THE Farewell Do
So Friday night I had my staff farewell party, but the one I was hanging out for was on Saturday night – my last big hoorah with my new besties from JET. Dan K, Cassie and I are the only ones from our “group” to be leaving, so Aimee organised a fantastic dinner at House of Pacific, a beautiful, posh restaurant in Kitano (north Kobe area). It was so swanky, we got 4 courses of delicious food….mmmmmm.
Of course we all had to get dressed up because it was posh, because it’s our last party together, and just because we wanted to (the girls wanted to anyway, the poor boys, it was very hot!). So we all donned our beautiful dresses and met at The Hub (a pub) for pre-drinks before heading to House of Pacific.
After than we headed back into Sannomiya for some karaoke at Jankara (Jumbo Karaoke). Many classics and newbies were belted out, but then suddenly the clock struck midnight and like Cinderella, everyone had to rush off. I guess it was better that way (in some ways) because it means no tearful farewells. Although I will see most of them again this weekend for my birthday dinner hahaha.
Thanks again to Aimee who was playing email ping pong with House of Pacific, it was a great night. It was a shame some of the other Perthies couldn’t make it, it would have been nice to see them again, but I am sure we will all catch up again in Perth.
Farewell Mubu, How I Loved Thee
Saturday was a sombre day…the day I had to return the love of my life for the past year (sorry Mick) – my trusty little white box of a car, Mubu. Oh we had some great times, I will never forget him.
The way he handled the rugged mountain roads on a hairy scary trip Mick and I took to Fukuchiyama (seriously through a mountain), Mubu was amazing. He was also such a cheap love, he had a small tank but he could go a long way for a little amount of money.
We went through a few scary experiences together, the scariest being my first time driving in the snow. Poor Mubu, he copped it that first day when I was so petrified I just put my foot down and totally gunned it through the 10 or so centimetres of freshsnow that covered my driveway and road (until I bought a shovel to make it easier for Moobs). But he never complained, he never faultered, he was just there for me when I needed him the most.
It was usually just Mubu and I, but he never got jealous when he had to share me with other people, like Mick, or my parents, or when Cassie and Emma visited. He just put on his happy face and drove us around.
Thank you for a wonderful 11 months Mubu. It was such a short time but you are etched into my memory forever. I love you always.
xxx
School Sayonara Party
Friday 25th, 6:30pm. My final staff function at Hikami-Nishi High School. Because it was my party, I sat at the front of the room between the Principal and the Deputy, the rest of the staff sat against the walls of the room facing each other.
It was a nice night, some formal speeches (including mine in Japanese) and then the food, a few courses of Japanese style food, it was delicious. And a few drinks of course haha, the Deputy kept trying to fill my glass straight away, when it was already full! That’s one of the crazy Japanese customs, you can’t fill your own glass, so if it’s empty, you offer to fill someone else’s in the hopes that they will reciprocate the favour. If someone offers to fill your’s up, and it’s already full, they usually skull a bit so it can be refilled. Crazy!
This above custom means that Japanese people drink a lot very fast in a short period of time at the beginning of staff functions, resulting in a lot of red-faced, drunk Japanese workers who are finally letting their hair down, possibly for the first time that year. It was insane.
Perhaps the most insane was a sumo display given by 2 teachers who were NOT drinking…they just broke out a sumo demonstration in the middle of the dinner. Then judo. Crazy!
I got given some lovely gifts – a beautiful material wall hanging that all the staff put in for, 5000yen ($50), a bunch of flowers and then Ashida Sensei (the new English teacher) gave me a hand painted vase with the 7 Gods on it that was his mother’s…how lovely!
It was a great night, and although being positioned at the front between the 2 “bosses” was a bit of a shame because it hindered my chatting, I had a wonderful time. The lovely nurse dropped me home when it was finished – 9pm, which is late by Japanese standards hahaha.
Where are my lasts??
So yesterday Cassie had her last day at school. While doing our usual email ping pong, she kept saying how it was her last day, the last time she would stamp in, the last time she had to get up early for work, and so on. This got me thinking…I have had no “lasts” yet.
The only last I have had was yesterday, it was my last bulk, non-burnable rubbish day. Yippee! Hahaha *add sarcastic tone*.
But then I thought harder, and this weekend will prove to be a few of my lasts all at the same time, and that’s scary! Friday night is my last staff party (my farewell party). Saturday morning is my last “clean up the school” day. Saturday afternoon is the last time I will have my car (BOO!) and then Saturday night will be the last time I see some of my new friends in Japan (of course I will see them when they eventually come home to Perth). We are having a Sayonara Party for Cassie, Dan K and myself.
So this weekend will have a few lasts…and then it is my LAST week next week…that is really scary, and super exciting!! I know the time from now will pass in a blur (except the 8 hours a day I have to sit at my desk doing nothing), I just hope I take time to savour all my “lasts”.
13 days left…
As the heading suggests, I have 13 days left in Japan. Yesterday was a public holiday, which I spent cleaning and packing. As my time draws to a close (and it is coming fast!) I look back on my time here with such mixed emotions.
I am happy to go home because ultimately I have so much to look forward to, most importantly getting to be back together with Mick, and seeing my family. But I also have such great friends there, and a new job to start, a new house to move into…it’s all so exciting!
But then…I have made such great friends here and I am sad to think I have to say goodbye to them. They are the only ones who can totally understand what this past year has been like. I have also done so much this year. I guess living in rural Japan has forced me to make the effort to see people and do things, and I have had some of the best adventures of my life here.
I can’t wait to get out of this small town though. I still wish I had been placed in a city, or at least somewhere close where I didn’t need to drive over 45 minutes to get to a station with frequent trains. I also do not particularly like my school, for a number of reasons many of you know. So the work part of this year will not be sadly missed.
But I will miss some of my teachers, and I will definitely miss the kindness of Japanese people. This kindness is not limited to the country areas, generally most Japanese people are friendly and willing to help. Actually, they often go out of their way to help, which can be frustrating and embarrassing at times haha, but with all good intentions! I don’t think I will ever encounter more kindness than I have in Japan.
I didn’t think I would be too sad to leave, but writing this post is starting to get me a little choked up. I have made this place my home, I am familiar with everything and have just started to talk more with the teachers, and now it is almost time to leave.
But hopefully some of them will visit me in Australia. I have showed them the caravan park website and some of them have actually written it down, so it would be really lovely if they actually make it over!
I wonder what reverse culture shock is like…and will I get it?
Kobe with Rumi
I haven’t seen Rumi, my host sister, since November last year when she met us all at Tokyo Disney Sea, so it was great to catch up with her over the weekend. She is working in Tokyo, so she came to Kobe and we stayed at the Crowne Plaza (the same place I stayed at with my parents last month).
It was a stinking hot weekend, and although the sun was harsh, I was outside in the sun for hours and no tan, not even a little bit red…crazy!
We met at the hotel on Saturday, dumped our bags (as we were too early for check in) and started walking around Sannomiya. We ended up walking all the way to Meriken Park, taking photos of Kobe Tower, before heading to Mozaic for some lunch (by now it was about 3pm so we were starving!).
Next we caught the train then bus to Mt Rokko. No, we didn’t climb the mountain, we took the cable car thank God! I think I may have passed out if I was mountain climbing in this heat and humidity…it really is unbearable. But wow, it’s not just a mountain…it’s like a whole other city up there, or town…with bus services, and shops / restaurants…I totally wasn’t expecting that at all!!!!
The whole reason for going up Mt Rokko was to wait until night so we could see the night view of Kobe. And wow, I am truly glad we did! The city lights just seemed to stretch forever, I couldn’t fit the whole view into my camera in 1 photo…and then we were treated to a fireworks show which was happening near the Port. It was beautiful!
After that we headed to Doma Doma in Sannomiya for some dinner (starting at 9pm). It was an izakaya, so we ordered lots of different dishes and many drinks later we headed back to our hotel. The highlight of the evening was when we went to pay, and Rumi said “Michelle, I don’t have my wallet” and I looked at her, and I pointed to her hand (in which she was holding the wallet) and asked her if that was it. Well…she couldn’t stop laughing hahaha. (**Yes, she was a little drunk).
Actually, she was quite drunk. I think she was trying to drink me under the table, she kept saying she could drink a lot, she is very strong. Hahaha. Never try to outdrink an Aussie girl…
After a lazy sleep in we headed out for lunch and then some shopping. Then after 2 hours of karaoke, we went to “Western Town”…I don’t know it’s real name, but it is a part of Kobe that foreigners used to live in, and therefore it has a lot of Western style houses. Not so interesting haha, and walking in the heat was killer. We headed back into Sannomiya, had an early dinner of Yakiniku and then it was time to say goodbye. 9pm I got home, had a shower and relaxed.
It was such a great weekend, Rumi and I are never short of things to do / talk about. I hope she comes and visits me in Australia some time. I am glad I got to catch up with her before I went home!
Japan and nature
We just had a huge bee in the staffroom, but instead of spraying, or trying to push it out a window, the teachers just turned off all the lights and opened the windows, and the obedient bee flew out soon after.
Now this is actually a common occurence here, they are so kind to nature. Well, except mosquitoes, they all try to kill them (who blames them). Maybe it has something to do with the Buddhist / Shinto religion, I guess it is all about nature.
I would prefer to just get the creepy crawlies all together and kill them all…had another mukade last night but it was too fast I couldn’t even spray it, let alone kill it. Now I am sure it is lurking in my house, waiting to bite me. Suffice to say, I didn’t get a very good sleep last night.
Farewell Speech
We had the closing ceremony today, and I had to give a speech to the whole school (only 150 students and 20 teachers) in the gym. I was a little nervous, but I had practised it yesterday and last night, and I can speak Japanese, so it was just a little bit of nerves.
The worst part of the whole thing was that they gave me no direction, except that I was to walk up the right-hand-side staircase, as the left was for the Principal. No probs, did that, even in my green gym slippers which totally clashed with my blue suit haha. But then they told me to stand, oh no wait sit, get up, bow, speak. Hahahaha maybe if they had told me the procedure I wouldn’t have looked like a floundering foreigner….
My speech went well, despite the sweltering heat and humidity inside that gym. It was terrible. Students had to sit down because they felt faint, but they weren’t allowed to fan themselves to cool down. Sometimes being a foreigner is great, I fanned myself and noone said a thing to me.
After my speech, Yuki, the student who I have been having casual conversations with after school everyday, came on stage and gave a short speech in English and then presented me with a gift. It was a blue mug. Not the huge bunch of flowers I was hoping for hahaha but it’s the thought that counts!
I will probably never see these kids again, and although it is a little sad I am just counting down the days until I go home!
Chuckle Chuckle
I am sitting in the staffroom going delirious from boredom, but luckily my trusty Kyoto Sensei (Deputy) is always good for a giggle.
He is watching some information video about the school with the Principal and another teacher, but he is sitting behind them…and well…he is sleeping in his chair! It makes me laugh to see that. I wonder what would happen if that happened back home?
My Kyoto Sensei is a little strange at times though. He often just farts, really loudly, in the middle of the staffroom. And he is always talking to himself and making strange noises, sometimes I can’t stop myself from having a chuckle, and then that usually gets the teacher next to me started. At least I am not the only one who finds it funny.
But talking to yourself is not a strange thing in Japan…and the noises such as “eh” and “waaaa” are common out of everyone’s mouths. I wonder if I have picked up any odd Japan-isms that I am not aware of? It would make for some entertainment back home!
It’s not over yet!
Just when I thought I didn’t have to worry about bugs anymore in my house…
So last night I was talking to Mick on Skype when I spilt my tea on my leg, so as I was wiping it off I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Yes, another creepy bug! I did the mandatory girly scream but then got straight down to business. It was crawling towards my TV which meant if it went under the TV stand I would be hard pressed to kill it…so I had to flick it towards the door to give me time to run into the kitchen to get the spray!
This was all fine, and I sprayed it…it kept crawling towards me, so I sprayed it again, all the while with Mick just watching on haha. After writhing around and curling up into itself a few times, but still not dead, I took it outside and chucked it into the garden.
Did I mention the other day I found a small dead snake out the front of my house? Well…it is no longer there, and I definitely did not remove it…
18 days til I am Japan-bug-free!
