Epic blog is epic!
Ok, so where to start... Things are pretty ok with me. I'm still flinging things around my apartment in an attempt to make it my own. It's slowly coming together & turning into something I like. I figure by the time I get it perfect, it'll be time to leave ;) Work is much the same, enjoyable & stressful, with fun surprises thrown in occasionally. Like the field trip I got to take with my ichinensei, or first years, of one of my Jr. High schools. I was invited by one of my JTEs to come along to Nanatanigawa, the "river" here in Kameoka that's famous for it's sakura trees (see this post). I said it sounded fun & asked why the field trip. She said they were going to learn to make curry rice. I said, "Huh?" I didn't quite get it. Travel into the lower part of the mountains to a tree-lined creek to learn to make curry rice? Don't get me wrong, I love Japanese curry, but I didn't see the connection. However, I was more than happy to join & help out in any way I could!
So we get there after walking for about an hour & I half expect to see some classroom-type-place or restaurant prepared to teach these kids the ins & outs of curry. What I saw was a building adjacent to several campgrounds & brick/cement firepits. Then I went, "ooooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooh, I get it!" These kids were gonna make curry rice from absolute scratch (well, except for the store-bought curry rue) as a bonding exercise. I'm learning that this is a popular thing to do, at least in my Jr. Highs, these bonding exercise-type-things. My other Jr. High is currently practicing for a school-wide choral concert where each grade will practice together for a week perfecting their songs, for no other reason than to just do it & become closer as a class. Kind of a cool idea, I think.
Anyway, back to the firepits. Now, the class was split into 3 groups & each was assigned a campground area. Then you had your fire-builders, your rice-preparers & your veggie/meat cutters (I was a little annoyed at the apparent gender gap here: boys were mostly fire-builders & girls were the veggie cutters). The kids had to cooperate in groups to achieve thier goal, which was yummy, yummy curry. I helped where I could (mostly trying to keep the boys from building giant bonfires. I failed) but mostly I was relegated to taking pics & video. Oh, and eating, can't forget that ^_^
And that was fun! Hopefully I'll get my video put together... I'm behind on my vloggage. Lessee, what's next?
Ok, how about some doll stuff? No, I haven't bought another one! There's this special member's only cruise event coming up in about a month that I'm hoping to go on! It's a lottery, so all I can do is enter & hope I'm picked. My friend
triplepunch has entered as well, so hopefully one of us will get to go! Unfortunately my friend
miffykeika is leaving to go back to America the day before the cruise, so she's not even going to enter. However, we're going to have a fun going-away party for her the night before ^_^ Us old ladies plan on teaching her the importance of movies from the '80's!
My birthday came & went. I didn't do much, as it fell on a Monday. Of course, that means it fell on Memorial Day back in the states, which of course it would, this being the year I'm out of the country, lol! Gota bunch of cards from my mom & sis, some cute gifts from triplepunch &
doommuffin_chan & planned on treating myself to a haircut the following Saturday. For those of you who know me, this is a big deal, as I've been worried about the whole 'gaijin hair' thing for a while now. Most Japanese people don't really understand the concept of naturally curly hair; they tend to call it a 'natural perm'! So the idea of having someone here cut & style my dry, curly, generally weird hair was a little frightening. But after receiving a few suggestions from friends who've been here a while, I finally made an appointment for this little place in Kyoto. I was so excited! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My friend Marina came in from Fukuchiyama Saturday to hang out & go on the Hozugawa Kudari, or Riverboat ride. I hadn't had the opportunity to do it yet, so I joined her. It was slightly sprinkly & overcast but still really fantastic. I took way too many pictures, some of which I shall post here (probably in a later blog, as I need to be resizing!). The guys manning the boat were all nice & funny, telling stories & jokes & pointing out the odd rocks, many of which were named & then poorly translated into English, such as "Hole of Pole" rock, which has an indentation in the side from the repeated banging of pole-drivers on the longboats. Still gorgeous & a lot of fun. We wandered around Arashiyama for shopping & lunch, then I took her to Tenshi-no-Sato as she'd never been there. Granted she's not really that interested in the dolls, but she was impressed by the gardens. She said later she was kinda hoping to see more people in interesting outfits, like goth-punk & lolita, of which there was only one, but it was a rainy day with no special events going on, and there are "normal" people (& even guys!) into the doll hobby. Not that I'm one of them, heehee.
After that we grabbed the Torokko Reshya, or 'Romantic Train', back to Kameoka, enjoying the scenery & waving at the boats. We were serenaded by the conductor, who was simultaniously mocked by the "Train Oni", this guy who gets on the train halfway through it's route, dressed as an Oni, and 'harasses' the riders. It's really cute; he hides his Oni 'face' behind a Doraemon mask & offers to pose for pictures with you. At the last minute he pulls the mask aside to reveal his 'true' Oni face! Lot's of laughs ^o^
We got back to the station & hung out a bit, talking & eating some sofutokuriimu, or soft-serve ice cream, till it was time for me to head out to my appointment. I hopped the train to Kyoto, texting my friend
azusachan to see if she could meet me at Kyoto Station & telling her I had to make an ATM run. She said 'no prob' & offered to meet me at the convenience store near the salon to grab a bite to eat before my appointment & before she had to run to a lecture. However, me with my wonderful sense of direction, didn't realize that the station I needed for the salon was NOT where I was headed. *suspenseful music sutaaato!*
I get to Kyoto station & head straight to the ATM, as I don't have enough on me for my hair appointment, thanks to spending too much while running around Arashiyama. It should be mentioned here that my bank is the Kyoto Ginkou, or Kyoto Bank. So one would think that, in Kyoto, at the Kyoto station, the ATM would accept the Kyoto Bank cash card, right? Wrong. So that was a little frustrating, but there are plenty of convenience stores around where I was headed, most of which have ATMs, right? So I grabbed the next subway train to my destination. By now I was running a little behind, so I didn't get the chance to meet azusachan. I felt a little bad, but I could hook up with her another time.
After getting a little turned around & some furious texting, I had found the cute little salon (and I do mean little), but I had not found an ATM yet! It was getting time for my appointment, so after checking the immediate area I ran in to the salon to explain & ask if there were any ATMs nearby. I was pointed in the direction of an AM/PM convenience store, towards which I all but ran. I get there, wait in line, which it being a Saturday night meant it was looong, get to the machine & stick my card in, only to have it spat back out at me. What? I double-check the list of accepted cards & discover, once again, Kyoto bank is not accepted. This happened 3 TIMES at 3 seperate ATMs. Needless to say I was getting pretty frustrated.
I asked a shoplady if there was a Kyoto Bank ATM nearby & she directed me towards the local Kyoto Bank location, which was of course in the opposite direction from my salon appointment. I had to cross Shijo-dori, one of the major streets in the area & go another block, but I made it! I walk up to the sliding glass doors... which don't open. I stand there for a second, then back up & try again, with no success. Huh? I then see the inside is empty & a large metal grate is sliding slowly into place, locking up the ATMs! ARGH! I had forgotten that it was the weekend & for some bizarre reason the ATM closes at 7pm! Seriously, dumbest thing ever, in my opinion (well, at that moment, at least. I was pretty pissed).
So I sat for a minute to collect myself, then started to walk back. I thought I'd try one more time at the Family Mart, one of the biggest convenience store chains in Japan. I've never had a problem using my cash card there, or at least not yet. I get there, wait in yet another line, stick my card in... The computer reads it... then spits it out with a "We're sorry, our hours of operation are over". WHAAAAT?! It's an ATM, for crying out loud! Others are having no problem withdrawing cash, but for some reason my bank, THE Bank of Kyoto, can't operate THROUGH AN ATM past 7pm on a weekend? GAAAAAAAH!
Of course, I didn't say any of this out loud, as I didn't want to be carted away by the nice young men in the clean, white coats. I did, however, call & apologize to the salon & reschedule my appointment. From this I have learned a valuable lesson: just because it's named after a major city, & just because it's in that major city, doesn't make it convenient, reliable or user-friendly. And also to go to the ATM in Kameoka well before I travel into the big city, as the ATMs here in my little town are open till 8-9 & always accept Kyoto Bank. Go figure.