as summer winds down
with random english summer camps and JTE seminars tucked away in my pocket and a multitude of trips to tokyo filling in the in-between bits, i found myself with another two weeks before i had to go back with work with literally nothing on my plate.
emma is back in japan and has been staying with me at my apartment for the past couple of weeks which has been wonderful. a partner in crime to get out everyday and take on Summer in Shibata. emma lived on sado island during my first year on JET and has been traveling the world for the past year. she's back for another two weeks before heading back to england, saving up some cash, and then returning to japan for the ski season. hisashiburi ems!!!
i always say that summertime is the best time in japan. everyday there is something going on somewhere, it's just a matter of getting out and finding it. last week we took a little trip up to sekikawa mura, about a 1 hour drive from shibata. they have their annual snake festival where the men of the village spend all day 1)drinking and 2) parading the giant straw-snake throughout the town.
we've had FANTASTIC weather for niigata ken, so we've also been taking advantage of this and hitting up the beaches. after the end of july, the water is deemed 'unsafe' and 'closed' due to the official beginning of the Return of the Jellyfish. therefore, NO ONE goes to the beaches. which means during the whole month of august, they are deserted and thus lovely. (and i didn't see any jellyfish once this year).
laura (also another ex-sadoite) has been staying as well. it's so great to have people to cook for, and to just spend my days off with. now she's moved to tokyo :(. gambatte laura-chan!
sun-tue of this week was the shibata matsuri (festival). sunday night we took to the streets with every other shibata-ite. chu-hai's and sake, nama beer and festival food. i ran into a lot of my students dressed in yukatta's, enjoying the festival atmosphere.
one evening last week, we were all a little stir-crazy and i suggested we head to fujitsukahama beach where they have this inflated giant while bubble on the ground. it's kind of like a trampoline of sorts. it ended up being the most fun ever. five 26 year old women laughing our asses off, jumping up and down. we also attracted the attention of some random children, who jumped along with us in all their curiousness. there was one little boy in particular (about kindergarten aged) who followed us around, and then when his mother said it was time to leave, he through a temper-tantrum and was dragged away screaming and crying "bai-bai! bai-bai!". i'm not sure his mother was all that impressed, because i'm sure to her we were a bunch of scantily clad russian prostitutes playing with her son.
then there was the afternoon where ems, laura and i went to Round 1. Round 1 is this gigantic amusement center with 5 floors of anything you want to do, including a floor full of free arcade games, (taiko drumming, guitar playing etc), a rollerink, tennis/volleyball/basketball/squash/basketball courts, archery, mechanical bull, massage chairs, internet, private karaoke rooms, batting cages, shooting cages, bowling...whatever you want to do. photos to follow. yesterday laura, ems and i hiked up the mountain heading to ninnox, one of the ski resorts. then today, ems and i went on a bike ride and saw about 15 monkeys. a little one was even riding on it's mother's back. very kawaii. tomorrow....sigh... back to school. :(
emma is back in japan and has been staying with me at my apartment for the past couple of weeks which has been wonderful. a partner in crime to get out everyday and take on Summer in Shibata. emma lived on sado island during my first year on JET and has been traveling the world for the past year. she's back for another two weeks before heading back to england, saving up some cash, and then returning to japan for the ski season. hisashiburi ems!!!
i always say that summertime is the best time in japan. everyday there is something going on somewhere, it's just a matter of getting out and finding it. last week we took a little trip up to sekikawa mura, about a 1 hour drive from shibata. they have their annual snake festival where the men of the village spend all day 1)drinking and 2) parading the giant straw-snake throughout the town.
we've had FANTASTIC weather for niigata ken, so we've also been taking advantage of this and hitting up the beaches. after the end of july, the water is deemed 'unsafe' and 'closed' due to the official beginning of the Return of the Jellyfish. therefore, NO ONE goes to the beaches. which means during the whole month of august, they are deserted and thus lovely. (and i didn't see any jellyfish once this year).
laura (also another ex-sadoite) has been staying as well. it's so great to have people to cook for, and to just spend my days off with. now she's moved to tokyo :(. gambatte laura-chan!
sun-tue of this week was the shibata matsuri (festival). sunday night we took to the streets with every other shibata-ite. chu-hai's and sake, nama beer and festival food. i ran into a lot of my students dressed in yukatta's, enjoying the festival atmosphere.
one evening last week, we were all a little stir-crazy and i suggested we head to fujitsukahama beach where they have this inflated giant while bubble on the ground. it's kind of like a trampoline of sorts. it ended up being the most fun ever. five 26 year old women laughing our asses off, jumping up and down. we also attracted the attention of some random children, who jumped along with us in all their curiousness. there was one little boy in particular (about kindergarten aged) who followed us around, and then when his mother said it was time to leave, he through a temper-tantrum and was dragged away screaming and crying "bai-bai! bai-bai!". i'm not sure his mother was all that impressed, because i'm sure to her we were a bunch of scantily clad russian prostitutes playing with her son.
then there was the afternoon where ems, laura and i went to Round 1. Round 1 is this gigantic amusement center with 5 floors of anything you want to do, including a floor full of free arcade games, (taiko drumming, guitar playing etc), a rollerink, tennis/volleyball/basketball/squash/basketball courts, archery, mechanical bull, massage chairs, internet, private karaoke rooms, batting cages, shooting cages, bowling...whatever you want to do. photos to follow. yesterday laura, ems and i hiked up the mountain heading to ninnox, one of the ski resorts. then today, ems and i went on a bike ride and saw about 15 monkeys. a little one was even riding on it's mother's back. very kawaii. tomorrow....sigh... back to school. :(
posted by Justine at 5:14 a.m.
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