Toya Day 48: The Best and the Worst of Luck

Well, we got up late again because mornings are fundamentally evil 😉 And we immediately went for some Yako-brand Soba!

Getting ready quickly is something that I’m rather good at, and today was no exception. We entered the Sogo Centre’s Tatami Room to see Yako-san and a small group of others preparing Soba in the kitchen and a busy room full of people – Yako is obviously known for this! As before, the noodles were freshly cut and were delicious. We also met the Principal in there partaking of his own Soba, and we had a brief chat about how we’re looking forward to going back to the Elementary School on Friday. We’ve missed it!

Seriously, Yako, quit your job and become a Soba chef – you’re good at this!

Our bellies quite full, we headed for the Mizu no Eki to catch the bus to Date. I withdrew ¥3000 from the ATM (remember that figure, because it becomes quite important), and we caught the bus to Toyako Onsen where we’d connect.

With a 40-minute interval between buses, we headed down to a shop which sold assorted confectionaries. I’d been eyeing it up for a while but this was the first time I’d visited it. In it, I bought some Strawberry Shortcake (which was amazingly delicious) and some Hokkaido Potato Cookies covered in chocolate, which were also delicious. Of course, that was ¥1500 already gone.

These are them! And they taste great – buttery almost, a bit like shortbread.

When in Date, we decided to head first to the video store, where we looked around briefly. Games are very expensive in Japan – Winning Eleven 2009 (AKA Pro Evolution Soccer 2009) for PSP stood out as one example – ¥2000! Preowned, too. However, the PS1 selection was still packed to the rafters and was bargain-priced. They didn’t have the thing I wanted however, so we left and moved on.

We headed to the AEON Supermarket for some dinner as by this point it was late in the afternoon (past 5:00PM). However, they don’t take credit cards, and despite there being four ATM machines, I couldn’t use any! The one for the Date Shinyo Kinkan bank was closed as of 5:00PM, and the one for International Cards was out of service. What’s more with only a thousand yen left, neither of us had the money to get home! It was a doozie of a situation. We contemplated a few options – like going to Toyako Onsen on the bus (which we could afford) and then shamelessly begging someone for a lift, but then, by complete chance, Hiromi-san showed up in the AEON and offered us a ride home! It was the luckiest thing and we were incredibly grateful for it, because it would mean we wouldn’t have to make an embarrassing call to Erica! It was the closest of close calls.

Actually, is there much point in an ATM that closes at 5:00PM?

When we got back to Toyamura, we headed to the Seicomart for dinner. Two things happened of note here. Firstly, we saw one of our Elementary School Students – specifically, the kid who coined the name ‘Kara-age Sensei’ – and he was holding a box of Kara-age! Thus, I think, his name shall henceforth be ‘Kara-age-kun’ 😉

Secondly, when we went in, it was one of our High School Students who was taking the shift. You remember the one I asked if I could use his store discount? Well, after getting my usual things – some chocolate, something to drink, and a box or two of fried chicken – he let me use his employee discount! He knocked a quarter off the price! What a guy!

So we’d seen the best and the worst of our luck, but thankfully, it turned out OK in the end 🙂

Toya Day 47: James and Brendan’s Hiking Adventure :)

Tairaku-san was picking us up at 08:15AM! I’d heard of such a time, but to be honest I thought it only existed in myth, legend and folklore! Largely forcing myself out of bed on a particularly cold morning, we were ready in good time thanks to an early alarm.

He’s right, you know.

However, Tairaku-san wasn’t there. He called and said he was waiting outside. He wasn’t. We called Erica, who said that she’d call him. Apparently, everyone had neglected to tell him that the volunteers had moved house this year! We all had a good laugh over that.

After going to pick up a barbecue, we all went to the Mizu no Eki to wait for everyone else on the hike to arrive – they trickled in slowly, eventually totalling eight. There was one man in particular who stood out, however, an old man with a wispy beard like something from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 😉 With Tairaku-san translating for us, he invited us to his house to watch some of his videos of past volunteers. Since the man spoke no English at all, Tairaku-san was able to slip in a few bits of advice like ‘It’s really boring!’ and ‘You should go just before you do something else!’. Heeding his advice since the man was insistent on us visiting, we agreed to go for an hour before our Japanese lessons next Sunday.

This kind of beard 😉

Everyone finally assembled, and we went ‘Hiking’. In reality, this turned out to be a small walk down the road (perhaps 1.5km or so). The guide told us a little about the wildlife in the area – there are over 100 species of birds in the area around Lake Toya, and although there are less than ten types of fish, one of them is the highly prized Koi. I also helped walk the dogs of one of the ladies in the adult class – she had two, Tora (Tiger) and Sakura (Cherry Blossom), both Ainu/Husky cross-breeds.

When we returned to the village, we were greeted with Taka-san, recently returned from Tokyo, and Yakisoba – which is to all intents and purposes barbecued noodles. They were served with Hokkaido Lamb, and as for the taste? Well, suffice it to say I ate four bowls 😉 It was very chilly out, so it was nice to put my hands over the barbecue fire!

Yakisoba! It was amazing 🙂

In the afternoon, we decided to try our luck at going to Sobetsu, but we missed the first bus due to a timetabling mix up! The next wouldn’t be until 5:30PM or so, so we decided to try cycling. Unfortunately, we quickly realised that this was a stupid idea when we saw that A: Sobetsu was 18km away, B: We’d have to cycle back at night, C: The road was very busy and D: We didn’t know the road at all. So we turned back and tried our luck with the 5:30 bus, hoping at least for an Onsen visit. Unfortunately, it was not to be. This bus didn’t turn up at all for whatever reason.

Still, it was a Saturday, and we had to keep up our Saturday tradition of visiting an Onsen. So we went to one of the local ones instead – the Ikkoinoie – and soaked for a while. The Onsen was a bit busier than we are used to since it was earlier than our usual hours to visit – this gives it a rather different, livelier atmosphere. It was fun, and we’ll endeavour to visit at this time again 🙂

Toya Day 46: A Mad Rush and a Realization

Sakura Nursery would be the port of call for the day once more, and thankfully it’s a nice and easy way to end the week!

We were there in good time, and once more the morning consisted of Culture Festival Practice. Indeed, we omitted the warm-up entirely in favour of singing, dancing and a small play!

They commenced with some semi-traditional dancing using coloured sticks as props – only three of them, both the girls and one boy – but it was unbelievably cute! Basically it was a bit like Yasokoi. But dear god the standards in these places are high – the poor kids were getting corrected all over! They were good, though.

Following that, we got a sort of rock ‘n’ roll dance routine to that Japanese Batman-like theme I talked about a while ago – holding cardboard guitars and everything! Seriously, this is so cute it’s probably illegal somewhere!

With the first part of practice over with, we went out on a walk – although it was a rather shorter one this time. We went around the back of the Nursery to collect some seedlings and chestnuts. We also saw an enormous mushroom! It really was very big, and while I can’t be sure, I get the distinct feeling it was one of those poisonous death mushrooms 😉

It was one of these – I don’t know if they’re actually poisonous but I certainly wouldn’t try it!

When we returned to the Nursery, we observed a play by the children. The basic story was that a Fox Spirit was eating the children of a woman because she hadn’t given her tribute in food. One of the children managed to hide and inform the mother, who then cut open the fox and saved the children. I was told it was an old Japanese folk tale, as well.

When we reached the office following the Nursery and another rousing rendition of Kira Kira Hikaru, we proceeded to do our usual act of bimbling about on the Internet for a few hours. As it turned out that was a bad idea. Roughly ten minutes before we had to set off for the After School Club, we realised that we had to do a newspaper article – for 5:30PM that day! That would leave us with an hour after the After School Club. Thankfully, we made it in the nick of time, getting it sent off with only minor technical  difficulties 😉

This handy info-graphic sums up my work computer quite well 😉

The After School Club is something I’d like to talk about a bit. When we first got there, the kids hadn’t arrived yet and we were just talking to the staff (who were two of the ladies from Yosakoi). They quizzed us on our Japanese a bit, and then we learned a little more Hiragana with their help (and even the help of one or two of the kids when they started to arrive!). Hiragana is progressing at a reasonable rate, I think. I’m starting to reach the point where I can decipher signs, knowing around of them. That’s not particularly impressive, but it’s progress!

We played catch with the kids and played with some Lego a bit. Just like any other day at the After School Club, if we’re honest, but – not to sound corny or anything – it was here that I realised: This is home. While the UK will always be home as well, this is home now, too. The people of this town have made us so welcome – each and every one of them, from our colleagues, to our neighbours, to our students, to our friends and even the shopkeepers – have made this our home. It was a profound moment realising this – it was essentially a graduation from feeling like this whole endeavour was one extended holiday to feeling truly a part of an amazing community.

Home!

It only makes me more excited for the rest of the year.