My Full Moon

On Friday night I attended the second year teacher enkai that was held in Beppu. I was really grateful to be included and the party was being held at one of  most famous restaurants in Oita.

The restaurant is renowned for its yakiniku, which means grilled meat. Bite sized meat is brought to the table where you cook it yourself on grill built into the table and dip the meat into a variety of sauces called tare. Asides from vegetables there was a rather interesting variety of meat which included beef, tongue, liver – also eaten raw – and pig intestine called horumon (which means “throw away”).  I tried it all, even the raw liver and intestine. And now I know why I usually avoid such things. The pig intestine was incredibly tough and chewy regardless of the amount of cooking.  The actual meat was mouth-watering. Beef in Japan is truly special and there is pretty good meat on Kyushu.

The meal also included kimchi. I had this dish on my first night in Oita and it is delicious. It originates from Korea and is a dish made of vegetables with various seasonings. According to Wikipedia the Koreans developed a version for space for their first astronaut that went to the Russian space ship Soyuz.

On Saturday I spent the day in Oita City doing some quick shopping and organising my train tickets to Osaka for Silver week. Silver week is from the 19 – 23 September and is the result of 3 public holidays following the weekend. As it is public holidays people don’t have to take leave and used by most ALTs to travel. I will be meeting up with some fellow Saffers in Osaka.

Once again I had to use my very best charade skills to get myself understood at the ticket office. Luckily I had thought ahead and printed out the exact trains that I wanted to take. It will be my first trip on the bullet train so just getting there should be fun. Trains really are fantastic and the easiest way to get places in Japan. The only problem is that my town is so rural that the train station was shut down.

As it was full moon on Saturday my close teachers organised a picnic on the beach. Once again it was loads of fun. And sadly my photos do not convey the beauty of the evening. I got there a bit late as I missed my initial train and had to wait – but I am still getting better at reading the timetables and at least know where I have to go.

So its good to know that after my first month I still haven’t got lost and can get around in a country that is entirely unlike my own!