Another week of summer

After work last Wednesday evening, I went with Atsuko and Toshi to see the Kisakata fireworks. We found Atsuko's friends Naomitsu and Mariko, who had claimed an area on the beach with a plastic tarpaulin, and then set out various foodstuffs and alcohol to consume during the fireworks performance. Atsuko and Mariko were the drivers so they were quiet, I am quiet even while drinking, and Naomitsu is a quiet, responsible person even after beer too. But Toshi is not. He was loud. He was yelling, cheering, and clapping even when nothing was happening. All the other people around us were either moving to another spot on the beach or were laughing at the obviously drunk man. Then Toshi decided to lecture Atsuko on what type of woman she ought to become in order to catch a husband. As if Toshi is not also single and in his thirties. He went on and on, and made Atsuko cry. But it turns out he was very drunk indeed, because when we made a move to leave, he could not stand up and I had to carry him. Even though I was annoyed at him for being an ass, I still had to feel sorry for him because he is so very bored here in Nikaho City, and he wants so badly to go back to Tokyo, or to Okinawa, or anywhere that isn't Nikaho really. The morals of this story: I am too nice to stay angry at people for very long; and no matter how big and muscly Asian men get, they are still weak weak weak when it comes to alcohol (seriously, he didn't drink that much).

On Thursday and Friday I was at the Prefectural Education Centre for this years JET Akita Orientation. Up until now the conferences have all been held in Akita City, but this year it was held in the Centre so that money could be saved (the Centre has a free dormitory, so no hotel fees were needed). Unfortunately, the Centre is out in the middle of the wops. Seriously, it is not even in greater Akita City area, but in a small town called Tenno which is a part of Katagami City (pop 32,000). The only place that sold food anywhere near the Centre was the town Lawson (convenience store). No restaurants, no supermarkets. Nothing. The conference itself was very boring for me, being the third Akita Orientation I have been to, and the ninth JET conference altogether. Usually at the conferences we have a big party at a restaurant on the first and/or second evening. But because there were no restaurants to speak of in the area, we had a party in the Centre. The food that was available: pizza, chips and beer. Something healthy would have been nice.

There was a party on the Friday evening too, but I couldn't go because Sean, Jonathan and I were taken back to Nikaho City by town car. Instead, the three of us went out in Kisakata. We ate at a place by the beach which had some nice foods. The highlight of the evening was definitely the 'takoyaki nanoni gyoza' - gyoza that looked like takoyaki. They even incorporated takoyaki batter, bonito flakes and mayonaise into them. OMG!

On Saturday morning my computer did not turn on properly, so I spent until well into the afternoon fixing that horrid lump of machinery. It had a fault in one of it's 'system 32' files that luckily could be fixed with the Scan Disc application. Of all the places to get a disc fault at . . .

I did nothing much on the Sunday either. At six in the evening, I received a phone call from Toshi, who was in Kamakura Station near Tokyo. Couldn't really hear what he was saying because Kamakura Station is very busy, especially early on a Sunday evening.

Yesterday I was at work. In the evening I went to yosakoi practice, and then after that to Atsuko's house. It seems that Atsuko is also not very good at holding grudges, because Toshi was there playing on her Playstation long before I got there. We ate expensive food Toshi brought back from Tokyo. Very expensive food. He appears not to be accustomed to his lower Nikaho salary yet: he thinks he is still rich. Toshi was addicted enough to the video game he was playing that he did not have much to do with our conversation. Atsuko and I just ate the expensive desserts and gossipped.

Today I went to Kamagadai in the morning, and then to the BOE to finally get all that rent business sorted out. What a relief that was. And then I ate gyuudon and the cake I mentioned in the last post. Yay.