family and that was really nice!
All in all, this Birthday will be hard to beat in years to come! :D
