sincerest apologies for letting a week go by without any blobbin'! shall i divulge the sordid secrets of my life? better batten down the hatches, 'cause a storm's a' comin'!
there were way too many apostrophes in that paragraph, so i guess i'll get on with it. last weekend, after a seemingly endless week, i went down to saito/miyazaki city/miyakonojo for some jetling festivities! saturday featured a day at the seductively large aeon mall, complete with makudonurado lunch (mcdonald's!). i finally got to try some japanese mcdonald's, and no joke, it tasted exactly like home (or how i remembered home, anyways. i hadn't had a mickey d's cheeseburger in about seven years). mashiu also let me have a bite of his "tamago" cheeseburger, which had egg and peppery sauce. surprisingly, it was amazing!
the day also featured much shopping, but little purchasing. i just bought a lovely indian fabric to decorate my bedroom wall, as well as a jar of nutella. for some odd reason, many japanese stores do not have "small" sizes, only mediums and larges. is it because smalls sell out? or is it because japanese women never wear form-fitting clothes? the world may never know. or, more accurately, i guess i'll never know.
after stopping by a secondhand store for some "funky" attire (we were going to a funk-themed party), and me picking up outrageously ugly, girly pink heels for 500 yen, we headed into miyakonojo.
the weather was ghastly. rain pounded down in relentless sheets, while deafeningly thunder and bolts of lightening accentuated our impending peril. jokes! but really, it was one of the worst rainstorms i've ever been in (i do realize i'm a weather pansy, though). luckily, it was short-lived, as are most bouts of rain in japan. we made it out to the other side, and enjoyed a night of all-you-can-eat meat and fruit grilling, as well as a few bars.
a group of us ended up at this little underground bar with a fantastic dj. he was playing a bunch of 70s funk, a few oldies, some newies, and all goodies. we busted in there and proceeded to dance like fools, even though it clearly wasn't a dancing establishment. however, before long, we had made a bunch of new japanese dancing buddies, and even the bartender came out to shake her thang. it was perfect. hilariously, i noticed that a few of the japanese girls were watching me dance, and copying what i was doing. it made me crack up, especially since i'm a crap dancer!
which brings me to another point: the japanese fascination with westerners sometimes amuses and flatters me, sometimes frustrates me, and almost always embarrasses me. with my students, i mostly am amused (except when i know they're looking at inappropriate areas of me. then i just feel super uncomfortable, haha!). today, i went into a class that i rarely visit (maybe once a week). one of the tall, "cool" guys (none of my students look cool to me. they all look like children) was entering the room from the outside balcony, where apparently he and other had taken a little break. as they shuffled in, a few of the boys called out, "haddo," but this kid just stopped in his tracks with a lovesick expression frozen on his face. we're talking puppy-dog eyes, gaping mouth, quivering chin, the whole bit. his friends began shrieking with laughter, punching him, while i blushed and smiled abashedly. he sat down looking shaken! ohhhh, the embarrassment of it all!
and actually, a funny incident happened yesterday, as well. i decided to go on a little stroll, and ventured through the rice paddies near my apartment. i also managed to get to the river i run by, though on the other side. on my way home, i passed by a random baseball field where some highschoolish boys were practicing. upon seeing me, they all crowded towards the bottom of the raised path i was walking on, and bowed while yelling "konnichiwa!"
i would never want to be celebrity, that's for damn sure. the attention is unwwanted!
but on a more mellow note, i took lots of photos while on my jaunt. and besides culminating a 45-minute-oh-no-i'm-lost-in-the-rice-paddies-and-its-getting-really-dark-what-am-i-gonna-do episode, the walk was really rejuvenating! please enjoy my not very artsy, uninspired photos!
rice.
more rice.
perhaps what japan looked like before the advent of color photography?
the trees are so dense, it's like they suck the sunlight out of the air!
wishing i had a better camera (and artistic eye),lilly
No comments:
Post a Comment