Hey gang! Happy Halloween from Japan! Last time, I left off with Thursday. Friday was another busy day for me. After work, we had singing practice in Hitoyoshi and then a Halloween party to attend. After work, I quickly walked home, changed into my witch costume, and Ian and I left for Hitoyoshi. We met up with friends before practice and ate at the delicious Indian restaurant that we like to go to. I was so happy that some of us agreed to dress up in our costumes. That was the best! I loved the shocked looks on Japanese people’s faces when they saw me dressed up like a witch pretending to ride around on a broom. After dinner, we made our way to practice, and it was the funniest moment ever to walk into the room and see everyone staring at us. We said “Happy Halloween!” and then they understood why the crazy Americans were dressed up. We practiced the song that we’re singing for the music festival a couple of times, and then we had a break time. The director asked us to explain Halloween and the customs and traditions behind it. We explained about jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating. I just so happened to have my bag of candy corn on me, so we went around the room and “trick-or-treated” the old people. Then, one of the ladies hobbled up to the front of the room and gave us each a piece of her own candy. It was so sweet! I’m really glad that I’m participating in the singing festival. It sucks to have to go the practice every week, but the people are very nice and always so curious about our culture.
After practice, one of the other ALTs in our area had a Halloween party, so we went there. We had a blast! No Halloween party is complete without a dancing banana, a drunk Winnie the Pooh, and a pirate “sword” fight among other shenanigans. I love all of the other ALTs in our area, so put us all in one place, and it was an absolutely great time. It’s so funny how we’re so loud. I guess the stereotype about loud Americans is true. 
Japanese culture as a whole is so much quieter than any of us could ever wish to be, so whenever we get together, we revert back to our old selves and try to outtalk one another.
Saturday morning was wonderful for us. Last weekend, we really didn’t get to talk to many people on skype, so this weekend, we made sure to set up skype dates. In the end, we talked to eight people through five calls. 
Usually, by the time we’re off of skype, it’s early afternoon, which kind of stinks since half the day is gone, but I always feel like it’s worth it. I’m not homesick, and I think frequent skype calls REALLY helps with that. Plus, a lot of friends we don’t get the opportunity to speak to very often, so it’s always very, very exciting to get caught up with their lives. I’m starting to go off on a tangent here, but please bare with me. It’s a little weird being over here. We love it, don’t get us wrong, but it feels like we’re standing still while everyone else at home continues to move on with their lives. I clearly knew the world wasn’t going to stop turning just for us, but I miss home most when I know that I’m missing out on events at home. For example, my sister and her kids were at home last weekend, and it was weird not being around with them. I have friends that are getting married, having babies, and whatever else while I’m just….here. I sometimes feel guilty for being here and so far away from home because I feel like I’m missing out on too much.
On to happy stories…the rest of Saturday afternoon we basically goofed off. I got caught up on my Thursday night shows online—Vampire Diaries, The Office, Parks and Rec, etc. Saturday night, we rode up with a few other friends to Tamana in northern Kumamoto for a Kumamoto-wide Halloween party. It was bigger than the smaller and more intimate little Halloween party with everyone in our gun (pronounced “goon”) the night before. While there were amazing costumes—lady Gaga, cross dressing, Mario, etc, I really enjoyed the smaller party from the night before better.
Originally, we couldn’t get a room at the hotel beside the venue, so we brought pillows, blankets, and even our tent in case we had to sleep in the car/outside. Apparently, several people were going to do the same thing since the hotel was booked. We laughed about it and said that we’d start the “occupy Tamana” movement. However, we were able to sleep on the floor in one of our friend’s hotel room. We had a space, but going to sleep was another story. Several people in our room, including Mr. Ian, had….enjoyed themselves at the party. Therefore, some people in the room were laughing, giggling, talking, and acting silly until very, very late, and we probably didn’t go to bed until 3AM.
Sunday morning, we had to be packed and out of the room by 10AM. There was an onsen (hot spring) at the hotel, and originally we planned to spend the morning at it, but we didn’t. Instead, we went on to Kumamoto City. Our friend who drove wasn’t feeling well, so I offered to drive. That was very weird. In general, I don’t like driving other people’s cars. In addition to that, I was driving on the Japanese version of interstate, which I haven’t done in three months, AND it was raining. We ate lunch at a fabulous little burger place that we heard was the best burgers in Kumamoto. I’d like to see someone top these burgers because they really were fabulous! The owners were so happy to have foreigners in there. They catered to us and even brought us ice cream for dessert. They told us that it wasn’t something that they did regularly, so we felt very special!
Monday was Halloween. I didn’t get to dress up for work, but I did celebrate it. I brought treat bags to work and passed them out to all of my co-workers. Everyone was very happy to get them! That afternoon, I had to go to the English competition for our gun (once again, pronounced “goon”). It was held in Asagiri, and all of the other ALTs went as well. We’ve all been practicing with our students very hard…coming to school early, working through break time, staying after school to practice EVERY syllable so that our students could win the competition. All of the ALTs sat together, and I seriously think that we were more competitive with one another than the students were with themselves. Each of us was talking smack about how our students were going to win the whole thing, lol. I asked my students if they were nervous, and they said yes, but they did such a good job. I was proud of them! They had very strong and loud voices, and I feel like their pronunciation was one of the best they’ve ever done! The competition got very repetitive very quickly, though, because most of the students recited the same dialogue. After a three hour competition, we found out the winners. Unfortunately, Yunomae didn’t win anything. 
(From what I’ve heard, it’s a double edged sword if your school wins. If the students win, they advance to the prefectural competition in the middle of this month…..and you have to continue to practice with them.) Still, I couldn’t have been happier of my students! Some of the other ALTs brought candy and little gifts for their students, and I wish I would have done that. At least next year, I’ll know.
I’m going to stop here for the night, but know that the best is yet to come. My next blog will be about kids coming to trick-or-treat at our house. It was precious! Stay tuned.
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