昨日ぼくは最後の豊小運動会いて。運動会はうまい！　どうも豊寒別小学校！

全文日本語

Chatting with Mama & Master

Written the morning of Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Prior to last week when I skipped Thursday night Taiko practice to go to Alex’s eikaiwa in Sarufutsu, it had become a bit of a routine that following practice, I, along with three members went out to dinner at one of the local eateries.

This week none of the regulars were in attendance, but I decided to keep the routine alive more than anything because it was past 9 when practice and the subsequent chit-chat concluded, and I wasn’t interested in cooking when I got home, not being able to start dinner before 10 and then having more dishes to clean.

"Cooking yakitori" photo by Searobin.

Rode my bike to yakitori junko by myself, and was delighted to find only one other patron present. I said hello to Master [what the Japanese male bosses of a bar are referred to by] and went off to the bathroom after placing down my coat and bag.

By the time I got back, Master’d already set my beer glass waiting for me on the table.

Mama [what female bosses of a bar are referred to by] soon came onto the scene and the four of us – two patrons, master and mama – had as good of a conversation as I’ve had in the circumstances. Master related how earlier that night they’d had some patrons who came up from Kyushu.

Mama asked if they came by plane or car. I wasn’t too interested until, I heard they drove. This led to a subsequent discussion of who they were [a couple], what kind of car they drove [a small one], how long they’d been going [I forget], why they chose to stop in Hamaton [he hadn't asked] and related questions. Such simple queries were perfect for my Japanese level, and given I understood the context allowed me to keep pace in the conversation far longer than usual.

Japan is a small enough country that it’s possible to drive it vertically in a relatively short time. Actually, I believe Alex met someone who had done it on foot last fall. I thought it’d be cool to do by motorcycle, alas I don’t have a bike, and am not willing to put in the time to plan and save for it.

Soon enough I got lost behind in the conversation as usual, and decided it was time to eat. I sampled Master’s genghis kahn for the first time, and came away deciding I was happy, but next time I’ll go back to my usual ramen.

Had a short conversation with the blond haired fellow next to me. After basic name, job, home location passed I asked how many times a week he came to Junko, as I’d seen him there every time I’d come recently.

“Mainichi” [everyday]

Dinner with the Boss

Written the morning of Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Friday night I had the honor of dining at the home of one of my principal’s, along with, the principal’s son and a friend of his son’s. Principal’s wife prepared us a feast. First course was big chunks of mozzarella and tomatoes slathered in olive oil; lettuce with cucumbers and ham in sort of a salad roll; and crab rice. For some reason farm fresh mozzarella didn’t interest everyone else so much, so I was allowed the pleasure of eating most of the appetizer alone.

my girlfriend

Second course was a hamburger covered in a brown sauce that is best described as a mild curry with vegetables, including one local mountain plant. As the season has changed and the temperature’s gone from bitterly to mildly cold, several local vegetables I have never seen or heard of before have made appearances on my prepared dinner plates.

The next few courses have slipped from my memory [one was ham wrapped asparagus] banks, but I can fondly recall my favorite food of the evening. It came out about an hour or two later. When she put it on the table, I thought it was potatoes covered in cheese – which I was happy about – but when I discovered it was actually shiitake mushrooms on bottom I was ecstatic. They were absolutely delicious. Before I left I insisted on getting the recipe, as it seemed within my skill level.

Turned out it was, all you need is:

• mushrooms – stems sliced off
• aluminum foil – where you lay the mushrooms
• cheese, mixed with a tablespoon of mayonnaise and soy sauce each – mix and then cover the mushrooms
• toaster oven – to cook them, apparently there’s no need to pre-cook the mushrooms
• patience – not to take the dish out before it’s ready … this will probably be the most difficult one for me

The Last Toyokanbetsu Sports Day

Written this morning, Monday, June 6th, 2009

Yesterday I attended the sports festival of Toyokanbetsu elementary. It was an extremely overcast morning and given I’d been drinking Saturday evening far past my bed time, I wouldn’t have been too sad if the event had been cancelled.

Yet, at 7:47 my phone went off, as Ki-San was calling to check that I’d be ready to go when his wife came to pick me up at 10:00. Previous experience has made Ki-San fully aware that weekend mornings are not my strength.

Thus, after a pleasant car ride with Tomoi I arrived early enough for the sports festival to help with the set-up. I was surprised to find that in addition to the VIP guest [board of education officials, principals from other schools, a buddhist monk, other officials, and yours truly] tent, this event also had a couple of tents for the parents. At other sports festivals, the parents usually fended for themselves, bringing their own tents and/or blankets to sit upon.

Not only was there a top to the parents tent protecting them from the rain, but the back was covered, giving some shelter from the wind, and the ground was covered first with heavy blue plastic and then carpet. Then, there was the piece de resistance, someone brought a gas heater the size of a mini fridge. Those of us in the VIP tent more than once complained about how our accommodations were quite inferior.

At 10:30 the event kicked off, with the standard student led march, into ceremonies where the leader of each team gives the principal their trophy, to speeches by the principal, PTA president  and others, to finally a student giving a speech. Those things have been done at all 5 of the sports festivals I’ve attended.

What was unique here was, most importantly, the kids were smiling, and this …
this was all we saw at first … then

Near the end of the video be careful, the camera shakes violently.

I actually turned my camera off too early, as to close the event there were fireworks that went off.

Then it was time for the real action. Rain was softly falling at some times, but overall it was fine, as this sports festival featured a lot more adult involvement than usual. It was about 60% kids, 40% adults, where usually it’s 85% kids. I got destroyed in my first event, the sprints around the track. I came in with confidence as I almost always win the sprints to start judo practice, but I came to find racing elementary school children as opposed to adult men is a little different.

In between events I had a good time talking with the principals, but it was only for a short while as they all left within the first hour. After paying their respects, they moved on with their day. Was alright though, it gave me more time to talk with some of my current and ex-students.

Particularly fun episode came as a trio worked together to explain to me how to cook curry rice, translating the Japanese instructions from the back of the pack into English for me. It was also interesting to discover who was brothers and sisters of whom.

vlog 7 – 豊小運動会 recap