My Weekend

Food

I started off my weekend pretty well. Friday I tried my hand at cooking my first Japanese style meal. I made Yakisoba, which is fried noodles with meat and veg. My version went as so:

1x punnet of thinly sliced beef

¼ of a cabbage – sliced

1x onion

1x packet of soy sprouts (at least that is what I think they are)

1x packet of yakisoba

Method: Fry onion, meat, cabbage and sprouts. Once veg are soft add noodles. Once cooked add seasoning (including with noodles). Eat.

And it wasn’t bad. Granted it was easy, but it does mean I have lunch for school and it makes quite a bit. I am learning to be more experimental with my eating. I have tried loads of different kinds of Kit Kat, including: strawberry, apple, McDonald’s (Makudonudaro in kanaglish) Caramel Macchiato McFlurry, Jasmine tea, something that tastes like bubblegum and my personal favourite apple and carrot. On Saturday I had grape drinking jelly, which is literally that. Grape jelly in a can, and you drink it. It was really good.

Sushi here is very different. Not the avocado laden, California rolls that we are used to. I have mostly had sashimi and it is not just salmon and tuna either. A sashimi or nagiri platter will consist of a couple of different types of fish. You can pick out the squid because it is shiny and white. I have no idea what kinds of fish it is, though I am guessing some must be horse mackerel (あじ aji) as my town is famous for it. It is still very tasty but I haven’t seen a rainbow roll since Cape Town. I still haven’t had the courage to go near the octopus (たこ tako) – I think I have innate fear of all things with 8 long legs or suckers.

The spider

Typing of things with 8 long legs – I had my first giant spider. I have mentioned the untamed wildlife but this is getting ridiculous. I was pretty sure I was doing well and keeping the vile beasties at bay, but apparently not. And the worst part is that I am still not sure how the blasted thing got in. The current area of popular thought is the toilet fan, which is open to the outside except for a piece of material stuck down with drawing pins by the previous tenant. Needless to say I have since taped the switch to the ‘on’ position.

I was, at the time, of the incident sitting on my floor, as I do, quite happily enjoying my ice cream (brick sized vanilla ice cream in a waffle coated with chocolate) and watching The Mentalist when the giant mutant beast emerged from my cupboard to briefly taunt me before running back inside.

Now I am living alone. I have no one to deal with this for me and I don’t think it is on my supervisor’s list of responsibilities. It is so far, the biggest spider I have ever had to deal with Han style (ie. Solo).  I proceeded to finish my ice cream and consider my options, which were not great – remove the offending arachnid or move out permanently – preferably to the Antarctic. Unfortunately B is not really an option. Decision made, I dug through my kitchen cupboards and pulled out all the bug spray I had. Armed with a can in each hand I headed for the engagement zone.

I was at this point still hoping that I had seen things or that if I left it alone it would vanish, but I won’t be able to spend a year not sleeping. So I gathered all my courage and I opened the cupboard door and it really was lion king big. The size of a teacup saucer and all legs. And the buggers are fast. I blasted it with both cans and chased it from one side of the cupboard to the other. It was not deterred. Then it suddenly disappeared.

This is the last thing you want to happen during an arachnid elimination. The problem being, that you have an angry, giant spider, who currently holds all the power, lurking about waiting to take its revenge. I tried to look into the cupboard but I was all my courage was being used to keep me from screaming like a baby girl.

Suddenly I noticed movement out the corner of my eye. It was in retreat and making its way across the floor to the next room and heading straight for my clothing cupboard. I could have tried at this point to smack it with a shoe, but this means leaving the 6 foot safety zone. I apparently made the wrong choice and tried the spray again which resulted in it entering my clothing cupboard. NOT GOOD.

The bug spray was useless, I was useless, and now it could be climbing inside all of my clothes waiting to make a sneak attack. The last thing left in my arsenal was the mukade spray.  It was all I had and it would just have to do.

Luckily it was in full retreat and exited the cupboard in a bid for freedom. It  was then that it received the full wrath of my mukade can. And thanks to the bunny of luck it worked!

I am leaving the next bit out, as the arachnid lovers tend to whine and complain at this point. Which is hilarious because of have seen what happens to their kind when they are in my position – and there are no glasses with pieces of paper.

Finally I managed to end my suffering with a shoe. Even though it was dead it took some strength to get near it. And for the spider lovers out there I promise it only felt the full strength of my wrath (repeatedly) once it was dead. It did exact its revenge though when later one of its legs fell out the rubbish bin and onto my foot.  And that was when I freaked out and the screaming started.

Usuki

I decided at the last minute on Saturday to take the train to Usuki to see the Fire Festival held at the site of the Usuki Stone Buddhas. The area is a World Heritage site and contains a large collection of carved stone Buddhas dating back to the 12^th and 14^th century. Some of them are free standing but most are carved into the rock. One of them is the largest in Japan. They are quite fantastic and worth a visit – if by some chance you find yourself in this part of the world. During the festival hundreds of fires are lit in bamboo across the field and entertainment included taiko drumming and dancing.

A couple of other ALTs and myself attempted to join in the dancing. I managed to get the first dance right but the second one was a little bit tricky and I ended up just attempting hula moves. It was great fun and Eric, an ALT from Nagasaki, managed to get in an show off his taiko skills.

One of the best things about festivals, I am learning, is the food. I could eat my way around Japan by hitting a festival every week. The food is usually the same – toriten (とりてん　Oita fried chicken, tempura style), kushiyaki (くしや き　 grilled meat skewers which can be anything from beef, chicken or pork to chicken skin or gristle), yakisoba (やきそば), and of course the usual festival fair of chips and corn dogs. I had a delicious omelette-like thing with a yakisoba and ginger filling.

Usuki’s claim to fame - besides big Buddhas – are its kabosu. A lime-like citrus fruit that is too sour to eat on its own (so Roland may enjoy them) and used in cooking and other odds and ends. And they make delicious ice-lollies. They were also giving out samples of kabosu alcohol, which I never got to taste, as I had to drive later.

Trains are really the best option when travelling around Japan. I am just stuck as my town doesn’t have a train station and I have to drive for 30 minutes to get to the closest one. Having a car is great but not for long distances. Buses are also of some use but they are slow and again Kunisaki is not part of the main route.

Find the pics here

Other odds ‘n ends

I have managed to organise weekly Japanese classes. I am really enjoying them so far. My teacher mainly speaks in Japanese, which is great because I usually understand after many repeats and she only explains if it is dire. This week I learnt to tell time and the names of my family members. My hiragana and katakana is a bit slow but I am sure it will improve the more I have to write in it. The kids in class always get excited when I attempt to write in kana.

I am trying to get used to the rice fields in the middle of the towns. The South African equivalent would be corn fields in stead of every 3rd block.

My quick kanji lesson of the week:

Monday – getsuyōbi　月曜日　

月 is also the kanji for month. The symbol means moon.

Tuesday – kayōbi 火曜日

火 is the kanji for fire.

Wedneday – suiyōbi 水曜日

水 is the kanji for water.

Thursday – mokuyōbi 木曜日

木 is the kanji for wood.

Friday – kinyōbi 金曜日

金 is the kanji for gold.

Saturday – doyōbi 土曜日

土 is kanji for earth.

Sunday – nichiyōbi 日曜日

日 is kanji for sun. It also means day.

The days of the week are usually abbreviated to 月、火、水、木、金、土　and 日。 The date is written 9月　 1日。

So the days of the week are easily remembered as the various elements, proving that yet again Friday is the best day of the week.