Another Amazing Weekend

Another amazing weekend.

While the workweeks here are just as normal as weeks in America, the weekends are where I seem to remember how amazing this country is, as well as how cool the other JETs in Fukui are. I do love teaching but I can teach anywhere, so why not here!

On Saturday, Paul and I went to calligraphy class together and our friend Rich sat in. We hadn’t talked with him too much previously so it was cool to get to know him. Then our calligraphy teacher took us to lunch to a place called “The Funky Pumpkin” or something like that. We went for lunch so it was cheap and delicious but was a pretty fancy place. We were the only people not dressed up. I almost never know what I order in Japan, unless it’s a specific type of food I know! But, to my delight, I ended up with a delicious sweet potato soup and tasty salad with green tea on the side. All for under \1,000 ($10)!

Then Paul, Rich, and I went to the Science Museum in Tsuruga. It was free! It was a pretty cool museum with a nice view of Tsuruga. Then we went shopping and Rich bought a futon, so we drove it to his apartment for him and just hung out for awhile. Then we went to dinner at our favorite curry rice spot, CoCo Ichiban. Another delicious meal for under ten dollars!

On Sunday I went to Kyoto with Paul, Katy, and Dan. Our Express Trains were late on the way there and back, which made me unhappy since we paid extra and they were supposed to be speedy. All that talk of the incredibly fast Japanese train systems is possibly exaggerated. It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day and we all had a great time. Dan was very good with reading the maps and we got around easily. We saw a pagoda and a beautiful temple as well as the old historical part of Kyoto. I love this part, it is absolutely incredible. There are old style buildings which are filled with stores of neat Japanese things (don’t worry, you’ll all get gifts when I return!) and lots of free samples. Not to mention a few delicious ice cream places. I got green tea ice cream. Yes, it is yummy, even if it sounds strange. Then we all went to an English bookstore (I had been there last time) and were in English heaven! Of course I met other JETs there which is not surprising. One was from England but is Italian, and we spoke a little Italian. I realized my listening skills have gone down, and will plan on listening to the Italian internet radio. Then we ate lunch at this cute little Japanese place in the middle of all the huge shops. You’d almost miss the place if it wasn’t for the plastic food in the window. (The plastic food is always so convincing!) Then we took our newly bought books the the station and waited for the train. Even though we were the first ones on the train, there weren’t seats for all of us. It was already crowded from previous stops!

On Monday, Paul and I met my superviser at a festival in Obama. There is a nice museum there (where we had the summer camp) and on the second floor you could learn some Japanese crafts. My superviser’s daughter made a box. Paul and I made chopsticks and a box. It was fun! I still feel however, with all the art lesson things I’ve done, that I want to go deeper with one of them. I’ve had good introductions to crafts but haven’t been able to experiment with anything. I’m wondering if I return to pottery several times I can start to experiment, or at least paint my own pots.

Anyway, after that we went to dinner at my superviser’s house with another ALT, Alison. What a great weekend!

-Lisa